AeroGarden Harvest Elite manual

AeroGarden Harvest Elite Quick Setup Guide

Keep this Guide!

IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

When using this AeroGarden electrical furnishing, basic precautions should always be followed, including the following:

Read all instructions before using this AeroGarden furnishing.

SAVE THESE INSTRUCTIONS

To reduce the risk of electric shock, the AeroGarden has a specific plug.
Do not change the plug in any way.
DANGER – to reduce risk of electric shock:
Always unplug the AeroGarden from electrical outlet before cleaning or changing Grow Lights (light bulbs).
WARNING – to reduce risk of burns, fire, electric shock, or injury to persons:
Unplug AeroGarden from outlet before putting on or taking off parts.
Close supervision is necessary when an AeroGarden is used by or near children, invalids, or disabled persons.
Use AeroGarden only for its intended use as described in the instructions. Do not use attachments not recommended by manufacturer.
Never operate AeroGarden if it has a damaged cord or plug, if it is not working properly, if it has been dropped and damaged, or if it has been dropped in water. If any of these conditions occur/exist, contact www.AeroGardenSupport.com or your country’s local distributor for instructions.
Keep cord away from heated surfaces.
Never operate furnishing with air openings blocked. Keep air openings free of lint, hair, and the like.
Never drop or insert any object into any electrical openings.
Do not use outdoors.
Do not operate where aerosol (spray) products are being used or where oxygen is being administered.
Do not touch moving parts or hot parts such as pumps, lights, reflective surfaces, and the like.
To disconnect, remove plug from outlet.
Do not place or submerge base, cord, plug, or Light Hood in water or other liquid to clean it.
Do not allow water to contact hot LED Grow Lights.
Use only approved and supplied parts and accessories. Use only AeroGarden LED Grow Lights with this AeroGarden model. Use of any other kind of accessory is not recommended. Replacement parts can be ordered from www.AeroGarden.com
Do not use AeroGarden for other than intended purpose.
This product is intended for household and residential use only. This product is not approved for commercial applications.
If supply cord is damaged, it must be replaced by manufacturer, its service agent, or similarly qualified technician in order to avoid a hazard.
Electrical wiring must be in accordance with local regulations.
This appliance is not intended for use by persons (including children) with reduced physical, sensory or mental capabilities, or lack of experience and knowledge, unless they have been given supervision or instruction concerning use of appliance by a person responsible for their safety.
Children should be supervised to ensure they do not play with the appliance.

Warning: Changes or modifications to this unit not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user’s authority to operate the equipment.

Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. If this equipment does cause harmful interference to radio or television reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures:

Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna.
Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected.
Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver.
Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

2 Easy Steps

To Get Your AeroGarden Up and Growing

CONGRATULATIONS! Your garden is ready to grow. It really is that easy!
For more details on planting, growing and harvesting your AeroGarden, please turn the page.

Included in Package

Order extra Seed Pod Kits and Accessories at www.aerogarden.com

Place Your Garden…

On a sturdy, water-tolerant surface
Near a standard electrical outlet, per local regulations
In a 65-80°F (16-26°C) environment (optimal)
Away from reach of children or pets
Away from direct sources of heat (e.g., stove, furnace vents) or cold (e.g., window drafts, A/C vents)
AeroGardens do not need additional light or a sunny window. In fact, too much direct sunlight can overheat your plants

NEXT: Planting Your Garden

Record the planting date on a calendar or in a notebook.

1. Add Water

Add water to “Fill To Here” indicator located under the Water Port.
Use room temperature tap water or bottled distilled water.
Do not use well water which may interfere with our nutrients, or softened water, as it contains levels of sodium usually harmful to plants.
The ‘Add Water’ reminder alert will appear on the control panel when the water level is low. For best results, keep the water level topped up to the fill line at all times.

2. Add Seed Pods

Insert Seed Pods into openings in Grow Deck.
Seed Pod Labels often identify plant height to assist with placement. Look for height noted on Labels.
Plants grow best and look best if medium or tall plants are in back openings, and short plants are in front openings (see diagram).
Seed Pod Kits for Tomatoes and Peppers often include both Seed Pods and Plant Spacers. Plant Spacers allow your Tomato/Pepper plants ample room to grow.
Do not remove Labels from Seed Pods. The labels identify the plant type and plant height, show the germination time, and inhibit algae growth.

