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I l l e g i t i m i N o n C
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a
Five
r b o r u n
Black Out Beautifully
d u m
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Nutrient Tests & Reviews
Cropping Calibration
+ Way More!
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YOUR
wards-Jeff Ed Advisory Content & Edits
From the E ditor
Brandon Pillon:
Ask Erik
Forced Flo wering:
Black Out
Best Foliar Feeding
Growing up in Essex County, Ontario I was always fascinated with how plants grow, and would spend hours in our garden patch looking at the plants and insects and gained an understanding of nature and how it works. I decided to further my knowledge of growing and enrolled in the horticulture program at a local college and have been enjoying furthering my “green education” both in and out of the school setting.
bpillon01@yahoo.ca Cropping G uidance Sy stems-ca
Casey Jones Fraser
is an obsessed gardener. 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. www.gardengroveorganics.com
Brian Steele owns and operates Steel Greenhouse Components; a manufacturer of innovative greenhouse and agricultural structures, coverings, specialty hardware and parts. Brian does great one-off structures as well as well as off the shelf kits at highly competitive prices. A great guy to get a structure from-he’s been doing it for over 25 years. He was harvesting his own worm castings and bagging them before a lot of us were even born-just ask him! steele@axionet.com
Jordan Gartenhaus
libration
ies
Galler
Medicinal
Plants
pe TR8 Do S e h T ws-
contributors
Table of Contents
We are pleased to have Rene Driscoll onboard with us again this edition as an artististic contributor. His incredible Plant-Based Designs are pure eye candy. Check out the cover and even this Contributors page. Taking Flight with Foliar is him too. You can contact Rene for custom photography, artwork and web design at: www.facebook.com/rene.
is 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 mak-
ing 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. He would since he co-owns a company that designs and sells their own automation equipment, but despite the conflict of interest he actually does provide excellent insight into the “how” and “why” of gardening. If you want to each him: www.grohaus-automation.com
ie nt Rev
Nutrie
Hydro Scripts-Casey JF
5 Hydro St ore DONTS
Thanks & t x e N Coming
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Current Culture H2O Fresno, CA. 93722 U.S.A. web: www.cch2o.com email: sales@cch2o.com
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from the editor
Resp e ct in g Rig hts
it’s no surof Speech, Just Watch What You Say”. And om reed F “ ed call m albu an ased rele , ine; and obvia cop on a popular television show uage and dialect that was REAL and genu lang a g usin Ice-T, the O.G. rapper who now appears as for tes oca adv y isor adv cs be censors and explicit lyri to stop that. prise, he took a lot of flack from would told it the way it was and people wanted ly simp He . few d tere shel the to king ously at the time, quite shoc
Interestingly, it also appears to ha ve assisted in his rise to popu larity and the wea lth that comes with it. W ant somebody to w an t something more than an ything else? Sim pl y tell them they aren’t al lowed to have it. Many other popula r artists (and usua lly ranked on my list of fav orites) have face d and often defeated sim ilar challenges, fo r example Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys), Madonna , NWA, the Beatles, Iron Maide n, Eminem and slou ghs of others have had to take it on the ch in or outright fight for their ri ght: their right to speak freely to others in th eir chosen mediu m.
censor Beware of those who want to to say Free Speech your words-if what you have g you is so terrible, wouldn't lettin a be cri des to d use en t way oft m bes is a ter speak them freely be the er, ev how , tes Sta en Right in the United to discredit them? History oft a s it' ee agr all to can k I am sure we teaches us that those who see ch to World Thing. silence others often have mu t There is a sense of truth tha e. hid endam re in This perhaps is our most fun all human beings seem to sha we t tha ht rig y not tal and important common; its a gift of sorts-wh isoc in ing liv ngs bei an rts as have as hum use our intellect and our hea arht mig e diceties on this planet. Som guides rather than have truth gh hou alt r, wa oke ev gue speech can tated to us by others? the be can it t tha ar cle as it's just cultics root to avoiding conflict or Unfortunately, most hydroponi orimp st mo The . ons e vating soluti growers or business owners hav or ng osi opp time or tant thing is that the faced discrimination at one to ht rig the e hav ice of differing views another because of their cho prenk say so. endevors. Do you really thi
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aren't tending to be something you to would have helped, ie trying isn't a “fit in so they like me”? This nture path I would ever care to ve second e, on. Firstly, because it's lam because it's False. , and It's a choice we all encounter in with likely will continue to. Fit and the herd or follow your path a little speak your mind-even if it's have freaky at times! Naturally, we and to consider others around us But the greater good sometimes. YOUR and in the end, it's YOUR life way business: live it and run it the
is a you see fit. Anything else
lie and living a lie just ain't living at all...
