AeroGarden - David Mathre Photography

Thursday (17-October-2019) — New Jersey

Indoor Hydroponic AeroGarden Farms 01-03 Week Four Update.

AeroGarden Farm 01, Left Tray, Day 29. Red Heirloom Tomatoes and Golden Harvest Tomatoes (seed pods from AeroGarden). All plants sprouted, but growth is still slow. Indoor temperatures have ranged from mid 60’s to mid 70’s. Today installed reflectors on 3 sides to see if that helps to warm the plants.

AeroGarden Farm 01 Left Tray at 29 days. Position 1-6 Red Heirloom Tomatoes. Position 7-12 Golden Harvest Tomatoes. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 640, 35 mm, f/16, 1/25 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 01, Right Tray, Day 29. A variety of lettuce plants showing robust growth. Red Romain, Deer Tongue, Paris Island, Black-seeded Simpson, and Red Sails (seed pods from AeroGarden). One Red Romain did not sprout. So far two batches of leaves harvested. The Dill, Chives, and Genovese Basil (seed pods from AeroGarden) all sprouted, but are small. They were moved to a different Farm.

AeroGarden Farm 01 Right Tray at 29 days. R03 Red Romaine; R02 Deer Tongue; R04, R06 Marvel of 4 Seasons; R05 Paris Island; R07, R09 Black-seeded Simpson; R08 Red Sails; R10 Dill; R11 Chives; R12 Genovese Basil. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 35 mm, f/16, 1/25 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 02, Left Tray, Day 28. Mini-Jalapeno Peppers, Purple Super Hot Peppers, Red Fire Peppers (seed pods from AeroGarden). All plants sprouted, but growth is slow. Do they need a higher temperature? Indoor temperatures have ranged from mid 60’s to mid 70’s. Today installed reflectors on 3 sides to see if that helps to warm the plants.
Chives (seeds from Sustainable Seeds) did not sprout and have been removed.

AeroGarden Farm 02 Left Tray at 28 days. L01-L03 Mini Jalapeno Peppers; L04-L06 Purple Super Hot Pepper; L07-L09 Red Fire Pepper Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 640, 35 mm, f/16, 1/25 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 02, Right Tray, Day 28. Romaine Lettuce (seed pods from AeroGarden). All plants sprouted, and most are growing robustly. One batch of leaves harvested four days ago. The front three positions were Arugula (seeds from Botanical Interests) that were being crowded out and have been moved to a different Farm tray.

AeroGarden Farm 02 Right Tray at 28 days. R01-R09 Romain; Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 35 mm, f/16, 1/25 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 03, Left Tray, Day 2. Broccoli, Swiss Chard, and Arugula (seeds from Botanical Interests). All Broccoli plants sprouted, but growth for two are being crowded by the Swiss Chard plant. Only one of the Swiss Chard plants sprouted, and is growing robustly. It was moved to position 10. Positions 03-06 were plugged. The Arugula in position 11 an 12 came from a different Farm tray. The Swiss Chard is ready to have some leaves harvested.

AeroGarden Farm 03 Left Tray at 28 days. L01-L03 Broccoli; L10 Swiss Chard; L11-12 Arugula. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 35 mm, f/16, 1/25 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

First Harvest of Swiss Chard at 28 days. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 35 mm, f/16, 1/25 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 03, Right Tray, Day 23. Cauliflower, Kale, Cilantro, Oregano, Rosemary, and Thyme (seeds from Botanical Interests). All Cauliflower plants sprouted, and are growing robustly. Two of the three Kale plants sprouted, and are growing. All Cilantro plants sprouted but are growing slowly. The I will move it to the front of the tray, and try to start two new plants. Oregano, Rosemary, and Thyme have sprouted but are tiny . The three herbs were moved to a different tray. The Kale was moved to positions R07-R08 and will try to start another Kale plant for position R09. The Cilantro was moved to the front three positions R10-R12. Positions R04-R06 were plugged to allow more space for the Cauliflower and Kale.

AeroGarden Farm 03 Right Tray at 28 days. R01-R03 Cauliflower; R07-R09 Kale; R10-R12 Cilantro; Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens (ISO 800, 35 mm, f/16, 1/50 sec). (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (56.2 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (29.9 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. More sun and cooler out than yesterday with lots of wind. Overall a net deficit of 26.3 kWh.

