New Toys!

Snagged me up two of these bad boys. The GH EuroGrower. Ive used this thing for years and finally got two of my own! I loved the results I got and it is an excellent intro to hydroponics systems for a beginner. You can get all the info on it from http://generalhydroponics.com/site/index.php/products/systems/eurogrower1/
Should have these up and running in the next couple weeks, Just have to decide what I wanna put in there!

Balance is Key: PH levels and why they matter!

PH stands for Potential Hydrogen, It measures the alkalinity or acidity of your water or nutrient mix on a scale from 0-14. 0 being acidic and 14 being alkaline.  When it is extremely high or low, it can lead to nutrient lock out which make the nutrients less available for the roots to absorb. It is important to find the balance that allows the highest amount of your nutrients to be taken up by the plant.

There are a couple different options for testing your PH. papers, drops, meters with probes made to go into soil, or my favorite a PH pen. There are tons of options for everyone's pocket size. Although I do recommend spending your money on something nice and most importantly waterproof. You can not pick one up out of your reservoir and stick it in the oven to dry it out like your T-Mobile Sidekick. Most likely that dip in the water has rendered it useless.

You always, always mix your nutrients before adjusting PH. They will most of the time make it more acidic.  Every ones water is different, yours may be at an 8 while mine is maybe a 7. Nutrient lines can be made to get you right in that sweet spot just from the mixture, but that is in saying that your PH is starting at, lets say an 8. Not always will you be so lucky. If your not, don't be discouraged. There are products out there that allow you to raise and lower your PH in minutes. You can purchase whats so cleverly named PH Up or PH Down from your local hydro shop.

Some say PH rarely needs to be decreased but in my own personal experience, PH Down was my best friend. Depending on which medium you are growing in some prefer a little lower or higher then the optimal level. I start low. In rockwool I would drop it down to a 5.5. I would check my levels daily if not twice a day. It is important to keep an eye on this in order to avoid issues like that nutrient lock out I mentioned earlier. If you experience this you will need to leach your growing medium of built up salts and start fresh. Just adjusting will not do you any good at this point.

See below, what I call the "sweet spot" graph of PH and how it relates to nutrient absorption

As you can see the optimal range for "most" plants is between a 6 or a 7.This is the most neutral and allows your plants to get the most out of your nutrient supply you pay so much for. Keep in mind your optimal range will also depend on which growing mediums your using.

Look what I found hiding in my planter

Cleanliness is next to Godliness

Important Notice!!! Don't be Dirty!!

One common mistake of an inexperienced  gardener is not knowing how their unsanitary ways can and WILL cause a mountain of problems. I really pride myself on being clean, keeping algae growth down, and keeping my plants free from build up (suffocating doesn't feel very nice). It is important to prevent your garden from being infested with insects and the growth of disease. Its better to take an extra couple steps to prevent theses problems then spend all your time trying to fix them and not enough time enjoying what your doing. 

You cant focus on getting the most out of your plant until the underling issues are taken out of the equation. Why grow a plant 4 feet tall when  you could grow it 8? Why not give it the best shot you can. Only one of the many things that could go wrong, yes. But! such a small part can make a large difference when it comes to the quality of your plants.

Its ok when  your outside to throw the dead leaves you picked off your plants right on the ground but inside you would be oh such a fool. These piles of dead plant matter and dust attract pests and make a good place for fungus to breed. 

Wipe your walls and mop your grow room floors. I know this can be a pain considering you probably spent hours of your time putting everything in there and setting up "the best grow room in the world". Get over it.  I know that sometimes taking everything out of the room is just not "do-able" and some people are just lazy. But I am at least warning you. Humidity and temperature will play a role in the mold shacking up in  your grow room.

Clean your tools people! Don't give your plants Hep C. Hypothetically of course. Using  non sanitized  tools leads you right into a dead end. You are introducing your plants to disease right off the bat.

Sod Couches?!?!

 I want one...

http://dornob.com/diy-sod-sofas-recline-in-real-green-grass-lawn-loungers/

Hydroponic Systems

There are lots of different methods and growing systems in hydroponics. Below are the most commonly used ones.

Aeroponics - This system spray or mist water on the root system and are mostly in enclosed environments. They will not require any sort of soil and could function without a media at all. It is good for water conservation and getting air to the root system. The plants roots are growing through the net pot and are suspended in the chambers. This system has 3" net pots filled with hydroton. All my seedlings were started in rockwool starter cubes. It makes potting all these sites pretty fast and simple.

The system pictured above is also considered an NFT system. NFT stands for Nutrient Film Technique. Inside the chambers is a film of nutrient rich water that flows through the tips of the roots. This technique is more commonly used in the commercial gardening industry.

Ebb and Flo - This system will consist of a tray or tub that will periodically fill with water from the reservoir and flow back when your pump kicks off. There are many different mediums you can use in this system. Some prefer one over the other. I prefer Rockwool blocks and slabs. Some like to fill the whole tray with hydroton or pots filled with a soiless media. I think its harder to clean but its your choice! The amount of times you need to flood will be based on the water retention of your media choice. I would flood once or twice a day for 6" blocks.

