While Tower Garden simplifies traditional gardening, it does require regular attention. Once you transfer your seedlings to the Tower Garden, it's important to properly maintain your system to ensure a plentiful, healthy yield.
1. Turn Daily (outdoor Towers).
If only part of your Tower Garden receives sunlight each day, rotate the reservoir lid 1/4 turn in the same direction daily to achieve uniform plant growth. The FLEX Dolly makes this task much easier. If you have a Tower Garden HOME, you do not need a dolly as it is included.
2. Monitor Weekly.
Check your Tower Garden 2-3 times a week to ensure:
- pH level is between 5.5-6.5. pH may fluctuate as plants grow. After adding Mineral Blend, measure pH with the testing kit that came with your Tower Garden, and adjust as necessary. Helpful hint: Yellowing leaves are often an indication the pH is not within the recommended range.
- Water temperature is between 65-85 degrees. To reduce heat transference from the ground, place your Tower Garden on a dolly, doormat or something similar. On hot days, you may add frozen water bottles to the water reservoir or move your Tower to the shade.
- Reservoir is full. When adding water and nutrients, keep in mind a Tower Garden full of small seedlings requires only 200 ml of Mineral Blend A and 200 ml of Mineral Blend B when starting out. When your plants grow large with lots of roots, check water levels twice a week.
- Plants show no signs of pests or diseases. Check plant leaves for things like holes and mildew. If you notice a problem, reference our growing guides to identify the solution.
3. Clean Bi-Monthly.
This step is important! Your pump filter and shower cap need monthly maintenance. Neglecting this task can actually introduce plant disease as the pump showers decomposed material over plant roots.
- To clean the pump filter, unplug the pump, pull the pump up through the access port, and remove the pump cover. Flush the filter with water to remove debris.
- Clean the shower cap by removing the shower cap lid, and using a toothpick to clean the shower cap holes.
4. Trim Periodically.
You’ll be amazed how quickly your plants—and their roots—grow! Prune plants (especially tomatoes) and trim roots for a healthy garden:
- Prune plants to remove stressed or damaged foliage, encourage new growth, and improve air circulation and sun exposure. But be careful to not cut back more than 1/3 of the plant.
- To keep roots away from the pump, cut long roots in half.
5. Help When Necessary.
Plants are relatively self-sufficient, but sometimes they need a little help:
- Train larger vining plants—such as tomatoes, squash and green beans—to grow on a trellis or Support Cage.
- If your fruit-bearing plants (e.g., squash, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc.) aren’t producing, the problem may be a lack of pollinator activity. Try hand pollinating.
6. Harvest When Ready!
Once your crops are ready (in 3+ weeks, depending on what you are growing), check your Tower Garden often for fresh fruits and vegetables to enjoy.
For even more tips, reference the Tower Garden Growing Guide.
