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THE MAKING OF HYDROMAG... Editor Cosmo Mackenzie cos@hydromag.co.uk Technical Assistant Editor Bill Sutherland bill@hydromag.co.uk MERRY GROW 2013 EVERYONE.... Manchester Central, 21st-22nd September... see you there!

Welcome...

Christmas for the HYDROMAG team doesn’t fall on the contrived birthday of a pre-industrial Prophet - or indeed the Winter Solstice. Instead it happens at about this time every year, in the city better known as the beating heart of England proper; namely Manchester. The 21st and 22nd of September 2013 will see Manchester Central host the best and brightest in the Hydroponics Industry, from all the corners (and some of the cupboards) of this fine, if recently harried Planet. Grow Expo continues to expand with each year, and this year is no exception. Decent and upstanding folk that we are, this issue of HYDROMAG seeks to act in part as your guide to who’s who, what’s what and perhaps more importantly, who and what are where (or to put it plainly; there’s a ﬂoorplan of the show on page 28). Both the HYDROMAG and HYDROSHOW teams will be in attendance, so why not pay us a visit? Don’t forget Grow2013’s number one rule; bring a big bag to carry your sample and competition winnings home. Also in this issue we focus on the tender, early days of your plant’s lifecycle; T5s go up against Sol himself in a lettuce grow test. Someone forgets the rooting hormone in our recap of HYDROSHOW’s Presenter challenge. A general sense of pedantry pervades as measuring tools take a step into the foreground. And, of course, many of our regular features return in the shape of FAVES, The A-Z of Music and our ever popular competition. Finally I’d like to thank the rest of the team for picking up the slack during my recent absence; by all accounts everything ran a lot smoother without me! We’d also like to welcome Nico to the team; after impressing everyone with his skill, knowledge and unparalleled affability on HYDROSHOW TV, Nico will be lending his many talents to HYDROMAG, too.

Cosmo Mackenzie Cosmo MacKenzie, Editor

Lifestyle Christian Mason christian@hydromag.co.uk Lifestyle Buddy Mason buddy@hydromag.co.uk Managing Director / Sales Pete Turner sales@hydromag.co.uk Art Director Russ Sealey russ@hydromag.co.uk PR Executive Nick Stokoe nick@hydromag.co.uk Design / Illustration Emma Godley emma@hydromag.co.uk Design Kim Tinker kim@hydromag.co.uk Accounts Claire Kennedy accounts@hydromag.co.uk Sales Administrator Megan Corless sales@hydromag.co.uk Sales Manager Nico Hill nico@hydromag.co.uk

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ISSUE NO. 006 09.2013

Featured In This Issue... 40 08 10 THE FEED Farmscrapers

THE KNOWLEDGE Megarooms

HYDROSHOW.tv invited two industry suppliers to build the ultimate grow room. HYDROMAG gives you the breakdown.

Thousand-foot high urban farms: An exciting glimpse of the future, Or just pie in the sky?

THE FEED Seedbombing

Sticking it to The Man. The eco-unabombers waging war on wasteland and lowering your blood pressure in the process. Sorry, what?

THE KNOWLEDGE Beginners Corner - Build a Cloning System

That’s right – cloning tents for a grand. We set our presenters on HYDROSHOW TV this particular task. How did they fare? Well read the article.

THE KNOWLEDGE Getting Seedy - Planting Seeds Part 2

FAVOURITES Growstones and Nutradip Tri-Meter

THE KNOWLEDGE Grow Expos 2013 Special

We take a look at some products on the market to help you nurture your tiny seedy babies. …We’re talking about plants here.

Is there room in the market for yet another growth medium? And what did we think of Nutradip’s new measuring device?

Where indoor gardening and glamour continue to collide! It’s Grow Expo time. We take a further look at who’ll be there…

DISTRACTIONS 100 Films to Watch…

DISTRACTIONS Starting From Scratch

GROW GEAR Grow Gear

COMPETITION TIME WIN, WIN, WIN!

ASK THE EXPERT LETTERS:

Coming of Age. Ah the transition to maturity..! An essential rite of passage for most of us, and more importantly - fertile ground for a cinematic story.

As Mark Twain might have said, the reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated… Why it’s time to ditch the MP3s and dust off your vinyl.

“Roll up, get your stuff ! Two for a pound!” A collection of some fantastic kit for the growroom…

Everyone loves a winner. Become one yourself by entering our embarrassingly easy competition!

THE KNOWLEDGE Grow Test -The Sun versus T5 Flourescent Lights

We couldn’t bear not knowing any longer: which system produces the fastest growth?

Bill Sutherland from his dungeon laboratory to answer your questions- sounds better than cage. Maybe ditch the last line, This issue..’ if it needs to ﬁt.

The Rise of the Farmscraper?

British comic 2000AD predicted a post-Apocalyptic future in which whole self-sustaining “towns” would be housed within one giant skyscraper, known as “City Blocks”.

A less dystopian version of this idea seems to be gaining traction amongst town planners and architectural firms, particularly in China, with a number of developments currently on the backburner. Standing out is FrenchBelgian company Vincent Callebaut Architects with their stunning vision for Shenzhen. But a number of other projects are catching the eye, from Beijing-based MAD Architects’s designs for Chongqing; Vikas Pawar’s Eco Skyscrapers for north India; London Farm Tower in Southbank; to Zigloo’s underwater “seascraper”. HYDROMAG takes a look at the rise of the farmscraper, and asks: are these projects likely to be realised, or forever remain as pretty pictures on the artists’ drawing boards? The pattern of rural flight that has been so prevalent in Europe and North America since the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions is now being replicated across the developing world. The UN World State of the World Population report in 2007 highlighted that more than half of all people now live in cities, with predictions that 93% of all urban growth will take place in developing countries. Management consultancy McKinsey & Company predict by 2025 there will be 221 cities in China with a population of over a million; and Euromonitor International predict India’s urban population will be close to half a billion by 2020. With this growing clamour to pound the gold-paved streets of the world’s cities is it any wonder that agricultural investment has inversely declined (“Investing in Poor Farmers Pays: Rethinking how to invest in Agriculture” Oxfam International, 2009)? So what are the implications for food supply and the environment? Food security is now a major issue. The world’s poor are at a greater risk than ever from dramatic price rises in staple foods (as seen in the food price crisis of 2007 and 2008); while activities such as overgrazing, deforestation and urbanisation (again) are causing the gradual disappearance of arable land in all corners of the globe (“Soil Degradation: A Threat to Developing-Country Food Security by 2020?” Scherr, 1999). Urban areas are responsible for 85% of all carbon emissions (Nakicenovic et al., 2000), and inward mass migration is only making the situation worse – requiring further distances for food transportation. It is now commonly accepted that food

production is responsible for a massive 29% of all carbon emissions. This figure, in a 2012 report for the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, takes into account all aspects of production, from growing crops, raising livestock, storage, to transportation and refrigeration. So far so depressing. But before you put on Elliot Smith and open your veins in a hot bath; you should have guessed from the article’s title and introduction, plus all the accompanying artwork; that the solution might be just around the corner. Get out of that bath, put some clothes on, and keep reading. The benefits of hydroponics and greater proximity between production and consumer are clear: reduced need for transportation and refrigeration of goods, year-round growth, no more soil erosion, less water wastage, fewer pesticides, and crops will be at less prone to price fluctuations due to the vagaries of the weather or the cost of a barrel of oil. We’re already seeing this principle in action with the growth of urban farming – a movement now catching on globally – notably in the US but also in China, Cuba, Egypt and many other parts of the world (see HYDROMAG Issue 02 for a look at how Brightfarms are leading the way in New York). At the same time a new generation of “green” skyscrapers are being built, incorporating such innovations as wind turbines and rainwater capture systems. In the US a ratings system called LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) has set the bar for environmentally-conscious architects. Projects such as 340 on the Park in Chicago, the Hearst Tower in New York, and the CIS Tower in Manchester, England, are all testament to this sea change in attitude. All of the constituent parts are out there – the political will, the determination on the part of the players, even the money so it seems. How long before they come together to form the next logical step and lead to the world’s first multi-use farmscraper? Regular readers of HYDROMAG will know of vertical farms. The concept isn’t new, having been toyed with in Ancient Babylon, drawn up in Life Magazine in 1909 and experimented with in 1950s Armenia. However, it wasn’t until early proposals by Malaysian architect Kenneth Yeang were seized upon and expanded by ecologist Dr. Dickson Despommier in 1999 that the concept of the “vertical farm” really built up a head of steam. Despommier is considered the “father of the vertical farm”. He set a task for his students to come up with some answers to the following question: how to feed 50,000 people and reduce carbon emissions? The answer: a thirty storey building in the centre of town producing hydroponically-grown fruit, grain and vegetables. WORLD POPULATION GROWTH

BOSCO VERTICALE BY STEFAN BOERI ARCHITECTS When complete later this year, the Bosco Verticale will be the greenest building in Milan. The design boasts a stunning green façade planted with dense forest systems to provide a building microclimate and to filter out polluting dust particles. There’s also potential to farm fish, crustaceans and even poultry (although one has to question the “free range” credentials of these hypothetical skyscraperbred chickens). Despommier’s extensive research into the subject was considered a rallying cry to a new generation of ambitious architects. Vincent Callebaut Architects have produced some spectacular designs for Shenzhen in China. Called “Asian Cairns” and clearly modelled on natural forms, the six buildings currently on the design board are likely to be the first genuine self-sufficient, multipurpose farmscrapers; incorporating residential and commercial space with hydroponic farms; powered with the help of solar panels and wind turbines. Influenced by the work of biomimicry experts such as Janine Benyus and Michael Pawlyn, the buildings’ blueprints, as Vincent Callebaut’s website tells us, are inspired by “the vertical wings of the Steppes Eagle, the spiralling and hydro-dynamical shape of the nautilus, the ventilation of the termite mounds”. Elsewhere, Indian architect Vikas Pawar has earned plaudits for his Eco Skyscraper designs. Pawar has designed a set of towers that also combines residential and commercial space and draws on a raft of new green technologies to help limit the buildings’ environmental

impact – drawing moisture from the humid air to provide water and creating energy using photovoltaic panels. Meanwhile Spanish architect Javier Ponce is busy pushing his plans to build what he terms “Dynamic Vertical Networks” 187-metre-high farming units for the Tai Po district in Hong Kong. Ponce has spoken of wanting to “take vertical urban farming to the next level” and has targeted Hong Kong as one of the world’s cities most in need of the farmscraper solution “since Hong Kong has a predominant verticality and a lack of buildable space “. Other companies include Chinese MAD Architects who have a similar plan for Chongqing; in the UK we have Southbank’s London Farm Tower; and in Linkoping, Sweden, Plantagon are in the process of developing a vertical farm. Canadian firm Zigloo have possibly the most leftfield concept of them all: the Seascraper. Powered by tidal energy, wind and solar power; the Gyre-Seascraper will harvest algae and be a melting pot of scientists and holidaymakers. Despommier’s vision is spreading like legion across the drawing boards of green-architectural firms. Some designs are now being implemented – notably Sky Greens in Singapore; Farmed Here in the USA; Local Garden in Vancouver; and Nuvege and Angel Farms in Japan. However, the designs that are actually being realised tend to resemble large greenhouses (largely because that’s what they are) rather than the beautiful, ambitious works of art being produced by the likes of Callebaut or Zigloo. Some people believe the concept of a farmscraper is unworkable; including horticulturalist Dr. Cary Mitchell of Purdue University, who says: “The idea of taking a skyscraper and turning it into a vertical farming complex is absolutely ridiculous from an energy perspective”. It is Mitchell’s belief that the energy demands of a farmscraper would simply be too great, given the amount of artificial light required to reach all levels of a vertical farm. He sees the model currently employed by the likes of Brightfarms as a more sustainable and easily-achieved vision for the future. Mitchell’s view may yet be proven overly-pessimistic, but his doubts seem to be vindicated by the fact there isn’t a single farmscraper under construction; despite the plethora of spectacular blueprints. We must hope the gap between design and production won’t be as great as that between Leonardo Da Vinci’s “helicopter” drawings and the first Focke-Wolfe F 61. From the calls of Yeang and Despommier to the architectural concepts dreamed up by the likes of Callebaut and Pawar – the farmscraper remains just that: a concept; currently no more real than John Wagner’s world of Judge Dredd. Judging by the artwork, if they are to take off they will be some of the most striking, extraordinary pieces of architecture ever realised. But as The National Grand Theatre in Tiananmen Square or the Guangzhou Opera House in Beijing demonstrate; if any country has the will and the wherewithal to do it; it’s China. Keep watching this space.

Seedbombing The War on Wasteland

If you head into town and suddenly find yourself in the midst of depressing scenes of urban decay - make sure you keep your eyes peeled, because you might just find yourself caught up in a Blitz of “seed bombs” – fist-sized packets of compost and plant seeds and the arme de choix of a (relatively) modern green resistance movement. HYDROMAG investigates and discovers some interesting medical reasons to support them in their fight. In the 1970s the world was in the grip of an obsession with guerrilla warfare and romantic revolutionaries sticking it to The Man – from Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the Black Panthers, to the Symbionese Liberation Army and the Baader-Meinhof Gang. In the face of intransigent, conservative governments that didn’t seem to best represent the interests of the youth of the day, there was a rapid growth in direct action in the 1960s and ‘70s, both of the violent and non-violent kind. Taking root in the collective consciousness of the flower power and punk generations was a sense that if you wanted something done you had to do it yourself. And it was against this backdrop that a more salubrious, lesser-known group of “Green Guerrillas” emerged. Liz Christy and friends took umbrage at the urban decay all around them in 1973 New York and decided enough was enough. They fashioned “seed grenades” using condoms and Christmas baubles - and cluster-bombed whole swathes of derelict land in the city, including one such lot on the corner of Bowery and Houston (later becoming the Bowery Houston Farm and Garden). Municipal wasteland – a scar on their beloved city – would be reclaimed and converted into green space. A movement was formed and today the 600 community gardens still thriving in New York attest to its success and ongoing popularity. Although the concept of “seed bombing” isn’t new, having been practised for centuries and given a new lease of life in Japan by farmerphilosopher Masanobu Fukuoka (1913 - 2008), it has gained considerable cachet recently with its shades of anarcho-punk activism; tapping into a certain zeitgeist still raw from Iraq War protests, anger over the banking crisis, and a resurgence in environmental awareness. After two decades of political apathy among Gen-X slackers, a new mood for political engagement has arisen – and

with it we’re seeing the re-emergence of the “seed bomb”. A new book entitled “Seedbombs: Going Wild With Flowers” by Josie Jeffery offers expert advice on how to get started and details the history of the movement – from Fukuoka’s efforts in Japan to the projects he inspired in Greece, India and the US. In England Richard Reynolds writes a passionate blog about the subject (www. guerrillagardening.org). Here he exhorts his fellow green soldiers to “fight the filth with forks and flowers!” Borrowing from military terminology, he calls upon anyone interested in the “war against neglect and scarcity of public space” to start a new “troop dig” themselves or by joining one of the many existing “cells”. But the benefits of this movement go beyond aesthetics and thumbing one’s nose at authority (important as these are). There is also tangible evidence that “greening up” our neighbourhoods has a positive impact on one’s physical and mental wellbeing. In an excellent report for the UK-MAB Urban Forum, Professor Ian Douglas of Manchester University detailed a series of experiments and papers to support this view. They include a study that demonstrated how hospital patients healed faster and required shorter stays when placed in rooms with a view of nature (Ulrich, 1984). This was borne out by research from Rohde and Kendle (1994) who discovered that the “mere visibility of nature may have powerful preventative and curative effects on people’s health.” And while Patterson and Chang (1999) found evidence of a link between gardening and reduced anxiety and depression, Hartig et al (2003) showed diastolic blood pressure declined among those seated in a room where nature could be observed from the windows, and actually increased in those without views. Nancy Wells (2000) discovered significant differences in the attention spans and cognitive abilities of children living in areas with exposure to green space and those living without. Sullivan and Kuo (1996) also found less violence in urban public housing where there were trees – with Hartig et al (2003) confirming the role plants and green space play in reducing anger. The National Audit Office’s Report on Enhancing Urban Green Space (2006) points out that “access to green spaces improves people’s quality of life, reducing stress, encouraging relaxation, and providing a sense of freedom”. To this effect the world’s seed bombers can, rather tenuously, be called “freedom fighters” (or rather “sense-of-freedom fighters”). Reclaiming dilapidated urban areas, beautifying our cities, reducing crime, lowering our blood pressure and reconnecting us with nature; the Green Guerrillas are rebels with a cause we should all readily salute.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN SEED BOMB (Courtesy of Josie Jeﬀery)

TO MAKE SIX SEED BOMBS YOU’LL NEED: 5 Tablespoons of Seed Compost / 4 Tablespoons of Terracotta Clay Powder 1 Teaspoon of Seeds / 1 Teaspoon of Chilli Powder as a Pest Deterrent (Optional) Sprinkles of Water At Intervals / Liquid Fertiliser, r If NPK (Nitrogen/Phosphorus/Potassium)) is Absent in the Compost

BUILD A CLONING TENT FOR £1000 Episode three of HYDROSHOW.TV saw our presenters step up to the mark once again by accepting our imaginatively named Presenter Challenge. Gemma and Pooja were each given £1000 with which to purchase a system for propagation, cloning and stock plants. Although both presenters had already taken part in our first presenter challenge, neither Gemma nor Pooja had any experience of setting up a cloning/mother tent. Having a separate area or tent dedicated to Mother plants, clones or seedlings is often seen by beginners as an optional extra. It’s true that you can simply buy in seedlings or clones at the beginning of each crop cycle, but unless you’ve got a very good reason for doing so, it would likely prove vastly cheaper, more efficient and a hell of a lot more fun to grow them yourselves. After all, why buy something in when you have all the materials to make it yourself? Even if mother plants, seedlings and clones aren’t part of your own growroom makeup, having a controlled environment which is separate from the main body of your growroom is indispensable. As well as enabling you to grow plants at different stages of life, it also offers you an environment in which to individually store and treat any ailing plants without fear of infection spreading to other plants.

