Hydromag-011 Hydroponics-Magazine by Hydro Magazine

( %

; & 7 -

< / =

! 9

" # $ % & ' (

) * % % ( -

2 ( + ,% - 1 3 * 4 )

- * " # $ % & - 1 ) 3 - 56%* - - ./0 7 -

2 1

) * 5

8 -

THE MAKING OF HYDROMAG... Editor Cosmo MacKenzie cos@hydromag.co.uk Technical Assistant Editor Bill Sutherland bill@hydromag.co.uk “600w should do it Dr Frankenstein” - See the ballast test on page 22

Welcome Horticulturist! Welcome Hydroponicists, Aquaponauts and sundry. Welcome to our humble publication and, for those in attendance, to Grow 2014. Welcome, too, to the New York Times group, who are doubtless now coming to the realisation that they’ve booked the wrong show. Fear not; we’ll show you a good time regardless. To the main event then; Grow 2014 has spread its roots and made a welcome return to our nation’s capital. This year the big boys are in attendance, so too are the rising stars and also the regular old hands who’ve helped to make the industry what it is today; we salute you all: Salwé! From page 52 you’ll find a helpful map of the show floor and a brief introduction to some of the exhibitors. So, fill your ears with wise words, your bag with goodies and bathe in the knowledge that you’re amongst like-minded friends. Not to be outdone by the physical delights of the show, we’ve packed the mag with a veritable miasma of original content. Horticulture takes its first bold steps into the British education system, reflectors and bulbs are each broken down in our need-to-know guides and powdered nutrients make a welcome return to the forefront. Our now famous (or should that be infamous?) series of independent tests continues with Ballast. Putting aside the threats to our lives that have surfaced from some quarters, we’re incredibly pleased with the largely positive response that we’ve had to the tests and the honest and mature way that most of the participants have responded to the results. In the future you’ll find all the results listed on our website. If you haven’t seen your preferred products featured in the testing, by all means drop us a line and we’ll look into including them. New to the magazine is the handy store listings pull-out. In the past we’ve held back on store listings, mostly in fear of reaping the ire of anyone who isn’t listed. It has always been our intention to support the industry as a whole though, and we can’t do that if we’re only supporting distributors and manufacturers. We want to champion stores too and we’re keen to get your feedback on how you feel about this, so please do get in touch. On with the show then!

Cosmo Mackenzie

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 Project Manager Lydia Bennett lydia@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 & Feature Manager Nico Hill nico@hydromag.co.uk

HYDRO PUBLISHING LTD 5, The Old Bakery, 90 Acre Street, Lindley, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire HD3 3EL T: +44 (0) 203 384 8940 E: info@hydromag.co.uk W: www.hydromag.co.uk PRINTED IN THE UK

Thank you to our distributors: HYDROMAG is designed in partnership with PARA www.paraltd.com

All editorial is copyright. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or be stored in any retrieval system in any form without the prior permission of the Publisher. Whilst every effort is made to ensure accuracy no responsibility will be accepted for inaccuracies however caused. Contributed material does not necessarily reﬂect the opinion of the Publisher. The Publisher cannot accept responsibility for any unsolicited materials. It is assumed that any images taken from sources that are widely distributed such as the Internet, are in the public domain. However, since such images are passed between sources such as websites, the original source is not always possible to trace. The editorial policy and general layout of the publication is at the sole discretion of the Publisher and no debate will be entered into. No responsibility will be accepted for illustrations, artwork or photographs while in transmission with the Publisher or their agents unless such commitment is made in writing prior to receipt of such items.

ISSUE NO. 011 09.2014

Featured In This Issue... 44 08

THE FEED Metal Eating Plants

The extraordinary Filipino plant ‘Rinorea Niccolifera’ eats metal enriched soil. Find out why this tough guy is getting conservationists the world over weak at the knees.

DISTRACTIONS: 100 Films to Watch…Horror

Our deﬁnitive list of 100 ﬁlms to watch before you die continues with those that have scared the greatest volume of crap per metric tonne out of us.

DISTRACTIONS: A-Z of Music….Indie

PULL OUT Store Listings

GROW 2014 Exhibitors

Experience a new musical genre each issue without wasting time with a waffling ‘expert’. This issue we enter the domain of many a pretentious art school wankfest…

A HYDROMAG ﬁrst; Introducing you to the best Hydroponics shops on our own fair isle; from the branded big boys to the quaint and inimitably individual.

THE FEED Incredible Aqua Garden

Aquaponics takes a deﬁnitive foothold in the British education system at Todmorden High School. Manager Steve Welsh tells us about this exciting project and how it could be a blueprint to better educate future generations.

14 18

The great and good of the grow show introduce themselves to you.

THE KNOWLEDGE How to- Choose a Reﬂector

Everything you need to know in order to choose the right reﬂector for your setup. Get informed, get efficient and get rewarded with a wellspring of love from your plants.

FAVOURITES: Adjust-a-Wing and Gualala Robotics Lightrails

Our favourite products on the market right now; a pleasingly innovative and efficient system from Gualala Robotics, and the blisteringly brilliant Adjust-a-Wing reﬂector.

22 32

FEATURE Grow Test Special - Ballast

HYDROMAG’s deﬁnitive series of in-house, independent and impartial scientiﬁc tests continues; this time a host of ballasts are put through their paces.

EXPERT OPINIONS Powdered Nutrients

Greenhouse Powder Feeding, RAW Solubles and Bio Tabs share their technical expertise on the welcome return to prominence of powdered nutrients.

THE KNOWLEDGE: Beginners Guide to Grow lights.

Building the knowledge base of Johnny-come-latelies and ﬁlling in a few holes for those old enough to have forgotten as much as they’ve learned

See Page 54 for Show Map

70 98

GROW GEAR Grow Gear

The best in the business introduce you to the latest and best products they have to offer, in their own words.

COMPETITION TIME Win Some Stuﬀ!

In life there are winners and most deﬁnitely some losers. For your chance to not be a loser, enter our free competition for a shot at a ludicrously large prize.

‘There are as few as 450 plant species capable of consuming metals, and none quite as voracious in appetite as Rinorea niccolifera.’

METAL EATING PLANTS

John Wyndham’s 1951 science fiction classic “The Day of the Triffids” saw humans terrorised by walking ten foot carnivorous plants. However, being a quintessentially British novel, the humans were able to escape by simply shutting the doors and windows of the family home, having a cup of tea, and waiting for their armless predators to get bored and move on. In a discovery that will horrify fans of Wyndham’s book but delight conservationists, researchers in the Philippines have revealed details of a new plant, capable of “eating” metal. The implications could have a profoundly beneficial impact on our environment. The recent report by researchers from The University of the Philippines details the discovery of the new plant in the nickel-rich soil of Luzon Island. Named Rinorea Niccolifera, it has demonstrated an extraordinary capacity for absorbing metal – a phenomenon known as hyperaccumulation. Its leaves can contain as much as 18,000ppm of nickel without the plant experiencing phytotoxic effects; levels up to a thousand times greater than in most other plants. The Rinorea Niccolifera is able to absorb such lethal quantities of metal in the same way many humans can absorb near-fatal quantities of alcohol in, say, a Gateshead nightclub – they possess membrane-lined structures in their cells that function like a liver, protecting the rest of the plant from the toxicity of the metal. There are as few as 450 plant species capable of consuming metals, and none quite as voracious in appetite as Rinorea Niccolifera.Scientists have yet to firmly establish how or why some plants have evolved to hyperaccumulate in this manner, but there’s speculation that insects and other herbivores are put off chomping on leaves full of metal in the same way humans are deterred when biting into a Kit Kat with its foil still on. It’s evolutionary survival. Dr Augustine Doronila from the University of Melbourne, a co-author of the report alongside Filipino Professor Edwino Fernando, suggests there are two possible ways in which this new discovery can benefit the environment: “Hyperaccumulator plants” have great potentials for the development of green technologies, for example, ‘phytoremediation’ and ‘phytomining’”.

In the first instance (phytoremediation), contaminated, metal-heavy soils can be cleansed using the right plants. This process can be particularly useful in sanitising and recycling brownfield sites; while in the case of phytomining, the focus is on the extraction of the potentially valuable metals. The plants’ leaves can be burnt and the extracted metals harvested for other uses, but correctly applied this latter technology could also be used to harvest nutritionally-rich crops abundant in essential dietary minerals such as zinc.

‘can contain as much as 18,000ppm of nickel without the plant experiencing phytotoxic eﬀects...’ The Environmental Protection Agency estimates there are as many as 450,000 brownfield sites in the US alone, while the rapid industrialisation (and consequent lack of pollution planning and management) of much of the developing word has left the likes of China with a major environmental headache. And in the UK, where land prices are rocketing and space is at a premium, over 66,000 hectares are currently classified as uninhabitable brownfield sites. Professor David E. Salt, currently of Aberdeen University, has devoted much of his life to the study of hyperaccumulation in plants and their potential environmental uses. “Right now your options are to put a fence around it [a brownfield site] and put a sign up telling people to stay out, build a parking lot over it, or dig up all of the soil and truck it to a landfill, which is very expensive … Over five or ten years, by growing crop rotations there, you could remove the metal from the site,” says Salt. It’s his view, however, that most metal-eating plants are too small or slowgrowing to effectively decontaminate a brownfield site, but if large grasses were to be genetically-modified to replicate the protective membranes around their cells’ vacuoles in the same manner as Rinorea nicclifera, then we might have a workable solution to the world’s brownfield problem. “We’ve got to manipulate this process of metal hyperaccumulation. So what we’re going to do now is to start expressing these genes in non-accumulating plants to see if we can turn them into metal-accumulating plants.” We just have to keep our fingers crossed that the triffids don’t get there first.

CANNA additives Getting you to the top

CANNA additives CANNA developed the CANNA nutrients for an optimal growth but to get you to the top you will need to use the CANNA additives. The CANNA additives can be used alongside the CANNA nutrients and will give you an even better end result. For more information about the CANNA Additives please visit the CANNA website.

www.canna-uk.com

Incredible AquaGarden by Marie Claire Kidd

Behind a Todmorden school, there is a place for students to learn as they grow, and they even get to eat the results. On the menu are salads, fruits and vegetables and, in the near future, fish and tropical fruit. The Incredible AquaGarden, a partnership between Incredible Edible Todmorden and Todmorden High School, is an ambitious project without a forerunner. A centre for hydroponics, aquaponics, alongside traditional growing techniques, it produces food for the school and beyond, with the focus firmly on learning. After several years in planning, fundraising and construction, the centre opened last year, and is now growing salads and vegetables for the school kitchens and for sale to neighbouring restaurants.Todmorden High School students and two apprentices are helping to plant, tend, monitor and harvest the crops which, thanks to state of the art facilities, are available throughout the year. Áine Douglas, learning and development manager at the Incredible AquaGarden, explains: ‘To grow vegetables you need light, nutrients and water. The beauty of the aquagarden is that we can control all three of these. It’s brilliant for experiments and enables us to be more productive, all year round.’ Air source heat pumps keep the whole building at around 20 degrees centigrade, ideal for growing vegetables. The building faces south and its sloping roof is designed to soak up as much light as possible, minimising heating and lighting bills. The water in which the fish live is passed through a series of filters, producing a nitrogen-rich liquid to nourish edible crops. This is harnessed in the aquaponics area, where the growing beds produce rocket, pak choi and cress. In the hydroponics area, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and chillies are flourishing in a wide range of soil-free media including perlite, coir and coffee grinds. There is

also an outdoor area for growing vegetables in polytunnels and raised beds. The Incredible AquaGarden is primarily a learning resource for the community, families and schools. It demonstrates urban farming techniques and teaches growing and cooking skills across all ages, cultures and abilities. Funded by the Big Lottery to the tune of £494,785 and supported by the Futurebuilders England Fund, which provided almost £150,000, along with Calderdale Council, Pennine Prospects and Calderdale Primary Care Trust, it is a bold experiment with numerous uncertainties. Its manager Steve Welsh admits he is still learning. ‘During the first year we’ve been getting this building up,’ he says. ‘There’s a huge amount of science in aquaponics and hydroponics and I’ve had to learn that from scratch. There’s been a lot of planning on the job.’ Apprentice Daniel Haymonds is working towards his Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship in Work-based Horticulture. Under supervision from Myerscough College, Preston, they have been learning about fish tanks, electric systems and growing mediums that are revolutionary to British farmers and horticulturalists. ‘There’s never been an apprenticeship like this before,’ says Mr Welsh. ‘Daniel is majoring in aquatics and hydroponics, but the questions are tailored for growing in soil. We have to tailor questions all the time, but Myerscough are on board with that.’ Daniel, 29, says: ‘The course is being designed as I go along. It makes it harder but it makes it interesting. If I make a mistake then I can have that as experience if I document it.’ Daniel helped to set up the centre, even getting hands on with painting and decorating, and is now gathering skills in everything from marketing to teaching, as well as vegetable production and fish farming.

Áine Douglas

Daniel Haymonds His day to day work includes propagating seeds, planting seedlings, picking and packing and caring for the fish and vegetables in the aquaponics and hydroponics units. ‘I’ve been a cook working in different cafes in Todmorden and Hebden Bridge,’ he says. ‘I knew what was happening with Incredible Edible Todmorden. I used to go and pick things in the gardens. ‘I got made redundant from my last job because I didn’t have a qualification. This is an opportunity to get a qualification. ‘I’m interested in the aquaponics side of it,’ he adds. “You can take these skills anywhere, even Africa or India, and you don’t have to change anything because it’s a controlled environment.” For Todmorden High School’s Year 12 students, the aquagarden is bringing back an

Steve Welsh element which has fallen off the curriculum in most schools. This year they have completed a Level 2 Agriculture BTEC, using the aquagarden as a base for the crop production and plant based units. The pass rate was 100%. In September this year, the students will have the opportunity to do a Level 2 Horticultural BTEC, based entirely at the aquagarden, with full access to all the growing techniques. Another innovation, and therefore a risk, is the production of tilapia, a fish not commonly consumed in the UK. In February the team put 90 tilapia, aged one month, two months and four months, into three of the centre’s four fish tanks. As Ms Douglas explains, the centre is about much more than producing food. The aquagarden is already welcoming groups from schools, universities and community organisations. A demonstration kitchen offers cooking and food preparation workshops, under the experienced eye of Madeleine Hoyle, the ‘Incredible Food Inspirer’. She works with marginalised groups including adults with learning difficulties and the elderly, on growing food, nutrition and wellbeing. ‘It’s very much about learning in the community as well as school,’ says Ms Douglas. ‘The most important thing to create change was to start with junior schools and continue the learning through high school, family and community. It’s an opportunity to bring all the local junior schools in for workshops. If children have opportunity to grow food, it’s likely they will bring into their adulthood a natural healthy relationship with food.”

Q&A: Steve Welsh

Manager of the Incredible AquaGarden

What problems did you come up against in design and how did you resolve them? Light is our main issue. We can control heat, nutrients, pH etc and we’re experimenting with artiﬁcial light for germination and growing on. Were you able to buy all of your equipment or is some of it homemade? We had the help and support of Auto-Pot who sold us the equipment at cost and of Hydrostore at Luddenden Foot near Halifax who assembled the equipment. How balanced is the system in terms of energy put in and out and in financial terms, do you see yourselves making a relative profit or is it purely for educational use? We use air source heat pumps to keep the temperature constant at 20C, but of course in hot weather the temperature rises above that and we need to open the windows. We will make a proﬁt from the sale of micro salads and micro herbs, lettuces and cucumbers. We’re still trialing different vegetables to see how they grow. Todmorden High School, who we are in partnership with, is using some of the vegetables for their dinners. What sort of man hours are required to maintain the system? Is it seasonal or do you plan to run all year round?

