AeroGarden Guide *NEW AND IMPROVED*

FoxCompany426

Well-Known Member
Welcome to the AeroGarden Guide for Beginning to Grow Marijuana!


The Aerogarden is a wonderful tool that helps new growers learn the fundamentals of cultivation through great hands-on experience and provides a starting point for transistion to bigger and better setups.
It uses two techniques of growing, one being Aeroponics and the other Hydroponics. As you read through this guide, you will learn how to grow marijuana from seed to harvest in your AeroGarden machine.

I will take you through the basics of:

* Materials Required
* Suggested Supplemental Materials
* Lights and Their Cycles
* Nutrients and Their Schedules, and
* Making It All Happen



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Materials Required

* AeroGarden

There are many different shapes and sizes of AeroGardens to choose from. Pick one that suits your needs.

* 24hr Timer

You can snag one of these from Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, etc... They usually run anywhere from $4 to $15.

* Figure 8 Power Cord

You can find these at Radioshack or other electronic stores.
If you're like me, you can use the power cord from your old Original Xbox or PS2.

* Nutrients

You can use the nutrients that come with your AeroGarden, but, with better nutrients you will achieve a better outcome.
There are a couple different types to choose from, and several brands.

* pH Testing and Adjustment Kit

This is a must! You can order these online or obtain them from your local hydro shop.
There are other ways of going about this, but I wouldn't recommend them.

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Suggested Supplemental Materials

* Additional Compact Fluorescent Lights (CFL)

You can find these at Walmart, Home Depot, Lowes, etc...
They range in size, watts, lumen output and color temp.

* Aquarium Air Pump and Tubing

You can pick these up from Walmart or a pet store. A 30 gallon pump should work just fine.

* Aquarium Air Stones

Same as above. Ranges from small rock sized stones to around 20 inches.

* Thermometer/Hygrometer (Temp/Humidity)

Walmart carries them for around $7.

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Lights and Their Cycles

Now that we've gotten through the basic materials, it's time to figure out exactly what we're looking at here. We know that we need additional lighting, but what exactly do we need?

There are several choices to pick from. You could choose from any number of CFLs, or you could use an HID setup (High Pressure Sodium, Metal Halide).
Since we are learning to use the AeroGarden, which usually means smaller spaces and less plants than other setups, we will only focus on CFL use.

CFL Selection

Color Temperature

During the vegetative phase, the plant requires more of the blue spectrum of light. During the flowering phase, the plant requires more of the red spectrum of light.
Thus, we will need to select CFLs that will complement each phase of growth.

When selecting a CFL, take a look at the box and look for a number ending with a K. This K stands for Kelvin, and is the absolute temperature at which the bulb operates.
The higher the number, the more blue spectrum that bulb emits. The lower the number, the more red spectrum that bulb emits.

As a standard, 6500K is used for veg, while 2700K is used for flowering. Also, there are full spectrum bulbs available. They are usually around the 5000K area.

Lumens

Now, we will look at the power behind these bulbs. When you see these bulbs at the store, you want to look for lumen output. The higher the lumen output the better.

There are statements that have been made that lumens do not add. Well, they're true. Lumens do not add. Lumens are the measure of brightness of the light the bulb emits.
This means, if you have a 2000 lumen bulb, and you place another 2000 lumen bulb next to it, you still have 2000 lumens.

Now I know what you're thinking, "Then I can just use one bulb, right?" Wrong.
CFLs do not penetrate very deep through the plant foliage, but, we can solve this problem by placing several bulbs around the plant.
This will prevent stretching, which we will talk about later, and will increase growth and dense, compact buds. Drawbacks of any light will be heat. Too many lights in your grow room and the heat will surely cause problems.
Find a comfortable medium.

Light Cycles

During the life of the plant, it will experience different lengths of photo-periods.
During Spring and Summer, light cycles are long and night cycles are short. During the fall, when marijuana flowers, light cycles and night cycles are close to even.

In an indoor setup, we have to mimic the light periods of the outdoors.
There are several different settings that we can choose from. For veg, we can use 18 on 6 off, 20 on 4 off, 24 on 0 off or any setting in between. For flowering we will use 12 on and 12 off.
There are other settings for flowering, but this is the most standard.