Eri k Bi ksa Editor erikbiksa@grozine.com
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Q
Ripe N’ Ready-or Not?
Where I live the market has gotten very commercial. Growers appear to be locked into a price war, and I have noticed the quality of my produce isn’t what it could be as of late. I can tell it’s from good genetics, and the potential for quality is there-but it’s just not what it could be. I suspect it may have been harvested early or that they didn’t spend a whole lot of time with the crop post-harvest. The flavor and aromas are lacking.
A
This is a common occurrence where growers are forced to sell on price. It’s an unfortunate situation to be in as a grower. While you always take pride in your crop and harvest, the point of diminishing returns becomes more at the forefront of your mind while your expenses remain the same, but your selling price and market demand declines due to competition or even an outright flooded marketplace. If you grow your own it’s a different story. Cash croppers have to pay close attention to dollars and cents-agriculture is a risky endevor at any rate, and it becomes even more so with some of the pricing cushion for safety removed.
Yes, there are things you can do to improve the quality; although it’s not a substitute for carefully timed harvesting and post crop handling. The solution is with ethylene. Ethylene is a plant hormone and is unique because it occurs naturally as a gas given off by plants. It plays a strong role in the ripening process and stimulating full maturity in plants. Growers note: CO2 impedes ethylene production, so if you boost your CO2 levels, it’s a good idea to run ambient (about 450 ppm) the final weeks before anticipated date of harvest. If you are talking about fresh harvested crop, for example your tomatoes are still not quite as red and soft as they could be for your tastes, trying sticking them in a paper bag with a green banana. Green bananas give off enough ethylene that when enclosed quickly builds up to levels that can help to stimulate a higher degree of ripening; even post harvest.
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A higher degree of ripeness in flowers and fruits almost always means more flavors and aromas. Sometimes it can mean a better nutritional content too. If you are talking about dried, for example herbs, the trick is to add a little moisture content (NOT wetting, moistening) and then taking advantage of our good friend Ethylene again, as with fresh.
AsK ERik
A great way to do both is remarkably simple. Just add a small piece of apple peel to a glass jar with a tightly sealed lid containing your dried herbs. The moisture from the peel should get transferred ever so slightly to the dried herbs, bringing them “back to life” a bit. Apple skins also pack a good charge of ethylene and when sealed in a jar, it can reach levels that can effectively help to further ripen (and hopefully improve) the hastily handled harvest.
Growing Questions?
Email: erikbiksa@grozine.com
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Stick it in Your Can-A large industrial plastic garbage can or barrel that has a lid and that can completely block light is ideal. Metal can work, but it gets hot and you would need to line or coat the bottom; it also heats up. You can create a well insulated, double-walled can by putting a smaller can inside a large can and then filling the gap with water, which is an insulator. Painting the inside of the can with anon-toxic white paint is an option too to increase light reflectivity.
If you grow short-day flowering plants outdoors you have to be patient. And that’s because your favorite plants won’t start developing flowers until the the critical day length has been reached: usually about 12 hours or more of darkness is required.
For most of us, this is never soon enough.! Depending on where you live in the world in terms of latitude is what creates the difference about when this would happen naturally. While some of us would just rather harvest sooner, unfortunately for some growers in Northern latitudes it usually means a very short window for the bloom/fruit/bud phase and severely limits what kind of varieties of short day flowering plants they can grow; if they can even grow them at all. A Black Out system is the answer. From small scale and really inexpensive to grand scale and elaborate this is a great way to get your short-day plants flowering ahead of schedule-and ahead of your competition! Simply put, a Black Out system forces earlier flowering by completely blocking the natural sunlight for a portion of the day, effectively tricking your crop into thinking it’s later in the season and making your plants shift into the bloom phase. Because your plants need to be enclosedin to accomplish this, there are going to be some important considerations you will need to address. For example, plants need to breathe or moulds and mildews can develop because of condensation. Think about it: those plants hold a lot of water, and youplan to enclose them to block light-where is all that water vapor going to go, especially when it’s still warm out? The easiest, cheapest and possibly best example to illustrate how to operate a Black Out system to force early flowering is as follows. Note that it is a MANUAL approach, meaning someone has to be around to open and close the lid to shorten the photoperiod and to allow the right amount of light in for growth.
