March 8, 2009 by jessijordan
Posted in
I created a Grow Log to document my little fruit, herb and vegetable garden I am growing in my
New York City apartment. 
You can see all my photographs at http://picasaweb.google.com/princessjessijordan/
When I'm not gardening I am a singer, songwriter and music producer. 
www.youtube.com/jessijordanmusic www.myspace.com/jessijordanmusic
www.twitter.com/jessijordanstar
Updated: May 6, 2010
Over the weekend I saw an inspiring filmed called Food Fight & it reminded me how important it is to eat organicly grown food. The truth is you cant get more organic than growing it yourself so I have returned. My garden of 2010 has been planted and today we have sprouts!
Planted May 4, 2010 from in Aerogarden Minis left to right... Bibb Lettuce, Yellow Tomatoes, Genovese Basil, Thyme & Romaine Lettuce. Radish, Broccoli & Arugula Microgreen
Updated: July 7, 2009
My garden is doing very well now! I have been enjoying my lettuces & micro greens. I have even planted a cucumber & a couple of tomto plants in AG3s.
The plants I gave my mom have done well. She has tomatoes & peppers that taste amazing!
Sadly yesterday she discovered that she now has spider mites! How do these things find us?! At least, she has the spray formula I made to beat them. I am looking forward to having alot pf pennyroyal to keep the bugs away. It has just sprout a day or so ago.
Updated: June 16, 2009
My infestation is completely gone! Yay! I have already begun a new crop of romaine, lettuce vivian, bibb lettuce, arugula, thyme, chives, tiny tim tomatoes, broccoli microgreens, basil, oregano and am waiting for my cilantro & dill to sprout. Its been a few weeks now & I have had no sign of mites and my gnat population is almost none gone! I used a homemade insectide recipe I found online & it works like a charm. It kills the buggers on contact. I used the recipe I found here but I only used 1 tbsp of oil instead of a full cup.
Updated: May 26, 2009
I discovered today that I have a trouble infestation of spider mites which has infested almost all of my plants 
. I also broke one of my AG3 bulb when trying to clean the webs on top of it. Therefore I am retiring my gardening gloves for the time being. It was fun while it lasted. Until the bugs came 
Updated: May 3, 2009 ...the view from inside my homemade grow tent!
(1 vote)
Tue, 03/10/2009 - 12:30
#2
aw! thank you so very much!!!
Thu, 03/12/2009 - 18:22
#3
WOW! Have you met Simon Cowell yet? Beautiful stuff, both you and the plants. Glad to have you on board!
Thu, 03/12/2009 - 23:16
#4
Simon is just scarey! lol
Thank you for the warm welcome! I am so happy to have found such a warm and encouraging group of Aero super-knowledgeable people!
Fri, 03/20/2009 - 20:32
#5
WOW!! Your grow tent is wonderful!
Now I'm going to check out your links.
Enjoy!
WOW again! Great voice -- you go girl!
Sat, 03/21/2009 - 00:23
#6
Thank You Judith!!!
Sat, 03/21/2009 - 03:47
#7
Jessi, that's a really neat setup - nice.
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 15:52
#8
I'm sorry to hear that you're giving it up. Maybe just do a search online about how to control the mites? Not closing in the plants? Not bringing in live plants without thoroughly inspecting them? Spray with a food safe spray? There has to be a solution.
I can't imagine you giving it up. 
So sad......
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 16:26
#9
Giving it up!?! 
Hey, Jessi, here's a concept... Dunno if you'll like the idea, but...
Buy some insecticide (one that includes spider mites), and really blast them. What lives, stays. What dies, goes. Like a truly cathartic, frustration-venting type experience, like punching a pillow, only more murderous. Maybe?
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 16:44
#10
Well Judith, I'm not giving up as much as scaling waaaay back. I had a loooooot of plants in here...emphasis on had. I threw out almost everything....
I had too! Almost everything was infested. Even my aerogarden romaine lettuce which is completely ridiculous! I couldnt imagine eating any of it. But I kept...
Plants with no sign of infection so far...
- 1 tomato plant (with the 1 tomato on it ), 2 out of 3 seedlings in soil that I planted Friday.
- 1 romaine AG3 pod that I just planted in AG3 on Friday. It was in the same AG3 as the infected romaine lettuce but it still had its dome on it & as just a few sprouts so I will keep an eye on it.
- the Strawberry plants
and
Plants that are infected but I am treating with constant rinsing & sparying with 91% rubbing alcohol which I diluted 3:1 with water...
- 1 sweet pepper plant in soil
- 1 jalapeno plant in AG3
I read online that alcohol kills the spider mites & gnats on contact without hurting the plants (b/c it dries quickly and doesn't leave any reduce). I actually had a bit of fun killing the gnats. They deserved it!
I was cleaning the AG3s that had the green beans & the jalapeno and found so many webs in and around the bulbs.
I even broke one of the AG 3 bulbs which is a bummer but I pulled off the hood & will use one of my many grow lights as a sub.
So when all is said and done, I will recover. I will just grow lettuce in 1 AG3 & vases, some herbs in 1 AG3 & vases, some tiny tomato plants in soil and the sweet pepper plant which is in soil & jalapenos in 1 AG3 that I'm treating, if they make it. All the rest of the seeds I have left will go to mom's house. There are no bugs there 
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 17:42
#11
Be SURE you don't take bugs to your mother's. I wouldn't chance it. It'll be a long time before you can be sure they're all gone.
Bed Bath & Beyond carries bulbs for the AG3 & Space Savers. Maybe they do there too. Otherwise, you'll have to order from AG. But don't worry, they're fast.
