| C u lt i vat i n g H e a lt h y L i f e s t y l e s | F o r G r o w e r s , By G r o w e r s | Volume 2 | Issue 13
A G Cu row ltu ing re
Cover Model: J.S. | PHOTO: Tina Schultz |
Information, Culture & Community for Growing
-Aquaponics for living systems - -hydro res automation- -anarchy on the beach- -Life Under the Big Top-hydroponics gear reviews & releases- -ancient hydroponics --commerical growing- -& More, More, More!
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Contributors
Volume 2 | Issue 13
Casey Jones Fraser
Jeff Edwards
An obsessed gardener.
A fixture in the hobby hydroponic industry since 1988.
He grows veggies, herbs, and flowers with both traditional and hydroponic methods. His years of botanical experiences have taken him everywhere from Jamaica to Northern California on a quest for more knowledge. You can read his articles in various hydroponics magazines, or visit his retail shop: Garden Grove Organics in the Northern Kentucky region of Greater Cincinnati.
Prior to joining, he was the Assistant Director at NORML. Jeff went on to found and operate Home Harvest Garden Supply as a retail and ecommerce concern for the next 24 years. He is a founding and current board member of the Progressive Gardening Trade Association, formerly known as the Hydroponic Merchants Association. More recently, he has been offering marketing, advertising, and web development services to manufacturers, distributor and retail hydroponic businesses. He also hates typos.
www.gardengroveorganics.com
jeff@gardeningadvantage.com
Frazer Love Knew his life was etched in stone after meeting a fellow UGA student, fully involved in a double major in horticulture and business management.
Jordan Gartenhaus One of those people that always tries to figure out how or why things work the way they do. To that end he earned a BS in mechanical engineering, but shortly after graduating he realized his time spent in school created more questions about everything around him than answers. In an effort to prevent from overwhelming himself now he focuses just on making gardens as fruitful as is scientifically possible. He spends a lot of his time optimizing grow spaces to make the most of the resources available, and also strongly advocates quality automation systems. www.grohaus-automation.com
The next step was taking his passion to the next level by packing his college apartment with hydro equipment and mushroom cultivation projects. These home projects turned into a desire to make this his life’s work. Since 2005, Frazer has worked with various hydroponics shops (Atlantis Hydro & Flora Hydro) and is now working with retailers directly as a factory representative He built Perpetual Harvest from the ground up, literally. This tiny sub-acre urban farm has given Frazer the gift of feeding the stomach and brains of his family and friends. “ www.facebook.com/PerpetualHarvest www.facebook.com/FloraHydroponics
MK is an ultra-commercial grower with firm roots in British
Columbia’s commercial indoor growing industry. For the last 15 years MK has worked with and amongst some of North America’s largest scale indoor producers. Besides having many years of hands on and practical experience planning, managing and executing a variety of commercial operations, he’s spent much of that time concurrently working with leading technologies manufacturers and distributors in areas like horticultural grow lighting and specialty crop nutrients. legitimate.hydro@gmail.com
darryl cotton Originally from Chicago, Ill., San Diego CA has been Darryl’s home (and business headquarters, Inda-Gro) since 1980. He got his first taste of agriculture working farms as youngster for summer work in Illinois. He started to work with electrical as a teen-and became fascinated and eventually immersed in the concepts, technologies and principles. It’s no wonder his work for growers today in crop lighting and aquaponics technologies has deep roots in Tesla’s pioneering work. Grozine gratefully acknowledges and appreciates his many insightful and accurate contributions to our publication, website and social platforms. info@inda-gro.com VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 13
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CONTENTS
Volume 2 | Issue 13
32 22 4 contributors
8 From the Editor
22 Raft Hydroponics Truly, there is nothing new under the sun; how ancient growing methods give hope for feeding the planet today.
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32 commercial growing: mk talks He’s back!
36 Moving on Up Seriously intelligent hydroponics reservoir automation-finall controls that think smarter than you do!
CONTents
12 biksa’s grow room
How far can you go?
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15 Anarchy in Ocean Beach
One of those times when you
need a vacation after your vacation...
28 Aquaponics
Getting started in Aquaponics
means Bio Filter Schoolin’!
44 Rocking Bloom Boosters
One of the most popular yet
least understood part of crop feeding explained.
44 62 56 Learn About Hydroponics How to root cuttings with aeroponics; so easy a kid can do it...
62 Hydroponic Show Biz
A look back and questions about
what’s in store for hydroponics promo-
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tions and gatherings
66 Whoa, did u know?
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From the Editor
Back Indoors
Bloom boosters, bud builders....whatever you wanna call them, it’s often a place of confusion for growers when it comes to crop feeding programs. We debunk some of the jargon and sales rhetoric and deliver the straight goods on how to improve yields and quality by making the right choices by better understanding what to choose and when to apply it-as you will see, it makes all the difference! As always, just like in your garden we think that variety is the spice of life--and we hope that is well reflected in a wide variety of topics and growing tips offered through out this edition. While we aren’t known to be a beginners grow mag, we try to offer something for everyone--even if you aren’t eyeballs deep in the culture of cultivation as many of our contributors and fan base are.
Indoor Garden Season | Begins Again |
In writing this editions From the Editor Note, I had planned on tearing a strip off those in the business of acting as Shills in online gardening chats, particularly where bad advice is being pushed in place of good Welcome back to another edition of Grozine, everybody’s favorite Cul- advice, as sought out by those newer to indoor gartivation E-mag by growers, for growers. dening and hydroponics or soilless growing. We’ve done a lot of growing since our last edition-as you have and Instead, I see we got lots of really positive stuff to should come to expect from us by now if you have been following along share that I hope will help get you all amped for your and watching us grow. read ahead and the growing lessons and tips that await inside--so, know that you have come to the Some of our growing has been from our own humble backyard, once right place when you reach Grozine. For growers, by an eye sore, now a lush and thriving edible landscape thanks to soilless growers; without exception or compromise. and hydroponic projects we started- some with next to nothing for a budget, others more elaborate: for example, our trial scale automated And for those of you’re returning from your Summer hydroponics lettuce growing set-up that can be scaled up to large scale hiatus...welcome back! commercial production in staying with the fundamentals and principals we have been learning, practicing and sharing. Yours Truly, We’ve even had some Government Agencies take notice of Grozine, and happy to say, they loved what we’re doing. Please read more about that | HERE | Special thanks to all of our great contributors for bringing The Real back into hydroponics gardening magazine articles. Proudly we have stuck to our guns, and we’re still “All Killer, No Filler”. Find a fluff article and you can punch me in the arm, hard as you like, lol.
eri k bi ksa
Now that Fall is approaching in this hemisphere, the INDOOR growing season officially begins again. And highest salutations to all the growers who go year round indoors, whether out of necessity or because it’s what you groove on. This edition we further explore real life working hydroponics growing automation, and talk about some of the practical and helpful ways these types of technologies have been working for the Pros, and how you can put them to work for you. VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 13
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GZ Cover Girl
J.S. Vancouver Island, B.C | CANADA | Edition cover model
photo credit: Tina Schultz
Jade is a natural when it comes to gardening, and raising beauty organically is a way of life for those lucky enough to hail from her native Vancouver Island B.C. home.