GEMMA & GREENFINGER HYDROPONICS Gemma visited Greenﬁnger Hydroponics in Perivale, where she met Panch. Greenﬁnger Hydroponics has also been going since 1995, with stores in Kingston, Bermondsey and Perivale. Gemma and Panch set about putting the generous £1000 budget to work.

Secret Jardin DR 120 T tent is a 2 tier, or twin chamber tent measuring 120cm by 120cm and 210cm in height. As well as the main body of the tent, a smaller propagation compartment sits on the top. The DR120T is designed specifically to take the extra weight of additional equipment. It’s also lined inside with a thermal film finish offering high reflectivity and thermal protection.

BudBox Tent system 5 is a drip feed system suitable for both hydroponic and soil cultivation. It features 5, 19 litre foldable pots and a 200 litre tank which is only 20cm high; allowing more space for your plants to grow. The tank also features a flood plug for easy drainage and the entire system is designed to fold-up and pack away neatly. 250w Metal Halide lamp with an Adjust-a-wing Enforcer reflector and Maxibright 250w Compact Magnetic Ballast. Grow tents can overheat when using higher wattage lamps; Panch determined that this 250w set up would suffice for Gemma’s needs. Adjusta-wing reflectors are a firm favourite amongst growers and Maxibright are a tested and reliable company- always an important consideration when buying ballast. Lightwave T5 propagation unit features 4, 54W fluorescent tubes. The T5’s give a nice, even spread of light. Since their wattage is so low it’s possible to get the fluorescent lights right in close to the canopy of the clones or seedlings without fear of burning them.

RVK A1 4” extractor fans with 4” ducting and filters. RVK fans are reliable, hard wearing, aﬀordable and ideally suited for tent extraction. Be sure to buy the corresponding ducting, according to the size of your fan; 6” ducting is no easier to attach to a 4” fan than vice versa! Filters regulate unwelcome odours.

Wilma Big 4 Pot. Featuring 4, 18 litre pots, a 50 litre tank and a pump and drippers as standard. These big pots work especially well for mothers- who spend most of their lives in a single pot. Wilma systems are uncomplicated, sturdy and reasonably priced. They work with most mediums.

Centrifugal Humidifier and Clip fan. Humidity is really important for mothers and cuttings; you’re going to get much better growth if you keep the stomata of your plant open, which is temperature and humidity related. Clip fans assist in creating a healthy, cooling ﬂow of air around the tent.

Gold label HydroCoco 60/40. 60% Hydrocorn pebbles, 40% Coco coir; designed to require less frequent feeding, this growth medium promotes a healthy, oxygenated rootzone as well as retaining water well and preventing excessive compacting.

Bioponic range from Hydrotops. Root Stimulator stimulates roots, funnily enough. Head Start works well feeding clones. Grow feeds the bigger plants (in this case the Mothers). Leaf Feed is a foliar spray. Bactivator protects the roots and strengthens the plant in general. The range comes with a handy booklet. Panch also threw in a tin of Root Safari Gel.

Lumen8 400w Metal Halide lamp with a Euro Reflector and 400w Kaisen Magnetic Ballast. Metal Halide lamps cover the blue spectrum, which promotes vegetative growth. The euro reﬂector is considered by some to be the budget option, but can free up some cash for other equipment.

EnviroGro. Featuring 4, 24w ﬂuorescent lamps. Again, capable of being positioned very close to the plant canopy. Low wattage also translates to lower running costs.

POOJA & HOLLAND HYDROPONICS Pooja went along to Holland Hydroponics in Burnley, where she met up with store manager Michael. Holland Hydroponics has been in the business since 1995, with outlets in Burnley, Flint, Huddersﬁeld and Manchester. With Store manager Michael on side, Pooja sought to build on her previous win in the competition.

Silverback Tent measuring 120cm by 120cm and 200cm. This Mylar lined tent is robust, aﬀordable and easy to work with. It features multiple ventilation points and an extra liner for the base of the tent, protecting your ﬂoor from any possible spillage. Pooja’s second tent- intended for the cuttings was also a Silverback, only smaller.

Intake/Outtake 6” TT Extract Fans with 6” ducting and an SMS Twin Fan speed controller. For the smaller tent, Michael also provided a 4” TT extractor Fan with 4” dusting and an individual SMS Fan controller.

CYCO. Dr Repair promotes general health, ideal for an active Mother plant. B1 Boost aids stem growth. Uptake aids nutrient uptake. Grow A and B constitute your base feed. Michael also included Clonex Rooting Gel, ATA Rootfast and Formulex- a weak feed which is idea for cuttings and can be used as a spray.

Michael and Panch joined Gemma and Pooja in the studio in order to get them started with the setting up and to give us their opinions on the competitionsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; choices.

GEMMA & AQUACULTURE

Neither Michael nor Panch, nor indeed any suppliers we know, are in the habit of going home with clients - so you might need to employ the services of a friend to help you with your own set up.

POOJA & HOLLAND HYDROPONICS

THE RESULTS WERE AS FOLLOWS: TENTS

VENTILATION

What Panch from Greenfinger had to say: Panch pointed out that Holland’s choice of two tents wasted considerable space; horizontally the two tents take up more floor space, and vertically space is wasted because the lighting array must be positioned right down, next to the plant canopy

What Panch from Greenfinger had to say: Panch complimented Michael’s choice of a 4” intake, 6” outtake system- which maintains negative air pressure inside the tent. He did note that the TT fans weren’t as quiet as the RVKs. Panch also questioned Holland Hydroponics’ choice to not use filters at all.

What Michael from Holland Hydroponics had to say: Michael was happy to admit that Greenfinger’s selection is a very nice, high quality tent. He pointed out that the smaller Silverback tent he provided was easier to adapt to growing a full size plant.

What Michael from Holland Hydroponics had to say: Michael’s decision to go for fan speed controller in place of a humidifier was a reasoned one. Whilst he was willing to admit the merits of a humidifier, he argued that his fan speed controller was a more effective control of temperature- which he argued outweighed the importance of humidity.

What HYDROSHOW had to say: Even though the Holland’s tents were more versatile, and can be used for different purposes, the challenge was to create a cloning tent system. And the DR 120 T being purposefully designed for the job is a much better selection, giving Greenfinger top marks for the tent category.

What HYDROSHOW had to say: The provision of the thermostat controller means that Holland’s cuttings would be kept at a more constant temperature, giving them the win in the cloning category. However, the ventilation and environment provided in Greenfinger’s mother area included a clip on fan and mister; the extra humidity here would help Greenfinger’s mothers massively after the cuttings had been taken, giving them the win in the main tent category.

WINNER: GREENFINGER

WINNER: SPLIT DECISION

LIGHTING

NUTRIENTS

What Panch from Greenfinger had to say: Panch agreed that the 400w setup was in no way a bad thing. He pointed out that as well as being cheaper, his own selection doesn’t require as much heat management - a very necessary task when working with smaller sized tents. Greenfinger’s T5 fluorescents were also double the length of Holland’s.

What Panch from Greenfinger had to say: Panch noted that he hadn’t given Gemma any Clonex. He did provide root safari though which, although it doesn’t serve the same function as Clonex, does offer rooted clones a protective layer and encourages health and rapid growth once the juvenile plant is re-potted.

What Michael from Holland Hydroponics had to say: Michael was also complimentary about Panch’s selection, pointing out that the 250w is ideal for the Secret Jardin, but perhaps implying that it wouldn’t be adequate for his own choice of tents. He also complimented Panch’s choice for the propagation lights too.

What Michael from Holland Hydroponics had to say: Michael was complimentary about both Greenfinger’s choice of nutrients and nutrient ranges in general- stating that they all provide either good value for money, and/or great quality and quantity of cuttings. He also pointed out Greenfinger’s omission of Clonex, which he correctly identified as an indispensable tool of the cloning process.

What HYDROSHOW had to say: Both companies went for a T5 lighting array in the confines of the propagation tents; since both setups use comparable levels of electricity per propagator, HYDROSHOW declared the propagation lighting category as a draw. Whilst Greenfinger did provide an infinitely superior reflector in their designed for purpose main tent, the HYDROSHOW judges decided that the extra 150w provided by Holland’s rig would help their mother plants recover quicker after their cuttings had been taken, apparently giving Holland’s selection the edge in this area.

WINNER: HOLLAND HYDROPONICS 16

What HYDROSHOW had to say: The plant nutrition category was very hard to call, with both shops offering a comprehensive range of nutrients. However, Holland’s did give us a rooting hormone which Greenfinger neglected. Meaning the nutrition category is narrowly won by Holland’s.

WINNER: HOLLAND HYDROPONICS

SYSTEM What Panch from Greenfinger had to say: Panch agreed that the Wilma four pot is a perfectly good system, but he argued that it didn’t have the same give in height as his choice and lacked both the fifth pot and the addition spread of vegetation offered by the dice arrangement. Again, he pointed out that Holland hadn’t made good use of space in their propagation arrangement- sacrificing surface area for largely unutilized headroom. What Michael from Holland Hydroponics had to say: Michael felt that, whilst both systems were reasonably matched, his own selection gave the grower more room to operate and space in which to manipulate and manage the plants, as well as promoting healthy air movement. He also argued that Holland’s tent selection could be turned on its side to fit an additional propagation unit, thereby increasing the number of available clones or cuttings.

What HYDROSHOW had to say: Wilma systems are very popular, and have certainly served their time as systems that work in the hydroponics industry. Greenfinger’s system 5 is definitely innovative, and has an extra pot, and we did ask for a system that would take a variety of mother plants. Each of the cloning areas uses the same type of unheated propagators and Rockwool cubes. However Greenfinger’s system did allow for up to three propagators, whereas Holland’s tent, even laid on its side, would only allow for two. Greenfinger takes the win on both counts then.

WINNER: GREENFINGER

THE VERDICT Both Michael at Holland Hydroponics and Panch at Greenfinger Hydroponics provided their prospective presenters with high quality set ups at great value for money. Their passion, professionalism and expertise all shone through- so they both deserve to be congratulated and thanked; Thanks guys! What this challenge highlighted over everything else is the diversity of products currently available on the market, and just how adaptable many of them are, dependant on a customer’s individual needs. Clearly T5 lighting rigs are the best choice for propagation lighting. Whilst the Secret Jardin served the ideal purpose for this specific challenge, we’d be foolish to discount the two Silverback tent’s adaptability. Beyond your specific needs, a budget of £1000 should leave you some spending leeway to flash the cash on at least one top quality product- and the adjust-a-wing enforcer reflector is, in my opinion, just that. Totting up the scores it looked to be a draw, with each supplier excelling in individual categories. However, the HYDROSHOW team aren’t keen on stalemates, so the final decision came down to the Producers’ discretion. Having thought long and hard, our producer Pete placed the winning decision on Greenfinger’s compact tent selection; offering a better overall growing environment for mothers and cuttings. However, he did remark that this system really does need a fan speed controller, something that he would cash out the extra £100 or so to make the system that little bit better.

So the winner is Greenfinger! Congratulations. Of course our goal was always to better inform customers on their own selection process; so, ultimately, we’re hoping you’ll win out by being better informed. Oh, and don’t forget the Clonex - it really is indespensible.

Watch Episode 3 of

to see this feature Coming to your screens again in October on Showcase 2, Sky Channel 192 & Freesat 402

If you would like your store to Feature in HYDROMAG/ HYDROSHOW TV please go to our contact page...

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Getting Seedy

Arguably the best thing about growing your fruits and veg from seed is that it can give you access to connoisseur varieties of plants, excelling in flavours, tastes and aromas rather than being bred for yield and storage potential like your commercially available produce from supermarkets. Sprouting your own seeds can also help avoid problems associated with pests and diseases when purchasing stock plants from commercial vendors, or save you from getting your plants in from a friend who was kind enough to offer you cuttings, PLANTING SEEDS PART 2 but may be unwittingly giving you something more than you bargained for. Following on from our ‘Seeds in It’s a lot easier than you may first different mediums’ article in issue think to grow a plant from seed. They four, we take a more in-depth look really WANT to germinate! It is their into those tiny genetic bundles of sole purpose at this point and all you joy, that when correctly nurtured need to do is provide a few easily maintainable conditions for the wee and raised, provide you with a blighters, and they are sure to kick large smile on your face come off to a good start. A good level of moisture, a nice level of heat (generally harvest time. between 18 and 24C), and in most cases darkness, are all a little seed needs to break free of its shell, push out its primary root, and begin its long (or sometimes short) journey to fruition. Fortunately for us modern gardeners, there are many products available to help us achieve the perfect start. To equip yourself with the knowledge of how most commercially available products work will ultimately enable you to choose what to spend your hard earned pennies on, and provide your garden with the right products based on your own required circumstances.

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For those who prefer the no-frills option, the most straightforward way to germinate your seeds is using cell trays or small pots and a media with a low nutrient content. Ready-to-use soil based options are there, such as Biobizz’s Light-Mix or Canna’s Terra Seedmix, or you can craft your own. For example, adding worm castings to coir at approximately a 20% rate gives excellent germination results. Essentially you want a media that is not going to overwhelm your little babies with too much food. Nobody likes indigestion. So with your chosen media simply fill your cells/ pots, give them a quick tap down to let it settle out, and then go ahead and pour some water in there. Let your pots or trays drain enough

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so they no longer drip any water from them, and get rid of any water in the base of your propagator. Make a small hole roughly a centimetre (or twice the depth of the seed) deep, pop your seed in and fill the hole back in ensuring it is left in complete darkness. Now place the trays or pots back into your propagator, spraying the inside of the lid first to keep humidity as high as possible, and put under a low intensity light such as T5 fluorescent tubes or low wattage CFL bulbs. Every couple of days check to make sure the media is not drying out; if it is simply moisten gently, ensuring they are not left dripping wet. Within roughly 7-10 days you will be the proud owner of newly sprouted seedlings, so get your cigars and party poppers at the ready. Alternatively there are plugs, pellets or cubes pre-formed for you that require a small amount more attention at the beginning of the process, but pay off by being a lot cleaner and tidier than the previous option. Other than how you initially prepare each type of plug, from the time you place them inside the propagator, treat them with the same method as mentioned previously. Every couple of days quickly check they aren’t drying out too much by giving them a quick feel , re-wet them if needed but not to the point of dripping. Make sure they are never sat in pools of water; without labouring the point, being too wet really is a bad thing at this stage. Spray the lid before you close it back up to help maintain a high humidity. Try to keep an ambient temperature of between 18 and 24 degrees, using a heat mat if necessary. Most seeds will struggle below this and you will notice a much slower germination time.