............................................................................... “The world into which school kids are growing will be a different world to that which we’ve experienced. Food and energy will become more politicised and home grown, local produce will become more important. It is therefore vital to ensure that horticulture is part of the national curriculum, not only because of the need to educate young people about local produce, but also to train up a new generation of horticulturalists.”

............................................................................... We will run it all year round. I would calculate it requires seven man hours per week for plant care, maintenance and germination. How well have you been received in terms of public interest and what you’re growing? Is there a difference in quality compared to other produce?

Do you think that horticulture and alternative growing methods should be part of the national curriculum?

We’ve been well received, especially with the height of the tomato plants and cucumbers which are reaching between eight and 10 feet in height. On quality, it’s difﬁcult to tell just yet, but we’ve experienced an intensity of ﬂavour that is absent from supermarket produce.

Absolutely. The world into which school kids are growing will be a different world to that which we’ve experienced. Food and energy will become more politicised and home grown, local produce will become more important. It is therefore vital to ensure that horticulture is part of the national curriculum, not only because of the need to educate young people about local produce, but also to train up a new generation of horticulturalists.

Is this a model that you can see working elsewhere and are there any plans to try to replicate it?

How likely and on what sort of timescale do you see that happening?

Deﬁnitely. The school kids get a great deal out of their visits and will be increasingly involved in the germination, growing on, care and harvesting of all the produce.

It’s happening now at Todmorden High School, but it needs to be rolled out. It needs to happen over the coming two decades to make a difference.

HOW TO:

What do you need to know when buying a reflector for your growroom? Well firstly you should know you need one. Light spraying indiscriminately over your ceiling and walls is a waste of electricity, and worse – your plants are being denied a chance to grow to their full potential. The purpose of a reflector is to channel as much light as possible from your lamps in the direction of your crop. Attempting to grow hydroponically without reflectors is akin to driving a herd of sheep without a sheep dog; or trying to impregnate the wife from ten paces. All theoretically possible but thoroughly improvident and ill-advised. The ideal reflector will not just redirect light but will uniformly distribute it. It will allow your plants to be sufficiently close to your lamp so as to gain maximum benefit from the light, but will also prevent shadow patterns, hotspots – and a raging bushfire in your growroom. Newcomers to hydroponics might release a disheartened sigh when confronted with the plethora of different reflectors and options available, but fear not – let Uncle HYDROMAG step in to take you by the hand, bounce you on his knee, and tell you that it’s all going to be alright (we have been CRB checked, we promise).

REFLECTOR TYPES The most obvious points to consider when deciding which reflector to buy are firstly your budget and secondly the size of your growing area. Prices vary wildly (from under £20 to well over £200), and an inexperienced grower may not always benefit from an expensive reflector if his set-up is less than perfect. And different reflectors have different footprints – if you’re planning to grow in a 75cm x 75cm tent, you’re really not going to need Sun System’s Magnum XXXL with its metre-long length. A bit of basic research and some common sense will carry the grower a long way. So, onto the main reflector types:

1 BASIC WINGED REFLECTORS The cheapest reflectors on the market tend to come in this form, as they’re essentially just moulded light aluminium with open ends and low production costs. However, unlike at Primark, cheap doesn’t necessarily equate to “shit”. Even the lowest-priced reflectors on the market these days are generally built out of decentquality, dimpled aluminium (allowing for a nice, even disbursement of light). They’re also known as “openended reflectors” owing to the fact they have just two sides reflecting light downwards, leading to a slight loss of light focus and intensity. This is offset by the fact that this design allows for heat to escape, meaning the reflectors can be placed much closer to your crop without scorching your canopy. Plenty of seasoned growers still swear by such brands as the Euro Wing, ignoring the siren call of more elaborate, expensive suitors.

Pros Lightweight and versatile. Dirt cheap so having to buy replacements won’t hit you in the pocket. Heat can easily escape so lamps can be placed closer to crop.

Cons They’re open ended so a small amount of light intensity is lost. Cheaper reflective materials can mean a loss of light and uniformity of spread. Some brands are angular and will reflect light unevenly, leading to irregular plant growth and hotspots. Examples: CFL Hobby Reflector, Euro Wing.

Attempting to grow hydroponically without reflectors is akin to driving a herd of sheep without a sheep dog; or trying to impregnate the wife from ten paces...

2 ADJUSTABLE WINGED REFLECTORS

3 CLOSED-END REFLECTORS

Sometimes called “Adjustable double parabolic” reflectors, these designs give the grower added levels of control compared with the standard winged design. The king of the adjustable reflectors is the Adjust-A-Wing, and it’s yet to see a lot of competition. Like Oprah Winfrey’s belt, it’s designed for a yo-yoing span. They tend to be particularly useful for large growrooms owing to their exceptional light distribution.

Pros Modifiable footprint width. A moveable lamp allows you to make small adjustments to avoid shadowing and hotspots. Open-ended so doesn’t trap heat. Parabolic curving creates an even diffusion of light.

Cons

Breadbox-like in appearance, this design has four sides (as you might have guessed), with the benefit being that the lamp’s light is intense, and focused straight downwards. Heat build-up is the main drawback although certain designs such as Hortiline’s Northstar are built with a “chimney” to negate this effect. The big hydroponics greenhouses tend to use lots of small parabolic closed-end reflectors at a high height (the loss of intensity being countered by the large amount of crossover footprints).

Pros High light intensity. Perfect for certain plant types. Maximum efficiency.

Cons

Open ended so a small loss of light intensity. More suitable for larger grow rooms or tents.

Less crossover of light with multiple lamps, unless raised quite high. Build-up of heat needs attention.

Example: Adjust-A-Wing, Powerplant Mantis.

Gavita Hortistar, Hortiline Nortstar, Sun Mate Grow.

4 VERTICAL REFLECTORS These are reflector designed to hold a bulb in a vertical position. Proponents swear by this system. With horizontal bulbs a good quarter to a third of the light goes straight up into the reflector before passing down again, so could be said to be less efficient than the vertical alternative. Although the light is less intense, this set-up provides a good even distribution of light over a wide area.

Pros Wide, even footprints. More points of light getting to the plants. Less diffusion. Increased lifespan of lamp, up to 25%.

Cons Can be large and bulky. Decrease in light intensity at equivalent mounted height. Examples: Grostar Reflector, Sun King Silver

LIGHT INTENSITY

5 AIR-COOLED REFLECTORS

This is a popular diagram often used to display the reduction in light intensity at different distances from the light source.

Essentially a closed-end reflector with its own internal cooling system. They’re usually – but not always – sealed with a pane of glass. The chief benefit of using this system is there’s significantly less heat given off in your grow room, giving the grower more control of his space (although growers should ventilate and cool their rooms already). The lamps can also be placed very close to the plants – perfect if hanging height is an issue. On the flip side this means extra fans, extra ducting, and more vigilance over air quality as there will be a constant flow of it through your reflector. It’s worth noting too much cool air around your bulb will narrow the spectrum and reduce output (particularly so with Metal Halide bulbs), so choose your model carefully.

1/4

Pros Almost no excess heat generated. Perfect if there are space / height issues in your grow area.

1/9

Cons Between 3-5% of light gets lost through glass. Dirty air will degrade your lamp / reflector sooner. Cool bulbs = reduced output.

1/16

Maxibright Gold Star, Silverstar, Growlite OG

Other things to consider: There are numerous factors to take into consideration once you’ve made your purchase. The first question you’ll ask yourself if how high to set your lamps / reflectors. Regardless of what kit you’ve purchased, you will need to raise and lower your lamps through the course of your crop cycle. Seedlings require much less light than flowering plants, but equally different plant types have different needs. As with everything in this miserable world, reflectors don’t last forever. You may only get three or four crop cycles of use out of them – something to consider if you’re strapped for cash. The use of humidifiers will likely leave calcium deposits – especially if you live in a hard water area (tip: invest in a Reverse Osmosis machine). Eventually though, dust and deposits will make their presence felt on your reflectors – and they’re near impossible to shift without permanently scarring reflective material. (N.B. Some reflectors come with replaceable plates, saving you from replacing the entire reflector.) Any damage to your reflectors will reduce light intensity and ultimately uniformity of spread. Using a light metre or an IR camera can help you keep on top of this particular problem.

Verdict Ultimately the much science understanding behind lighting and reflectors is an ongoing process. Different growers will swear by their favourite reflectors and there’s not much consensus as to which is best. The novice grower is advised to pick what fits your budget, and can sufficiently cover your whole grow area (will you need to buy a second or even third lamp?) But importantly, you need an even spread of light. An uneven distribution causes an uneven intensity of light over your crops, creating a frustrating Pushmi-pullyu scenario where the lamps are always either too near or too far. Too far and stronger stems will push through above the others – too near and your plants’ leaves will be toast. Use your eyes and learn to embrace the old method of trial and error.

ADJUST A WING REFLECTORS We have a close friend here at Hydromag, who’s called us for a number of favours in the past, let’s call him Mike. We had a conversation the other day that went a bit like this. Mike: ‘I’m depressed, you’ve got to help me’ Hydromag: ‘Hey Mike, why? You’ve got a sweet job, you’re looking good, you’re getting physically intimate on at least a bi-monthly basis now with that new phone app. Your life is pretty awesome, right? What can possibly be the problem?’ Mike: ‘Its my grow room. It sucks. I spent all this money and I bragged to my bros that I’d hook them up with a bunch of sweet aubergines, but they are a total fail. Half of them are dried up like the knee skin of an old lady and the others are green and solid as my gym buddy’s abs! The worst part is I promised my neighbour who was going to make his signature Parmaggiano for his ex-wife, that I’d hook him up and now I’m seriously letting him down. What can I do?’ Tsk tsk tsk. If Mike had only read issue 4, he would have seen our special on just how highly we rate Adjust-A-Wing Reflectors and he could have avoided this whole situation. There is no shame in making mistakes in Hydroponics, we’ve all done it and part of the joy is perfecting that delicate balance between the right levels of light, heat, water and with each new crop you attempt, it is only natural to run into a few hiccups. It is why we endeavour to help here at HYDROMAG and are pleased to arm you with as much bountiful knowledge as possible, to give you the best chance of creating your perfect grow room. Reflectors are a fantastic piece of kit for most grow rooms if you are aiming for a perfect yield. Professional growers need to grow multiple crops quickly, simultaneously and provide the right level of heat so as not to scorch seven Hells out of a plant or freeze it to death. Achieving all of this is obviously difficult without the right kit and using the knowledge from some of the most experienced growers out there, will save you a lot of time and money. For example, you can purchase the best bulbs money can buy, but if that light is not spread out well enough, than troublesome heat spots will burn the plants closest to the source of the light and the rest may not get enough heat and won’t grow very well at all. Reflectors help solve this problem by spreading out the light and heat evenly. There are a few different options for you on the market, depending on whether you are a horizontal or a vertical grower.

INNOVATIONS Why the Adjust-A-Wing reflector is such a sensible invention and a great option for growers, is its versatility. Its adjustable wings mean that you can modify the concentration of the reflected light at any stage of the growing process to suit the size of your crop and its temperature needs. The bulbs mounted height within the reflector can be altered to make it easier to position your plants very close to the light source without the bane of heat spots ruining your crop, another bonus. More power also equals more money, so not only do these innovative reflectors save you money by maximising the spread of your light source avoiding higher energy costs and being greener, they spread it evenly and are easily adaptable to suit multiple needs, giving you the best of every conceivable world. Other Cool Features: The Adjust-A-Wing can pack a lot of heat, but with plenty of space for cool air to filter around the bulbs and an optional heatshield, it is even easier to balance out well enough, then troublesome heat spots, making your plants as chill as the chill out area of a chilled rave in the chilly part of Chile. CONS...? Errr... with sales on the rise every year, this simple, genius invention is already massive. Why didn’t you invent it? Verdict: With 150,000 sold in Australia and New Zealand alone, it’s efficient, versatile and is a great addition to your grow room. Anyone having problems with not putting enough heat and light out for a larger crop, or if scorching heat spots are troubling your yield, this is the reflector and solution for you.

For more infomation visit: www.adjustawings.com

Flora Nova The beautiful marriage of organics and minerals FloraNovaÂŽ represents a breakthrough in fertilizer technology. FloraNova gives users both the strength of a dry concentrate and the ease of a liquid. This unique one-part nutrient formulation of highly purified minerals and natural additives combines the benefits of both organic and soilless gardening methods. . r %FTJHOFE UP XPSL JO $PDP )ZESPQPOJDT 4PJMMFTT BOE 4PJM 3FNFNCFS UIBU EVF UP JUT IJHI DPODFOUSBUJPO 'MPSB/PWB NVTU CF TIBLFO WJHPSPVTMZ before each use!

B R I N G I N G N AT U R E A N D T E C H N O L O G Y T O G E T H E R

INNOVATIONS

LIGHTRAIL

BY GUALALA ROBOTICS With possibly the coolest product name since the Snarling Dogs “Blues Bawls” Wah Pedal, the Gualala Robotics LightRail deserves to be in first place on your Christmas wish list. It may sound like a mode of transport on Star Warsplanet Tatooine, but is in actual fact an essential component (or it should be) of your growroom. Still using static lighting, granddad? Pah! We’ll bet you still use a Nokia 6110 and carry around a Filofax. Not that there’s anything wrong with being old-school, but there’s old-school and there’s stubbornly stupid. Investing in a Gualala Robotics LightRail will silently glide your grow lamps back and forth over your plants, saving you money and improving your yields. How? Regular readers of HYDROMAG will know, or at least suspect, that we’re about to tell you.

CONS...? We hate coming up with cons with such vehemence that in the HYDROMAG office we sometimes resemble grieving women at an Ayatollah’s funeral. But for the sake of balance here goes:

Angles and Motion. You may have noticed, in nature, how the sun tends to move around the sky rather than sit listlessly in the same spot all day. It may have inspired you to kick your ballast in frustration as you cope with the scourge of shadow patterns and hot spots amongst your crop. A LightRail will increase your light coverage by up to 30% according to Gualala. Rather like a diligent parent bathing their offspring, ensuring those hard-to-reach spots behind the ears are given a good scrub, Gualala’s moving LightRail ensures there are no hiding places! Light gets to all parts of your plants, allowing the lower and midlevel leaves to absorb more light. Get ALL your leaves working for your plant (don’t let those low level leaves shirk like the kids at the back of the classroom). Efficiency. You could be losing as much as 60% of your lamps’ energy by keeping them static. Moving your lights can help you achieve maximum LAI (Leaf Area Index). With the threat of hot spots eliminated, you can place your lamps much closer to your plants, meaning far more efficient use of your wattage. With more leaves absorbing more energy you’ll improve your yields and reduce electricity bills by as much as 23% according to Gualala. All this on just 5.5 watts – the same as a night light! (N.B. The 4.0 model runs on 9 watts). Flexibility and Control. Gualala’s flexibility manifests itself in two ways. Firstly, with a series of useful add-ons it’s possible to fit the LightRail into any space. The LightRail 3.5 and 4.0 models both come in 2-metre-lengths, while the large-scale grower can opt for the 2.4-metre-long 5.0 model (not compatible with the others). With adjustable switch-stops the length of travel can be set by the grower – you can even cut the rail to size if required. Secondly, the timing of the rail’s movements is under your control. A time delay – set by the grower anywhere between 0-60 seconds, allows your lamps to linger at the ends of the rail – important to avoid the plants in the middle hogging all the light. The 4.0 model also allows you adjustable speed control. Adaptability. You can buy a rail hanger that allows you to use LightRail in a tent or greenhouse; while additional rails, trolleys (the part that the lamps hang from) and extension rods can also be purchased – catering for all lamp types, all size growrooms, and allowing for the doubling up of lights if necessary.

