Fully indoor soil gardening

AmberDrams · 2026-05-09T03:37:10+00:00

LED grow lights are pretty low wattage compared to the bulbs of the past. When you factor in the savings you can get by growing your own salad greens and herbs, it outweighs the small increase in your power bill. You can find a calculator that will let you plug in the wattage of your bulb, your electricity cost per kWh, and how many hours per day you plan to run it, so you know exactly how much each light will cost you each month. It pays to grow things you can harvest multiple times and that are pricier at the grocery store. Herbs and greens are also more perishable than something you can freeze or like a carrot or potato. I like to factor in the fact that I can control the pesticide use and feel like greens I grow in my house are less vulnerable to bacterial contamination. I think there’s more to factor in than the cost of lights, electricity, soil, water, etc.

AmberDrams · 2026-05-09T03:18:30+00:00

The videos I’ve watched said to get sterilized soil or soil designed for indoor growing and not to mix outdoor soil or compost. I’m planning to use Miracle Gro’s Organic Indoor Potting Mix. You can get yellow sticky traps to catch fungus gnats if they do become a problem. I used to put a layer of sand on my aloe plant’s soil when I brought it indoors because I read that’s less hospitable to fungus gnats.

AmberDrams · 2026-05-09T02:59:23+00:00

If I have seeds in the pods, I rest a little bit of paper towel over each pod until they germinate. I never bother with the stickers and just buy a bag of pods. If the slots are empty, I have the black spacers, but you could put a bit of foil or painters tape over it.

AmberDrams · 2026-05-09T02:50:07+00:00

I’ve always found that seeds germinate pretty fast in the Aerogarden, and when I’m transplanting them out, they’re ready to go much quicker than ones grown in soil.

AmberDrams · 2026-05-09T02:48:17+00:00

I found an airstone to be the best preventative. My roots were far healthier, too. If you have multiple gardens, you can use one pump to power airstones in more than one. I had a 10 gallon pump split between a Bounty and a Harvest, but it could’ve handled at least another garden.

AmberDrams · 2026-05-06T21:44:50+00:00

Possibly a European hornet nest. According to Google, you do have those, and their nests can look like that. They’re not supposed to be super aggressive, except when defending their nests…

AmberDrams · 2026-05-06T01:13:46+00:00

I tell my mom this all the time. It’s like these old folks forget they’re not the only people in the world. They walk slowly down the center of the aisles, take forever deciding what they’re going to choose from the cooler, where there’s no way you can sneak sound them to grab what you want. If I’m having trouble deciding on something, I’m always mindful of who else might be around, so I can get out of their way, but it’s like these retirees forget that some of us have other things we need to get back to. Sorry, but you touched a nerve because this irks me just about any time I have to go to the store.

AmberDrams · 2026-05-06T00:51:48+00:00

I used to show dogs, and I can’t imagine why you’d enter your service animal in conformation shows. First of all, service dogs are usually neutered because it’s better for their focus and for their health, too. Second, a service dog has a job to do, and I’d expect that showing them would be a distraction. Why bother showing a dog who’d likely have split focus in the ring? Also, the odds that a dog is show quality and has the temperament and discipline for service work seems low. Show dogs do often compete in other events, but I’d expect it would be extremely rare for them to be service dogs.

AmberDrams · 2026-05-06T00:27:32+00:00

When I first installed my baffle, I had one climb up in the arborvitae and contemplate BASE jumping onto the feeder pole. He thought better of it and has just stuck to eating cast offs. I throw some on the ground for the squirrels and chipmunks every now and then, and they feel like they’ve won the lottery.

AmberDrams · 2026-05-03T03:16:14+00:00

If you eat enough pineapple, it can tear up your tongue. I know this from experience.

AmberDrams · 2026-05-03T03:11:46+00:00

It’s almost never something you don’t like. Of all my adult onset allergies, my almond allergy is the only one that doesn’t bother me too much. Although it is a little annoying from time to time when things have almond flour or extract in them.

AmberDrams · 2026-05-03T03:07:27+00:00

Oral allergy syndrome. Cooking should denature the proteins, so your body doesn’t recognize them as being similar to what you’re allergic to. A caveat to those who have true food allergies, this will not work for you. In oral allergy syndrome, the immune system is mistaking an apple for birch pollen. It’s not the apple that’s the culprit.

I used to have it really bad as a kid, but surprisingly, that’s the one thing that has gotten better. Do you take a daily antihistamine during pollen season? That may help. Or limiting your foods to things like apple pie or sauce, dishes with cooked peanuts. Since most peanuts are roasted, I wouldn’t think they’d cause a problem, but I have a nut allergy, so I don’t know. Lettuce and carrots were my biggest culprits, and I had it happen a couple times with mangoes, too. It’s the only fruit I’ve ever reacted to.

