Hydromag 015 hydroponics magazine by Hydro Magazine

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THE MAKING OF HYDROMAG... Editor Cosmo MacKenzie cos@hydromag.co.uk Technical Assistant Editor Nico Hill nico@hydromag.co.uk If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the grow room

Well, well, well...

…Come back for more, have you? Welcome back to Issue 15 of the nation’s favourite hydroponics magazine.

As a superstitious lot, we thought we’d dip into our Mesopotamian numerology reference books again to check the possible meanings behind the number 15. According to the ancients this holy numeral can be summed up in one word - “spunk”! Which is spookily appropriate because have we got a lot of spunk for you in this issue! Passionate and gutsy, HYDROMAG won’t flinch in its drive to bring you open and honest reviews and articles on the latest hydroponics kit! Independent and forthright, we’re ripping up the blueprint and sticking it to the Man! No cash for questions or shady dealings at HYDROMAG. We have no affiliations with any company – just a team of gardeners and writers with a love and science and the growroom. Keeping this magazine going hasn’t always been a cakewalk though. Sometimes it’s felt like we’ve been bringing this baby home on nothing but a wing and a prayer and a whole lot of pluck. We’ve seen marriages collapse, homes repossessed, knife fights at editorial meetings for the last biscuit! If you want to do your bit we’d greatly appreciate a few more subscriptions. So get subscribing before anyone else has to die! In the meantime we’ve got an eclectic hatful of treats for you this month. British wind, moulds and mildew, CO2 galore, air-con comparisons, romance, metal music and poetry! (We’re ready to bet that’s the first time those words were used in the same sentence.) Plus of course we’ve got tonnes of grow gear and much more besides. Finally, some of you lot may be wondering why there’s no grow test in this issue. There’s no conspiracy - it’s just taking a hell of a lot longer than we’d bargained for. So keep your trousers on - our incendiary LED light test will be coming out in our September issue (along with our now legendary Grow Expo store guide and floor plan)! If you haven’t already inked the Grow Expo dates in your Filofaxes do so now. Saturday the 26th September is for the public; Sunday 27th is for trade – both obviously at London’s Excel Centre. See you there! Lots of love,

Lifestyle / Stand in Editor Christian Mason christian@hydromag.co.uk Lifestyle Buddy Mason buddy@hydromag.co.uk Managing Director Pete Turner sales@hydromag.co.uk Art Director Emma Godley emma@hydromag.co.uk Project Manager Lydia Bennett lydia@hydromag.co.uk Design Kim Tinker kim@hydromag.co.uk Design David Sugden david@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

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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. 015 08.2015

Featured In This Issue... 38 08

THE FEED The Problem with British Wind

Nothing to do with Britain’s carbohydrate-rich cuisine causing excessive ﬂatulence – instead a controversial take on the island’s wind farms!

FAVOURITES: Opticlimate CO2 Generator Autopilot Propane and Ecotechnics EMS-Pro

THE KNOWLEDGE Moulds and Mildew

THE KNOWLEDGE Supplementing CO2

FEATURE Air Con Comparison

One generates carbon dioxide, the other monitors it. Cue Sesame Street muppets prancing about singing one of their many “cooperation” songs.

You freeze on the spot, break into a sweat and feel the warm trickle of urine down your thigh. There’s grey fur all over your crops! Discuss.

STUFF TO BUY Grow Gear

Capitalism is alive and well at HYDROMAG! Here we showcase the ﬁnest kit available… Get your wallets out and don’t hold back!

THE KNOWLEDGE Ballast Test 3

COMPETITION TIME WIN, WIN, WIN

LETTERS Or are there?

Like Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees, our thirst for ballast testing just won’t die! In this issue we have an interesting ignition update.

The Government may be cutting back on handouts but at HYDROMAG we’re still at full throttle. This issue – a complete set of Ecotechnics kit worth almost a grand!!

Plants love a bit of CO2 - as anyone with even the tiniest bit of Primary School Biology behind them will know. But are yours getting enough?

We’ve all compared our penises in the showers after a match. Have you considered comparing air conditioning units for the growroom? More fool you.

AIR CONDITIONERS: BECAUSE IT’S WORTH IT

DISTRACTIONS 100 Films to Watch... Romance

Some say it’s dead. Not Hallmark – they still laugh maniacally and bathe in the proceeds of the 144 million Valentine’s Day cards they sell each year.

It’s gone eerily quiet in our Letters section of late. Fortunately we have a surprisingly good poem to offer you instead!

THE PROBLEM WITH BRITISH WIND As of the 1st of April 2016 the Conservative government will be cutting subsidies to new onshore wind farms. Armchair environmentalists are spewing outrage from the warmth of their centrally heated homes. Of course screeching accusations of nimbyism by ideological zealots and exceptionally rich businessmen has been the norm in the UK wind energy sector for years now. It’s astounding then, and I had to do a lot of soul searching before I could write this, that the Conservative government, on behalf of the slavering Daily Mail readers who make up their core voter base, may have actually done something positive for the rest of us lowly mortals. I wouldn’t say that lightly and I will be willingly accepting savage beatings regardless of the fact that I stand by the statement. We’re all about facts and figures at HYDROMAG, though, so stick with me while I explain myself. It may seem counterintuitive, but where subsidies helped to build the industry, at the same time they stunted it. The traditional idea of a ‘wind farm’ is one of massive bladed turbines turning gracefully on the side of a windswept mountain. It’s a powerful image and you can’t fault the intentions behind it, but just as communism is a noble sentiment at its core, the practical applications of both are entirely different beasts. The reality is that wind farms are not farms at all, they’re power stations.

The ‘Big Six’ energy companies were never going to let us start generating clean energy for ourselves without a fight. They need us suckling at their collective teat so that they can pay for their yachts and coke addled kids. Dig beneath the carefully chosen local names and websites covered in trees and you’ll find that most major wind plants in the UK are built, funded and run by one of the Big Six. With them comes their corporate ideology; minimise costs to maximise profits. You can’t put a price on saving the only planet we have to live on. Translated into corporate speak that reads “You can’t profit from saving the planet”. Practical environmentalists often find themselves on the picket lines alongside climate denial mentalists, who will inevitably shout their agreement with most of the above argument. It’s not surprising, then, that a lot of people who aren’t on the ground simply scoff and assume we’re all nutters when we argue against the current generation of land based wind plants. Instead of arguing the points till we’re blue in the face, it’s easier to look at the new generation of turbines and the problems that they’re designed to solve.

Altaeros Energies, founded at MIT in 2010, are the creators of the Buoyant Airborne Turbine, or BAT which is shorter and sounds cooler. The BAT answers a lot of the problems that face ground based turbines. Where ground winds are inconsistent in terms of strength and frequency, higher winds average roughly twice the velocity and are infinitely more consistent. As a result the BAT is over twice as effective at generating energy as its ground based cousins. The BAT is designed to passively align in changing winds whilst the autonomous control system adjusts the altitude to optimise peak energy output and minimise structural loads. Traditional turbines, being fixed, obviously can’t do any of that. Traditional turbines have a wind speed operating window that rarely exceeds 70mph, the BAT can handle winds up to 100mph. It’s ludicrous that wind turbines have to be switched off when the wind is too strong in case they catch fire. The BAT can simply winch itself down automatically. It doesn’t need to be set into a massive concrete block and the whole thing packs down into crates that fit onto the back of a lorry. Traditional turbines were originally supposed to have a lifespan of twenty-five years. The reality is they rarely last for fifteen years, after which time the site is abandoned. The defunct turbines are supposed to be removed, but the reality in Germany has been that the companies have long since dissolved into the business ether and the turbines are either left to rust or cleaned up by the government at the tax payer’s expense. Obviously the BAT can simply be driven away, probably at the same time as a new one is driven to the same site. The also look effing cool, but strictly speaking that’s beside the point.

1200

Wind Power Density (W/m2)

BAT

Radio Antenna

800

World’s Highest Wind Turbine

400

3MW Wind Turbine

30kW Wind Turbine

0 30

120

180

240

300

600

Height (m)

Buoyant Airborne Turbine (BAT) winching itself down

Buoyant Airborne Turbine (BAT)

NewWind Wind Tree

Buildings force high pressure air up their sides towards the low pressure air above them, to greatly oversimplify the science. The WindRail modules attach to the side of the roof and use mini turbines to utilise the natural windstream and thermal column. The simple design of each module allows them to be adapted to integrate with the aesthetic of specific buildings as well as freeing up the rest of the roof for a rooftop garden, or whatever else you’re going to use the roof for (a smoking and skiving den, say). In design terms, the WindRail takes the cake and their website is well worth a read if you’re a fan of good design. In terms of definitive figures, it will probably be some time yet before a proper assessment can be made of their place in the overall energy network.

Capturing and converting wind energy into electricity is all well and good. Transporting that energy to the places where it is most needed, namely cities, is a whole other ball ache. Since land based wind plants produce energy at sporadic intervals and in wide ranging loads, the aged beast that is the UK electric grid is forced to compensate for the fluctuations. Cue the massive power outages that we’ve seen across the Scottish Highlands over the past two years. The result has been the need to install a whole new infrastructure of monolithic pylons and substations across the countryside. Even with this new network, a sizable portion of the power is lost in transport. So why not generate the electricity in the place where it’s needed the most? Jérôme Michaud-Larivière and his company NewWind have sought to do just that with the Wind Tree. Each of the steel frame trees is a miniature, self-contained wind plant housing numerous lightweight plastic turbines wired in parallel. At 36ft tall and 26ft wide they’re nearly 1/5th the size of the average turbine. It’s true that a traditional turbine has a potential power output of 3MW to the wind trees output of 3.1kW, but that’s only part of the story. The Wind tree responds to 360 degrees of low speed wind at a starting threshold of 2m/s. The wind tree can’t power the industrial sector, but at the very least it can lighten the load of power consumption in populated areas, and in doing so compensate for energy lost in transportation.