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“So how do I know which one to use?” I hear you ask. Well that really is up to what you prefer using, would like to use/ play about with, and to a degree what sort of system you intend to plant out into eventually. For homogeneity, it’s a good idea to use the same media as that you intend to eventually finish off your crop in (e.g. rockwool cubes when going onto rockwool slabs or coco pellets if in coco pots) but it is by no means essential. “Ok, so how many seeds should I plant out then?” you follow up with. My recommendation would be as many as you can! At least double if not four or more times the amount of plants you want to end up with. Seeds are all different, some a lot better and more vigorous than others so give yourself the opportunity to select only the finest examples to grace your main growing area. Imagine the X-factor but with plants; a lot less annoying and actually ending up with a credible winner. Sticking to these simple methods will provide you with great success when germinating seeds for yourself. You will quickly see how rewarding it can be, not just in terms of pointing you in the direction of a successful harvest, but also in the knowledge that your care and attention has paid off with a much healthier and happier selection of seedlings for you to begin growing with.

NUTRADIP TRI-METER In a world where measuring accuracy can mean the difference between the life and death of your precious plants, we at HYDROMAG cannot stress enough the importance of maintaining the correct water temperature, pH and EC levels in your hydroponic nutrient solution. Okay, life and death might be a little extreme, but as our resident expert Bill has pointed out in several articles, getting these three elements correct in your growroom (as well as room temperature and humidity) is essential to plant health, and we all know what healthy plants mean – more yield!

Everyone growing plants indoors should have a pH meter, EC meter and ideally a water temperature meter. When using a multipot system, or indeed any system fed from a central reservoir, having the ability to measure all three of these variables with one device makes life much easier, which is one of the many reasons we have decided to pitch to you the Tri-Meter from Nutradip in this issue’s HYDROMAG Favourites.

INNOVATIONS Where many of us are used to measuring pH and EC in the growroom, water temperature is often overlooked. Here’s a quote from Michael at Holland Hydroponics from Series one of Hydroshow TV... “A simple way to increase yield is by getting the correct water temperature. Too hot and you risk getting pathogens, too cold and you’ll send your plants into shock. For best results your water should be a minimum of 15 degrees and a maximum of 25.” The temperature of your water effects nutrient uptake massively, the warmer the water the better nutrient uptake, however too warm and you’re providing the perfect atmosphere for pathogens. By using the Tri-Meter, you can get an accurate measurement of the water temperature and make adjustments to give your plants’ roots the best possible conditions for good health. Constant Readings OK, we’ll stop banging on about water temperature now... Which brings us to one of the countless party tricks of the TriMeter. You may have bought a cheap imported pH or EC meter in the past, reached deep into your water tank, swizzled it around, pulled it out and squinted in the extreme light to see the (albeit probably inaccurate) readings. With the Tri-Meter, the measuring probes are constantly in the solution, so no need to get wet. Secondly, the Tri-Meter comes with a huge plant safe LED display, so reading the measurements can be done from the other side of the room. Each of the digits is around 2cm high and nice and bright, so no need for your reading glasses.

For more infomation visit: www.futureharvesteurope.com

REPLACEABLE COMPONENTS Here’s our favourite part of the Tri-Meter. In keeping with the “HYDROMAG Use Less” campaign (see www.facebook.com/HYDROMAG), the TriMeter’s working components are all replaceable. Personally, I hate the fact you buy something for cheap and 12 months later it breaks. Well, the Nutradip components are high quality and should last you a lot longer than that. But when they do break, get tired, worn and tatty, you can simply replace any of the components with new ones. Everything from the probes to the internal circuitry can be replaced for a fraction of the price and with little or no technical knowledge. OTHER COOL THINGS The Tri-Meter is no flash in the pan, having been manufactured since 1996 it’s certainly stood the test of time. CONS As always we try to find something wrong with the products in our FAVE section, and with the Nutradip Tri-Meter it has to be the price. With a recommended retail price of around £150, it is a little pricey. However, the combined price of the three similar-quality measuring devices it replaces would easily add up to that amount; and you can’t put a price on a healthy growroom or greenhouse, certainly in commercial setups.

GROWSTONES

Coco fibre, rockwool, soil, perlite, clay pebbles, vermiculite, mapito, bat guano, peat moss, diatomite, recycled plastic... do we really need any more growth mediums? Is there anything else a different growth medium could provide that the aforementioned can’t? Isn’t the world of growth mediums confusing enough without introducing another? Well, the answers to these questions are “Yes”, “Yes” and “No” respectively. Manufactured from recycled glass, Growstones are a recent introduction to the UK, having enjoyed notable popularity in the USA. Despite entering a saturated market, Growstones has found itself a niche in the world of Hydroponics. HYDROMAG investigates why. INNOVATIONS Porosity. First of all, like coco, mapito, rockwool and a few other mediums, Growstones are completely inert, and therefore a blank canvas when it comes to feeding your plants the correct nutrition. But where Growstones really differ is in their porosity. (For those of you who are new to hydroponics, the main reason that hydroponics gives better results than conventional growing with soil is because of the superior availability of water, air and nutrition to the plants.) The Growstones have the capacity to hold lots of air, leading to enhanced aeration for your root system. But unlike similar products such as Hydroton, that have good aeration but poor water retention qualities, or rockwool which has the reverse; Growstones also hold a high percentage of water (or nutrient solution), meaning your root system gets a good balance between aeration and nutrition. Perfect for greater yields.

FAMILIARITY. But I am happy with my current growing media... OK, so why change? The beauty of Growstones is that you already know how to use them. First of all there’s Soil Aerator, designed for mixing together with soil mediums. The Soil Aerator is ideal for those of you who normally add perlite or vermiculite to your soil. By simply mixing some Growstones with your existing soil media, you are guaranteed to increase both the nutrient and air capacity of that soil. The second type of Growstone is the Hydroponic substrate. Much larger in size than the Soil Aerator, this substrate is designed to be used on its own. Once again, the high availability of both air and nutrient provide a very good environment for your root zone. Although not designed for this purpose, the larger stones can be used as a soil aerator.

Other Cool Things Environmentally sound. Growstones are made from 98% recycled glass, reducing landfill and negating the need for strip-mining (the process required for producing Hydroton and perlite). Growstones can also be used as a Biofilter in Aquaponics, visit their website for more information www.growstone.com

CONS Growstones need preparing before you use them. Dust does occur during transportation, so this needs washing out before you transplant your plants. It’s recommended you soak their growth mediums for around an hour.

Impossible to overwater. Finally, Growstones are extremely lightweight; you can literally lift a bag of these with two fingers. While this doesn’t affect the delivery cost, it does make handling them much easier.

We’re going to be growing some peppers in Growstones over the coming 12 weeks, so watch out for Issue 007 (December) to see the results.

For more infomation visit: www.growstone.com

GROW 2013 EXHIBITORS A-C

BOOTH 120. ADVANCED NUTRIENTS UK Yep, those nutrients with the funky labels and the even funkier names! Come and visit our stand at Grow 2013 where you can chat with AN’s Head of Distributor Sales all the way from sunny Canada and our technical expert will be on hand to help you get the best from your garden. If you’re a trade visitor, we have some great deals on oﬀer on the Saturday so be sure to stop by – you won’t be disappointed.

BOOTH 67-82. AGRAWOOL AGRA TRADING KELPEN The new RFX-1 Mix is a renewed and innovative product. The use of Earthwool™ makes the product nearly 100% natural. The raw materials used are completely new, which means the raw materials used in the RFX-1 Mix are neither recycled nor previously processed. This also means there is no external contamination from diseases or mould.

Grow 2013 promises to once again bring together the great and good of the Hydroponics industry, as manufacturing magnates and humble hobbyists alike descend upon Manchester Central for the two most important days in our calendar. Any great adventure should start with a map; so we thought we’d oblige you with this handy floorplan and a brief introduction to some of the exhibitors. Don’t miss out on the competitions and remember to pay us a visit at our very own stall (the big one in the middle).

Earthwool™ is made using mineral wool and a natural binder (ecose®), without acetyls or formaldehyde, which makes it a much more accessible substrate for the plant’s roots compared to ‘normal’ mineral wool. It provides the correct amount of foam, as well as a good amount of water and oxygen, in the vase or container used. During the production process, the RFX-1 Mix is imbued with biological/bacteriological elements. This ensures that the RFX-1 Mix instantly becomes a real substrate in which roots will develop properly. Thanks to an intelligent packaging system, AgraTradingKelpen is able to package 3 bags of RFX-1 Mix per box, ensuring that the product reaches the client in perfect shape. RFX-1 Mix is ready to use; all you need to do is dampen it with water while/after planting. Do not press the RFX-1 Mix in the vase. Especially suitable for Hydro or Aqua nutrients. Water every day for better results. 80 litres or more per bag.

BOOTH 126-145. AUTOPOT WATERING SYSTEMS From the Eden Project to Ethiopia, AutoPot supply watering solutions to growers in over 40 countries worldwide. AutoPot watering systems are truly unique because they enable anyone – regardless of experience – to grow beautiful, healthy plants and edibles. They require no pumps, timers or electricity; are modular and simple to expand; and operate using gravity pressure alone.

BOOTH 94. BIOBIZZ During Grow Manchester 2013 Biobizz will show you all the tips and tricks of the Biobizz products, and can help you to ﬁnd an answer on your grow related questions. Also, Biobizz will host several contests during the event where you can win awesome prizes. Come visit us during Grow Manchester 2013, show your green thinking, and be part of the green team! Looking forward to meet you at booth no. 94.

Our products are suited to all growers, from the hobbyist to the commercial horticulturalist. AutoPot is the only watering system on the market that allows the plant to be in control of its own requirements. Visit the AutoPot booth at GROW 2013 and see our working demo area, complete with healthy, happy plants.

BOOTH 7 – 9. APTUS PLANT-TECH Aptus Plant-Tech develops fertilizers, soil improvement product, insect repellents and specialty boosters. Aptus-Holland oﬀers these products through 3 concepts. Aptus stands for plant care, Bioshark for soil improvement and insect repellents (biological) and Premium Collection for specialty boosters.

BOOTH 53. BIO NOVA Bio Nova Premium Fertilizers - Bio Nova is the leading edge in making High Quality Fertilizers for over 20 years. We are working everyday to take Premium quality to a higher level, you’ll notice the beneﬁts yourself when cultivating with Bio Nova! X-ceL Booster Professional booster, ready to be combined with all or any other product to boost yield as well as quality and quantity of any treated crop. Visit our booth to get a free sample of the X-ceL Booster 250ml. If you’ve got any sort of question, please ask our staﬀ at the booth. www.bionova.nl

BOOTH 68/69. BIOGREEN BioGreen is a complete range of fertilizers, bioorganic nutrients and substrates, developed and produced in Holland. BioGreen Bio-Organic nutrients are highly concentrated. Fewer nutrients mixed into a solution per litre are required to produce outstanding results. BioGreen Substrates have been carefully researched and composed to ensure an enriched, balanced growing medium for plants of all varieties. BioGreen Substrates prides itself on its most complete range in Europe with 13 kinds of substrates + Hydrorocks. It’s also possible for each customer to make a combination of our BioGreen substrates according to their own preferences. Having taken the Dutch market by storm, BioGreen products are now available and growing in popularity internationally. www.bio-green.info

VIP BAR. SPONSORED BY CANNA Exhibitors, VIPS and other wristband holders can get access to the VIP lounge where Canna are very kindly sponsoring the bar. That’s right, FREE alcohol! Of course, don’t got sloshed, but a little Dutch courage might help loosen things up a little on the morning of the show. Drink responsibly, www.drinkaware.co.uk

BOOTH 44-45. CYCO Cyco Nutrients distributed by Kaizen Distribution. “We do not predict the future, we create it!” Come and visit us on Stands 44 & 45 and pick up your offer leaflet to get an amazing 20% off this industry-leading range of nutrients. Visit our website – www.kaizen-distribution.com to find your nearest stockist. Want to become a stockist of the nutrient range that’s the buzz of the hydro industry? Then come and talk to us about selling Cyco in your store.

GROW 2013 EXHIBITORS D-F

BOOTH 90-91. DOWN TO EARTH KENT Check out the all new concept in carbon filters at Down to Earth (90-91). Made by bonding loose carbon, using a special heat bonding method to allow maximum airflow. Because the carbon is bonded and not floating around loosely inside it will give better odour removal as the carbon will not separate or settle. This allows air to be sucked or blown through it, working both ways Also have a look at the Gorilla tent, just arrived in the UK, you can have a chat with the American manufacturers who are also at the show. Have a great show.

BOOTH 10-12. DUTCH GARDEN SUPPLIES Dutch Garden Supplies have been bringing the newest and most innovative products to UK Urban Agriculture and the modern gardening movement, with emphasis on organic and sustainable ways to grow. The company went stateside in 2010 opening in Orange County, California. Store owners and indoor garden enthusiasts will be in their element as they discover the latest trends and products to come out of the California grow scene! Greenpads & MY-CO²: Find out what’s hot in the world of passive CO². Growstones: Revolutionary new growing medium from the USA. Plant-Success: Cutting edge Mycorrhizal products. E-Papillon Luminaires: High end professional luminaires with patented shade technology. Make sure you pass by our stand to collect product vouchers, speak direct with manufacturers and collect your free ticket to be in with a chance of winning £1,000 worth of Papillon Luminaires.

BOOTH 27-29. DUTCHPRO After a successful launch of our Starter Packs Hydro/Coco & Soil we will launch at Grow2013 Starter Packs dedicated for AUTO FLOWERING set ups. We will have samples available for each interested grower of our most popular products Explode, Take Root and Multi Total. In addition to information about our award winning products we will oﬀer you Amsterdam’s hospitality. There will be a Wheel of Fortune where you can win all kind of gadgets and products related to Amsterdam’s only originally nutrient company. T-shirts. Caps, starter packs, lighters and samples of stimulators and much more will be available to purchase.

BOOTH 14. FLIRMASK Flirmask is a ground-breaking material designed to offer unmatched thermal radiation reflection and FLIR infrared thermal shielding, for use in the military and horticultural fields. Features: 1. Laboratory tested to deliver 96% diffused reflection at critical blue and red spectrums. 2. Innovative thermal shielding reflects 70-80% of radiated heat. 3. True Flame, Mould & Algae resistant properties. 4. Unmatched tensile strength and puncture resistance over the competition. 5. Nutrient and chemical resistant to fertilizers and sterilization products. 6. First of its kind 100% infrared shielding.

BOOTH 42-43. EASY GROW Easy Grow Wholesale will be showcasing a number of new products from the incredible Photosynthesis Plus from Microbe Life hydroponics - a stabilized formula containing a blend of several strains of bacteria including two strains of photosynthetic bacteria - enhancing plant functions at the foliar level and the root zone, the grow sheeting PolyShield, to Exhale CO2 Bags, a revolution in indoor CO2 production. Free samples of ONA odour neutralising agent including the new Apple Crumble scent and sample packs of the Microbe Life premium hydroponics range will be given out during the show.