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Thursday (10-October-2019) — New Jersey

Autumn Indoor Gardening in New Jersey

After the deer ate my strawberry plants in the canvas pots on my patio, I tried to get some strawberry plants started indoors in the hydroponic gardens. I cut some of the runners from the Garden Towers. After 2 weeks only a small percentage started growing roots. Most were dead. Later, I read that the runners are better started still connected to the mother plant. I then ordered some strawberry plugs (Sweet Charlie and Chandler) from ISONS in Georgia. These are delivered in October for fall planting. I decided to try some indoors in the hydroponic gardens, and the others outside in the canvas pots (replacing the ones the deer ate). Time-lapse video of the indoor planting.

Daily Electric Energy Used (51.1 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (30.9 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. The sun came out in the afternoon. Overall a net deficit of 20.2 kWh.

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Tuesday (08-October-2019) — New Jersey

Autumn Indoor Nature in New Jersey.

The lettuce in the AeroGarden Farm #1 at day 20 is ready to have some leaves harvested for a salad. The types of lettuce growing the fastest are Black-seeded Simpon, Red Sails, and Red Romaine.

AeroGarden Farm #1. Lettuce ready for first harvest (20 days). Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 1400, 60 mm, f/11, 1/125 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

First Harvest. Salad for Dinner from the indoor hydorponic farm.(20 days). Image taken with a Nikon D850 camera and 60 mm f/2.8 macro lens (ISO 1600, 60 mm, f/5.6, 1/125 sec) (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (47.0 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (18.2 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. A little rain and not much sun. Overall a net deficit of 28.8 kWh.

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Friday (04-October-2019) — New Jersey

Autumn Indoor Nature in New Jersey.

The two AeroGarden Bounty Gardens have been online for 10 days with a variety of wildflowers. So far in the first garden, two types of Cosmos, two types of Zinnia, a Marigold, Blanket Flower, Sweet Alyssum, and two types of Coreopsis have sprouted. In the second garden the Crimson Clover, a Red Poppy (mix), Blue Cornflower, and Lupine have sprouted. The California Poppy, Oriental Poppy, Red Poppy, Purple Cornflower, and Lemon Mint have not sprouted. It appears that the support for the seeds for some of the ones that have not sprouted are dry. I wet them from the top to see is anything happens?

AeroGarden Foyer Bounty Left at 10 days. 1) Cosmos Dwarf Sensation; 2) Cosmos Early Dwarf; 3) Zinnia Thumbelina; 4) Zinnia Lilliput Mix; 5) Marigold Sparky Mix; 6) Blanket Flower; 7) Sweet Alyssum; 8) Coreopsis Lance-leaf; 9) Coreopsis Plains. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Foyer Bounty Right at 10 days. 1) Crimson Clover, ; 2) California Poppy; 3) Oriental Poppy; 4) Red Poppy Mix; 5) Red Poppy; 6) Blue Cornflower; 7) Purple Cornflower; 8) Lemon Mint; 9) Lupine. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (53.2 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (41.9 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. Partly sunny and still cool outside. The Geothermal HVAC system wasn’t needed. Computers, Servers and AV (20.2 kWh), Hydroponics (11.3 kWh), Kitchen (2.6 kWh), Laundry (3.3 kWh), Well and Hot Water (1.0 kWh). Overall a net deficit of 11.3 kWh.

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Thursday (03-October-2019) — New Jersey

Autumn Indoor Nature in New Jersey.

The three AeroGarden hydroponic Farms have been online for 14-15 days. Many of the plants have already sprouted, and several of the lettuce plants are growing fast. Depending on how big some of the plants get, I may have to trim some out. The LED lights for each tray raises to 36 inches as the plants grow.

AeroGarden Farm 1 Left. at 11 days. Red Heirloom and Golden Harvest Tomatoes. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 1 Right. at 14 days. Lettuce (Red Romaine, Deer Tongue, Marvel of 4 Seasons, Paris Island, Black-seeded Simpon, Red Sails), Basil, Chives, and Dill. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 2 Left. at 14 days. Peppers (Mini Jalapeno, Purple Super Hot, Red Fire), and Chives. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 2 Right. at 10 days. Lettuce, Romain, Arugula Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 3 Left. at 10 days. Broccoli, Swiss Chard, Basil, Dill, Parsley. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

AeroGarden Farm 3 Right. at 10 days. Cauliflower, Kale, Cilantro, Oregno, Rosemary, Thyme. Image taken with a Leica TL-2 camera and 35 mm f/1.4 lens. (DAVID J MATHRE)

Daily Electric Energy Used (47.0 kWh) from Sense and Daily Solar Electric Energy Produced (5.3 kWh) from SolSystems and Locus Energy. It rained all day, and the temperatures dropped nearly 40 degrees since yesterday. The Geothermal HVAC system wasn’t needed. The new hydroponic gardens used 8.9 kWh. Overall a net deficit of 41.7 kWh.