The COVID-19 pandemic has indisputably made homeowners treasure their indoor spaces. Aside from investing in major renovations, some grow plants from the comfort of their own couch.
All thanks to the evolution of aerogrow gardens. Aerogrow gardens are one of the most functional features you can install in your indoor space.
They allow you to grow your favorite fruits and vegetables throughout the whole year. These modern features incorporate an aeroponic system that grows your plants using water and nutrients.
So, you can always grow your plants even during winter. Consequently, this enables you to cut down on your monthly grocery budget.
Aerogardens became lifesavers when there was a total lockdown due to the global pandemic. They enabled homeowners to get constant fresh food supply even when the stores got closed.
How to properly use an Aerogrow
The best thing about aerogrow gardens is that they are effortless to use. In fact, you need not have any experience in farming.
All you have to do is follow the instructions on the manual. Every aerogarden comes with a complementing seed kit. If you want to plant, place the seed in the kit and pour water and nutrients at the aerogrow garden base.
Then leave it to sit for about 2 weeks. Even so, you have to keep monitoring the progress of the plant. On average, germination will take place after 21 days, and your plants will be ready for harvesting after a month.
Key factors to put into consideration when using an aerogrow
Use purified water: When watering your plants in your aero garden, avoid using rain or well water. They contain minerals that may tamper with the growth of the plant. Consider using clean tap water that has been purified just to be safe.
Avoid mixing different-sized plants: When planting, do not place bigger plants next to the smaller ones. Doing this affects the growth of smaller plants. Often, the larger ones will prevent maximum light from reaching the smaller leaves.
Prune often: Do not be afraid to prune your plants often. Use gardening shears or heavy-duty scissors to trim off the leaves of your plants. Doing this makes them grow healthier and allows light to reach the plants with a slower growth process.
Aerogrow farm how to raise the lights
Aerogarden plants thrive on excellent lighting. Therefore, you have to ensure that all plants on your aerogarden get sufficient light for you to obtain the best results.
Occasionally, you might have to raise the lights to make sure even the smaller plants get lighting. Therefore, it is essential to buy an aerogarden model that allows you to raise your lighting.
So, how do you do this?
Generally, you have to work around the light hood to raise the lights. Hold the light hood from its lower side using one hand; this should be slightly above the grow deck.
Use the other hand, to hold the upper part of the light hood gently. Once you do this, push the light hood up to raise it.
If you feel you need to lower it, push it down using your hand. Do all this gently to avoid damaging the light hood. Remember that the light hood is glass, so handling it without care would break it.
How to test if your aerogrow bulbs are good
In most instances, it can be hard to tell your aerogrow bulbs’ condition, well, unless they stop working completely. But you can always tell the condition of your aerogrow bulbs from how your plants are growing.
Plants will help you know if the aerogrow bulbs are good or bad. If your aerogrow bulbs are good, your plants become healthier and grow in abundance.
For example, if you are growing tomatoes, you get more fruits when you have good aerogrow lighting.
On the flip side, if the aerogrow bulbs are the default, you will receive few or no fruits. Therefore, it is important to keep monitoring your aerogrow lighting now and then.
Additionally, aerogrow garden experts often advise replacing aerogrow bulbs every six months. With time, the lumens of aerogrow bulbs tend to decrease inefficiency. And after six months, the lumens significantly decrease and affect plant growth.
Thus, if you want to get the best results from your aerogrow garden, it would be best to replace the bulbs every six months.
How to use aerogrow fertilizer for houseplants
Aerogardens incorporate an aeroponic system that grows plants using water, nutrients, and lights.
Although these contemporary features are relatively user-friendly, it can be challenging to know how to use aerogrow fertilizers for houseplants.
Note that houseplants will need fertilizer to grow quickly. And if they are not getting enough fertilizer, they are likely to wither and produce less fruit.
If you are growing your plants with an aerogrow garden, you have to know how to use aero grow fertilizer. More often than not, plants will not remind you of when to feed them.
And you might end up forgetting to add the right fertilizer to your plants, especially if you have a busy schedule.
You may notice slow growth after some time if you neglect the plants completely. But don’t just sit there and let this happen. Make a habit of regularly feeding your houseplants with aerogrow fertilizer.
Fortunately, some aerogarden models have an automated system that helps you know when plants need more fertilizer.
Such models contain blink lights that flicker anytime you need to add water or nutrients to your plants.
One thing to put in mind is that different house plants need different quantities of fertilizer. Moreover, plants will need different amounts of fertilizers at different phases.
Therefore, when using the aerogarden, ensure you understand how the plant should work and the best conditions that support its growth.
Even so, most plants have similar fertilizer requirements. So, you can set a specific time to add fertilizer to your plants.
Alternatively, buy an advanced aerogarden model to notify you when to feed your houseplant with aerogrow fertilizer.
Typically when adding aerogrow fertilizer to your plants, all you need to do is pour liquid fertilizer and nutrients at the base. Then, please leave it to do its job.