GROW 2013 EXHIBITOR FLOORPLAN

GROW 2013 EXHIBITORS G-H

BOOTH 118-119. GROWING EDGE TECHNOLOGIES New Product - The Aroma Formula - Why use The Aroma Formula? Because you will build a nutrient formula that is tailor made for the way your plants grow. When plants are small they use less food, as they grow they need more food. This is the basis of our plant food; build up the plant food strength as your plants grow. Nature does it and so should you! Competitions Try spinning the wheel for your chance to win! Sample giveaways Come on down for your chance to win one of the following: 4 Litres of Power Thrive, retailing at £105.00 Power Box of our Let’s Grow and Bloom formula, retailing at £65.00 250 ml Power Thrive, retailing at £12.00 Power To Bloom and Umph Power; our proven 2 part Bloom Enhancer. Growing advice We will have a TV set up explaining how to build the perfect nutrient solution! And other bits of growing information.

BOOTH 82. GROTEK In a land far far away Grotek Canada has been quietly helping growers achieve bigger smiles, from better plants, for more than 15 years. Classic products like Monster Bloom started the Grow Big revolution and newer products like Solotek have continued the idea of simple use, combined with the idea of complex blended formulas. Easy for the grower to use, a blast of mineral nutrients woven with key organic ingredients like kelp, chitosan and fulvic acids designed to give plants a kickstart. Then there is the magic of Black Pearl to help build your soil and some exciting new products on the horizon too. Stop by the booth for tips, a great sample to try at home, a sneak peek at new concepts, and of course some Canadian accents!

BOOTH 63, 72&79. HORTILINE SOLUTION Hortiline invites the visitors of GROW EXPO to get a personalised demonstration to get to know the beneﬁts of the NORTHSTAR reﬂector.

BOOTHS 16/17. HID HID represent some of the industry’s biggest brands, bringing the most innovative, high quality and value for money products to the market.

BOOTH 115. HYDROGARDEN Visit the HydroGarden stand to see the exciting new grow tents from the recently launched LightHouse range. Available in both budget and premium versions, LightHouse is designed by growers for growers and oﬀers a range of interesting new beneﬁts and features.

We are delighted to be launching several brands at Grow 2013 including: Hyper Fan / Uber / Pro Pots Adjust-a-wings Defender Flo-Teq Control BOOTH 18-22. GROWTH TECHNOLOGY Grow 2013 will see the global launch of the new Growth Technology brand. Global leading products such as Clonex and Ionic lead the portfolio for Growth Technology and will be on show with the rest of the popular liquid range, including the superb GreenHaze twin pack nutrient. New merchandising solutions will be on display along with some great retailer incentives. Also on show will be the exclusive distributed brands of Bluelab, complete with their outstanding dealer programme, GSE, Guanokalong, CleanLight, Nanolux and Phonic trap. Growth Technology, the UK’s leader in product innovation, propagation and nutrient technology. Look for the hand…. You can’t miss us!”

As well as providing experienced advice on established brands such as: Phresh / Green Planet / Grow Hard

As a preview, the visitors will also discover the launching of several new products that will soon be a part of the great range of HORTILINE products: 3 types of new Air Cooled Reﬂectors A new clip fan; 20cm in diameter with only 7W power consumption 3 types of new Floor Fans with ball bearing engines (30cm, 40cm, 50cm diameter)

Don’t miss the new RAM Air Pro, part of a range of ventilation products now available, and the newly redesigned LUMii ballast range, including the Tima, Dual Core and a new Compacta.

Come and see our new Hyper Fan, it will blow you away! While you’re here you can take some samples of the best nutrients around. BOOTH 132, 138 & 139. HYDROLAB Hydrolab are showcasing grow tents from their recently updated GrowLife Plus range (v1.5) which offers a rich set of features including side /rear access doors, all steel locking framework and ceiling bars, numerous oversized ventilation socks, a highly reflective interior and plant friendly fabrics. All this is topped off with a 1 year manufacturer’s guarantee for your peace of mind.

SOMETHING for NOTHING Buy one litre of PlantLife, Super B+ and Royal Gold together, and we’ll give you the new 23w Sun Blaster Green Work Light

Our Approved Retailer Network

FREE Worth £10

HYDROMAG

SEE FUTURE HARVEST’S RAFFLE PRIZES AT GROW 2013 at HYDROMAG and +(/3 IRU +(52(6 on Stand 61

Future Harvest Europe, strives to bring you the ﬁnest and highest quality products, available ONLY at the best Hydroponics outlets. By restricting our products to these select stores, we can be certain that you will always get the very best advice and support, meaning top performance and a more productive growing experience.

Innovative Hydroponics FHE: Unit 14, Tower Road, Glover Industrial Estate, Washington, Tyne and Wear NE37 2SH

www.futureharvesteurope.com

Progrow (Livingstone) www.progrowscotland.co.uk Edinburgh Organics (Edinburgh) www.progrowscotland.co.uk Green Orchid Hydroponics (Newhouse) www.green-orchid-hydroponics.com Grosupplies (Washington) www.grosupplies.com Green Leaf Systems (Bootle) www.greenleafsystems.co.uk CleverGreen Hydroponics (Chester) www.clevergreen.co.uk Grow & Bloom (Stockport) Tel: 0161 429 0159 Holland Hydroponics (all branches) www.hydroponics.co.uk DigiFlek (Cradley Heath) www.digiﬂekgardening.co.uk Clevergreen Hydroponics (Telford) www.clevergreen.co.uk Garden Alchemy (Nottingham) Tel: 0115 926 1500 South Wales Hydro (Caerphilly) www.southwaleshydroponicsupplies.com South Coast Hydroponics (Portsmouth) www.southcoasthydroponics.co.uk Britelite Hydroponics (Croydon) www.britelite-hydroponics-uk.com Hackney Hydroponics (Hackney) www.hackneyhydroponics.co.uk Future Garden (Chelmsford/Chigwell) www.futuregarden.co.uk Aztec Garden (Bury St Edmunds) www.aztec-garden.co.uk Kernow Grow (Cornwall) www.kernowgrow.co.uk The Green House Effect (Milton Keynes) www.ghedirect.co.uk

BUY GET FREE!

Redeemable ONLY at Approved Future Harvest Retailers Present this voucher in-store for your FREE Sun Blaster 23w Green Work Light TERMS AND CONDITIONS: *Offer based on the purchase of one bottle of Super B+ 1L and one bottle of Royal Gold 1L in the same transaction to qualify for the FREE Sun Blaster 23w Green Work Light. This voucher must be presented at point of purchase and cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer. Valid until 31/12/13.

GROW 2013 EXHIBITORS I-N

BOOTH 37. IKON INTERNATIONAL IKON INTERNATIONAL is one of the UK’s leading and long established hydroponics wholesalers. Ikon International supplies products directly to the trade from a variety of industry-leading manufacturers.

BOOTH 136. LIGHTRAIL What questions do our Pros - the LightRail people at Gualala Robotics, hear the most? Q: Why do I want to move my light? A: By moving your light and getting the light in there at angles to the mid and lower leaves, more of the plant is involved in photosynthesis with more of the leaves working for the plant. In addition, by moving your light, hot spots are eliminated so you can run your light much closer to your plants for a much more eﬃcient use of your wattage. These two advantages combined make for much healthier plants and much better yields. Q: How far is too far to move your light? A: Every now and then, people will ask us, “Can I move my light the entire length of the room?”, and our answer is always, “You know better.” Moving just 1.2 meters or so from switch stop to switch stop (that’s equal to about 1.8 meters of light considering the hood goes out farther and the light pattern farther still) is about right for light loving plants. Farther than that and your plants might be waiting too long for the light to come back and of course, lower light plants can have a longer run.

BOOTH 54-55. METROP If you want to learn about the basics of fertilizers and plants, you should to visit the Metrop stand at Grow 2013. All questions or problems you have about plants or nutrients you can ask them too. It dosn’t matter if you grow with Metrop or another fertilizer brand. If you are not a dummy and understand the basics of the Metrop fertilizers you can even get a whole test set worth £120 for free to work with. Metrop is the highest concentrated liquid fertilizers in the world, featuring some stimulators and micro elements already in it. The high concentration saves on freight charges, requires less storage space and allows for easier handling. It is highly professional fertilizer, but easy to use. Mr1 Grow Features a lot of phosphorus to make big roots and the start of the flowering

BOOTH 93. MAXIGROW LTD Maxigrow is a wholesale supplier of specialist horticultural products for hobby and professional growers. 17 years in the industry; Maxigrow manufactures its own well-established Maxibright brand of high quality horticultural lighting, including the best-selling Compact and DigiLight power packs. Be the first to find out about their latest releases: Maxigrow is exhibiting a multitude of new products at Grow 2013 including SuperPro climate controllers, the Sunmaster Hobby digital power pack and the Maxibright DigiLight Pro® Max digital power pack. New trade customers will be oﬀered up to £900 of free display stock with their first order. So come along, meet the Maxigrow team and pick up useful growing tips and advice! www.maxigrow.com

MR2 Bloom With a lot of potassium to make big fat tomatoes. It is stronger than any other extra pk booster in the world. Calgreen A strong calcium magnesium nitrate booster that makes plants stronger and very heavy. Aminoroot A strong DNA stimulator that boosts the plants own root and grow hormones and recover DNA from stressed clones and plants. Aminobloom Works the same as Aminoroot, only for flowers and fruit.

BOOTH 87. NUTRICULTURE DGS Since 1976, we’ve been pioneering the hydroponics industry and this year Nutriculture DGS’ presence at GROW will highlight how we continue to drive the hydroponics industry forward. Throughout the show representatives from NutricultureDGS will be on hand to answer any questions you might have on our unique hydroponics systems and our range of grow room equipment. This year we will be showcasing a range of products that are new for 2013 including the Bubblebox and Wilma XL, which are taking the hydroponics industry by storm. Additionally, visitors to the stand will also see get to see first-hand a range of new products that are sure to be a big hit. We look forward to seeing you there.

GROW 2013 EXHIBITORS P-V

BOOTH 89. PLATINIUM Fancy getting up close and personal with a Lamborghini? Then head on over to the Platinium Hydroponics stand where, not only do we have one of the world’s greatest supercars for you to have a nosey at, the future has arrived sooner than expected. Platinium systems are unique because they have the greatest versatility on the market - it is now possible to switch from one system to another in no time and at lower cost. Platinium systems are made entirely of 90% recycled plastic, thus providing a more environmentally friendly growing system. All our systems come with installation instructions and couple speed with simplicity. Come and ﬁnd out why Platinium is the talk of Grow 2013.

BOOTH 74-79. PRIMA KLIMA The quality Prima Klima exhaust fans are equipped with a durable Swiss-quality motor. The black case is made of sturdy and durable plastic material. The exhaust fans stand out with their low power consumption, high eﬃciency and a very low noise level. They are now also available with a 100 mm pout, with the 280 cubic meters of execution. They are also available in larger sizes as the 420 m3/h and 800 m3/h. All PrimaKlima exhaust fans are available in 1- or 2-stage version, available as well is a model with temperature and humidity control.

BOOTH 15. THE HOME BREW PEOPLE The Home Brew People bring you iBrew refreshingly simple, reusable, complete home brew systems. Choose the system for you – iBrew wine is available in five delicious wine styles or iBrew beer which offers three of the most popular beer styles known to man (or woman!). iBrew systems are easy to use, producing great tasting wines and beers great for parties, barbecues or just an excuse to invite your friends round. Pop and say “hi” to us on Stand 15 (just past the VIP bar) and pick up your voucher entitling you to 10% off any iBrew kit in our stores in Manchester, Burnley, Flint or Huddersfield.

BOOTH 111. UVONAIR Ozone Environmental Technologies have been the overwhelming leader in Hydroponic Ozonation since 1994. Our extensive line-up of Uvonair products are manufactured in Canada, using only the highest quality components on the market today. In our eﬀorts to continue to improve our products we are pleased to announce that we are introducing a new and improved room model which has a slightly new design. This new design built using a stronger polycarbonate plastic, and achieving a more aerodynamic design, will increase durability and air ﬂow which will add an increase of 15 % in ozone production. Ask about our Show Special at Booth 111 Distributed by IKON INTERNATIONAL

BOOTH 1-3. VITALINK VitaLink is the UK’s own professional plant nutrition, additive and growing media range. A range of products suitable for all growing methods and abilities. Ask for a sample of VitaLink Fulvic, a pure fulvic acid product that transports nutrients to the plant to boost and maximise results. Meet our technical team, and we’ll answer any questions you may have about the VitaLink products. We look forward to seeing you there!

GROW TEST

THE SUN VERSUS T5 FLOURESCENT LIGHTS Man against Nature... David against Goliath?

WORDS: PETE TURNER

I have always fantasised about growing my own food and since creating Urban Garden Magazine and HYDROMAG I have grown various food crops under HPS and MH lamps. As much as I’d love to grow all my food this way there’s the small matter of the electricity bill. But faced with ever increasing pesticide contamination and the use of additives and preservatives, the more I read, the less I want to eat supermarket foods. A recent study I came across found a pesticide in the urine of citizens from 18 European counties – and that must just be the tip of the iceberg, goodness knows what other types of nasties are in our food. With this unedifying thought fresh in our minds at the HYDROMAG office, we slammed our collective fist onto the table and declared: “Damn you supermarkets! We will not be beaten by the soaring cost of electricity!” Hardening our resolve, we decided to save money by experimenting with some lowpowered Sunblaster T5 fluorescent tubes donated to us by Future Harvest Development. Then we wondered: “How would these puppies stand up against the British sun?” Eureka! Our next grow test was born. Firstly a bit of background. Everyone loves the idea of home-grown food but it’s all well and fair if you live in a country with good sunshine all year round and plenty of garden space. Living in a part of the world (as our downtrodden British readers do) where the summers have been mediocre and the winters have been extremely cold for at least a few years – even with a big enough garden – is it really feasible that everyone can live exclusively on home-grown produce? A recent study for the Government predicts 92.2% of Brits will be living in urban areas by 2030, up from

79% in 1950. That means if we are to have a homegrown utopian future hydroponics has to be involved. And then some. An American study showed the average person consumes 2175 pounds of food a year (Pimentel, David, Giampietro, Mario. 1994). That’s 155 stones, people. So unfortunately the answer to the question “can everyone live exclusively on home-grown produce” is probably “No”. However, with constant investment in the research and development of hydroponics and specifically in indoor lighting, home-grown food for everyone may not be as far away as you think. To boot, growing indoors means there’s a massive reduction in the need for pesticides, additives and preservatives. (As readers of a hydroponics magazine I’m sure this isn’t news to you all). One of the criticisms of many of the systems in our industry is how darn big and ugly they are (of course we think they’re all beautiful). Who wants a Platinium HydroStar or indeed their kids tripping over a Wilma 4-pot system in their lounge. Who has space for them? When filming Hydroshow.tv, we came across a book called Eliooo, which aims to make hydroponics more accessible and attractive by showing people how to make their own systems from IKEA products. We then got Gemma and Pooja to make a couple of the systems out of plastic containers for a presenter challenge, which you can see in episode 6 of Hydroshow.tv. As well as being good fun (if you’re like me you love a bit of DIY!) we were left with some of these dainty little systems. It was these that we used in the test. (“Pete – get on with the test!”) I’m getting there.

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HYDROSHO HYDR OSHOW W TV Episode Episode 6 - Choos Choosee your your syste systems ms wisel wiselyy ladies ladies..

THE TEST - INDOORS We would be planting a series of lettuce types. In Gemma’s leftover Eliooo system (with Airstone and Air pump) were Cos lettuces, while Pooja’s system (complete with pre-soaked clay pebbles and weak nutrient mix) had Chicory Italian Rosso and Lettuce Lola Rossa. We also had a third system we whipped up ourselves, inspired by the Eliooo book and complete with automatic mini-dripper system and loaded with Lolla Rossa. The three indoor systems sat in HYDROMAG’s office. Here below is a breakdown of the systems we created for indoors... GEMMA’S SYSTEM

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HYDROMAG’S SYSTEM

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POOJA’S SYSTEM

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THE TEST - OUTDOORS Outdoors we planted Lettuce Cos (Cucuracha Rocket), Lettuce Lola Rossa, Chicory Italian Rosso, Catalogna Cerbiata and Kale Nero de Toscana – all you need to make a lovely mixed salad. Being a fair-weather crop they should, in theory, flourish in Britain’s temperate summer climes. We potted up the same cuttings in some Hortipots (fabric plant containers from Hortiline) and left them under the watchful eye of our long-suffering next door neighbour, Jean. Once a keen gardener, Jean promised to take care of our babies and try to keep the slugs and snails at bay. She would water them using the plain water from the tap, and place them in several places, both sunny and shady in her garden. Secondly, we gave some to another friend of ours, Claire, who would do the same. This way we had lots of sample plants in different parts of town, in different conditions, giving us a broad spectrum of outdoor growing conditions against which we could compare our indoor crops. So there you have it, the gauntlet is well and truly thrown down. The Sun against T5 fluorescent lights, Nature against Man, as our other neighbour suggested... David against Goliath? Only the results will tell.

