WelcomeTo The Mission!

Mission

Our mission is to advance the art and science of indoor growing.

We strive to bring the same powerful indoor grow technology, techniques, and tools being used in commercial indoor growing to anybody wishing to grow the same way at home.

Vision

• Growing food and medicine indoors will eventually become commonplace and indoor agriculture will largely replace soil-based agriculture for most human-based food production.

• Indoor growing facilities will become an integral architectural feature of houses, apartment buildings, and any structures that choose to accommodate it.

• The connection between food quality and human health will become well established. Aero-Gro will play an integral part in that evolution.

• All soil-based farming will eventually be organic. Current industrial farming practices which include using dangerous chemicals, hormones, pesticides, genetic modification, and irradiation will be made illegal, due to their potential to harm all life.

• Indoor growing technology by its inherent sophistication will continue to make the use of dangerous industrial farming practices unnecessary and outdated.

• Aero-Gro will assist in lowering demand for commercial farming products by introducing advanced indoor growing solutions for individual who choose to grow their own!

Core Values

Integrity

We strive, above all, to conduct our business honestly with all customers, suppliers, and partners.

Customer Commitment

Our goal is to advance the art and science of indoor growing, which requires maintaining strong focus on customer needs and wants. We will continually seek ways to benefit all by strengthening the bond with our customers, suppliers, and partners.

Sustainability

It is our understanding that the future health of planet earth – and the survival of humanity – hinges on embracing only sustainable technologies and practices. We endeavor in all of our activities to reduce waste, lower environmental impact, and to promote practices which preserve and protect earth’s natural resources.

Innovation

We are committed to continual improvement – bringing new and innovative products, processes, and knowledge to our customers. We believe that this is essential to maintain a healthy business and avoid entropy.

Humility

We pledge to incorporate not only positive customer suggestions, but also customer concerns and complaints when improving products, making business decisions, and improving the Aero-Gro experience.

Transparency

We make available to our customers not only all advancements and new products made by the Aero-Gro research facilities, but also any current or potential future issues that are found with our products, processes, or services.

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The Aero-Gro Origin Story

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SARASOTA, FLORIDA – 1996

I was in my late twenties, had just moved back from Europe, and was living with my mother in Florida when I first learned about growing without soil.

I grew up in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, then lived for five years in cold, rainy Denmark. Florida basically looked like a tropical paradise to me.

The fresh produce available all over Florida is really on another level. It was the greenest, biggest, juiciest, healthiest-looking produce I had ever seen in my life – and it was cheap, cheap, cheap!

As it turned out, it was all poison.

Green, But Not Organic

The produce in Florida was lush and abundant – that’s true – but it was a galaxy away from “organic”.

Most (maybe all) commercially grown produce is a total disaster.

It’s genetically modified, grown in dead, chemically-contaminated soil, sprayed with pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, then gassed, radiated, sprayed with wax, dyed…

But it sure was pretty!

Though this is not the forum to tell the full story, I need to disclose that my mom was really, really ill at that time. It was scary. She decided that an organic, vegetable-based diet was an important part of her recovery.

I had my own relatively minor health challenges, so it was easy to get on board with the commitment to healthy food and a clean lifestyle. Especially after five years living (and smoking and drinking) in Denmark!

But finding clean, organic food was far more difficult than anticipated.

After all, that was long before you could just take a drive to a local Whole Foods.

Organic food wasn’t exactly growing on trees… pun intended.

Growing Our Own

We decided pretty quickly that because we now lived in Florida, where there was (and is) an absurd amount of sunshine, the best thing to do would be to grow our own vegetables. That way – we reasoned – we could have chemical-free produce every day!

Then we discovered that we were not allowed to do any planting next to the condominium where we were living. No digging!

That put an end to the garden idea.

But what we did have was a huge, empty 2’nd floor deck that received sunshine all day long.

That’s when I first learned about the soilless farming method called “hydroponics.”

Only a handful of people had even tried “hydroponics” at that time, which made it even more attractive to me.

Hydroponics was the way to go, we decided.

I borrowed some books from the Sarasota Public Library and began poring through them.

How hard could it be?

LOL!

That’s when I learned a lesson in humility.

There was a minor flood, with a brand-new car involved… and a close call with a circular saw and some plastic tubing – but that’s a story for another time.

It’s true – I was not terribly successful my first time trying to grow hydroponically.

Okay, that’s an understatement.

But thankfully mom and I did eventually find some great locally-grown hydroponic produce. We also befriended a skilled nutritionist, and an outstanding “team” of locals from every healing modality imaginable.

Mom did eventually get much, much better – and forever credited healthy, organic produce as a fundamental component in her personal healing journey.

There was also a very mysterious experience involving lighting and a Native American shaman while we traveling through the Arizona dessert – but that’s another longer story.

2020. Best year of my life.

In March, 2020, we all know what happened.

For me, the beginning of 2020 marked the end of a relatively long career in the corporate marketing world.

Sometimes getting fired for circumstances beyond your control can be very liberating!

The sudden change in circumstances, combined with world events, eventually motivated me to try something new. In fact, I decided to make a complete career change!

