Plant combo - where to start?
I’m trying to figure out what I should use for my 1st planting (Ultra LED 7pod).
Here are the things that I want to plant at some point - just not sure what combo(s) would work best or what would be good to start with:
Basil
cilantro
thyme
flat-leaf parsley
mint
rosemary
chives
kale
spinach
arugula
leaf lettuce
hot peppers
sweet peppers
roma tomatoes
flowers for cuttting
Looking for suggestions from you experienced growers - what has worked best for you?
My garden is coming with the Gourmet Herb kit, but I don’t really care for a couple of the herbs included. What is your experience with the grow-anything kits? Burpee seeds?
I know, lots of questions (yup, I’m new to this)
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Thanks for the tips. I think this is going to be a trial-error thing for me. We use a lot of basil, thyme & flat-leaf parsley, so for sure will go with those. May try cilantro just to see what happens (I personally hate the stuff, but rest of family loves it). Lettuce is also high on my list to try soon. Will wait on peppers for now as I'll have a bit of a learning curve & don't need an aphid battle thrown in at this point.
So happy I found this forum - really helps answer my newbie questions.
I’ve planted Burpee hot pepper seeds in the grow anything pods in a Bounty Elite. They’re still young but sprouted nicely. I use an xacto knife to cut crevices into the peat cone in the pod and insert 5 or 6 seeds in each pod into the crevices with tweezers. Burpee seeds can be expensive because you get far more seeds than you need and they have a limited shelf life of a year or so.
You have to pick Burpee varieties that have a low grow height, say 18 inches, and a relatively narrow spread. As Ginger has noted, peppers including sweet peppers are a magnet for aphids, it’s some effort to deal with them. The sweet peppers and Roma tomatoes by themselves would fill up your AG with no room for herbs. They’re probably too large for a 7 pod AG.
For herb selection, think about what you would actually use in cooking. In my first garden, I planted some herbs that seemed cool but that I don’t really use often. Once they’re growing you have to harvest herbs frequently to keep them from growing up into the light and to keep the fast growers (basil, parsley) from crowding the others out.
Wally R
I use these sponges. The styrofoam block system is handy, too -- can start the next Aerogarden grow while the current one finishes up, overlapping grows by a week or three.
https://parkseed.com/park-starts-seed-starters/p/v1595/
Moderator. Author of Indoor Salad, Ecigs 102, and the Calm Act climate apocalyptic series.
Ginger, you rock!
We will probably use lettuce & basil the most, so glad to know that combo works.
I like the idea of using your own sponges, etc vs spending the $$ for kit. I did see some AG sponges on Amazon - were those the type you used? I also like the flexibility of using my seeds vs buying kits & only really wanted several of the pods included.
Looking forward to getting set up!
Lettuce and basil work together. Most other herbs, the lifespans don't match up very well. As in, the lettuce is ending its useful lifespan just a few weeks after the pokey herb really gets going.
It's been years since I bought an Aerogarden kit - I mostly use my own sponges, nutes, and seeds these days. Reuse the plastic pod baskets. I did buy a grow-anything kit once upon a time.
Moderator. Author of Indoor Salad, Ecigs 102, and the Calm Act climate apocalyptic series.
Thanks again, Ginger. Info is very helpful. I think I'll be using herbs & lettuces the most often, with tomato & peppers for attempt #2, & flowers after that.
Is it possible to do some herbs & lettuces together?
Have you had best experience using the pod kits vs. the grow-anything pods w/other seeds?
Hi Bella,
I'm big on instant gratification. :)
The lettuce, or the herbs, will be useful soonest. The fruiting and flowering plants are really slow, so I'd suggest waiting on that for after a first successful experience with leaves. Of the fruiting plants, jalapenos seem to be easiest. (But I haven't grown them because I don't like hot peppers.)
Kale and spinach (especially spinach) don't thrive in an Aerogarden. Mint, chives, cilantro, and rosemary don't do well.
Basil does really, really well. So if you don't like pods in the gourmet herb kit, what you could do is scrape out the seeds you don't like, and replace those pods with extra basil or parsley. Because basil and parsley are herbs you use in greater bulk.
Mixing plants of different lifespans and nutritional needs causes problems.
My favorite? Summer crisp and compact romaine lettuces.
Moderator. Author of Indoor Salad, Ecigs 102, and the Calm Act climate apocalyptic series.