Lightweight plastic turbines

The hope for many is individuals producing their own power, but it can seem like a distant pipe dream and governments tend not to be too keen on that level of personal autonomy. Projects producing less than 5.2GW should still be eligible for some form of financial support despite the wider end to subsidies, but we’ll have to wait to see how that pans out come April 2016. Swiss company Anerdgy have created the WindRail modular unit that combines wind and solar energy production for individual buildings. Rooftop turbines are a hotly debated subject, in a similar way to LEDs in the hydroponics industry. Doubtless the WindRail’s reputation suffers from ineffective rooftop turbines that were released prematurely, despite how far removed the respective technologies are from one another.

WindRail Module

The fact that none of the companies we’ve listed here are British is significant, and points to the heart of the problem with British wind energy. The current subsidies model sees land based wind plants earning a significant profit regardless of how well they work. If you’re still getting paid whether or not your plant is producing power, why should you care if it runs or not? If shorting out the energy grid isn’t going to affect your profit margins, what do you care if your plant is the cause? From a business perspective, it’s a veritable cash cow; low costs, high profits. There’s no impetus to continue developing the technology in the UK because there’s no competition and no financial backlash to doing it badly and on the cheap. If the companies involved truly cared about anything but the profits, you wouldn’t see turbines catching fire, you’d see BATs floating over the horizon. The only things being farmed are the subsidies themselves. Hopefully, the cuts will do something to change that. Of course we are dealing with the Tories, so it’s more than likely that the decision is due in part to nutters who still think climate change is a myth. We’ll have to wait and see if they deliver on their promise to shift the subsidies to new technology. Let’s be honest though, knowing the Tories they’ll probably be shifting the money to the nightmare that is fracking. Regardless, the move will hopefully level the playing field in the wind sector and give new wind technology some much needed breathing room.

OPTICLIMATE CO2 GENERATOR AUTO PILOT PROPANE Most gardeners don’t need a Biology GCSE to know plants are partial to a bit of water, light and CO2. Together they make up the key ingredients for photosynthesis, which in turn will fuel your plants’ growth and flowering. If your plants are short of water or light, it’s a simple task to change the pump settings or adjust the lighting rig in your hydroponics setup. But what if your plants were screaming out for CO2 (and make no mistake, like any good alcoholic with an offer of a drink, your plants are not going to turn down more CO2)? Would you know how to respond to your plants begging “feed me, Seymour”? Prince Charles was probably onto something with his habit of talking to his plants – there are 40,000 ppm of carbon dioxide contained within each exhaled breath. But not everybody has his gift for waffling interminably about modern architecture and Patagonian Toothfish. Step in to the ring Opticlimate’s Auto Pilot Propane (LPG) 4KW CO2 generator. Now you can supplement the photosynthesis process by painlessly introducing CO2 into your growroom, making your plants grow faster and stronger! HYDROMAG decided to have a cheeky sniff.

INNOVATIONS

Harder, better, faster, stronger. Opticlimate’s Auto Pilot 4KW generator - ideal for a 16 - 30 m2 sized grow area - uses a four-burner system to burn off propane and release CO2 into the atmosphere. Adding carbon dioxide to the growroom can apparently boost your yields by as much as 10 - 20% in environments where your plants are already maxing out on light. A dose of CO2 increases your plants’ capacity to use even more light, turning the stuff into energy for growth. Using the supplied fixings, make sure you hang it high because CO2 will drift downward. Safety first! Everyone loves health and safety, particularly when it moves beyond nanny-state coddling and into the realm of genuine life-saving. Opticlimate’s CO2 generator certainly falls into the latter category with a range of impressive safety features that’ll prevent even the most foolhardy hippy from blowing up his growroom. Firstly, there’s the tilt-switch function that automatically turns off the gas supply if the unit isn’t upright – perfect for the clumsy-fool gardener. Secondly a twostage safety pilot valve prevents gas from escaping when the unit isn’t in use. And finally, the lack of pilot light – it relies instead on a solid state ignition system – is another reason you can sleep safely, knowing you should wake up the next morning alive and intact. Cost. Unlike with costly CO2 canisters, this puppy runs off dirt-cheap propane – the type desperate junkies pick up in petrol stations. Although there’s an initial outlay for the generator, in the longer term you’ll be laughing all the way to the bank while counting up the savings. And a further perk is that the Opticlimate generator’s use of an electric ignition, rather than a pilot light, means lower gas consumption and fewer cylinder changes.

CONS

Do we even want perfection? We all know the drive to be perfect can only lead to unhappiness – it’s just a mask for our insecurity. With a heavy heart and troubled mind, we investigated some possible downsides to Opticlimate’s CO2 generator… Burning gas is going to heat up that growroom AND raise humidity levels. Is that what you want? Maybe it is? Could be another “pro”. Either way, use your CO2 generator in conjunction with a Dimlux Maxi Controller with CO2 sensor and Bob’s your uncle (or aunt – apologies for any perceived transphobia. We know that’s a hot topic at the moment). Opticlimate have designed their generator to this effect. CO2 is twice as heavy as air and can pool around your plants’ roots, potentially interfering with the root gas exchange. For this reason we recommend firing up fans (partly to cool your growroom) but also to push the CO2 through your crops. Shut down your generator a couple of hours before you switch off your lamps and get oscillating and exhaust fans running right through the dark period.

For more infomation visit: www.opticlimate.com

ECOTECHNICS EMS-PRO

For the control freaks and obsessives of this world, there has never been a better era in which to live: Britons are caught on CCTV an average 70 times a day (and that’s the low estimate); HMRC can dip into our bank accounts without permission; suspicious husbands drunkenly install tracking devices in their wives’ cars; hackers masturbate while watching us through our webcams; and all the while the government trawls through our phone, email and Internet browsing records in the name of national security (dealing a future hammer blow perhaps for the “happily” married amongst us secretly visiting dwarven-shemale-bukake websites). But there are more salubrious reasons for embracing technology-driven paranoia, as every hydroponics gardener is aware: In the growroom, an unforeseen spike in temperature fries the newly budding leaves of your supergreens while you watch superhero movies and eat ice cream at the multiplex. White powdery mildew makes its first appearance, humidity levels out of control, while you apathetically make love to your partner in the next room. You see? In the growroom control freakery is a must! HYDROMAG sneaked into the garden of Melton Mowbray’s Ecotechnics Ltd, with a shaky hand peeled back sheer curtains, and jizzed their pants over the new EMS-Pro Environmental Monitoring Station… INNOVATIONS

Absolute power. Rule your garden like a demented Kathy Bates over a stricken James Caan in Misery. The EMS-Pro sensor sits in the growroom, connected via a 5 metre cable to your laptop, and shows your carbon dioxide, humidity and temperature levels via beautiful live graphic displays. Log and compare historical data to create the perfect environment for your plants. Described as an “industry game changer”, the EMSPro is a must for every serious grower. Insane professor. Love stats? Ecotechnics’ customisable software helps the grower analyse their growroom, getting a comprehensive understanding of their plants’ development. Pore over sexy temperature and humidity comparisons! Select the time frame and data intervals for logging, export charts to Excel, print to PDF, and compare growth cycles! Time intervals between data readings can be set at 1 second, 10 seconds, 1 minute, to 10 minutes; next time you go away for the weekend you can return to find out exactly what happened in your growroom. Or why not put your extractor fans or dehumidifiers to the test and watch in real time how they really perform? Ease of use. It doesn’t get much simpler than this. We’d wager even our 110-year old great granny would work this one out – and she’s dead! Simply install the pretty-self-explanatory software provided on your laptop and attach the plug and play USB sensor. Select your log directory on the PC and away you go! The sensor is powered via USB so no additional cables are needed.

CONS

Life has a way of dropping a bollock in your noodles and even the sexiest of products aren’t immune. You could be chowing down on the best damn noodles you’ve ever tasted and suddenly – there it is – that familiar pink, wrinkled old egg-shape staring up at you from amongst the miso. It only works with XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8. Apple users can try using Windows Bootcamp but it’s not supported nor guaranteed to work. That’s 10% of the UK market ruled out. You might wonder where you’re going to base your computer from now on. As USB cables over 10 metres in length can lead to data loss, your PC will need to be within easy reach of the growroom without actually being in it (PCs don’t respond well to humidity). Masturbation could be made a whole lot more complicated. Spreadsheet applications can slow down once 4000 data points or more have been created. If you set your EMS-Pro to record every second while you’re away on holiday, good luck trying to analyse the data!

