I am so “stoked”! New from Aerogarden this year is a garden starter kit to be used in your existing Aerogarden unit. Very cool. Now, you can germinate seeds for your outdoor garden without the mess of pots, dirt, trays and the like. The garden starter kit contains one styrofoam flat that has seventy holes in it and includes seventy plugs for planting your seeds. You can see in this picture taken today, cucumber seeds and pepper seeds already emerging and it’s been less than four days!
With the timed full spectrum lights warming the seeds from above, I had allysum flowers seeds sprouting in less than 24 hours. How great is that? I can’t wait to get these out of the unit so I can plant my other flower seeds. Additional plugs are available for using this starter flat over and over again.
I also have full size tomato plants growing in my upgraded Aerogarden. The plants are looking awesome and I am looking forward to harvesting delicious cherry tomatoes right in my home office this summer.
Got questions about the Aerogarden? I have been growing in mine now for a year and know this unit inside out! Come visit us at virtualseeds.com to get yours.
Joyce
This is my third crop of seed plants in my AeroGarden and I am very excited! I decided to use the Master Gardener Kit and plant my own tomato seeds for both indoors in the AeroGarden and transplants for my summer garden.
Since tomato plants need more room than leaf salad greens or herbs, tomato plants are limited to three spaces, back left, forward center, and back right spots. But I am going to think outside the box and use all seven spaces to germinate seven plants. Then I will transplant out the other four plants into pots for transplanting to my garden after frost days are done and the soil has warmed up to at least sixty to seventy degrees.
The baskets that the plant plugs are in, are breakaway, ie: they snap apart. Then the organic foam insert and root systems can be planted in pots or directly into the ground for less shock to the plant. The breakaway planting baskets are only found in the Master Gardener Kits. The standard Aerogarden planting baskets are in one piece so would be a little trickier to get the plant out without damaging the roots, but if done soon while the plant is quite young, I would think they would transplant fine.
I am probably going to get the extension arm for the unit so I can grow my plants taller and fuller. The extension arm allows plants to grow up to 24 inches high while the standard arm only allows for 12-18 growth before the plants get too close the lights and burn.
Just for info, AeroGarden also came out with a 70 port seed starter tray than can be used in any AeroGarden for starting garden seeds for outdoor transplanting. Imagine, have 70 baby plants started with optimum conditions: lighting, watering, and feeding in your AeroGarden.
For those of you who used their AeroGarden year round like I do, remember to replace light bulbs every six months as they do lose their potency over time.
Happy Gardening,
Joyce
Wow! Finally a day of sunshine and mild temperatures. While my hubby was putting on a new roof on my greenhouse, I transplanted strawberry plants from my old strawberry bed into their new raised bed! I can’t wait to help my grandson pick his first strawberry this June.
I tried out my new Performance gloves from Womanswork. I love them! As usual I was digging with my fingers into the bed soil to create the holes for the tender roots. I gave these gloves a good workout. They were very comfortable and my fingers felt quite protected. Handling the hoes presented no problem either. When I was done, I rinsed the mud off the gloves and then removed them to toss into the washing machine. My hands were absolutely clean and no dirt under my fingernails either. With cloth gloves it was not uncommon for the finer dirt particles to work their way in through the seams or even the mesh of the fabric. I am very pleased with the design and quality of this product and am very proud to offer them in my web store.
Here it is, the end of 07 and I have been busy getting the webstore ready for spring! Over a hundred new flower varieties this year from my seed supplier with 21 of them being pansies, my personal favorite!
Pansies are super easy to start and grow, especially for beginners! I usually start pansies in seed flats at the end of January and have full blooming plants by April ! Considering what the mega stores charge for pansy plants in 4 inch pots, I would rather grow my own. Plus I get to choose what varieties I want for my garden and hanging baskets. Pictured on the home page of www.virtualseeds.com is “Accord Series Violet Blotch” pansies. With three inch spread blooms on compact plants, these will definitely be a good seller for me this year! You can find them on page 2 of of our Flowers-Seeds section.
I hope you find time to add a few of these beauties to your baskets or flower garden area. Pansies are from the viola family so are considered an early spring flower, loving cool weather. Once the heat arrives in summer, they are gone till next year.
Pictured above is a sky blue variety I grew for garden show sales in 2002. Sorry, I don’t remember the exact variety but it is pretty enough to share anyway.
Happy New Year and see you in 08!
Joyce
I have run into one major problem though that is being worked out. My AeroGarden upgrade light hood has a short in it so the lights are flickering and already one has burned out (less than two weeks old). Aerogarden folks are going to send me a replacement hood, but they are on back order so there is a delay. On Monday, I will be chatting with them again about the bulbs burning out. I am certain they will make it right. The customer service folks have been great so sounds like the warehouse is having to play catch-up on orders on this new feature.
