AeroGarden Strawberries

AeroGrow: Use the Herbs/Basil Setting to Grow Your Strawberries

During the AeroGrow International follow-up call, I was informed by the customer service representative to stop using the Strawberry setting on the AeroGarden and use the Herbs/Basil setting instead.  This is very important to your AeroGarden Strawberries as the original Strawberry setting was optimized for a different variety of strawberries.  Please use the Herbs/Basil setting to grow your AeroGarden Strawberries.

What is the difference between the Strawberry and Herbs/Basil settings?

AeroGarden Strawberry Setting:
15 Hours Lights On (day)
9 Hours Lights Off (night)

AeroGarden Herbs/Basil Setting:
17 Hours Lights On (day)
7 Hours Lights Off (night)

Get excited everyone.  Two more hours of sunlight for your AeroGarden Strawberries. (That’s 13.3% more sunlight for your AeroBerries!)

Follow-up Call from AeroGrow International

As mentioned in the letter that was sent out to those receiving the first shipments of Sweet Rubies strawberries, AeroGrow called me to follow up about the AeroGarden Strawberries.  The rep from AeroGrow called this evening at about 6:25pm Eastern to check the status of the strawberries.  As far as corporate telephone follow-ups go, I was very impressed by his candor.   He was very professional and made me feel like he truly cared about how my strawberry plants arrived.

He first identified himself as being from AeroGrow and that he was calling to follow up about the AeroGarden Strawberries.  Questions that AeroGrow asked me:

1. What day and time did you receive the item?
-I received the plants on February 13th via FedEx Standard Overnight.

2. What was the temperature outside during the delivery time?
-The temperature outside was about 45 degrees.

3. Did the plants remain outside for any period of time?
-No, the delivery was left indoors by the FedEx driver.

4. What were the conditions of the strawberry plants?
-Excellent condition.  No darkened areas on the leaves.

5. Did you plant your strawberries as soon as they arrived?
 -They were planted in the early evening of 2/13/2007.

“Thank you sir.  I also want to inform you that we are advising people to use the Herbs/Basil setting to grow their AeroGarden Strawberries, as when we designed the original AeroGarden and programmed the strawberry setting, we used a different breed of strawberries.”

-Interesting.

The gentleman then asked me if I had any other questions, which I did not.  He said that if I had any questions or problems during the growing process to call AeroGrow directly at 1-800-476-9669, email customerservice@aerogrow.com or visit AeroGarden help on the web at www.aerogrow.com/help..

All in all, a very good follow-up call by AeroGrow that was also enlightening.  They seem to be rather concerned about the conditions of the strawberry plants after shipment.  (Heck, I guess I would be too if I spent $27.99 to ship it!)

While problems could come up in colder climates, I feel that AeroGrow has taken multiple steps to ensure the survivability of the strawberry plants during the shipping stages.  The first level of protection is the AgriStar Star*Pac bag, followed by the foam envelope/bag and the sealed cardboard box with the HeatFactory Shipping Warmer to heat the internal temperature of the box.  With the combined three-tiers of protection, the plants are shielded from the elements and out of harm’s way during shipping.

Planting the AeroGarden Strawberries

And now the moment you have all been waiting for… it’s time to plant the strawberries!  Now that we have prepared our AeroGarden for planting, please gather those air-permeable AgriStar Star*Pac bags that contain the strawberry plants.  Grab a pair of scissors too and we will be ready to plant.

Carefully cut open the tops of the Star*Pac bags with scissors. Be careful not to cut any of the leaves of the strawberry plant.  The plant leaves tend to get wedged next to the seal at the top of the bag so you may have to be extra cautious when opening.

Now remove the Plant Pod from the Star*Pac bag.  Take care to ensure that the Plant Pod’s grow sponge, grow basket and plant remain intact.  It is wise to hold the Plant Pods by the grow basket.

Gently place the Plant Pod into one of the growing surface openings.  Keep an eye on the strawberry roots and guide them into the hole if you need to. 

When you have guided the Plant Pods into the holes of the growing surface, press down on the edges with two fingers.  Once the Plant Pods are pushed in, there will be a slight gap between the edge and the growing surface.  This is normal.

Now repeat the above steps six times to finish planting the AeroGarden Strawberries.  Once you have inserted all the Plant Pods into the holes of the growing surface, open the main viewing door and examine the strawberry plant roots.   Ensure that root systems are not resting on the interior cross beams of the bowl.  If they are, simply move them out of the way with your fingers.  That’s it!  You are done and your new Sweet Rubies variety strawberry plants are growing inside your home’s AeroGarden.

Lastly, down today’s date so you know when you planted them.  AeroGrow provides a place to do so on the Strawberry Patch Planting, Tending & Harvesting Guide.  I also used one of those nifty label makers and stuck it on the side of the AeroGarden:

It’s on like Donkey Kong.  The new strawberry plants have been transplanted from the AgriStar bags to their new home in the AeroGarden.  We will be enjoying fresh strawberries from home before you know it!  Check back to see the progress of the AeroGarden Strawberries.

Preparing the AeroGarden for Planting your Strawberries

Okay, before we begin, I am going to assume that you have already have an AeroGarden that is ready to use when the Sweet Rubies arrive.  AeroGrow International made this at-home aeroponics garden kit so easy to use that anyone can do it!  Let’s prepare the AeroGarden for planting your new strawberries. 

Just flip the lid open and fill the bowl with room-temperature tap, bottled, or purified water. 

Plug it in, then take two of the nutrient tablets out of the bag and place them in water.

Now press and hold the reset button for six seconds, then set it to Strawberry.

Presto alakazam.  Are you ready to plant the Strawberry Patch?