Drip System - I really love drip systems. They have worked pretty well for me. They are also easily made by the garden hobbyist. You can really use this technique in very many ways. I use tubing to make a main line run from the pump up through pre drilled holes in the bottom center of my tray. "T" off that line and use elbows to run two hard irrigation lines the length of my tray and pinch it off. I then poked holes for each drip line and inserted 1/4" tubing and cap it off with a dripper stake. Thats it and your ready to grow!

Whats growing on in my backyard

Clone Wars

Video by:  http://www.youtube.com/user/NorthernLightsHydro

What came first? A lesson on Seeds

When I was little, one story that always stuck out to me was Jack and the Bean Stalk. How did something so big come out of something so small without any magic. There is just no way!  Well here I am and I am now realizing there was no magic, just mother nature.
Seeds consist of a an embryo, endosperm, and seed coating.Each seed will contain seed leaves, also known as cotyledons. Plants are classified according to how many seed leaves they have.Seeds with one cotyledon are known as monocot's and those with two are Dicot's. Grass is an example of a monocot because there is just one seed leaf.

Jack's Beans were a Dicot. Inside the bean,  the embryo is snuggled in between the cotyledon. The embryo consists of the first root (radicle) and the first leaves (plumule). Connected to this are the Hypocotyle and Epicotyle. Together they will become the stem. The Hypocotyle being the part closest to the roots and the Epicotyle will be the rest and the plants "backbone"

Inside Out

The best place to begin is with the plant itself. Its back to grade school science kids. Lets start with whats under that glissening green outter layer and what makes that baby tick.

Below is a cross section of whats going on inside your stem. Each Layer having its own unique job.

The Epidermis -  The outermost layer of the plant. The epidermis consist of different cell types, guard cells, dermal cells,epidermal hairs, and subsidiary cells. Guard cells and subsidiary cells surround the stomata. The guard cells can manufacture food by photosynthesis because they contain chloroplasts that conduct photosynthesis. The subsidiary cells don't contain chloroplast so they do not play a role. During light hours guard cells produce sugars and swell up causing the stomata to open up. When its lights out the sugar produced is all gone and they loose their water weight, the stomata closes up and holds in as much water vapor as possible.

• Photosynthesis is the process in which a plants convert light energy into chemical energy to fuel the different organisms. Carbon dioxide, sunlight, and water are absorbed and oxygen is discharged as waste

• The Stomata (little pores) are part of the process that allows plants that exchange carbon dioxide and water vapor from the outside world to the inside the leaves. These are found more commonly on the undersides of the leaves.

Cortex - This is found in between the vascular tissues and the epidermis. It an contains stored carbohydrates or other substances such as resins, latex, essential oils, and tannins.

Phloem -  Carries organic nutrients, such as sugars, through out the plant. It is mainly used to transport the glucose and starch produced through photosynthesis.

Xylem - Transports water and minerals from the roots all through the plant. It is also used to replace water lost during transpiration and photosynthesis.

Pith-  Found in the center of the very center of the stem, it is usually light in color, soft and spongy. It stores and transports nutrients throughout the plant

Prep your brain

Hydroponics can be a very scary thing to a beginner Gardner. But don't you fret, I am here to guide you to become a master Gardner in no time at all.  You have to start somewhere, and although you may get discouraged and kill a few innocent plants, it is all part of the learning experience. Every Mistake made is a gain.

My recommendation is to educate yourself first. It is much more difficult to soak up info when you don't even understand the basic vocabulary of horticulture. A few of my favorite books that are easy on the wallet and the brain are Hydroponics Basics (in a nut shell version) and Gardening Indoors with Soil and Hydroponics by George Van Patten.

These books will give you a good idea of what your getting into and prime you for the explosion of information you are about to receive. Don't be lazy, I know reading can be very time consuming and you want results NOW, But you wont get good results without a little preparation and hard work. Once you get these out of the way, You are already on your way to Mastering the Game!

Welcome! A quick introduction about myself and my blog

I have been interested in gardening  since I can remember and stumbled across hydroponics and alternative growing techniques in 2007. I started working for a local hydro shop in Northern Illinois. I was tossed into this world of extraordinary possibilities and ways of producing large amounts of crops in a short amount of time. The next thing I knew I was hooked. I left the retail game for a year and just itched to get back in. I landed a job for one of the largest distributors of indoor gardening supplies. I am back in my element, dealing with all of those familiar products I had sold to the public for years and used myself on a daily basis. I have a lot of experience with tons of different hydroponic products such as fertilizers, pesticides, lighting, hydro systems, exhaust fans, air scrubbers, and lots more. It took years to gain the knowledge I have today and what I find myself missing is sharing this knowledge with anyone and everyone I can. Everyone should know how to garden, at least that's what I think.

 I am currently working on a new radio show. The Funky Fresh Garden Show,  A technical radio show focusing on gardening inside and out. We have weekly guests who can supply expert advice on their products. The show airs on Thursdays at 6pm MST on 102.7 The Goat, Clear Creek Radio. You can listen from anywhere through TuneIn Radio at http://tunein.com/radio/The-Goat-1027-s42347/
or you can visit my YouTube page to catch missed episodes at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0fE2FgmKwQr-SlIqDfS2gg


The point of this blog will be to share with you my own adventures in hydroponics. What I think of certain products and how they worked for me. I will have how to videos ranging from starting seeds to harvesting all of your hard work.

Please visit and like my facebook page!
 www.facebook.com/thegrowgoddess

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