First Grow Ever and Using an Aerogarden

Ok I'm using a basic aerogarden that was given to me and utilizing a lot learned in this thread https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/34120-daves-aerogarden-grow-pics.html.

For my first grow I'm using the "free" 5 seeds I had delivered to me so I have no clue what they are. Just hope at least one becomes a female.

I was given an AG with5 pods growing regular herbs, I cut them all out and replaced the sponge with a new cut up kitchen sponge. I germinated the seeds using the plate, bowl, paper towel method. After 2 days all 5 seeds sprouted to about 1/4 inch and I transplanted them to the sponge and into the aerogarden.

Dave's thread said he kept up with the AG nutes since they controlled the PH. I'm going to try that as well. Starting off with no nutes for the first 2 weeks and then putting in 1 every 2 weeks for like the first 2 months and using a 1/4 nute whenever if the plants look like they are desiring some. I forgot when he switched to using the full 2 nutes so I'll go back to reading his and update this.

Here is my beginning setup:
Aerogarden
cherry tomato seed pack nutes
Air pump from walmart
Emergency blanket from Johnson and Johnson first aid kit (will setup after 2 weeks)
Topped the AG with foil

Started germination on 6/19/08 and moved them to sponges on 6/21/08


Will add pictures soon, got to reboot

Here are some pics. My questions are:
When can I get rid of the domes?
Do I stop the 24hr lighting when I want to start flowering?
When do I go to flowering.

I will be disconnecting the top light and use it as a side lite and put 8 cfl's above the plants and raise them as I go.

yo man ill answer your questions i use this system and became a fuckin expert with it. 1. u loose the domes when u first see sprouts peak above the paper thingies because they need air exchange to breathe. 2 yes u stop the 24 hours of light when ur ready to bud, u use a 12/12 cycle this is best with a wall timer bought at walmart or something because the aerogarden doesnt have a 12/12 setting. i used a ps2 cable to plug into the lights on top and the original cord into the base so i can put the lights on 12/12 and leave the pump on 24/7. also make sure to use 1 small nutrient tablet each time u need to replace the nutrients in the water i learned this the hard way by over fertilizing my plants. 3 u probably want to start flowering when they r half the hight of your lights because they will double in size by the end. or when the nodes alternate instead of growing leaves in unison. hope i could help man peace out

Thanks for the reply. I will be disconnecting the top light and using 6 43watt cfls so I think at about 8 to 10 inches I will start flowering. If someone recommends longer let me know.

Also can I cut it to 18/6 to save on my electric bill?

Here they are today

pappysmears said:

Thanks for the reply. I will be disconnecting the top light and using 6 43watt cfls so I think at about 8 to 10 inches I will start flowering. If someone recommends longer let me know.

Also can I cut it to 18/6 to save on my electric bill?

Here they are today

Click to expand...

yea man u can do that some people believe plants cant even grow longer than 18 hours a day because genetics ur somehting but iono its just easier for me to leave em on but do what u want man

Thanks for the reply.

I Just set up my room for now, I want to make a little box with an open front end. For now I created this in my closet (pictures below). I stapled a emergency blanket to the wall and put the 150w CFL's a couple inches above the babies. They've been about the same for 2 days, maybe they'll like this.

Let me know if anything looks wrong please.

Thanks

OK here I am about 10 days after germination. Can someone in the know let me know if these look ok?

These where given to me free as a special when I bought some seeds from overseas. At what stage do you have an idea of what you were given?

I Got An US aerogarden but im using it with a stepdown transformer in the UK the transformer Works a treat but ive now blown my bulbs, So The Big question is what if i was to buy UK Version bulbs and put them into the US aerogarden then use my ps2 power cord to supply the right voltage for the bulbs i really dont want to blow any more builbs , or waste any more money so tell me if im wrong, Advice would be Very Welcome

Get rid of the Aerogarden lid and use a vanity light kit from your hardware store. They are pretty cheap and then go out and by the 43 watt CFL's. I read 4-6 of the bulbs are good.

