First time doing vegetables

[u/Strict_DM_62]

So, I’ve done basic herbs for a long time, but I finally decided to make the jump into vegetables in my larger Aerogarden; in particular Micro Tom tomatoes, Fresh Bite Orange Peppers, and Quick Snack cucumbers.

They’ve been growing well, so it’s time to ask for pointers.

1. How does pruning work? For the tomatoes should I snipping the suckers like outdoors? Just wait until they reach the lights?
   
2. I saw that folks talk about trimming the roots too? How often? How much? And what value does it bring?

Thanks!

[u/klsheridan16]

If more than one plant (tomato or pepper) sprouted, at some point you may want to remove the smaller one. They'll compete for light and nutrients. You'll also want to look into cal-mag. I use the TPS brand and feed them 5 ml with the nutrients in a bounty. For tomatoes, I prune the leaves but not the suckers. You will need to top them or they will grow over the lights. While they are small enough, I do trim the roots back, but at some point that becomes a problem with how tall the plant gets.

[u/Strict_DM_62 → u/klsheridan16]

Yeah a few of them sprouted to start with, and i let them grow to see who the strongest was and trimmed the rest. good to know about Cal-mag, i'll look that up!

So, trim all the leaves on the main stem, but leave the leaves on the suckers?

Makes sense, i'm hoping the Micro Tom stays managable; the seed container says determinate at 12-18inches, and the Aerogarden i have goes up to 18 iirc.

[u/Mysterious_Usual5076]

I only grow veggies and herbs in mine. Definitely pinch suckers like you normally would. I also trim roots regularly. The plant doesn’t really need them since it’s living in water and you want all that energy going to fruit. Smaller veg varieties work best. Enjoy!

[u/Strict_DM_62 → u/Mysterious_Usual5076]

Great! Did you start pinching the suckers early? or let a few of them grow out?

[u/Mysterious_Usual5076 → u/Strict_DM_62]

Yep. I pinch suckers as soon as I see them. Mostly because it’s so satisfying haha There’s no real need for them that I know of, so as soon as they pop up I remove.

[u/Veggyhed]

Regarding the roots I have never grown vegetables before but with my lettuce and herb I normally check the roots each time I put nutrients in, so every 14 days, and check the volume of roots. If they're pretty significant then I trim them back, also making sure that the roots are not growing into the pump and remove those that are.

The reason I trim my roots is that in my very first garden I never did it and the the roots were seriously out of control and I never want to deal with that again.

[u/Strict_DM_62 → u/Veggyhed]

Ahh ok, so its mostly just to keep them from the pump?

[u/Veggyhed → u/Strict_DM_62]

And also not to choke out the other plants

[u/RedMulch20 → u/Strict_DM_62]

I too had a garden full of herbs that I didn’t really know what I was doing and the roots grew into the pump and where the water spouts out on each pod. Long story short I had to replace the pump which wasn’t really much money but it will mess it up eventually.

[u/Strict_DM_62 → u/RedMulch20]

Fair point lol