LET THE BEST MAN WIN

THE RESULTS

At the beginning of the test, the weather was perfect for leafy lettuce-like crops, with occasional sunshine, lots of showers and temperatures of around 13 to 17 degrees Centigrade. If things were to stay this way the outdoor crops would stand a fighting chance of winning this competition, whilst allowing our indoor crops a nice ambient temperature without too much humidity. It was anyone’s guess who’d come out on top. However, as Sod’s Law would have it we had our hottest summer in years. Towards the end of the test period (of 4 weeks) the temperature soared into the late twenties; with the humidity hitting highs in the seventies. This meant while our outdoor crops could be moved into the shade (and we could enjoy ice cream in the park), our poor indoor crops would suffer immensely from the increased humidity and those damn higher temperatures. In normal circumstances we’d have had a proper ventilation system, but adding air conditioning would have push the cost of producing our lettuce through the roof and part of our remit was to try to do the hydroponics part on the cheap. This did make our test a little unfair... ideally we would have winter conditions indoors (as this is of course when we would be growing indoors!) and summer conditions outdoors. As you can probably guess, some of the indoor lettuce did start to wilt.

Despite the increased temperature and humidity, the growth rates under the Sunblaster T5s were surprisingly good. Notably, the Cos Lettuce didn’t perform as well as the outdoor crops, but the Italian Lettuce Lola Rossa and Catalogna Cerbiata stood up to the test – keeping a very similar growth rate. Probably not that surprising that the Italian lettuce varieties thrived in the warmer, more humid atmosphere. Time to crop the leaves. On trimming the Cos Lettuce from the outdoor plants we could see they were visibly larger and felt a little thicker. The Lettuce Lola Rossa and Catalogna Cerbiata were much the same across all the crops – indoors and out. Unfortunately, the Rocket from the indoor crops flowered over the last weekend and stretched, growing a few inches in a couple of days. This meant we had to trash the rocket from indoors. If we’d caught the flowers and trimmed them off, we probably would have saved it. Over the next couple of days, everyone in the office tucked in to some of the salad - both from the hydroponic indoor systems and the traditional outdoor pots. Apart from the noticeably crunchier, thicker leaves on the outdoor Cos Lettuce, all the rest tasted pretty much the same. Everyone commented (unsurprisingly) that all the leaves were much fresher and more flavourful than the insipid crap in the supermarket. (In the photos below, we have compared the visual difference between some of the outdoor crops and the indoor crops.)

SEE THE VIDEO ONLINE The video shows normal growth up to day 20, then massive grow in days 21, 22 and 23. This is probably due to the change in temperature and humidity around that date. Previous to day 20, the temperature was around 11-14 degrees, then it suddenly shot up to 16-18 degrees, and the humidity shot up to around 50% to 60%. After day 23, the temperature continued to rise, causing the leaves to wilt. We cropped them after this day to prevent losing to many leaves. Of course, this wasn’t the end of our cherished lettuce. All of the outer leaves were trimmed away, and we put them back under the lights. Leafy plants like this can be kept alive and providing tasty leaves for around 3 months. You’ll know when they’re ready for the compost heap when they start tasting bitter, until then, keep eating them!

OUTDOORS VS GEMMA’S SYSTEM

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OUTDOORS VS HYDROMAG’S SYSTEM

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OUTDOORS VS POOJA’S SYSTEM

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Looking specifically at each Eliooo system, we noticed a few small differences. Unfortunately Gemma had her backside whipped by Mother Nature – her Cos Lettuce was pitiable in comparison with the Cos grown outdoors. We can probably attribute this to the high indoor temperatures, which caused the leaves to wilt and therefore put the plants under a lot of stress in order to recover. Pooja’s Eliooo System, planted with the Chicory Italian Rosso and Lettuce Lola Rossa, didn’t fare much better. Once again there were clear signs of wilting in the leaves – again caused by the higher indoor temperatures. Surprisingly, the indoor crops from our self-made dripper system did just as well as the outdoor crops. This system did suffer from some wilting, however each time it recovered better. This can probably be attributed to two factors: 1) the system was 3cm (1.25 inches) taller than the others, meaning the plants were that little bit closer to the lights. And 2) the plants were being fed from above the growth media via a dripper system. The Eliooo systems relied on condensation and capillary action for their water, our system did not – giving the plants the nutrients they required on a more regular basis.

THE VERDICT T5s were, of course, never going to be as potent as the sun, and it would be eccentric to grow lettuce indoors if you had a garden and the right weather conditions. In that sense Goliath has dealt a nasty blow to the cocky David. But perhaps not a fatal one. In winter it’s obviously impossible to grow lettuce outdoors, and here the T5s would come into their own. And obviously not everyone is lucky enough to have access to a patch of land for outdoor growing. There will always be a place for the indoor garden (as we repeatedly bang on here at HYDROMAG). In short – if you’re looking for a low energy lighting solution – T5s are a serious contender. They are not just handy for propagation, but can also be used for the growth cycle, certainly on leafy crops like lettuces and herbs. For larger plants, they can also be used as a supplementary light – by hanging T5s around the edge of your room, you can definitely increase yield. Harking back to the question of electricity – well, as mentioned before, lighting technology is advancing all the time, and by experimenting and refining our growing knowledge, we can always improve the efficiency of our grow rooms and get bigger crops from the same amount of light. The main benefit of growing like this has to be the lack of additives and preservatives, and the reduction of food miles. As we munched on our salads in the HYDROMAG office, we all felt better knowing we were eating something we had grown ourselves – lettuce we’d grown from our own blood, sweat and tears – not from chemical fertilizer and industrial pesticides.

SERIES 1.1

SKY 192 & Freesat 402

HYDROSHOW TV returns to your screen with Series 1.1... remixed and improved with new scenes Visit www.hydroshow.tv for more details

NEXT ISSUE We test a LED grow light from Planet LED London, growing peppers in an 80cm tent, 4-Pot Platinium dripper system

Additional lighting appeared in both growrooms in the form of T5 fluorescent grow lights. Side lighting offers a secondary light source to plants, encouraging robust growth beyond the boundary of the canopy roof. T5 fluorescents give off very little heat relative to the amount of heat they generate making them an ideal addition to any growroom, without raising the overall heat profile of you grow room by any great degree. They’re also ideally suited to getting in close to plants and offer all the light that seedlings or clones need in the initial and vegetative stages of growth. Effective monitoring of environmental elements can mean the difference between a productive growroom and an overpriced hot house. The Min/max thermo Hygrometer monitors environmental factors at the source and the handy LED display means you only need to glance at it from across the room, rather than fiddling about with wands. They featured in both growrooms, and accordingly features in this issue’s FAVES section (p22)

Additional lighting, purpose built fans and effective monitoring equipment are staple features of any sizable growroom, but where did the two rooms differ? Gro Supplies did supply an Ozone generator for additional CO2 production, but Southcoast hydro took it one step further by offering both an EZ CO2 Exhale bag and The Green Pads CO2 generators. CO2 generators are relatively cheap, enormously easy to use and very effective at their jobs. Southcoast’s choice of all-in-one lamp, reflector and ballast units in the shape of ePapillons with PHILLIPS Green Power Plus 600W EL HPS lamps save on space, setup and maintenance time in larger growrooms. Unfortunately they do mean that you can’t use the fabulous GrowStar reflectors which Gro Supplies chose to use. Worthy of mention is Gro Supplies choice to modify the Platinium AeroPro Pot system with the addition of two NanoDome propagators. It may seem silly to some of the old hands, but often newcomers to hydroponics are either hesitant to, or don’t even consider, modifying their own equipment. Often that hesitancy is a result of not wanting to ‘upset the balance’; underpinning hydroponics is the necessity to have a well-grounded and intimate knowledge of your growroom and its capabilities. Most of us are restricted by one factor or another, more often than not it is a lack of space. Often the solution to your problem isn’t necessarily buying something new, but can actually be a case of adapting what you already have on hand. It’s still worth making the trip to your local Hydro store though- if for nothing else other than to get advice on the adaptations you’re planning to set about!

HYDROSHO HYDR OSHOW W TV Episode Episode 6 - Gro Supplies Supplies Meg Megaroo aroom m

HYDROSHO HYDR OSHOW W TV Episode Episode 5 - Sout Southcoa hcoast st Hydro Hydroponi ponics cs Megar Megaroom oom

MEGAROOMS

If money were no object, what sort of a growroom would you build? We posed this question to a number of Hydroponics suppliers in HYDROSHOW TV by giving them the opportunity to build their ultimate growroom in our studios. In this issue, HYDROMAG outlines the efforts of Gro Supplies and Southcoast Hydroponics who featured in episodes five and six respectively. Episode six saw Newcastle based Gro Supplies step up to the mark and accept our challenge. They began by separating the space into two defined areas; a main area for the all-important business of growing and a separate tent for Mother plants and clones. Separating the two means that a grower can have plants growing concurrently in different stages of life, allowing a second crop to be installed immediately after the previous crop has been harvested. In Episode five Portsmouth’s own Southcoast Hydroponics also split the space in two, with the minor difference of favouring clones and seedlings in the additional tent. Separating your growroom into defined areas is nearly always a good idea; even if you aren’t growing plants at separate stage of life, having distinct zones allows for separating any sickly plants from the main body of your crop. Both suppliers stumped up for Airforce II Acoustic fans. These truly exceptional German fans offer incredible power and noise reduction, despite being about as heavy as a falling leaf. Gro Supplies went one step further by using a 5 inch intake fan and a 6 inch extract to maintain negative air pressure within their tent. Negative air pressure prevents cross contamination of air from one space to another, essentially sucking air into a space then forcing the same air through the extractor fan. In Hydroponics that can translates to a closed system within the greater whole of your growroom, and a reduction in errant odours. SMS fan speed controllers also featured in both growrooms.

GROW SUPPLIES MEGAROOM - BIRD’S EYE VIEW

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PLATINIUM HYDRO STAR BIG POT SYSTEM AVAILABLE IN 4, 6 AND 9 POT SETUPS USING 18L OR 25L POTS. READ ALL ABOUT THIS NEWCOMER IN ISSUE 05’S FAVES SECTION (P22).

CLAY PEBBLES ALSO KNOWN AS LECA, THIS STANDARD MEDIA IS INERT, REUSABLE AND OFFERS EXCEPTION DRAINAGE AND AERATION. IT’S OFTEN COMBINED WITH A BETTER MOISTURE RETAINING MEDIA.

GRO-STAR REFLECTORS: MADE FROM MIRO AND WEIGHING LESS THAN 1KG, THESE REFLECTORS ARE DESIGNED TO AID IN ELIMINATING PYRAMID GROWTH PATTERNS AND DISPERSE HEAT - THEREBY AVOIDING HEAT SPOTS.

600W GROLUX SYLVANIA HPS LAMPS POPULAR STANDARD HPS GROW LAMPS.

HACIENDA 600W DIGITAL BALLAST ADJUSTABLE WITH SOFT START TECHNOLOGY, THIS IS THE NEW ADJUSTABLE VERSION FROM THE PROVEN MANUFACTURERS OF DIGITAL BALLASTS.

GRO SUPPLIES RECOMMENDED THE HOLLANDS SECRET RANGE OF NUTRIENTS GRO SUPPLIES, MAIN AREA GROW SYSTEM

SUNBLASTER T5HO LIGHTING THESE LOW POWERED, LOW HEAT FLUORESCENT TUBES ARE IDEAL FOR PROVIDING ADDITIONAL LIGHTING, CAN BE PLACED INCHES FROM THE PLANT CANOPY AND FEATURE NANOTECH REFLECTORS, INCREASING REFLECTED LIGHT BY 300%.

AIRFORCE II ACOUSTIC INLINE FAN ROBUST, LIGHTWEIGHT AND EXCEPTIONALLY POWERFUL FANS BUILT INTO SILENCER HOUSING.

SMS FAN SPEED CONTROLLER WITH A FUNCTION WHICH SLOWS DOWN FANS WITHOUT CAUSING EXTRA NOISE, EXCELLENT ADD-ON TO YOUR EXISITING VENTILATION SETUP WITH 5M OF CABLING.

OZONE DIRECT PLUG-IN OZONE GENERATOR CONSUMER OF AIRBORNE ORGANIC MATTER, THEREBY AIDING IN THE PREVENTION OF MOULD AND MILDEW. PRODUCES A NON-HARMFUL LEVEL OF OZONE.

OSCILLATING FLOOR FAN CIRCULATES FRESH AIR AROUND THE GROWROOM, WHICH IN TURN HELPS TO MAINTAIN A CONSISTENT TEMPERATURE THROUGHOUT. ALSO PREVENTS SPORES FROM SETTLING ON YOUR PLANTS.

GRO SUPPLIES, MOTHER PLANT STATION

TRI-METER MEASURES WATER TEMPERATURE AT THE SOURCE VIA A REMOTE LEAD, ALSO, MEASURES PH AND EC. FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE’S FAVES SECTION (P22).

ADDITIONAL WATER TANK STORED IN THE MAIN AREA, THIS TANK FEEDS THE CLONING TENT.

MIN/MAX DIGITAL THERMO HYGROMETER EASY TO USE, EFFICIENT AND GROWROOM READY. USED TO MONITOR ESSENTIAL ENVIRONMENTALS.

GORILLA 5X5FT TENT WITH 1FT EXTENSION THE EXTRA HEIGHT ALLOWS FOR THE INSTALLATION OF A MUCH BIGGER REFLECTOR. NEW TO THE UK MARKET, THE EXTENDABLE TENT WILL BE EXHIBITED AT GROW EXPO 2013 IN MANCHESTER.

PLATINIUM AEROPRO 16 POT SYSTEM (MODIFIED) EASILY ADAPTED TO HYDROPONICS FROM AEROPONICS, SIMPLY BY REMOVING THE LIDS. REMOVING 4 POTS ALLOWED THE INSTALLATION OF TWO PROPAGATORS.

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NANODOME PROPAGATORS THE LIDS FEATURE PURPOSE MADE GROOVES DESIGNED TO FIT 2FT T5 LIGHTS ALONG THE TOP WITHOUT THE NEED FOR SUCTION PADS OR ANY OTHER FITTING.

5INCH INTAKE/6INCH EXTRACT FANS SUPPLYING CONSTANT, HIGH VOLUMES OF FRESH AIR AND MAINTAINING NEGATIVE AIR PRESSURE WITHIN THE GROW SPACE.

GRO-SPOT (GROSTAR MINI) REFLECTOR IDENTICAL TO THE GROWSTAR, APART FROM ITS RELATIVELY DIMINUTIVE SIZE. BOTH REFLECTORS WERE UNIVERSITY DEVELOPED; THEIR SHAPE IS PATENTED AND IMPOSSIBLE TO COPY.

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SUNBLASTER T5HO LIGHTING AGAIN, USED AS ADDITIONAL SIDE LIGHTING AS WELL AS DIRECTLY FOR THE NANODOME PROPOGATORS.

MIN/MAX DIGITAL THERMO HYGROMETER EASY TO USE, EFFICIENT AND GROWROOM READY. USED TO MONITOR ESSENTIAL ENVIRONMENTALS.

NUTRADIP CALIBRATION SOLUTION THE PERFECT TOOL TO ENSURE THAT YOUR METRES ARE CORRECTLY CALIBRATED.