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Snorkels-To help your plants breathe when the can is sealed up, you can construct several “snorkels” from PVC or other rigid tubing. If you add a couple of “U”bends in the length, the bends will usually trap light, keeping it out while creating openings for the plants to breathe and give off moisture. 1” Rubber grommets work great to keep the snorkels in place and keep light out.
Black Out Beautiful Forced Flowering Essentials The Oscar Approach Site Selection-Anywhere that is out of the way and that you can carry water to easily is ideal. A balcony, back porch or terrace for example, would be a great place. A white reflective wall behind the can will potentially help to redirect more light into the opening when the lid is off. For good growth, your plant(s) should get about 5 hours of direct light. The most important part is the 12-14 hours of uninterrupted darkness however. Variety Selection-You will want something that stays compact in growth and bloom and preferably a fast finisher. Stuff that finishes at around 6 weeks is perfect. Mould hardiness is a plus too. Stuff that hermies out (creates hermaphrodites) under stress easily should be avoided too if you want to grow seedless.
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Prepare-You can put a low profile grow bag or pot right into the can, however, you can also add growing medium right into the bottom of the can-with or without drainage. Sometimes having a wide surface area of cool moist soil can help keep the entire plant cool on a hot day via evaporative cooling. You need lots of room for your plant though, so wider and shallower plantings might be most practical. You might even bolt or screw in a support system. Do the WORK: To speed up the time until plant shift into bloom and shorten the amount of time you will need to do this manual job daily and punctually allow your plants to receive ten hours of light daily. That means that either right before sunrise or ten hours after it you will need to be around. i) Blocking the light in the morning is usually better for your plants, so they don’t overheat when covered. Just find out when the sun is supposed to go down and remove the cover 10 hours prior and let them soak up the rays and transition naturally into darkness>>>
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cont d ii) Late Sun blocking is trickier but works; plants may get hot. It also means more work because you will want to remove the lid again once its sufficiently dark out. Otherwise, plants become stifled or even sick without good air flow. TIPS: Watch out for condensation; prune a few leaves if necessary. Also watch for light leaks or infiltration and interruptions from things like patio or security lights. Black is beautiful, so keep it that way for 14 hours straight and you can harvest earlier than under natural conditions. This method is optimal for the Hobbyist, but for pros, lets have a look at what Brian Steele from Steel Greenhouse Components has to say about professional and even solar-power automated black out structures and installs....>>>
. I I
Going Commercial
by Brian Steele
nnotes from a gree ) le ab lu va nd (a what me choice Below we have so s of experience on t. ar ou ye it 25 k er ec ov Ch eth EB Not g experrt wi season ;) and manufacturin ns io at er blacking out this op e to us s ho me co it en to “Go Big” wh you need to know i. Day length manipulation alters the physiology of the plant; typically used to induce (and promote) flowering - also for improving winter survival rates in trees. Note: Can be done with interior or exterior systems. Interior curtain systems are usually installed when the greenhouse is new and takes “right of way” over all other equipment. Retro fits are difficult. Interior air circulation and venting are usually compromised - which is never good in the Summer. In terms of cost, it ismoderately expensive in a gutter-house, very
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expensive in a freestanding. Horizontal exterior shade systems are available for gutter houses and, in theory (and with money) could be modified to blackout. Exterior systems for freestanding houses are reasonably priced - they can be motorized but generally function better using hand-draulics. They can be installed over existing poly coverings too. Exterior systems do no interfere with interior air circulation but venting is restricted. With any system hot air can be purged from the house after the
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sun goes down. The materials used, starting with the most expensive, included:
Greenhouse
Terms:
Freestandi ng house a stand alon e greenhou se, AKA: tunne l; high tun n el; cold frame ; hoop hous e; etc
- specially manufactured knits which offer (some) breathability and can be sewn - woven black/white polypropelene - black/white polyethylene Note: The white side is installed facing out to reflect sunlight and lessen heat build up.