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Q: Do you recommend going with full automation for indoor growing? We are looking to start up a large scale commercial growing operation, and see this as a great way to help keep costs down for things like labor, ie we don’t need to hire teams of experts and to help ensure we get good yields and respectable crop quality. As a new business venture, a crop loss or poor yield could wipe us out financially. >>>
Auto
matio
a? s k i B rik E ons s i questi ang n i r Who org nswe rs and been a s
as owe ect iksa h ics gr f subj Erik B al hydropon ide range o re Are w tu n, Fea from r eners on a d m u l o C ppeare rd A a a & g Q e s v s c a i Hi s h Max 1999. bution ns such as i r t n since o and c Jane, icatio s ticles ide in publ es, Medical Forbe d m w n i a T d l kly wor High it Wee ield, o Y r t m e u D im al ud, Re Roseb ne. Magazi 12
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n:
How far h as t techn he ology along come -AND
is it FRIE NDLY ?
A: Historically, indoor and greenhouse growers in commercial, research and home settings have adopted timers, relays, float valves, thermostats, etc for decades now. In any commercial growing operation you are going to need a level of automation-to what extent will depend on your own level of technological sophistication or the willingness to learn, adapt and adopt what is available, and naturally, how much you can afford to spend. Sky is the limit—seriously, they have Cloud capabilities now—it’s gotten that sophisticated. A big difference today over just a few years ago is that the technology that is available to growers is leaps and bounds more intelligent and sophisticated than it was before, dollar for dollar. Another significant area of difference is that the devices can now “talk” amongst themselves or offer intelligent data processing rather than just slamming a contactor/relay at an absolute set point.
Example:
have dosed nutrients into the reservoir in an hour or so anyway,
You would have been Johnny HiTech to have automated reservoir based on a daily pattern that is specific to your grow. The smart EC or pH controls just a few years ago. Let’s say you did. While system, (and grower) would know the answer to this—and may being a step forward over manual dosing, the dosers would likely
have waited. Why? Because an excess of buffers alters your nutri-
have been “blind slaves”. There was no thinking or learning. If
ent chemistry, and what happens when you overshoot the point
the pH is set to 5.7, the system would have jetted buffer into the
from fast action and no thinking? The pH would have been out of
solution as fast as it could until the set point was adjusted.
whack, and the process repeats, further drifting away from maintaining the perfect solution for your growing investment.
But did the doser know your reservoir conditions, for example, would the pH have changed automatically because it would
Biksas Growroom
Your Growing Concerns Answered Here. Have a Question? Email: erikbiksa@grozine.com The doser of today thinks. And we’re just talking about reservoir only here—what about things like temperature, lighting, carbon dioxide, aeration for roots, humidity—and what about changing these conditions at different times in a 24 hour cycle to achieve stronger crop responses is a specific phase of development? Imagine these devices talking amongst themselves, making changes based on patterns specific to your grow and the system programming to maintain what and when. The system can tell you how things are going and allow you to make changes from anywhere in the world.
time hydroponic farming. However, once you have the fundamentals, I suggest applying a scalable intelligent grow control to your existing scale and then learn to manage and realize the full potential of the animation system itself before then scaling up the grow operation itself. Following these steps may take a little longer, but you aren’t leaving yourself as vulnerable to total financial loss as you will have developed a solid foundation in both growing equipment and applications as you scale up your efforts.
For most growers, learning the basics with analog or simple dig- A little time spent developing your market while not carrying a ital controls is usually a good place to start if you are going to try ton of financial risk can pay back in spades. too things out on a smaller scale first before your blow the wad on big VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 13
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L E V A R T
A
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Y H C R A
H EAC B n a oce -IN-
By Cas ey J o n es F r
I wasn’t going to take a shower, but then I realized it is now day three for this particular shirt. My eyes are dim, and my skin shows smears of pink and tan from poorly applied sunblock. My dreadlocks, normally clean and tight, hang in a greasy frazzle. A vacation was had. Now I need to rest. >>>
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as e r
“ If you’re a fan of shopping malls, Cheesecake Factory, and dance clubs with all the hottest jams, then stay away from Ocean Beach...”
Ocean Beach is a small community on the coastal edge of San Diego, California. Their local NBC affiliate referred to O.B. as the “most laid back” part of town. My wife booked a room right on the cliffs, practically hanging over the water. If you’re a fan of shopping malls, Cheesecake Factory, and dance clubs with all the hottest jams, then stay away from Ocean Beach. It has none of those things, and people like me prefer it that way. Other than one pharmacy and a Starbucks, I didn’t see a single chain business in the area. You will find head shops, thrift stores, clothing, antiques, and tons of Mexican food. Other restaurants offer tasty plates as well, but the local tacos and burritos are a credit to humanity. >>>
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Waking up on our first day in O.B., we took in the beautiful ocean view before heading to Newport Avenue for bike rentals. Rental cars seem like a waste in such a small area, and I’ve never been arrested for drunk biking. We opted for a tiny bike shop behind a tattoo studio that offers mopeds and regular bikes by the hour or by the day. O.B. Ebikes (www.elektrocycle.com) is owned by Ross LeVay, and he offers cheap rates. We wanted a couple of beach cruisers for a few days, so he gave us a great deal. Next time, I’ll remember extra sunblock for my legs. Apparently, cargo shorts slide up the thigh when pedaling around a sunny beach neighborhood. Bike lanes are the norm, and the open view gives the benefit of seeing local plant life. Gardeners will love the roses, palm trees, and cacti, which are commonly used there for landscaping front yards. But it was the houseplants that freaked me out. I mean, they aren’t houseplants in SoCal. The same species of ficus, dracaena, aloe, and sedum that I have sold for coffee tables and office cubicles exist as cartoon giants in Ocean Beach. Citrus trees hang heavy with ripe fruit, just outside kitchen doors. Succulents, fruits, vegetables, and strange desert flowers decorate every street I rode down. For a change of pace, The Wife and I headed inland to the agricultural suburb of Fallbrook. “Avocado Capital of the United States” is Fallbrook’s claim to fame. Many residences have incorporated fruit trees and avocado groves where lawns previously existed. The mountains and horse farms gave me a taste of home. For some reason, I like to to go on exhausting hikes until my clothes are dusty and sweaty. Unless you’re particularly scared of rattles snakes, consider hiking the Santa Margarita River Trail. The low country views offer lizards, fish, and a 1950’s Ford station wagon than has become permanently lodged into the earth. The high country views offer mountain tops and a delirious sense of accomplishment. The entire hike is a little over six and a half miles. Loaded down with fresh fruit and homemade jams (seriously, why did we get so much jam?), we caught a ride back to the coast. Back to the king size bed and ocean view. Back to The Inn at Sunset Cliffs.
