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Easy, cheap, DIY wicking cups

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This year I’ve transplanted most of my sprouts from the AeroGarden Bounty and my DIY system, into Styrofoam wicking cups. These are super easy and quick to make. They are nice intermediate vessels for the plants until being moved to their final location. These setups also provide more flexibility than standard double cups do. For instance, you could remove them from the bottom cup and set in something larger for the plant/s to drink from.

Watch my video below to see how I make them.

Items that are shown or mentioned in the video:

– 20-ounce styrofoam cups ( You can also pick these up in the grocery store or places like WalMart) – https://amzn.to/2Cz2O1m
– Microfiber clothes – https://amzn.to/2WkSLUO
– HLG-100 grow light – https://amzn.to/2HVsCbv
– 48″ x 48″ x 80″ grow tent – https://amzn.to/2U5MxuJ
– Coco coir – https://amzn.to/2TuOi05
– Perlite – https://amzn.to/2uocFm7
– Dyna-Grp 7-9-5 – https://amzn.to/2uqDeH4

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Update on HLG plant

I make commissions off of purchases made through links in this post. This is at no extra cost to you and helps support my website and YouTube channel.

I’ve called it the HLG plant because it’s the only one I’ve had under my Horticulture Lighting Group HLG-100 3000K light. The pepper plant is an unknown cross with Lightning Mustard Hab and has grown prolifically. I need to make room in the tent and make use of the light for this year’s pepper starts. So I pruned it way back, and trimmed the roots, and moved it from the 27-gallon tote to a 5-gallon bucket. I also changed the nutrients from Flora Nova Grow to Dyna-Gro 7-9-5. I’ll soon move it out of the tent entirely and put it under one of my red/blue LED lights. I’ll need to sanitize the grow tent and set up space for my new pepper plants.

Most of my pepper plants have been transferred out of the seed starting system and AeroGardens, into small wicking cups. I’ll probably put most of them in tote lids so they can all feed through the wicks out of the totes.

Here are some pics of the plant I just pruned back.

Plant before pruning
Before pruning
Plant after pruning
After pruning
Plant roots
Roots
Plant after transplant
After transplant
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Hydroponic DWC seed starting system – DIY AeroGarden

DIY AeroGarden with plants
DIY AeroGarden

I make commissions off purchases made through product links in this post. This is at no extra cost to you and helps support this website.

I built this hydroponic deep water culture system for starting pepper plants. It was very inexpensive and easy to build and works well. It uses a small air pump, air stones, one-inch net cups, AeroGarden sponges (although just about any kind of growing sponge would work, ie BioDome, Rapid Rooter, Root Riot, etc… It has a built-in light stand with a Sansi 30 watt grow light.

Parts showed (or equivalent) in the video:

Commander XL 5 gallon tote – Get at Lowes
Air pump – https://amzn.to/2XNpXpB
Air stones – https://amzn.to/2TtfFfG
Sansi 30 watt grow light – https://amzn.to/2XPc8H7
Dyna-Gro 7-9-5 – https://amzn.to/2XOKz0T
Air tubing – https://amzn.to/2NV3LFI
1-inch net cups – https://amzn.to/2NV06r7
AeroGarden sponges – https://amzn.to/2TqEn0m
or
Rapid Rooter (cut these in quarters the long way) – https://amzn.to/2XOKzxV
1-inch bit – https://amzn.to/2NT804t
1-inch PVC pipe – get at Lowes
1-inch PVC tee – get at Lowes

Here are pics of some of the plants I transplanted out of this system.

Aji Lemon Drop
Aji Lemon Drop
Fish pepper
Fish pepper
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Pepper grow update #3 – 02/17/19

plants 2/17/19
Grow update 2/17/19

I earn commissions from purchases made through links in this post. This is at no extra cost to you and helps support my website and YouTube channel.

My third pepper grow update for 2019. The plants are starting to outgrow the AeroGarden Sprout seed starting deck. I have them moved to something bigger soon, hopefully by the next update or the one after.

These are items I use that are shown or mentioned in the video.

AeroGarden Bounty – https://amzn.to/2X86Czi
AeroGarden Sprout – https://amzn.to/2DQ0wKT
AeroGarden Sprout seed starting deck – https://amzn.to/2DQ0xyr
Sansi 30 watt LED grow light – https://amzn.to/2BGAOIv
Dyna-Gro 7-9-5 – https://amzn.to/2Ee6pmL

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How to quickly unclog the AeroGarden Sprout aerator

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From time to time, the aerator nozzle on the AeroGarden Sprout gets clogged. The most effective way to fix this is to take it out and clean it, but if you don’t have time for that, this is a quick and easy fix to get the air flowing again. All you need is a bendable dental gum brush.

AeroGarden Sprout – https://amzn.to/2V0bN2k
AeroGarden Sprout seed starting deck – https://amzn.to/2SO61U6
Dental gum Proxabrush – https://amzn.to/2TQ7W7M

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Basil sprouting time-lapse

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I’m currently testing a Sansi 40-watt grow light with two wicking hydroponic systems, a kit made by Ball and one I made. This is a review of the Basil seeds sprouting in both systems. I’ll post the full video soon show how these are made, and a review of the grow light. This same method would work great for pepper seeds.

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How to take apart the AeroGarden grow deck for recirculating models

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It’s important to pop apart the grow deck for recirculating models between gardens. This is because roots can get in the channels and block nutrient flow. It’s very easy to do, but not very intuitive if you’ve never done it before.

Here’s a video showing how to take apart the grow deck on an AeroGarden Bounty model.