3. Add Grow Domes

Place a Grow Dome over each Seed Pod.
Grow Domes rest on Seed Pods and may not ‘snap’ into place. Also, it is not necessary for Grow Domes to cover any Plant Spacers in your AeroGarden.
Leave Grow Domes on the Seed Pods until plants have sprouted and their leaves nearly touch the domes.
Once removed, Grow Domes may be reused/recycled.

4. Add Nutrients

Nutrient instructions are printed on the packaging, as well as in the Seed Pod Kit Instructions booklet. Read and follow the instructions carefully!
Use only the recommended amount of Liquid Nutrient.
Add nutrient directly into Bowl when first planting your Seed Pod Kit, and when the ‘Add Nutrient’ reminder activates (every 2 weeks).
Do not overfeed! More isn’t better. Too much nutrient may be harmful to your plants.

Nutrient Feeding Tip: Always top off water level when adding Liquid Nutrients. For best results, top off the water level in your garden regularly.

5. Plug In Cord

Control Panel Settings

Select
Move the ‘SELECT’ Button to the type of plants that best matches what you will be growing. The number of hours your Grow Lights will be ON appears below the setting.
- Veggies – 16 hrs: Vegetables, tomatoes, peppers, and flowers will grow best on this light setting.
- Herbs – 18 hrs: Herbs and salads will grow best on this light setting.
- 24 hours – Many non-flowering plants grow well for the first month with 24-hour lights.
Lights
The ‘Lights’ button will temporarily turn the Grow Lights on or off. Once pressed, lights will stay on/off until the next time they are set to go on/off. This will not affect the timing of your cycle and occasional use will not harm your plants. The ‘Lights’ button also allows you to change the time that your Grow Lights automatically come on each day. To reset the time that your Grow Lights come on, follow the instructions on the right for ‘How to Personalize Your Light Timer’.
Reset
When planting a new Seed Pod Kit, press and hold ‘Reset’ for 10 seconds to reset timers for Nutrients and Grow Lights. Control Panel lights will blink on and off to confirm that timers have been reset.
‘Reset’ is also used to reset nutrient and water reminders, as explained below.
Add Nutrient
Add Nutrients to the Grow Bowl when you first plant your Seed Pod Kit, and when the ‘Add Nutrient’ reminder activates every 2 weeks. Follow instructions on nutrient packaging for feeding amounts. The ‘Add Nutrient’ and ‘Add Water’ lights blink concurrently as a reminder to top up the water level. After adding nutrients, press and release the ‘Reset’ button to restart the nutrient timer and turn off the blinking light.
Add Water
The ‘Add Water’ reminder will activate if the water level drops more than halfway below the fill line. For best growth, check the water level regularly and keep water near the fill line. Don’t wait for the Add Water reminder to activate.

How to Personalize Your Light Timer (Optional)

When you plug in your AeroGarden for the first time the Grow Light will come on, and will continue to come on at this same time every day. If you are satisfied with the light timer you do not need to make any changes. If you would like to change the time of day when the light comes on, follow this simple step:

At the time of day you want the Grow Lights to come ON:

Use the ‘Lights’ button to turn lights ON if they are not already on. Grow Lights must be ON to reset the light timer.
Press and Hold the ‘Lights’ button for for 3-5 seconds until control panel lights blink, then release.

Your Grow Lights will now come on at this time each day, and will stay on for the number of hours you have chosen on the control panel.

About The Pump

The Pump in your Harvest garden will automatically run 5 minutes of every hour. You do not need to set any controls to activate the pump. To test the pump, Press and Hold ‘Select’ for 2 seconds. When the pump starts, you will hear the water trickling into the Grow Bowl. You can also lift up the Grow Deck to see the water pumping upward. The Pump will run for one minute in the test mode, then automatically shut off.