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What I can only assume to be a seagull and two pelicans took big, healthy shits all over my beautiful ocean view. With the main window soiled, I understood their message: “So you’re some fancy pants journalist with a posh suite at the beach? Well this is our beach. This is our home. We’ll shit where we please. Get over yourself and have a drink. THIS IS OCEAN BEACH!” Message received, my winged brethren. Time for a change of course. The remaining clean window showed a clear view of rocky cliffs begging to be explored. But that could wait for tomorrow. With feet sore from hiking, and easy access to reasonably priced California pinot noir, it was time to chill. The sunset was beautiful, and I was soon unaware of any bird shit. Bright and early, we greeted the dawn and fueled our systems with delicious coffee from Java Beach, just up the street on Point Loma Avenue. Ready for a much needed safety meeting, The Wife and I started climbing around, looking for some privacy. Some of the cliffs drop off to piles of round boulders and deadly falls. We played it safe, and rested against an incline that was hidden and clear of any immediate danger.
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CONT.’D
“These are not the dreads you’re looking for,” I whispered in a flawless Obi Wan Kenobi accent. He responded with a quick nod, stepped back, and walked away. “Success!” I announced to The Wife. Later, I realized he had been a bus driver. Sometimes tourists fall to their death (it’s happened twice so far this year), and he was just checking on us. No problem, kind sir, we were being extra safe that day. With a fresh state of mind, we floated on down to the antique shops. Soooo muuuuuuch stuuuufffff! Testing my resolve to not spend money, and my ability to stand up straight, these stores dizzy a man’s wit with piles of shiny objects, stacks of paintings, and rooms full of cool old furniture. We settled on an antique service bell with a solid brass lion as the base. It spoke to me. The rest of the afternoon was highlighted with a shoeless beach stroll and lunch at Nati’s Mexican Restaurant on Bacon Street. Nati’s is a local institution, originally opened in 1960. We stuffed ourselves with sauce soaked tortillas, cheeses, and beans. The
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prices were low, and the facility focuses on subjects food was mouth-watering. unique to humans. Sure, they have brain slices, We passionately shoveled DNA graphs, and details it into our faces. I look for- about our evolutional oriward to eating there again, gins, but they also have a but I’m asking for more beer exhibit! heat next time. The spice level was too tame for my For an extra eight bucks jaded taste buds. you can view an impressive collection of torture One great thing about San devices from throughDiego: everything is close out the centuries. Why? by. On our last day, The Because torture devices Wife and I took a fifteen are unique to humans! minute cab ride to Balboa Neato! Park for some culture. Back to O.B. for dinner. With several museums The people their are so dedicated to science, art, friendly and relaxed, and and history, Balboa Park the restaurants have great can set a brain in motion food. The Wife and I were after a few days of chronic discussing these topics as inebriation. You can we slowly walked down always visit the San Diego Newport Avenue. Museum of Art or the Natural History Museum, There was a local acid but consider some of the casualty whom I had lesser known spots as well. dubbed Homeless Harry Potter. He was calmly I was feeling pretty child- settling a debate with an ish, so we headed over to older gentleman wearing the the Rueben H. Fleet pajama pants up to his Science Center for some armpits. Grandpa PJ Pants playtime. was doing all the talking: Great for kids or immature adults like me, we played with huge magnets, manual generators, and miniature tornadoes. My mental abilities were at about half speed, so the optical illusion exhibit really freaked me out. Good times.
he previous day I had seen a group of trust fund hippies deeply discussing which was more difficult: the frat house or the beach house. Tough life, Brah. Our cabbie recommended the fish tacos at South Beach Bar and Grill. You get a giant, deep fried filet, fully dressed, for $3.50. Also, they stock Bulleit Bourbon, so I had a couple of Kentucky Mules in a copper cup, while The Wife had a few Lemon Bulleits. ...another taxi... The next thing I know, we’ve spent $80.00 in some airport bar, and I’m being loaded onto a redeye flight back to Cincinnati. It’s official, O.B., I’m a fan. See you next summer.
San Diego Bicycle Rentals:
“Hey, man, like I’m real sorry! It’s old age, ya know. Negative vibra- Electric Mopeds and tions. It could happen to Bikes Sales and Rentals you! It could happen to www.elektrocycle.com anybody!” These dudes were probably the most dangerous people I encountered. Everybody was cool with everybody.
The Museum of Man is an option for adult visitors You might see a brand seeking unusual, educa- new Mercedes roll past, tional experiences. This followed by a ’94 Ford
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Taurus with duct tape and bungie cords. T
Home Hydroponics Gardens don’t Need to be Big to Be Productive
The Hydroponics Corner
Rafti ng , Anyone “ The truth of the matter is, Hydroponics has been used, by many different civilizations, for millenniums. The Babylonians had the ‘Hanging Gardens’, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs depict ‘soilless’ growing near the Nile River, Marco Polo wrote about the Chinese with their hydro methods of cultivating crops and even the Roman Empire grew hydroponically. ” 22
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by A d r ian Ro m e r o
?
In recent decades, hydroponics has become synonymous with 1 plant. Just the mention of the words ‘hydroponics’ or ‘hydro’ can elicit a wide array of responses, some good and some bad, depending on your perception. The truth of the matter is, Hydroponics has been used, by many different civilizations, for millenniums. The Babylonians had the ‘Hanging Gardens’, ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs depict ‘soilless’ growing near the Nile River, Marco Polo wrote about the Chinese with their hydro methods of cultivating crops and even the Roman Empire grew hydroponically. Another great civilization, to grow hydroponically, was the Aztec. The Aztecs were one of the first documented cultures to use large ‘rafts’, called chinampas. These chinampas were made of logs, sticks, reeds, local vegetation, nutrient rich mud from the bottom of the lakes to fertilize and living trees (called ‘Ahuejotes’ or willows) to help secure the ‘islands’, that floated on top of the water. This was a necessity for them as they had been driven to the center of what is now known as Mexico (City), with almost no ‘fertile’ land of their own to cultivate. All they had were interconnected lakes in which to utilize. These chinampas or ‘floating islands’ made it possible to expand their growing areas over soggy marshes into usable land. They were able to cultivate a large variety and amount of crops every year. Their ingenuity not only kept them
from famishing, it helped their rise to prominence. Fortunately, these days, we can create our own individual, sustainable empire, whether in the terrace, the backyard, a greenhouse or hectares of land. With the onset of modern science and a little help from our good friends at Dow Chemical Company (and some of their ‘acquired’ patents), you don’t have to be in the backyard weaving reeds and sticks together, in your Birkenstocks, for hours upon hours making your own chinampas. We now have Styrofoam/polystyrene and other similar* materials that will float on water and facilitate a potentially, tedious process. Old school supermarket aisle
Pa Growing on rafts (foam or otherwise) is hydroponics, in the most simplest of forms. It’s effective, efficient, easy and widely applied from yards to large scale operations. All you need is a reservoir, water, nutrients, a piece of foam (almost any floating material will do) and, of course, plants. This will give you a very functional, ‘passive’ raft system that does not require pumps or moving parts. Or you can step up your ‘raft’ growing with an ‘active’ system, which utilizes electricity and pumps. By adding either an air pump w/ airstone(s) and/or water pump that continually circulates the water, you can better deliver oxygen to the roots which is conducive to plant health and vigor. Both ‘active’ ways are productive, can be used in conjunction, will help keep higher water temps oxygenated (less need for water chillers) and make better use of the nutrient solution.
