Are you looking for ways to clean your AeroGarden? Go through this guide to get more details on how you can do your AeroGarden cleaning.

AeroGarden Cleaning Guide: How to Ensure Your System Is Clean

If you own an AeroGarden, then cleaning it is one of the essential things you should learn. Whether it’s after a harvest, or just during an existing crop, AeroGarden cleaning is necessary.

Since you are taking care of live plants, there is always the existence of some bacteria and pathogens which requires cleaning and sanitization.

When you clean your AeroGarden, you eliminate or reduce the chances of harmful bacteria affecting your existing or new plants. Regular cleaning of your AeroGarden’s surface ensures that your plants grow healthy, which is a positive thing for you.

In our article today, we will discuss various ways of AeroGarden cleaning and the requirements for the process.

We want to show you how you can maintain healthy plants which are free of harmful pathogens and bacteria.

However, lets first take one step back to understand how an AeroGarden works.

What is An AeroGarden?

An AeroGarden is safe, dirt-free, indoor hydroponic garden, that is simple to use and which can be installed anywhere. These indoor gardens enable you to plant beautiful plants indoors, all year round.

It allows you to grow almost any plant without any dirt, weeds, or even any prior farming experience.

With an AeroGarden, your success is almost 100% assured. The garden makes everything about farming a bliss. They notify you when it’s a good time to water the plants, and when you need to add nutrients.

In addition, it turns on and off the grow lights to simulate the sun.

These gardens guarantee healthy growth of plants by offering the right amounts of necessary growth requirements such as water, light, and nutrients.

How Does An AeroGarden Work?

Contrary to the perception of many people, an AeroGarden is very simple to use. The garden works through the combination of the ideal conditions necessary for the germination of plants, into a self-sufficient hydroponic ecosystem that does very well indoors.

There are various types of AeroGardens, and each type is designed to enable the growing of plants of different sizes. For this reason, it’s necessary that you research and get the right AeroGarden that suits your needs.

The best thing about these gardens is that they use advanced hydroponics technology which allows the plants to grow five times faster than in normal conditions.

And, although each model is different, all AeroGardens have some common parts that allow them to produce these results.

Requirements For The Cleaning Process             

If you want to clean an AeroGarden, here are some of the things you need to have:

• Bleach Or White Vinegar

You can use bleach and vinegar to clean your AeroGarden either independently or both.  However, if you prefer to clean your garden without using harsh chemicals, then vinegar is the best alternative and will be just as effective.

Although many people may regard vinegar as not having the most pleasant smell, it is still the best natural cleanser to get rid of bacteria.

Also, the scent of vinegar doesn’t last that long. When the vinegar dries up, the smell becomes almost unnoticeable.

Purchase this eco-friendly vinegar to start cleaning your Aerogarden effectively.

• Large Plastic Bowl

Apart from the bleach and vinegar, you will also require a large plastic container. This container is the one you will use to immerse the AeroGarden’s plastic parts to the bleach or vinegar solution.

It is necessary for these parts to be completely submerged into the solution to ensure that every part is cleansed by the solution.

• Soft Towels

These towels are necessary for wiping clean the pieces of the Aerogarden that cannot be immersed in the solution. Using these towels, you can wipe all the parts that may be affected by being underwater, such as the touch screen, meter, and the light hood.

Through this, you ensure that all parts of the AeroGarden are clean and free of pathogens and bacteria both in the inside and the outside.

• White Paper Towels

One more thing that you will require is white paper towels. You will use these paper towels to clean any unreachable areas around the seed pods or below the growing surface.

However, you should be careful when wiping around exposed roots to prevent from damaging them as they are considered sensitive.

Caution

You should always clean your AeroGarden when you need to plant new plants, as well as if you have existing plants. One thing you should be careful about though is cleaning around roots as they are very sensitive to breakage.

You can use a damp white paper towel for the delicate areas, together with a solution of warm water and white vinegar.

Step-By-Step Guide to The Cleaning Process

Well, now that you have everything you require for the process, let’s dive directly to how you undertake this cleaning process.

However, you must make sure that you carefully read the instruction manual, as well as the parts information, before you can disassemble the AeroGarden.

So, which are these steps for cleaning your Aerogarden?

1. Unplug The AeroGarden

Before you can start cleaning your AeroGarden, the first thing you should do is unplug it from the power source.

Then, position the AeroGarden near your large plastic container which you will use for the cleaning.

