Valuable Aerogarden Plant Hacks You Should Know

Nowadays, aerogardeners are becoming more popular because it’s easy to grow your own herbs, vegetables, and fruits with the help of the aerogarden. However, one of the most frequently asked questions is: “How to manage aerogarden plants?” So, to answer this question, aerogardeners share their essential tips, hacks, and tricks on aerogarden plant management. In this post, I will be sharing with you valuable aerogarden plant hacks that would come in handy in your aerogarden planting adventure.

Reasons you should know necessary aerogarden plant hacks 

• When something new happens on your aerogarden, a hack you have read and stored in your mind will always help.
• With handy hacks, you can always get the best out of your aerogarden units as you are always prepared for almost anything.
• As regards the control, proper use for best results as well as maintenance, you can be sure that nothing serious will take you unawares when it comes to your aerogarden planting.
• With valuable useful hacks or tips, your indoor plant growth is worth the effort.

Planting hacks will always come in handy no matter your level of expertise using the aerogarden. Here are some valuable aerogarden plant hacks and tips that would definitely be useful to you in your aerogarden journey:

1. Pruning/trimming plant hacks
2. Harvesting plant hacks
3. Plant Grow Lights hacks
4. Plant care and maintenance hacks
5. Aerogarden plant seed hacks
6. Transplanting hacks
7. Plant root hacks

1. Pruning/trimming plant hacks

For many Aerogardeners, pruning/trimming their plants is a hassle for them, while some cannot do that without hurting the plants. There are many different ways to prune plants to get the best out of them. But first, here are answers to a few common questions people have about pruning their plants:

• Aerogarden plants grow faster than others planted at the same time?

Where some plants grow faster than others, their arrangements should be such that the shorter ones are not put at any disadvantage. This can be done by placing the plants you know would grow taller at one end, the medium ones in the middle and the shortest ones in the other end. In this arrangement, none of the plants will be obstructed from any source of Grow Light. However, if the tallest plants would keep growing very fast, they can be pruned to give the smallest ones a chance to also thrive, or you can go ahead and transplant the tallest ones.

• Aerogarden plants getting very crowded?

Whenever your aerogarden plants are getting very crowded, either of two things is bound to happen; the plants will refuse to grow any further as they can’t find the necessary space (and light) to do so, or the bigger ones may start preventing smaller plants from getting enough light that is necessary for their growth.

If you find your plants in this overcrowded condition, you have the option of either pruning the plants, harvesting some of them or transplanting some of them to another aerogarden or an indoor/outdoor garden system.

• Know when your plants are ready for pruning?

Some plants can grow tremendously, especially fast-growing plants like basil, others are still much shorter comparatively. When this disparity in growth happens, there is the need to prune the bigger plant to stimulate the growth of slower plants. In this situation, there is the temptation to raise the lights to satisfy these fast growers, but you are advised to resist such temptation. Instead, prune these tall plants, especially those parts that prevent other shorter plants from getting enough light.

You can also prune or trim back your plants when too many shoots are coming out of the seeds you placed in one spot. For instance, if you place some seeds in a sponge in one Grow Basket, and then you realize that so many of them are growing in one spot, you might want to trim back some of them to prevent them from competition for space, air, light, nutrients and all that.

• Why you should trim aerogarden plants?

Trimming aerogarden plants includes reducing the sizes of plants from below upwards by removing mainly variegated, dried and blighted leaves which can affect the growth of the plant or obstruct the availability of light to shorter plants. While trimming, you have to be careful not to remove more than one-third of the plant to avoid leaving it vulnerable. Removing these dried up and dead leaves further improve aeration to the plants and their overall growth and yield.

• Steps to pruning your overcrowded aerogarden plants

When you want to prune your plants, have it in mind that the process is simple and shouldn’t make you afraid. Here are easy steps you can follow to get your plants effectively pruned to perfection:

Step 1

Identify the presence of those plants that have outgrown or over-shadowed other smaller plants around them. Try to make sure that they are truly obstructing the source of light for other plants or that they are overgrown or have dead/dried leaves on them.

Step 2

At this stage, you are required to prune the plants at a position just above a new set of leaves and not below it. You can do this with your fingers if you are very good at it or by using a pruning tool that would make it neater and faster. Pick at the dry, dead or discoloured leaves to give room for healthy ones.

Step 3

After pruning, make sure that you check to ascertain whether the plants need either water or nutrients. If they do, ensure that they are provided immediately after you finish the pruning.

Step 4

The excess plants you remove, if they are good ones, shouldn’t be thrown away as they can go right into the plate or pot and make you a healthy meal you would love.

If you ae confused, here is a simple, few seconds video of how you can prune your plants with ease.

2. Harvesting plant hacks

Nothing beats the excitement of watching your plant grow and reach the time for harvest. As long as your plants grew out of their pods and you did the right thing all through the growth period, be sure that your aerogarden would give you enough harvest to enjoy. Here are a few harvest hacks that you should know:

• Knowing when your plants are ready for harvesting?

You can start harvesting your plants once they look edible enough. By this, I mean when they are mature enough to be placed in a plate for eating. You really do not have to wait for your aerogarden to have a dense forest look before you harvest the plants.

