Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought the Miracle-Gro AeroGarden Extra LED. It has 7 pods and came with the gourmet herb seed kit. Here are a few comments I have about the device. 1. The LED lights truly are bright enough on their own. Since I have a cat, I put mine in a closet to keep her out of it. Actually, I think it is better to keep this away from too much other light. Keep it away from windows and don't put it under cabinet lights etc. The extra light could burn the plants. That's right, this thing provides all the light you will need. 2. Pruning - when my plants start getting close to the light panel I prune them. This needs to be done about every other day once they really start growing. Sometimes daily depending on how quickly they grow. Don't raise the lights - prune your plants. This will let the slower growing plants get enough light. Prune, prune, prune. Leave the lights on the lowest level until all the plants are up to the light. 3. Cilantro - Ok here's the scoop on growing cilantro. Cilantro seeds need darkness and not too much humidity to germinate. So, don't use the grow dome and cover the hole on the pod with a quarter or a piece of tin foil until the sprouts are coming up to the top of the paper. Then remove the cover and proceed as usual. 4. Chives - I haven't had too much success with chives. Miracle grow recommended leaving the grow dome off of this one as well. Mine sprouted but didn't grow much of a root system and didn't really take off. Also, here's something important to know about chives. They are toxic to animals. This is the one seed pod in the gourmet seed kit that you need to be careful with if you have pets. If your cat or dog will have access to it, maybe consider planting something else in this pod. Your cat will love you if you replace this with Catnip. :-) 5. Did I mention to prune your plants instead of raising the lights? This is important. Prune away. You'll be ok if you trim down to the next new growth (don't leave stem sticking up) and don't take more than 1/3 of the plant at a time. So you are pruning your herbs but not ready to cook with them. Now what? Did you know you can dry herbs in the microwave and they will last longer? It doesn't take long so keep an eye on it. Also, some herbs are drier than others right off the plant (i.e. dill is drier than basil). Obviously drier herbs take less time in the microwave than herbs with more natural moisture. You can store them in a ziploc or a mason jar. I put mine in the fridge. You can also try freezing them although I'm not crazy about the wilted texture this produces. 6. Mint - this one took the longest to germinate. The seeds are tiny so you may not see them in the pod. Just be patient be with this one. I left the grow dome on and just waited. It eventually came up and did just fine. 7. Parsley - this one was a little slow to sprout but it is looking great now. Again, just leave the grow dome on and be patient. 8. As your herbs grow, check the water level more frequently. That basil you are growing is really greedy when it comes to water. 9. Shake the nutrients. This seems obvious but you really do need to shake it up well. There is a lot of nutrient cruddy goodness that settles at the bottom. You want to make sure your little babies get all the love they need so really shake that stuff up. 10. Once a month or so it doesn't hurt to change the water. I use bottled spring water just because my water is hard and I want to protect the pump. You should also put fresh nutrients in at this time. Go ahead and prune the roots now too. Just cut off the really long ones. It will keep them out of the pump. Don't go crazy here - just give them a trim. It won't hurt them and it will help your Aerogarden pump last longer. 11. Electricity usage - didn't even notice a blip in my bill due to this. The LED models don't use much electricity, the lights are better for the plants and they last years instead of months. Definitely get the LED model over the regular one. It will save you money in the long run and is worth the initial investment. 12. The LEDs - as I said above -they last longer, are better for the plants and use much less electricity. They are also multi colored and look cool. :-) 13. I had to replace two pods the first time around because they didn't grow. Cilantro and Chives. (See items 3 & 4 above). Aerogarden will ask you to wait 21 days for the warranty to kick in but then they will send them out and it is hassle free. They even paid the shipping and gave me some growing tips. I experienced very good customer service from them. They asked if the Aerogarden itself was working and it was but I think they were ready and willing to deal with that if it had been necessary. Just be sure to go register your garden when you get it so they can look you up in their system. 14. This garden has a few different light and watering settings. For the herbs that come with the garden the lights will need to be on for 17 hours a day. There's no 'clock' but it is on a timer. I just turned mine on at exactly 6am and it goes off every evening at exactly 11pm. This simulates daytime and then the light is not bothering me at night. Also, since I'm currently hiding mine from the kitty due to the chives it's providing more than enough light for the walk-in closet it's residing in. 15. I also ordered a 3 season supply of grow anything pods. I haven't planted these yet but will as soon as I have a free space. My cat has requested that I replace the chives with catnip. This seems like a reasonable request given the toxity of chives to cats so I'll probably do that. LOL! Have fun and enjoy your garden!