AeroGarden Reviews : What you NEED TO KNOW!

It’s not often in this world that you can firstly find a product that you love, and secondly, become a part owner in the company. The AeroGarden is an exceptional exception to that norm. The founder of the AeroGarden (Michael Bissonette) has had a lot of experience building profitable companies, and when he discovered the power of Hydroponic and Aeroponic growing technology, he could see the huge market potential should the technology become available to consumers.

Well, it has…and in more ways than one. Not only can consumers benefit from the availability of hydroponic and aeroponic technology, they can PROFIT from it too.

AeroGrow International (The manufacturer of the AeroGarden) is a publicly traded company which means that you can actually purchase the companies stock and become a part owner of the company (you may only own one-one millionth of the company, but at least is a part )

I have personally purchased a chunk of the companies stock because I believe they have created an incredible product. The stock is fairly inexpensive as last time I check it you could purchase 1 share for $7.40. It’s likely going to get more expensive as the company “grows”, so it will be interesting to see what happens. I’ll keep everyone posted.

The AeroGarden stock is traded on NASDAQ and it’s ticker symbol is AERO. Here is a link to the Google Finance Stock Quote.

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As a big fan of salsa and spice, I couldn’t wait to try the AeroGarden Chili Pepper Seed Kit. For this kit I actually purchased the new “AeroGarden Pro100 Stainless Steel” unit. At a price just $20 more than the older black and white models, it was a no brainer when choosing. Besides the upgraded look of stainless steel, it also has “adaptive intelligence” that automatically adjusts everything based upon the growth of the plant…pretty cool huh? (I don’t really know how it works

Anyways…the kit sprouted right on schedule just like the last ones and seemed to grow just as quickly. I followed the directions in the AeroGarden tending and harvesting guide and trimmed back the plants when they were about 2 weeks old. After another week I could already tell that trimming the plants made a big difference and encouraged much more leaf and stem growth. At about 4 weeks my chili pepper plants began to flower! I was excited. With the Chili Pepper Seed Kit, just as the Cherry Tomatoes and other flowering kits, you have to pollinate the flowers by hand once they bloom, otherwise no peppers will develop. I didn’t want to risk growing a pretty plant with NO fruit, so I used a trick my grandpa use to use on his tomatoes. I got an old small paintbrush and actually brushed the pollen of the flowers onto each other. This way, I could ensure that each flower would produce a pepper.

Signs of Success:

Sure enough, shortly after I pollinated the flowers I began to see small little bud (baby pepper fruits) forming which quickly grew into full blown chili peppers and lots of them. It was a blast to watch the peppers change colors. I have to admit, that even though I like salsa and spice, the chili peppers in this kit were a little to kickin’ for my taste, but none the less it was a beautiful kit to grow. It basically served its purpose as a beautiful, decorative house plant. Everbody that came to our house commented about how much they liked it.

Overall Summary:

Overall, the Chili Pepper Seed Kit for the AeroGarden was a fun kit to grow. Although the peppers didn’t really get used due to being a little too hot & spicy, they provided an attractive and unique accent to our home and were very fun to grow and look at.

Overall AeroGarden Seed Kit Rating for the Chili Pepper Seed Kit: B+

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After we used up our Salad Greens seed kit, my wife wanted to try the International Basil seed kit for the next round in the AeroGarden. Normally I’m not a big herb and basil fan, but I’ve got to tell you, I was very pleasantly surprised with this kit.

After just a few short days, about 2 days earlier than they were supposed to, the basil plants started sprouting up…and up, and up! In a little more than 2 weeks I even had some plants big enough to start taking leaves from. And what a variety! There was lemon basil, napolitano basil, genovese, globe, thai, and purple basil! All of them grew very well. This time, unlike the problems I experienced with my cherry tomato kit, I followed the AeroGarden directions for pruning the basil plants, and it made a world of difference. Pretty soon, the plants began to branch out and they looked beautiful, not to mention the wonderful smell! All I had to do was drag my hand through the leaves and it would release a delicous aroma through the whole kitchen. It was incredible.

