OK, I finally decided to start my own thread. I am a complete noob to growing but I have an Aerogarden that's been going for 20 days now. I started with 7 mixed bag-seeds. I have NO IDEA what strain they are since I usually just collect seeds whenever I find them in a bag. A lot of them are from Mexico, some from California, and from Oregon. Anyway, I dropped the seeds in the pods and fired it up on July 26th.
I am growing for personal use, and I don't smoke a ton, so my main goal was CHEAP. The AG cost me basically $20 for shipping so far, and I have another 2+ weeks to decide if it is worth keeping, then I pay $40 a month for 3 months. I managed to scrounge up some upgrades: I found an old aquarium air-pump at the Goodwill for like $3, and got an airstone for $2. I had an old fan, and also an 18" flouro tube lamp that I stuck in there as well. Finally I rigged up an old triple bulb lamp with CFLs I pulled from other sockets in the house. They are only 13watts, but I already had them, so they did not cost me anything. I am using the AG nutes, but only one tablet per gallon, and I am using distilled water because I am on a well with lots of minerals in the water. Finally I found a wire from an old camcorder that fit the light hood perfectly! A $4 timer from Goodwill along with a three-way plug, and my light are now on 18/6 with an adjustable timer.
Out of 7 seeds in the AG, 6 have sprouted, one was a dud. I also stuck all the actual herb seeds (basil & mint, etc) in a soil pot along with one extra bag seed I had. That one is sprouting too, and so are the herbs that came with the AG, which will make my wife happy if they grow.
So I have 7 little ones, but so far two are stunted. They still are under the little plastic cups from the AG, and are not growing much. I may off them if they don't die of natural causes, but I will see how long the little buggers can hold on.
By far my best plant is the "Italian Basil". She started leaning from the get go, but this may actually work out well since she is low and SUPER BUSHY, she had better be a GIRL! Next to her is "Parsley", she is growing and filling in nicely. Finally I have "Dill" and "purple basil" that are looking healthy, though growing more slowly than the other two. I am hoping for at least one female, but we shall see.
First of all, I know that the setup I have is hella ghetto, and that I should be using better nutes and stronger lights, but I have what I have, and for this grow that is probably as good as it is gonna get.
I am hoping someone can give me advice on when to flower. I have heard that you should flower early in the AG, how do I know when to flower?
OK, so it's been 21 days and the growth is insane! I can actually see new leaves on Italian Basil a few hours after the last time I looked!
I think there are about 4 sets of leaves on both her and Parsley, the last sets have 7 points. I haven't gotten any responses on this thread, which kinda sux. I need some advice on when to start flowering. I am thinking maybe a week at the most??
Anyway, here are more pics.