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Modern crop research still using raft hydroponics
Another successful way to use the ‘raft’ method, and more in line with the Aztec method, is with aquaponics. This method, which is quickly catching on throughout the World, combines ‘aquaculture’ with hydroponics. Simplifying things; Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic organisms (such as fish, mollusks, crustaceans and aquatic plants). Combine that with hydroponic methods and you have it, Aquaponics. A good example using the ‘raft’ method with aquaponics is at San Diego Hydroponics & Organics, Bay Park, that was set up and maintained by Good Karma Aquaponics. (See pictures) Their setup utilizes a Koi pond, water pump, bio-filters, your standard 2’x4’ ‘flood and drain’ tray with fittings and a piece of foam, plumbed with holes. The water comes from the nutrient rich pond, is pumped up, passes through a biofilter and continually circulates the solution in 2’x4’ table, allow-
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ing oxygen rich water and readily available elements to reach the roots. (See pics.)
Simple,sophisticated, solution… Hydroponics can be classified as many things, One thing is clear: That it’s our past, present and future.
Whether it’s aquaponics, passive or an active hydroponic raft system, almost any plant can be grown using this simple and effective method. Although its best suited for leafy greens, lettuces, herbs and other lightweight plants. (If you do decide to grow large fruiting/blooming plants, you will need a sturdier ‘floating’ island and/or a support system to hold the extra weight, taller plants, etc.)
Healthy Greens Up Top Growing Indoors
AQUAPONICS Its possible to raise ornamental or edible fish at home and enjoy fresh sustainable produce year round with a floating raft system like this one right here!
Water Flow Helps Fish & Plants in Aquaponics
The Plants Feed and Thrive From Fish Waste, Filtering the Water for Keeping Fish Healthy
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Buy ALL of This ?
CHOOSe 26
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OR THE oNE AND ONLY
WISELY www.rocknutrients.com VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 13
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Aquaponics A Growing Force:
Cultivating With Living Systems
Here are some great examples of what happens when hydroponics know how meets fish production to create living systems for sustainable food production. Inda-Gro Crop Lighting is a leader in crop growing innovations and has been teaming with experts in both the hydroponics and aquatics industry to design, create and further refine an advanced Aquaponics system that is capable of supporting heavy feeding plants like tomatoes. This could be a big break for vegetable growers who have historically been limited at times as to the type of crops they can choose to grow with Aquaponics, for example, being limited to greens or herbs.
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Aquaponics 101: fountain & bio-filter images: AquatechPondCare.ca
| Bio-Filtration |
If you enjoy hydroponics gardening and wanted to get started on growing crops with Aquaponics a great place to start your schooling is in the area of Bio-Filters & Bio-Filtration. Understanding the Nitrogen Cycle (Wiki Diagram BELOW) is something you should have a firm grasp of if you are at all serious about gardening; especially with natural fertilizers or processes. like organics or aquaponics. Essentially, aquaponics systems are living filters, so if you know what it is that needs to be filtered (fish waste) and how it can be done (crops, biofilters), you are well on your way to cultivating success with Aquaponics.
Plants can be grown in aquaponics with NO SUBSTRATE when a well planned and managed bio-filter is used
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Serving B.C.’s Lower Mainland For more information or specific requests and comments, please contact: Joe Richard @ 778-863-9983 Email: aquatechdesigns@outlook.com Website: www.aquatechpondcare.ca
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He’s Back! MK Returns--AND Delivers the Straight Goods on Commercial Growing Success Editors Note: OK folks, MK isn’t a figment* of my imagination, nor is he my alter ego. This guy is quite for real, and one of the better people you’ll find out there; in any circle. Well at least in your faithful and humble Editor’s Opinion. So, that said, let’s see what gems of indoor growing info and insights he has to lay down for us this Edition of Grozine….
*Did u know? “Figment” is the one word epitaph that adorns Andy Warhol’s gravemarker?
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confessions GZ-Word up, nice to speak with you about big time growing again. To play some catch-up real quick, last time we left off you were growing big “Trees” in 20-50 gallon pots or growbags.
Vegging for two months or more and allowing single plants to reach four foot diameter sizing and up to ten feet tall was your thing. You were doing this in soilless and using up to 2000 watts of HPS lighting on a single plant, broadsiding with no reflector. You had just started to convert some of your facilities over to CEA (closed environments, no air exchange). So, what’s going on now, hope it’s not more of the same or this is gonna be a little shorter than we had planned…..
E R E H s a W MK
MK-He, he. Nah, you know me--always changing, always growing. That’s one thing about the commercial game...if you aren’t adapting, you are slowly slipping. Your competitors and the game itself are always looking for ways to tighten up on the existing standards--if you don’t keep up, or better yet drive the change yourself, you’ll quickly find yourself “out of the biz”.
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GZ-Obviously, you are not...and from what we can see parked outside, you are doing better than ever. Alright, lets state the obvious for those less familiar with the commercial scene: IT has changed by leaps and bounds in the last few years, ie EVERYBODY is doing it-usually not so big, but it all adds up to saturation points in key markets. MK- The “game” as we call it, has changed rapidly in the past 2-3 years. It used to always be Bigger is Better... not so much anymore. With the huge jump in newbie producers out there (everyone thinks you can just plug in the 1000w lights and you’re on your way to financial success) there has been some very adverse affects to the marketplace. Prices are half of what they used to be and the wholesale buyers are pickier than ever. In the past, the trend was “do it bigger, harvest, build bigger, harvest---repeat”. This is a treadmill you don’t want to get on. I’ve seen partners and other big growers crash hard from building things up to the sky, only to fall hard when the market slips out-even if only temporarily. Many growers do not recover from this type of market collapse and I’ve seen my share of successful growers retire early, whether they wanted to or not.