Gutter con nect - a gr eenhouse rang e where ro o fs are linked together w ith shared gut ters, AKA: multispan(p oly), venlo (glass)
Golden Tip: Plan retro-fits for when the greenhouse is empty, working over and around a crop is tough for the installers and tough on the crop.
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PH & Surface Tension-Water is “Hard” that's why it beads. You want a thin even film for maximum absorption through the leaves. A waxy substance called the “leaf cuticle” is also in your way. Having a slightly acid (pH 5.5) spray along with a wetting agent helps counter these impediments to your mainline delivery of nutrients, etc into your beloved crop. Foliar feeding is a proven technique used by hydroponics growers to deliver nutrients or additives onto and often into crops through the foliage via prepared sprays. The technique seems to fall in and out of vogue with the growing community-it's usually most popular when there is an additive in fashion that is applied as a foliar spray. Almost anyone who has been growing for a while has likely tried foliar sprays. Some avoid spraying their plants with anything at all accept water, while others make foliar feeding a part of their crop feeding schedule.
Additional Tips: Always, always, always mix your sprays fresh with clean water and ensure that the sprayer has been thoroughly cleaned and sanitized between uses. While far from Ecofriendly, some growers opt for cheap Dollar Store sprayers and discard after each use. A Fogger is the ultimate though, and you will take pride in caring for it. Never, never, never use a spray that has been left standing for more than an hour or two; even less in warm or bright conditions.
Experienced growers often find that the first few weeks of flowering and the early vegetative growth phase are excellent windows of opportunity for improving plant performance. This an important time in the plant's life cycle because plants may actually be in a “lacking” state as they are transitioning (either from rooting to growth or from growth to bloom) and the stress depletes them of important nutrients and co-factors that are vital for a smooth and strong transition into the next phase. A good growing philosophy to embrace is that your crop grows in strides; like a run over a distance. One stride leads into the next, if it's not smooth and steady we loose the pace we have gained or when Murphy reigns we might even have a fall (only to get up to do it all over again). Your crops health is like this, and rounding the corners on the track that is your growth cycles and phases is what makes champions. If you don't have a lot of experience with foliar spraying, practice on a single plant or part of a plant first. It is possible to completely defoliate your entire crop (imagine that; at your own hand) with a bad mix or bad application. There are also ways of making sprays work better, and we have already talked about one of them: Timing. So let's look at what else you should know. Timing-Vital. Otherwise you are wasting your time and money and possibly putting your crop at risk for troubles. When spraying to combat insects you have to know their life cycle and hit at least three times for each generation. Frequency is a sub-category of timing when it comes to spraying crops. Conditions-Pure water won't burn leaves unless the light is super intense, anything else might while the lights are on. Your plants are still “working” just after the lights go out, this is a great time to apply. Kill the air circulation fans when spraying, but leave vent fans running. You want the plants to ABSORB the spray rather than evaporating it off. The MIX-Obviously, this is highly critical:what it is your are spraying, at what concentration, if you are going to be mixing more than one product together (good or bad reaction?) and what pH is best for that particular spray. Volume-How much you are going to apply. You don't need to hose plants down; a light mist is typically all that is needed and it's a good idea to get the leaf undersides. Once floral structures have developed, for example stigmas are evident, moisture can do some harm, so special attention needs to be paid. A Fogger sprayer is the best. It gets the spray everywhere very effectively and usually allows you to use lower volumes of sprays to save you money.
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ff we like This is stu s ks. w it work and we kno
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Fulvic Acid lement Cal-Mag Supp (optional) Wetting Agent
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ost (Canna). sprays try Bo On ALTERNATE
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Importance of Good Sensor Calibration How confident are you about that measurement you just took? Your meter reports a pH of 5.8, but just because the meter doesn’t have dreams or desires doesn’t mean that it won’t lie to you. In fact, if thehealth of your crop is paramount then you should always assume that all of your equipment is probablylying to you. Seriously, when was the last time you actually checked to see if it was telling the truth?
By Jordan Gartenhaus
Carl Sagan once said, “Science is a way to not fool ourselves,” and being the skeptical scientist that he was, what he was essentially saying was unless you test it for yourself you’ll never know the truth. Many people make the assumption that their equipment is always in good calibration, and only question their equipment once the plants start looking unhappy, which is always too late. Let’s take a look at why good equipment calibration is so important.
