Starting Seeds Indoors in an Aerogarden

The easiest way to start seeds inside is to grow them in an AeroGarden.

Have you ever tried starting plants inside to give them a head start before they’re ready to plant outside? I’ve done this… it sounds like a great idea.

You buy your seeds, you plant them, you put them under a light. Save tons of money on buying seedlings or full grown plants… But it’s not as easy as it sounds. I’ve done the whole thing: bought the florescent light, hung it up, bought those seed trays, and the special soil (or soilless mix – what the heck?). Then nothing germinates, and I realize that the basement is too cold, so I buy a heat mat. Get the extension cord out. Forget about them because I don’t go to the basement that often. And yeah… I actually just spent a ton of money and get nothing out of it. So I bought an AeroGarden – a self contained system that grows plants in water. (Note: This post is not sponsored or paid for in any way, I just like the darn thing!).

My thinking, when I purchased my first AeroGarden was that I could easily grow lots of greens for my three house bunnies, who eat a lot of lettuce and also eat me out of house and home. It’s worked ok for that purpose, but I never really get enough harvest to consistently feed the bunnies. However, I have found that the AeroGarden is a great way to start seeds inside and then transplant them into soil into a pot or the ground outside. In fact, it’s the easiest way I’ve found and has produced great results. So, if you’re looking for an easy to way to start seeds inside, I’ll walk through the simple steps to starting seeds indoors in an AeroGarden.

I always have big plans for an herb garden. I love to use herbs in cooking and sometimes I pretend I’m an herbalist and concoct potions in my Levo infuser, like infused Goldenrod that helps for pain. Rosemary infused olive oil is also soooo delicious with a loaf of fresh ciabatta. Usually I buy seedlings at the local farm stand or from Home Depot, plant them in my garden and in the winter, they, of course, die outside.

This year, I’m growing all my herbs in the AeroGarden and am transplanting them into pots that I can put outside during the summer and bring in during the winter. I’m thinking that once they go to seed, I’ll also collect the seeds for next year!

You can buy pre-seeded pods directly from AeroGarden in many different plant varieties, including most herbs, plus tomatoes and peppers, chamomile, lavender, and more). You can also buy “grow your own pods” that you just pop your own seeds into. Both work great and I use both of them. For less mainstream plants, like Roman Chamomile, or Calendula, I use the “grow your own pods,” and for a lot of herbs, I just buy them directly from Aerogarden.

Starting Seeds indoors in an AeroGarden

For the premade pods, you just pop them into a hole in your AeroGarden, once you follow the easy directions for set up. You can get a simple garden with 3 pods, or one with more. I have a 3 pod system and a 9 pod system. They all come with a water reservoir, an adjustable light, and plant food. You then set the light based on the type of plants you’re growing and the system automatically turns it on and off, and also tells you when you need to water or feed your plants. It’s kind of fool proof, which I love.

For the “grow your own pods” you place a seed or 2 or 3 (depending on the size) into the hole in the top of the soil mix. Then insert it into the plastic pod. Write the name of your plant on the supplied labels and stick that on top. Then, just insert it into the Aerogarden and top it with a plastic cap. So easy!

Transplanting AeroGarden Plants to a Pot

I like to let mine get pretty healthy looking and then I transplant them after a month or two. Once they’re leafed out, you can really transplant them any time. So.. let’s do this.

Today, I’m going to transplant some dill into a pot. One reason I’m doing this is that the dill is much taller than the other plants in my batch, which makes adjusting the light to the correct height tricky. So time for the dill to go!

1. Prepare a pot with soil

The first thing you want to do is get the pot that you’re transplanting into ready. Here, I’m just using a standard small clay pot.

2. Remove the pod from the Aerogarden.

Ideally it will have tons of roots. It’s kind of freaky looking and looks very vulnerable, but don’t worry. I’ve never had this fail. Just gently pull the pod straight up out of the water and then carry it to your repotting location and lay it down.

3. Cut the plastic pod off.

I make one cut in the top, and then cut off each of the plastic legs. Then carefully remove the root from the pod. You should be gentle but don’t worry too much. It’s hardier than it looks.

4. Gently twirl the roots around and place them in a hole in the dirt you prepped.

Cover with dirt, and pack in lightly.

5. Give it a good water and put it by a sunny window or if the weather’s nice, outside.

Keep in a sunny location (or whatever your plant calls for) and keep it watered.

Voila. I like this solution because it gets the plants ready, but then allows them to thrive in their natural environment (dirt and sun). I have heard, and have learned from personal experimentation that plants grown solely in the AeroGarden don’t taste as good as plants in the garden. Have you heard of terroir? Wine, for instance, takes on the taste of different soils… so does cheese. Cows who graze on lavender produce cheese that tastes of lavender! When you’re growing plants just in water, they grow fine, but (I think) something is missing in the taste. So that’s why I love this particular solution. Here are some of my successful transplants:

Once your plants are potted and settled, you can then plant them in your garden, or just leave them in pots. I plan to leave mine in the pots so I can just bring them inside in the winter time.