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SOUTHCOAST MEGAROOM - BIRD’S EYE VIEW

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SOUTHCOAST HYDROPONICS RECOMMENDED THE PLAGRON RANGE OF NUTRIENTS SOUTHCOAST HYDROPONICS, MAIN AREA GROW SYSTEM

WILMA 9-POT BIG FEATURING 18L POTS AND AVAILABLE IN 4, 8 AND 9 POT SYSTEMS, THE INDUSTRY’S ORIGINAL DRIP FEED SYSTEM INCLUDES DRIPPERS AND PUMPS AS STANDARD.

GROWSTONES MADE FROM RECYCLED GLASS, THIS HYDROPONIC SUBSTRATE IS RELATIVELY NEW TO THE UK MARKET AND FEATURES IN THIS ISSUE’S FAVES SECTION (P23)

EPAPILLON WITH PHILLIPS GREEN POWER PLUS 600W EL HPS LAMP THESE ALL-IN-ONE BALLAST, LAMP AND REFLECTOR UNITS ARE POPULAR IN THE COMMERCIAL SECTOR AND THE BRIGHTEST 600W LAMPS WE’VE EVER SEEN IN THE STUDIO

AIRFORCE II ACOUSTIC FAN: ROBUST, LIGHTWEIGHT AND EXCEPTIONALLY POWERFUL FANS BUILT INTO SILENCER HOUSING. GERMAN BUILT WITH HORTICULTURE IN MIND - WE CAN’T GUARANTEE THAT THE AIR VOLUME TO NOISE PRODUCTION RATIO ISN’T WITCHCRAFT.

SMS TWIN SPEED CONTROLLER AVAILABLE IN DIFFERENT AMPS FOR DIFFERENT SIZED FANS, THIS IS CURRENTLY THE MOST POPULAR FAN SPEED CONTROLLER IN THE UK.

MISTPRO 7 HUMIDIFIER FEATURING A 7.5 LITRE TANK AND DIGITAL CONTROLS. HUMIDIFIERS CAN ENSURE AN OPTIMUM LEVEL OF RELATIVE HUMIDITY IN YOUR GROWROOM.

GREEN POWER 6-WAY CONTACTOR MANUFACTURED IN THE UK AND HELD BY MANY TO BE THE BENCHMARK FOR QUALITY CONTACTORS.

OSCILLATING FLOOR FAN CIRCULATES FRESH AIR AROUND THE GROWROOM, WHICH IN TURN HELPS TO MAINTAIN A CONSISTENT TEMPERATURE THROUGHOUT.

MIN/MAX DIGITAL THERMO HYGROMETER THE DEFINITIVE WORD ON MONITORING ESSENTIAL ENVIRONMENTALS.

SOUTHCOAST HYDROPONICS, MOTHER PLANT STATION

HORTILINE HORTILAB 2.4M X 1.2M TENT A WELL-TAILORED, HIGH QUALITY MYLAR LINED TENT. DUCTING POINTS AND WIRING SOCKS ARE ALL DOUBLE LINED FOR A SNUG FIT. ALSO COMES WITH SPARE PARTS.

IWS VEGIGATORS AVAILABLE IN 6, 12 AND 24 POT CONFIGURATIONS. IDEAL FOR MULTIPLE JUVENILE OR SMALL PLANTS. SOUTHCOAST WENT WITH 24 POTS; THE FIRST WITH STANDARD PLASTICS, THE SECOND INCORPORATING SMART POT FABRIC PLANT CONTAINERS.

DPAPILLON 315W DAYLIGHT LAMP A LOW WATTAGE VERSION OF THE AFOREMENTIONED EPAPILLON, WITH 315W DAYLIGHT PAR SPECTRUM LIGHT. THE ‘OPEN REFLECTOR CONCEPT’ USES NATURAL AIR CURRENTS TO DISSIPATE HEAT, THEREBY PREVENTING HEAT SPOTS.

RVK A1 6” EXTRACTOR FAN: THESE GERMAN FANS ARE A STAPLE OF GROWROOMS ACROSS THE UK. THEY’RE RELATIVELY QUIET RUNNING (DEPENDING ON HOW YOU SECURE THEM), DEPENDABLE AND IDEAL FOR ATTACHING TO A FILTER OR A SILENCER.

EZ CO2 EXHALE BAG IDEAL FOR GROW TENTS, THESE MYCELIAL MASS (MUSHROOM) BAGS SLOWLY RELEASE CO2 OVER SIX TO EIGHT MONTHS. RELATIVELY CHEAP AND SIMPLE TO USE; YOU SIMPLY INSTALL THEM IN YOUR GROWROOM AND LEAVE THEM TO WORK.

SOUTHCOAST HYDROPONICS, CLONING STATION

THE GREEN PADS CO2 GENERATOR MADE WITH NATURAL CHEMICALS, THESE PADS REACT TO HUMIDITY OR MOISTURE BYRELEASING CO2. ODOURLESS, RELATIVELY CHEAP AND WITH A SUBSTANTIAL SHELF-LIFE.

GREEN POWER 5-WAY CONTACTOR SIMILAR TO ITS SISTER PRODUCT, THE AFOREMENTIONED 6-WAY CONTACTOR, MINUS ONE SOCKET AND ARGUABLY MORE COMPACT.

GROWLAB CLONE LAB ONE OF THE LARGER SMALL TENTS USED FOR CLONING, FEATURING A WINDOW SO AS TO AVOID DISTURBING THE ENVIRONMENT. CLONING TENTS ARE GENERALLY SHORT BECAUSE THE LAMPS CAN BE POSITIONED CLOSER TO SMALL OR JUVENILE PLANTS.

X-STREAM AEROPONIC PROPAGATOR PROMOTES BETTER NUTRIENT UPTAKE AND HEALTHIER CLONES OR CUTTINGS, WITHOUT THE BOTHER OF A GROWTH MEDIUM. SOUTHCOAST WENT FOR THE 105 SITE/CELL VERSION.

LIGHTWAVE T5 GROW LIGHT THE T5 4 FOOT 8 TUBE MODEL MAKES FOR THE IDEAL PROPAGATION ARRAY. UTILIZING FLUORESCENT BULBS ALLOWS THE ARRAY TO BE POSITIONED VERY CLOSE TO THE PLANT CANOPY, BECAUSE THEY GIVE OFF RELATIVELY LITTLE HEAT.

‘If reggae is Africa in the New World, then Dub must be Africa on the moon, a musical portrait of outer space, with sounds suspended like glowing planets or the fragments of instruments careening by, leaving trails like comets and meteors’. - Luke Ehrlich Soundscapes that evoke outer space, the repetition of the ‘riddim’ (bass and drum), that creates a sort of psychedelic isolation for the listener, this is Dub music. A product of the stranger in a strange land undercurrent, felt by a diasporic nation. Dub created an alternative spiritual home for its people, free from corruption, free from its painful past, to regain respect, a place of enlightenment and power, of love and compassion and mental exercise. Dub music began in the late 60s by accident, when Rudolph “Ruddy” Redwood, went to pick up a tape from a man called Duke Reid, to play in his set, as part of his ‘sound system’. Duke Reid had accidentally recorded the tape, without the vocal and this meant Ruddy had to improvise. He tweaked the drum and bass and pushed it to the front of the mix and his DJ started speaking and singing over the top. The crowd didn’t mind that there was no vocal. The song, which was by a band called The Paragons

AUGUSTUS PABLO

(On The Beach), was already famous and the audience seemed to really get off on singing the missing vocals themselves, and the whole thing was a massive success. Ruddy played that same tape for 30 minutes at a time and the crowds could not get enough. Word quickly got back to the likes of producers King Tubby and Lee Scratch Perry and the rest as they say is history. The success of Dub around the world, paved the way for producers to make music without artists, for DJ’s to become successful in their own right and later for hip-hop artists to use remixes to rap over. The whole concept of remixing other people’s songs and presenting them in your own style, started with Dub. If you were/are a young raver, or have any interest at all in the history of Dance and Electronica, you owe this genre a little esteem and would be a fool not to listen to these blissed out trippy slices of 60s Jamaica chosen by us here at HYDROMAG.

KING TUBBYS MEETS ROCKERS UPTOWN (1976) Jamaican native Horace Swaby aka Augustus Pablo, was a prolific dub reggae producer and performer and is credited with being one of the founding fathers of roots reggae. He collaborated with dub titan King Tubby and Robbie Shakespeare (of Sly and Robbie/ Black Uhuru) Carlton and Aston Barrett (from The Wailers) on this record which is one of the most celebrated of its kind. He was famous for using an instrument called a melodica, which is a sort of cross between bagpipes and a keyboard. A gifted musician with an original, distinctive sound, Augustus always tried new things out and was known for mentoring young musicians - often giving unknown vocalists a chance, and inspiring the youth of Jamaica to make music. Uniquely at that time in Jamaica he experimented with Eastern styles and scales. Augustus Pablo was a committed Rastafarian and is credited for helping to shape the sound of dub along with King Tubby. King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown is highly thought of as one of the best reggae roots albums ever released and although we have classified it under Augustus Pablo, it is an album credited equally to King Tubby, the father of Dub.

SCIENTIST SCIENTIST RIDS THE WORLD OF THE EVIL CURSE OF THE VAMPIRES (1981)

KING TUBBY FATHER OF DUB (2005) After Ruddy Redwood’s accidental gig with no vocals, Jamaican sound systems had risen in popularity around Kingston, creating great business for the talented electronics repairman Osbourne Ruddock, who fixed radios, amplifiers and speakers. He was so good at fixing equipment that he became the guy to go to for all the performing dub musicians. Due to the popularity of the music, the salt in the air, the heat and the occasional sabotage of rival performers’ PA systems, he was kept a very busy man and learnt his trade well. It wasn’t long before he set up his own sound system, Tubby’s Hometown Hi-Fi and with his expert knowledge of electronics, he had the best sounding equipment of any performing artist out there. His obvious talent for tweaking with sound and effects landed him a lot of major production work and in 1970 he became a household name in Jamaica. He was famed for building and modifying equipment and the production techniques he used were revered and copied all over the world. The term ‘Dub’ comes from King Tubby himself, who used the mixing console like an instrument in itself, pushing sounds in and out of the mix, creating the soundscapes and atmosphere that Tubby, the Father Of Dub was famous for. Tragically he was shot dead outside his house at the age of 48, supposedly a robbery gone wrong. Father of Dub is a 3 disc box set and is a great collection of his best work.

Hopeton Brown aka Scientist, grew up in a family run tv and radio repair shop and with the popularity of the Jamaican sound systems being at their height, it didn’t take long for him to emulate his hero King Tubby and start building his own amplifiers. As an impressionable youth, Hopeton used to make trips to King Tubby’s Dromilly Road studio to buy parts for the workshop and after frequently badgering King Tubby and Bunny Lee with questions, they let him play around with their equipment and eventually they gave him a job in their studio. His technical approach and keen interest in mechanics was the origin of his name, Bunny Lee and Tubby joking that he was like a scientist in his approach to music. In 1980 he left Tubby’s studio to make his name and produced a mass of hits in the reggae scene. Gamers may remember the K-Jah radio station in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, where they used 5 songs from Scientist Rids The World Of The Evil Curse Of The Vampires.

LEE SCRATCH PERRY SUPER APE (1976)

BLACK UHURU RED (1981) Black Uhuru are one of the more internationally renowned dub reggae bands, with them winning a grammy in 1985 for their album ‘Anthem’. Uhuru is the Swahili word for ‘freedom’ and true to the spirit of Jamaican roots music, their music brings messages, encouraging the need for resilience under oppression, of love for fellow man and of judgement coming in the next world for evil men. For ‘Red’ they had famous rhythm duo Sly and Robbie playing and producing, who across their careers played on an estimated 200,000 recordings together. Black Uhuru have toured all over the world and even reformed recently with their original lineup to perform across the USA in 2011. Their global success is probably down to a more accessible, more positive sound, less ambient and less based in Afrofuturism then the more psychedelic artists we have mentioned. They are an excellent band, deserving of their global fame and Red is one of their best.

PRINCE FAR I

Still touring around the world today in his late 70s, with dyed red beard, afro and fairly eccentric clothing, Rainford Hugh Perry is one of the last surviving members of the original dub crew that started the genre in the 60s. Lee Perry was a prolific producer and an innovative wizard with his recording techniques. He built his own studio in his backyard called ‘The Black Ark’, from which he produced the likes of Bob Marley, The Congos and his own band The Upsetters. Lee Perry and The Upsetters also had a long term collaboration with vocalist Max Romeo, most famous for the hit ‘I Chase The Devil’, which is one of if not the most famous dub track in existence, with it being sampled by modern acts The Prodigy, Jay-Z and Azealia Banks. He has worked with pretty much every major Jamaican music star at some stage or another and more recently he has worked with the Beastie Boys, Animal Collective, Andrew WK, The Orb, George Clinton and Keith Richards. A living legend and icon of the genre, Lee Perry had a film released about his life and music in 2008 called ‘The Upsetter’, well worth watching, a fascinating man recording great music at a fascinating time in Jamaica’s history. There are many Lee Perry albums that are excellent, but Super Ape is an early-ish recording of Perry’s, capturing him at his wildly inventive and zestful best. It’s a masterpiece of atmospheric voodoo futurism.

UNDER HEAVY MANNERS (1976) Michael James Williams was a heavily politicised artist and performer, who in the early days of his career mixed jobs as a bouncer, security guard and dee-jay. Nicknamed ‘the voice of thunder’, he could be described as the Howlin Wolf of Dub. He often spoke rather than sang in his impossibly deep, rich voice over his ‘riddims’, which was a fairly unique trait at the time for dub artists. In 1974, a state of emergency was declared in Jamaica and Prince Far I’s second album ‘Under Heavy Manners’, (patois for living under oppression) was a socio-political commentary on the police brutality and nationalistic pain throughout that period. Prince Far I also released ‘Psalms For I’, with the lyrics all being from the bible, he dedicated it to the illiterate, wanting to bring God to those that couldn’t read. A conscientious artist, revered by fellow musicians especially The Clash, Prince Far I has a depth and a seriousness to his sound that sets him apart from the others. Tragically like King Tubby, he was shot dead after being robbed at his home at the age of 39. An absolute must listen in the genre...

FILMS

COMING 100 TO WATCH BEFORE YOU SNUFF IT: OF AGE If you’re a Hindu, Buddhist, Jain or Taoist you’d be forgiven for feeling quietly smug: “100 Films to Watch Before You Snuff It? Hah – HYDROMAG you morons – don’t you know anything about Samsara, the cycle of rebirth? We’ll be back before you know it and have infinite opportunities to watch these films…You ignorant cretins with your stupid conceits for article ideas!” You seem pretty confident, Buddhists, Hindus and Glen Hoddle. But have you read the fine print on your Divine contracts? There’s a strong possibility you’ll return as an amoeba or slug (which might actually aid your enjoyment of some Hollywood blockbusters). Or you may attain Nirvana and NEVER return to enjoy La Dolce Vita or The Lives of Others. Not so smug now are you, you enlightened fools! Best not to risk it. Instead ensure you watch the following films while you’re here and with the cognitive ability to understand what you’re seeing… This edition: Coming of Age. Stories principally about the transition from childhood to adulthood. Something some of us have yet to achieve, despite being nearly 40...

Moonrise Kingdom

DIRECTOR: Wes Anderson (2012) Almost all of Wes Anderson’s output can be seen as “coming-of-age” films – with screwed up child-parent relationships featuring aplenty. The need to escape the damaging influence of one’s imperfect parents and / or the almost religious desire for a positive parental figure are favourite and oft recurring themes in his work. But with Moonrise Kingdom the longing of our protagonist, 12 year-old orphan Sam (played by the impressive Jared Gilman), to forge his own way in the world is particularly keen – with romantic love as the catalyst. Making a pact to elope with neighbour Suzy (Kara Hayward) – the daughter of unhappilymarried Bill Murray and Frances McDormand – Sam finds pretty much the entire community on their small New England island determined to thwart his naïve plan. It’s a wonderful romantic story, shot in Anderson’s usual idiosyncratic style, with a powerfully affecting ending that’s almost philanthropic in its hopefulness for human nature.