If everything in this world were static then people wouldn’t age, food would never spoil, and electrochemical sensors like the ones in pH probes for instance would never need calibration. Unfortunately that’s not the case, and we have to calibrate our sensing equipment often because in fact it’s always changing. In the case of pH probes, the glass sensing portion at the bottom of the electrode is actually a permeable membrane for hydrogen ions (pH electrodes produce a small voltage potential based on changes in hydrogen ion concentration). Over time that glass membrane will age (read: change) and its response to hydrogen ion concentration will change as well. That is the root of the problem, and is also why you should calibrate your equipment regularly: It’s always changing and you should never assume otherwise. In a perfect world we could just multiply the voltage coming out of our pH probe by 59.12mV, add that number to 7 and get our actual pH as perfect pH electrodes will report 59.12mV/pH unit and read 0mV at 7pH. Since there is no perfect pH electrode in existence the most immediate solution is to take a measurement of a known pH solution (e.g. 7pH) to see how bad the measurement error is and create an offset correction for it. Probes that use one-point calibrations do exactly that, and they call it an “Offset Calibration.” They measure a known sample, calculate how “far off” the measurement is, and then apply that value as an offset correction. For example, if my probe tells me that a known 7.0pH sample is at 6.8pH, then my offset error is 0.2pH. Once I calibrate the meter, it will add 0.2pH to every measurement I take to account for the offset error. This operates on the assumption that the offset does not change throughout the probe’s measurement range, which is more often than not, a falsehood. You may have noticed that higher quality (i.e. more expensive) measurement equipment use two data points for calibration. Why the added hassle? In addition to accounting for the electrode’s “offset error”, they go an additional step and adjust the “span” error as well.
Graph # 1 is great because it illustrates span and off-
set errors visually. Probes don’t typically , age like the red plot, in that there is no span error but that’s the assumption a meter is making when we’re only an offset calibration is used. In that case ent assuming that no matter where I take a measurem the error is always going to be constant. However, as probes age their response curve is that going to look more like the curve in yellow in they’ll have both span and offset errors. This has important implications for hydroponics applications.
There are three lines plotted above. The blue line is a graph of an ideal pH electrode’s response along the full pH scale. It measures exactly zero volts at 7pH, and the slope of the line is 59.12mV/pH unit. The red line is a hypothetical ‘aged’ pH electrode that only has an offset error. The yellow line is a hypothetical ‘aged’ pH electrode that has a span and offset error.
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cont d
If you perform a one-point calibration, let’s say at 7pH, that’s about 1.5pH points above where most people run their hydroponic nutrient solution. Look at the yellow line in the image in Graph #1. If we perform an offset calibration on the yellow line, then the slope of the line would stay the same, but we’d move it left so that it intercepts the vertical axis right at 7pH. The problem here is that as the solution you’re measuring deviates from your calibration point, your error will almost invariably increase. By definition it has to if the slope of the two lines isn’t the same. The idea to take away here is that it’s important to choose a calibration point that is as close as possible to the sample you’re measuring. If your pH meter uses a one-point calibration and you know you’re going to be targeting a 6.0pH then you’re better off calibrating at 7.0pH rather than 4.0pH because it’s closer to your calibration point. This is a very simple way to reduce unnecessary error in your measurements. Two-point calibrations are better than one-point because you’re accounting for offset, and any changes in the electrode’s sensitivity to hydrogen ion concentration (span error). As pH electrodes age the voltage they produce relative to changes in hydrogen ion concentration will decrease and this needs to be accounted for. However, two-point calibrations aren't infallible either. Two-point calibrations operate on the assumption that the sensor response curve is perfectly linear, when in reality we just approximate it to be linear, which is why we use a linear calibration correction. A graph is probably the best way to illustrate how or when this assumption of perfect linearity can be a problem:
Graph #2 (left) shows a linear calibration curve (in blue) relative to a theoretical electrode output (in black). The blue line in Graph #2 is an ideal linear calibration curve for pH electrodes. The thicker black line is a hypothetical output curve from an actual pH electrode. Again, we approximate the output of the electrode to be perfectly linear when in fact it very likely isn't. As you can see, the two curves only intersect at the calibration points, and really nowhere else. By definition this electrode is properly calibrated despite the fact that if you take a measurement that isn't exactly 7pH or 4pH there's going to be error.