It’s yet another piece of mechanised kit vying for a socket in your growroom (whatever happens don’t try to run it off your ballast or you’ll burn out the circuit board). The incessant sound of movement in your growroom might convince your dog there’s an intruder inside. The resultant barking from the more idiotic canine could become intolerable.

For more infomation visit: www.lightrail3.com

GROW TEST

BALLASTS COMPARED The importance of a ballast in an indoor grow-room is something that really doesn’t need much explanation. If these products weren’t in existence, it’s likely that the entire indoor growing scene wouldn’t be either. As usual there are many types of ballasts around nowadays, and they come in many forms. There’s also a multitude in ways of which you can compare and assess ballasts. In order to get a full and complete picture of every type of ballast we are looking at here, we would need a considerably more room in the magazine, time and not to mention ridiculously expensive equipment to measure with. In order to fit it all nice and concisely into a bite size article is a little bit unrealistic to say the least, so to correctly represent the ballasts we’ll be conducting these tests over a series of articles and over a number of issues of the magazine. So, what exactly are all the factors we could consider? Well, a few examples (but by no means everything) are as follows: 1. POWER CONSUMED AND DELIVERED What the ballast is actually drawing from the wall and how much it is actually delivering to the lamp. 2. COMPONENTS USED / SAFETY FEATURES Safety with electrical equipment is paramount. Components used should be in line with safety regulations/standards to ensure minimal risks to health, no hazardous substances used etc. 3. IGNITION SEQUENCES How does the ballast actually strike and ignite the lamp? From the initial pulse creating the spark in the lamp, to the time taken to get up to full running power. 4. TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTION How well does the ballast replicate a sine wave and deliver it to the lamp? Looking at the various harmonics.

5. FREQUENCIES EMITTED Particularly for digital ballasts. All sorts of shielding are used nowadays to prevent this from happening. But how well do they work? 6. FUNCTIONALITY What features has the manufacturers put in place on their ballasts to give you more control over the product? This is the first stage on the journey to understanding all your options regarding ballasts available to you on the market. Much like Frodo Baggins in ‘The Lord of the Rings’, any childlike innocence will slowly be eroded away as the adventure reveals more and more detail about the true workings of the world, in order for you to easily distinguish your White Wizards from your Ring Wraiths; The first thing to decide is which direction we should head in. Our in-built hydroponic compass firmly pointed us in the direction of what many people see as the fundamental nature of ballasts. How much Wattage is actually being drawn from the plug socket and then in turn being delivered to the lamp? All 600w ballasts will fire up and get a 600w lamp to give off light, but the components used and manufacturing processes involved will dictate how well each ballast is burning a lamp, and whether it is producing 600w at all. Burning is the key word in the last sentence. That is essentially what your ballast is getting done in the lamp as its main function. It is heating up the gases in the lamps by passing an electrical arc across them and burning them to a specific temperature. The light that is given off is really just a by-product to this reaction. It’s a bit like how my brain switching off is a by-product of when my wife is dictating her current list of chores for me to do. The rate at which she reels these chores off and how she phrases things directly relates to how quickly and how much I actually switch off. Conversely for ballasts, the rate at which they supply the electricity, and the quality of the signal they generate will generally dictate how well the lamp will burn, and therefore also the quantity and quality of the resultant light given off.

HOW DID WE GO ABOUT TESTING? I’m fairly sure you can guess the sort of tight budget we run to here. As much as we would love to have our own swanky facilities full of top notch testing equipment, we just can’t afford it (yet). Subsequently we have to work very much within our meagre means. Fortunately for us, I managed to convince the chaps at Maxibright that it would be a good idea for them to let us use their testing equipment. There were a few key bits of high grade technical equipment that ensured that we were able to get highly accurate results for the power drawn and delivered by each ballast.

Power Stabiliser

Contactors

This nifty bit of kit took care of the pesky little problems that come with fluctuating voltage. Not necessarily much of an issue for digital ballasts as they compensate for these fluctuations themselves, but magnetic ballasts will significantly alter their output in Watts as the Voltage supply fluctuates. For every volt that your power supply fluctuates, you can expect a similar change to the tune of 1% of the total wattage; In other words, roughly six watts for every volt.

Fairly basic when compared to the rest of the equipment, but for the custom built 8-way contactor to work in conjunction with the accompanying software meant that eight ballasts could be hooked up at once, all nice and safe like.

Power Analyser

The brain; We simply programmed in the amount of times that we want each ballast to fire, when to take the readings, how many times to repeat it all and hey presto, it goes to work. This software allows precision timings of the readings that you want so you can be sure they are evenly recorded across all ballasts. This takes the awkward failures that come with human error out of the fray, meaning that you don’t have to stand there for days on end waiting for the bulb to cool down, or miss the window to take a reading because you were busy googling cat memes, not that that would happen or anything.

The star bit of equipment in the line-up. It precisely analyses the electrical signals being generated from the plug to the ballast, and then also the ballast to the bulb. It’s the ballast to the bulb measurement that’s the really tricky bit in this. If, like every other normal human being, you don’t own a power analyser that can handle the sort of electrical loads that are sent to the bulb, you can still perform a basic version of this test at home with a simple store bought power meter; correct for the fluctuating voltage as mentioned above, and then deduce the output. Of course this doesn’t give you an exact measurement of what’s being delivered, and that’s the crucial bit of info that we’re after today.

THE LAMP We used the same SunMaster 600w lamp that had been run in for the recommended 100 hours across each of the ballasts that we tested. This ensures that the lamp is at its optimal running capacity and nicely stabilised to drastically reduce the chances of it giving any erroneous readings. We used the same lamp for the sake of consistency across the ballasts by way of a comparison. However, many ballasts are developed and manufactured to work in conjunction with particular lamps, so their performance may well be different when run with the recommended lamp. At the same time, it’s all too common for growers to pick up lamps almost at random, a lot of the time going for the tempting new cheaper versions on the market; This, combined with the time involved with running in all the various lamps, means that the exact nature of the impact that specifically tailored lamps have on ballasts will have to be looked at in a later test.

Software

MAGNETIC BALLASTS Most magnetic ballasts are developed and designed to operate at a stable 240v, and with the power stabiliser we were able to let them do exactly that. In real life however, the area of the country you may be in, and the supply of electricity your area receives will have a direct impact on the output of magnetic ballasts. This is thanks to the relationship between those good old pals, voltage, wattage and amps. For example, in some more industrial areas of cities the supply voltage may well be 250v-260v, significantly higher the normal 240v. Each volt increase will have roughly a one percent increase in total output watts, so roughly six watts per volt in this case. This also applies the other way round: If your input voltage is low then you will see your wattage proportionally lower as a result. It is well worth bearing that in mind when looking at the below data.

Over/Under Power There are definite consequences on the output of your lamp when either under or over powered. 600w lamps are designed to be burned at exactly that. If you ballast under supplies the bulb, the resultant spectrum and intensity of light emitted will be significantly less than optimum. Less PAR light is generally a bad thing if you are a plant. You want as much as you can get to photosynthesise at maximum capacity. I often get called a vegetable and so figure I need as good a spectrum as I can get. Whilst it does increase the total light emitted, overpowering a bulb can also potentially have consequences on the spectrum that are less than desirable. It will also stress and work the lamp to its limits and so is likely to reduce its lifespan somewhat. Either way you look at it, according to British adopted European standard BS EN 60923, the delivered wattage should be to within 3% of the stated value. So plus or minus 18w on a 600w ballast.

The Power Factor This is essentially a measure of how well the capacitors are performing their function. Most electronic equipment, particularly when constantly shifting magnetic forces are involved, have an inherent lag or delay when drawing current, and tend to misalign it with the voltage slightly. The capacitorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s primary purpose is to try and reduce this lag each time the current alternates by providing a short burst of electricity to help correct the signal and minimise this lag. The higher the power factor, the more efficiently the system is running, and the happier I get. So without further ado, here are the results that we obtained for magnetic ballasts:

Manufacturer/ Distributor

Model

Wattage Drawn

Lamp Wattage

Power Factor

Frequency

Maxibright

Eurolux

661.7

600.5

0.89

Maxibright

Compact

664.7

592.9

0.89

Maxibright

Compact Pro

665.7

608.7

0.89

Maxibright

Ipac Pro

661.5

599.2

0.88

Highlight

Pro-Gear

706.4

642.5

0.88

Lumi

Compacta

625.5

571.3

0.89

Century

Mini Corona

658.6

593.5

0.89

Sunmaster

Comet MKII

657.7

599.8

0.89

Sunmaster

Comet MKIII

662.79

593.8

0.89

Eden

Omega

666.5

608.2

0.89

Ikon

Growlush

693.4

634.1

0.88

DIGITAL BALLASTS The future, surely; Just look at them, they look at least thirty percent cooler and more futuristic than magnetic ballasts, so in my head that means they’re going to be at least fifty percent better. I think simply the use of the word ‘digital’ makes me think it has to be more high tech and therefore superior. I’m sure there will be many vinyl fanatics up and down the country seething with those sorts of thoughts. We all know an audiophile or two who swears by sticking to the good old ways, and they may well be completely right in what they say, but I just don’t have room for turntables in my 1.2 Vauxhall Corsa, I’m sorry.

What Wattage Will You Want? That entire argument can fortunately wait for a minute while we get back to business with looking at power. Digital ballasts compensate for the voltage fluctuation that you come across in many areas, and make sure you get a consistent output in wattage delivered to the bulb. Just how consistent that wattage is depends very much on the quality of the various switches, crystals and circuitry that goes into the production. These bits of circuitry and switches allow the digital ballast to offer slightly more in the way of functionality than their magnetic cousins, such as the dimming/overdrive functions. The results we get here are really just a check to see if the ballast is doing what it says on the tin, power wise. For example, when you dim it down to 400w, does it give your lamp 400w? When you stick it on ‘super boost’, just how many extra watts does the ballast deem as super? When I first started asking people about this, I got told: “You won’t see much difference in digitals” by pretty much everyone I asked. I proceeded anyway; I’m fairly stubborn by nature, plus I didn’t really have much in the way as an alternative at the time.

600w Make / Model

W Stated

W Drawn

Dimlux Extreme

600

634

Dimlux Extreme mk2

600

Solistek STK600

The nature of digital ballasts means the overall electrical efficiency is generally much higher than that of their magnetic cousin, so you can expect most to have a power factor just short of 1. It is generally highly unlikely to have a power factor lower than 0.98 with digital ballasts, unless it’s broken. What we do also get as one of our results is the frequency that the ballast is firing the bulb. Digitals ballasts generally operate on very high frequencies compared to magnetics, and can go anywhere up to 120 000Hz. Anyway, enough of the dilly-dallying and on to the results….

Overdrive W Stated

W Drawn

W Delivered 598

660

697

634

598

660

600

661

622

660

Lumatek 600W Dimmable

600

632

598

Lumatek Proﬀesional

600

631

598

Adjustawatt

600

633

Lumi Digita

600

564

Hacienda Digital

600

Sunmaster Digital

600

Nanolux

First Dim W Stated

W Drawn

657

400

428

694

655

480

697

657

440

660

698

657

660

707

670

595

660

698

533

660

642

648

613

660

642

603

660

600

624

586

iSun

600

604

567

Darkstar

600

638

600

628

Maxibright Digilight

Is The Power Factor A Factor?

W Delivered

Second Dim W Delivered

W Delivered

Power Factor

Frequency @600W

W Stated

W Drawn

397

250

276

254

0.99

62404

508

476

440

469

438

0.99

63998

474

442

400

440

409

0.99

63495

400

424

399

250

270

250

0.99

51716

440

475

445

250

272

253

0.99

52168

662

400

433

404

250

278

253

0.98

62042

608

440

413

386

400

343

319

0.99

68837

683

646

450

490

460

360

398

371

0.99

71264

706

663

400

420

388

250

258

235

0.99

68103

450

440

410

300

292

269

0.99

42301

660

661

622

450

440

409

250

327

303

0.99

53218

604

660

689

657

400

428

392

250

281

258

0.99

62143

596

660

684

650

400

416

390

250

268

246

0.99

50118

SUMMARY Broadly speaking I think the variance between the digital ballasts is actually greater than I was expecting. What I initially thought was going to be the boring part where everything turned out to be the same has actually proved to be fairly interesting after all: Yay for investigative journalism. On the magnetic side of things, for the most part the results are fairly standard, one quite low admittedly, but the majority of ballasts performing reassuringly well. The Pro Gear and Grow Lush do seem to kick out a fair whack though. Even though this is technically over the 3%, I can imagine a lot of people having an in built and permanently on ‘super lumens’ setting a fairly attractive prospect. Whether you are looking at choosing between magnetic or digital ballasts, these results are a good starting point for comparing the main brands. Main brands being the key words there. Like our last comparisons, we have concentrated on main branded products available from nationwide distributors. There are ballasts that

fall out of this category but are still widely available that we have not covered. Ballasts made directly for individual stores or ebay ballasts are something that will be involved in future testing. Ultimately we need to provide as much information to you as possible whilst supporting the industry as a whole so it continues to grow. By including store only products and ebay, cheap-as-chips products in these comparisons we are getting these two birds stoned at once. So our first wave of tests on ballasts are out the way (and actually made it in time for the London Show!), and one or two surprising results have initially been thrown out. If you are looking to purchase new ballasts then these results serve as a good way of getting an initial idea of their performance. Wattage is a good indication of how a ballast fairs, but there are many other factors that affect its performance, and many ways to test said factors. Not to mention many ways to dispute said tests. All of which I’m sure we’ll do and hear, but until then, here are some lovely bar graphs that quickly represent all the data we collected.

MAGNETIC BALLASTS

3% tolerance range

660 640 620 600 580 560 540 520 Eurolux

Compact

Compact Pro

Ipac Pro

Pro-Gear

Compacta

Mini Corona

Comet MKII

Comet MKIII

Omega

Growlush

DIGITAL BALLASTS 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Dimlux Extreme

Dimlux Extreme MKII

Solistek STK600

Lumatek 600W Dimmable

Lumatek Proﬀesional

Adjustawatt

STATED OUTPUT

Lumi Digita

Hacienda Digital

Sunmaster Digital

RECORDED OUTPUT

Nanolux

iSun

Darkstar

Maxibright Digilight

! " !# !# $ # #" % # " & " ' ( " # ! " ' ' ! $ " ! ! # # !# % #! )* !# ! " $ #! * !# ! #" ' + # # # % # #

% # ! , # # # '

Expert Opinions:

POWDERED NUTRIENTS You could say that this issue’s look into the nutrient world takes us on a journey back in time, a fantastical voyage to the dawn of the bottled nutrients’ existence. Before the constant flux of the liquid stage of its journey, the contents of that bottle enjoyed a time when it was free from its watery embodiment and it lived a much more modest life, as a simple refined powder. Since its initial powdery golden years, that bottle of liquid nutrient you have there in your hand has been specially diluted down for you, in an effort to make things lovely and simple when mixing up large reservoirs. All you’ve got to do is simply add 4ml per litre to your 250L reservoir. Job’s a good’un. Yes that’s nice and simple on the practical application side of things but thankfully powdered nutrients tend to offer more longevity than this. You might not find yourself going through them as quickly as their liquid cousins and so might save yourself some cheddar in the long run. Talkin’ peas blud. It may be hard for some of you to even contemplate changing your current finely tuned habits of nutrient maintenance. Even changing from one bottle of liquid to a very similar one is a notion that a lot of folk would kiss their teeth at, so to begin using one that in no way resembles what you are used to is likely to induce fear, panic and cold sweats in most. The thing is, this switch could just be the icing that your glistening cake needs. Powdered nutrients are now available to a degree where you can either tailor make yourself your own nutrient solution or even take a more organic approach and combine with the use of beneficial biology. Whether you are looking to directly feed a specifically tweaked nutrient solution or let the powers of Mother Nature work their magic and slowly release portions of food to your plants, you can now easily find the product you are looking for down at your local store. Mother Nature does tend to have a slow hand though and may require a few weeks more to get to her end game, but both versions will undoubtedly get you a harvest that will give you a grin as wide as the Cheshire Cat. Provided they are in the right hands of course.