For more infomation visit: www.ecotechnics.co.uk

MOULDS AND MILDEWS Moulds and Mildews. Surely just the murmurings of these words will bring a cold shiver running down the spine of the majority of growers. Other than maybe watching the gay fish Kanye West completely ruin Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody at this year’s Glastonbury festival, there is almost no situation more likely to make a grown man cry than the realisation at a point close to harvest that the majority of your crop is in actual fact a complete write off. Just imagine it: your pockets are left bare from the high tech wizardry you’ve invested all your pennies in creating the ultimate grow room. You’ve spent more time than ever before monitoring your nutrient solution. Spent hours and hours training your plants and making sure that at every step of the way they have done nothing but be shining examples of everything you have ever wanted them to be. You’re stepping back for a second to admire the unbelievably amazing length, girth and form of your flowers thinking to yourself how you can’t wait to post them on Facebook and Instagram in order to make people super jealous of just how green your green thumb really is. Annoyingly, you notice a leaf looking a little bit limp and slightly yellower than you’d be expecting. Hmmm, that’s odd, you think to yourself. Come to think of it, you’re starting to notice a few of them

as you nervously start twitching your eyes around the room. You swiftly take your hand to the nearest limp leaf and grab it to have a closer look, but as you grasp the leaf it seems to tear like wet paper from the stem and come away with shockingly little effort into your hand. As you look closely into the centre of the flower you see a fuzzy grey patch staring right back at you. Shit the bed. It’s at this point you realise you’ve completely gone and fucked it. Botrytis has just gone and kicked you straight in the proverbial balls buddy. In your eagerness to prevent an invasion of pests on your crops after reading last issue’s ‘The Usual Suspects’, you’d gone overboard on Integrated Pest Management and forgotten about all the other microscopic things that can and will destroy your crop. You silly bugger you. It happens to everyone though, so just try to reassure yourself that there is no better method of learning than through experiencing and overcoming failures. To aid said learning we will be going over the most common you are likely to encounter with indoor growing on the next few pages, and the sort of methods you can employ to keep them at bay. If you thought the battle with pests and mites was a hard one though, you are in for a rough ride with these sons of bitches. Just try not to be put off indoor growing altogether; you will make Mother Nature subservient soon, it just takes a whole bunch of diligence.

BOTRYTIS What is it? Botryitis is a highly common type of saprophytic fungus. Saprophytic meaning that it commonly hosts itself on dead organic material. Its spores are generally floating around everywhere all the time. Omnipresent if you will, but should by no means be likened to any sort of deity as it is rarely beneficial to a grower. Note the use of the word rarely. Certain grape growers actually need this mould to in order to make particularly sought after versions of wine, they even go so far as calling it the ‘Noble Rot’. Within the fungal kingdom, it belongs to the Ascomycota branch of the family tree. Close relatives in this branch include examples such as antibiotic penicillin or the fungus commonly referred to as athlete’s foot.

Philosophers stones

How does it take hold? As a saprophyte, it will usually begin its life in your grow room on dead plant matter that is lying around your room. Those few dead leaves scattered around your grow room may look fairly innocent, but they could just be the sinister cause of grey mould in your flowers. It is a fungus that commonly gains a foothold in weakened plants through damaged tissue or other stresses the plant may be enduring. It doesn’t exclusively need a damaged/poorly plant though, in some plants it can cause infections even without an open wound to gain access through. The fungus will usually become prevalent when you have high humidity, damp conditions and little to no air movement. With a garden full of plant matter and gloriously huge flowers, these conditions are surprisingly easy to come across.

Signs and symptoms: Chenin blanc grapes affected with ‘noble rot’

What is its life cycle? Botryitis will overwinter itself in a few forms. Either as Myclelium embedded within bark or dormant buds, or as Sclerotia. As Sclerotia it forms a small, dark brown compact mass of fungal mycelium that also contain a small source of food reserves. A few of you may be more familiar with Sclerotia as the hallucinogenic little rabbit turd looking things commonly called philosophers stones, though these are from a different species of fungi. Usually in spring time, spores (or conidia) are produced from the sclerotia or mycelium and are spread around by wind and rain onto freshly grown healthy plant tissue. These spores germinate between temperatures of 0.5CF and 30C (although 15C-25C is optimal), after being stimulated by the presence of nutrients (from pollen, decaying organic matter or leaf exudates) and water. Where no surface water is present it can occur when relative humidity is 90% or above. Fruit infections occur from the hyphae that extend out from the germinating spores and penetrate susceptible tissues such as parts of blossom or scar tissue. This infection can remain latent within the plant and only become apparent as a problem when fruits begin to ripen.

In order to stand any sort of chance against the grey mould, you are going to need to know what to look out for. Patchy yellowing leaves with black necrotic areas are a good giveaway that something is going awry. This damage is usually localised near the edge of a leaf blade or on major veins. During particularly humid periods, these lesions can become covered in a fine layer of grey mouldy growth. Brown lesions may also appear on stems, causing the entire stem to randomly die off. In later stages when fruits and flowers have been infected, the adjoining leaves become very limp and will pull away with very little effort. In the late stages of an infection a grey fuzzy mould will be seen covering particular clusters of fruits, or deep within heavily set and dense flowers. By this point though, the battle is almost lost.

Leaf with early symptoms.

Stem with early symptoms.

Fruit covered in grey mould.

POWDERY MILDEW What is it?

Signs and symptoms:

Another highly common form of biotrophic fungal growth. Biotrophic meaning they require fresh living plants to establish a healthy relationship with, not just some decaying leaves on the floor like its necrotrophic friend Botrytis. Just like Botrytis, Powdery Mildew hails from the same Ascomycota division of the fungi family tree, and again you will find spores of it absolutely everywhere so expect to get it at least once if you are a regular indoor grower. Most species of powdery mildew produce epiphytic mycelium, meaning that it is restricted to the surfaces of the stems and leaves and can only re-produce horizontally, between immediately neighbouring plants. Some species however are endophytic, meaning they actually get into the leaf/plant tissue and re-produce vertically, down generations of plants through their seed.

The first thing you will usually notice will be the appearance of small white powdery dots on a few of your leaves in the more shaded and denser areas of your crop. The number of these dots will increase everywhere and their size will grow until the powder covers the entire area of the leaf, on both the top and bottom sides. Not to be confused with downy mildew that only colonises the underside of the leaves. Discolouration will occur on the leaves effected with Mildew and when the infection gets severe due to the decreased amount of photosynthesis. You can then be expecting will get leaf drop, malformed stunted fruits and eventually the plant will give up and die.

What is its lifecycle? Powdery Mildew will overwinter itself as mycelium either in cracks of bark, the buds of plants/trees and in infected leaves that have fallen to the ground. It can also form small structures called cleistothecia that survive harsh winter conditions very well. These appear as little black dots within the white powdery jizzum typically seen on leaves. When the weather begins to warm up in spring, the fungi start to kick into action. All they need is a short period of relatively damp conditions and temperatures to rise to 10-15F and they spring into action. Shortly after this the conidia (asexual spores of the fungus) are developed and they spooge all over the place, aiming to cover as much freshly grown and untainted plant growth as possible. These new spores then essentially repeat the process releasing millions of new spores up to every three days.

How does it take hold?

Early spotting

Shockingly easily is the short and (not so) sweet answer. Although it won’t breed on dead plant matter in your room, it can just as easily make its way into your room from contaminated stock plants you have bought in, spores on your clothing/hands from your recent walk through the woods or even just stray spores that have floated in on a breeze. It is most common in shaded and humid conditions, but Powdery Mildew does not need surface water to germinate, so can hold its own just as well when it comes to taking over relatively hot and dry environments as well. Optimum germination temperatures range between 18C and 26C. Optimum relative humidity for germination is between 75-98%. Drops in humidity cause the spore production to proliferate to counteract the decreased likelihood of germination. Therefore regular changes and swings in humidity are the fungi’s best friend. As mentioned earlier, the most common Powdery Mildews are epiphytic: their hyphae does not get into the plant – it’s just their absorption cells called ‘haustoria’ that penetrate the epidermal layers for their food source. Late stage of leaf coverage

HOW DO I KEEP THESE IN CHECK? Cleanliness: The most important aspect, it cannot be stressed enough! Prevention is your main weapon in a very small arsenal against these two indiscriminate killers. If you can prevent yourself even getting these in the first place then you save yourself a directly proportional amount of headache down the line. Cleanliness is godliness. Always change into clean clothes and wash your hands before entering your grow room. This will help prevent any spores from the outside world making it into your fortress of solitude. Sterile paper suits can be found at some shops to cover your entire body so no change of clothes is necessary. You also get the added benefit of looking like you are in a Beastie Boys video.

Humidity. Avoid extremely high levels of humidity, as it is a fungi’s best friend. This is hard when a room is in full bloom, you are highly likely to require a dehumidifier. Avoid swings and spikes in humidity, this will accelerate the progression particularly with powdery mildew. Try to run a slightly lower than usual humidity from mid to late flowering times to combat the higher localised relative humidity you will find immediately around and within flowers. Air circulation. You want to ensure that there are no stale pockets of air anywhere in your room where spores can settle and fester

Treatment products: There are a few products you can find in shops up and down the country that can help you treat infections when you spot symptoms, here we will go through a few of them: Bacterial based spray products. Products such as Plant Magic Essence will colonise your leaf surfaces with activated beneficial bacteria. These will actively fight against any incoming threats. Bacterial sprays like Essentials Rot Stop requires the spray to remain wet on the plant for roughly four hours in order for the bacteria to come alive and do their job. Always follow each individual product’s recommendations.

Sterile paper suit

Get rid of any dead/decaying leaves/plant matter from your grow room immediately. They are basically breeding grounds for botrytis. Plus it makes the place look untidy. Clean your room thoroughly between each grow. Make sure you get rid of all leftover decaying plant matter, and wash down and sterilise dirty walls, floors or equipment with a weak bleach solution.

Chemical sprays. Being somewhat of a hippy I would try to avoid using these as they may do you some damage when you come to consume your harvest, but there are chemical sprays like Roseclear that can help to control mildew. Again always follow the instructions. Be very careful with these ones. Sulphur burners. Using products such as the Hot Box sulphur burner will release a certain amount of sulphur into the environment that thwarts the onset and progression of moulds and mildews. Can be used preventatively or for treatment but again ensure you follow the directions correctly. UV Lights. The clean light can be run over your plants to zap any living organism into oblivion. Careful not to shine it in your eyes or hold it over your skin too long as you might end up doing yourself some damage in the process.

Environmental Control: Each of these two fungi have optimum spawning conditions that you can do your best to stop happening, thereby lowering the risk that they will germinate. Temperature. Only a small amount you can do here as you will need to keep temperatures that the moulds like in order for your plants to grow properly. Maintain a small temperature drop as much as possible to avoid the humidity skyrocketing every night.