GZ-You mean you’ve had to rein things in so to speak? MK-In part, yes. It still takes a considerable number of lights to make it worthwhile as a living these days, but instead of adding more and more of the same, I’ve been tightening things up. I guess you could call it more vertical integration. GZ-You mean vertical growing?! MK-No, that’s not what I mean man lol….instead of working with five different guys or companies up and down the supply chain, I handle most of it all myself. It puts me in control for reliability and consistency--the fewer wild cards I’m playing with the better when I am betting big. For example, a grower can select their own boutique strains based on super high quality (and keep it exclusive), do the propagation themselves, automate the heck out of the place to keep labor down, and use better planning and gear to make every watt count. I’m way past my first grow--no more “fly by night”. What I do takes planning--and investment. But this is what pays, and it has allowed me to stay in the game...others have come and gone...MANY others, at this point… >>> 34
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GZ-What about marketing and selling? MK-There’s a big difference there now too. I don’t do the commodity selling thing anymore-you are wise to distance yourself from that and develop your own unique markets. While it takes time, you have a lot more control and essentially, you become your own competition. GZ-So think vertical? MK-Right. I now operate and am in the process of expanding retail outlets for my produce or other growers harvest that is up to my standards (few are, honestly). Instead of selling by the case via wholesalers or at the wholesale level, I can sell on a customer per customer basis. Not only are the profits better, but it keeps me directly in sync with what’s in demand--or better yet, puts me in the drivers seat to help move it in a direction that favorable for my business. GZ-That’s super valuable, but respectfully, we are a grow mag--so what’s the skinny of commercial growing these days---come on share some! MK-Alright, alright...next edition man. I’ll talk about our shift from soilless trees to hyper-productive hydroponics methods--as well as some of the things we are doing different to stay more profitable without cutting into quality, which remains job number one. When people think “commercial” they think it means less quality. Right now, nothing could be further from the truth because it’s a buyers market. So, I’ll tell you more about what we do there to make what we are already doing even better.
Until then….
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Moving On Up...
Via
Automation We’ve all been there before-or wish we have; that point when you Finally get your garden dialed-in perfectly, everything seems to be working harmoniously, your duties become routine, and the plants are thriving. It’s a wonderful feeling knowing that you’ve got everything down to a science, but what then?
By Jordan Gartenhaus
Growers who reach this milestone often move onto a different plant variety just to change things up. If you’ve really reverse engineered your crop to the point where you know its needs as well as you know your own (or better as is with a lot of the growers I know and meet), then you should consider simply growing more of it and reap the benefits of your green thumb.
other words work smarter, not harder.While working hard is admirable, remember machines work hard too-sometimes even smarter, thanks to the age we live in now.
There are purists out there that turn their noses up at the very mention of “automation”, and don’t want to be bothered with seemingly superfluous machines that invite more problems than they’re worth-or so they’ve However, in order to do that you need to use your time conditioned themselves to think.. wisely, and consider automating the most repetitive and time consuming tasks that you can’t be bothered with. In >>> 36
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(Cont.d)
The reality is most growers already rely on automation and may not even realize it. That mechanical float that tops off your hydroponic reservoir is a form of automation. The fancy light timer that cycles your HID lighting is a form of automation. You employ these devices to perform simple, repetitive tasks so you don’t have to. And if you’re going to be replicating and expanding your current garden enterprise, then you’ll almost certainly need to consider some help regulating your hydroponic nutrient solution. >>>
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CLICK FOR DOSSIERS
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CONT.’D
Hydroponic nutrient solution management is a prime candidate for automation for a number of reasons. 1. I don’t know anyone that genuinely enjoys constantly checking and adjusting the PPM and pH levels. You have to get the measuring cups out, meter out the precise amount of nutrients and pH modifiers, check a few times and make sure you hit your targets, and if not repeat the above procedure until you do. Even if you could manage monitoring and dosing several hydroponic systems yourself, it’d be almost impossible to control everything as precisely as a computer could. 2. When you accidentally add too much nutrient into the solution and say to yourself, “Whatever...it’s fine”, your plants notice that. When you get home late and wait until morning to check on things and find the pH has risen up to 7.0, your plants notice that. 3. When you dose a system and space out and forget to add the Cal-Mag, your plants notice that. Any stress or deviation from the ideal for your plants will result in some deficiency or lack of growth, even if only temporary. 4. Computers don’t make mistakes, humans do, and those mistakes do amount to something in the end. If you incorporate some kind of automated reservoir management it makes sense to choose a hydroponic system that will accommodate more plants without having to add another hydroponic reservoir.
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The bottom line is, growing your plants on a large scale isn’t a crazy notion if you plan properly, and smartly incorporate automation to perform tasks that you don’t want to.
Microsoft’s founder Bill Gates once said, “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” So if you’ve got your recipe down, look to automation to help enhance what you’re already doing. Automated reservoir management is but one example of many automation products that can help you accomplish more than you ever thought you could.
“...Computers Don’t Make Mistakes, People Do...”
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During my career in agriculture since graduating, I have worked with some of the biggest hydroponics and specialty plant fertilizer supplements manufacturers currently on the planet. All of them offered base fertilizers and all of them offered supplements (and most of them were pretty good). One of the biggest selling products among any of those companies was in the category often labeled “Bloom Booster” or “Flowering Additive”. There are literally hundreds of formulas from almost as many manufactures out there, yet this still tends to be a misunderstood area, even veteran indoor or specialty crop growers.
The Basics Q What is a Bloom Booster? It is a formula you can add at different times and in different rates during the reproductive phase of growth, ie flowering fruiting and budding—even early flower and ripening are distinct phases in some types of crops.
Q-Do my plants need Bloom Boosters?
More Resin Read on to learn what’s fact, what’s good and what’s garbage about the Bloom Boosters that you might find online or at your favorite hydroponics or specialty fertilizer supplier.
Nope, they are not essential. A bloom booster is intended to Supplement your crop’s diet of base nutrients, ie the NPKs and Essential Micro elements supplied by your choice of fertilizer, whether synthetic or organic.
Q-Should I use a bloom booster? For soilless growing and some hydroponics systems, we recommend that you do to maximize yields and harvest quality potential. The right supplements applied at the right times can make some pretty dramatic differences-even in otherwise healthy and vigorous crops. Once you gain some experience we recommend you use a few different types in the average 9 week bloom cycle.
More Blooms
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m o o l B g Rockin Boosters
TO THE by E r i k B i k sa
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MAX
What Does a Bloom Booster Do? The quick answer is like this: Bloom boosters give your plants that “extra” that they tend to use in higher quantities at critical times; especially when gowers get aggressive with cultivating modern crops. Just like you can opt to have Pre, During and Post work-out nutritional supplements when you are pushing yourself for gains during exercise. Further, if your crop is being maintained “lazy” you are likely to see less benefit, although most boosters will have some positive benefit on just about any crop in flowering; how MUCH benefit depends on some specifics, listed below.