EXPERT OPINIONS | Green House Powder Feeding

One-component fertilisers are essential for all growers who want a simple, effective and economical way to grow their crops, whether for decoration or for production purposes. The big advantage of one-component fertilisers is that you only need one product for the whole cycle of the plant’s life. The science behind onecomponent mineral fertilisers is to add all the needed minerals into one single product, with the right balance of nutrients for the vegetative growth of the plant as well as the flowering and production. Another advantage of one-component fertilisers is obviously the transport and storage as it’s much easier to transport and store only one product instead of several different ones. Another great attribute of a powdered fertiliser is that it can be stored much longer and under even extreme conditions such as temperature variations, direct sunlight etc. just as long as it’s kept dry. Most fertilisers on the market consist of several packages of separate minerals/ nutrients and the end user is left with the difficulties of mixing them together in the right amounts. When fertilisers are split into several components, it is easier to produce and to package, but it becomes more difficult for the end user to apply, requiring more mixing and usually more measuring until the desired proportions are reached. Apart from the macro elements (N-P-K), one-component fertiliser must contain micro-elements (manganese, iron, zinc, copper, and others) to supply plants with the perfect balance of nutrients. Phosphate salts contained in fertiliser usually render micro-elements inactive, so it is necessary to use a process called chelation, where micro-elements are bound to an acid called EDTA, for optimal plant absorption.

Powder Feeding: GROW Available in 500 gram box (50 bags of 10 grams) 1kg bag / 2.5 kg bag / 25 kg bag

With chelated one-component fertiliser plants have all the necessary minerals readily available and any harmful chemical reactions that can happen when mixing several components are avoided. Powder Feeding uses chelated minerals that are ready to be absorbed by the plants and the results speak for themselves. The Grow formula is specifically designed for any plant in vegetative growth, or for green plants that do not flower. The Long Flowering formula is designed for plants with a flowering time of ten weeks or longer. It allows them to stay green and healthy through a longer flowering period, making better flowers and fruits and increasing overall production. The Hybrids formula is designed for hybrid plants with a medium flowering time, and it is ideal for all hybrids between two cultivars. It gives hybrid plants the right mineral balance to perform at best and to express all their complex traits. The Short Flowering formula is designed for plants and flowers with a short flowering period of 8 weeks or less. It allows for maximum development in a short time, and does not leave traces in the medium.

Powder Feeding is the result of several years of trial and error grows at the Green House Seed Company. Frustrated by the lack of plant-specific fertilisers on the market, we decided in 2005 to start researching our own formulas using our large database of different varieties. Over a period of 7 years we developed 4 specific one-component mineral fertilisers, one dedicated to vegetative growth and mother plants, and three dedicated to growth and flowering of plants with different flowering times which can be used on any medium. Our philosophy is: “keep it simple”. We provide growers with a one-component fertiliser that works perfectly during the vegetative growth as well as the flowering period. Powder Feeding allows beginners to obtain great results without complicated measuring techniques, but we also give the possibility to experts to fine-tune their feeding schedule if they measure pH and EC so that they can dose the feeding proportionally during the cycle. The advantages of Powder Feeding: Easy to use / Long shelf-life / Easy to transport Economical / 100% mineral - nothing synthetic Distributed by: Growth Technology www.growthtechnology.com / www.powderfeeding.ch

pH meters

for easy & accurate pH testing

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Correct pH levels in growing mediums & nutrient solutions is essentialâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

www.etiltd.com

EXPERT OPINIONS | Bio Tabs

Organic growing is based on the production of plant nutrients by fungi, bacteria and other soil organisms. Organic growing is less labor intensive than using fertilizers, and yields genuine natural harvests, free of toxins. This very brief explanation of soil processes outlines how this affects your soil. In nature, leaves fall to the ground, animals defecate where they want and animal carcasses decompose into the soil. Organic (animal and plant) remains perish, serving as food for plants and trees. Nature has no waste. In the forest, trees never need to be fertilized or watered. The forest feeds itself. Organically. FERTILIZER A grower basically has two options to feed plants. The first option is force feeding plant roots with synthetically manufactured NPK nourishment. In this case the plants no longer need to do their best to get nourishment. It logically follows that the root system does not develop at the vigorous rate that it should. These plants tend to be vulnerable to diseases and have little natural resistance of their own. ORGANIC The other option is more natural. In the forest, organic ‘waste’ is bio-degraded by earthworms, insects, protozoa, nematodes, fungi and bacteria. A part of the organic waste in the forest therefore finds its way into the ‘stomachs’ and bodies of microbes and insects. Underground the insects eat microbes and the microbes each other. In this process of eating and being eaten, fecal matter and other substances are produced. The fecal matter is valuable plant food, full of ammonium, nitrate, phosphorus and many other nutrients.

TRAINING INCREASES STRENGTH The natural way of feeding a plant is less direct than synthetic fertilizers. Plants have to do their best to get the food offered by the soil. That produces ‘welltrained’ root systems that can take a beating. What’s more, fungi and bacteria also produce antibiotics and vitamins, protecting plants naturally against pathogens. This slow, cumbersome, organic way of feeding produces healthy, strong and resilient plants.

“A rich and varied soil provides plants with everything they need to survive.” SOIL LIFE Soil life, the collective name for fungi, bacteria, protozoa, nematodes, insects and earthworms, is a community in itself. A rich and varied soil provides plants with everything they need to survive. Plants attract many microbes in the few millimeters around their roots by secreting sugar, an important basic foodstuff for the microbes. This means that in the area around the roots of plants, the so-called ‘rhizosphere’, there could be up to a hundred times as many organisms as elsewhere in the soil. This combination of the plant fueling the microbes, and then in turn the soil biology feeding the plant, is called the soil food web.

BioTabs imitate nature. No more, no less. BIOTABS Available in 10 tabs, 100 tabs or as part of a kit.

Cultivating with BioTabs is ultra-simple. Set the plants in a pot. Add the BioTabs , fungi, bacteria and humus once. Thereafter the soil life does the work for you. The cultivator just needs to water the plants regularly. And even that can be automated by using AutoPot. All you have to do is fill the AutoPot tank with water! That’s how easy growing plants organically has become. UK Distribution by: Autopot and Ikon www.autopot.co.uk / www.ikon-international.com www.biotabs.eu

EXPERT OPINIONS | RAW

Soluble fertilizers and biostimulants have been used for many years in commercial gardening applications, but is there a future for solubles for hobby growers? With the increased availability of clean, easy-to-use soluble powders, many hobby gardeners are saying, “yes!” Technical-grade minerals and water-soluble biostimulants give growers precise control over plant nutrition. If the crop needs a little extra phosphorus in a starter fertilizer, it makes sense to add just the right amount of phosphorus, without throwing the other minerals out of balance. On the other hand, if plants need extra potassium during the final stages of ripening, the right potassium supplement will help sweeten the fruit without adding extra nitrates or phosphates. Solubles allow gardeners to practice what I call “spoon-feeding”, giving the plants exactly what they need when they need it. With a little practice, gardeners can customize their feeding schedules to match the exact needs of their plants during every stage of growth and in any growing environment. Soluble powders can help save money, too. Solubles are highly-concentrated, so a little goes a long way. For example, a half-pound of clean, plant-available phosphate can easily supplement up to 800 gallons of nutrient solution, making it more economical to use and easier to handle. In contrast, liquid products often include hidden costs for mixing, bottling and packaging, not to mention the cost of shipping water! Extra shipping weight also increases fuel usage, contributing to the carbon footprint of the product and pollution of the environment. To make matters worse, pre-mixed liquid products are often adulterated with stabilizers and dyes, and some even contain potent chemical preservatives to improve shelf life. Soluble powders contain no stabilizers, dyes or chemical preservatives, and they become 100% soluble the moment they are mixed in water. Solubles remain very biologically active, a huge benefit when using or storing biostimulants. Onceaddedtowaterandplacedonashelf,manybiostimulantsstarttodegrade.

RAW Solubles Available in 1 gram / 2oz (56 grams) / 8oz (226 grams) 32oz (906 grams) / 10lb (4.54Kg) / 55lb (25Kg) RRP 2 Oz: £9.50

For example, seaweed extracts, amino acids, B-vitamins and cane molasses contain carbon compounds. Once added to water, microorganisms start to break down the compounds immediately, degrading the biological activity of the molecules. That’s why many liquid biostimulant products come in such expensive bottles and use high levels of anti-microbial additives and preservatives. But in dry form, soluble biostimulant products are always as fresh as the day they were packaged. Just remember, not all powdered solubles are alike, and not all of them are 100% water soluble. Make sure that you select only the finest raw products when using solubles, obtained from a trusted source. For example, “agriculturegrade” fertilizers often contain high levels of heavy metals and other impurities, making them unacceptable for hydroponics or high-quality gardens. The best solubles are made from the purest ingredients, providing clean, 100% plant-available minerals for your garden. The same is true when choosing soluble products. Some manufacturers use the “shot-gun” approach, including both soluble and insoluble components in the mixture to save cost. The insoluble compounds can fall out of solution and turn to sludge, or worse, contribute to unwanted molds and mildews. The highest-quality solubles take a more precise approach. Through careful selection and processing, the soluble components of the biostimulants are separated from the insoluble compounds. Therefore, when the powders are mixed with water, they remain highly soluble and biologically active. If you enjoy gardening, you will love working with solubles.

RAW Solubles are 12 individualized Plant Nutrients and Biostimulants in a 100% water soluble form. This individualization allows the gardener maximum control and precise custom formulation by simply adding RAW to water or existing solution. RAW contains the highest percentages of active ingredients found on the market, resulting in very low dilution ratios. RAW Solubles incur no added manufacturing cost from adding: fillers, stabilisers, or water, allowing us to pass this cost saving on to the gardener. This is why the trend towards RAW is growing so rapidly! Distributed by: Easy Grow Ltd www.Easy-Grow.co.uk / www.RAW-Solubles.com

Powdered Nutrients

A selection of other powdered nutrients currently available on the market...

ADVANCED NUTRIENTS BUD BLOOD

ADVANCED NUTRIENTS BIG BUD

HOUSE AND GARDEN SHOOTING POWDER

GROTEK MONSTER GROW

GROTEK BLOSSON BLASTER

GROTEK CARBO-MAX

GROTEK BLACK PEARL

HUMBOLDT NUTRIENTS BIG UP POWDER

FOX FARM CHA CHING

FOX FARM OPEN SESAME

FOX FARM BEASTIE BLOOMZ

PLANT LIFE JUNGLE GREEN

PLANT LIFE BETTER BLOOM

PLANT LIFE YIELD UP

PLANT LIFE CAL-POW

GHE MINERAL MAGIC

Guide Noob’s A TO INDOOR GROW LIGHTS When growing plants indoors one of the most important factors to consider is lighting. Light drives the majority of generative plant processes, without a good source of light you’re destined to piss into the proverbial wind. So what light should you use to grow plants? There are many types of lights to choose from in your local grow shop, each having an application for growing your favourite plants without help from the sun.

plants. CFLs come in a range of wattages, most commonly 125W, 150W and 250W, and in red or blue colour spectrums (also called warm white for red and cool white for blue). The cool whites are for propagation and vegetative growth whereas the warm whites are used for flowering or fruiting crops. CFL’s have an integrated mini electronic ballast at their base, needed to ignite and run the lamp, which explains why they are relatively costly. Knowledge Bomb – if you plan to supplement extra light into your HPS lit grow room, it would be best to use a cool white CFL as the extra blue will help balance the largely orange/red HPS and provide better crop quality as well as yield.

Fluorescents Fluorescent lighting is very common for growing plants these days. Generally, fluorescent lights are low intensity and mainly used for propagation or for supplementary light. Growing plants to full maturity is possible with fluorescents but yields will be much lower than other more efficient types of lighting. The most common types of fluorescents use for growing are T5s and CFLs.

CFLs

Most common: 125W, 150W & 250W

T5s

Most common: 61cm tube - 24W

White spectrum mainly used

122cm tube - 54W

Spectrum Red (warm white) Blue (cool white)

This type of tubular fluorescent lamp is called a T5 due to the fluorescent tube diameter, which is 16mm. The slightly wider T8 tubes (25.4mm) are commonly used in commercial and office lighting, and can also be used for growing, but the narrower T5 tubes are more efficient and have a significantly higher output, so are more common for indoor gardens.

CFL stands for Compact Fluorescent Lamp. These are the same type of energy saving bulbs the government is pushing down our throats for lighting our homes, only the ones for growing plants are much larger (and therefore have a higher output) with the right blend of gas inside the tubes to emit light suitable for growing

T5 tubes need to be used in a fixture that contains an electronic ballast. Fixtures available in grow shops will typically run either one, two or four T5 tubes. The most common tube lengths are either 61cm (2ft) using 24W or 122cm (4ft) using 54W, due to this thin tube spread over a wide area the light distribution is very good and can be positioned close to plants without sacrificing the light spread. T5 tubes are available in a range of colour spectrums for use throughout the plant life cycle, but the most

popular use is for propagation using cool white tubes. You can successfully use T5 fixtures for vegetative growth but their low intensity does not make them very suitable for productive fruiting or flowering plants.

Metal Halide Lamps Most common lamps:

High Pressure Sodium (HPS) Metal Halide (MH)

Knowledge Bomb – T5 lamps lose their intensity over time. You should expect them to last for around 24,000 hours (which is about 4 years of constant vegetative growth!), but they will lose around 5% of their output in the first 6,000-8,000 hours, then maintain 90-95% for the rest of their 24,000 hour rated life.

PL Lamps

Most common: 55W - 2 or 4 lamp Fixtures options

Metal halide lamps are a great choice of lamp if you are looking to promote vegetative growth. They typically emit a broad spectrum of light that is particularly high in the blue end of the spectrum, making them ideal for propagation and vegetative growth. You can grow plants to full maturity with MH lamps and the quality of the crop will often be great, but overall yields will be significantly lower in comparison to using HPS.

PL lamps are basically long 50cm double tube compact fluorescents but do not have an integrated ballast. The ballast is part of the fixture, making lamp replacements cost effective. The most popular wattage for grow lights is 55W and found in 2 lamp or 4 lamp fixtures options. These types of fixtures are close to the efficiency of T5 units, and used to be very common, but have become less popular with growers over the past 5 years due to less manufacturers supporting this type of technology. These are great for propagation.

High Intensity Discharge Lamps By far the most popular type of lighting for growing indoors is high intensity discharge (HID). These are gas filled lamps that need an external ballast to start them up, and maintain the voltage to the lamp to keep them running. Typically the lamps are screwed into a reflector and the reflector is plugged into the ballast, although integrated complete fixtures are also available. The two HID lamps that currently rule the growing world are High Pressure Sodium (HPS) and Metal Halide (MH).

