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Amy really surprised me with this gift at Christmas. She was not sure if I would like it, so she only purchased 1 AeroGarden. I recently ordered 3 more, because it is a blast.

“What is the AeroGarden?” you say. An AeroGarden is a cool little inside Aeroponic Garden (similar to Hydroponic, but the roots are in 100% humidity air rather than water) made by AeroGrow. You have 7 seed pods per unit and just put in the pods, fill up the water to the line, add the two starter nutrient tablets and plug it in. The water automatically pumps into the sponges holding the seeds and the clear plastic “bio-dome” cups keep moisture in until the seed sprouts. Once the leaves form, you remove the clear plastic cover and let it grow. And grow they do, up into the compact fluorescent grow lamps.

I “planted” (from right to left) Cilantro, Parsley, Oregano, and Garlic Chives in the back and (again right to left) Basil, Thyme, and Purple Basil in the front. this picture is a couple days old, about 3 weeks after starting the garden. I’ve done a small harvest on the Cilantro and Chives, and the basil has almost caught up.

The AeroGarden has a microprocessor that controls the watering and lights. You pick a cycle that corresponds to the plant type you are growing and “night and day” take differing times. Herbs don’t require darkness, but when growing flowing plants such as tomatoes or peppers, you need to be synchronized to real daylight. If the plants don’t get 5 hours of darkness, they will not flower. I’ve synchronized AeroGarden #1 to sunrise at 7 am so that I can synchronize the coming pepper and tomato AeroGardens to night. I need a much better name than AeroGarden #1. Herbie. Yeah. So Herbie, gets up at 7 and goes to sleep somewhere around midnight. (Herbs cycle has around 7 hours darkness.)

I purchased a 3 pack with a free 3 unit stand, but it has yet to ship. I’ll be growing Romaine lettuce in #2, various Peppers in #3, and Cherry tomatoes in #4. (I’m not ready to name them until they get here and sprout. Wouldn’t seem right, ya know.)

I’ve tried some of the Cilantro already and it is amazing. I’ve had “fresh” cilantro before, but that was treated to keep fresh and had some bitter after taste. This was really fresh and just clean and AMAZING. I can’t wait until the Basil is ready for harvesting. I’ve purchased herbs in the past and wind up letting half or more of the $5 bunch go bad. This should keep up with my needs. And it should challenge me to try dishes with whatever herb is most full when I need to harvest. That will be fun.

I’m hoping that the Romaine can keep up with salads for two, as some people have reported. After looking at the quality of the Romaine offered at the store, I’m looking forward to this. You actually know what type of pesticides and chemicals went on it. (None!)

I’ll keep you posted.