Timing of Application: Are the plants super healthy, and aggressively growing? Have the plants been receiving balanced full spectrum fertilizers? Is the growing environment optimal, ie not too hot or plants not too close to the lights? Do you have the right kind of formula for the stage of bloom you want to apply in? (See BELOW for details)
Type of Bloom Booster: Early or Pre Flower -these types of formulas usually contain stimulators, naturally occurring or otherwise that encourage a rapid and more pronounced flowering response. -scrutinize products marketed as bloom boosters for the early or pre flowering phase carefully; while there’s some good ones to be had, this is the category where PGRs (synthetic plant growth regulators) have surfaced from time to time. -most crops don’t need any extra “P” or “K” at this time, rather they would benefit from additions of calcium, magnesium and iron while maintaining a slightly lower nitrogen load.
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Flowering -this is when most bloom boosters start to get added to your regular crop fertilizer feeding program. -in programs where only one type of bloom additive is used, applications begin moderate and increase through until the end of peak flowering in the bloom phase. Tip: Over-applying “P” (phosphorous), a common ingredient in bloom booster formulas, especially early on can cause problems with iron and calcium. A boost can be great; but everything is best in moderation, yes? Peak Bloom and Budding -where growers tend to see maximum benefit and returns for applications. -often associated with biggest plant mass gains in cropping cycle; plants are hungriest (most varieties) at this time. -increased P + K, carbohydrates, amino acids, enzymes and biologicals can help fatten up blooms and keep your plant putting more energy into reproductive growth for longer Ripening -plants are feeding less on external nutrients, rather, they are trans locating stored energy into a final burst before maturity -bio stimulants that help keep plants revved up and freely moving energy and nutrients are ideal. -increased potassium will help promote heavier and denser buds, flowers and
fruits; higher K levels encourage ripening and hardiness. -elevated sulphur levels can improve essential oil contents during ripening TIP: ultimately, plants should be fed pure water for a period before harvest to assist in reusing grow mediums (if that’s in the cards) and to ensure they do not taste of excess fertilizers (bitter). Biological enzymes can help recondition the growing media and help to digest away and unused fertilizer residues.
Final Note Using this basic framework, you can better target your crop for specifically which products and when in your efforts to gain bigger yields and reap better quality from what you choose to grow. Note that like with your base fertilizers, there can be some distinctions as to what will work best for your growing style or medium, for example if you grow in soil or a re-circulating and highly aerated hydroponics system. Reading labels carefully is always a good practice-but so is asking around because nutrient manufactures have some limitations about what they can say about their product following most current labelling laws for plant fertilizers and supplements.
Special Considerationsfrom Leading Experts in Hydroponics:
As with any supplement addition it is always a good idea to ease in. Most boosters, especially high P/K formulas, are very concentrated. Depending on your base nutrient make-up and cultivation style it can be easy to over do it or cause a lock-out in just one feeding. A good rule would be to take the manufacturers recommendations and cut them down by 50-75% to start. This will give you an opportunity to evaluate the plants response before increasing the strength. Do the Math If using a booster at full strength you may want to decrease your overall ratio of base nutrients to supplements. This will allow you to stay within the range your plants are used to feeding at without giving them an overdose of additional minerals they may not need. Example: If your plants are in peak bloom and feeding at 1200ppm and you add a booster at full strength jumping the ppm’s to 1800 you have effectively increased your overall nutrient strength by 50%. Cutting your base nutrients down by 25% before adding a booster at full strength will result in a smaller overall increase and again reduce the chances of a lock-out or irreparable crop damage.
Want to Learn More About Crop Nutrients & Supplements?
Thanks: Christian Long & Daniel Wilson www.cch2o.com
• http://www.grozine.com/more/feeding-charts/
Start Slow
• http://www.grozinecom/2014/06/08/ hydroponics-nutrients-supplements-ingredients-glossary/
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GEAR The Straight Dope: Expert Hydro-Gear
Reviews B y e r i k bi k sa
EZ-CLONE EZClone | Classic 128 | WWW.EZCLONE.COM The new EZ-CLONE Classic is a dramatically improved and updated version of the EZ-CLONE Original, which has been a staple of Aeroponic Cloning in the Hydroponic Industry for over a decade. This beautiful system is manufactured from 100% recycled materials and has been engineered and perfectly thought out to bring you the same amazing results as the Original. • New overall and stylized design • Over 75 technical, structural and aesthetic upgrades • Customized manifolds specially designed for each sized system • Easier to assemble • New lower price
Our Experience:
We were super hot on getting a 128 to automate starting transplants for keeping out 76 site NFT system from American Hydroponics kept filled with healthy plants. And we are pleased to say we are glad we did.. We had very even growth and development amongst the individual plants--machines are good at replicating things, better than people in some instances. Having plants of even growth in the finishing system, and lots of them is critical for our small scale hydroponic lettuce farming project.. This system has been slimmed down to be effective as well as value priced. vs original. 48
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We have run the unit with two of the three doser pumps we received with the package for over a month now without incident. One of the doser pumps had some issues, but we were told about this prior--it was a promotional, ie hook it up if you like, see what happens. The other two we can set our watch to. What Does it Do? • user set points for dosing pH buffers, nutrients, additives • 100%hydroponics automation you can walk away from with confidence • Intelligent “learning” of reservoir conditions to make intelligent adjustments • Can be updated or receive tech support if you hook up a patch cord to your computer and call for help; otherwise the unit is Secure and Offline to others.
grohausautomation
. Shipping is first rate from this company--tell them to have it on Main St bridge, East Corner at exactly Noon Central Time and it will be so Priced for the serious grower. Delivered up to and beyond our expectations. Recommended.
Automated Touch Screen Doser www.grohaus-automation.com Wow! Really, genuine wows here. Grohaus-Automation’s much anticipated release of their next generation hydroponics reservoir dosing tech surpassed our imagination and expectations. If you follow what’s going on in the home and small scale commercial hydroponics market, you’ll likely be familiar with the Hydroid-Grohaus’s premiere grower automation control. While we had envisioned a real effort in raising the bar to new heights for growers from the makers of the Hydroid, a control that could “learn” our reservoir and adpat to our particular conditions was mind blowing. Did we mention the crystal clear, full colour touch screen interface yet? What about user initiated firmware updates and tech support? Yeah, it does that! Straight up, we wouldn’t kid about this. VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 13
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w e N
h c Te
Press Release: 08/25/14
We received notice of a new 300W LED grow light, and were pleased to see something different appearing to demonstrate a new level of sophistication for LED grow light fixtures. The unit houses 3-100 Watt LED Chips made up of full spectrum diodes that have been specially treated for spectral output in a patented and unique process according to the literature and information they offer on their site. The spectral graphs look very promising for both their VEG & Grow models. We’ll keep an eye out for more information and feedback from test growers. If you have a new growing technology, we’d like to hear about it here at Grozine. Contact: erikbiksa@grozine.com
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: k l a T ech T k Fran
What’s the DEal with Double Ended HPS Grow Lamps?
Here’s a quick look at the technology and what it means for indoor growers
It’s High End True. This is a more sophisticated lamp design and along the way some of the operating characteristics have been amped up, so to speak, since the mold was broken and something new was being done. Well, new for HPS anyways….