Knowledge Bomb - Plants grown with an MH lamp during the vegetative cycle will typically have a shorter internodal length and a more squat bushier growth habit in comparison to HPS. While the majority of MH lamps on the market have a mixture of gases in the lamp specifically designed for vegetative growth, there are some newer types of metal halide lamps available that have tuned their mixture of gasses for fruiting or flowering crops, as well as high UV and ‘full spectrum’ lamps. Knowledge Bomb - Using a standard MH lamp or one with a spectral output designed to finish a crop cycle in the final few weeks will enhance terpene and essential oil production, leading to a better quality crop with increased flavours and aromas!

‘Light drives the majority of generative plant processes, without a good source of light you’re destined to piss into the proverbial wind.’

High Pressure Sodium Lamp

Most common: Dual spectrum lamps

interference that is a problem with remote ballast systems. If you are looking for the highest output and most efficient form of HPS, look no further than a 400V fixture. Light Emitting Plasma (LEP) is an interesting technology that has some great uses in growing plants indoors. Unlike HPS and MH light sources, LEP is more like a solar simulator; providing a much wider spectrum of light more like the sun. This type of light definitely has a profound effect on plants, particularly by increasing the quality of the crop. But unfortunately they are very expensive and inefficient, offering around half the amount of plant useable light per watt in comparison to HPS. This makes LEP lights great for supplementing HPS, but poor for growing plants as a sole light source.

HPS lamps are currently the most efficient source of light for growing plants indoors. They can be used for vegetative or fruiting/flowering growth, but the largely red/orange spectrum they emit makes them ideal for the fruiting/flowering cycle. The spectrum of light emitted from HPS lamps varies slightly between brands due to the manufacturers using different mixtures of gasses in the lamp. Commonly, the brands are grouped into straight sodium lamps which are high in red light, or ‘dual spectrum’ lamps which are still high in red but also have a small amount of blue light. Dual spectrum lamps are often the preferred choice for indoor gardeners as their more balanced light output leads to better results. Knowledge Bomb - HID lamps don’t last forever, and their light output diminishes pretty quickly. HPS lamps generally lose 1% in output for every 1000 hours for the first 5000 hours of use. MH lamps typically degrade much faster, loosing up to 9% in the first 2000 hours of use, and up to 20% after 6000 hours. How often you change your HID lamps really depends on the cost-benefit. For example, after a crop cycle you might work out your HPS lamp output is down 2%. 2 new 600W High quality HPS lamps will cost you £45. However if a consequent 2% yield decrease (potentially more by the end of the second crop) is going to cost you £120, it makes perfect sense to change them.

Other Light Technologies You may well wander into your local grow shop and see a different type of grow light being offered; maybe a 400V HPS, plasma light, possibly a CDM or if you are really unlucky then maybe an LED. So what are these new types of lights… 400V HPS is the most efficient type of HPS lighting that has come to market in the last few years, coming straight out of the Dutch greenhouse industry. They use an electronic ballast to provide a higher voltage to a specially designed HPS lamp, offering around 7% more plant useable light than standard HPS systems. They are mostly integrated fixtures, with the lamp and reflector fixed to the ballast; this significantly reduces the electromagnetic

Ceramic Discharge Metal Halide (CDM) technology is gaining some great momentum, and this year the lighting giants Philips launched their Greenpower 315W CDM lamp offering the promise of full spectrum lighting with efficiency very close to that of HPS. CDM technology has not been adopted by many lighting manufacturers but the current consensus is that these are the type of fixture to go for to supplement HPS as well as potentially growing plants to full maturity. Although it’s still early days, CDM is likely to become the choice of the connoisseur looking for the best quality produce. Unfortunately, LEDs have quite a bad name in the indoor growing world these days. Many companies over the past 5 years have preyed upon the gullible indoor grower willing to part with hard earned cash for a promise of more light and less heat for less electricity. This seems to have turned into a wild goose chase, with many growers trying to adopt LED technology resulting in poor yields. If you look into LED technology and how it works you will quickly find that on a watt for watt basis LED gives out less light and more heat than current well designed HPS fixtures. There may be some decent LEDs out there, but the majority are not worth trialling, so hold tight for a few years until a half decent unit comes to market that is well priced. Where LED does have some very good promise is in augmenting the crop using specific wavelengths of light to produce the type of growth that you require. Knowledge bomb – if you want guaranteed good results while staying as efficient as possible in your electrical use then use T5 for propagation, MH for vegetative growth and HPS for fruiting flowering. Unless you are from the future, then use your LEDs to quadruple your yields, minimum.

‘If you are looking for the highest output and most efficient form of HPS, look no further than a 400V fixture.’

100FILMS

TO WATCH BEFORE YOU SNUFF IT:

HORROR Life itself can be said to be one long, tedious horror show. We are the protagonists of our own story, a story with no plot, and one that ends not just with the hero’s demise, but ultimately the demise of every single character, including all the extras – no matter how short-lived their appearance. It’s a particularly bleak story. Despite the dullness of the decades-long build-up, The End, when it looms, still has the power to strike terror in our hearts; to wake us up at 4am in a cold sweat. Fear plays an important role in the human psyche. It keeps us honest and binds us together. And while our early ancestors were primarily concerned with being eaten alive by big cats, bears and wolves, today our fears revolve around plane crashes, disease, or being without an Internet connection. It’s also great fodder for the writer or filmmaker. So it’s particularly germane, in this series of articles about films to watch before one’s own miserable departure from the physical realm, that we should come to the Horror genre. What’s the appeal of horror? To watch a horror film is to pull one’s own face into a chainsaw and somehow walk away unscathed. It’s to face The End, cower, laugh, and have a beer afterwards. Exposure to one’s fears, and subsequent survival, is empowering.

This edition: Horror. Films focussing on fear and terror, sometimes of a supernatural bent, but almost always involving evil forces and death in its many guises.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre DIRECTOR: Tobe Hooper (1974) Although Hitchcock’s Psycho is credited as being the first significant “slasher” film, Texas Chainsaw Massacre gave birth, placenta and all, to the masked-madman-killing-teenagers subgenre. Without Leatherface paving the way there would have been no Friday 13th, Halloween, or Nightmare on Elm Street… The notion of the murderous country bumpkin firmly rooted itself in the collective consciousness in the early 1970s, perhaps inspired by John Boorman’s Deliverance. And here the concept is taken a step further. A group of teenagers make a road trip to their dead grandfather’s house in the country, and a series of now well-established tropes follow – they meet a knifewielding hitchhiker, the van runs out of gas, and they stumble upon The Worst Possible House in the neighbourhood. The shoe-string budget lends the film a cinéma vérité feel, and combined with the tight script, fine performances and pervading psychedelic insanity – Texas Chainsaw Massacre earns its place in the pantheon of truly great horror movies.

Alien Director: Ridley Scott (1979)

The brilliance of Alien, besides the darkly surreal H.R. Giger-inspired art design, and the revolutionary decision to cast a tough female lead, was the ingenious play on a multitude of different fears – those of isolation, creepy crawlies, the Uncanny, body horror, monsters, rape… Stephen King once described the three types of terror: “the Grossout: the sight of a severed head tumbling down a ﬂight of stairs … The Horror: the unnatural, spiders the size of bears … And the last and worse one: Terror … when the lights go out and you feel something behind you, you hear it, you feel its breath against your ear.” Alien combines all three to outstanding effect. Ridley Scott began his career as a set designer, and attention to detail in his sets is a hallmark of his work as a director. Giger won an Oscar for his creation of the “Xenomorph”, still the most terrifying costume design in cinematic history, and rather like Spielberg’s Jaws, it was made all the more effective for only being shown in ﬂeeting glimpses.

Dawn of the Dead Director: George Romero (1978) As The Texas Chainsaw Massacre did for the “slasher” subgenre, this seminal horror classic from Romero provided the blueprint for pretty much every single zombie film that followed. Until Romero hit the scene zombies appeared exclusively in voodoo-themed films as reanimated corpses; the slaves of witchdoctors. Here he single-handedly invented the modern zombie movie, mixing flesh-eating horror with the disaster movie model. A disparate group of survivors, faced with an overwhelming onslaught of the Undead, are forced to work together to survive what appears to be The Apocalypse. Forced to barricade themselves in a shopping mall, the film soon becomes a satire on modern Man’s unthinking embrace of consumerism (at one point survivors question why the zombies keep coming to the mall: “They don’t know why; they just remember. Remember that they want to be in here”). This element of social commentary, along with its black humour, has been noticeably absent from Dawn of the Dead’s many pale imitations.

Don’t Look Now DIRECTOR: Nicholas Roeg (1973) Don’t Look Now, Roeg’s highly stylised, supernatural horror, is lifted by exceptional performances from Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland. Based on a Daphne du Maurier story, Don’t Look Now follows a grieving couple to a wintry Venice in Italy. There they hope to move on from the devastating loss of their young daughter. Sutherland’s character John is tasked with restoring a crumbling church (a metaphor perhaps for the couple’s fragile psyches), against a backdrop of mysterious murders. A chance encounter with an elderly blind lady who claims to be able to “see” their daughter initiates a series of eerie premonitions, with John embarking on a fateful self-prophetic investigation. The ambitious editing fragments the narrative, splicing past, present and future to dizzying effect, while the foreboding, heavy score compliments the sense of menace. Darkly erotic, beautiful and aching with anguish, Roeg has created an ominous masterpiece here.

The Shining DIRECTOR: Stanley Kubrick (1980)

Off season the Overlook hotel (a location with a terrible secret) closes down due to the severity of the winter weather. Writer Jack Torrence (a man with a murky past of his own) takes a job “hotel-sitting” while the staff make off to their homes to hibernate. As his interviewer warns, “The only thing that can get a bit trying up here during the winter is, uh, a tremendous sense of isolation.” Before long that isolation, along with a malign force within the hotel itself, causes Jack to unhinge. Jack Nicholson’s descent into axe-wielding madness is so powerful, so convincing, that one worries Kubrick’s famously tough approach with his actors might actually have been pushing him into a homicidal frenzy. As with all Kubrick films, the attention to detail is extraordinary, with every shot framed beautifully. The film is particularly noticeable for the pioneering use of Steadicam, with the scenes of Danny on his tricycle ride through the corridors of the Overlook, punctuated with a series of terrifying visions, adding greatly to the unbearable claustrophobic tension. 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

INDIE

Indie-cent Exposure...

Welcome back to the A-Z of Music here at Hydromag. We really hope you’ve been enjoying our choices so far and if you haven’t, to borrow a phrase from Armando Iannucci, do you like sex? Do you like to travel? Well then f**k off! The term ‘Indie’ started being thrown around as a new genre after a number of bands from ‘Independent’ labels began to compete for the first time with the corporate giants of the industry like Universal, EMI and Sony BMG. As a backlash to the gimmicky major label, synth heavy, 80s pop machine, ‘Indie Rock’ came along and much to the chagrin of the major labels blew the pop scene out of the water. Bands like The Smiths, REM and later Nirvana, all on smaller Independent labels, achieved international success, outselling the major labels, challenging the landscape of the industry. Early ‘Indie’ music, being so different, also polarised the market. Either you were part of this new artistic movement, intoxicated by Morrisey’s anxious, introspective longing and poetic honesty, or you were with the Top 40 ‘phonies’. Because of this obvious dichotomy, ‘Indie’ became not only a reference to the label a band was on, but a descriptive term for certain musical aesthetics too. It came to be that any music that fitted in with these early successful, ‘art house’ bands’ sensibilities, from then on would be described as being ‘Indie’. ‘Indie’ was a much needed shot in the arm to the music scene and it satisfyingly shook up the major labels in a big way. Their ‘corporate machine’ had been beaten by people’s desire for authenticity and love of the honesty of the creative impulse. It was so successful, that big business sold ‘Indie’ back to us, turning it into a slightly grotesque version of itself (if you aren’t cool, don’t worry. To look authentic, wear this Ramones T shirt from Topshop.) It is now a kitsch phrase tinged with post-modern irony, but its origins were a clear battle between the commercial side of music and the purity of creative expression. ‘Without deviations from the norm, progress isn’t possible’ Frank Zappa The problem with any art as business is that the focus, of say an executive in charge of a major label, is ‘How can we sell more of these?’ and their performance is judged purely on sales, so if something does well, they keep making it. They want to create a ‘normal’ in music and will curse once people get bored. Now more than ever, the people in charge of major labels champion what will make money and have zero interest in

promoting what they think is good. The people in charge don’t even know what good sounds like; it is no longer a prerequisite of the job. They are also brilliant at manipulating the mass media marketing machine. In the 1970s an A and R man would go to gigs every night looking to sign bands they thought might change the world, now that search for a great band is over. You can employ clever ad men to create a circus around minimal talents you can find anywhere and now with the rise of the Internet, people are all in one convenient place to cajole. People are not flocking in their millions, but in their billions to acts where creativity and talent is not the draw, but the shared daily exposure to something famous. It is through a type of ‘heteronomous force’, totally separate to the actual music that they sell their product. The ‘rags to riches’ journey is a good example of this, where the act’s rise can be vicariously shared with fans. Through reality TV or an ‘amateur’ Youtube video, ordinary people are catapulted into stardom and fans are made to feel special for being part of this ‘amazing’ journey that is really a huge piece of manipulative marketing for profit. The value of music obviously is in the perception of the listener. Fans of modern pop are getting something back and a 13 year old that cries to a One Direction ballad and shrugs expressionless at Nina Simone’s tear jerking ‘4 Women’ isn’t wrong to like one over another, but they were moved by something of what most intelligent human beings would perceive as of a lesser value. What can be unequivocally agreed, is longevity. Nina Simone will be listened to for centuries, but One Direction will almost certainly be finished by 2016, probably sooner, cast into the anals of history. Why? Why won’t One Direction appeal to new teenagers in 10 years’ time? Because it is the heteronomous force behind them that raises their appeal, not their value as artists and once that force is exhausted; there is nothing spiritually nutritious, or even vaguely interesting about them to maintain any interest. We seemed to have reached a nadir in mainstream music, where it is hard to name even one act on a major label that makes music with any artistic credibility at all. Independent labels still value the holistic nature of the creative impulse. Music is a beautiful distraction, a life enhancing, engaging, restorative, endless joy. If all labels looked at music purely as business, where would we be? As a celebration, this is a small handful of the most creative bands we’ve come across in the alt rock sphere of the past few years.

GRIZZLY BEAR

VECKATIMIEST (WARP - 2009) Psychedelic Electro Orchestral Jazz Folk Rock outfit, Grizzly Bear from Brooklyn, New York are quite possibly the most creative, talented and original band around today. Normally in a good band, you are lucky to have maybe one special member, like an outstanding singer, or an excellent guitarist. Most great bands have one, maybe two captivating musicians, but Grizzly Bear similar to country rockers ‘The Band’, have four totally unique, incredible musicians, that all bring something different to the mix and with it create a union that is something evocative, beautiful and genuinely special. There is limitless depth, tenderness, class and feeling in all that they do, they are musicians’ musicians, that get better and better the more you listen to them. If you have any shred of interest in alternative, contemporary, intelligent music, look no further.

“Grizzly Bear have four totally unique, incredible musicians, that all bring something different to the mix and with it create a union that is something evocative, beautiful and genuinely special.”

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE

MIDLAKE

MERRIWEATHER POST PAVILLION (DOMINO - 2009)

TRIALS OF VAN OCCUPANTHER (BELLA UNION - 2006)

It’s quite hard to sound truly different to other bands these days in contemporary music, sounding good and different is even harder. Enter stage left the Animal Collective, who have almost created an entirely new genre with their neo-freak folk psychedelic electro pop. It sounds unlike anything you will have ever listened to and it’s hard not to fall heavily for the playfulness, optimism and downright originality of the group. Beach Boys style harmonies, heavy synths, polyphonic rhythms and at the centre a relentlessly positive, creative heart, that sweeps all before it in a transcendent, almost religious euphoria.