The point of this graph is to illustrate that just because you recently calibrated your meter doesn't mean it's going to give you an accurate measurement. Content Advisory Note:
It's a useful exercise to measure some known sample between your two calibration points to see how linear the output of your pH electrode is, and how accurate the measurements in this region really are. It also shows again that for the most accurate readings it's important to choose calibration points that are close to the sample you're measuring. Electronic sensors like TDS/EC and pH meters are inarguably vital tools required to properly maintain any hydroponic garden, but the overarching message here is that no one should never assume their measurement equipment is perfect.
Even if it was, it wa s only perfect for a fleeting moment in time that has now past, since like peop le measurement equipment is always aging and changing. Calibration solu tion is cheap. Buy a lot of it and calibr ate often for the best possible readin gs, and check multiple calibration po ints along your operating range to de termine if there are certain spots in your meter’s measurement range that are particularly error prone. Remember...your meter is not your friend, despite what it may tell you!
Always use calibration solution fresh from the bottle. Re-using calibration solution isn’t a good idea. It can loose accuracy if left out or may become contaminated.
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Photography By Andrejs Rubenis
Email: andrejsphotography@gmail.com
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airdual e h t ll con otice e N w e a t EB No s.? This is t. Vertier men handl viron too! <3 it!!! n e d trolle e lighting d cal si
EB Note-The yiel;d potential for this set-up is almost frightening!
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Medici
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The Indian snakeroot is the source of reserpine, an alkaloid used to treat hypertension and some psychiatric disorders.
Studies show that plants identified as useful by shamans and traditional plant users are up to 60% more likely to have medicinal value than plants that are randomly collected.
Ethnobotany, the study of the traditional uses of plants by indigenous people, helps pharmaceutical companies identify medicinal plants. Unfortunately, much of this knowledge is disappearing as indigenous peoples are exposed to modern ways and their traditions are forgotten.
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Morphine, used medically to relieve pain, is extracted from the opium poppy.
By Brandon Pi l lon f
Other important alkaloids with medicinal value include quinine, morphine, and reserpine. Quinine, an antimalarial drug, comes from the bark or yellow cinchona.
n V a l ue
About 25% of all prescription medicines contain one or more active ingredients extracted from plants. Many of the plant-produced chemicals with medicinal properties are alkaloids, bitter-tasting organic compounds that contain nitrogen. For example, the rosy periwinkle produces two alkaloids, vinblastine and vincristine, which are used to treat 2 kinds of cancer, Hodgkinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disease, and childhood leukemia.
The modern medical establishment has learned to respect reports about medicinal plants in the traditions of indigenous peoples, because they provide clues about which plants to test.
al
From extracts of cherry and horehound for cough medicines to chemical compounds in periwinkle and autumn crocus for cancer therapy, derivatives of roots, stems, leaves, and flowers play important roles in the treatment of illness and disease.
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Various medicinal plants that we use today have been used for centuries in folk medicine.
Only a fraction of the more than 300,000 species of flowering plants have been investigated for their medicinal value. It is likely that the untested species contain other valuable alkaloids with medicinal properties. Sadly, we may never have the opportunity to find out, because many of the wild plant species that have medicinal potential are threatened and are disappearing as human activities destroy wildlife habitats, like clear cutting in the rainforests around the world.
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the straight dope E x p e r t <
Hydro Product Reviews
Safers Sticky Stiks Traps a
While not getting into a sermon on the subject of prevention, we say that this product offers both prevention and control of common flying pests in you indoor grow or greenhouse. Best of all its a “chem free” way to battle pestsnothing gets sprayed on your plants. Flying insects are strongly attracted to the bright yellow “artificial leaves” that are held on the special stakes that you insert into your containers or at planting sites. Once they land, it’s the last thing they ever do, as they are stuck there for good. This also helps you to monitor pest populations if you pay attention. When: earlier on when plants are small; the larger yellow traps that are available will help if you have spotted problems in more developed plants. Note that it’s easier to control a pest outbreak when plants are small.