An Important Note About Lights
Your AeroGarden Harvest has a built-in timer for the Grow Light that automatically provides your plants with “sunlight” (between 16 – 18 hours per day). As long as your plants get this amount of light, it does not matter what time the lights are off. Many people find it most convenient to have the lights go on in the morning and off at night, to match their own personal wake and sleep schedule.

Gardening Tips for Maximum Harvests

Planting

Many Seed Pods are labeled for height. Gardens grow and look their best when tall plants are in back and medium/short plants in the center and front openings. If plants are all the same size, like Salad Greens, they can be planted anywhere.
Do not remove Labels from Seed Pods. The labels identify the plant type and plant height, show the germination time, and inhibit algae growth.
Grow Domes help regulate moisture and temperature for optimal germination. Leave them on until plants are nearly touching the domes.
Seed Pod Kits for large plants like Tomatoes and Peppers often receive fewer than 6 pods to make room for the large plant size. Leave space between seed pods to allow room for each to spread out. Put Plant Spacers in the remaining openings.

Germination

Some seeds germinate in less than 24 hours. Some take 24 days or more. Most labels give an estimate of how long your seeds will take to germinate but many factors impact germination.
As a rule of thumb, if you are comfortable, so are your plants. However, plants are impacted by temperature. Cold weather plants like Salad Greens germinate better in cooler weather. Heat lovers like Tomatoes and Peppers will germinate faster in warmer temperatures (above 70 degrees F). But don’t sweat it! While they may take a bit more time, your seeds will germinate.
If you are growing your own seeds, plant 5-6 seeds per pod and check the seed packet for information regarding temperature and days to germination.
You can set the light cycle to 24 hours for the first month to give seedlings the best possible start.

Pruning

Lower your plants, don’t raise your lights! You will achieve more compact, beautiful growth and bigger harvests if you prune plants to keep the lights closer to all plants.
Fast growing plants (like Basil) make gardeners want to raise the lights hood too soon. Resist! Pruning the plant just above a new leaf set (Diagram A) and leaving the lights down low will ensure that slow-growing and low-growing plants in your garden get all the light they need to flourish.
Not pruning is the number one mistake made by new AeroGardeners! Prune early and often and enjoy the small harvests!
Prune often to maintain a healthy garden, but never take more than 1/3 of each individual plant at a time.
Plants compete for light. Left untended, more aggressive growers can actually block enough light to suppress growth of their slower growing neighbors, and eventually they can die off due to lack of light. Spreading leaves must be trimmed (Diagram B) to make sure that slow growers get enough light to thrive and produce big yields.
Finally, pruning = harvesting. Each time you prune you get to enjoy fresh herbs in a salad, soup on pizza or a sandwich. And, a full, bushy garden looks much better than one giant, spindly plant surrounded by straggly, light starved neighbors. Pruning also releases a wonderful scent. So prune!

Water

Plants grown in the AeroGarden are designed to thrive with most municipal tap water. If your water is especially hard,
improved results can be seen with distilled water or reverse osmosis water, but this is not needed in most cases.
Do not use well water or softened water. Most well water contains a high amount of dissolved solids that upset the
balance of our nutrients, and softened water adds sodium. This can result in plants suddenly browning, or just not growing well.
While the AeroGarden water level indicator will remind you when water gets low, best results are achieved by topping off water regularly – before the Add Water indicator activates.

Lights

Plants love light! Always keep your Grow Lights as close to your plants as possible. Plants should be 1-2 inches below Lights.
Always check to see if you can prune plants instead of raising Grow Lights. After pruning, lower your lights back down to within 1-2 inches of plants if possible.
You do not need to replace your LED lights unless individual diodes start to fail. Diodes have a 2-5 year life span.

Nutrients

Typically, your plants will need nutrients every 2 weeks.
Follow instructions for feeding amounts printed on the nutrient packaging.
Add nutrients directly into the Bowl.
Nutrient requirements may change as plants grow. See nutrient packaging for details.
More isn’t better. Resist the temptation to add “just a little extra.” Too much nutrient can hurt your plants.
For best results, try a “Rinse and Refill” once a month when it’s time to add nutrients. Simply empty all water from the bowl, add fresh water and nutrients and reset the nutrient timer. This balances the nutrients, delivering an instant ‘pick up’ to plants.

