by Susan Klatz Beal

Created on: November 15, 2008   Last Updated: January 31, 2011

Aero Garden is an ideal self contained growing system for plant lovers, gardening fanatics or people who, for whatever reason, aren't able to grow things in a typical or traditional garden space or growing environment. It is ideal for apartment dwellers, townhouse owners, condo owners, or anyone who doesn't want all of the maintenance involved in having a large garden. It provides the perfect growing conditions for a huge range of different types of food plants, herbs and flowers. 

What distinguishes AeroGarden from other hydroponic systems is that it uses hydroponic and aeroponic technology. The hydroponic technology is quite simple: you grow plants in water without any dirt or chemicals. In order to do this, there must be a reservoir and a place where the pods that hold the seeds can be placed, suspending it in the water. What AeroGarden does that is different is suspends the pods above the water.

The pump that is built into the platform that houses the pods, pumps water in a waterfall like manner onto the root system of the plants you grow. The seedpods are placed in holes that hold the pods in suspension over the water. A little rivet built below each the hole for each pod allows the water to flow over the sponge that holds the seeds. The seeds are started with a cover over them, keeping the moisture in and allowing air to get to them from the bottom. This technology speeds the germination process and encourages faster growth. The presence of oxygen also minimizes the development of algae, although algae development is virtually inevitable.

AeroGrow began with a very simple model for which it wasn't possible to grow vegetables that required staking or that would grow tall. That included almost everything other than lettuce. The early model also only had two bulbs and they didn't offer as wide a spectrum of light as the newer bulbs. Advances have resulted in the development of a sophisticated timing system, the ability to adjust the settings for growing different things, which also means that the amount of light and the rate at which the water circulates over the roots will vary. 

A longer arm with a trellis system makes it possible to grow tomatoes, peppers and other vegetables and provide the support for them. The new models have increased the amount of light that growing plants will get. In addition, AeroGrow has reformulated the fertilizer that they include with the seed kits. Early on, the fertilizer that was included was tablets, and they

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