I am thrilled with this little gem. First of all, I have NEVER been able to grow Purple Basil...EVER. Not in my garden, not in a pot, not from seed, not from a starter plant. It always dies. Except this time. It's not growing as well as the Italian Basil, but it's bigger than I've ever been able to grow it before this, so I'm a happy camper.
The only herb that's not as vigorous as it is in my garden is the Chives. They are still rather spindly, but that's okay. It's only been six weeks. 
Everything else is growing like crazy and before I gave all the plants a good haircut (as recommended by AeroGarden), most of the plants were full and lush.
Also since I last posted about the AeroGarden, I have raised the hood up two more notches, then trimmed back the herbs and lowered the hood back down one notch. The first trim resulted in a nice dinner plate full of herbs...
I trimmed the plants earlier in the week...
...and they still look pretty much like this, but I have to confess that, as I think I mentioned before, I keep my house pretty cool, especially at night and I think that effects their rate of growth to some degree.
The plants are also starting to use a sizable amount of water, so I am now checking the tank daily. I hadn't checked the tank in several days and when I did this morning, the water level was down considerably and I had to add 5 cups of water. What concerns me about this is that the low water level light did not come on. This leads me to believe that the water level and nutrients lights are utilizing some sort of timer rather than a sensor. Hmmmm. I think I might have to figure out a way to determine more accurately the nutrient levels and not rely on the the built-in alert system.
One more thing about my garden...I'm not really fond of Curly Parsley. I prefer the flat leaf Italian Parsley, so I might just remove that one herb, clean out the roots from the existing sponge and set a couple of Italian Parsley seeds in the sponge to see if they will grow. I know... I'm livin' on the edge now.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
AeroGarden - Week 6
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
I've always wanted one of an Aerogarden ever since they came out but they are expensive. I love cooking with fresh herbs though and during the winter I have to use the ones I've dried over the spring and summer. Your Purple Basil is beautiful! Love you - Robin
These herbs look gorgeous Terri! I used to leave some of my herbs outside all winter in HS (pushed up close to the house) and they'd survive. I put my rosemary out on the porch here in Charlotte and noticed the other day that the outer edges had gotten frost bit. I moved it back into my laundry room and now have to step over it every time I go out into the garage!
Can you reuse this every winter to grow more herbs?? I love this, your herbs look like they are thriving!!
Robin: I prefer fresh herbs over dried, particularly basil, that's why I purchased it. The unit is a bit pricey and I probably could have done some sort of hydroponic set-up with a bucket and light, but then I wouldn't have wanted it in my kitchen.
Alison: I have two very large rosemary plants in my garden that have winterized really well and survived our ice storms. My giant elephant ears are in the garage.
Bunny: I plan to use this unit year round, but during the summer I would like to try to grow chervil and Italian parsley. What ever I do, I will keep you all posted.
Thanks to all of you for visiting my blog.
Terri
Ok, now I've seen this contraption on two other blogs, so I might have to break down and buy one. If nothing else, I think all the colors are so pretty.
Okay, that is seriously cool.
Post a Comment