Can someone please tell me if my plants look ok, I think they may be a little too light green.

I saw I put the wrong germination and planting dates here are the right ones

Started germination on 6/12/08 and moved them to sponges on 6/14/08

Ok here are the status of my plants after 2 weeks. They were turning light green and I guessed correctly that it was missing some nutrients even though some don't recommend any during the first 2 weeks. I ordered some cherry tomato nutrients on ebay and they took forever to get so 3 days ago I decided to put a 1/2 tablespoon of miracle grow in and my plants loved it. Today I got the aerogarden cherry tomato nutrients so I changed the water and put one of the two tablets I got of the grow nutrients. Once those are gone I'll go to the flowering nutrients which they gave me many of.

OK I need some help now. Not knowing what these seeds are I think I should top them to keep the height down. I can go to about 3 feet with my setup I think and still get the plants enough light. Right now the plants are about 2.5 inches tall and I've added some more pictures.

When should I top these guys? Is now ok or way too early? I've read quite a bit with too many differing opinions.

Thanks

Ok July 5th and my plants seem to be doing pretty well, still not sure if I should top. I have about 4 feet to work with. I also need to do some research on trimming, I don't want to cut something important.

One leave on 2 plants started to curl a little and turn yellow and I noticed a lot of the other plants were turning slightly yellow so I added another growing nute from aerogarden's cherry tomato nutrients when I filled the reservoir with more water. They seemed to like it, I'm just hoping I don't burn them.

REEFA said:

I Got An US aerogarden but im using it with a stepdown transformer in the UK the transformer Works a treat but ive now blown my bulbs, So The Big question is what if i was to buy UK Version bulbs and put them into the US aerogarden then use my ps2 power cord to supply the right voltage for the bulbs i really dont want to blow any more builbs , or waste any more money so tell me if im wrong, Advice would be Very Welcome

Click to expand...

check the small print on the Aerogarden itself, mate - it may be that it accepts dual voltage and you may not even need the step-down at all. If it says something like "Power Input 110-230VAC 50/60Hz" then you can just get a shape-change adaptor for the mains plug and buy UK grow-CFLs for it.

It's been about a month and I got 2 plants that are reaching over 10", 2 that are about 8 inches, and 1 runt. I'm thinking about starting the flowering cycle tonight or tomorrow.

The yellowing I think is from some deficiency so I'm going to add some more nutes. I don't think I got nute burn going on.

6 days into flowering and not sure if i'm getting any sign of sex yet. I may have hurt the flowering cycle a little bit by opening the door once letting light in and another time flushing the system after the lights went out and introducing the plants to light in the kitchen. The biggest one is about 15 inches tall with a thick ass cola.

Still having problems keeping these guys green with aerogarden nutes so I caved in and bought some foxfarm nutes (the trio pack big bloom, etc). Should get them on the 21.

Here are the pics, I got some closeups if any sex is determinable please let me know.

Ok got my fox farm nutes today 9 days into flowering. Flushed the system put in half the suggested amount from this table from the fox farm people hydrofeed.pdf

Plants looking pretty good, I raised the lights more than 2 to 3 inches above the plants like I have been doing to about 10 inches higher. The plants started to reach out, not sure if that's a good thing but the tallest is about 21 inches. I have a runt in the middle not sure if it's the strain or just that it's sisters (i hope) are taking all it's light.

Roots are all tangled up, I hope to the marijuana gods that I get all females. Not sure how to untangle.

If anyone can see any sign of sex please reply. I don't think it's possible yet though. Nobody posts here anyways, I'm all alone . Haha, maybe when the buds start growing.

13 Days since going to 12/12 lighting and still no signs of sex. Unless I'm missing something. The biggest 2 plants are about 26 inches tall.

If anyone know the strain please let me know and if you see any sex traits showing let me know.

Thanks

Here is Trainwreck. going in an aerogarden Deluxe....

You just made me want to have buds now, god damn things just won't start. Maybe they are just waiting because they are going to be huge