“Be advised, the two of you will never see each other again. Those were your last words. Do you understand?”

The Graduate

DIRECTOR: Mike Nichols (1967) For many people Mike Nichols’ The Graduate is the quintessential American coming-of-age movie, with a bemused Benjamin Braddock (a never-better Dustin Hoffman) returning from college to his white-collar family and a sea of career advice and job offers. But far from feeling excitement about embarking on life as an adult, ennui sets in. Instead Benjamin ﬁnds self-discovery and maturity in the form of one Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft – in reality only six years older than Hoffman) – the aggressively seductive, unhappy wife of his father’s business partner. Their affair is complicated when Benjamin is forced to go on a date with Mrs. Robinson’s daughter and - despite a disastrous start - they develop feelings for one another. With one of the great original soundtracks by Simon and Garfunkel and some of the most iconic moments in cinema, The Graduate is worthy of its 17th place in the AFI’s list of 100 Greatest American Movies.

“Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me.”

04 Diner

DIRECTOR: Barry Levinson (1982) Barry Levinson’s career might have gone a bit awry of late, but Diner remains one of the best ﬁlms from the 1980s. Based on his own experiences growing up in ‘50s Baltimore, it tells the tale of a group of childhood friends on the brink of drifting apart for the usual reasons – marriage, work, education… And while Rick and Ilsa will always have Paris, this group will always have their diner – the place where they’ve habitually hung out and shot the breeze all their young adult lives. Diner is notable not just for being an important waypoint on Mickey Rourke’s graph towards superstardom but also for its splendid naturalistic dialogue and fantastic ensemble cast (including an excellent young Kevin Bacon and Ellen Barkin). You’d have to be a special kind of madman not to fall for the charms of this nostalgic, witty and wistful ﬁlm.

Diner is notable not just for being an important waypoint on Mickey Rourke’s graph towards superstardom but also for its splendid naturalistic dialogue and fantastic ensemble cast”

“The only way to be happy is to love. Unless you love, your life will flash by.”

Fish Tank

DIRECTOR: Andrea Arnold (2009) When people discuss the best living British directors, they often overlook one of the most exciting talents of them all – Andrea Arnold. Some of us are old enough to remember her rollerskating through the set of Saturday morning children’s programme No. 73 with Sandi Toksvig and Neil Buchanan (a memory I’m sure she’d rather forget). Today she has made two of the toughest, most accomplished and beautifully-shot films of recent years (the other being Red Road). Fish Tank is set on a grimy estate in the South East of London, where a hostile 15-year-old, Mia (Katie Jarvis), has been expelled from school and at a crossroads in life. When her emotionally-absent single mother brings new boyfriend (Michael Fassbender) into the home Mia is thrown into confusion – being alternately antagonistic and attracted to the enigmatic Irishman. The “will he, won’t he” tension that follows is unbearable – all the more so for Arnold’s cinéma vérité directorial style. And for what at first feels quite “kitchen sink”, in the best traditions of Ken Loach or Mike Leigh, Fish Tank has a final act as thrilling as any Hitchcock film.

“When people discuss the best living British directors, they often overlook one of the most exciting talents of them all – Andrea Arnold.”

The Tree of Life

DIRECTOR: Terrence Malick (2011) It’s not doing this ground-breaking Terrence Malick masterpiece justice to describe it merely as a coming-of-age story. It’s actually about everything – life, love, childhood, loss… This is no ordinary film, coming across more like a 139-minute video installation at the Tate Modern than a major Hollywood movie. It begins with a stunning sequence showing the origins of the Universe and ends with what might be Heaven and a White Dwarf. In between we have a middle-aged Sean Penn recalling fragmented memories of his childhood and parents. We are treated to Malick’s usual summery nature-mysticism; earnest, existential thoughts in voiceover; and scene after scene of extraordinary images interlaid with potent, almost dialogue free performances from Brad Pitt, Jessica Chastain and the superb child actors. It’s striking that such an ambitious, perplexing and emotional film could have ever got financial backing, let alone a general cinematic release. And thank God, because this might just be one of the most important films of the last thirty years.

See the oﬃcial trailers for these movies. HYDROMAG YouTube channel will be full of playlists to supplement our articles. You can also see sponsored playlists from our advertisers. Visit: www.youtube.com/user/hydromagazine

The Tables Are Turning! Turning To Turntables... 54

“If music be the food of love, play on” mused the emotionally distraught Orsino from Shakespeare’s 12th Night; his lovelorn protagonist deciding that an excess of music would be the only thing that might fill the void in his heart, felt by his failure to snare the delightful Countess Olivia. It’s a romantic idea and testament to the beauty, sanctity and regard for the music of the time, that listening to enough of it might actually satiate one emotionally, in a way comparable to the reciprocity of intensely felt love for another… In our current era, does modern music still reach that echelon of importance for us, or has it been devalued somewhat? Perhaps our capacity for love has too? My home phone rang the other day and no one ever rings the home phone. Almost certainly a cold call. I answer ‘Hell--lo?’, with simultaneous disinterest and rage, but before my anger had a chance to compete with my politeness, my mind wandered from listening to the overrehearsed, pseudo-enthusiasm and sales jargon on the phone, and shifted to the manner in which I answered with the word ‘hello’. When not knowing who the caller was, have I or has anyone else ever answered the phone without employing the seemingly mandatory sudden sharp rise in pitch on the second syllable of the word? ‘Hell_o?’ is not really a greeting, it is mainly a question, abbreviated to just a single word. When saying ‘hello’ in the manner that we do, the sudden steep rise in pitch at the end of the word, is a sort of ‘sound-sculpture’ that intimates a need for resolution and in contrast the lingering lowering of pitch when we say ‘goodbye’ (by-eeee), suggests the opposite, that we’ve reached finality and completion. ‘The spoken form is in fact a very restrained representation of what is possible in the musical language’. Robert Fripp Music, like conversation, is the creation of what we might call ‘sound-sculptures’, a sophisticated language to be enjoyed and savoured, that communicates to us above and below the obvious levels of our consciousness. I think it’s important to remind ourselves how valuable and special this creation of ‘sound sculptures’ really is in language and music and not allow ourselves through habit and inattention to get too blasé about it. Through sound we can communicate so much and what would we be without it? What would we know about ourselves, if not related and reflected back to us in others? I need music in my life constantly to help reignite my passion for being alive, it carries that much importance to me and something I’ve noticed, is that perhaps there is something in the way we consume music these days, that makes it harder to appreciate more fiercely. At its best, music is capable of being richly stimulating and it bestows on us gifts that are noble and deeply rewarding. Music elucidates things in us we often can’t explain very well, didn’t even know existed, or realised needed attending to. It can communicate with us better than people can. Our favourite music, like with Orsino, is our salvation. It resonates with us and makes us feel better understood and less alone. The world’s atrocities, they chip away at one and make you feel true despair at times for humankind. Cynicism flourishes, the heart grows colder, but when you hear great music, it is a stark reminder that there is still some good out there. It is an antidote to all that is wrong with us… ‘In strange and uncertain times, such as these that we are living in. Sometimes a reasonable person might despair. But hope is unreasonable and love is greater even than this. May we trust in the inexpressible benevolence of the creative impulse’ Fripp

One of the more obvious things, I think, stifling our ability to be affected by music, is that ‘bad’ music is playing everywhere. It has become cheapened by its vapid ubiquity. It’s playing in tacky clubs, on awful commercial radio. Bad music is everywhere and something that doesn’t just get my goat, but holds it down and tortures its balls, is music in advertisements, especially the overused trick of advertisers playing a sphincter grindingly mawkish, acoustic or stripped down version of a famous song. It is done ad nauseum… Nothing is sacred to these leeches. I would not be surprised to turn on the TV to find ‘Shine On You Cray Cray Diamond’, sung by the cast of Made In Chelsea, being used to advertise toilet cleaner Jif… ‘Use Jif. For that totes cray cray diamond shine’ If you are in advertising…. kill yourself, Bill Hicks once said… Somewhat depressingly, oranges have seen a decline in sales in the past decade because they are just too difficult for our lazy hands to peel. We are the generation that chooses ease to the detriment of quality; of simple access over content, of entitlement to constant entertainment, inflated academic grades, inflated sense of worth, of having rather than being, we worship celebrity over talent and value, of compensation, of annoying diminutive nicknames, of 2 for 1, of making life simples… Don’t fall into this trap. Fight to preserve what is sacred and actively seek out the profound and let music be your therapy. ‘To be nobody but yourself in a world that is trying its hardest to make you everyone else, is to fight the hardest battle anyone can fight and never stop fighting’. EE Cummins All homes need a record player, because music is endlessly available to us, but perhaps we aren’t always available to music. If we want the best out of music, we have to proactively strive to create the right circumstances, the right alchemy for us to experience it in more rewarding ways and you can do this by taking the time, to listen to great music on vinyl. The world needs people in it that will do this, that will stick two fingers deep up the arse of The Man or the corporate whore or both (whichever way you’re inclined). Making the effort to involve yourself in the world of vinyl, is giving the role music plays in your life, the reverence it deserves and like a lot in life, you tend to get out what you put in.

If you’ve never listened to a record, vinyl makes it sound like the band is playing in the room with you. We have got pretty comfortable with the convenience of MP3s, but they are a mere digital simulation of what the music is, whereas vinyl is analogue and rather than being an approximation of what the music is, it is what the music is! An analogue recording is one where deviations in air pressure from sound are captured and replicated in their original form. Digital recordings, however, are created by taking sound and converting it into a sequence of binary numbers. It’s then stored and reproduced as a voltage wave that is an approximation of the original wave. Somebody was trying to tell me that CDs are better than vinyl because they don’t have any surface noise. I said, “Listen, mate, *life* has surface noise.’ John Peel With the birth of things like the iPod, Spotify, iTunes and YouTube, the paradigm has shifted in the way that we consume music. Instant access to millions of hours of music, is an amazing privilege for our generation isn’t it? It certainly is, but I think there is also a negative side and here’s why. When I bought music I hadn’t heard before in the past, I’d repeat-listen to my favourite tracks first, but as I’d gone to a shop, agonised over what to get and spent £15 on one album at a time, it encouraged me to listen to it as a whole. The tracks that initially you may not gel with, you would still end up listening to repeatedly over time and your appreciation of them would evolve. The hallmark of a great album, would be the ongoing development of affection for the tracks that at first you weren’t sure about. You felt clever for ‘getting’ the more elusive tracks, as if this had been the intention of the band all along and it brought with it a deeper sense of reward. Today, how often do you stick with a whole album? As soon as something doesn’t resonate, you start flicking through to find something else! One study I have seen, that I think might be important when it comes to analysing our new relationship with music was done in psychology relating to skill learning. Two groups of people were given different sets of anagrams to complete, of the same words. One group was given very easy anagrams like ‘FAHTER’ and the other were given anagrams that were more difficult, ‘RFETHA’. On completion of the test, two days later both groups were asked to remember the words they had figured out and predictably, the group with the easy anagrams couldn’t remember a single word, whereas those in the tougher group remembered nearly all of them. The longer you stick with something, the longer it takes to work out, the more indelible it becomes. A term in psychology called the ‘choice paradox’, is the notion that the greater the depth of choice we have, the more paralysed we become in our commitment to making a decision and this then can make us feel unsatisfied with the choices we make, because the sheer plethora of options, somehow serves to devalue all of them. This could also be relevant to our ‘new’ relationship with music. Has being able to listen to every piece of recorded music in history at any given time, paradoxically diminished our enjoyment of experiencing it?

HYDROMAG YouTube channel will be full of playlists to supplement our articles. You can also see sponsored playlists from our advertisers. Visit: www.youtube.com/user/hydromagazine

I remember getting the bus after school to Piccadilly and queuing up to buy ‘Ok Computer’ in Tower Records the day it came out. After getting home, I peeled off the plastic, lay on my bed and listened to the whole album from beginning to end, speechless in wonder at hearing tracks like Paranoid Android for the first time. Is it possible to go through a similarly rich process, downloading a new album, or has the dulling effect of ‘convenience’, made it harder for us to be crystallised by these wonderful opportunities in our lives for self transcendence? I was very sad to see the demise of the record shop, I used to wile away many hours in them, so it is deeply heartening to me to see such a surge in vinyl sales over the past 5 years, with record stores beginning to pop up again, the signs showing that it is only on the up. Hopefully we will see it continue to thrive and have vinyl and mp3 coexisting happily together, in homes everywhere. Ultimately we are very lucky to be in the position we’re in as music lovers in the 21st century and I wouldn’t want to change it, but we need to make sure we give a bit more of our respect and time to good music and we certainly need to pay for it, especially lesser known bands on small labels. If money makes the world go round, we shape our world by what we buy, we shape our culture. When we choose for ourselves, we choose for all, so we must seek good music in its best medium or we will see it die. Treat yourself to a record player and selfishly, get ready to feel more alive, but bigger than that you’ll become part of the solution, not part of the problem. Be charitable and give back to the art form we all love…

GROW GEAR Grow Gear gives you a taste of our advertisers’ premier products, from popular classics to new-fangled curiosities. We can’t guarantee that they’re right for you, but we can tell you that we wouldn’t have them in HYDROMAG if we didn’t respect their work. Even if you aren’t in the market for something new, Grow Gear is well worth a read.

FDP WHOLESALE SMSCOM Hybrid Controller An entirely new approach to fan speed temperature control and the ONLY temperature controller that will eliminate any BUZZING or HUMMING from your extraction system. Just plug in your fans, set the desired temperature and the Hybrid Controller will automatically regulate the speed of your fans to maintain the temperature inside your room. Your fans will run smoothly and silently, even at the lowest speeds GUARANTEED!! Available from all good hydro stores. Trade enquiries visit www.fdpwholesale.co.uk

FDP WHOLESALE Spotless from CX Hydroponics Ten years ago, CX Hydroponics introduced Spotless as a safe, non toxic method of keeping mites from destroying your crop. Many products soon followed, all claiming to be organic or non toxic. Well, they lied. Most contained dangerous agricultural chemicals. These chemicals were actually TOXIC. How many health problems have they caused unsuspecting users? I guess we’ll never know the full extent of the damage, but you can bet it’s plenty. Because of this, they were BANNED from sale. However, they often popped up again under a diﬀerent name, only to be banned again. All this at the expense of the end user. Through all of this, only one product has stood out as being truly SAFE and EFFECTIVE and true to its original claims. Why risk anything else? ..... SPOTLESS from CX Hydroponics. Available from all good hydro stores. Trade enquiries visit www.fdpwholesale.co.uk

DOWN TO EARTH KENT The Bulldog Filter A new concept in carbon filtration. The Bulldog Filter contains no loose carbon, the Bulldog carbon is bonded into one piece, using a unique patented bonding process which holds the carbon in place. The carbon cannot settle creating air gaps, this also allows the air to pass either way, you can, like a normal filter draw air through the filter, but unlike other filters can be placed outside your environment and the air blown through it. Bulldog Filters comes with pre-dust filters, but for people wishing to blow through the Filter, an internal pre filter is available.

GROW GEAR FUTURE CARE BioGreen X Rooting Biogreen X-Rooting is a high quality nutritional supplement for the growth of the roots and root-hairs of your plants. Biogreen X-Rooting consists of speciﬁc minerals and vitamins and carbon sources, humic- and fulvic acids, which ensure better availability of nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, iron and magnesium. Also, the formation of natural growth hormones in plants, auxin and citokinine, is being stimulated. Besides all that, Biogreen X-Rooting contains a unique root-culture. This root-culture consists of several bacterial- and fungal strains which have strong plant reinforcing properties. Biogreen X-Rooting increases the resistance to stress and diseases and stimulates the formation of root-hairs.

