Super-newb - Aerogarden Grow

This is just in the initial setup stage, as I just got my Aerogarden in the mail, now waiting on seeds.
I went with the 6-pod Aerogarden, simply for ease of use and $80 price tag.
For seeds, I used Attitude after reading all the comments around here, should get here within 6-10 days. Ordered 10x each of: KC Brains Brazil x KC, White Label White Skunk, and got a free 5-pack of G13 LABS THAI SUPER SKUNK. 65-something bucks shipped with a shirt, i figure 25 seeds for the price of an eighth its pretty reasonable.
Plus, it gives me a lot of trial & error wiggle room

Once I get things setup, hopefully I can get my camera going, get some pics up.


But first, I had a couple prelim questions:

1) When I first put in the seeds after germination, and leave it on 24hrs light, will the AG's auto-features allow me to leave town for a few days, or will I still have to water it every day during the beginning?

and

2) What are the biggest "newb mistakes" that I can make during the first few days, that would severely damage/impact my chances of a successful grow?



Thanks in advance, been on the site for a few days, but reading as a guest for much longer. Once I get through an initial test/control grow, I plan to put some of the better tips/technologies into play, if all goes well.

I have not used aerogarden, but $65 an 1/8th?!? Dawg Damn!!!!

well, 60 an eighth for extremely good stuff. college area, so prices slightly inflated. For me, its a good price, all things considered

and speaking of which, where is the best place to buy an Airstone and Timer? is it less sketchy to buy them online somewhere?

leova said:

well, 60 an eighth for extremely good stuff. college area, so prices slightly inflated. For me, its a good price, all things considered

and speaking of which, where is the best place to buy an Airstone and Timer? is it less sketchy to buy them online somewhere?

Click to expand...

Pet stone fer airstone (or hydro store), timer, ANYWHERE!!! Almost
BTW, I wouldnt pay over $40 fer a 1/8 from Jesus, unless we in prison, THEN thats a good price

well, we all gotta get what we all are able to get. I'm only able to find $60 eighths in my area, so thats what i get. Then again, I enjoy em like crazy, bongin' all day and night, so it works out quite nicely. At some point I figured my herb expenses at $5-7 bucks a day, which is just fine. Heck, thats comparable to a cup of Starbucks and a bag of M&Ms at work/school...


That said, how long into a grow will the plants/aerogarden start to noticeably smell? Naturally all will vary, but in general, how many weeks does it take before the smell gets going?


(Still waitin on my seeds, should get here middle of next week, then i can start gardening....)

subscribed, pics would be cool

https://www.rollitup.org/aerogardeners/168751-aerogarden-guide-faq-v-2-a.html

While I wait, may as well post a couple pics of my setup, eh?

The first two are the space I'll be using, once everything gets here, and I clean out the clothes/etc.

The next two are of the Aerogarden itself, I went with a 7-pod model(apparently its 7, i miscounted earlier)
Last pic is the way I plan to have it setup...if all goes well, theres space there for another one, if i turn it sideways

(oh, and ignore the dates. Camera had been off for so long, it reset itself I guess...)

Looks good man, make sure it will be light proof once you start to flower, are you going to be using that whole space? or dedicate just one side?

take a look at that link too if you havnt, alot of questions were answered, and its great info for the AG, it will help you get prepared for the grow, good lucc

its more or less good on the light-proofing, the door swing closed. If it gets too light, I have a huge closet/dresser thing I can use, and which I'll use for further grows if this one works out.
I might just use the one side, but if they get too tall, i might have to hang the lights higher up on the other side. Either way, I got plenty of space in there to work with, and a second closet as well

I've checked out the FAQ quite a bit, been building up a folder on my desktop with flowering, harvesting, nutrients, links, charts, pics, etc. Wanna be super-prepared when i get things going

leova said:

well, we all gotta get what we all are able to get. I'm only able to find $60 eighths in my area, so thats what i get. Then again, I enjoy em like crazy, bongin' all day and night, so it works out quite nicely. At some point I figured my herb expenses at $5-7 bucks a day, which is just fine. Heck, thats comparable to a cup of Starbucks and a bag of M&Ms at work/school...


That said, how long into a grow will the plants/aerogarden start to noticeably smell? Naturally all will vary, but in general, how many weeks does it take before the smell gets going?


(Still waitin on my seeds, should get here middle of next week, then i can start gardening....)

