AeroGardens are extremely popular and versatile hydroponic systems but buying AeroGarden pods is expensive and you can easily make your own seed pods.
You don’t need to pay premium prices for AeroGarden seed pods. It is a marketing gimmick designed to keep selling you things.
Below is a video where I show you how to make your own AeroGarden seed pods.
AeroGarden Pods DIY
AeroGarden Pods are a great way to grow your own plants indoors. However, they can be expensive if you buy them from the store. In this blog post, we will show you how to make your own AeroGarden Pods.
DIY AeroGarden Seed Pods Advantages
Save money! Make your own AeroGarden pods cheap.
Why pay for overpriced pods when you can easily make your own seed pods cheaper and they are every bit as good.
Better Variety choices
You won’t be limited to the pre-seeded varieties offered. More choices are always better.
Easy to use blank pod when not using all slots
When you grow larger plants like peppers or tomatoes you need to leave empty slots between plants but you still need to fill them.
Use them to clone cuttings from extra plants
When you have to prune your peppers or tomatoes (you will) you can clone the cuttings instead of throwing them away.
Root Riot Vs Rapid Rooter
I have used both Rapid Rooters and Root Riots and they are very similar products. But I have had better results with root riots.
The Root Riots are a bit larger and I like the sponge material they are made from a bit better.
But while either brand can work for a DIY seed pod the root riots fit better in my AeroGarden holes.
You can check out Root Riots on Amazon here
You don’t want any light to get into your reservoir because it can cause algae growth.
The root riots fit in very snug with about 1/4 inch above the AeroGarden deck with no light able to get in.
I noticed the smaller rapid rooter plugs needed to be pushed all the way down and there was still a slight gap around the edges.
If you push too hard they could possibly fall through. They may be a better choice to use for filling the baskets with less trimming needed.
But I really like the ease and simplicity of inserting a root riot in the whole without the need for the basket.
Cloning In An AeroGarden
You can insert cuttings into the root riots and use your AeroGarden as a clone machine besides just growing crops.
I show you how to clone peppers here:
Peppers often have multiple plants in the same seed pod. Cutting the spare and using it to clone a new plant.
You can see below this works very well and this plant will be set in coco coir to continue growing. I plan to give it to a friend.
Here is an article about growing chili peppers in an AeroGarden Harvest Growing Chili Peppers In An AeroGarden Harvest (indoorvegetablegrower.com)
Can you make your own seed pods for AeroGarden?
Yes, you can. Watch my video for easy instructions on using seed starting plugs to make your own.
How many seeds to put in AeroGarden pods?
Since no seeds have a 100% germination rate you will want to put multiple seeds in your pods.
I think for most crops 3 seeds would be enough. If you only plant 1 and it doesn’t sprout you would need to replant.
You would end up with a much smaller plant than the others and it may end up being shaded out by the bigger plants.
Seeds are relatively cheap and they don’t last forever so don’t be stingy about seeding.
You will need to thin out the extra plants but for peppers or other large plants, you can wait to thin them out.
When your plants are 4 or more inches tall you can cut them off and make clones from them.
Can you use other pods in AeroGarden?
They probably won’t fit in the holes. Because most manufacturers don’t want you using another company’s seed pods they all use different-sized pods.
But you can make your own seed pods using empty AeroGarden baskets or using seedling plugs like Root Riots.
What are AeroGarden seed pods made of?
AeroGarden seed pods are made from Canadian Sphagnum Peat. Both root riots and rapid rooters are made from the same material.
They are likely pH balanced and held together with a binder but none of them provide much information on the actual manufacturing process.