Midlake, from Denton, Texas, are an excellent ensemble band, similar to Grizzly Bear in the sense that the talent pool is evenly spread across the group, creating a sound where the sum is greater than its parts. The Trials Of Van Occupanther is a bizarre concept album, loosely based on a child’s computer game, where you take control of a ranger, surviving in the woods. Abstract, bucolic themes ensue, with nostalgia tinged longing for a life living off the land. The album is almost genre-less and fairytale like, with extraordinary use of strings and keyboards with the master stroke being how adept frontman Tim Smith is at his melodic, beautifully spare singing and evocative lyric writing. An absolute masterpiece.

THE BESNARD LAKES

WHITE DENIM ARE THE DARK HORSE (JAGJAGUWAR - 2007) Montreal act The Besnard Lakes, are a spectacular shoe-gaze, post-rock act, fronted by husband and wife team Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas. They have a cinematic feel, contrasting light with dark, despair with optimism, creating an almost Lynchian feel to their sound. It’s no surprise then that they have been asked to record some original scores for film. You should listen to them because they are a fiercely original band with a massive sound, equal parts nuanced/intelligent and tender, contrasted with epic sweeping, distorted heavy guitar sounds with fantastic use of effects. They are a special band and highly recommended.

MAC DEMARCO

WORKOUT HOLIDAY (FULL TIME HOBBY - 2007) White Denim are an exceptionally talented three piece garage, psychedelic, rock (now four piece) band from Austin. There aren’t many modern bands that you could say would hold their own against the likes of Cream and The Hendrix Experience, but White Denim aren’t most bands. They are a fantastic rock and roll group, with every member being superb at their discipline, playing (especially their jazz trained drummer) with a sense of urgency, playfulness, potency and virtuosity. Live they are absolutely spectacular, garnering a reputation for being one of the best acts in modern rock

“There aren’t many modern bands that you could say would hold their own against the likes of Cream and The Hendrix Experience, but White Denim aren’t most bands. ” SALAD DAYS (CAPTURED TRACKS - 2014) Released this year, lo-fi Canadian Mac Demarco has broken out with the fantastic Salad Days. Described as ‘slacker’ rock, or in Mac’s own words jizz-jazz, the album’s strength, similar to Kurt Vile and Ariel Pink, is its laid back DIY approach that creates this them and us feel, either you get it or you don’t. Mac takes you into his confidence and gives you a guided tour of his world, that feels all the more rewarding for being so personal. Strangely light and throwaway, but simultaneously affecting, like finding an un-classic beauty attractive, you somehow feel a bit intelligent for liking him. That isn’t to say he doesn’t fully deserve the appreciation, this collection of songs is absolutely superb and will not leave your mind for months. His guitar playing is melodic and understated, Mac DeMarco is fast becoming an indie superhero. The album is an absolute delight and highly highly recommended.

“ His guitar playing is melodic and understated, Mac DeMarco is fast becoming an indie superhero.” 50

“A highly anticipated book” MAXIMUM YIELD

“How to become the perfect indoor gardener” THE INDOOR GARDENER

“Outstanding drawings. I keep my reference copy close at hand” JORGE CERVANTES

“A richly illustrated bible of hydroponic gardening” HYDROPONEAST MAGAZINE

“William Texier is considered one of the most knowledgeable hydroponics experts worldwide” SOILLESS GARDENING

THE WORLDWIDE REFERENCE

Available from Growth Technology, Highlight Horti., Hydrofarm, BWGS and major distributors worldwide. mamapublishing.com

EXHIBITORS A-D

ATAMI BV BOOTH 73, 74, 89, 90, 91, 92 A renowned technical biological research bureau since 1997 Atami BV has been busy since 1997 composing the best for your crop; Liquid plant nutrition, bio-stimulators, and substrates essential to both professional and hobby growers. Through continuous testing and product improvement, Atami meets high quality standards across a wide selection for any growing method. With a large customer base in more than 40 countries worldwide, you can truly call it a professional botanical research bureau.

www.atami.com

AUTOPOT GLOBAL Ltd BOOTH 43 From the Eden Project to Ethiopia, AutoPot supply watering solutions in over 40 countries worldwide. AutoPot watering systems require no pumps, timers or electricity; are modular and simple to expand and operate using gravity pressure alone. AutoPot is the only watering system that allows the plant to be in control of its own requirements. Visit the AutoPot booth at GROW2014 and ask for a demo of our new product; the easy2GO Kit. www.autopot.co.uk

BLOOM BOOTH 65 Nutrients United Kingdom BIOGREEN BOOTH 45

BUDMASTER LED Ltd BOOTH 9 - 10

BioGreen is a complete range of fertilizers, highly concentrated bio-organic nutrients and substrates, developed and produced in Holland.

Budmaster LED has gone where no other LED Grow Light has gone before. That’s right; we’ve got the mainstream shops and professional growers all raving about our LED Grow Lights.

www.agriculturalorganics.com BioGreen’s carefully researched and composed substrates are the most complete range in Europe with 13 kinds of substrates and Hydrorocks. Customers can make a combination of BioGreen substrates according to their own preference.

CAN FILTERS / IDEM BOOTH 77

We beat HPS, Plasma, CFL and all other LED Grow Lights out there hands down 100% Pure PAR Power. Using superior UK design and German Engineered Osram diodes we give more PAR and Penetration than any other horticultural light available.

Having taken the Dutch market by storm, BioGreen products are now available and growing in popularity internationally.

www.bio-green.info

www.canfilters.com

CENTURY GROW SYSTEMS BOOTH 61

COCO GURU BOOTH 40

www.centurygrowsystems.co.uk

CULTURE INDOOR BOOTH 1

DUTCH AIR SUPPLIES BOOTH 2 - 3

Hydroponic Wholesaler France

Hydroponic Technology Holland

www.cultureindoor.co.uk

www.airsupplies.nl

www.budmaster.co.uk

EXHIBITOR MAP

EXHIBITOR MAP KEY

EXHIBITORS D-G

DUTCH GARDEN SUPPLIES BOOTH 33 & 76 Hydroponic Wholesaler United Kingdom

www.dgsupplies.co.uk

Horticultural W holesale

DUTCHPRO UK BOOTH 17

EASY-GROW LIMITED BOOTH 55

We have samples of our strongest and most distinguished products; Explode &Take Root, which are the most popular products in the USA, Canada & Europe! As well as information about our award winning, cost saving products; starter packs, samples, stimulators and much more will also be available.

Easy Grow have been supplying wholesalers and retailers worldwide since 1998.

BOOTH 32 LED Lighting United Kingdom

FARM UPWARDS BOOTH 63

Win all kinds of gadgets and products related to Amsterdam’s original - and only - nutrient company with our Wheel of Fortune.

With a wide range of products available for both beginners and experts, whether you’re growing outside or indoors, we have the supplies you need. From RAW water soluble nutrients, award winning Green Planet nutrients and the original Exhale CO2 bag to the original ONA odour neutraliser.

Experience Amsterdam’s hospitality at booth nr 17

We have an extensive knowledge of indoor systems, stocking only the highest quality and innovative hydroponic supplies.

www.dutchpro.nl/uk

www.easy-grow.co.uk

FIELD MARSHALL BOOTH 52 Nutrients United Kingdom GAVITA HOLLAND BOOTH 71

www.farmupwards.com

www.ﬁeldmarshal.info

GARDEN HIGH PRO BOOTH 67 Hydroponic Wholesaler Europe

www.gardenhighpro.com

The original horticultural lighting company, Gavita’s thirty years of accumulated knowledge and innovations are now de facto standards in horticultural lighting. In 2009 they changed the hobby market by introducing highly efficient double ended lamps, complete fixtures and plasma lighting. Based in The Netherlands, Gavita serves customers worldwide. As a development partner of Philips, General Electric and LUXIM, Gavita designs and produces state of the art electronic ballasts, high efficiency reflectors and complete fixtures.

www.gavita-holland.com

EXHIBITORS G-H

GORILLA GROW TENTS BOOTH 84

GROTECH Ltd BOOTH 28, 29, 30 & 31

Grow tent Manufacturers USA

Hydroponic Wholesaler United Kingdom GROWTH TECHNOLOGIES BOOTH 11

www.gorillagrowtent.com

www.grotechonline.co.uk

GREEN LAMP BOOTH 39

We are also delighted to bring to market carefully selected 3rd party products that complement our own range.

Lighting United Kingdom HYDRO INDUSTRY DIRECT Ltd BOOTH 44

www.green-lamp.co.uk

HIGHLIGHT HORTICULTURE BOOTH 20

The UK’s premier horticultural product manufacturer and distributor: Innovative, eﬀective and scientiﬁcally proven products are the basis of our extensive range. The same attention to detail that brought Clonex to the market applies across the board. We let science and the plants do the talking.

With experience at all levels of the industry, the aim of Hydro Industry Direct is to supply the market with a range of reliable, good quality products including some of the industry’s most innovative and technologically advanced products from many diﬀerent brands. While the UK Hydroponics industry continues to develop and change, Hydro Industry Direct aims to be consistent in both our commitment to our customers, and the quality of product we bring to the market.

Established in 1994 as a retail shop in Mansﬁeld, Nottinghamshire, we started wholesaling in 2004.

Growth Technology; making growing easier and more successful.

www.growthtechnology.com

HYDROMAG/HYDROSHOW TV BOOTH 35 Recently voted the UK’s favourite hydroponics magazine, HYDROMAG is touted as the “Which” magazine for the Hydroponics industry.

www.hydroindustrydirect.com We’ve been servicing the Hydroponic market for twenty years, making us one of the pioneering companies in the UK. We have a small retail outlet where most of the staff still work on occasion, maintaining a finger on the pulse of what’s really going on at a retail level; understanding both the difficulties and requirements of retailers in the market today.

www.highlight.to

Featuring scientiﬁc testing of all hydroponics products available in the United Kingdom, HYDROMAG will be exhibiting alongside HYDROSHOW TV; the world’s only broadcast hydroponics TV show. Visit our booth for a truly independent perspective into the industry and pick up a free copy of HYDROMAG. Budding writers’ submissions also accepted!

www.hydromag.co.uk / www.hydroshow.tv

EXHIBITORS I-M

IKON INTERNATIONAL BOOTH 64

INTERNATIONAL NEW YORK TIMES BOOTH 75

MAMA PUBLISHING BOOTH 62

IKON INTERNATIONAL, one of the UK’s leading and long established hydroponics wholesalers welcomes you to their stand at Grow 2014.

International New York Times (INYT) is a leading international news source for opinion leaders and decision-makers worldwide.

MamaEditions was founded in Paris in 2000. MamaPublishing was founded in 2012 in Spain.

With a reputation for bringing the most innovative technology to the UK hydroponics industry, Ikon supplies products from a variety of industry leading manufacturers including:

The INYT is part of The New York Times Company, a global media organization dedicated to enhancing society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news and information. It is known globally for excellence in journalism, and innovation in its print and digital storytelling.

ADVANCED NUTRIENTS, UVONAIR, ROOT POUCH, GROLUSH, HESI and its own range of HACIENDA DIGITAL LIGHTING AND RED SCORPION FILTERS. Pick up a copy of our 2014 catalogue now. www.ikon-international.com

Visit the INYT stand for discounted digital subscriptions plus a free gift with your purchase.

international.nytimes.com

After publishing approximately thirty French titles, we have evolved into publishing international specialist reference books designed to reach a wide audience of domestic and professional gardeners. Hydroponics for Everybody (William Texier); a richly illustrated guide to hydroponic gardening, has been translated into six languages. Culture en Intérieur (Jorge Cervantes) is a worldwide reference for indoor gardening, available in three formats. www.mamapublishing.com

MILWAUKEE BOOTH 25 Hydroponics Instruments USA MAXSPECT LIGHTNING BOOTH 34

METROP BOOTH 14

LED Lighting Ventures Ltd is a new company to the hydroponic market with a wealth of knowledge on all things LED.

Metrop, from Holland, make exclusive high quality, highly concentrated fertilizers.

The company will bring to market the Maxspect brand of lighting products with stylish design and programmable features, not to mention big energy savings on replacements of traditional ﬁxtures. Our company ethos is to make the hydroponic market a brighter and more environmentally friendly place.

www.maxspect.com

A global brand selling in over 30 countries with great success, the diﬀerence between the Metrop standard product line and other fertilizer brands is that it isn’t only NPK; it’s also full of booster elements. Higher concentration also makes for a lower price. Metrop also make fertilizers and stimulators for other brands. Come to our booth and you get an expert explanation and a free set.

www.metrop.net

www.milwaukeeinst.com

/12

RC-4 lian Austra d Certifie Carbon

EXHIBITORS N-S

NANOLUX BALLASTS BOOTH 54

NUTRICULTURE / DGS BOOTH 68

PLATINIUM BOOTH 42

Leaders in innovation, Nanolux have more patents applied for and issued than any other ballast brand on the market.

Nutriculture Grow Systems are attending with a bold new look, displaying a range of systems to suit the needs of many growers. We’re proud of our roots; ﬁnd out why on stand 79.

The Platinum systems are so ﬂexible, you can jump from one system to another, and back again, with ease.

We’re continually advancing our ballast design to be more eﬃcient and smaller in size through in-house technological breakthroughs. We have the largest distribution network in the industry with the best after sale service, bar none. The Nanolux is available in both Fan and non-Fan model ballasts along with our newest Flip Ballast and wireless control system.

www.nanoluxballast.com

NutricultureDGS are the premier wholesaler in the industry; we’ll talk you through our extensive product range, including brands such as Gavita, Mammoth, Rhino and Green Power, along with a selection of complementary grow room products. Come and visit us on stand 68.

www.nutriculture.co.uk

Importantly, each system is available to work with a number of diﬀerent tray sizes; 40 x 40cm, 60 x 60cm, 80 x 80cm, 100 x 100cm and 120 x 120cm – something to cover whatever space constraints you have in your growing area. Pots are available in 6 litre, 11 litre, 18 litre and 25 litre dimensions (plants of all types and sizes can be grown) – making Platinum Hydroponics’ system easily one of the most versatile. www.platiniumhydroponics.com

SECRET JARDIN BOOTH 66

POWDER FEEDING BOOTH 5, 6 & 7

RED SCORPION FILTERS BOOTH 41

Green House Seed Co. Powder Feeding

The Red Scorpion has everything you would expect from a premium carbon filter; Manufactured using only the finest Australian mined carbon, the Red Scorpion offers minimal pressure drop through the fan whilst maintaining high performance in air scrubbing.

Ever since we started breeding plants we’ve been looking for the perfect plant feed. We started researching our own formula in 2000. After several years we came up with a new concept: Simplicity is our secret for success. We created a powder product that delivers unprecedented results at minimum cost. It’s easier to transport, easier to store, easier to use, and with a longer shelf life than liquid fertilizers.

www.powderfeeding.ch

The Red Scorpion also comes supplied with a free extra pre-ﬁlter for extra durability. Ask your retailer for Red Scorpion ﬁlters.

www.redscorpionﬁlters.com

www.secretjardin.com

EXHIBITORS S-V

S&P VENTILATION SYSTEMS Ltd BOOTH 36

SHOGUN FERTILISERS BOOTH 78

SUPERPRO HYDROPONICS BOOTH 53

S&P manufacture the ultra-quiet TD-SILENT range to meet the specific requirements of indoor gardening; Low profile mixed-flow fans with soundabsorbent insulation, Quiet Mark certified by the Noise Abatement Society with sound levels down to 17 dB (A), sizes from 100mm to 315mm diameter; airflow from 160 to 2000 cu.m/hr, 2 speed motors that are speed controllable and protected to IP44.