Now, there are auto-flowering strains out there that do not follow the same light cycles as other strains do. Follow the instructions from the breeders site for best results.

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Nutrients and Their Schedules

AeroGarden Nutrients

When it comes to nutrients, you have several choices to pick from. Since we are using an AeroGarden, more than likely you will have the AeroGarden nutrient tabs with it. We will take a look at other nutrients in just a short while.

There are some set ways of using the AeroGarden nutrient tabs. Of course, you can find a happy medium that you are comfortable with, but for now, these are the basics.

There are two different sizes of nutrient tabs that come with the AeroGarden. Large and small. If you didn't get the Large tabs, don't worry, those will work just fine.

Seedlings ~ No nutrients or 1/4 of small tab

Veg Phase ~ One small tab per week

Flowering phase ~ One large tab per week or 1 1/2 small tabs per week

Alternative Nutrients

Now that we've learned about the stock AeroGarden nutrients, let's take a look into the different nutrients available.

There are several different brands to choose from, including: General Hydroponics, FoxFarm Nutrients, Canna, Dutch Nutrient Formula, etc...

The differences between each brand vary, but for the most part, they all work just fine. Each brand will have different setups, such as three part systems and A&B systems.
Three part systems allow for fine-tuning of nutrients for each strain, but require more work and research.
The A&B systems are much easier to use, but don't allow for fine-tuning.

Each brand will also have a feeding schedule that you should follow to achieve the best results. I recommend following their schedule until you are comfortable growing on your own.

In the end, choose a nutrient brand and type that fits your financial position and your growing abilities.

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Making It All Happen

Now that we've made it through all the basic information to get prepared, we're on to the exciting part. MAKING IT ALL HAPPEN!!!

First things first, we need to germinate our seeds. There are a few different techniques used, but we are only going to go into the "paper towel" technique.

You will need a plate, a bowl or another plate, and a paper towel. Wet the paper towel with warm water and squeeze out the excess.
Now, fold the paper towel in half and place your seeds on one side of the paper towel and fold the other side over the seeds.
Place your bowl or other plate over the top of the first, and set in a warm, dark spot. On top of your cable box or on top of your fridge are great places to germinate.
Once your seeds have cracked and the taproot is about 1/4 of an inch long, you can then place them in the aerogarden sponges. Be sure to place the taproot facing down to prevent any complications.

Until the seeds have begun to sprout their first leaves, light schedules are not too big of a priority. Many people choose to set their lights to 24 hrs, but 18/6 will work just fine.



Congratulations, you are now on your way to growing some quality, dank buds. Thanks for taking the time to read my guide, I hope it was helpful.

I've included a few links to threads that have influenced this guide or just contain good information.

Hydroponics

How to Grow Marijuana

Harvesting

Plant Problems


If any errors have been found or you would just like to provide more information, please PM me.
 

thebiggestdog

Active Member
NICE ONE FOX YOU GOT IT ALL IN THERE

WELL MY AG NEEDS MORE LIGHT SO I GOT A HPS HIGH-PRESSURE SODIUM LAMP 250W-PH-HPS IS THIS THE ONE THAT I MUST USE JUST BOUGHT IT TODAY

HERE IS A PIC
:joint:
 

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FoxCompany426

Well-Known Member
NICE ONE FOX YOU GOT IT ALL IN THERE

WELL MY AG NEEDS MORE LIGHT SO I GOT A HPS HIGH-PRESSURE SODIUM LAMP 250W-PH-HPS IS THIS THE ONE THAT I MUST USE JUST BOUGHT IT TODAY

HERE IS A PIC
:joint:
Your gonna need to get a ballast and a reflector to use that bulb. It won't work any other way.
 

FoxCompany426

Well-Known Member
what do you use the air pump, the figure 8 chord and the air stones for???
The air pump, tubing and air stones are used to pump air into your reservoir. This oxygenates the roots which will in turn help growth.