2. Dismantle Your AeroGarden

After you have unplugged your AeroGarden, the next step is to disassemble or dismantle it into smaller parts. First, ensure that you have properly disconnected the light hood from the garden. Then, disconnect the AeroGarden bowl from the base, and make sure that they are ready for cleaning.

From there, ensure that you have disconnect any other part that requires to be disconnected from the entire AeroGarden.

3. Use of Bleach Or Vinegar Bath

Using your large plastic container, make a solution either using bleach or vinegar. To do this, first, fill your container with around one gallon of warm water. Then, if you are using bleach, take a cup of the bleach and mix it with the warm water to form a solution.

Also, if you want to use vinegar, also take a cup of the same and mix it with your warm water. This is the solution you will use to soak your disassembled parts.

Use either your hand or a piece of a wooden spoon, to stir the mixture forms a good solution which will penetrate to all corners of your AeroGarden parts.

Leave the pieces in the solution for a period of 20 to 30 minutes. This will ensure that the solution kills every bacteria or pathogen present that was present.

Note: Ensure that you use a container that is large enough to allow you to immerse your parts into the solution fully. The size of your container will depend on the size of your AeroGarden parts.

4. Sanitization of the Bowl

The bowl of the AeroGarden must be sanitized to ensure that no bacteria is left. The sanitization is necessary because of the constant water that flows through it. The water usually flows using motors or some other devices to be able to form the hydroponic garden.

For this reason, some bacteria or mold might sometimes grow on the inner side of your AeroGarden’s base. To clean this, you first need to drain all the water present in the bowl. After this, you should fill the bowl to 3/4-full using warm water mixed with 1/2-cup of bleach or white vinegar.

Then, turn on the motor and allow the solution to run for around five minutes, and then turn it off.  You should then ensure that you drain all the solution from the base and cleanse it with running fresh water for a while.

After this, ensure you rinse the entire bowl before you can add distilled water for the existing seedlings or plants.

5. Wipe Down

The fifth stage in the cleaning process is the wiping down of the other surfaces of the AeroGarden that couldn’t be immersed in your solution. You will do this using the soft towels we mentioned earlier, which you will deep into your solution and the wipe these surfaces.

As for the light hood, you need to be extra careful since the glass used to make the LED lights are fragile and can easily break.

After this, give these surfaces some ample time to dry before reconnecting them.

6. Clean The Pump Filter

Here is how to clean the AeroGarden pump filter. First, you remove it from the stand and then scrub it using a brush. This will help remove any roots present.

After you scrub clean the pump filter, use a wet sponge or towel to wipe the pump stand. Ensure that you remove all the present roots using the brush.

7. Removing Parts From Your Bleach Or Vinegar Solution

Since when doing all the other activities, the other parts are still in the vinegar or bleach solution, I would say that it’s now over 20 or 30 mins. Therefore, you can now comfortably remove these the submerged pieces from the solution.

After you remove the parts from the solution, it’s now time for your AeroGarden rinsing. You need to hold each of these parts on fresh running water to ensure that you remove all the vinegar or bleach solution. While doing this, it’s wise to place a stopper in the sink to ensure that the small parts don’t get washed away by water.

After you are through with that, you can now place your parts on a towel and wait for them to dry.

To ensure that all the parts are dry before rejoining them, you can wipe them gently with a paper towel or a dry towel.

8. AeroGarden Reassembling

After you’ve made sure that all the pieces are dry, sanitized, and clean, you can start to reassemble your AeroGarden. Make sure that you use your instructions manual to easily and properly assemble your AeroGarden.

Once you put all the parts back into their right place, you are now ready to plant new seedlings or plants. If you have existing plants, they can then grow healthy and strong. Plug the machine back and start the motors.

If you have done everything correctly, your AeroGarden should start normally, and it’s ready to go.

However, if it does not start, confirm whether all the parts are in place and tightly hooked and start again.

How Often to Clean An AeroGarden

As to how often you should clean your AeroGarden, the times may vary. However, one thing is for sure; you must clean it every time you want to plant new seedlings or after harvest. Also, you should regularly wipe the external parts even before harvest.

For most people, they do their AeroGarden rinse and refill every after harvest or during replanting.

Conclusion On AeroGarden Cleaning

As we have seen, it is necessary for you to keep your AeroGarden clean and free from harmful bacteria or pathogens. For this reason, this guide on AeroGarden cleaning has given you everything you need to make that process a bliss.

And although the AeroGardens don’t use soil or dirty, this doesn’t mean they are completely clean. Therefore, don’t assume, keep it as clean as possible through these steps.

What is your experience with AeroGardens and how do you clean yours? Share your insights in our comments area.