Day 58: International Basil Aerogarden Doing Well...My old Aerogarden not so well...

Well, I returned from my trip. I got in at night, but my apartment was well-lit thanks to my two Aerogardens. Not only that, my fridge was empty and I was hungry, so I thawed my pesto, cooked a batch of pasta, and enjoyed a very nice dinner that took all of 8 minutes to prepare. And yes, using the freshly grated Parmesian Reggiano really made the difference.

The basil Aerogarden is doing fantastically. Just six days ago, I'd cut at least a third off all the plants, but now they've all grown back and are hitting against the growth light again. And as you can see, the little transplanted red basil plant is still holding its own.


So, I'm going to need to quickly find another recipe that uses a LOT of basil. If you have any suggestions for me, leave a comment of what I should cook, and I'll cook it and take pictures :)

I actually had another Aerogarden on the other side of the room that was growing parsley and cilantro. It was doing fine when I left for my trip, but it wasn't looking too happy when I returned..the leaves were droopy. Strange, because I just added nutrient tablets, and the water level and lights were fine.

As I examined the leaves, I noticed there were tiny web-like things on them, a sure sign that bugs had found their way to them. They probably hitched a ride on one of my houseplants or something.

Now thankfully, my new basil Aerogarden was on the other side of the room, so it was unaffected. Plus, funny thing is, even in the old Aerogarden, while the little buggers were on the parsley and the cilantro, they kept far away from the basil that was growing in the same Aerogarden...I've heard that for certain pests, the smell of basil is actually a repellant.

Anyway, I'm not too upset, because that other Aerogarden had already past its best years--I have harvested bunches and bunches of cilantro, parsley, chives, basil, mint, red basil. It was a good lesson for me, the next time, to keep any plants that might be carrying little critters FAR away from the Aerogarden. The critters love the lights and the plants.

Anyway, to fix it, I threw away the parsley and cilantro. I cleaned the entire Aerogarden unit in warm soapy water so it was good as new. I left the red basil in there, and freshly plopped in a couple seed pods left over from earlier Aerogardens. When they get to a decent size, I'll use them or transplant them into pots.

What I really want to do after that is start a cherry tomato Aerogarden. I figure I'll be able to do that in a month or two. Stay tuned!