Starting Seeds: A Photo Tour

Reader Contribution by S.M.R. Saia
Published on March 20, 2011
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So far the seed-starting efforts around here are going pretty well.

In previous years this stage of the garden has been fraught with insecurity, but like most things garden-related, this year I’m feeling a little more confident; a little more relaxed. While I would like to do things on a slightly larger and more organized scale, I am nonetheless content to do this suburban style – using an unnecessary and expensive appliance to accomplish a fairly low-tech job.

My husband gave me an Aerogarden about four or so years ago for Christmas, and though we used its pods and nutrient tablets that first winter to grow herbs, I stopped using it when the nutrient tablets were gone. For me, anything that requires that I keep purchasing something eventually becomes an annoyance, and the Aerogarden was relegated to the attic. It wasn’t until a few years ago when I first considered starting seeds, rather late in the game – April or May I think – that I thought of the Aerogarden again. Or, it would be more accurate to say, that I thought of the lights.

It turns out that the Aerogarden lights make a perfectly adequate seed-starting station, and I’ve used it for that the past few years. The light is on an adjustable arm so that you can move it higher as the plants grow. There is a timer that can be set to provide 16 hours of light and 8 hours of darkness. All I have to do is drop by every few days to water and ogle the progress.

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