If you are new to hydroponic gardening and looking for some pointers, then this guide has you covered. Here, you will find some helpful tips for AeroGarden beginners, some things to avoid, and some things I wish I knew when I first started out. Hope this helps!
For the sake of this guide, I’ll assume that you are already familiar with how your Aerogarden works, and all of the components involved.
Buy growing sponges in bulk
As you grow your plants to maturity, there will come a point when you will have to discard your old plants and start anew. The good news is that you can reuse many parts of a seed pod… except for the growing sponge.
Your best bet is to buy these supplies in bulk. They will always have use in an AeroGarden, and if you plan on doing any seed starting, having a ton on hand will make life easier.
Start off Simple and Small: The KISS method
If you are a complete newcomer, I find that it’s a good idea to start off using the starter seeds that come with your aerogarden, assuming you got it new. These seeds were designed to grow within the confines of the AeroGarden, and help you learn the ropes of hydroponic gardening.
If you didn’t have any starter seeds to try, I would suggest growing simple herbs at first. As tempting as it is to try growing every other plant out there, it is important to learn how plants grow inside an AeroGarden, and herbs are a great way to ease into the hobby.
Don’t grow all of your seed pods at once!
A lot of newcomers make the mistake of filling every empty cell in their garden with a seed pod, which can result in a nasty mess of plants to prune and maintain. Some plants grow much faster than others, and may grow large enough to overtake other plants. I like to time my seed germinations. I let the slow growing plants germinate first before I germinate any fast growers.
Save your plastic cages and domes
If you got your Aerogarden brand new, then you’ll probably already have a starter kit of seed pods ready to go. These seed pods consist of a plastic cage, a growing sponge, a label, and an assortment of seeds ready to germinate.
The best thing about the grow pods is that they are reusable. Once you finish growing a plant with them, you can discard the growing sponge and label, and save the cage for a new growth sponge. While you can buy more cages if needed, I find that to be a little wasteful, especially if you are trying to cut back on plastic usage.
Grow the plants that matter to YOU
Once you get used to hydroponic gardening, it is a very good idea to envision your ideal setup. There are hundreds of plants out there, from herbs and veggies to flowers. You should try to grow the things that will give you what you want out of your AeroGarden.
The best thing about gardening is that everyone’s garden is unique. You don’t necessarily have to follow what everyone else is doing. If you love lettuce like I do, you’ll find that growing the things you actually like eating will work wonders.
Space out your plants
One of the great things about hydroponic gardening is that the root system of your plants all share the water basin. Unlike growing in soil, there’s virtually no competition for the roots to grow, allowing them to grow fairly large. Above the water, however, there is going to be competition for the grow lights above, and if they are bunched too close together, they will have a harder time fighting for the lights.
It is a good idea to space out your plant pods, so that they all have an equal share of the grow lights. Just cause there’s an open hole doesn’t mean it should be occupied with a plant. This is important if you plan on growing different plant varieties in the same AeroGarden. I would suggest spacing out your plants with relation to their size, and cover the empty pod holes when not in use.
Prune and trim your plants
It is very important to keep your plants growing to a good size. But once they start growing tall enough to almost touch the grow lights, you will need to start cutting back the branches and leaves to make the plant smaller.
If you let your plants grow out of control, it will be harder to care for them in the long run. And don’t feel bad about snipping some leaves, think of it as if you were giving a plant a haircut.
Try to rotate new plants as the old ones mature.
Not only will this keep things from getting boring, but you will be able to remove your older plants before they get too “woody”. A lot of plants are annuals, meaning that they only grow for about a year before they set flowers and die out.
Buy seeds in bulk
Once you start growing your own seeds, make sure to get them in bulk! Some plants work great with a hydroponic setup, such as lettuce, and if you are lucky, you might be able to find a lot of them for sale at a good price.
Use your Aerogarden for seed starting
If you have an outdoor garden that you use often, your indoor Aerogarden might be the best way you can start growing seedlings for the season. There are special seed starting grow trays out there that allow the AeroGarden the flexibility of growing lots of seedlings all at once.
You can buy a seed starting base that fits your Aerogarden model, and start growing seeds indoors during the cold winter months, and when it’s warmer outside, you can try transplanting some outside for further growth!
Clean your Aerogarden regularly
If you don’t keep your system clean and tidy, it invites bugs, mold, and algae into your water basin, which can risk infesting your plants and hamper their growth. I find it good to clean it once a month.
Cover any holes when not in use
If you leave them open, light will get through and promote the growth of algae. Algae is a plant-like aquatic organism that can grow in just about any aquatic environment. They are like plants in that they need the same things to grow; sunlight, water, and nutrients, all of which can be found in the water basin. Algae can overtake your growing system, making it hard for your plants to grow and thrive.
Try to avoid the AeroVoir if you can
I won’t deny that the AeroVoir is a great accessory to use in an AeroGarden. Basically, it pumps water into your water basin so that it stays full, saving you the effort of watering.
But if you’re like me and tend to check the water levels every morning, it’s not really useful if you water it everyday.
Consider third party accessories, or get some secondhand
AeroGarden has their own line of accessories, but I find that you can get a lot of those things in bulk for cheaper elsewhere. Water pump filters, pods, plastic domes, liquid fertilizer, the list goes on.
Well, it looks like this is all I have for now.
I hope this post helps you out, and if I can find more tips, I’ll be happy to share them here with you, and I really hope these are helpful.
Until next time, wherever you live in the world, enjoy life, have fun, and happy gardening!