Pollinating

Because most people don’t have bees in their home, you will need to start pollinating your fruiting plants (tomatoes, peppers, etc) once they begin to flower (approximately 4 – 6 weeks after planting). To pollinate, use one or more of the following methods:

Place an open hand inside plant branches and gently move your hand back and forth to shake the plant and spread the pollen.
Place a fan near your plants and the moving air will pollinate your plants.
Touch the main stem of the plants with an electric toothbrush and allow the vibration to spread the pollen.

Harvesting

Many first-time growers are hesitant to harvest. Don’t be! Most gardens will produce more, for a longer period, with frequent harvests. You almost can’t begin to harvest (prune) early enough.
AeroGardens work best with a harvesting method called “cut and come again.” Simply put, you enjoy frequent small harvests and then watch as the plants rapidly regrow – ready for harvest again and again.
Enjoy frequent, smaller harvests for the first month or two until plants mature and larger harvests are available.
Harvest often to maintain a healthy garden, but never take more than 1/3 of each individual plant at a time.
For Salad Greens, cut the top 2 inches off the entire garden, or harvest large leaves individually by cutting off at the base of the plant.

U.S. CAUTION – You are cautioned that any changes or modifications not expressly approved in this manual could void your authority to operate this equipment.

User Maintenance: Any servicing is to be performed by an authorized service representative. Use original packaging for storage when the appliance is not used.

Disconnect power before servicing or replacing lights. Use only AeroGarden LED Light Hood replacement.

DO NOT SUBMERGE
HOUSEHOLD USE ONLY
Do not immerse cord in water or other liquid, and unplug cord from outlet when not in use.

To reduce the risk of electric shock, this furnishing has a polarized plug (one blade is wider than the other). This plug will fit in a polarized outlet only one way. If the plug does not fit fully in the outlet, reverse the plug. If it still does not fit, contact a qualified electrician to install the proper outlet. Do not change the plug in any way.

CAUTION!
TO PREVENT ELECTRIC SHOCK, MATCH WIDE BLADE OF PLUG TO WIDE SLOT, FULLY INSERT.

LIMITED WARRANTY

WHAT IS COVERED – This warranty covers any defects in materials or workmanship, with the exceptions stated below.
HOW LONG COVERAGE LASTS – This warranty runs for one (1) year on this AeroGarden and LED Grow Lights, from the date of original purchase, for the original purchaser/user.
WHAT IS NOT COVERED – The warranty shall not apply to problems arising from: normal wear; failure to adhere to enclosed operating instructions; serial numbered products if the serial number has been removed or defaced; products subject to negligence, accident, improper use, maintenance or storage; products damaged by circumstances beyond AeroGrow International Inc.’s control; loss or damage to removable parts; or products modified (including, but not limited to, modifications through the use of unauthorized parts or attachments) or repaired by anyone other than AeroGrow International, Inc., or its designee. This warranty excludes all incidental or consequential damages.
WHAT AEROGROW WILL DO – AeroGrow International, Inc., at its option, will repair any defects in materials or workmanship or will replace these products with ones
of similar features and price. AeroGrow International, Inc.’s sole obligation and your exclusive remedy under this warranty shall be limited to such repair or replacement.
TO RETURN THIS PRODUCT – If you have questions or concerns regarding your AeroGarden, please contact Customer Service at 1-800-476-9669. Please do not return any product without contacting AeroGrow for return authorization. Unauthorized returns, as well as C.O.D. shipments, will be refused. For more information regarding returns, please see the Returns section at www.AeroGarden.com

Due to continuing improvements, actual product may differ slightly from the product described herein. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may have other legal rights that vary from state to state.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact our customer service representatives at 1-800-476-9669.
NEED SUPPLIES, ACCESSORIES OR INFORMATION? Call: 1-800-476-9669 or Visit Our Website: www.AeroGarden.com

We also have an active Facebook Community that loves to answer questions at facebook.com/aerogarden. “Like” us for special offers and community fun!

AeroGrow International, Inc., P.O. Box 18450, Boulder, CO 80308-1450