Noob Grower using AeroGarden Custom Setup

Hi Folks

I've been thinking of growing for a short time since I found some old seeds when clearing out my flat. I'm based in the UK and am just testing the viabilty of a few of my 15 year old seeds. They of three different types packed respectively. The most abundant, 30 or so are what I would call bog weed (ie badly grown extremely seedy), 10 very good unkown strain and 6 white widow. If I get no joy with any of them then I'll buy some .

I read this forum with great interest and for my needs the AeroGarden with some simple mods seemed like a good bet since I've never really tried this before. My brother and I did do 1 seed each in our bedrooms in the early nineties but a well publicised weed raid on the news drew our parents attention to what we were growing on our window sills in soil. We were forced to throw them out .

I've done a rough plan scan and a couple of pics which I hope to attach, how I can't see an attach option yet. Bear with me as I intend to take this all the way and hopefully give you all a few laughs along the way and get some decent feedback on my success/failure.

Cheers
AGSteve

I've ordered most of the mods, just need 2 more clf's, another red and blue. And tomorrow I will order the AG unit on next day del.

welcome to rui and to adult growing. it sure beats getting to know your local criminals and getting mid weed for skunk prices. luck

subscribed.
what other mods have you made? im interested hehe

well i've been reading up on teks first trial of this product and have another idea. I must stress tho i have not started growing yet (still waiting for the important kit to turn up but should be ready to by end of the week) and my seed tests have not gone well. They all float even after an hour of soaking, so I bought some big buddha blue cheese fems from dr chronic. no idea what they will be like but i liked the name (never smoked that before) and the cola looks friggin huge, like a christmas tree.

anyway i was reading about the lst methods and thought this would be interesting to try. maybe biting off more than i can chew for a first go but hey, who dares wins.

i will know more about sizing when all the kit turns up but i was thinking if i could get some moderately heavy tubing cut into 1" - 1 1/2" slices about 5 to 6" in diameter, i could try and grow the plant round the circumference once to add about 16"+ to the bottom stalk length and then train it back up on a stick (well kebab squewer, i got some o those to spare).

cheers
AGSteve

Hijack at 11 days .. from seed

those leaves are looking fat and super healthy. are you using nuts yet? what strain is it?

you got superb low stem growth. i'm no expert but i think quality growth is easy to spot. you had 11 days from seed and you got third set o branches half done. nice. keep going that way and i reckon another 10-14 days you could go to flowering. u got a journal going?

AGSteve said:

those leaves are looking fat and super healthy. are you using nuts yet? what strain is it?

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Its Hijack .. I germed them in paper towels . and put in the aerogarden. im using the aerogarden cherry tomatoes nutes and yea they already had 2 tablets already in the pic they are 11 days old

korvette1977 said:

Its Hijack .. I germed them in paper towels . and put in the aerogarden. im using the aerogarden cherry tomatoes nutes and yea they already had 2 tablets already in the pic they are 11 days old

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are you just using standard lights or the 3 bar ones? also am i right you got no reflective going on? if so shit thats the best i've seen in all the posts i've read (imo).

Its the deluxe hood yes it has 3 lights in it .. , when i put them into flower I used to add 10 extra cfl's .. but this time im going to use a 400 watt HPS .. Im just going to remove the hood

korvette1977 said:

Its the deluxe hood yes it has 3 lights in it .. , when i put them into flower I used to add 10 extra cfl's .. but this time im going to use a 400 watt HPS .. Im just going to remove the hood

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mmm most interesting. i'm pretty sure in uk we can only get the standard ag model (been googling all day and can't find a uk seller of the deluxe, not sure if i can even get the white model).

i'm gonna phone the uk distrib tm to find out the score but i'm still gonna buy one.

AGSteve said:

mmm most interesting. i'm pretty sure in uk we can only get the standard ag model (been googling all day and can't find a uk seller of the deluxe, not sure if i can even get the white model).

i'm gonna phone the uk distrib tm to find out the score but i'm still gonna buy one.