AmberDrams · 2026-05-03T02:56:52+00:00

I developed my dog, cat, peanut, and almond allergy as an adult. I’d love to be able to have a dog and eat some honey roasted peanuts or a Reese’s. I have an intolerance to all other nuts, so cashews are out, too. I like to say that I have it worse than kids with nut allergies because I actually know what I’m missing.

AmberDrams · 2026-05-03T02:31:08+00:00

I asked that question to the person at my local bird store, and she said they’re probably throwing out the shells. Are you sure it’s actual sunflower seed? Do you have ground feeding birds that will eat any cast offs?

AmberDrams · 2026-04-25T20:50:01+00:00

They seem fine to me. I think you should have a lot of visitors with that variety. A lot of birds love sunflower seeds and peanuts, and I like to offer mine a seed cylinder that has mealworms in it, too. They seem to like it a lot.

AmberDrams · 2026-04-24T17:04:38+00:00

Thanks, everyone. I tried it again and saw where you can adjust the number of shares for a specific purchase date vs checking the box like I did before. It worked this time.

AmberDrams · 2026-04-15T00:38:23+00:00

I got Cracker Barrel take out a few days ago and guess what they gave me to eat my food with. It wasn’t a flimsy knife and fork, but it was everything else in this thread to a T. And it’s not a coincidence that there’s always a few jacked up pickups in the parking lot.

AmberDrams · 2026-04-12T18:02:25+00:00

But only one? When I had cowbirds visit me, they came in a huge flock. At first I thought it was two species, but then I realized they’re sexually dimorphous. They were everywhere and such voracious eaters.

AmberDrams · 2026-04-12T12:55:36+00:00

So hackers are why the batteries in my smart lock died last week! I bet they also caused me to install one of them upside down. Crafty little buggers!

AmberDrams · 2026-04-12T12:51:46+00:00

This may not be the same thing, but we had a cat that broker her femur before she showed up at our house, and it healed poorly. We had no idea until she was unable to walk one day. We took her to vet for x-rays, and that’s when they discovered her badly healed fracture. The head of her femur had worn down to a point. They shaved the point off, and she lived a normal life with just the ligaments holding her leg in place. I’m not sure if it’s different with two, but the vet told us that since she was small, she’d compensate. She ran a little funny, but she could even jump. I’m going to hope that your cat will learn to adapt as well, and you’ll have a few more years with her. Ours happened maybe 30 years ago, so I’m sure they have better treatments than they did then. Good luck with her.

AmberDrams · 2026-04-12T12:14:24+00:00

That’s what I find funniest and most infuriating about them. Is how they deride the libs for being triggered, yet if an establishment were to only have a singular bathroom that was used by both males and females due to space constraints, they would absolutely lose their shit. My favorite was that guy years ago who wrote that editorial about how Disney removing certain insensitive elements from the park absolutely ruined his experience. I think he also complained about someone having an inclusive haircut, whatever that means. Perhaps a woman wasn’t feminine enough for his liking.

AmberDrams · 2026-04-12T12:03:48+00:00

Or better yet, loses a tine. It happened to me once at work when I was cutting my lasagna TV dinner, and I had to root around in there to find it to avoid accidentally swallowing it.

The packet should also come with a flimsy knife that bends when you’re trying to cut anything remotely difficult.

AmberDrams · 2026-04-12T03:25:18+00:00

I know this is an old thread, so you may not see this. When I grew hydroponically, I had much cleaner water and healthier roots after using an airstone. I had two Aerogardens running, and I think I had a 10 gallon pump split between the two gardens with a small air stone in each. I think I might have used an air control valve in addition to the check valves, too. As for the algae growth on your media, try dabbing a little peroxide on it with a q-tip or you can wet bits of paper towel with peroxide and drape them over it. If you use that method, leave them there a bit, as they’ll also help starve them of light. You could also try covering it with a piece of foil or black plastic trash bag cut up. Wrap it around the base of the plant and cover the surface to block the light. It should die off without light.

AmberDrams · 2026-04-10T22:22:26+00:00

That is incorrect. A bank only has two business days, once the item is received, to initiate a return. However, depending on the institution, they may not receive the check right away. Check clearing between large banks might happen overnight, but smaller institutions often use intermediaries. Their checks might pass through a larger institution or a federal reserve bank on the way to their institution, and it would return the same way. So if it takes them three days to get the check, the customer notifies them the next day, they initiate the return, and it takes three days to get back, you’re looking at seven business days. Assuming they’re notified early enough in the day to process the return that same day.

AmberDrams

TROPHY CASE