Indoor Gardening

Amaryllis buds in Autumn's window

We had no house plants when we moved in to our condo last summer. With moving, renovations, and a cat that destroyed plants I thought I might do a terrarium at some point, but not until the following year. Then the unimaginable. By fall, it was time to say a final good-bye to our 15 year old cat, Autumn. My new friend and neighbor, JoEllen, felt my heartache and brought by this gift of an amaryllis bulb. I planted it in one of my many empty blue and white pots, and placed it in Autumn's favorite window.

What joy it was to watch the bulb grow stems, buds, and then flower...

...one at a time

When one stalk broke off, I made use of a long empty vase (Autumn didn't like flowers either). It was as if Autumn was sending us a message that life would go on with out her. It would be different, but it could still be good.

Five white amaryllis flowers were on this one stalk

One stalk remained...

...and flowered through the winter

In mid-winter it was clear - Covid-19 had arrived, was planning to disrupt our lives and stick around for awhile. By March, I became concerned about having enough fresh produce - especially lettuce for our daily salads. How would I grow lettuce in my condo? I searched online for indoor growing systems. It was tempting to buy large expensive systems, but I settled on one small Aeroponic system - just to try it out.

April 2, 2020

Giving this Aerogarden a try. The pods have pre-planted Romaine seeds that are covered with a small plastic dome during the germination period. Aeroponics use both the idea of hydroponics (growing plants in water) and exposure to air. The roots are partially in water, and partially exposed to air for better oxygen absorption. A small whisper quiet pump circulates the water for five minutes every half hour.

The light is kept 2-4" from the plants and can be adjusted as they grow. The lights turn on and off automatically. We have ours set to turn on at 5 am when we get up, and off at 8 pm. It is always amazing to see how much the plants have grown overnight!

April 9, 2020

One week later and it is time to start removing the domes before the leaves hit the tops

April 16, 2020

Two weeks later and I'm very pleased to see how fast these seedlings have grown

I can add water at any time, but if I forget the indicator lights will remind me. They also remind me when it is time to feed the plants again, about every two weeks.

April 23, 2020

After three weeks, I have adjusted the height of the light several times to accommodate growth. As the lettuce has grown, I notice I am watering more frequently - every few days.

April 30, 2020

It's been four weeks since I started the Romaine seed pods. Since last week, I've raised the light several more times and thinned out the leaves twice to add to my salads. I'm so happy with the way this has worked out, I just ordered another Aerogarden!

May 3, 2020

This time, instead of pre-seeded pods, I bought my own seed packets to use with my new "Grow Anything" Aerogarden package. I'm planting 3 pods of lettuce, and 3 pods of Mesclun.

Here it is - Aerogarden #2 is set up in my living room. Planted on May 3rd, one month after Aerogarden #1. This rotation should keep me in study supply of leafy greens, though I suspect I'll still have to buy some at the grocery store.

After a few days, I decided to move Aerogarden #2 to the dining room, closer to Aerogarden #1 and the kitchen

By the third day, I began removing the domes

   

May 10th, one week after planting, the Mesclun (left 3) are really taking off, while the lettuce (right 3) are a bit slower

Meanwhile, Aerogarden #1 has supplied us with Romaine several times, while I move the light up and down as I trim out the taller leaves, and then wait a few days for more growth.

Growing lettuce turned out to be not only a fun hobby, but a wise proactive decision. There was no Romaine in my grocer's produce department this week. In fact, the entire produce department is looking pretty bare and I have brought home lemons, cantaloupe, and tomatoes that turned out to be rotted on the underside. I caught a bag of red grapes with mold on the underside at the checkout. Maybe I should have invested in one of those large, expensive grow systems. In the meantime, our Aerogardens are supplying us with lettuce, and I have plans to plant Swiss Chard seeds on the balcony. My plans for some flowers on the balcony may change to growing some vegetables... Hmmmm.... maybe some tomatoes? 

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