Aerogarden club

i know that there are already 10s of posts about this, but i thought this would be a good place for everyone who is using it, to actually say if you are, so i think it would be good if only people that are using the aerogarden post in this one, i know im not a mod, but itd be cool for people to tell what they KNOW works and what some people would change for next time.

i KNOW that foxfarm nutes have been amazing in dealing with the aerogarden.

just talk about what youve learned and what you are gonna change if you do it again, and if you are new ask for help

While digging through some old computer crap I had laying around, I came across this cable, which is a perfect match for the Aerogarden lamp hood, just as Vand had figured out. I figured other people would want to know more info about this kind of cord, so ..

The name for this kind of connector end is called a "figure eight", and is a pretty common type of cord from what it seems. Nothing crazy or propriatary.

Here is a link to purchase the cable from any Radio Shack in your local area:
RadioShack.com - Power & Batteries: Extension & power cords: 6-Ft. AC Power Cord

Also, they have a simple appliance timer there too that you'll need so you can set the light cycle for flowering:
RadioShack.com - Home & Office: Clocks & watches: Mini Plug-In Lamp/Appliance Timer

I walked out of RadioShack for less than $20, and everything is working beautifully with the base unit set to "salad greens" (which keeps the nutrients/pumps running 24/7) , and set the timer to set the lights on an 18/6 cycle.

i told everyone that like a month ago, but apparently nobody reads my post

vandewalle said:

i told everyone that like a month ago, but apparently nobody reads my post

Click to expand...

I just thought it would be good to actually clarify the cable...in your post it was pretty vague and just said somethign about an old apple charger...and since this is the thread to post about what we've learned, I figured that was a good thing.

alright alright ill give it to you.

Lol...

Yea I like that idea better tha splicing the cord....perhaps.....

But what I really like the most is that you guys have figured out about a timer with that figure 8 sized socket....I might try to get one of these somtime....because I do wish that I could give my plants more light during the veg stage...at least 18 hours....

Did I hear some one say once on another post that you must remove the back up battery for the timer to work?

Peace
-Tek

Teknique70 said:

Lol...

Yea I like that idea better tha splicing the cord....perhaps.....

But what I really like the most is that you guys have figured out about a timer with that figure 8 sized socket....I might try to get one of these somtime....because I do wish that I could give my plants more light during the veg stage...at least 18 hours....

Did I hear some one say once on another post that you must remove the back up battery for the timer to work?

Peace
-Tek

Click to expand...

As far as removing the battery backup goes, that did work for me, however, the pumps and everything all came on /off at one time. So that was not as good of a solution as my current one, which allows the light hood to be controlled seperately by a timer (and a long 6' cord, in case you need to raise it), while the base unit is plugged directly into the wall as normal.

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. All i have instaleld on my PC at the moment is Paint, lol...so here ya go!



Larger View:
https://www.rollitup.org/marijuana-pics/file.php?n=1168&w=o

Nice pic....lol

No seriously its good.....I had as well previously tried making a paint drawing of somthing like this once a while ago...but i scratched it


One question tho...in your drawing shouldnt there be another plug that plugs the timer in? do you know what i mean?

Like, what powers the timer?

I dont think that the water not circulating for 6-12 hours would be a big deal...but i could be wrong...

Its like if you had a dry sponge and only placed a corner of the sponge in a small puddle....the water would move and the sponge would soak up all the water.... so compared to the aerogarden the roots and the foam are the sponge and would draw the water up...ya know?


Peace
-Tek

Yes, the timer is plugged into the wall (or extension cord, or whatever)

Great work worh the aerogarden. I am still growing the lettuce that my garen came with, jsut to see what this thing can do. I've noticed that the rear pods are growing about 1/3 faster than the front. I measured the intensity of the light at eahclocation and noticed that the rear pods DO get substantially more light for some reason.
Also, the best strain to grow in this thing is probabely "BIG BUD" because the plants rarely exceed 2 feet in lenghts. I noticed that Tek's plants, though very healthy looking, were reaching for light a bit. One set back aobut BIG BUD is that they are a bitch to clone though.
Tek, what sequence of nutrients did you use (ie; what fox farms products at what stage)?

another great discovery if you move your plants around about every week they become stronger, and they grow more evenly, you have to do this before the roots become entangled with eachother. this helps the plants alot and works very well. has anyone else attempted this?

Hmmm so your saying playing musical chairs errr pods with the plants?

Hmmmm....I like the idea, but seems kind of a pain in the ass. But probobly not really while the plants are small.....

So like Once a day rotate each plant to one pod to the right....

Once the plants get real big, this might be hard to do but might not be neccessary any more and could just leave them in the pod...

Well go for it bud

Peace
-Tek

vandewalle said:

another great discovery if you move your plants around about every week they become stronger, and they grow more evenly, you have to do this before the roots become entangled with eachother. this helps the plants alot and works very well. has anyone else attempted this?

Click to expand...

I thought about doing it, but haven't. The most I've done is to rotate the plants around a bit.

well what has been going on is that if i move them around once a week, the light gets distributed better, as well as the roots dont have a chance to hook on to anything, allowing more water flow to get to them, and so they dont lock in one place. it has kept mine small and bushy which is what we need

Hey guys, it's hard to follow what you're talking about since I don't have my own marogarden up and running just yet. I'd really appreciate pictures of EVERYTHING. I'm talkin' the plants, the roots, the pods, the lights, the whole setup, etc.

Trying to get a feel for how I'm going to do this project and visuals help.

alright ill get right to that tomorrow, ill see if i can upload them as well tomorrow

anyone else wanna give their pics up?

Has anyone considered tying the stems down with say those twistie things that u use to close up a packet of bread? So instead of messing with the actual system ( im not very good with my hands) , how bout just tying the plants down and making it grow lower to the ground? any thoughts?

sorry for the back to back post but i have a couple other questions for the aerogarden kings:
1) Have you considered using a weak guano tea instead of foxfarm. any thoughts on that?
2) how long does flowering take? Assuming I veg from seed for 4 weeks and prune them so they get nice and bushy on the tomato light cycle, at what point should i be able to tell the sex (week 3? ) and how long after changing the light cycle for flowering to the point of harvest?

Much obliged

flowering can take any where from 6-12 weeks, a safe guess is right in between at about 9 weeks....It all depends on the strain....

so 4 week veg + 9 week flower + 1 week drying = 14 weeks

It takes around 14 days of 12/12 give or take to be able to tell the sex...

I'd stick with the fox farm...

Peace, take pics

-Tek