I live in cold Montreal and would love to grow herbs in my apartment in winter! I am mostly interested in basil, chives, parsley and cilantro. I've heard mixed opinions about the Aerogarden. Does any of you guys have one, and how do you like it? Also, which one would you recommend for herbs ? Thanks.
I don't have an Aerogarden but I've heard good things about it.
I grew herbs in my apartment in the windowsill, with plant lights, and with flourescent lights and have had success with each. It needs enough light, ideally close to overhead if you're doing bulbs - so a lamp across the room might not cut it.
I generally use a dedicated plant light, they're not expensive, about $20, and put it on a timer. They like to get around 10 hours sun, so I can set the plant light ot make sure it is on long enough to satisfy the plant.
Of course if I can set it in the windowsill, then the sun does the work for me!
Through that method I've grown lettuce, chives, basil, cilantro, parsley, radishes, and ... a few other things I can't remember off the top of my head. I even grew peppers, but they didn't flower - I learned later they need true sunlight for that - plus bugs to pollinate unless you're willing to do it yourself.
I also looked into the AeroGarden (they are a local company) when the weather started to turn cold and I realized that my abundance of fresh herbs wouldn't be around much longer. I love the idea of small-scale indoor hydroponic gardening, but the price put the AeroGarden out of my reach.
Instead, I set up an inexpensive fluorescent plant light under one of my kitchen cabinets and planted some herbs (parsley, thyme, sage, basil and chives) in terracotta pots. They are doing great so far, sprouting their second set of leaves. I'm going to repot them into bigger containers this weekend.
This was a great solution for me, even though I live in a tiny (~500 square foot) apartment. But the AeroGarden is still on my (idealistic) wish list, because you can get much better yield and faster growing times with hydroponics.
Oooh, when I first saw that AeroGarden on QVC a couple years ago, I wanted it soo bad. I forgot all about it and I just saw it at Bed Bath and Beyond the other day for cheaper than it originally was.
I also looked into the AeroGarden (they are a local company) when the weather started to turn cold and I realized that my abundance of fresh herbs wouldn't be around much longer. I love the idea of small-scale indoor hydroponic gardening, but the price put the AeroGarden out of my reach.
Instead, I set up an inexpensive fluorescent plant light under one of my kitchen cabinets and planted some herbs (parsley, thyme, sage, basil and chives) in terracotta pots. They are doing great so far, sprouting their second set of leaves. I'm going to repot them into bigger containers this weekend.
This was a great solution for me, even though I live in a tiny (~500 square foot) apartment. But the AeroGarden is still on my (idealistic) wish list, because you can get much better yield and faster growing times with hydroponics.
Bergamot,
Can you please explain more please I am not doing so well with my herbs here in Minnesota at all
The light is just a basic 25" long plant light that I picked up at my local hardware store for about $25. I turn on the light first thing in the morning, and shut it off right before bed.
I keep the seedlings moist at all times by watering them about every other morning. I'll start fertilizing them with an organic, kelp-based fertilizer after I re-pot them this weekend.
That sounds like what I do, except she's using a long plant light and I typically use the spotlight kind. They need to be somewhat close to the plant, but not directly on it.
When I was growing up we had an indoor setup where we could raise & lower the lights over a plant table my dad made. It was pretty cool.
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