FUTURE CARE BioGreen Shooting Powder Biogreen Shooting Powder is a unique additional fertilizer which increases the EC during the last 3 weeks of flowering. Biogreen Shooting Powder ensures an explosive growth in the final phase of the growth, plants will produce larger and stronger flowers. Biogreen Shooting Powder is a balanced mix of essential nutrients and minerals that stimulate flowering in a way that no other fertilizer was yet succesfull. Biogreen Shooting Powder is an effervescent powder. Besides the nutrients in the powder, substances are formed during effervescence which have a beneficial effect on the energy metabolism of the plant. And it is this energy that we want during the final stage of flowering.

GROWING EDGE TECHNOLOGIES The Aroma Formula The Aroma Formula can be specifically built to your feeding requirements, we know that the more plant food you get into your plants the larger your yields will be. The Aroma Formula is designed to do just that, perfectly balanced with all Micro and Macro elements, all you have to do is increase the A & B portion of plant food. By increasing the A & B portion you will build up a mighty plant or plants. Pass it on! More information can be found on our website www.thearomaformula.com

Grow Gear gives you a taste of our advertiser’s premier products, from popular classics to new-fangled curiosities. We can’t guarantee that they’re right for you, but we can tell you that we wouldn’t have them in HYDROMAG if we didn’t respect their work. Even if you aren’t in the market for something new, Grow Gear is well worth a read.

FUTURE HARVEST Sunblaster Green Work-Lamp Specifically designed by Sunblaster this special CFL is the perfect tool for keeping your plants in the dark while working. Sometimes in an emergency you may need to be in your garden during lights out. Or it may just be that it is not convenient for you to visit your garden during daylight hours. These handy 13w & 23w CFL’s omit a spectrum that is plant friendly and will not wake up your plants but will give ample work light for you. They just simply screw into your existing household lamp fixture meaning it couldn’t be simpler just hit the switch and you have green light!

FUTURE HARVEST NEW Sunblaster NanoDome The New NanoDome from Sunblaster is an innovative piece of kit designed to house the Nanotech T5 & Reflector Combo directly above your plants without the need for suckers or clips. Many arrangements can be designed giving you all the options you need to light up multiple propagators side by side or stacked on top of one another. Did You Know? That the Nanotech Tf Reflector actually captures all previously wasted light and reflects it back down to your plants? Expect a massive 300% increase in light directed at your plants with zero hotspots!

GROWING EDGE TECHNOLOGIES Power Thrive Power Thrive want to help your plants? It is that simple, feed your plants Power Thrive. Our chemist has figured out a unique way of releasing the growth potential of Kelp one of the worlds fastest growing plants. Try it your plants will like it.

IKON INTERNATIONAL Soil Mate The perfect tool for your 1mtr Grow Tent, measuring 98cm x 98cm x 25cm tall, this versatile single pot growing container is perfect for single plant requirements, or multiple sites within one controlled area. Easy to assemble and light in weight, this durable container is perfect and great value when compared to the multiple pots required( covering the same area). Fantastic value - available from all good grow shops. Distribution by IKON International

IKON INTERNATIONAL OG Reflector Available in both 6” and 8”, the OG is a highly engineered parabolic reflector, with concealed vacuum airflow technology that keeps the air circulating, ensuring the unit’s core temperature remains at an optimum level for performance. A black matte powder coated finish, with a removable door for easy access and cleaning, the OG reflector combines the latest technology with ease of use. The future of Air-Cooled reflectors has arrived. Distribution by IKON International

IKON INTERNATIONAL Bio Tabs The Bio Tabs 100% organic growing starter pack is a great introductory to this revolutionary method of growing. The growing method is based on the use of beneﬁcial soil fungi and bacteria, adding large quantities of fungi and bacteria to your potting soil results in a spectacular improvement to soil life. With better soil life, your plants gain better immunity against diseases and pests leaving the plants to use all their energy for exuberant growth and blooms. Distribution by IKON International

IKON INTERNATIONAL OxyPot The single plant bubbler system, sold for over 10 years. Inclusive of a turbo air pump giving the water a supercharge of oxygen resulting in explosive growth, the Oxy Pot from Ikon is the original single plant bubbler that oﬀers amazing results and great value. Complete with net pot, clay pebbles and water level indicator, the Oxy Pot is an easy-to-manage single pot system producing mind blowing yields. Distribution by IKON International

METROP Biomineral Fertilisers The new generation biomineral fertilisers from Metrop is making a revolution on the market in many country’s. The Metrop fertilisers are so strong filled up with macro, sub-macro en micro nutrients that the fertilisers look like a green yoghurt. The fertilisers are so good that they can be used for all mediums in each plant grow system. To make such a concentrated liquid fertiliser you must use high quality raw materials. And that improves the taste of the crop! Metrop fertilisers are high concentrated fertilisers with various stimulators in one. No need anymore to buy a PK or a sub-macro or micro element booster.

ATAMI The Dynamic Duo Our well-known Bloombastic is now bundled with 50 ml of Rootbastic. Here at Atami we do not brag about our products, instead we prefer to let them speak for themselves. A stimulant for your roots and your flowers in 1 package. Follow us and we will keep you informed! Bloombastic is a high-quality cocktail of bio-minerals and bio-stimulators that is suitable for the last flowering and ripening phase (4-6 weeks). Bloombastic increases the sugar content of your crop and therefore the weight and the smell. Rootbastic is a highly concentrated supplement/ additive which should be used in the beginning of the rooting phase during the first 3 weeks of the growth of the plant. Increases the E.C. level based on your nutrient solution. Rootbastic ensures a proper development of the root system of the plant. More info: www.bloombastic.com / www.rootbastic.com / www.atami.com

ATAMI Blossom Builder Liquid A finisher like no other! Especially for the grower who only wants the best for their plants Atami has expanded their B’cuzz range with Blossom Builder Liquid, a finisher like no other! It is commonly known as the flowering phase progresses, your plants need for Phosphorus and Potassium will increase as well. Especially for the final 2 to 4 weeks in this flowering phase Atami has developed B’cuzz Blossom Builder Liquid. Blossom Builder Liquid ensures an improved structure of the fruit and creates strong, healthy and beautiful large fragrant flowers/ fruit. Due to the unique P:K ratio of 20% and 32% Blossom Builder Liquid meets all the needs of your plant, also the higher level of Phosporus compare to Potassium improves the hardening of the fruit. The B’cuzz Blossom Builder Liquid can be used in combination with soil, cocos, hydro and is usable in any irrigation system.

More info: www.atami.com

PLAGRON Top Grow Box 100% BIO Everything you need for growing on 1m2. The Top Grow Box 100% BIO is the ideal total package for starting growers and has suﬃcient nutrition for one square metre of plants. Every box contains basic plant food, growth and ﬂowering enhancers and the powerful booster Green Sensation. With the Top Grow Box 100% BIO you grow organic, environmentally friendly and simple. The advantages of the Top Grow Box 100% BIO: - Everything you need for growing on 1 m2 - Top booster Green Sensation included - Top Grow Box 100% TERRA is also available One Top Grow Box 100% BIO contains: - 100ml Alga Grow - 1 litre Alga Bloom - 100ml Power Roots - 100ml Vita Race - 100ml Green Sensation

PLAGRON Green Sensation - Additive / Booster Boost your buds with the organic compounds phosphorus and potassium present in the Green Sensation from Plagron. Green Sensation contains four products in one bottle. When using this booster you don’t need to buy any other additives like a bloom stimulator, PK 13-14 or enzymes as they are already in there. You can also lower the use of the basic nutrient by 50% when using Green Sensation. Test it yourself and experience the beneﬁts of Green Sensation. Available in: 100ml, 250ml, 500ml, 1 & 5 litre Do you have any questions? Please contact servicedesk@plagron.com For additional information about Top Grow Box 100% BIO, Green Sensation and other products, visit www.plagron.com

GROTEK Megapack The Grotek Mega Pack is the complete package! This all-in-one nutrition pack includes everything needed for a great garden: one litre each of SoloTek Grow, SoloTek Bloom, Bloom Fuel, Vitamax Plus, and Heavy Bloom; 130g size of Monster Bloom; and 20g sizes of Blossom Master and Veg Growth Booster. Also included is a double sided grow and bloom formula feed chart to guide you through your grow. All contents come packaged in a special edition Grotek cooler bag.

UVONAIR CD-1200 UVONAIR’s CD-1200 (Corona Discharge Generator) is the WORLD’s most reliable, most popluar, headache free, hydroponic duct ozonator for over 12 years. Proven in over 10 countries worldwide, UVONAIR’s CD-1200 , will treat virtually all odours being exhausted if PROPERLY sized to the room being vented. It is adjustable to match the ozone demand load for odour control as well as provide energy conservation in low demand periods. The CD generator does not require servicing. The CD-1200 is intended for rooms up to 100,000 cu.ft. (3000 m3). Set the adjustable output by monitoring the exhaustable output by monitoring the exhaust air for odors. Uvonair’s CD units come in many sizes to meet your odour elimination needs. To learn more about UVONAIR’s extensive line-up of ozone generating devices please check out our website www.uvonair.com. Dont settle for anything less!

CANNA Find Mr. & Mrs. BoosT Mr. & Mrs. BoosT are the experts of CANNA that know everything about CANNABOOST. This lovely couple will be travelling around the UK in the last few months of 2013 and are ready for you! They are able to answer all your CANNABOOST questions and might be able to tell you even more about CANNABOOST. Want to know where they are? Well like us on facebook and stay up to date where you can ﬁnd Mr. & Mrs. BoosT. www.facebook.com/Getboosted

CANNA Brand New Need To Know Videos! Good news! From the beginning of September CANNA will regularly upload episodes of a brand new season Need to Know on www.canna-uk. com. In the Need to Knows CANNA will give you growing tips about optimum day & night temperature, coco & buﬀering, healthy roots and repotting your plants. So sit back & relax and increase your growing knowledge! www.canna-uk.com

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HYDRO-SCOPE.COM

MAXIBRIGHT NEW Sunmaster Hobby 600W Digital Ballast The new Sunmaster Hobby digital ballast gives you all the latest digital features at a great price. With four power modes you can run your lamps at normal power, dim your lamps and boost 600W lamps by 10% with Power Boost at the final flowering stage. Intelligent Ignition prevents electrical surges when multiple ballasts start up. Soft start technology will gently start your lamps for longer lamp life The Sunmaster Hobby is built with fast lamp re-strike to safely re-ignite hot lamps with minimum stoppage time. This is the affordable choice of top grade ballast. For full information and features visit www.maxibright.com

MAXIBRIGHT NEW Maxibright DigiLight Pro® Max 600W Digital Ballast The Maxibright DigiLight Pro® Max is the latest in digital ballast technology, allowing you to power the new high PAR output 600W 400V glasshouse system lamps, the Philips GreenPower Plus and the Sylvania Grolux 600W 400V, in your grow room! This gives you 10% higher PAR output per watt for increased yields. The DigiLight Pro® Max has four power modes: 400W, 500W, 600W and 660W ‘Super’. Developed with new Surge Control ® software it reduces the risk of electrical surges. Includes a built-in diagnostic LED for fault ﬁnding PLUS all the latest features of the DigiLight series. Check out your nearest Maxibright stockist: www.maxibright.com/where-to-buy

HORTILINE HORTIPOTS - SOFT FABRIC POTS HORTIPOTS are produced with soft fabric made out of recycled pet that allows the roots not growing in circle and be able to breathe properly. They are strong and reusable. They can be machine washed. HORTIPOTS have been designed with a square base that allows maximum optimising of the space within the grow tent. Ideal also for outdoor growing: HORTIPOTS stabilize themselves perfectly to the ground and do not heat with the sunlight. www.hortiline.com

COMPETITION NO.1 Every issue the team at HYDROMAG bring you a chance to win a prize kindly donated by one of our advertisers, and we’re not talking a pack of sticky fly traps or a pair of latex gloves - to make it worth your while we’ve asked our competition prize sponsor to think big!

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LETTERS

The HYDROMAG surgery is open for business... Get in touch with us by writing to us at: 5, The Old Bakery, 90 Acre St, Lindley, Huddersﬁeld, West Yorkshire, England, HD3 3EL or alternatively email Bill directly bill@hydromag.co.uk

“Don’t get taken down the garden path…” As both a store owner and product manufacturer, Bill Sutherland believes in honest advice. If he buys too much of one product for his store, he doesn’t try and oﬄoad it or force it on his customers; he’ll give them the product that works and disregard the useless stuﬀ. It’s this approach that makes him the perfect person to answer any questions you have about Hydroculture.

LIQUID LUNCH

Hello Bill, When is the best time to feed the plants? Are we supposed to imitate the rain i.e. give our plants a feed at random times in the day, or is there any benefit to be gained from watering in harmony with the light cycles? My growroom is a little warmer when the lights are on, but only by a couple of degrees centigrade. Is there any benefit perhaps in watering my plants when the lights are either on or off? (My system includes): Dripper systems with 15 min segmental timers Coco fibre media or Clay pebbles (Hope my question gets picked!) Jon, Ellesmere Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

You can also get in touch via Facebook & Twitter: facebook.com/hydromag twitter.com/hydromagazine

DISTURBED BY HERBS

Hi Bill, I’m trying to find some information on the optimal planting distance for various herbs in an NFT channel. I’ve found this webpage www.hydroponics101.com/ sw58031.php (basil information link). However what they write is hard to believe: “Plant spacing: 1-3 inches between each plant stem”. This sounds very wrong. That equates to 144 to 148 plants per square feet!? Or did they mean 1-3 feet? Then, I’ve found a soil-based guide. It states that basil is usually planted with 1 plant per 1 square feet density (usually 12’’ x 12’’ or 6’’ x 24’’). Can I use this information for my NFT system? Will it work if I put my basil plants 6’’ inch apart in the gully, and 24’’ distance between gullies? Or will it lack space for roots (my gully is 2’’ height x 4’’ width)? Is there any other resource providing information on growing different plants in hydroponic systems? Thanks in advance, it’s my first hydroponic system and I don’t want to mess something up. Anon, England.

Hi Jon This is going to depend on your type of growing medium. Plants require oxygen (O) and mineral elements (N,P,K,Fe, etc) dissolved into water (H2O) to feed. While the growing medium is providing these elements you can put your feet up. When one of these elements becomes depleted then it’s time to feed again. Soils can hold these elements up to 3 to 5 days. If your growing medium holds sufficient water and elements for more than a day, you should water before the lights come on. This way the growing medium has a chance to drain somewhat before the lights come on and the plants get to work. Each growing medium has its own specific watering requirement. If you’re using rockwool or a similar growing medium; water before lights come on – then about 3 hours before lights turn off, and again, if needed, in the night. Clay pebbles need to be watered every few hours. Clay pebbles do not retain much water - only the outer surface will have water adhere to it. Finally, foliar feeding timing does make a major difference. Mist about 1 hour before lights come on - this will act like morning dew and plants react to dew by absorbing the moisture through leaves. The stomata of plants open with the (red) light and dew along with singing of birds to start their day. This has been proven to increase yields. Bill.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hi Anon, Both are right and here’s why. When planting most small varieties of plants start by placing them about 1-2 inches apart. Once plants are full grown you will see how much space they need – leaves should only just touch the tips of leaves from other plants. Basil usually needs about 1 square foot per plant when fully grown. As they grow, thin them down. “Thinning down” is the process of removing seedlings and young plants, once their leaves begin to touch, and placing them in new containers or eat them (if they’re edible). A tip: once you see flowers forming – remove them; some basil plants like the flowers but others do not. Basil should be picked when branches are about 5 to 7 inches long – this is why they wanted you to plant at 1 to 2 inches apart. With hydroponic systems our “holes” are usually predrilled. Try to plant as close as possible. Smaller plants can be placed much closer – which will save you money on lighting. Move plants apart as they grow. Now you can see the problem of planting your system at 12 to 24 inches apart. Growing in soil (soil solution) must have space for roots to find water with nutrient dissolved into water. But with hydroponics systems we change the nutrient solution before it can be depleted of available mineral elements out of water so space is less of an issue. As far as good reading material goes; I’ve read hundreds of gardening books and magazines and unfortunately not one of them gives all the specific information you are requesting. Of course one great resource is HYDROMAG! Cheers, Bill