b
What: A chemical and spray-free way to control and prevent flying pests. GZ Rated: It works, IF you catch the numbers when they are small or use as prevention after transplants. A little pricy for what they are-once you have the sticks you might figure out how to make replacement sticky strips;)
UC Roots
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Root systems stay visibly whiter and you may also see them explode more prolifically when you simply apply super aeration (more oxygen) over rolling the dice with microbial loads created by adding bio-based products. UC Roots keeps funk AWAY from your roots rather than introducing it to them. In HYDROPONIC Systems roots can flourish in hydroponics systems when they aren’t locked into competition with microbial populations; it’s a different scenario in hydro versus soil. It’s great for propagation too where the rooting or germinating environment can get funky with warm temperatures and lots of humidity. We even found that it dis-
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courages insects when applied as a spray. When-Anytime. Especially at res changes and when pre-treating propagation media. What-Chloride molecules that dissipate quickly to kill of harmful biological scums and growths-insects don’t like getting sprayed with it either, as we found on a few young experimental plants. GZ Rated-Would become a regular part of your growing budget with regular applications, but if you grow in hydro it works not only to protect your investment but it seems to improve growth rates. Thumbs up, yo.
Canna Boost Holy crap this stuff is expensive. All the same, we heard great things about it and ran it through a couple of test cycles and are pleased to report that it’s all good. When applied as a light foliar spray in the first few weeks of flowering (because we can’t afford to apply it to roots in 20 gallons of soil) we saw more flowering sites Pop and get juicier looking quicker. At first the experiment started as a side by side. By the time we were half way through the testers decided it was going to get applied to ALL of the plants. The difference was noticeable, so why waste the potential for gains, right? We have heard it works great at the roots too, but haven’t tested it that way. What-A Booster for the Budding Phase that contains no significant N-P-K When-Through bloom at roots or first few weeks as a spray. GZ Rated-You get what you pay for with this one, although we think it would be more popular if it came down in price.
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Customer: Hey, these pepper plants look great, but I thought they were bigger last time I saw them. What happened? CJF: That’s the same hydro system, but the pepper plants have been replaced. We had an aphid problem, and the usual sprays weren’t cutting it.
ealthy, those big h y a w a w e g r h ou t stronger bu a t e Customer: Y g t s ju uldn’t you er of plants that I need, so I plants? Co CJF: Well, I usually grow more than twice the numb wings. The aphids were makspray? had two other flats of pepper plants waiting in the crop considering there were ing a serious impact. It was easy to sacrifice that lost a couple of weeks by dozens of healthy plants ready to go. I may have ruining a harvest by continuscrapping that batch of plants, but it’s better than Customer: Wow, I wo ing bug problems and bug sprays. uld have a hard ti me ki but I know what yo lling all those plan u mean. My buddy ts, was spraying for bu the way to harvest, gs all and his produce is a little sketchy. Ma he should have star ybe ted over. all the . I never assume that em st sy o dr hy e th ched , I found evibuggy plants and blea ts. Not surprisingly an pl of h tc ba CJF: I threw out the w ne wn to e ntinued to spray th ked the population do co oc I kn so y , ad ad re de al e d ar ha gs I bu t since so healthy. No on the new plants. Bu ese new plants look th y wh s ’ at Th . dence of dead bugs ap sn thy as the final few was a , but looking as heal ng te lli la ki s s, ek er we mb o nu tw l t ma ou mini est came ine your buddy’s harv more bugs. Now imag plants these Hungarian Wax
Customer: What can he do now?
and be gross, t ’ n d l u o w . It ish he had w I , h a e Y the pest (laughs) CJF: Not to mention the fact that he has allowed ter too. t Customer: e b d l e i killed bly y problem to last months instead of weeks. He may have he’d proba to continoff some of the weaker bugs, leaving the strongest the pests ue breeding. His future crops will be exposed, and will be more resistant to sprays
s a new CJF: Clean out the flowering room before he start round. bleach If he just harvested, I would suggest spraying a 10% flowersolution on all of the equipment and space used for ram to ing. Start an integrated pest management (IPM) prog e. There consistently treat for pests in the vegetative stag to use is no point in buying bug sprays if you aren’t going every five them effectively. If the product says to apply it two days days, don’t wait a week before using it. The extra and it will may be enough time for the bugs to get a leg up, Continue to be that much more difficult to to wipe them out. ering. And treat for pests during the first two weeks of flow backup finally, grow more plants than you need. Have some you don’t plants ready, in case you need them in a pinch. If extras. And need them, you can always throw away the healthy est. harv remember, a delayed crop is better than a ruined
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Hydro-Scripts Featuring Casey Jones Fraser
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5
E H T
Don’ts at the Hydro Store I wanted to write a little excerpt on proper shopping etiquette when entering your local hydro stores. A quick 5 things of what not to do while shopping for goods. For some it seems oblivious but with the right attitude and approach you can really work great relations with your local owner benefitting you in product information, deals, discounts and even free giveaways.
