My Growing AeroGarden 3SL Indoor Garden

Nearly three weeks ago, we showed you the Miracle-Gro AeroGarden 3SL and how we put it together to begin growing our indoor garden.  We put in the plant pods, placed water in it’s bin, and nourished it with some Miracle-Gro nutrients.  We then plugged it in and have done nothing with it, except add more nutrients just a few days ago.

Now, I want to show you the progress of our AeroGarden indoor garden and give you a few more details about the AeroGarden 3SL.  Here is what our indoor garden looks like today:

Once we plugged in the AeroGarden 3SL cord, the light came on right away.  It’s a pretty bright light.  It stays on for 18 hours to give plants their much needed light.  Then, it shuts off.  The AeroGarden 3SL has a built-in timer so it turns on and off without you having to worry about it.  I put my AeroGarden 3SL in the room off our garage, so when we come in at night, we rarely need to turn on the light, since the AeroGarden 3SL illuminates a good portion of the room.

In addition, we all love coming home and are immediately drawn to the light, eager to see how our plants are growing.  I started our indoor garden with three salad mix greens.  Two are taking off and one has been a slow start from the beginning.  I recently realized that I needed to turn the plant next to my weakling plant, as it was shading the poor little plant.  I’m hoping it will flourish soon.

The interesting thing is once the leaves get close enough to the light, the AeroGarden 3SL instructions state that you should clip the plant back rather than raise the light up higher, which is possible to do, by the way.  Although, I think I’d like my leaves a little more fuller, so I anticipate raising the light a little bit more first before I cut.

The AeroGarden 3SL is a fun amusement to have around, especially in the winter.  At a time when things are dying outside due to inclement weather, it’s been such a pleasure to watch our  young seedlings grow into full green robust plants. When we plant things outside, we have a tenancy to forget about them until 1-2 months later!  And of course, by the time we rememberthem, the whole garden area is filled with weeds!

There are no weeds with the AeroGarden 3SL.  We don’t have to worry if the sprinkler system is working, whether there is too much shade, or even pesky bugs to eat the fruits of our labor.  In fact, there’s really not much labor!

AeroGarden 3SL 

A Mom’s Perspective

I have been amazed…and excited…at how fast our plants have grown.  I began planting a garden with my kids a couple of years ago, it’s been hit and miss.  Out of sight, out of mind and we have not benefited from the joy of watching our plants grow daily.  Now, with the AeroGarden 3SL, we get to see the miraculous process of plants growing everyday!  We have had so much fun watching our little seedlings grow into plants.

According to AeroGarden, most plants will germinate within 7-14 days and be ready to harvest within 4-6 weeks.  Plants will continue producing up to 6 months and longer.  The AeroGarden uses advanced hydroponics to create the ideal environment for rapid growth plants.  Root systems are suspended in air and the water is delivered to them automatically when needed.

So you may be wondering, as I did, can you transfer your beautifully grown indoor plants outside?  The answer is yes!  However, your plants will need time to adjust to the harsher conditions outside, so you will need to train your plants by placing them outside in the shade for several hours each day and gradually increasing their outside time.  AeroGarden gives more details about outside training here.

Your next question might be, are their seeds organic?  AeroGarden tries to keep their seeds as “green” as possible.  They never use GMO seeds, source organic seeds when possible, and work with suppliers who share their values to provide the highest quality plants.  Their liquid nutrients contain no pesticides or herbicides.

This risk-free, soil-free, herbicide-free, pest-free, worry-free way of gardening speaks to me and makes me feel more confident in my plant growing abilities.  In fact, I can almost see my thumb beginning to turn green now!  The AeroGarden 3SL makes a great family gift, a great addition to your office,  or a living gift for someone who lives alone.