How to prune my herbs in my Aerogrow
One of the most frequently asked questions is, ‘How do I prune my herbs in my aerogrow?’
First, you have to keep in mind that pruning is critical, especially if you are growing plants in your aerogrow garden.
This practice helps your plants grow much healthier as well as produces an abundant harvest. But you have to prune carefully; otherwise, you would damage the whole plant.
Prune the plant slightly above the new leaf. Typically, you have to trim a third of the leaf.
Don’t trim more than a third of the leaf! You will damage the whole plant. Once you prune your plants, you allow direct penetration of light to slower-growing plants.
Consequently, all the plants in aerogarden become healthier and grow faster. Larger and more spread-out leaves are the best to prune.
Use heavy-duty scissors to cut off a third of the leave carefully without tampering with other parts of the plant. The results of correct pruning are incredible.
How often should I prune my aerogrow?
Now that we know the importance of pruning, I’m sure you’d like to know how often you should prune.
Well, pruning aerogarden plants after approximately 4 -5 weeks is fine. This time span allows the leaves to grow large enough to make them larger for pruning.
Note that some plants like basil naturally grow faster than others. Thus, you might have to prune more often.
Ensure that you keep such plants slightly below the aerogrow lights. Also, do not raise aerogrow lights until the rest of the plants grow to a reasonable size.
How to clean aerogrow
Homeowners need to clean their aerogrow gardens more often. Doing this boosts its efficiency and functionality.
Not to mention, you definitely do not want to grow your plants in a dirty environment.
Therefore, make it a habit to clean your aerogrow garden regularly. In turn, you boost the durability of this modern feature. Below is a step-by-step process of cleaning an aerogrow garden.
Disintegrate the aerogrow
The first step would be to disassemble the aerogrow garden. Doing this enables you to clean the aerogrow thoroughly.
As you disassemble, be careful. I mean, you don’t want to damage any component that comes with this feature.
Disconnect the light hood carefully. Separate the aero grow bowl from the base so that you clean each of them thoroughly.
After you finish disassembling the aero’s components, check for any worn-out parts that need replacement or repair.
Vinegar or bleach bath aerogrow parts
Take a large bowl and fill it with warm water. The bowl should be large enough to hold all the components of the aero grow. However, note that the bowl and the light hood should not get dipped in this solution.
Once you place the components in warm water, add a cup of vinegar or mild bleach into the warm water.
Mix it thoroughly with your hand or using a spoon. Then, let these parts sit here for approximately 20 to 30 minutes.
This time is often enough to eliminate all microorganisms and stubborn dirt stuck in the aero grow components.
Cleaning aerogrow bowl
Remember we didn’t soak the aerogrow bowl into the vinegar solution? Take the bowl and empty any water that is present.
Then, take some warm water and vinegar solution, pour it into the bowl, and switch on the rotor.
Let it run for approximately five minutes. Afterward, empty the solution from the bowl and start rinsing.
Ensure that you rinse the bowl thoroughly. If bleach or vinegar remains in the bowl, they can harm plant growth.
Dry the surfaces
Once you finish with all the disassembled parts of the aero grow, concentrate on aero garden surfaces.
Take a clean, soft cloth and make it damp using the warm water and vinegar solution. Then, start wiping all the surfaces of the aerogarden thoroughly but carefully. Keep in mind that you don’t want to damage any part of the aerogrow garden.
At this point, wipe the light hood carefully; the light hood is glass, so be extra careful with it.
Don’t try reaching the areas between the bulbs; otherwise, you might end up breaking the glass. After wiping all aerogarden surfaces, allow them to dry out in open air.
Rinse parts from bleach or vinegar bath
Now, it’s time to go back to the soaked aerogrow components. First, you have to make sure that twenty minutes are over before removing these parts from the bleach bath.
Once you remove them from the bleach solution, start rinsing them one by one. You can do this by placing them in another bowl of clean water or running the parts under running water.
If you use running water to rinse these parts, ensure that the water does not pressure the components. Place all these pieces outside to dry.
Reassemble parts
Before you reassemble the parts, you have to make sure they are completely dry. Then start placing each part back to its position.
There are different types of aerogarden models. So, follow the instruction manual when reassembling all the parts. The aerogarden should start working immediately you place all parts back in.
Suppose it does not start working; check the aerogrow instruction manual. If you can’t find a particular solution, it would help if you consult the manufacturer.
Conclusion
Today, you can use a wide variety of aerogardens to grow your favorite plants and fruits.
Aerogardens are relatively user-friendly since you need zero farming experience when it comes to operating them.
Nevertheless, you have to take good care of aerogarden plants. Ensure that you feed them with fertilizer, prune them, and ensure they get sufficient lighting.
Furthermore, you have to take good care of your aerogarden. Clean it regularly to boost its durability and efficiency.
Ultimately, aerogrow gardens deliver excellent functionality if used and maintained properly.