1. Do not mention or talk about illegal substances when you enter the store. Hydroponic stores are legit businesses, treat them like one. 2. Be aware of the owners time and that it’s a business. Don’t be the oblivious shopper that doesn’t realize the right time to leave. Some shoppers need extra help or demand more time than others and every store owner should have sympathy or at least empathy for that situation. Everyone learns at thier own rate and there are many puzzles to put together for a grower first entering this endeavor. For example, you enter your local shop to buy some pesticide for your small garden and you notice there is only one person working today in a store which normally has two or sometimes three people working. You are the only customer in store at that point so you decide to take advantage of this
time and talk to the guy/girl behind the counter, maybe ask them a few questions on some problems you are running into. After about 15-20 mins out of your deep conversation you notice that as you are talking to the owner/employee taking up his/her time for a $15 dollar sale, people are starting to pile up behind you with products in hand wanting to purchase and get on with thier busy schedules. There are also people asking for products that require the owner/employees assistance to get access to ( forklift out a pallet of soil, hugos, lights, 500gal res, etc..) Don’t be oblivious, notice the situations and give your owner/employee some time to handle the real business at hand. Buy your product and tell the person behind the counter that you have a couple questions and you were wondering if there was a better time to get in touch with he/she either on phone or plan a time to come in? You will find by working on the
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owner/employee schedule you get much better answers to your questions this way, rather than getting the short answer because there are other obligations piling up. 3. Don’t be a Bull in a china shop. Be careful if your known to have butterfingers, ask for help to grab your nutrients. Nutrients depending on product can be very expensive also at times very smelly. No hydro store owner/employee wants to smell some fish fertilizer that a customer accidentally dropped in the heat of summer or in the cold of winter for that matter. Also they surely don’t want to pay for your mistake when you go and bust a $600 dollar bottle, neither do you. Be careful when grabbing large bottles off high shelves. Keep in mind water is roughly 7 pounds per gallon so that jug might be heavier than it looks. If there’s a bottle out of reach it’s better to ask for assistance than be a “Gilligan” and
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lbezzy365@icloud.com
end up dropping it and making a mess of things.
4. Don’t try to use the shop for a gathering place to meet friends. All good relationships take time to cultivate, so don’t let your guard down by inviting a new friend recently met through your local hydro store to check out your garden and give pointers. Might end up being an expensive lesson thats not in your favor. 5. Don’t over shadow price for service and know how. There are many fly by night shops that are opening up these days even worse back garage websites that run thier business out of thier home who’s really only upside is there discounted prices on products. I understand money is tight these days but lets put things into perspective, when you go and spend 15-30 mins. asking someone at a store how a
product works and that owner/ employee gives you a whole breakdown to help you succeed based off there own experience, pay homage to that information. Is it not worth the difference? Don’t grill the owner to get the product for $20 bucks like on the Internet as opposed to $24.95 store cost. If you went to your garden and used a product you got off the internet with no advice on how to properly apply and you applied that product wrong and ruined your whole grow you would feel pretty dumb saving $5 as opposed to spend 5 extra and getting the benefit from the product rather than experiencing the learning curve EB Note-Can you tell lb has spent a little time behind the counter of a busy hydroponics store in a busy market? While there are different “laws of the land” wherever you go, some things are Universal. Pay heed for happy returns ;)
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Coming Next:
Thanks and Praise
Custom Grow Room Design Part II
s r e l l i h C Wa t e r
Maintaining Healthy Roots in Hydro Expert Hydroponic Feeding Regimens Going Fully Auto-What You Want to Know
Ask Erik
The dedi cat io n of ALL our co n t r i b u to rs C o o l S w im s o n H O T D ays n o d e n i a r g n i t t e g t u o h t i w g n C yc l i
And as always, more of the BEST articles from our budding team of hydro-writers.
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