Click to expand...

Well, some plants start stinking as early as veg. Generally, ya know ya shud be stinky by week 4 of flower.

thanks 4 weeks is plenty of time to figure out a way to mask/eliminate the smell.
Anyone know if auto-spray Glade/Air Wick plugins will work? I'm thinking I could just put 4-5 of them around the growroom, to keep the smell at bay


Also, in regards to the airstones:

Airstone - how big of an airstone will fit in an Aerogarden?
Air Pump - how big/powerful of a pump should I get? I dont wanna overdo it in terms of bubbles...
Air Tubing - anything to be aware of here? Tubing shouldn't be too rough...


also, i've seen a lot that Nutes shouldn't be added until 2 weeks, but what about the "Starter Nutes" from the AG itself? Do I wait 2 weeks on those also, or immediately after germinating?

Airstone, you can fit a 10 inch on in there, any pump will work, the more bubble the better, heres a pic from that link i gave you

Sweet...went to walmart today, picked up most of the stuff I need, except water and mylar
In regards to the water, it needs to be either purified or sitting out for 48hrs, yes? So does Distilled water work?
For the airstone, I don't think mine came with suction cups...is it alright to use duck tape to attach it to the AG, or will that damage the airstone somehow?

Also, I picked up a pair of 24" Grow Lights(120V), which claim that they "use 17W of energy and produce 75W of light"...Is this enough to help out the AG, and how can I find out the number of Lumens they put out?

Also grabbed a little 6" rotating desk-fan to simulate the wind and get the stems healthy.

you should just go get suction cups for the store and you should
clean all materials before you start you dont want any nasties

any general place i can get suction cups? not exactly a household item, you know?

You don't necessarily need the suction cups. I have two 5" airstones just sitting in there. I also got a 40 gallon air pump.

If you want you can check out my grow and see what I did. I'm a week into 12/12 right now, but the first couple of posts have my setup all laid out. Also, you can look and see what you can expect later on in the grow. (results may vary, haha, always wanted to say that.)

P.S. links in the signature.

took a look at your setup, looks nice

However, I'm still questioning my lights. Based on what i've read, they wont produce near enough lumens to do the job....

The growlight in the first 3 pics, i bought 2 of those...thoughts? At $10 a pop they seemed pretty solid...

the last pic is a fan that i bought for circulation/stem growth - does it look too powerful, will it kill the babies?

(sorry about the pic quality, had to use no-flash or get a huge white blob every time)

Just got my seeds in the mail, freakin sweet! It only took 6 days, but I was sweatin each and every one! Pic attached

Before I start things off, here is the plan of attack:


1) Clean everything - water+soap OK?
2) wait for things to dry, take a bong rip
3) connect everything, hook up lights + pump
4) Flush Aerogarden with water(tap water ok?) by leaving system on for a few hours (how many)

5) cut hole in bottom of AG sponge for root growth
6) Germinate Seeds (via papertowel method)


Anything else before actually planting the seeds? I'm sure theres something missing there...

The lighting situation is probably gonna need to be upgraded.

Less Light = Slower Growth.

I would invest in some CFL's from Lowes or Home Depot (they usually have the 6 pack of 6500 K 26W for like 12 bucks)

About cleaning, I didn't clean anything but the reservoir, then just put everything together and mine are doing fine. I'm sure cleaner is better, just sayin.

Good luck on the germing. Make sure there in a semi-warm area, like 75-80 degrees, that usually germs more and faster.

leova said:

Just got my seeds in the mail, freakin sweet! It only took 6 days, but I was sweatin each and every one! Pic attached

Before I start things off, here is the plan of attack:


1) Clean everything - water+soap OK?
2) wait for things to dry, take a bong rip
3) connect everything, hook up lights + pump
4) Flush Aerogarden with water(tap water ok?) by leaving system on for a few hours (how many)

5) cut hole in bottom of AG sponge for root growth
6) Germinate Seeds (via papertowel method)


Anything else before actually planting the seeds? I'm sure theres something missing there...

Click to expand...

1. Check
2. Check
3. Check
4. If you can, use spring water, has a lower pH then tap, but if you use tap, let it sit for at least 24 hours, you will NEED to checc your pH DAILY, http://www.amazon.com/pH-Control-Kit-General-Hydroponics/dp/B000BNKWZY/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_1

5. Check
6. Check


you got it all down