SHOGUN Fertilisers are an innovative new UK start-up company aiming to revolutionise the fertiliser and additive market with their cutting edge products.

Superpro Hydroponics is the largest manufacturer of horticultural environmental controllers and CO2 generation equipment on the planet.

Their range is built around the latest horticultural research developments in plant growth science and each product is positioned to oﬀer maximum beneﬁt to the hobby hydroponics market.

We manufacture products for many of the largest hydroponic and agricultural distributors worldwide. Forerunners of the industry, we produced some of the very ﬁrst dedicated hydroponic controllers available.

Easy to install and maintain thanks to removable fan body.

With superior formulations, favourable dilution rates and competitive pricing, SHOGUN are expanding their retailer base and can be seen at stand 78 at Grow 2014.

We’ve designed all of our products with ease of usage as one of our primary goals, oﬀering a simple user interface which is designed speciﬁcally for our market.

www.silentfans.co.uk

www.shogunfertilisers.com

www.superprohydroponics.eu

THE PRESSURE BOOTH 38

TROJAN TENTS BOOTH 51

Massage Therapy United Kingdom

Grow Tents United Kingdom

www.thepressure.net

www.trojantents.com

UNIVERSAL HYDRO BOOTH 37

VOLCANIA COFFEE BOOTH 81

www.cabinetgrow.com

www.volcaniainternational.com

TECHNIGROW BOOTH 4 TECHNIGROW 2015 is the only French tradeshow specialising in advanced hydroponic, organic and ‘indoor’ cultivation techniques. TECHNIGROW 2015 will welcome some new areas, like the vegetal design area and a ‘Do it yourself’ area. We’re destined to be a meeting place for over 300 growshops and their customers. Thanks to last year’s sponsors: Plagron, Canﬁlters, Hydrodiscount, Jard’in & Publicube who made this possible. Our team will be happy to answer your questions at Booth N°4.

www.technigrow-france.fr

Still hand watering?

Take a break watering systems

See the full range at GROW2014, Excel, London

Email: mail@autopot.co.uk Web: www.autopot.co.uk

PRO SERIES

www.canďŹ lters.eu - www.canfan.eu

GROW GEAR 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.

SHOGUN FERTILISERS SHOGUN Samurai Coco After phenomenal feedback on the high performance SHOGUN additives range, the wait is ﬁnally over for the base nutrients. Applying cutting edge nutrient manufacturing processes, SHOGUN Samurai Coco includes a range of performance enhancing ingredients that make it something pretty special. Provided in a standard Coco A & B formulation, Samurai Coco is a complete feed for use throughout vegetative and flowering growth. It incorporates SmartZen Yield Maximiser which has been shown in field trials to increase yield by up to 8% over standard NPK formulas. It also includes the revolutionary AquaZen Slow Water ingredient, a unique enhancement developed specifically for coco growing media that slows the progress of your nutrient solution through the growing media, resulting in massively enhanced water distribution and nutrient uptake potential.

Manufacturer Website: www.shogunfertilisers.com Distribution by: Ikon-International

SHOGUN FERTILISERS SHOGUN Samurai Hydro A hydroponics base nutrient that truly lives up to its “legendary nutrients” tagline. SHOGUN Samurai Hydro is a standard 2 part Grow (A&B) and Bloom (A&B) formulation available in both hard and soft water variants. It includes the outstanding yield maximising ingredient SmartZen that has been proven to increase nutrient uptake and utilisation for yield increases of up to 8% when compared against the same NPK formula but without SmartZen. Suitable for all hydroponic systems and perfectly integrated for use with SHOGUN additives. SHOGUN Fertilisers are now available to hydroponic stores throughout the UK, visit www.shogunfertilisers.com to be a stockist www.facebook.com/shogunfertilisers

Manufacturer Website: www.shogunfertilisers.com Distribution by: Ikon-International

SECRET JARDIN CFL Lights New CFL lights from Secret Jardin : Economic solutions for your growing media Secret Jardin CFL LIGHTS; Eﬃcient and economic lightning for all kinds of conﬁgurations from 125W to 300W.

Full specification available with the real Lumens throughput 2100°K unique temperature close to HPS for flowering 300W in Dual Spectrum (Flowering & Growing): 1 side by 1 side With Secret Jardin distribution in Europe, service, warranty and after sales 3 months warranty following resellers’ sales date The CFL can be placed very close to plants without risk of burns Electronic Ballast built into the bulb for easy installation on E40 socket Brought to you by: Secret Jardin. Available from: Maxigrow For more info visit: www.secretjardin.com Distribution by: Maxigrow

CANNA Free CANNA additives Have you ever tried any of the CANNA additives before? Now you can give a CANNA additive away to one of your friends. Go to facebook.com/ addcanna to give one of your friends a CANNA additive! CANNA will give away four additives each day, so chance enough to win a free additive. For more information go to the facebook page or visit www.canna-uk.com.

Product Website: www.canna-uk.com/canna_additives

CANNA Canna PK 13/14 CANNA PK 13/14; The final step to the top. Phosphorus and potassium are important elements during the flowering phase of plants. CANNA PK 13/14 is a mixture of top quality nutritional minerals that stimulate the flowering of a plant. Phosphorous strengthens cell formation in flowers and Potassium ensures that the plant can produce enough sugars during flowering. Do you want bigger fruits and flowers? Use CANNA PK13/14. For more information about CANNA PK 13/14 please visit www.canna-uk.com

Manufacturer Website: www.canna-uk.com Distribution by: Hightlight Horticulture / Hydrogarden

DUTCH GARDEN SUPPLIES Double dPapillon Going going not gone, in fact Double! Contrary to what has been doing the rounds lately regards supply issues of the dPapillon, it’s still in stock and available from Dutch Garden Supplies and a double dPapillon, yes double dPapillon, is now available to UK growers. This new addition to the Papillon family has all the benefits of the single dPapillon, only this time with double Ceramic Metal Halide lamps. Adjust the power accordingly and the lamps produce the perfect blue spectrum, ideal for early growth of the plant. When you’re ready to flower, re-adjust the ballast input power and the lamps turn perfect red (with still a fair amount of blue to give a full spectrum) this fixture is without doubt the most efficient luminaire at micromol/second per watt. Features of the double dPapillon 630w: Adjustable full spectrum Dim and Boost ultra-high frequency ballast; 315w to 760w 2 x 315w Ceramic Metal Halide lamps Higher density Vega aluminium reflector with only 1% annual depreciation Patented open reflector design increases efficiency to 95%, promoting longer bulb life due to reduced heat build up Driver efficiency > 95%. 3 Year warranty on fixture, 1 year on bulb

Distribution by: Dutch Garden Supplies

GROW GEAR PLANT VITALITY Anabolic Plant Roids Exclusively distributed to shops by Erith Horticulture is the latest products to hit the shelves from Plant Vitality. Plant Vitality Anabolic Plant Roids is all new explosive blend of all legal performance enhancing steroids for plants. Through scientific breakthroughs and Nano state reactor power PV Anabolic Plant Roids takes your crops to a whole new level of insane growth. PV Anabolic Plant Roids contains concentrated natural plant steroids and can be absorbed through foliage, flower and root which greatly multiply and enhance fruit and yield potential. Formulated for growers of any skill set or expertise not to be used by people wanting small plants and poor yields.

Distribution by: Erith Horticulture

PLANT VITALITY Plant Vitality End of Days Plant Vitality bring to the market an all new intensive flushing solution exclusively distributed by Erith Horticulture, End of Days contains the actual ingredients fed to humans after severe poisoning and when used as a flushing agent to plants will dramatically improve the taste of your harvest following flowering by removing all toxins in a hurry. End of Days can be also used after vegetative nutrient feeding prior to changing into flowering phase as this speeds adaptation to new levels of NPK feed and increases potential for faster, larger growing plants, can further be used if over fertilized to help restore balance.

Distribution by: Erith Horticulture

POTZSYSTEMS DWC Potz DWC Potz are a hybrid design, combining DWC with a top feed drip system. The nutrient solution is highly oxygenated and constantly recirculates around the system to help maintain a more balanced solution, drawing it through the base of each Potz to the Header Potz through 25mm pipe and delivering it back into the 6â&#x20AC;? baskets through two fitted drippers, which shower the main root zone from above. This design allows the level of solution to drop slightly before the system is refilled, allowing even more air to the roots for explosive growth and even greater yields. Available in 4, 6, 8, 12, 16 & 24 Potz.

Product Website: www.potzsystems.co.uk Distribution by: Hydrogarden

GROW GEAR FDP WHOLESALE Hydro Humidifiers Reliably controlling humidity in an indoor garden isn’t always easy. Many household devices just aren’t man enough for the job. That’s just not the case with the HR-15 & HR-50 Humidiﬁers. Purpose designed for horticulture, these humidiﬁers are 100% capable in rooms up to 150m2.

Distributed by: FDP Wholesale Website: www.fdpwholesale.co.uk Telephone: 01392 848 399

FDP WHOLESALE Air-Pot RTA Systems There isn’t a more productive way to grow in coco fibre than with the RTA System. The many beneﬁts that coco ﬁbre provides, combined with constant air pruning of the roots via Air-Pot and irrigation supplied with the ingenious Nutrimatic Timer that actually mimics nature in the way it delivers nutrient, means the RTA System ticks all the boxes. THE system for coco growers guaranteed!

Manufacturer: FDP Wholesale Distributed by: FDP Wholesale Website: www.fdpwholesale.co.uk Telephone: 01392 848 399

GHE FLoraKleen FloraKleen is formulated to remove fertilizer residues that can accumulate over time; it is safe for use in all systems and media at any time throughout the plant life. It can also be used between crops to clean the systems from accumulated salts. Unlike other products on the market, it is not enzyme based and uses a completely diﬀerent technology. FloraKleen:

Reduces plant stress from excess/imbalanced nutrients. Breaks nutrient bonds that attach fertilizer salts to growing media, correcting nutrient lock-out. Nourishes the microbial life in the substrate. Use as a ﬁnal ﬂush to terminate maturation and promote sugaring. Exists in 0.5L, 1L, 5L, 10L More information: www.eurohydro.com Product Website: gb.eurohydro.com/florakleen.html Distribution by: Growth Technology, Highlight Horticulture, Hydrogarden, Glasgrow

STOP PRESS! EMERALD IMPORTS COMES TO TOWN! Liquid Karma Many of you will be aware of the progressive nature of the hydroponic industry in the US at the minute. Refreshingly, this has meant that the amount of work and investment in developing top quality products has hit an all-time high. Thankfully, this means that we can wait patiently across the pond for the cream of the crop from this new wave of products to become available. From the Emerald Hills of California, Emerald Imports (working in conjunction with Team Hydro) have begun selecting the finest products from the US market and bringing them right to your doorstep. Carefully picking tried and tested products from the best of the American marketplace and illuminating them for all to benefit from in the UK.

Straight from Botanicare, the largest selling range of nutrients in Colorado, and based on over 24 years of research and experience, comes a keystone product that deserves the entirety of your focus. Liquid Karma is an entirely unique combination of extracts, perfectly balanced and blended together, offering your prized crop a fully comprehensive set of key benefits. Liquid Karma can be used throughout your plants entire lifecycle. This unique tonic provides a myriad of plant enhancing qualities that assist and enhance growth rates from the early stages of the vegetative cycle, through to the final quality and production that comes in the later flowering stages. Liquid Karma is packed with Micro-nutrients, trace elements, Vitamins and Carbohydrates all derived and extracted from organic sources such as: Fermented Compost Solution (containing guano, fish meal, spiriluna, soy bean meal, citric acid and over 72 trace elements). Seaweed Extract (well-known source of carbohydrates, stimulants, enzymes and trace minerals). Etiolated wheat seedlings and zea mays (packed with naturally occurring hormones: Auxin and cytokinins). Yeast Extracts (source of a vital complex of B-Vitamins: riboflavin, thiamine, pyridoxine plus many others). Non GMO Cane Sugar (high content of carbohydrates from Glucose, fructose and sucrose). Casein and soy bean protein Hydrolosate (Providing wide range of Amino Acids: Glycine, lysine and cysteine to name a few). Essential Humic and Fulvic Acids.

“OK” I hear you say, “So all those ingredients do indeed sound like some top notch bits and bobs, but what do they all actually do for my plants?” Well my friend, the precise combination of all these high quality ingredients into one bottle means that your plants will now have access to the following growth boosting enhancements: Accelerated root development in clones/young plants. Reduction to the effects of transplant shock and other environmental stresses. Provides food source for beneficial bacteria. Enhances nutrient uptake. Increases metabolic rate and effectiveness of plant Immune system responses. Maximises flower and bud sites during early flowering stages. Helps increase overall final yield of fruits and flowers. Enhances essential oil and terpine production in fruits and flowers. Needless to say Liquid Karma is best used in conjunction with Botanicare’s base nutrients; achieving an almost perfect final working nutrient regime. However the unique nature of this product means that you can use it in combination with whichever nutrient range you currently place your faith in. Just be prepared to want the full Botanicare range once you see how effective this product is!

Liquid Karma is available in the following sizes: 1qt / 1Gal / 2.5Gal / 5Gal / 15Gal / 55Gal More information: www.emeraldimports.net

For trade enquiries please contact: TeamHydro Contact Name: Jay Fox Email: Jay@teamhydro.co.uk or Jayfox@emeraldimports.net Phone: Landline 0114 3601 369 or mobile 07792 212777

GROW GEAR IKON INTERNATIONAL XL Hood Reflector The new XL Hood air cooled reﬂector is built with premium quality materials, including a 95% reﬂective dimpled aluminium internal and a lightweight design. With a black matte finished outer body these hoods are from the “bigger is better” range of reflectors for professional growers. The XL Hood has a glass door opening, hinged for easy cleaning and direct access to the lamp.

Website: www.ikon-international.com

IKON INTERNATIONAL GroCELL Pyramid Tent The new groCELL Pyramid tent is designed to house either an LED, CFL or T5 light ﬁtting which is light weight and energy eﬃcient. The tents are quick and easy to assemble and are manufactured for growers with limited space in mind. The groCELL Pyramid range of grow tents are also suitable for any propagation requirements you may have with ample air in and air out options.

Website: www.ikon-international.com

IKON INTERNATIONAL Cyco Uptake Is formulated with the perfect amount of Humic acids, which are beneﬁcial to the growth and cultivation of plants. Cyco uptake is not a fertiliser as it does not directly provide nutrients to the plant, but it is the perfect complement to any brand of plant nutrient. Helping to improve root vitality, nutrient uptake, chlorophyll synthesis and most importantly improving yields.