SUMMARY So there we have it. Hopefully this brief run through on moulds and mildews has served as a small eye opener into their microscopic world. Let’s all hope you never see them manifest themselves on your plants, but if they do, then at least you are now suitably armed with some information as to how to deal with them.

A BRIEF GUIDE TO SUPPLEMENTING CARBON DIOXIDE Most of us are familiar with the fact that Carbon dioxide plays a major role in photosynthesis, the rest of us would at the very least agree with the statement ‘It’s what plants breathe’. For all that we tinker with the other environmental factors in our growrooms, CO2 is often overlooked. To be fair that doubtless has a lot to do with its overabundance in the world at large, and the fact that we talk about ‘supplementing’ CO2 doesn’t help either. In truth, your crop will benefit just as much from tailoring CO2 levels as it does from tailored light spectrums, nutrient content and temperature levels.

WATER (H2O) + CARBON DIOXIDE (CO2 ) + LIGHT ENERGY – GLUCOSE + OXYGEN (O2)

Getting your light levels just right does have the potential to increase the rate at which your plants photosynthesize, but H2O and CO2 levels need to be high enough to match that rate. If your plants aren’t getting enough water they will simply wilt, which is easy enough to identify and resolve. On the other hand, latent or background levels of CO2 are high enough for your plants to survive on, so other than having a smaller crop (which could be the result of any number of factors) there’s nothing to indicate that your plants aren’t actually achieving their full potential. Almost everyone who isn’t invested in the energy sector accepts that global CO2 levels are rising. They’re also higher in urban areas and higher still in industrial areas. If you’re interested in the CO2 emission levels in your area, you can find them on DEFRA’s Nation Atmospheric Emissions Inventory webpage. If you’re not interested, pat yourself on the back anyway for being part of the solution by growing plants. Normal background CO2 levels sit at around 300-400 ppm. Many plants are capable of using 1200-1400 ppm; that’s three and a half times more of the basic building block carbon - from which your plants are primarily composed. Translated into crop mass, you can see the appeal of supplementing CO2.

Getting started Circulation CO2 is a heavier element than oxygen; when supplementing it in your growroom it will sink towards the floor. You need to take account of this when planning your setup. Ideally it should be introduced above the canopy which it can then fall through. A good system of circulatory fans will then aid in maximising uniformity of the dispersion. If you’re scrubbing the air with a standalone fan and filter combo, a good idea is to position the filter vertically on the floor exhausting air up towards the top of your growroom. This helps the heavier CO2 get re-circulated back over the top of the canopy.

Temperature Temperature plays a rather key factor when it comes to a plant’s efficient use of CO2. An increase in temperature has the same impact on the plant’s metabolic processes. An increased level of CO2 may only become truly efficient if you are maintaining an increased temperature for photosynthesis rates to keep up at their optimum. For example, in an environment at the usual 300-400 ppm a temperature of roughly 25oC will see your plant photosynthesise at the most efficient rate. But when you raise the ppm of CO2 to a high 1000-1200 ppm, an optimum temperature of 29-30oC is needed to achieve the much higher rate of photosynthesis they are then capable of. The rate of photosynthesis will increase and decrease with temperature at a much more drastic rate within CO2 rich environments than it will with low CO2 environments, so any fluctuations with temperature levels will have a significantly greater impact on plant growth than you would normally be used to.

Practical application

Light Intensity A similar effect will occur with light intensity as seen with temperature, but with a few subtle differences. Instead of operating on a bell curve, the relative levels of photosynthesis increase on a reverse exponential curve - meaning you will see a greater increase in photosynthesis from raising CO2 levels from 400 to 700 ppm than you will if you raised them from 1000 to 1300. Once you get to the 1000-1200 ppm ball park area you get to a point where any further increase won’t justify results in terms of overall input versus overall output. What this essentially means is that with increased levels of CO2, the saturation point for light levels over your crop also increases. Therefore a proportionally higher umol/m2/s (light intensity) can be utilised by the crop. Meaning you can afford either: an increased ballast output, more lights, or lower light hanging points (depending on the equipment you have available)

Firstly and most importantly, with elevated CO2 levels, any swings in these variables will exhibit a proportionally larger impact on growth. In order to account correctly for all of the above parameters, and the intertwined effects that they have on one another, you’re going to need to have all the necessary equipment to precisely control and monitor it all. It’s always a good idea to begin with introducing ppm at around twice the background level, and then increase gradually over the course of a few days or so, raising it up to the optimum 1000-1200 ppm mark. In a similar way that you harden off a cutting before it finally leaves the propagator, so it’s used to outside conditions, you want to ease in to a CO2 rich environment. As you’re increasing the amounts of CO2 into the room, the other variables will need to be changed accordingly. So at the baseline 3-400 ppm, your temperature will be ideally 24/25oC and humidity at 65%. At twice the baseline (6-800 ppm), a temperature of roughly 26/27oC and humidity of roughly 70% would be ideal. At a high ppm level of 1000-1200 ppm, aim for temperatures of 28-30oC and humidity in the region of 80%. Once you hit the mid to late stages of flower, you can afford to lower humidity levels to encourage a higher transpiration and reduce potential for moulds. However, to avoid an excessively high VPD it would be advisable to not go much lower than 55-60% if maintaining the higher temperature levels. At the same time as you are going through these environmental increases, remember that they can also take higher intensities of light than usual. Most of you I’m sure don’t have the luxury of a decent hand held PAR meter. A decent one will set you back a grand or so at least, but it’s the only way you are going to be able to accurately tailor your light levels to the increased demands of a CO2 rich environment. The method most people will have to default to is basically the metaphorical finger-in-the-air, i.e. based on gut instinct and trial and error. Essentially your only tools are the use of inbuilt ballast dimming/booster switches, or for more precision, control units like the Dimlux Maxicontroller or the Gavita Master Controller. Also consider simply lowering your lights. Adjusting all these factors in line with the increasing CO2 levels in order to maximise efficiency is something that is certainly going to require some investment. From air conditioning systems, to PAR meters, lighting control units, IR cameras, and humidification control; it’s pretty clear you are going to have to bite the bullet and invest in some fairly hefty new gear. Not just to control but to monitor as well. To see if you are getting unwanted swings and spikes in your conditions, a data logger is your new best friend. No-one said perfection came cheap or easy, but good Lord is it worth it.

Humidity With humidity you will need to have the ability to ensure you encourage a beneficial Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD) at higher than normal levels. With your temperature elevated to the 30oC mark, you are going to need your relative humidity to be pushing 80% to have an optimal VPD and keep everything transpiring as usual.

Adjustawatt Adjustable Ballast

STOMA CLOSED

STOMA OPEN Nucleus

Chloroplast Vacuole Guard Cell Cell Wall

Stoma

Gavita Adjustable Ballast

Knock on effects to consider CO2 supplementation is better utilised in a well-designed sealed growroom. This ensures the most efficient use of CO2 and control over environmental parameters - but that doesn’t necessarily exclusively apply. For example, rooms with air-cooled lights to minimise any extraction are an option. However in an open growroom the outside environment will always have an impact on your conditions and you will use CO2 at a much faster rate, which is a considerable concern when you’re accounting for the overall cost benefit. If you’re aiming for a totally sealed room, firstly: kudos. Secondly, bear in mind you may still need a small amount of extraction. Releasing CO2 from compressed bottles will result in positive air pressure within your growing space. Growers have been known to detect leaking air from what they thought was a sealed/closed loop room as the pressure of the released CO2 has forced its way out of tiny cracks and into the outside world. So at the very least a minute amount of extraction is advised to prevent this. Just as all your environmental factors will see an increase when supplementing CO2, so too will your plants’ demands for nutrients. In part because (as counter intuitive as it may seem) your plants’ demand for water decreases. Higher levels of CO2 cause stomata to close slightly and therefore cause your plants

to uptake less water due to the lower rate of transpiration. By supplementing CO2 in the air, your plants can actually achieve a significant increase in water use efficiency; up to 225% in some crops. Translated that will mean your plants may need a more concentrated level of nutrients in their water supply. Root zones like to be oxygenated. This is particularly pertinent if you are using a DWC (Deep Water Culture) system. You will need to make sure your air pumps aren’t placed somewhere where they will draw in higher levels of CO2 into the supply. I’m sure it’s fairly obvious, but this won’t help keeping a good level of dissolved oxygen in the nutrient solution. This obviously may well mean placing the air pump outside the room, where there is a more usual level of oxygen. Since your plants have the potential to significantly increase in size, you’re going to need to compensate with additional plant support. Whether you use plant support netting, bamboo stakes or plant support yo-yos, you are going to need something to hold things up. Then once you have caught the bug, you may even find yourself needing a bigger tent or room to expand your sealed venture in: this is HYDROMAG so by now you should know that we wouldn’t say that lightly.

Finally Supplementing CO2 offers growers the significant potential for healthier, more vigorous plant growth. Of course that translates into the golden calf of higher yields, and without many of the potential detrimental effects that other routes can result in, like a lower quality crop. At the same time it requires more of everything; most notably more time spent monitoring and tinkering with your growing environment. To many people that’s half the appeal. This is decidedly “pro” territory, but for some it may well be a turn off. As with everything, if you are planning to do it, plan it properly and do it right. Also, try to remember that humans have a tendency to suffocate in excessively CO2 rich environments, so if you start to feel light headed or short of breath, it’s time to step out of your growroom.

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GROW TEST

AIR CONDITIONERS: BECAUSE IT’S WORTH IT Jeesus titty-fucking Christ. It’s ten o’clock in the evening, sweat is still streaming down my face and my balls are stuck to my legs. What is it with English weather? It’s either bloody freezing, rainy and blowing a gale or swelteringly hot to a point where you want to tear your own skin off. Well they do say variety is the spice of life, but this is one area where I think a little more homogeneity would go a long way. Indoor growing for most people becomes a distant memory mid-summer. Adding all those BTU’s from your HID lighting (3.41 BTU’s per watt of light) to an already high incoming air temperature means that the environment is going to get to an unbearable level of heat. The only results you are going to be able to produce in these conditions are likely to be some dead plants. Cue air conditioning. Basically your only tool in combating the heat of the summer or an out of the blue heat wave and keeping your little paradise on earth nice and cool. Sure it may seem like a large investment, but can you really put a price on the enjoyment factor of unrestricted, year round perfect conditions for growing? Or the enjoyment factor this brings to your life? The wise man’s answer to both of these is an unhesitant “Naaah Blud”.

Fortunately for you there is now plenty of choice as to what you should be going for, whatever your motivations for choice. Be it price, practicality, form or function that is governing your decision, there are many avenues for you to go down in order to arrive at the best option for you. That list pretty much covers what we are going to look at over the next few pages: Comparing the functionality and specifications over the available products as an easy reference tool for you to come to when looking to spend your pennies. Most importantly focusing throughout on aspects that relate directly to the reasons that would mostly concern the indoor grower: humidity, temperature, Co2, and how each unit compares as to how they go about controlling them, or if at all. Then along with these laying out the specs like working capacities, power consumption, water consumption etc in order to make any significant differences glaringly obvious. In an ideal world it would be lovely to test how each one does actually control each of the environmental parameters, and what power/water they actually do consume, but the logistics involved in doing that with this sort of product isn’t something we are able to produce in a 10 week time frame. Whilst I hear a tsks and teeth kisses in corners from the fans of our normal test features, rest assured we will have something particularly worthy of the break for you next issue. We don’t really want to spill any beans yet or anything but *cough* LED’S *cough*.

TEMPERATURE CONTROL Let’s start at the very beginning shall we. This is possibly the single most important reason that you will buy one of these products in the first place. If it wasn’t for the scorchio temperatures then chances are you’d carry on with your plain old extract fan and filter combo. Or it could be that you struggle with anywhere to actually exhaust all your hot humid air. The watered cooled types provide the ultimate answer to this perplexing struggle: “just flush it dahn the drain guvna”.

So what temperature ranges do each of these machines operate within? What sort of power consumption are you going to see when they’re operating? How exactly is it that each one removes the hot air? How precisely can you control the parameters of temperature? How well does it heat as well as cool? All good questions. Pat yourself on the back for thinking of them whilst you have a look over the following tables to see which ones do what, or don’t do.

Water Cooled Split Air Conditioning Evaporative Coolers

Always bear in mind that the water cooled options provide the most subtle way of getting rid of the heat. Indeed, some locations growers have had to resort to using offer no means of extracting air what so-ever meaning these options open doors to a potential grow room that no other options can. It follows then, that split air conditioning units still have a hot air source to get rid of. If you have an issue already with a suitable place for extracting hot air outside your property, then having to mount the large external units somewhere basically takes you to a chip-pan/fire scenario.

Evaporative coolers allow simply being able to have one unit in the grow room. Whilst they don’t provide all the functionality and effectiveness of other water coolers, they use significantly less water.

Note: equivalent models using different amounts of resource to perform function. If too much consumption is a concern, then choose accordingly.

HUMIDITY CONTROL No-one likes the muggy heat of an English summer. It makes it hard to even walk across the road without turning in to a perspiring, wheezing mess. Fortunately for you, you could nip into your grow room quickly to get away from it all as the piece of kit you just bought can sort out humidity for you too! How it can actually control humidity though varies quite significantly from brand to brand. For example, what can be done with a single unit like the Opticlimate Pro4, can only be achieved with the ClimateButler by purchasing the secondary dedicated de-humidier. Raising humidity is something that is non-existent in all of these options. You are still going to need to purchase separate humidifiers and suitable control equipment for this, and tinker with the settings independently of your main climate control unit.

TIP

Water Cooled

The more weaponry you have against the persistent onslaught of spores the better, so a lot of sealed room growers will install secondary air scrubbers as well. A carbon filter on the floor with fan attached and mounting it all vertically will not only ensure the air is scrubbed well, but also that it is constantly mixing the Co2 as it pumps the lower air from the base of the plants back to the top of the room.

Split Air Conditioning Evaporative Coolers

Humidity control is crucial in a sealed room, if your machine is not able to keep levels down effectively, particularly during the later flowering stages, then you can looking forward to shaking Mr. Botrytisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; hand when he comes to stay. A smart move is to choose a unit that provides its own means of getting rid of bacterial and fungal spores. A carbon filter will provide a more thorough removal of contaminants than its UV version, but will require replacement of the filter more frequently.

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FUNCTION OVER FORM Here at HYDROMAG we always advise to appreciate things for what they do rather than how they look. This always leaves open the opportunity to be pleasantly surprised when you come across something that does have both, a bit like with Carol Vorderman post 2005ish.

INSTALLATION The installation requirements of each product should be your first concern. If you can’t even physically set the thing up correctly because of lack of space or incorrect fittings then clearly it’s no good for you. Firstly, simply consider the size of the unit: you don’t want to have to cut a large hole in your roof because it’s not going to fit through your small loft hatch. Secondly, whereabouts within your area does it need to be mounted, and is this even feasible for you? Some options require to be mounted high above your canopy for optimum use, so ensure this is do-able. Lastly, everyone likes to be able to plug and play. It’s like the new buzz-word slogan everyone uses to sell their product to the lazy consumer who wants things as simple as possible. But just how ‘plug and play’ are the options though? No-one likes buying a wardrobe on the premise of ‘some assembly required’ only to find

Water Cooled

What exactly can each one control? To what sort of limits can each one actually go to? Feast thine eyes on the following info:

Split Air Conditioning Evaporative Coolers

out that it should have said ‘crash course in carpentry required’. Same thing applies here, you ideally want something you can install yourself, and not have to rely on getting anyone else in to help you.

CONTROLLABILITY An extension of functionality; just what parameters does each unit give you control over to what degree can you control them? It’s not going to be much use if you can’t set boundaries in which your machine is going to operate. The fine control you need over you environmental parameters in order to make most benefit from a sealed room should really dictate what machine you are going to choose. It’s always more convenient to have one unit capable of controlling many parameters, but it needs to do it well otherwise it’s almost not worth having the option there.

PRODUCT SUPPORT AND SAFETY No-one wants to buy a machine, only to have to buy another one if anything fails. The sort of warranty you get with these products is obviously the same as any other type of product, so there should be no immediate worries along these lines. Outside the normal warranty period should be your main concern though. If your unit fails 14 months after purchase, you going to want to be able to get replacement parts rather than having to buy a whole new unit. It’s not just repairs that should concern you either, are there extra fittings available for the unit in order for you to correctly tailor it for your specific grow room? If you need an extra metre of cable just to get the unit in the right place, or other fittings that don’t come as standard, then you are going to want to know that you can actually get hold of them. There’s no point buying a product if you can’t buy the extras you need to have it work correctly for you.

Water Cooled Split Air Conditioning Evaporative Coolers

And what of any safety features? You are putting a lot of faith into a machine that can potentially cause a lot of problems if anything does go wrong. What sort of alarm or cut-out features do they have to help prevent any catastrophic disasters? Needless to say this is entirely all motivated by individual set-up and requirements, so bare those in mind when assessing the following:

So now each aspect has been laid out nice and easily for you, it’s time to bring it all together for a lovely little quick reference guide on all the specs for you to deliberate over while you’re sat on the bog. Displayed here is also probably the main factor in what will sway your choice: Price.

THE AIR-CONDITIONING ALMANAC

Water Cooled

Split Air Conditioning

Evaporative Coolers

100 FILMS ROMANCE TO WATCH BEFORE YOU SNUFF IT:

They say romance is dead. While in the 16th Century we had Romeo declaring “My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep. The more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite,” today we must put up with Anastasia Steele gushing “He reaches between my legs and pulls on the blue string… what! And… gently pulls my tampon out and tosses it into the nearby toilet. Holy fuck.” Romance probably is indeed dead; its cold, crotchless panty-wearing corpse trussed up to a bondage chair, having been accidentally starved to death by a forgetful Christian Grey. Whether romance is dead or there’s still a faint pulse in its gangrenous arm is hard to say. But one thing is certain - you will be dead, sooner if not later. Amidst all the commercialisation and a slew of insultingly sexist books and movies suggesting Woman’s sole raison d’être is to act ditzy and hope to be whisked off her feet by a billionaire, there are some real pearls in the romance genre. Films that show love for what it really is; dirty, imperfect, heart-wrenching and beautiful. Watch them before it’s too late. This edition: Romance – movies where the main plot centres on couples falling in and out of love. And sometimes back in and out again…

“Amidst all the commercialisation and a slew of insultingly sexist books and movies suggesting Woman’s sole raison d’être is to act ditzy and hope to be whisked off her feet by a billionaire, there are some real pearls in the romance genre.” 34

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind DIRECTOR: Michel Gondry (2004)

In this glorious nonlinear sci-ﬁ romance, visionary madman Michel Gondry (director of Science of Sleep) teamed up with Byzantine genius Charlie Kaufman (author of Being John Malkovich and Adaptation) to create one of the most inventive and original movies of all time. Jim Carey and Kate Winslet star as an ill-matched couple going through a messy split. When the mildmannered Joel (Carey) discovers his recent ex-girlfriend has visited Lacuna Inc. to have a revolutionary procedure to remove all her memories of him, he determines to do the same in an act of petulance. A decision he comes to regret in the very moment the memory-wiping begins. Much of the movie then takes place in Joel’s head as he desperately ﬁghts to hold onto his memories, belatedly realising that though painful, they are cherished. The movie, hypnotic and brilliant, stays with you long after viewing.

Breathless (A Bout de Souffle)

With wild jump cuts, a jazz soundtrack, and a thoroughly modern take on love, A Bout de Souffle marked the arrival of Nouvelle Vague mainstay, Jean-Luc Godard. Based predominantly in Paris, this is a tale of a freewheeling small time criminal falling for the charms of aspiring journalist, Patricia, played by Jean Seberg. Jean-Paul Belmondo plays Michel, espousing a takewhat-you-want and damn-the-consequences philosophy, where “being afraid is the worst sin there is”. After impulsively shooting a police officer, Michel wings by Paris to call in a debt and flee to Italy before the authorities catch up with him. But his escape plans are thrown into disarray when Cupid’s arrow strikes. Simultaneously breezy and deep, this film is the epitome of the New Wave movement and marked a watershed in cinema for its ground-breaking film techniques.

Penned by a young Quentin Tarantino, True Romance follows an intense whirlwind relationship after a one-night-stand between Clarence (Christian Slater in a career high) and call girl Alabama (Patricia Arquette). After the ghost of Elvis Presley tells Clarence to kill Alabama’s pimp, a wild journey ensues as the pair head to Los Angeles with a massive bag of cocaine, continuing a long tradition of great American lovers-on-the-run movies (Bonnie and Clyde, Badlands, Wild At Heart). As with all Tarantino projects the film is laced with sharp dialogue, great humour, and explosive violence. With Tony Scott’s high-octane directorial style and a testosterone-fuelled series of cameos from the likes of Dennis Hopper, James Gandolfini, Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Walken, and Val Kilmer, True Romance bleeds amoral cool. But the love story at the film’s beating heart is surprisingly tender.

DIRECTOR: Jean-Luc Godard (1960)

True Romance

DIRECTOR: Tony Scott (1993)

Brokeback Mountain

Blue Valentine

DIRECTOR: Ang Lee (2005)

DIRECTOR: Derek Cianfrance (2010)

Ang Lee continued to surprise commentators by following up Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hulk with this revolutionary, ‘high concept’ take on the Western. The concept, based on a short story by Annie Proulx, is simple – two cowboys fall in love. The film follows the twenty-year illicit affair of Ennis (Heath Ledger – never finer) and Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) in one of the most homophobic, macho environments imaginable. Set largely in the mountains of Wyoming, and also in Texas, we see the two men try to reconcile their feelings for one another with their upbringings, against a backdrop of potentially murderous disapproval. Stunningly shot, with a wonderful touching script, Brokeback Mountain perhaps did more for gay rights overnight than many lifelong campaigners, becoming the first mainstream same-sex love story to become a major box office hit, earning almost two hundred million dollars worldwide and forcing many to see past their prejudices.

After a surprising twelve year hiatus following his acclaimed debut (Brother Tied) at Sundance, Derek Cianfrance burst back onto the movie scene with this heart-breaking meditation on what it means to fall in and out of love. In the present, balding Dean (Ryan Gosling) has squandered his obvious musical talent, and is content to paint walls and guzzle beer in the afternoon. Cindy (Michelle Williams) works as a nurse but feels oppressed by the mediocrity of her married life. In deliberate, marked contrast, we are treated to a series of flashbacks documenting the happier times of their touching courtship. But to focus on the pure mechanics is to do this film an injustice. With an excellent, avant-garde Grizzly Bear score, and Cianfrance’s dreamlike direction, Blue Valentine captures and distils the universal break-up experience. It’s achingly sad but the film’s beauty and timelessness are strangely uplifting.

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

“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

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

“You’re going to understand how it works... It’s impressive!” FRANCE 5 (NATIONAL TV)

THE WORLDWIDE REFERENCE

Available through GROWTH TECHNOLOGY , HIGHLIGHT HORTICULTURE , Hydrofarm, BWGS, and major distributors worldwide. MAMAPUBLISHING.COM

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

BLACK ORCHID Solis Tek Digital Lighting Products US lighting company Solis Tek are renowned for their innovative and expert products. Their UK range includes the STK Ballast, the HPS and their 4K, 6K and 10K Metal Halide lamps. Once you’ve tried Solis Tek there’s no going back! Use the 4K lamp for the full grow cycle, the 6K for impressive vegetative growth, and the 10K for the last 7-21 days of ﬂowering for superior quality. For more information visit: www.solis-tek.com / www.blackorchid.co.uk (Exclusive UK distributors)

Manufacturer / Product Website: www.solis-tek.com Distribution by: Black Orchid

DIMLUX Dimlux Aux Box Now manage your temperature and humidity parameters through the Dimlux Aux Box! The Auxbox is connected to the Dimlux Maxi Controller through the auxiliary port on the unit. With this module you can connect a heater/ heating system, humidiﬁer or dehumidiﬁer to control the relative humidity, and temperature and RH set points for both day and night operation within your micro climate.

Manufacturer / Product Website: www.hydrostationltd.co.uk/lighting.htm Distribution by: Hydro Station Ltd

DIMLUX Dimlux CO2 Sensor Gas Protect The Dimlux CO2 Sensor Gas Protect has the same functions as the Dimlux Dual Beam NDIR CO2 Sensor with the addition of the Gas Protect sensor. The Gas Protect sensor has a CO (carbon monoxide) and gas (natural or propane) safeguard. The Gas Protect sensor monitors both gasses in addition to the CO2 content. In the event of minor gas leakage or CO toxiﬁcation, the CO2 generator will switch oﬀ and activate the LED alarm. This ensures safety at ALL TIMES and eliminates plant damage!

Manufacturer / Product Website: www.hydrostationltd.co.uk/lighting.htm Distribution by: Hydro Station Ltd

KAHN Bespoke Climate Control Systems When there’s no room for error and no will to compromise – Bespoke Climate Control Systems from Kahn is the reliable solution for the professional! Here Kahn come to the market with a true ‘intelligent’ microclimate management system that’s as simple to use as it is quiet and efficient. No need for water, no need for a humidifier and no need to tell it to heat / cool or even when to switch on! Instructions: set your target temperature for ‘lights on’ – the same for ‘lights off’ – and walk away. This unit then takes care of the lot! This is not for the boys though: the entry level unit outputs 20 kW – all from single phase and a three pin plug!

Manufacturer / Product Website: www.kahnclimatecontrol.co.uk Distribution by: FDP Wholesale

ETI LTD HortiStick Nutrient Tester This simple to use three-in-one meter is ideal for the testing of hydroponic solutions and water treatment processes as it combines the measurement of pH, conductivity (mS) and temperature. The HortiStick incorporates automatic temperature compensation and a one-touch auto-calibration feature, as well as a user selectable backlight, display hold and an auto-power oﬀ facility; maximising battery life. Housed in a rugged, water resistant case with built-in shock resistant sensor which oﬀers IP65 protection. For prolonged use, a replacement electrode is also available. Available from: www.etiltd.com Manufacturer / Product Website: www.etiltd.com Distribution by: ETI Ltd

GROW GEAR CANNA CANNA COCO substrates CANNA produces a variety of different coco substrates. You have the choice between CANNA Coco Natural, CANNA Coco Professional Plus, CANNA Coco Slab, and CANNA COGr Board. CANNA Coco Natural is buffered at 50% and ready to use. CANNA Coco Professional Plus is 100% buffered and ready to use. CANNA Coco Slab is buffered and ready to use. Finally CANNA COGr Board is non-buffered and therefore needs buffering with a CANNA Buffer Agent (a 24-hour process). For more information about the CANNA COCO substrates please visit the CANNA website: www.canna-uk.com.

Manufacturer / Product Website: www.canna-uk.com/coco Distribution by: Highlight, Hydrogarden - Distributors on Website

CANNA CANNA TERRA substrates CANNA oﬀers you two types of substrates; CANNA Terra Professional and CANNA Terra Professional Plus - two high quality substrates containing high quality ingredients. The CANNA Terra Professional is lightly fertilised, contains perlite, and a mixture of white and black peat. CANNA Terra Professional Plus is also lightly fertilised and contains no perlite, but coco, and is made of 100% white peat. For more information about these two CANNA TERRA substrates please visit the CANNA website: www.canna-uk.com.

Manufacturer / Product Website: www.canna-uk.com/terra Distribution by: Highlight, Hydrogarden - Distributors on Website

GROW GEAR THE AMAZING DOCTOR ZYMES Eliminator New to the UK and just in time for summer! Kills and eliminates ALL mites, thrips, aphids, and whiteﬂies - as well as their larvae and EGGS! The Amazing Doctor Zymes Eliminator- it’s the right way to grow ... the responsible way to destroy all of the nasty critters that inhibit your plants’ growth!

Kills spider mites Kills fungus gnats Eliminates powdery mildew Use up to and on day of harvest Non-toxic, pesticide-free and biodegradable Great for chemical-sensitive folks Environmentally friendly Safe to use around children and pets Manufacturer / Product Website: www.doctorzymes.com Distribution by: Highlight Horticulture

SUNKING Electronic Ballast This fantastic new electronic ballast has some great features; including being every wattage you could want: 250-watt, 400-watt, 600-watt, and 660-watt Super Lumens - in a sleek new low-noise fan-less enclosure! Although it is big on features it’s relatively low in price compared to other units with this capability. And with a name like SunKing you can be sure of its reliability too! The new design is wall mountable, has soft rubber feet, and can ignite metal halide lamps as well as the usual HPS. It has a two year warranty and is CE and RoHS compliant.

Distribution by: Highlight Horticulture

DTEK Mabo Automatic Fire Extinguisher MABO is a fully automatic fire extinguisher, integrating state-of-the-art technology and special know-how! The MABO reacts to heat, bursting open and dispersing its unique, patented solution over a wide area with exceptional extinguishing efficiency. Instantaneous and with total fire suppression, it also contains a retardant that prevents re-ignition of the fire. It will operate even when no one is about to give you total fire protection and peace of mind. MABO is simple to mount, maintenance-free, easy to clean away, and has a product life of at least 10 years. MABO is also an ecological product; harmless to humans, animals and the environment. It is fully tested and approved to meet the criteria of CE 67/548/EEC.

MABO - giving total ﬁre protection and peace of mind. Manufacturer / Product Website: www.downtoearthkent.co.uk Distribution by: Down to Earth Kent

STARLIGHT T5 Florescent Lighting Fixture The Starlight twin 55-watt T5 fixture comes with high-end Osram Dulux L (Lumilux Cool Daylight) long-life tubes and is a great alternative to CFL lamps. It is manufactured in a high grade vented steel enclosure and features a hammered aluminium reflector. It is also supplied with two screw-in â&#x20AC;&#x153;eye hooksâ&#x20AC;? for easy hanging, and is CE and RoHS compliant. The Starlight is excellent for raising seedlings as well as raising those all-important cuttings.

Distribution by: Highlight Horticulture

GARDEN HIGHPRO Garden HighPro ProPot Series ProPot from Garden HighPro are high quality (260g/mt2) activated fabric pots that ensure the roots do not to grow in tight circles, but are distributed more evenly through the growing medium and are then better able to access the nutrient and air supply properly. Their square base allows for easy optimisation of the growing area. The smaller sizes 1.5L/4L/7L/11L pots are produced with no handles, but the larger 15L/20L/30L/50L models come with very handy tough handles to ensure that moving them around is a breeze. ProPots are suitable for use in both indoor and outdoor and are re-usable.

Manufacturer / Product Website: www.gardenhighpro.com Distribution by: Highlight Horticulture

GROW GEAR MAXIBRIGHT The Pro Max GOLD 600W 400V or 240V ballast The Pro Max GOLD 600W is designed for use with 400V (HPS) lamps or 240V (metal halide/HPS) lamps. This intelligent ballast identifies the correct voltage required to power the lamp and automatically adapts to the correct voltage, so you don’t even need to remember to flick a switch. This saves time, money and effort by not needing to change your set up and allows greater flexibility of use during the growing cycle. By only changing the lamp in your setup it minimises disruption to your plants and allows you to quickly change from using a 240V metal halide (growing lamp) to a 400V HPS (flowering/fruiting lamp) with ease. The Pro Max GOLD 600W also has all the features of the original Pro Max housed within its shiny gold casing. Identifies if a 400V or a 240V lamp is being used and adapts accordingly Suitable for use with 400V or 240V Metal Halide/HPS lamps Surge control: When multiple Pro Max GOLD power packs are started from the same power supply they will safely ignite your lamps one at a time to reduce electrical surges Soft start technology: Longer lamp life and continual efficient output Fast lamp re-strike: Ensures hot lamps start as quickly as possible Selectable power modes: 400W, 500W, 600W & 660W Super Dynamic frequency control for constant regulated output Diagnostic LED feature Silent running and lightweight

Manufacturer / Product Website: www.maxigrow.com Distribution by: Visit maxigrow.com/where-to-buy to ﬁnd your local retailer

MAXIBRIGHT The Daylight 315 Kit The Daylight 315 is about as close as you can get to natural daylight for your growing environment. Available as either a single or a twin kit with two Philips 315W lamp options (single kit) or three Philips 315W lamp combinations (twin kit) this product not only offers high light output but also great flexibility too. The Daylight 315 ballast system uses an advanced electronic ballast to power the Philips MASTERColour CDM-TMW Elite 315W EL and Philips MASTERColour CDM- TMW Elite Agro 315W EL lamps for excellent PAR output from the lamp per watt of power consumed. Providing full spectrum daylight, use both lamps for vegetative and flowering stages of growth. Full spectrum daylight with UVB Highly efficient PPF of 1.56 μmol/s per watt (Elite lamp) Highly efficient PPF of 1.72 μmol/s per watt (Agro lamp) Use both lamps for vegetative and flowering stages of growth Use Daylight lamps to supplement sodium lamps for significantly improved light quality The best available light for propagation and mother plants Single and twin lamp reflectors available Flexibility with a 5m lamp cable connected to the DAYLIGHT 315 remote ballast

Manufacturer / Product Website: www.maxigrow.com Distribution by: Visit maxigrow.com/where-to-buy to ﬁnd your local retailer

GROW GEAR PLAGRON Green Sensation Boost your buds with the organic compounds phosphorus and potassium present in Green Sensation. Green Sensation contains four products in one! No need to buy other additives like bloom stimulator, PK 13-14 or enzymes! Lower the use of basic nutrients by up to 50% test it yourself and experience the benefits of Green Sensation! Green Sensation is a powerful booster that guarantees a high yield. This stimulator was developed especially for the final 4 to 6 weeks of the flowering phase. Because of its well-balanced composition Green Sensation provides all the nutrients the plant needs. It ensures profuse flowering and cropping, a hard cell structure and the very best flavour. * Combine Green Sensation with Sugar Royal for the best results.

Any questions? servicedesk@plagron.com For additional information visit www.plagron.com/greensensation Manufacturer / Product Website: tinyurl.com/pp3a7ed Distribution by: Grotech, Nutriculture, Dutch Garden Supplies & Growth Technology

PLAGRON Sugar Royal Plagron Sugar Royal is a supplement to your basic nutrients and is for enhancing the natural flavour and taste of your final product. The natural processes of the plant during the flowering period will be challenged and supported by using Sugar Royal. Sugar Royal is a very powerful enhancer based on amino-acids. It provokes a drought stress-eﬀect; the plant feels like it will dry out so starts focusing on reproduction. Flowers, seeds and fruits will be formed at an accelerated pace, the ripening process will speed up, and the plant produces resin to protect itself from drying out. Reduce the total time from seedling to harvest by up to one week using Sugar Royal. * Combine Sugar Royal with Green Sensation for the best results.

Any questions? servicedesk@plagron.com For additional information visit www.plagron.com/sugarroyal Manufacturer / Product Website: tinyurl.com/nq35aux Distribution by: Grotech, Nutriculture, Dutch Garden Supplies & Growth Technology

GROW GEAR SOLER & PALAU VENT range from S&P The VENT range comes with an ultra-compact metal casing and is fitted with a powerful backward curved centrifugal fan for high performance suitable for use with carbon filters. The range extends from 4” (100 mm) to 12” (315 mm) to suit a variety of room sizes. Motors are fitted with maintenance-free ballrace bearings for long-life. All models are also provided with thermal protection built-in to the motor for safeguarding against overheating. This range also comes with a 2 year warranty and provides a cost effective ventilation solution.

Manufacturer / Product Website: www.solerandpalau.co.uk/category.jsp? Distribution by: Distributors shown on Website

SOLER & PALAU CAB range from S&P The CAB range offers 2” (50 mm) of V0 flame-retardant acoustic insulation on all faces of the enclosure to prevent unwanted noise from the motor and fan. The range extends from 4” (100 mm) to 12” (315 mm) to suit a variety of room sizes. Suitable for use with supply or extract air the fan consists of a double-inlet forward-curved impeller running inside an optimised scroll to generate an excellent combination of airflow and pressure without noisy turbulence. Spigots are fitted with rubber seals to ensure that leakage from the ducting is eliminated and the lid features quick release turnbuckles to aid cleaning.

Manufacturer / Product Website: www.solerandpalau.co.uk/category.jsp? Distribution by: Distributors shown on Website

GROW GEAR SHOGUN FERTILISERS SHOGUN Katana Roots Katana Roots is finally here and will be in all top hydro stores from the 1st August. An outstanding root stimulator, Katana Roots has been through an extensive research and development period to ensure that it really is a root booster that performs to SHOGUN’s high standards. Used as both a rooting media soak and as a nutrient additive throughout vegetative growth, Katana Roots stimulates rapid root formation and development, producing healthy white roots and giving your plants a real head start.

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

SHOGUN FERTILISERS SHOGUN Samurai Terra Nutrients A mineral-based soil nutrient that truly lives up to its “legendary nutrients” tagline. SHOGUN Samurai Terra - a grow and bloom soil feed that brings the latest SmartZen Maximiser technology to soil nutrients for the very ﬁrst time. Already available in the SHOGUN Samurai Hydro and Coco base nutrients, SmartZen has been shown to increase nutrient uptake and utilisation for yield increases of up to 8%. Suitable for all soil growing mediums. SHOGUN Fertilisers are now available to hydroponic stores throughout the UK, visit www.shogunfertilisers.com to be a stockist www.facebook.com/shogunfertilisers

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

WILMA Wilma Dripper System The Wilma dripper system is one of the most versatile grow systems available, with an option to suit every grow space. How it works: A timer controls when nutrient solution is dripped into your pots. Excess solution drains back into the reservoir and returns to the pots at the next feed. Why you’ll love it: Wilma allows for experimentation with diﬀerent media to see which produce the best results. Each pot in a Wilma system is moveable and can be turned under lights or replaced entirely. You not only get a ‘growing assistant’ helping you to grow bigger, healthier crops, but you’ll also make the most of the space in your grow tent. If you’re a grower who likes to grow in pots, you’ll appreciate the familiar growing approach, but you’ll love how easy Wilma is to use. Available in: 6, 11, 18 and 25 litre sizes

