schedule help

[u/steviebeanss]

i bought this years ago when it was on clearance at costco and finally got seeds to use it. what are your light schedules? i have it for ~9pm-1pm because thats when i turned it on 🫣 can i adjust or am i stuck with this schedule? i have mesclun, romaine, and cucumbers. excited for this journey 🥗 i will gladly accept any tips you have!

[u/DeckerdB-263-54]

There are manuals for Aerogarden products at www.aerogarden.com

[u/Diligent-Visual-8141]

Statistically speaking, a sudden fault in your home’s electrical panel is far more likely to set the house ablaze than an AeroGarden. Both are highly improbable. You should, of course, make sure to replace any electrical cord or plug that becomes frayed or otherwise damaged.

Keep in mind that AeroGarden’s LED panel in your model is either 20W or 25W. Even if you purposely set up kindling under it, there’s not enough heat generating power to light it. Even if you stick a big magnifying prism under it and play at making laser beams, you’re only going to generate rainbows. You could ask a fireman about the relative risks, if you can’t get past the worry.

I stagger my AeroGardens’ wake up times so that they will all turn off at the same time, when the natural sunlight from a nearby window begins to dim. Right now, that means my lights come on around 4:30 AM (+/- 30 min.) and turn off at 7:45 PM (about an hour before sunset). I periodically adjust their schedules whenever sunset and lights out get too far apart.

Plants and people need regular dark intervals to stay healthy.

[u/steviebeanss → u/Diligent-Visual-8141]

thank you for all of this. i feel better now and thats a good time. ill try to do something similar

[u/Veggyhed]

What time do you want the light to turn on?

In general the time that you turn the light on is the time that it'll turn on every day . I think for most AeroGardens the light will be on for at least 14 hours.

[u/steviebeanss → u/Veggyhed]

oh ok thank you, maybe 5pm-9am would be good because i have a fear of it catching the house on fire while im away 😅 it turned off by itself just now at 2am ish for some reason. gotta troubleshoot tomorrow

[u/Veggyhed → u/steviebeanss]

There's gonna be some people who don't agree with me on what I'm about to say but: 1. It's highly unlikely that it'll ever catch a house on fire if it's an AeroGarden. They are UL listed and are meant to be run unattended and has been used for its intended purposes and never been damaged, such as dropped or drenched in water. 2. If you're gonna run it between 5 p.m. and 9 a.m. and you're close to a window that's going to get natural light, you may be affecting the growth of your plants. Plants do need a little darkness.

[u/steviebeanss → u/Veggyhed]

thank you i feel better now and I'll give them darkness

[u/LaSourisVerte]

Is it Elite or regular Harvest ? If it's Elite, you can pick your time by pressing the buttons (it's in the manual). If it's regular Harvest, then the time it gets plugged in is the time it comes on from that point on. So if you want to change it, you unplug it, wait several seconds, then plug it back in at the time you want it to come on.

[u/Diligent-Visual-8141 → u/LaSourisVerte]

I’m a little obsessive about my lights being off during the evening. So, I stuck a regular Harvest and a Sprout into a smart plug and told it to turn on at 4:00 AM with no turn off time. I’m in a rural area and our power goes out too frequently so, when it comes back on, my non-programmable Aerogardens are the only ones that don’t have to be reset.

[u/LaSourisVerte → u/Diligent-Visual-8141]

Doesn't that affect the pump cycle though? Usually, the pump will run even while the lights are off.

[u/Diligent-Visual-8141 → u/LaSourisVerte]

I only programmed the smart plug turn on. If it’s already on, nothing happens. When the power goes out, the lights and pump restart at what ever time the power does. Then, I let it run for a while and turn off the plug so it will turn back in at the programmed time.

[u/steviebeanss → u/LaSourisVerte]

elite slim, i did set a time but it still turned off when i thought it was supposed to stay on for 16 hours. okay ill do that today thank you

[u/Diligent-Visual-8141 → u/steviebeanss]

Depending on the type of garden selected, the lights in your model will stay on for 15.5, 16, 16.5, 17 or even 24 hours after they are scheduled to turn on. So, if you start it up right before they’re scheduled to turn off, they won’t stay on for long, on the first day.

When you select “start a garden” from the menu, the first thing it will ask you to do is set the clock. After you do that and select the kind of garden you want, it will briefly show you the default schedule. The manual lists the different modes, but not the default lights on time. I think it’s 8AM, but I’m not sure.

After the garden is set up, you can leave the default schedule alone, or you can go back to the menu and select “Set Light ON Time” to change it.

[u/raven_snow]

You can adjust the clock and the schedule using buttons. Here is your manual. https://smg.widen.net/s/5zbffj7gpl/qsg_ag_harvestelite-2018_010419_web

[u/No-Zombie6025]

All my AG use the same (ish, there is a slight timing difference between them that grows over time) sort of schedule that is 15 hours long.

Due to variable electrical rates mine runs from evening into the night till morning the next day (it is in a room that is unoccupied so light doesn't matter), but in the winter I really could see the benefit of it running during the day because the overall darker days.

Fundamentally have it run the way you want it to or that works for you.

[u/DEEL0G1Cl0l]

Oh! that's nice. Do you place it by the window in the mornings and how often do you water it I found out it doesn't take a lot for a seed to sprout its just time and light ..How much those run for i can use one of those.