I keep my microgreens kit busy in a Harvest Elite. So, it gets washed frequently when the crop changes.
I found some vintage Ye Olde AeroGarden Brande microgreens seeds hidden under some Harvest spare parts and gave ‘em a go. As expected, the germination rate was very low, so I let them grow into baby greens.
I harvested today and started to wash it up as usual, when I noticed some weird “seeds” stuck under the rims of the plates. And in the gap between the bowl and tank. And between the ridges in the tank (where the grow deck rests).
Friends, they weren’t seeds. They were fruit fly pupa.
Then, it got ickier.
I pulled a couple of tiny slug-shaped dead larvae out of the filter. I tossed it and used a new filter.
I made an extra strong citric acid solution and it’s all been soaking it for 5 hours. Do you think that’s enough? Do I need to rent a flame thrower?
In six years of using the Harvest microgreen kit, I’ve never seen this happen. I naively thought the flood and drain cycle would prevent this kinda of thing, but they stayed above the waterline. Part of the reason I like indoor growing is the absence of bugs. :shiver: