In the next few days, I suspect I’m going to have to make some very hard decisions regarding my Aerogarden. The fungus is winning, but I still have to decide what I want to do with the herbs. Are they safe to eat? Do I want to eat them after seeing the cess-pool down below?
Quilldancer, said to get some fungicide. Did it. Organic too (though they didn’t have the specific brand she mentioned). I’m forever going to wonder if I should have forgotten about the organic and gone with the nuclear stuff. My herbs seemed to get MUCH worse after I used the fungicide, which I imagine is not supposed to happen.
There’s just no delicate way of describing how bad it looked in the water reservoir. Somewhere between a mold covered orange, a pool of water that’s been overtaken by slime so thick you can stand on it, and cottage cheese. Stephen King has written stories about this stuff!! And I discovered when I decided to give it one last try that this stuff was slimy and kind of oily, and really hard to get out of the roots and off the sides of the water reservoir. I took everything apart, soaked it in bleach (not the plants, obviously), and it still seemed to be stuck on there pretty good. I went so far as pulling each of the herbs out, washing out the roots meticulously, and doing the best I could with the sponges. They are currently sitting in some fresh water in my sink. I noticed the difference on the roots that it had attacked, and could see exactly which roots were dying off, and which were still fine. Most of the roots were black, but a few in each plant were a healthy looking tan color. And the plants that have a sort of waxy coating on the roots survived better than the ones that didn’t. Basils were particularly hard-hit. But the dill and chives did pretty well.
Time is of the essence here, and I must get those herbs back in the Aerogarden, but I think I’m going to try some CLR on the reservoir before putting it all back together again. Bleach is good and all, but with the scaliness that’s on some of this, I think CLR might be needed. Then, I’ll try the bleach again, run it for about an hour, rinse, run fresh water for a while to clear out the bleach, and then put the plants in. I haven’t decided whether I’m going to try the fungicide again. On one hand, it may be able to tackle it now that there isn’t a raging fungus monster in the Aerogrow. Then again, it may just be ill-suited for what I need.
Here’s what I suspect will happen. I think that these efforts will do a lot to help the herbs. I think that they will experience a minor set-back from all the moving and pulling, and scrubbing on their roots. After that, I think that they will grow for a little while longer, but ultimately, the fungus will get them. It’s next to impossible to clean the sponges, and if I could soak them in bleach, it would probably help a lot. But if I soak them in bleach, I’m going to be soaking my plants in bleach too. So it’s really not an option. Eventually, I think it will knock them out.
With any luck, I’ll be wrong and they’ll grow just fine. If not, I’ve already placed an order for nutrients and sponges. There are enough nutrients for 3 months, and enough sponges for 3 cycles (of 7 plants). So, I’m set for at least a year on the sponges. I think I’m going to grow some more herbs using my own seeds, but I’d like your input. What would you guys like to see me grow? Herbs? Tomatoes? Peppers? Cilantro? Suggest something for me.