Distributor Website: www.nutsystems.co.uk Distribution by: Nutriculture

HID Exodus Proflow The Exodus Proflow is a DWC system that combines the precision of Drip Feeding and the performance of Undercurrent, to bring explosive growth to your grow room. As well as simply looking like an awesome bit of kit, the Exodus Proflow has numerous unique strings to its bow to ensure a professional performance from start to finish. Immediately noticeable is the white coating to the entire thing. As well as keeping your nutrient solution cool (by reflecting radiant heat rather than absorbing it) any stray light is bounced straight back up to crop level. Controllability of the system is maximised via independent control of the drippers and undercurrent 42ml piping allowing you to tailor irrigation to your specific needs. With plant spacing options of 65cm and 100cm, all methods of growth are catered for. Next level growth at your fingertips. Sizes available: Bespoke sizes can be quoted for 4 pot – 6 pot – 8 pot – 12 pot – 16 pot – 24 pot

Manufacturer / Product Website: www.exodushydroponicsystems.co.uk Distribution by: www.hydroindustrydirect.com

HID Spectrum King LED Light Fixture LED’s just got interesting folks. Spectrum King have just decided to unleash a bit of lighting wrath on the hydro scene. The word wrath is not used lightly. Boasting an output of light that would make even the most die-hard HPS enthusiast’s jaw drop, the wait for a legitimate alternative to the classic orange glow is finally over. Accompanying the disappearance of HPS’s orange glow, is the annoying pink/purple colours given off by the LED’s of yesteryear. Full spectrum lighting is what your plants have evolved with, and they certainly aren’t getting that from pink or orange lights. So rather than giving you a spectrum peaking in mostly blues and reds, just continuing to replicate the inherent spectrum limitations of previous technologies because it is the norm, Spectrum King have decided to go back to the source: replicating the Sun. It’s not just the intensity of its full spectrum light that should have you drooling, but also the whole design and build quality in general. The use of heat sinks means no more worrying about internal fans breaking after 10 seconds from the dusty and humid environment that a grow room imposes on them. Then there’s the IP65 rating of the unit meaning you can literally hose it down with water, and still see it function perfectly fine. So get yourself down to your nearest Grow shop, and if they have their wits about them they will have one on display for you to have a look at. Available Models and RRP’s: 300W - £979.00 | 400W - £1200.00 All come with 120 degree Reflector. 90 degree version available on request.

Manufacturer / Product Website: www.spectrumkingled.com Distribution by: www.hydroindustrydirect.com

GROW TEST

BALLASTS TEST: IGNITION UPDATE Following on from last issue’s look at ignitors and the waveforms they create upon ignition, we felt it wise to delve slightly deeper into this area and see what other information we could glean about the ballasts we looked at. As previously explained the ignitor is an often overlooked piece of kit, but it is instrumental in the correct and safe performance of a magnetic ballast. This update focuses more on the safety implications of ignitors.

How do they fundamentally work? The ignitor must produce high voltage pulses up to 5KV and each pulse must have sufﬁcient energy to breakdown the gases within the HPS arc tube and thus ignite the lamp; at this point the ignitor detects the lamp has struck and electronic mechanisms within the ignitor will turn it off, preventing further pulses from being produced. The ignitor therefore has two detection states: It can detect if a lamp is lit or if the lamp is not lit. However, if it detects it is not lit, the ignitor cannot distinguish why this is - i.e. whether the lamp is broken, or if there is even a lamp connected. So it will continue to attempt ignition in both of these scenarios. I’m sure you can appreciate this is not good what with the high electrical loads involved and all.

So what does this mean? Well before we answer that question, we must first understand more about how the ignitor actually produces these high voltage pulses. The inherent design of a ballast means it can also be considered as a transformer; it is this transformer action which allows the ignitor to generate such high voltage pulses. The ignitor supplies 20 – 40V into a specific tapping point on the ballast, which by transformer action will increase this voltage to 5KV, subsequently lighting the lamp. By using the ignitor/ballast combination in this way and taking advantage of the inbuilt transformer action, ballasts can typically provide high energy ignition pulses that are able to strike lamps at distances of 3 to 5 meters. (Ignitor’s pulses can be degraded by a long length of lead unless we have a good ballast with a high energy pulse – as measured in Issue 13’s comparison). The next part of our necessary understanding is how a ballast is manufactured and how this affects its ability to withstand the high voltage, which it produces “itself”, when operated upon by the ignitor utilising its transformer action. The ballast winding wire has an enamel coating of particular thickness that provides the necessary electrical insulation between one turn of the ballast winding and another. There are various international standards that define the grade of winding wire, its insulation thickness and therefore its capability of withstanding high voltages. For a 600W ballast operating at 6.2A, the design size of copper to carry this current without unduly overheating is roughly 1.9mm and therefore the voltage breakdown is 3760V – as you can see this is below the 5KV being generated by the ignitor!

Normally the lamp will strike within the ﬁrst second or two so the winding does not experience this high voltage long enough to cause damage, even with a scramble wound ballast. The problems arise from when the lamp has failed or has been not correctly connected. The constant pulsing of the ignitor will eventually break down the winding wire and cause failure, normally resulting in the ballast actually burning out. Cue a blazing ﬁre at your property and Fireman Sam having to lift you to safety. The precision wound ballast will, by nature of its design, tolerate these constant ignition pulses to a vastly higher degree than its inferior scramble wound counterpart. Though unfortunately in both cases these constant high voltage ignition pulses will likely break down the winding insulation system and short out to the lamination’s metal core. It will just occur a lot quicker with scrambled wound versions. Ballast that have vacuum impregnated core and coil will likely survive this ignition onslaught but eventually, over time the laws of physics dictate failures will occur. Nothing is indestructible, as my three year old likes to constantly remind me. Ballast Testing Area

So how does the ballast survive this load? Well, transformer action is deﬁned as turns per volt; that is, each turn of winding wire only carries a few volts, for example a typical 600W ballast will have 260 turns of wire so with 5KV, the ballast only has 19.2 volts between each adjacent turn. However the ballast is made by producing layers of these turns, one turn of winding wire could be 52 turns away from its corresponding turn on the layer above; this then equates to 998 volts between these layer turns. We must now consider the two methods of ballast manufacture: Precision wound and Scramble wound. Precision wound is as its name suggests, each and every turn of the winding wire is laid down in a neat and tidy fashion. The winding core is made by laying each turn of wire into a grooves formed onto a metal mandrel. These turns are so precisely laid out that after the ﬁrst layer of winding has been completed, the physical turns themselves then provide the “grooves” for each subsequent layer of winding until the coil is complete. This method is so precise that each coil of winding wire is identical. You can therefore accurately calculate the voltage difference between each turn of winding wire and can thus can guarantee the winding will not be broken down and damaged by the high voltage pulses from the ignitor. Conversely, scramble wound winding produces a random untidy bundle of turns all jumbled together. There is no guarantee which turn touches which turn and highly likely each turn will have a high voltage differential between them. This will eventually lead to breakdown and coil failure. Clearly out of these two ways, precision wound is the superior and safest method.

So what features can an ignitor possess to prevent these failures? Avoiding any sort of failures like the above is a key safety feature for any ballast. A couple of simple properties an ignitor can have can drastically improve the safety of your equipment and therefore growroom. An ignitor timed to cut out after a period of unsuccessful pulses is the ﬁrst way. The second is to have a relatively short burst off pulses each time the lamp ignition is attempted. These two features will give a great deal of protection to a ballast. They will ensure you won’t need to buy a new one every few months when they give up the ghost, but most importantly they will save you making any unnecessary insurance claims from ﬁre damage. With all this in mind, we once again made use of the same trusty oscilloscope. The following data shows the properties of the ignitor for each ballast. What you are looking for here are short pulses combined with timed cut-outs.

Make / Model

Timed

Cuts out after

Pulse Length

Eurolux

yes

20 mins

5 seconds

Omega

n/a

constant

Progear

n/a

constant

Growlush

n/a

2 per second

Sunmaster Mk2

yes

20 mins

5 seconds

Compact Pro

yes

20 mins

5 seconds

Mini Corona

yes

20 mins

5 seconds

Lumi Compacta

yes

20 mins

5 seconds

Ipac Pro

yes

20 mins

5 seconds

Sunmaster Mk3

yes

20 mins

5 seconds

(Table of timed ignitor data)

GROW GEAR ALL ABOARD THE BLUNDERBUS What a hilarious play on words the title of this page is eh? Unfortunately the message behind the reason for this page is not so amusing. In our eﬀort to test more brands than any one dare thought possible in our last soil issue, a couple of errors were printed when it came to the graphs. Nothing massive, but still we felt it prudent to clear it up. Obviously the fault for the errors didn’t lie with anyone at HYDROMAG. We never make mistakes. We are like some sort of emotionless cyborgs rigidly following protocol in order to manifest work at the most eﬃcient and accurate rate possible. Almost as much so as the Germans. Behold the corrected graphs:

COMPETITION Competition Time That’s right folks, it’s your favourite bit of the magazine. Well, maybe not the favourite for some of you. Some of you might actually appreciate the technical and test type articles that you find on earlier pages in the issue; gratefully soaking up the knowledge in order to get the most out of your grow room simply by applying some of the brain smarts you’ve picked up along the way. For the other less determined types, our competition grants you the opportunity to get the most out of your room without even using your brain. Simply by winning the awesome bits of kit we give away each issue, you bypass the need for intellect and allow modern technology to mollycoddle you through to a successful harvest. Cue Ecotechnics control gear. In this issue, we have arranged with the kind folks there to provide you with a full suite of their control gear. Full Co2 control in your grow room is but a few millimetres away from your sweaty palms. What are you waiting for? Get to our website and get your details down pronto! You don’t even have to answer a question for Christ’s sake!

FULL CO2 CONTROL KIT Worth Over £800

THIS MONTH’S PRIZES...