I soon began to realize that the AeroGarden was producing a lot (and I mean A LOT!) of basil! I wasn’t quite sure how I would use all of the basil from my AeroGarden, so I began to try new recipes and ideas.

Basil Recipes from the AeroGarden:

1) The first thing I tried was the Genovese Basil. I cooked a fresh bagel and put cream cheese on it, then just laid the basil leaves on top of the cream cheese…believe it or not this was delicious!

2) A while back I signed up for the newsletter from www.Hydroponic-Home-Garden.com (The store where I purchased my AeroGardens). Each month they send out an email with a featured recipe using one of the AeroGarden seed kits. One of the newsletters contained a recipe for “Pesto Pasta” that was phenomenal! The recipe called for 2 cups of packed basil (this would have cost a small fortune from the grocery store) so I started picking and packing the basil from my AeroGarden. The recipe didn’t mention a specific basil to use, so I mixed and matched all of them…it was the most flavorful pesto I have ever had! It made me love the AeroGarden even more!

3) My family loves bruschetta, and one of the main ingredients is basil. We ave been alternating the different flavors of basil in the bruschetta’s we’ve been making and everyone has absolutely loved each one. So much so that we are sharing the basil with our friends and family, and the AeroGarden is STILL producing!

In Summary:

The International Basil Kit for the AeroGarden is my favorite kit so far! It grows quickly, it’s beautiful, it has a wonderful aroma, multiple uses, and it produces a TON of basil! You could probably pay for the entire AeroGarden itself just by growing the basil in this kit. I would recommend this kit to anyone.

I would rate this AeroGarden Seed Kit with an A+ !

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Well, I was very excited to begin the Cherry Tomato seed kit for my AeroGarden. Just the thought of plucking fresh, juicy red cherry tomatoes was making my mouth water and I couldn’t wait to get started.

First Impressions :

When I first opened the kit I was somewhat surprised that only 3 out of the 7 growing pods contained seeds. When I called the place I bought it (The Hydroponic Home Garden.com) and asked them why, they told me that the tomato plants get fairly large, and that there is not room in the AeroGarden to support 7 tomato plants. If they included 7 plants, they would block the light and space and prohibit all from growing properly…so that made more sense.

During the Growth Cycle:

One of the mistakes I made with this kit was leaving town for 2 weeks…while I was gone, I neglected to trim the tomato plants as indicated in the “AeroGarden: Cherry Tomato Harvesting Guide” which, as it turned out would ruin my entire crop. When I returned home, the plants were growing nicely, and I was excited to begin harvesting the juicy ripe tomatoes…however, I would be greatly dissapointed.

First Blossoms, and First Sign of Trouble:

As the first blossoms, and fruit began to appear, I realized that I was going to have a big problem…due to my neglecting to trim the AeroGarden’s tomato plants as directed, the plant were now at the maximum height in my AeroGarden, and still growing. I had 2 choices, either trim them back (which would mean cutting off my flowers & fruits) or I could let them keep growing and risk them getting too big for the AeroGarden.

I chose the latter, and sadly watched as my flowers and fruit began to be scorched by the AeroGarden’s light hood. The plants had grown too large for my garden. I gave the plants a couple more weeks to see if they would produce, but alas, all I was able to get was a small handful of the yellow tomatoes. None of the others produced.

In Summary:

I have no doubt that the Cherry Tomato seed kit for the AeroGarden would have been a great kit had I simply followed the instructions. But, because I didn’t I pretty much wasted the money for the kit, as it did not produce as I had expected. I will likely try again in the future, but overall I must admit I was dissapointed.

Overall AeroGarden Seed Kit Rating:  B-

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When I first purchased my AeroGarden back in early 2006, it came with the Salad Greens seed kit included. The Salad Greens kit was also the one featured in the AeroGarden vs. Soil comparison video…so naturally I was excited to get it planted and see the actual results. I must admit that I scoffed a little when I noticed the label on the seed pods said that the seeds would sprout in 1-2 days. But none-the-less, I placed each seed pod in its proper place, filled the tank with water, plopped in the starting nutrient tablets, and plugged the unit in…anxious to see the seeds sprout in 1 day as promised.