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Home Of The AeroGarden From AeroGrow International :: 1-800-476-9669


dont they sell to the UK? also check e bay .. or make your own .. its pretty easy

a quick update on the homemade grow box before i crash.

the hp server cardboard box i big enough to take two ag's. it is only 35" high but it will fit nicely under my immersion heater when chopped in half.

what i plan to to is chop in half aand butt the two halves together (with a bit more choppin), line both halves with mylar (top, sides and bottom) so when they are push together i get a (pretty much) closed box, half the size but the front i can remove to enable inspection and maintenance.

before lining the rear half i will cut the slider holes left and right to allow the 4x125w clf's to move up and down and to secure them i will just screw the holders tight. the mylar will just be slit down the middle of the of those slider holes so gaps will be minimal. design pic in first post should give a better idea of what i mean if you are confused.

korvette1977 said:

Home Of The AeroGarden From AeroGrow International :: 1-800-476-9669


dont they sell to the UK? also check e bay .. or make your own .. its pretty easy

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from what i've read the us site doesn't sell to the uk. i did read somewhere a us distrib does but that will entail extra shipping charges and take a while. if i get it from the uk site i can get it next day. the extra height would be nice and so would the extra light but i'm getting more lights anyway and if needed i'll hang the hood on chains.

AGSteve said:

from what i've read the us site doesn't sell to the uk. i did read somewhere a us distrib does but that will entail extra shipping charges and take a while. if i get it from the uk site i can get it next day. the extra height would be nice and so would the extra light but i'm getting more lights anyway and if needed i'll hang the hood on chains.

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that you can do .... Just see if they have the pro 200 or the deluxe upgrade .. good luck

I ordered the AG unit this morning (should turn up tomorrow) and popped to hardware shop for a few bits and pieces.

Chopped HP server box in half and cable tied the flaps to create a nice sterdy frame.

I put it under the immersion heater. It was a tight squeeze widthways but got I some room heightways to play with if I mod the top of the box. I then used the other half of the box to create a front. Had to cut it down quite a bit and chop in half, so basically I've now got some removeable doors. I then used some velcro so that the doors can be secured.

I mounted a Honeywell fan upside down to the roof of the grow area. Not sure what cfm the fan is (nicked it from work last summer) but on its lowest setting it shifts serious air. Max setting is a gale. It will rotate thru 180 degrees as well. I'm planning on using this for cooling but will obviously have to either open the grow box doors or remove them.

Lastly I mounted some 6way pdus to the wall. One pdu runs straight from the mains, the other runs from a timer from the first pdu.

My extra lights etc should come tomorrow, so I will be removing the grow box and doors and lining al six faces with Mylar. I can then workout best way of mounting the extra lights.

I'm now thinking of ideas for more cooling/ventilation and odour control. I think odour may well be an issue becuase to the left cupboard wall is the communal stairwell for the flats/apts. I have a 1 foot deep cupboard on the other side of the wall which houses the electricity meter, so I will probably end up having to put a battery powered air freshner with timer in there. I still need something for the grow cupboard tho, which will have no possibilty of be vented to atmosphere. I saw videoman40's odour control post and may try that. Plenty of time to think of something . Any other ideas would be useful.

Check the attached pic and let me know what you think so far.

Cheers
AGSteve

desertrat said:

welcome to rui and to adult growing. it sure beats getting to know your local criminals and getting mid weed for skunk prices. luck

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to true to true. thanks desertrat.

Well all my bits turned up today, so I've been a busy bee and got it all setup.

I didn't germ the seeds, just stuck 'em in the pots. Fingers crossed all will be well. I'm only doing three as they are fems.

I have named them as per their pot labels, Thyme, Chives and Parsley. I used the standard pots and popped out the sponges and removed the seeds, replacing them my own. I did read on another post that the labels needed to be removed but all I did was use the rubber end of a pencil and poked them out. Went like a dream and so did putting them back.

Pics attached.

Quick question should I turn the lights off until they have germed? Currently I just have the ag hood lights on.

Forgot to mention that I'm using Highland Spring Water and added a couple of drops of Optimum Grow 2 part hydro nutrient.

yea you dont need the lights on during germ. but once you see them pop out get those babies on, good luck!