Manufacturer: CYCO Websites: www.ikon-international.com / www.cycoﬂower.com

GROW GEAR PLAGRON Green Sensation Additive/Booster Stimulates flowering for the highest yield and best taste. Boost your fruit with the organic compounds phosphorus and potassium present in the Green Sensation. Green Sensation contains four products in one bottle. You can also lower the use of the basic nutrient by 50% when using Green Sensation. This stimulator was developed especially for the final 4 to 6 weeks of the flowering phase. It ensures profuse flowering and cropping, a hard cell structure and the very best flavour. Advantages of Green Sensation:

Can be used on all substrates. Suitable for all types of watering systems. Packaging:

100 ml, 250 ml, 500 ml, 1 and 5 liter. Do you have any questions? servicedesk@plagron.com For additional information about Green Sensation and other products, www.plagron.com

PLAGRON Sugar Royal Additive/Enhancer Improves taste and reduces the cultivation period. Plagron Sugar Royal is used for enhancing the natural flavour of the final product. Used alongside your basic nutrient, Sugar Royal is a powerful enhancer based on amino-acids. Sugar Royal evokes a drought stress effect from the plant, which feels like it will dry out and starts focusing on reproduction. Flowers, seeds and fruits will be formed at an accelerated pace. For plants developing in optimal conditions, the total time from seedling to harvest could be reduced by one week using Sugar Royal. Advantages of Sugar Royal:

Can be used as root or leaf fertiliser Combine Sugar Royal with Green Sensation for the best results. Do you have any questions? servicedesk@plagron.com For additional information about Sugar Royal and other products, www.plagron.com

GROTEK Monster Bloom Monster Bloom has a reputation for assisting plants in growing the largest flowers possible. Starting with high grade key ingredients, Monster Bloom encourages prolific blooming, higher plant metabolism, assists in starch (sugar) production, while improving bloom and fruit quantity. Applied during the mid-stage of flowering, monster bloom targets plant processes that induce floral development.

Product Website: http://tinyurl.com/nlslod8 Brand Website: www.grotek.com Distribution by: Erith Horticulture

GROTEK Heavy Bud A proprietary blend of essential nutrients and simple and complex carbohydrates, Heavy Bud is an energy source for your crops. The additional organic acids improve its eﬀectiveness at delivering the plant exactly what it needs to grow larger, higher quality crops. The aim is to ensure the highest quality crop possible by improving the plants’ ability to produce better overall quality. The Synergy

Combine the floral explosion of Monster Bloom with the carbohydrates and organic acids in Heavy Bud; Monster Bloom helps plants to grow more and larger blooms and fruit, Heavy Bud creates floral complexity giving you a finished crop with fruit that have better flavour, aroma and taste. Product Website: http://tinyurl.com/nqfocnf Brand Website: www.grotek.com Distribution by: Erith Horticulture

SOLIS TEK Solis Tek Lamps Solis Tek lamps are specifically designed for plant growth. This unique range of lamps with innovative features such as enhanced UV and low iron glass, provide extremely efficient light penetration to the growing environment. The metal halide lamps each offer specific spectrums designed for different stages of the grow cycle, the 4K is ideal throughout, whilst the 10K is designed for the last 7-21 days, for better ripening and finishing.

For further information about the beneﬁts of using Solis Tek lighting products visit www.blackorchid.co.uk. Black Orchid are the exclusive UK distributors of Solis Tek products.

GROW GEAR GROWING EDGE TECHNOLOGIES Power Thrive Guess what? Power Thrive is celebrating its 29 years of production and is getting a new look. G.E.T. has one of the greatest products that any gardener can use “Power Thrive”; it works with any nutrient lines to date and improves their overall growth rates. Satisfaction Guaranteed for 29 years and after all these years not a single bottle has been brought back with a complaint that it didn’t work! Pick some up today; you won’t lose, but have everything to GAIN!

Product Website: www.growingedgetechnologies.ca Distribution by: Erith Horticulture

GROWING EDGE TECHNOLOGIES The Aroma Formula You just have to try this great way of feeding your plants. The Aroma Formula will give you bigger yields than you are accustomed to. Why? Because when you feed your garden, you’re not just giving your garden an A & B formula of plant food. What do we mean by feeding your garden? GET wants you to increase the amounts of A & B concentrate as your garden grows. Doesn’t that make sense? There’s no way that a big, high performing plant uses the same amount of feed as when it was small, Right? Well, don’t you think you should read more?

Product Website: www.thearomaformula.com Distribution by: Erith Horticulture

BIOGREEN BioGreen Calgel BioGreen Calgel is a completely soluble liquid fertilizer containing 22.5% calcium, and a balanced amount of micro-elements. Calgel has been formulated speciﬁcally as a fast absorbing nutrition for ﬂowering plants, and fruit and vegetable crops. It increases the strength of the plant and improves colour and taste. Major macro and micro-elements: Calcium, Manganese, Zinc, Copper, Boron, Molybdenum and Iron

With a dilution ratio 1:1000 (or 1ml per litre), and having no shelf life, one bottle of BioGreen Calgel goes a long way. The high calibre of raw materials used offers key plant health benefits such as: Improved nutrient uptake Strengthening and toughening of the top growth Assures a measurable increase win the dry mass of final yield Sufficient magnesium for optimal chlorophyll and protein synthesis Manufacturer / Product Website: www.bio-green.info Distribution by: Down to Earth Kent, Midlands Hydroponic Wholesale

NULIFE TECHNOLOGIES NuLife AU60 Australia’s best kept secret, AU60 brings together every aspect of what a grower needs during early growth. Effective? Very well priced? Very easy to use? Very. The technological breakthrough came when we were able to isolate the very substance that plants use to fight disease. To put it simply AU-60 fights disease for the plant. This allows the plant to flourish uninhibited by disease and to grow bigger, stronger and healthier. AU-60 is not a pesticide; it’s an organic, naturally occurring substance that controls disease.

Usage: 1ml per litre throughout the veg cycle Product Website: www.nulifetech.com.au/products.html Distribution by: Hydro Industry Direct

GREEN PLANET Terpinator The one of a kind Terpinator was created from years of researching naturally occurring plant compounds. Terpinator is formulated to increase the concentration of terpinoids in aromatic plant oils and glands; providing the basic building blocks that plants require to produce ﬂavourful oils. Unique enzymatic pathways within a plant’s body are utilized to enhance the production of terpinoids and plant oils. Used along with any nutrient schedule, Terpinator also protects and prolongs the fragrance of your plant’s dried fruits and ﬂowers.

You can use Terpinator during the entire life cycle of the plant and it is compatible with any brand of fertilizer product. Usage Vegetative phase – 1-2ml per litre Flowering phase – 3-6ml per litre Sizes available 1 litre, 4 litre & 10 litre

Product Website: www.terpinator.com Distribution by: Hydro Industry Direct

RAMBRIDGE Veg Booster Blossom Blood from Rambridge is well known as one of the industry’s best flowering boosters. New to the range is Veg Booster, a specific type of pH buffer compatible with any range of nutrients. It enables young cuttings or seedlings to better expand their roots and branches allowing for fuller growth in the later flowering stages. Veg-Booster only needs adding to your reservoir once at the beginning of a plant’s vegetative cycle when the seedling/cuttings have started to develop roots and got over any transplant shock. Can also be used on soil & coco with no adverse effects. Use only once 1 gram per 20 litres in hydroponic applications 1 gram per 15 litres in soil / coco

Product Website: www.rambridge.com Distribution by: Hydro Industry Direct

GROW GEAR PHRESH Hyperfan Introducing the most energy efficient mixed flow fan available; The Phresh Hyperfan. Our industry is littered with fans claiming massive airflows but not mentioning any of the factors growers need to consider when choosing a fan; overall size, noise, energy consumption and life expectancy are all important things to consider as well as airflow. Featuring a brushless digital motor the Hyperfan from Phresh uses less power than any other competing mixed flow fan whilst moving more air. Meaning increased airflows and massive cost savings on electricity with the added benefits of less heat, less noise and longer life. Available in silenced and unsilenced versions to suit any application. Sizes available – 150mm, 200mm & 250mm Airflows – 150mm – 535m3/h, 200mm – 1205m3/h, 250mm – 1810m3/h

Distribution by: Hydro Industry Direct

HOMEBOX Homebox Clonebox View The Clonebox View incorporates all the features from our original Clonebox, with the addition of two large viewing windows in the front doors which can be closed to create a completely light-tight growing area; ideal if you are raising cuttings in the same room as flowering plants. Now you can easily keep an eye on your precious young cuttings and seedlings without the risk of lowering relative humidity levels. The PAR+ superreflective lining helps to promote optimal lighting conditions while mitigating the risks of excessive heat build-up. The Clonebox View has an adjustable double-shelving system offering up to 12 full-sized propagators. You can even remove the middle-shelve to create a mini-mother box—perfect! Size – 125cm x 65cm x 120cm

Product Website: www.homebox.net Distribution by: Hydro Industry Direct

SICCE Sicce Ultra Zero The Sicce Ultra Zero is a submersible pump of the highest quality, designed to move water rapidly with minimal noise. The Ultra Zero will pump out any ﬂuid below its base, without the usual 1 - 1.5” lip found on other brands. No tools are needed to install or maintain the Ultra-Zero, it features standard ¾” ﬁttings and really is plug and play! The thermoplastic body will never rust or corrode and the base is easily removable for routine maintenance Flow rate: 3600 litres per hour Max lift: 3.2 metres

Product Website: www.sicce.com Distribution by: Hydro Industry Direct

DIMLUX Alpha Optics 98 This reflector is designed to the Single Bounce Clear Sight (SBCS) principle and is equipped with Miro Silver mirrors with a reflective efficiency of 98%, the highest efficiency of any commercially available horticultural reflector! Equipped with adjustable side reflectors for better overlapping and minimal wall loss. Thanks to the open reflector design, the lamp is passively cooled, which improves both the service life and efficiency of the lamp. Air actively extracted through a 50mm connection on the reflector significantly reduces the room temperature. In addition, separately available add-on reflectors can be installed to further reduce the wall losses. To be used with 250-750W lamps. The reflector is replaceable.

Product Website: www.dimlux.nl Distribution by: Hydrostation Ltd

DIMLUX Alpha Optics Add-Ons Longside Reflector: Separated (2 Pieces) These add-on reflectors work to minimise wall losses without overlapping. Made from Miro 95 hammered mirrors, offering 95% reflection, the add-on reflectors are installed on the adjustable side reflectors. The separated add-on reflectors are necessary when only one row of reflectors is installed. Short Side Reflector (2 Pieces) Same features as the long side add-on reflectors, however, these are for the front face of the reflector. Long Side Reflector: Overlapping (2 Pieces) Same features as the long side separated add-on reflectors, however, these are made for overlapping. The overlap add-on reflectors are necessary if more than one row of reflectors is installed.

Product Website: www.dimlux.nl Distribution by: Hydrostation Ltd

GROW GEAR DIMLUX Dimlux Xtreme Series 600 Watt EL UHF Dim Button Due to an internal voltage converter, the Dimlux is suitable for 400 Volt EL electronic lamps using a standard 230 Volt connection. The combination of this Dimlux with 690 Watt output and the Greenpower 400 Volt EL provides an unparalleled amount of growth light, similar to a standard 750 Watt system. Suitable for use with 600 Watt, 400 Volt EL electronic lamps and featuring;

Soft Start and Zero Start when the Maxi Controller is used Dim button with 7 dim levels and Soft Oﬀ. Automatic on/oﬀ switching and continuously variable dimming by the Maxi Controller Extensive diagnostic LEDs Separate 4m cord and plug

Dim button with 7 dim levels and Soft Oﬀ: Soft Oﬀ // 320W // 390W // 460W // 530W // 600W 645W Boost // 690W Boost 15% Product Website: www.dimlux.nl Distribution by: Hydrostation Ltd

DIMLUX Opticlimate Pro3 Split (With Air-cooled Outdoor Unit) The Split unit has the same features and functionality as the water cooled OptiClimate. The diﬀerence is that instead of water, air is used as a heat carrier; this is handled by an outside (split) unit which is connected by ﬂexible tubes.

The tubes are connected by professional ball bearing quick couplers which can be opened and released at all times. No engineer is required for installation! The standard tube length is 8m and the maximum is 30m. Product Website: www.dimlux.nl Distribution by: Hydrostation Ltd

GROW SWITCH Full On FULL ONTM is an entirely new Organic plant nutrient additive from Grow Switch. By increasing bioavailability and utilisation it has the potential to cut the need for NPK fertilisers by half and increase plant growth by 40%. As an organic catalyst, FULL ON not only increases overall growth, it also increases the rate of natural plant growth, the results of which can often be seen within hours! Grow Switch’s holistic and organic approach to horticulture allows for cleaner, healthier and higher yielding plants; better for your produce, the consumer and the planet as a whole. Grow the best produce on Earth!

Distribution by: Seymour Green Contact: seymourgreen@live.co.uk / +44 (0) 1902 782 900

ORGANIC RESCUE Rapid Flower Mist Designed for use with any nutrient line, Rapid Flower is an antioxidant foliar spray formulated to be used in the vegetative to flower transition period of the plants life cycle. Often overlooked, foliar feeding is a great way to introduce extra growth performance. What’s more, Rapid Flower is organic and WSDA, certiﬁed meaning (as with all Organic Resuce products), Rapid Flower is manufactured using “materials approved for use in organic production and handling”. In a nutshell...

Enhanced root growth and development Improved nutrient uptake Enhances photosynthesis at cellular level - Microbe stimulation and support -Enhanced plant natural defence systems -Breaks down inorganic substances - pH buﬀering and neutralization. Distribution by: Seymour Green Contact: seymourgreen@live.co.uk / +44 (0) 1902 782 900

ETI LTD pH Pal Plus pH Tester The pH Pal Plus pH tester is a reliable, robust and pocket-sized instrument ideal for monitoring the pH levels in nutrient solutions used in hydroponic growing. At the touch of a button, the instrument will automatically re-calibrate itself when used in conjunction with a 7.00 pH buﬀer solution. The unit is housed in a water-resistant case and features an 8 mm LCD indicating pH over the range of 0 to 14 pH with a resolution of 0.1 pH and an accuracy of ±0.2 pH. For more information visit www.etiltd.com or contact the ETI sales oﬃce on +44 (0) 1903 202151.

Product Website: www.etiltd.com

COMPETITION... We LOVE our readership so much at HYDROMAG, that we can often be found dreaming about being alone with you for an hour or so in a small hotel room, with nothing but an innocent bottle of massage oil and a kilo of peanut butter for company. We understand though that the world isn’t quite as progressive as us and that until sexual possessiveness is eradicated fully from the status quo, we will have to settle for expressing our love in more conventional ways. Cue our INSANE competition, where Sheﬃeld based ‘Hydrostation’ and international Hydroculture wizards Black Orchid have been inspirationally generous to us in this edition and will be providing one irritatingly lucky melonfarmer with the following dazzling array of spectacular grow kit..

THIS MONTHS PRIZES...

Sponsored by Hydrostation & Black Orchid

2 x 600W Dimlux Expert Full Fixtures 1 x Opticlimate Maxi Controller 1 x Infra Red Plant Camera 1 x C02 Analyser 1 x Temperature Probe

Also up for grabs...

1 x Humidity Probe

HOW TO ENTER... As of HYDROMAG ISSUE 008, there is a new way to enter competitions. You must now go to www.hydroshow.tv/competitions and enter your phone number and email address in to the form. Your information will not be shared with third party companies. *Full terms can be found at www.hyrdoshow.tv/ competitions-terms

600WHPS Bulbs

600W 4K MH Bulbs

x2 600W 10K MH Bulbs

Strong till the end

&$11$ 3. 7KH Ā QDO VWHS WR WKH WRS 3KRVSKRUXV DQG SRWDVVLXP DUH LPSRUWDQW HOHPHQWV GXULQJ WKH Á RZHULQJ SKDVH of plants. CANNA PK 13/14 is a mixture of top quality nutritional minerals that VWLPXODWH WKH Á RZHULQJ RI D SODQW 3KRVSKRURXV VWUHQJWKHQV FHOO IRUPDWLRQ LQ Á RZHUV DQG 3RWDVVLXP HQVXUHV WKDW WKH SODQW FDQ SURGXFH HQRXJK VXJDUV GXULQJ Á RZHULQJ 'R \RX ZDQW ELJJHU IUXLWV DQG Á RZHUV" 8VH &$11$ 3. www.canna-uk.com