Sure enough, the next day I peered into the little grow sponges and to my amazement there were tiny little green seedlings appearing! “No way” I thought! When I had planted lettuce before in my “outdated” soil garden they almost always took at least 4-5 days to sprout. Needless to say I was excited.

Over the course of the next 5 or 6 days, the seedlings grew very fast and before I knew it I had to remove the protective clear “bio-dome” lids because the little lettuce leaves were pressed up against them. It made sure to check my AeroGarden’s progress each morning before I left for work, and each day the plants grew more and more. Three weeks passed and the lettuce leaves were already large enough to use!

It was finally time…I couldn’t take it anymore…I had to try and eat them. So I did! The leaves were surprisingly soft and tender, and had great flavor. I used the lettuce from my AeroGarden in everything from dinner salads to sandwiches and they were all delicous. I am a big salad and greens eater, so I went through the production of the AeroGarden fairly fast, and I must admit I was a little dissapointed at how fast it dissappeared, but other than that I have no complaints about the Salad Greens seed kit for the AeroGarden.

In Summary:

The Salad Greens kit for the AeroGarden is probably one of the more entertaining kits. It grows extremely fast, and produces a lot of lettuce in a very short amount of time, so it is fun to watch. If you are any kind of Salad Eater, you will likely go through the lettuce pretty fast…so don’t expect to get months of home grown lettuce from this kit. But it’s perfect if you’re only gonna use it a couple times a week.

Overall this is a great kit! I give this kit B+.

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For those of you who have inquisitive minds that absolutely have to know how everything in life works, here is a brief overview of the technology behind the “growing success” - Freudian slip perhaps? of the AeroGarden.

The AeroGarden Technology: The Modern Mix of an Ancient Technology

If you could have walks the cobblestone streets of ancient babylon, you would have been amazed at the beautiful hanging gardens that added precious life and color to the drab cold stone walls. How did they do it? There was no soil involved…the simply used the earth’s simplest life giving substance…WATER! The ancients would use aquaducts throughout the city to grow beautiful flowers and produce. Plants were suspended in the aquaducts and the roots were surrounded by nutrient rich water.

Today, modern science and NASA have perfected the technology of growing plants and produce with water. This technology is called “Hydroponics”.

What is Hydroponics?

Basically, hydroponics is the technology of growing plants with water instead of soil. Pretty simply isn’t it?

How do Hydroponics work?

The reason Hydroponics are so effective is because they take all of the work out of growing for the plant. The nutrients that plants need are dissolved in the water. Oxygen is added to the water by agitating or stirring the water daily. The plants roots are immersed in the nutrient rich water and the nutrients and oxygen are basically delivered right to the roots of the plants without any work on their part. This allows the plants to spend their energy in fruit, produce, or flower production rather than in root development.

Doesn’t the AeroGarden use Aeroponics?

Aeroponics are a variation of Hydroponics. Instead of immersing the plants roots in the water, the roots are suspended in the air, and in true Aeroponics, the roots are then misted or sprayed with the nutrient water solution. The AeroGarden doesn’t use misters or sprayers, and is in fact a mixture of Hydroponics & Aeroponics. In the AeroGarden, the roots are suspended in the air, but instead of being misted, a constant stream of water is pumped to and drips over the roots, delivery the needed air and nutrients, then falls back into the water tank below.

The Ultimate Effectiveness

Hydroponics and Aeroponics are revolutionizing the agricultural industry…mostly because you can produce an amazing amount of produce in a small space, much faster than traditional gardening. For more information on Hydroponics, and how you can build your own Hydroponic System, you may want to check out “How to Hydroponics: by FutureGarden”. You can purchase it from www.Hydroponic-Home-Garden.com 

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Last year the Gardening communities were buzzing with the arrival of a new home gardening appliance that boasted miracle-like growth of fresh herbs and other produce with just the touch of a button…

So what is this “Miracle Garden”? It is called the AeroGarden by AeroGrow International.

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