Of course I’m trying to make it sound a bit adventurous, but at the time it was pretty overwhelming. At times to was downright terrifying.

So I dug deep and thought about what I had ever done in my life that was actually useful to humanity – not simply a means to an end.

A New Direction

I eventually figured out that the best way that I could help out with world events was to apply my creative mind to the issue of food production.

The challenge was to bring soilless growing technology and techniques to anybody who is so inclined.

Then it happened.

That’s when the design came to me – literally in a flash of inspiration – just like you hear about happening to inventors, authors, and eccentric artists. I personally experienced it.

The whole shebang just popped into my mind in a flash. I could see it completely built and operating in my mind. I could mentally trace each component and see what it did. It was really cool!

So, now that the mystical, magical blueprints had somehow tattooed themselves onto my brain, I suddenly realized I had a lot to learn about indoor gardening. After all, it hadn’t gone so well the first time I attempted it.

That’s an understatement.

About the only thing I was sure of was that I needed to watch a LOT of YouTube videos about hydroponics, aeroponics, and indoor growing.

I was also 100% sure I needed to buy a 3D printer.

After all, if you’re going to invent something in 2020, you need both of those things – YouTube and a 3D printer!

Clearly.

The Gro-Dome

I was out of work space in our 1926 brick twin in Allentown, PA.

So in the Fall of 2020, a Geodesic dome was constructed in the back yard. Well, it was constructed in our neighbor’s yard, actually. (Thanks, Patrick!)

I’ve always loved geodesic domes – and now I had a 3D printer!

It had nothing to do with the actual function of the Aero-Gro at all.

In fact, it was a living nightmare as a grow space, but it made a really great work space.

The dome was constructed of 3D printed “hubs,” 1×2″ wood strips from a big box store, and some greenhouse plastic. It was kind of amazing, really – especially when it snowed!

At night, with the grow lights on, it looked like a UFO!

I built the first prototype of the “Aero-Gro” tower using my newly-acquired 3D printer, some more scrap wood, and various sizes of PVC tubing.

The first prototype was definitely a hack job. But it worked!

I ran the growing experiments all winter – with varying results.

But it worked!

And the dome I built to house it looked really cool.

I may have mention that.

Twenty Miles of Plastic Filament

Now that I had “proof of concept,” I had to build a real prototype. The 3D printer which had already been running for six months then entered a new tour of duty. The true engineering and product development of the Aero-Gro had begun.

I did the math. I had used over 20 miles of plastic filament during the prototyping process. I was about to use another 20 miles of the stuff.

Snow Lettuce

Some of the lettuce that had been growing all winter actually survived until spring.

I decided to relocate the lettuce plants to the soil-based garden in our back yard. It was their first time in soil, but they seemed happy to still be alive.

The prototype grow tower for growing leafy greens is now called the Aero-Gro “Bermuda.”

The Bermuda is perfect for more delicate vegetables such as lettuce, kale, and spinach.

I knew that if I wanted to grow all types of vegetables indoors thatI would need to adapt what I had learned to another version of the system.

Growing tall, stalky and vining vegetables requires more stability in the root ball – to support the heavy plants and fruits.

Literally the very next day I had another of those weird flashes of inspiration.

Poof! There it was in my mind – in nearly full detail.

That was when the Aero-Gro “Hawaii” was born.

Aloha!

5-gallon buckets are used all the time in hydroponics for growing cannabis indoors, which meant they would be perfect for all tall, stalky and vining plants.

Basically, all of the technology and controls that comprised the feeding functionality of the “Bermuda” were now converted for use with 5-gallon buckets.

The Hawaii was a winner right out of the gate. There were some improvements to make, but the system worked really well.

The Tomato Monster

The first tests of the Hawaii were done using tomato plants.

Here’s the thing about tomato plants – they like to grow really big, really fast – especially when you’re giving them absolutely everything they need to thrive – all the time.

They outgrew the grow tent within weeks, but they sure did grow! The plants were healthy and happy. They were great for photographic purposes!

There’s another funny story here about transporting a living tomato plant (with no soil) in the back of a Jeep – to a photo studio for product photography – but that’s yet another longer story.

Current Status of Aero-Gro

The Aero-Gro “Hawaii” and “Bermuda” are both still in different stages of product testing as of 5/2022. The “Bermuda” is due to be released Q4, 2022.

Pricing will be posted on this website as soon as it is available.

Becoming a Beta Tester

We are happy to offer (for sale) a working prototype of the exact same “Bermuda” that is currently in beta testing. We can do that because most of the non-mechanical parts are 3D printed using PETG filament, which is incredibly strong and durable.

If you would like to purchase a prototype and become a beta tester for Aero-Gro, please let us know here:

The Aero-Gro Store

The Aero-Gro store is a natural extension of the Aero-Gro mission.

The store was created to help ensure that indoor growers have access to the same products that we use everyday at Aero-Gro. Each product is manufactured to Aero-Gro specs, and must pass rigorous “torture testing” before being offered to our customers.

You’ve got this – and we can help!

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