The figure 8 cord allows you to connect the lights to a timer. This will allow you to switch from 18/6, for veg, to 12/12 for flower.
 

jenkem420

Active Member
Im still confused on how to hook up the air pump and tubing to the reservoir. and does this have to be set on any type of timer?? any help is appreciated.
 

jenkem420

Active Member
i've heard of using a spray bottle to spray the leaves ontop of what the aerogarden already does. also, what do people mean when they say to cover up the pods with paper seals???
 

FoxCompany426

Well-Known Member
i've heard of using a spray bottle to spray the leaves ontop of what the aerogarden already does. also, what do people mean when they say to cover up the pods with paper seals???
The AeroGarden comes with little round paper covers that you are supposed to glue on the top of the pods to keep light from getting to the sponges. If light continues to get in there, it will cause mold, root rot and other bad things that will hurt your plant.

Using a spray bottle can increase your humidity in the grow room. Other than that, it can be used in conjunction with certain products as a foliar feed to increase CO2 intake and make the cellular structures stronger.

It's not required. I'm not even sure how much it helps.
 

jenkem420

Active Member
does it have to be a certain temperature in the room im growing my plant in?? also im confused with the whole ph thing. Do i test the water thats in the resivour and whats the ph suppose to be?? im its to high/low how many drops of the ph up/down do you put in? like does one drop raise it by .5 or....

Thanks
 

FoxCompany426

Well-Known Member
does it have to be a certain temperature in the room im growing my plant in?? also im confused with the whole ph thing. Do i test the water thats in the resivour and whats the ph suppose to be?? im its to high/low how many drops of the ph up/down do you put in? like does one drop raise it by .5 or....

Thanks
Anything below 80 is a good temp for your room.

As for pH, you can test the water in the res to make sure it's where it's supposed to be. Preferably, you should mix your nutes in a 2 gallon or so jug. This will allow you to top off your res with premixed nutes that have already been pH'd which will keep your res pH'd and keep your nutrients at a constant level.

As for changing the pH, you will just have to get a feel for how much to put in. Just check it, adjust, recheck, so on and so on. Eventually it will be easy where you can check it and know exactly what it needs.
 

LankyWhite

Member
I just set up two AeroG Pros one with 3 Joint Doctor's Diesel Ryders and one with 4 of G-13 Labs Poison Dwarfs. Got it on 24 hr light schedule on the strawberry setting. The temps running high at around 85 during the day, higher if the door to the grow room is closed, and prolly around 75-80 at night with the door open. I'm running one small non oscillating fan on high and when circumstances are primo I open the door and run a regular 3 speed box fan on high directly on the door way. My grow area is about 44cubic feet. 5'2" at the tallest point or left hand side(H1), 3'1" across (W), 1'10" at the lower side or right hand side (H2), 4'6" running from the left hand side to the right hand side(C1), by about 4' deep (L1). To try and make it clearer the roof goes from the highest point to the shorter, 1'10", point forming a triangular roof. My issue is the heat and air circulation. I've considered adding a 70cfm flat whisper fan but if the 3 speed box fan only brings the temp down by 5-8 degrees F then what other options could I employ if the 70 cfm flat whisper fan doesn't cool the room to below 80-85 degrees F? I wanted to use an AeroG just to work on my basic growing techniques and to get some quick automatik nug for my head stash until I use my 400w HPS and other seeds. I've grown several times using bagseed indoors and out but almost always under the circumstances of growing it at someone else's place and leaving the little guys in their care resulting in either death, thievery, or poor care. I feel that I can grow but just wanted to take baby steps into it until I'm fully confident that my babies will do fine in a second larger scale setup. I'll try and post some pics of my current setup so you might get a better idea of what I'm talking about. My bad I'm new to the forum and trying to learn. I'll be posting on here, Cannabis-World.org,ICMag.com, and cannabis.com with full gro journals and pics as soon as things start to get under way. Any help would be much appreciated.:leaf:
 

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Froman

Active Member
Lookin great man, i wouldn't post any other site names on here, they dont like that too much

sounds like you got it mostly down, not too sure on what to do with temps tho
 
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