midwestchilehead
Extreme Member
I received a sale brouchure on these things, and know a few people here have and use them, but I've never seen a review or never seen anyone say if they are worth the money. So, should I get one?
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Are Aerogardens Worth the Money?
- Thread starter midwestchilehead
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they are great to start stuff in and to clone with .. they are kinda small for a full grow in unless you prune heavy.
midwestchilehead
Extreme Member
Thanks, motocross308. I would probably just use to start and clone with, but I already have a germination box that works pretty well for that. I'm not sure I would want to limit myself to starting only 7 plants at a time. . . .
if you get a really good price, take good care of it and have a good supplier for lights & rooting cones, it might be worth it.
i know people that have them and have looked at used ones and here is what i observed:
you should limit a single grow session to 4-8 months, then clean the unit to let the cheap airstone dry. the airstone seems to be attached in a unfriendly fashion. i have seen stones broken and crumbled, when i attempted to turn the broken airstone it seemed to be sealed in. some had the plastic structure that housed the airstone split/cracked and even broken. i am guessing running the airstone in water is damaging, i know if i leave an airstone in my homemade unit it eventually crumbles. lucky the stones are available at walmart for $3.00 for a carton of 4.
i have seen units with a broken base but that looked like physical abuse.
once you run out of the fertilizer pellets you can use any hydroponic nutrients, i have compared aerogarden nutrient with other hydro nutrients and they are quite similar. so no worry there.
my guess is you would start the seeds in your germination chamber, then move them into the aerogarden, they get covered by a dome cover with the lights lowered, then as the plants begin to grow, dome is removed and direct exposure to the lights. you may wish to resume with the domes when the lights are off. once the plants hit a certain size you pretty well have to move them out of the aerogarden, not only will the plants get to large and out grow the light height but the roots will entangle themselves.
i think once you get your grow pattern down, you will be quite happy with the unit, due to its size and convenience.
good luck.
i know people that have them and have looked at used ones and here is what i observed:
you should limit a single grow session to 4-8 months, then clean the unit to let the cheap airstone dry. the airstone seems to be attached in a unfriendly fashion. i have seen stones broken and crumbled, when i attempted to turn the broken airstone it seemed to be sealed in. some had the plastic structure that housed the airstone split/cracked and even broken. i am guessing running the airstone in water is damaging, i know if i leave an airstone in my homemade unit it eventually crumbles. lucky the stones are available at walmart for $3.00 for a carton of 4.
i have seen units with a broken base but that looked like physical abuse.
once you run out of the fertilizer pellets you can use any hydroponic nutrients, i have compared aerogarden nutrient with other hydro nutrients and they are quite similar. so no worry there.
my guess is you would start the seeds in your germination chamber, then move them into the aerogarden, they get covered by a dome cover with the lights lowered, then as the plants begin to grow, dome is removed and direct exposure to the lights. you may wish to resume with the domes when the lights are off. once the plants hit a certain size you pretty well have to move them out of the aerogarden, not only will the plants get to large and out grow the light height but the roots will entangle themselves.
i think once you get your grow pattern down, you will be quite happy with the unit, due to its size and convenience.
good luck.
i have a couple of them.. i got them on craigslist for 40.00 each and they work well I just had to purchase new cages, sponges, and nutrients. I agree with what moto said they work well till you run out of room..
midwestchilehead
Extreme Member
Thank you all for your input. I was eyeing the new, large one with LED lights, but at $279 on sale, I think I will skip it and try bonchi instead.
yeah you can do that but keep your eyes open for screaming deals.. some ppl give em away and they do work well.
I have 4.... 2 base model 7's a 6 space saver and a 7 Extra model.
I got each one at roughly 20-35 at craigslist. And they do what they supposed to work really good however when plants get a certain size you need to take them out because they will crowd real fast.
You'll be mind blown to see how fast they grow in these gardens.
That LED one looks promising and definitely saves you good money on buying the bulbs which are expensive and can last 1 day to one week to who knows when and they're aerogarden specific. I bought an adapter to out any bulb I want under the hood as long as it fits.
That LED model also has an attachment that seems to be pretty nice. The strawberry bowl and I believe it's a flood and drain type.
They all work but for full size plants I wouldn't recommend but for getting plants to a good size in no time it's perfect.
Good luck.
I got each one at roughly 20-35 at craigslist. And they do what they supposed to work really good however when plants get a certain size you need to take them out because they will crowd real fast.
You'll be mind blown to see how fast they grow in these gardens.
That LED one looks promising and definitely saves you good money on buying the bulbs which are expensive and can last 1 day to one week to who knows when and they're aerogarden specific. I bought an adapter to out any bulb I want under the hood as long as it fits.
That LED model also has an attachment that seems to be pretty nice. The strawberry bowl and I believe it's a flood and drain type.
They all work but for full size plants I wouldn't recommend but for getting plants to a good size in no time it's perfect.
Good luck.