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Whats happening here is almost like the pharmaceutical game. A big company spends lots of resources on the R&D end and gets to come to market first and make good on their hard work-provided it was good in the first place.
& demand for manufacturing compet- sags unevenly in traditional fixtures itively. and creates stresses on the bulb. At the same time, there is less knowl- Some of the claims are more light edge about WHY and IF to adopt the intensity AND better spectrum for plant technology, aside from it just seeming growth. like the thing to do.
Basics:
Is it True?
Instead of the grow lamp screwing into a socket, like an incandescent bulb from a single end, connected to the fixture and ballast, the Double Ended grow lamps clip in at both ends of a special fixture-kind of like those old style halogen floor lamp types.
Only if the lamps are driven to the correct operating characteristics, which we could call slightly “exotic” compared to standard HPS lamp designs. Just because a ballasts can kick over a DE grow lamp doesn’t mean it’s a good choice or that there is any benefit in the way of more light. Some reports Among the obvious improvements suggest up to 8% more light for growhere are in the dead-straight place- ing per watt can be achieved--that’s ment of the arc tube. Don’t underes- actually significant! timate the benefits of good lighting metrics and how they work with the Besides being able to drive at a higher special engineered reflectors they are wattage (slightly) the Hz (Frequency) of So following the early adopters (and typically supplied with. the electrical input is super important. seller) of the technology everybody else comes in--because it becomes There is also no stress on the lamp feasible for others to emulate, ie supply where the socket has to support the whole weight of a long lamp-which
“At the same time, there is less knowledge about WHY and IF to adopt the technology, aside from it just seeming like the thing to do....” 52
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What’s Not Cool There is no arguing that these lamps can burn BRIGHT when they are run on the right fixture and ballast. But, they run HOT. Like Hades; especially when the DE ballast and lamp are lumped into one fixture--no remote placement of ballasts with most DE lamp kits outside of the growing area.
Why not air cool the lamps? The semi-official answer is that they need to operate at higher temperatures to realize the full potential of the light increase and quality of spectrum for growth. >>>These lamps were designed for greenhouse growing, that was objective #1. High
greenhouse bays welcome the extra heat in cool months when supplemental lighting is usually required most.<<<
So You Want Us to Put MORE Heat in Our Grow Rooms? That’s where knowledge is power. Run your set-up the same as always and it’s going to be hotter and brighter--but not necessarily more productive for the hefty investment of around $450-550 USD per 1KW professional grade fixture (complete).
What the PROS Know, We’ll Tell You: • Set-up in a grid of 1000W HPS DE lamps/kits in 5’ X 6’ Grid patterns • • Grow in 5’ wide raised beds, this gives a 5’ X 5’ wide growing bed per lamp with a 1’ aisle down the lengths • PACK in the plants-as high a plant count as you can. Select short, tight varieties that finish dense and heavy. Snap them into the flowering/budding/fruiting phase quickly, after establishing for a few days in the beds. • Keep the fixtures further than you normally would from the tops of plants and operate one the 1150 watt setting-say almost 36” (thirty six inches ) away from the tops. • Special Note: Don’t even think about this indoors unless you have an air-conditioner (AC) or have some serious cooling power via fans. Your room will get HOT otherwise, and there could be little gain, or even harm. Don’t stress or dehydrate your plants to get on the latest bandwagon--do it right, or stick with what you have. • If you add CO2 your plants will respond better to a slight increase in temperature and will make better use of the extra light-adding CO2 can have a synergistic effect in this equation, when applied correctly. VOLUME 2 | ISSUE 13
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We Like: -all in one fixture-plug in and grow out of the box; easy and cost effective to install -bright light, better quality for growth -no metal bar in lamp assembly -less stress on lamp versus socket type -dead center lamp placement in engineered reflectors
Not So Much: -runs HOT; and reportedly has to to realize benefits (obviously not thinking of indoor growers here) -price; ouch! -240V only--special plugs
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Ae L ro ea po rn n Ab ic Cl ou o t: n in g
do you have a plant in your garden that you are especially fond of? Maybe it’s your most flavorful tomato or perhaps a unique pepper--or any plant from your seed pack that stands out amongst it’s siblings in a way thats favorable to you deserves some attention. You can start all of your future crops from clones or rooted cuttings from your selection to guaruntee your future gardens will be filled with plants exactly like it in every way-no more guessing.
Cloning is EZ! Even a six year old can do it; and we’ll prove it....
a step by step, easy to follow guide: | plant propagation with aeroponics |
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mother plant
cloning is EZ The Mother Plant Where it all begins. Only select your finest plants to serve as mothers, both in performance and in health. Sickly mother plants will give way to sickly future crops
EZ cloning kit (just add water) EZ Clone Systems ( SEE GEAR, this Issue for more) manufactures everything you need and supplies it in one kit that assembles with no tools in just a few minutes. You’ll also want to have:
EZ Clone Classic 16 KIT
• • • • • • •
filtered water pH kit and buffers (cheap is fine) clean bucket sterile, sharp razor shot glass clean plate clean spray bottle with fresh filtered water
Special Notes:
More Blooms
• don’t do your cloning in a breezy area • make sure the system is clean and sterile--along with ALL materials and your hands • ensure mother plant if fully hydrated an unstressed, ie just as the lights are coming on or early in the morning • a dome is optional but not needed with aeroponic cloning
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Conditioning the water The EZ Clone Classic KIT comes with Res Clear; a product that inhibits the growth of water fungus or bacteria that can make clones sick if they get stressed during rooting
cloning kids lol
Adjusting acidity of the water Different types of plants may have different preferences when it come to pH levels. For most varieties having a pH from 5.5 to 7.0 is just fine, with 5.7 being the usual target. A liquid pH test kit and food grade buffers shouldn’t set you back more than $15--and you can use it for the rest of the garden too.
Being Prepared • have everything ready, clean , organized and within easy reach BEFORE you get started with the actual cloning • pour a samll amount of your rooting gel or solution (our KIT came with some) into a glass shot glass; as much as you think you will use; avoid contamination.
liquid ph test
ready to grow
s mo olB e r oM
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Excessively warm or cool temperatures will lead to problems in rooting clones. most plant types do great with 75-80 deg F steady. cutting clones careful
Note how excess foliage has been removed from the stem. Large leaves will make the plant work too hard to stay hydrated with no roots to support the water demand.. Strip off excess leaves quickly and make a cut, preferably on a node, at a 45 degree angle. WORK FAST TO PREVENT CUTTINGS FROM DRYING OUT
dIP n sET IMMEDIETLY place the cut stem into the rooting gel or soak for a bout 10 seconds.
keep gel off hands
Quickly open the cloning collar into a “C” shape with your other hand and gently close around the cut stem so it is an “O” again; this time supporting the cut stem. there should be at least an inch and a half of clean stem for roots to grow from in the part that will be below the the lid. Place into the system. Repeat until you have the desitred number of cuttings in the aeroponic cloner.
