AeroGarden Seed Starting System For AeroGarden Harvest Slim Models

I purchased this to start my plants indoors for Spring 2020. I like it because I can start many at one time and transfer outdoors when the weather warms. I plan to do this multiple times by the summer. This way, I will not have to bother or be "concerned" with insects.

I purchased the Harvest Elite Slim model at the right time!! They have gone up in price something fierce! I have used my Aero Garden to grow the herbs and petunias. I have transplanted the petunias to outside pots, and they are doing great! I water them with the liquid plant solution every day! I also ordered the 23-hole starter board that I used once to start sunflower seeds, but the seeds needed to be deeper in the pods. I have purchased another hydroponic system that I will receive today. It is not an Aero Garden, but I got it at a steal! I hope that it is at least half of what the Aero Garden system is. And, I believe it will be!

Started a variety of vegetable seeds in this in May and literally within 2 weeks they were ready to transplant outside! Out of 23 available spots to sprout, only 3 of 4 beans failed because I didn't follow the specifics of how to plant larger seeds like beans. The pod needs to be snipped a bit to allow for the size of the seed. I have 5 varieties of tomatoes, 3 of peas, 3 of peppers, and 1 each of bean, golden zucchini, delicata squash, cucumber, broccoli, cauliflower and brussel sprout. They are all doing well in 5 gallon buckets! Some are already flowering and am looking forward to a small experimental harvest in buckets. I can't grow in ground due to I live on a rocky mountain, but next year will do much more in a raised bed. Can't say enough how great the seed starter worked! I was able to harden the seedlings in another type of contraption and all are doing well!

I bought this as a Christmas gift for my wife. She loves her Aerogarden and has already harvested several crops of fresh lettuce and is nurturing a Cherry Tomato plant that is ready to blossom and bud. Looking forward to fresh Cherry Tomatoes soon. She is also planning her Spring Garden plantings, hence the need for the Seed Staring System.

Just what I ordered

I received this prior to Christmas and proceeded to set up the system with the pods of herbs that came with. They grew great. I decided to get some of the planting pods to start my own seeds. I don't know if these are supposed to react this way or not, but they are all molding in the system at this moment. I am hoping that the seeds will start. I don't know if this is normal or not. I plan on contacting aerogarden for advice. Will update at a later time.

This was a saving grace this year when I accidentally left my seedlings outside and they all burned. The see starter got my new set of seedlings up and ready to plant, so fast and without thinking about it. My only problem was with algae. Since the tops of the sponges are not covered, like in the usual setup, I did have a lot of problems with algae and mold growing on the top of the sponges. May create a paper cover next time.

Some thought was put into this machine! It's super easy to have success for a beginner and is really fun for someone who has been growing since they were little. I only have one suggestion: have a clear column in the front of the "fill to here" tower, so people who place the AeroGrow on a shelf can clearly see the water level when filling, without having to use a step ladder. Thanks so much for this quality machine!

The one I received was warped but I didn't realize it until it was too late to return it. Because you do not want any light getting into the water of your aero garden as it will cause algae and mold to grow, the fact that this is warped makes it almost worthless unless I tape it down to keep the light out.

Only about half of the seeds actually germinated, through two cycles. The tops of the sponges grew thick with a green OR white residue. I discovered that the residue in some cases was the rotting seeds. Does't seem to do well with any legume or squash - I was able to dig out rotted or semi rotted seeds. I cleaned as directed and used bottled water.