Most gardeners are hesitant to harvest their plants on the go, but surprisingly, frequent harvests enable the plants to produce for longer periods than would have been the case when you wait till all is ready for harvest. You might want to consider harvesting when you see your leaves looking like what you get in stores to prevent them from dying off quickly.

•  Having excess harvest of aerogarden plants?

There could be times when your aerogarden plants would grow so much that you would have a very bumper yield when it is time for harvest. When this happens and you do not need all the harvest immediately, you have the options of:

– giving out some to loved ones.

– selling them off to people who may need them at the moment.

– storing the excess harvest in a refrigerator or freezer for later use.

– using a handy food dehydrating machine to dry and pack them for the future without fear of spoilage.

– in the extreme, you have the option of transplanting the excess to an outdoor garden to grow as tall and wide as they want.

3. Plant Grow Lights hacks

The Grow Lights for your aerogarden plants are as important as the water and nutrients you provide for them. If anything goes wrong with the light, your plants may suffer. Here are some Grow Lights hack for your plants you might want to keep in mind:

• When to raise your aerogarden plant lights?

When most of the plants in your aerogarden have grown a little beyond the level where they are likely to enjoy the best illumination, it is time to raise your aerogarden lights. However, be sure that most of the plants have grown above the position of the light and not just one or a few. This is because if you raise the light to satisfy just a few plants, the shorter ones may suffer reduced illumination. Instead of raising the lights for a few that has grown tall, consider trimming them back a little to allow the smaller ones to enjoy the light too.

• Why you should ALWAYS have a spare aerogarden Grow Light

Some aerogarden Grow Lights can disappoint gardeners no doubt. The last thing you need is to wake up one day and realize that your aerogarden lights are no longer functioning. But you can save your plants from getting stranded when your lights decide to start giving trouble, maybe right in the middle of expecting a harvest! Get yourself a spare aerogarden Grow Light Panel that you can have at hand when you need to urgently replace yours.

PS I have got a full post talking about Aerogarden Grow Light: Q&As. You would find very helpful ideas and solutions to common light issues you might face in your aerogarden journey.

4. Transplanting hacks

If the final destination of your aerogarden plants is outside the aerogarden, then transplanting it is inevitable. You can even use your aerogarden as a seed starter and when they are big enough, you can transplant them to another indoor system or an outdoor garden. Here are useful transplanting hacks you might need:

• When to transplant your aerogarden plants to the indoor/outdoor garden?

Any plant suitable for transplanting from an aerogarden to an outdoor garden or other indoor garden systems must be very healthy and pure greenish. The plants to be transplanted from the aerogarden must also be seen to have grown a little on the aerogarden if not when transplanted they may affect further growth of the plants.

You can transplant your plants when they have grown too much and overcrowded your aerogarden unit, or when they have grown to the level you want them on your aerogarden. Transplanting can also be done if you feel your aerogarden may be at risk of growing them to maturity; like having pumpkins grow there.

Also, transplanting is imperative where the plants are not thriving very well. Before transplanting from the aerogarden to the outdoors, you must first make sure that the indoor/outdoor garden is well supplied with water and sufficient nutrients for proper plant growth when transferred.

•  Best way to transplant aerogarden plants without killing them?

The best way to transplant aerogarden plants is to ensure their removal gently with their roots intact. The process of transplanting should be executed without delay to make sure that the plants survive the ordeal of transplanting. Furthermore, the soil on which the transplant is intended must be very rich in essential nutrients and water to support proper growth.

If you are looking at successfully transplanting your plants from an aerogarden to an outdoor garden or indoor garden system, I have listed out detailed steps you can achieve this. Simply click this link to be taken to where you can read all about safely transplanting from aerogarden to other places.

How to save money on your aerogarden maintenance (light, sponges, seed pods, etc).

Just like every other garden venture, aerogarden can be a little bit expensive to maintain even though the return on investment can be way more than the expenses. It is still important that you see how you can cut down on expenses that are not all that necessary or even try to do things that are less expensive but would still give you the same results. Here are some aerogarden money-saving plant hacks that would help you:

• LED bulbs, unlike other conventional bulbs, are very cost-effective since they use much less power to operate. This is all the more important considering that aerogarden lights are used for an average of at least sixteen hours every day. Best to invest in this type of light if you ever need to buy a Grow Light separately.
• In the case of the sponges of any aerogarden kit, they should be cleaned regularly during every planting session or at least once in two weeks with clear, clean water and chlorine bleach or alcohol. This will prolong their shelf lives and save you the cost of replacing them very often. Just make sure that the sponges are cleaned so well that no trace of bleach or vinegar is left in them.
• Keep in mind that seed pods can be re-used if maintained well and you also have the option of making your own seed pods.
• Instead of buying all your supplies separately, buy them in sets as they are cheaper. For instance, a Grow Anything Kit contains baskets, sponges, domes, labels and plant nutrients. The price is way lesser than when you choose to buy everything separately.
• Settle for the best aerogarden unit that can take the number of plants you have in mind to grow, and that can serve you just as much as you want it to. Take your time to compare them to be certain you are getting good value for your money.

All these and more will help you to cut down on the overall costs of aerogarden maintenance. If you can, always make research on the prices of things you want to buy to know where you can get them cheaper and see if you can find alternatives that would still give you the same results and that may cost lesser.

Conclusion 

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