Special Notes: ten days later
• take more cuttings than needed--keep only the best • most plat types will show roots in 5 to 15 days • keep system topped up with fresh water and adjust pH as needed
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American Hydroponics
Pioneering Crop Performance Since 1984
CAPITALIZE ON THE DEMAND FOR ‘LOCALLY GROWN’ PRODUCE. Declining markets? Looking to diversify? Pursuing alternate greenhouse uses? • Custom hydroponic systems to fit your area. • Modular systems, easy to install AND take down. • Highly productive, 26 crop turns a year possible.
Hydroponics History: INSIDE Hydro Trade Shows Life under the big top
B y jeff e d w a r d s
“ The mid- 1990’s can be accurately categorized as the first hydroponic industry boom. “ 62
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For decades now, the hydroponic industry has struggled with a successful trade and consumer show formula for promoting its products and services to the industry and to the general public.
manufacturing and marketing hydroponic and indoor gardening equipment designed for the home grower, initially in harder to find publications.
In an effort to keep abreast of the latest in hydroponic research and expose their products to mainIn the earliest days of stream hydroponic the modern hydroresearchers, many of ponic movement, the these newly formed Hydroponic Society hydroponic manuof America (HSA) facturers started to was created. Comattend the HSA meetprised of interested ings and eventually scientists, educators, a conversation was and researchers, begun with the Board they would gather of Directors about together one weekend adding a “trade show” each year and share component to the amongst themselves event, for two primary their latest research reasons. and writings about issues pertaining to During the 1980’s hydroponic cultivainterest in the organition. The very first zation grew and as it HSA Conference was did, so did the need held in 1979. for larger facilities to accommodate the ever growing number Also beginning in the of participants, which late 1970’s, pioneernow included a siging efforts by hydro nificant number of entrepreneurs began hydroponic retailers.
The growth of the organization was stretching the very limited budget of the HSA. And so, in the early 1990’s, the trade show component of HSA meetings was born. Since the conferences were open to the public (with a corresponding registration fee), the exhibitors were able to show off their wares not only to the active participants of the conference, but to the ever growing number of attending hydroponic product retailers and to the small number of interested hobby growers and gardeners as well. By the 17th Annual HSA Conference in July of 1996, there were a grand total of 22 exhibitors.>>>
The mid- 1990’s can be accurately categorized as the first hydroponic industry boom. Not only was interest growing from the general public, the industry was seeing new businesses open in ever increasing numbers. Fast forward to November of 1997, the first Board Meeting of the newly created Hydroponic Merchants Association (HMA) was held. The HMA was created as a 501(c)4 non-profit trade association, created by and operated solely for the promotion and benefit of the industry and its members. Members had voting rights and were an essential part of the operation of the organization. By early 1998, plans were undertaken to produce the first HMA Annual Conference and Trade Show in November of 1998 in Orlando, with an exclusive behindthe-scenes tour of The Land hydroponic exhibit in Disney’s Epcot Center for attendees. By the time this meeting was held, the HMA already had over 80 paid industry members on its roster. In true “trade show” fashion, the trade show component of the HMA Annual Conference was not open to the public. It was designed and implemented as a venue for retailers to have one on one time with the product manufacturer representatives, in an environment where there was little fear of sharing confidential pricing and such, as the general customer base was not in attendance. And while the HMA conferences, with their trade show component, were successful by any measure of the time, the manufacturer wing of the industry was growing at a much faster pace than the retailers were. It wasn’t long before there were just as many, if not more, manufacturer representatives attending the HMA conferences than there were retailers. Soon a movement manifested itself within the organization calling for the opening of the trade show to the general public.
This guy is FAMOUS at the Euro Trade Show Circuit.
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“ many exhibitors are now concerned about how the attendees at recent shows are not quite the same caliber they were in earlier years. It seems more people are showing up for the sample orgy rather than to learn about new products and technologies. “
serious concern for the HMA’s survival. As a result of the MY show’s public day, exhibitors would see hundreds of people walk by their booths, as opposed to the hundred or so that may walk by at an industry only HMA show. Keeping in mind the total universe of retail hydroponics stores in North America at that time numbered less than 500, attendance at HMA This movement was strongly events would never rebound. resisted by most of the founding retail members, and indeed some The early 2000’s saw another of the manufacturers as well. mini-boom in the hydroponic After several lively debates, a vote industry as a rapid expansion took was taken by the membership on place resulting from increased whether or not to open the doors interest, information and publicity of the HMA trade show to the thanks primarily to the internet. general public. The vote was to The Maximum Yield show, which continue the status quo, however, was held once a year primarily in it was not a unanimous vote, and San Francisco, began to experthese events would unfortunately iment with holding additional lead to the eventual decline of the shows in different locations... HMA, later renamed the Progres- some went well, others did not. sive Gardening Trade Association (PGTA). However, exhibitors have noticed that they are spendIn 2000, an upstart indus- ing less time educating people try magazine, Maximum Yield, about their products, and more announced they would start time making sure the contents of holding their own trade show their booths aren’t being lifted by to directly compete with the overeager attendees. There are HMA, which would actually be a also recurring complaints about “hybridized” trade and consumer the difficulty of exhibitors differshow that incorporated an indus- entiating end users from store try only day as well as a public owners, as many store owners day much to the delight of many are forced to attend on public product manufacturers. The first day since their stores are open Maximum Yield Show was held in on retail day. Retailers located in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the geographic location of the after several years of growing suc- show also frequently report a cess was moved to San Francisco marked drop in sales, especially to take advantage of the growing immediately afterwards. Samples U.S. market and the larger number show up regularly after Max Yield of potential exhibitors. shows on Craigslist and Ebay, with attendees posting brag posts on It wasn’t long before the Max- their social media pages about imum Yield show was causing
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how much free stuff they walked away with at the show. As a result, many exhibitors are now concerned about how the attendees at recent shows are not quite the same caliber they were in earlier years. It seems more people are showing up for the sample orgy rather than to learn about new products and technologies. And with four shows a year on the schedule now, the amount of money each of the manufacturers are spending on an annual basis dwarfs what used to be spent on the single HSA, HMA or PGTA show. So, in essence, the hydroponic trade show question has now come full circle... with another industry trade show grappling with questions of a successful format. Whereas the industry abandoned their own trade association for the prospect of directly interacting with the end user, perhaps upon hindsight, companies should be careful what they wish for... and understand that there is a reason why a “trade show” and a “consumer show” are two completely different animals.
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Whoa! Did U Know...
Dirt is dope! Researchers have found that natural micro-organisms found in healthy soils called Mycobacterium vaccae produce substance been found to mirror the effect on neurons that drugs like Prozac provide. The bacterium is found in soil and may stimulate serotonin production, which makes you relaxed and happier. http://discovermagazine.com/2007/jul/raw-data-is-dirt-the-new-prozac
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