(I love Gisette's idea that would probably work just fine)
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 17:58
#12
Ditto Judith's warning - all plants in quarantine. Though seeds are probably OK.
But - there are bugs everywhere.... A lower population density of plants will help lots, though. Easier to see them and kill them and keep them from spreading.
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 18:10
#13
I'm giving her my seeds not plants so theres no worry there. They are all kept in sealed air tight containers and I had sealed each pack with tape when I used them many months ago..
I definitely have a lower population of plants lol. Its all good. I'm ok with it. Everything happens for a reason and the time it took to water the soil plants everyday was a lot anyway. I'm all good now.
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 18:39
#14
Jessi,
Sorry about your problems. My mom had some gnats when the AG first started and she was a bit embarrassed since some guest at a dinner saw them .. But there were only a few here and there for about 2-4 weeks for her.
Tue, 05/26/2009 - 18:54
#15
Jessi,
Sorry about your problems. My mom had some gnats when the AG first started and she was a bit embarrassed since some guest at a dinner saw them .. But there were only a few here and there for about 2-4 weeks for her.
Wed, 05/27/2009 - 04:23
#16
Good luck in your comeback. :)
Wed, 05/27/2009 - 11:29
#17
Poor Jessi, it's horrible when you lose plants after so much TLC.
Good for you that you're not giving up, we would miss all your grows.
Wed, 05/27/2009 - 12:46
#18
Thanks Peat & Stonecold
It was truly heartbreaking but I'm better now. I have returned to my zen like state . After I sanitized everything (including myself) with bleach & alcohol, I outfitted my AG3s with new little babies to look after.
I put my burpee seeds of cilantro, bibb lettuce & lettuce vivian in 1 AG3, regular AG romaine pods in another & my own parsley with AG thyme & chives in my 3rd AG3. The last one has the Jalapeno which I say looks remarkable gorgeous today. I believe the alcohol is extremely effective! I even see new growth on it.
So far the Sweet Pepper plant has no more signs of the pests either but I keep looking & spraying with my alcohol sprayer just to be sure. I'm actually kind of obsessed with spraying now! But hey there are worse obsessions to have. Yesterday, I kept a pot of cilantro that I had planted on Friday & it has gnats in it so I alcoholed it & I actually watched a gnat larvae shrivel up & die. It was very cool!
I did find 3 little black specs on my strawberry plants that I immediately sprayed to death & then wiped each little leaf with an alcohol Qtip. There is no way these things are taking me down! Lol!
Anyhow, I have decided that all my future planting will be in water. I am gonna make a few of homemade AGs in the near future (pot, water, airstone, pump) to grow more herbs and lettuces. I'm looking forward to that.
Wed, 05/27/2009 - 15:02
#19
Yea Jess! Glad to hear you're not giving up. You go girl!!
Enjoy!
Sun, 06/28/2009 - 21:42
#20
Well Jessi, have you given up? Where are you?
Wed, 07/01/2009 - 22:49
#21
NO Judith my love! Never that!
I have just been really busy finishing my new album called "Intuition". Its been a lot of work but fun work! You can hear it on my website www.jessijordan.com
Then 2 days ago I got attacked by the Mother of all evil computer viruses! I spent 2 days trying to free my laptop & I still am fighting one nasty lil bugger that AVG knows is there but somehow cant locate it to remove it. Its some kind of mutating virus that changes its names & extensions. The darn thing changed my permissions for TaskManager & Regedit! It was a nightmare. Now its just a bad dream but Im gonna fix it sometime this weekend.... meanwhile
I have been maintaining my lettuces & microgreens & tonight I put some cilantro I bought in the supermarket with its roots still attached into a vase with a bubble blower! How cool would it be if it lasts for months? We shall see
I took some pics of the tomatoes & peppers in my moms garden I gave her so I can show u guys some fruit of my labor finally! I will try to get those up 2morrow.
I will always be checking in from time to time. Not as often as I used to, as I wont be home as much now that my album is done I have to be out & about promoting it but I will always check back & see all your grows!
Wed, 07/01/2009 - 23:04
#22
Hey, congratulations, Jessi!
Good to hear from you, but best of luck with your promotions!
Thu, 07/02/2009 - 00:13
#23
thanks G! I really appreciate it!
Thu, 07/02/2009 - 09:53
#24
Wow Jessi! Great news! Congrats and all the best to you!
Enjoy!
Thu, 07/02/2009 - 13:07
#25
Jessi,
Most excellent - Congrats on the album!
Beth
Thu, 05/06/2010 - 22:04
#26
Nice to have 'em sprouting again, Jessi?
BTW, it's a quirk of this system that if you edit the first post of a grow log, instead of adding a comment, it doesn't show up as a Recent Post. (That's why we keep adding comments to extend growlogs - otherwise people don't notice there's new stuff.
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 08:57
#27
Yes G!
Very exciting! I had forgotten how much I love this stuff.
Interestingly enough the burpee seeds of lettuce & herbs sprouted within a day or so of planting and the AG seeds are just getting around to it. I have one sprout in 2 of the 3 AG romaine pods. I do see a tiny white sprout from the yellow AG tomato which is exciting! I sure hope it grows. Those seeds are from Dec 2008 I believe so its amazing there is still life in there!
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 09:21
#28
Yeah! Seeds are tough. Most seeds last 4-5 years, fertility dropping off as they get older. And they seem to take longer to germinate, as you say.
Sun, 05/09/2010 - 09:48
#29
Hi Jessie! Glad to see you back to growing!
Enjoy!
Sun, 05/09/2010 - 12:15
#30
Hey Jude! thats so funny! I just left u a "hello" on another page u posted a comment on...
You have such a gorgeous voice! The blue eyes are really striking, too!