AeroGarden Bounty Elite Bedienungsanleitung Seite 6

• Not pruning is the number one mistake made by new AeroGardeners! Prune early and often and enjoy
the small harvests!
• Prune often to maintain a healthy garden, but never take more than 1/3 of each individual plant at a
time.
• Plants compete for light. Left untended, more aggressive growers can actually block enough light to
suppress growth of their slower growing neighbors, and eventually they can die off due to lack of light.
Spreading leaves must be trimmed (Diagram B) to make sure that slow growers get enough light to
thrive and produce big yields.
• Finally, pruning = harvesting. Each time you prune you get to enjoy fresh herbs in a salad, soup
on pizza or a sandwich. And, a full, bushy garden looks much better than one giant, spindly plant
surrounded by straggly, light starved neighbors. Pruning also releases a wonderful scent. So prune!
Too High
Cut Here
Starter
Diagram A
Leaves
WATER
• While the AeroGarden control panel will remind you when water gets low, best results are achieved by
topping off water regularly.
• Plants grown in the AeroGarden are designed to thrive with most municipal tap water. Improved
results can be seen with distilled water or reverse osmosis water, but this is not needed in most cases.
• Do not use well water, as most well water contains a high amount of dissolved solids that upset the
balance of our nutrients. This can result in plants suddenly browning, or just not growing well.
• Do not use softened water as it contains too much sodium and will usually harm your plants.
• Do not fill Bowl past fill line mark.
LIGHTS
• Plants love light! Always keep your Grow Lights as close to your plants as possible. Plants should be
1-2 inches below Grow Lights.
• Always check to see if you can prune plants instead of raising Grow Lights. After pruning, lower your
lights back down to within 1-2 inches of plants if possible.
• You do not need to replace your LED lights unless individual diodes start to fail. Diodes have a 3-5 year
life span.
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Diagram B
Water Port
Fill Bowl up to
Fill Line Mark
NUTRIENTS
• Typically, your plants will need nutrients every 2 weeks.
• Follow instructions for feeding amounts printed on the nutrient packaging.
• Add nutrients directly into the Bowl through the Water Port.
• Nutrient requirements may change as plants grow. See nutrient packaging for details.
• More isn't better. Resist the temptation to add "just a little extra. " Too much nutrient can hurt your
plants.
• For best results, try a "Rinse and Refill" once a month when it's time to add nutrients. Simply empty all
water from the bowl, add fresh water and nutrients and reset your "Add Nutrient" alert. This balances
the nutrients, delivering an instant pick up to plants.
Water Port
POLLINATING
Because most people don't have bees in their home, you will need to start pollinating your fruiting
plants (tomatoes, peppers, strawberries, etc) once they begin to flower (approximately 4 – 6 weeks after
planting). To pollinate, use one or more of the following methods:
• Place an open hand inside plant branches and gently move your hand back and forth to shake the
plant and spread the pollen.
• Place a fan near your plants and the moving air will pollinate your plants.
• Use our "Be the Bee Pollinator" to spread the pollen.
• Strawberries can benefit from more aggressive pollination. Using an electric toothbrush, touch each
flower with the brush, moving from flower to flower.
HARVESTING
• Many first-time growers are hesitant to harvest. Don't be! Most gardens will produce more, for a
longer period, with frequent harvests. You almost can't begin to harvest (prune) early enough.
• AeroGardens work best with a harvesting method called "cut and come again. " Simply put, you enjoy
frequent small harvests and then watch as the plants rapidly regrow - ready for harvest again and
again.
• Enjoy frequent, smaller harvests for the first month or two until plants mature and larger harvests are
available.
• Harvest often to maintain a healthy garden, but never take more than 1/3 of each individual plant at a
time.
• For Salad Greens, cut the top 2 inches off the entire garden, or harvest large leaves individually by
cutting off at the base of the plant.
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