The Funky Fresh Garden Show - Smart Pots

Ok Kids, We've got Smart Pots in studio next week! Tune in June 19th at 6pm MST on 102.7 The Goat. My very good friend Tim will be stopping by to talk a little bit about these fabulous fabric pots of theirs. Often imitated never duplicated. Love these things and can't wait to let you know all about them if you don't already! 

#gardening #growyourown #smartpots #thefunkyfreshgardenshow #thegrowgoddess

New Tomato Cages!

My pretty new tomato cages...the garden needed some color #gardening  #tomatoes #growyourown

Best Plant Sale ad EVER!

AMAZING... You have to see this

Seedlings!

#Tomatoes and #Peppers and #Tomatillos, OH MY!  Love this time of year. #growyourown #gardening #grodan #hydroponics

The Funky Fresh Garden Show - Fox Farm

Don't miss tonights Funky Fresh Garden Show featuring George from Fox Farm Fertilizers! Available through Tunein Radio at 6 pm MST on 102.7 The Goat

The Funky Fresh Garden Show - General Hydroponics

This week on The Funky Fresh Garden Show we will be graced with the presence of General Hydroponics' very own Chris G. We will talk a little gardening and alotta GH products so if you have questions get em in now, you only have two more days! Live Thursdays at 6pm MT on KYGT The Goat 102.7 available through TuneIn Radio.

*****NEW GARDEN RADIO SHOW!!!****

I'm proud to announce the start of a brand new radio show with yours truly as your host.

The Funky Fresh Garden Show on KYGT The Goat 102.7 Located in Colorado. If you arnt able to catch us through the local radio we are available through the TuneIn App or online! No reason to miss out!

Here is the link to do so http://tunein.com/radio/The-Goat-1027-s42347/

Creating a place for gardeners and growers to connect with industry experts and their exceptional knowledge!

*Giveaways
*Industry guests
*Product knowledge
*Growers Round Table
*Good Tunes
*Good Vibes
and much more!

Please visit our facebook page @ www.facebook.com/thefunkyfreshgardenshow and Like our page to stay up to date and enter for giveaways!

Companion Planting

Companion Planting is that of which you plant different crops next to each other that may mutually benefit each other. Some will deter the bad pests or even attract the good ones. They may also provide additional nutrients for fellow plants and encourage more pollination by attracting more bee's. (and we all want that don't we?)

One example is the three sisters that was implemented by Native Americans which included squash, corn, and climbing beans. The corn supplies a climbing structure for the beans, the beans provide nitrogen for the other plants, and the squash provides a ground cover to prevent weeds.

One of the best things I think companion planting can offer is natural pest control. Most people keep their edibles away from their ornamental's and flowers but in actuality they can help each other fight off the bad pests and bring in the beneficial ones. 

Marigolds strong odor will repel aphids and other insects that attack vegetable plants. You could even use them in your indoor garden.

Nasturtium is a popular plant to put next to other low growing veggies because it attract some caterpillars. It is also used as a trap crop. Trap Cropping is a method of companion planting in which certain plants will be placed among the crops to attract the bad insects and take on the beating in order to save the others. A bit of a martyr I suppose.

Protection from harsh weather is another great benefit. Smaller and more fragile plants that prefer a more moist or shaded area will find a good home under taller, branching plants that will provide cover. This would be considered nurse cropping. 

Some plants don't always vibe with each other either. There are many graphs online of which plants tolerate and don't tolerate each other. I found a simple chart, I've noticed there are a lot of them out there and most will conflict in some way but this will do for now. If the writing is too small I placed the link below it.

https://www.earlmay.com/tips__solutions/edible_gardening/companion-plants-chart/

Before you spray a chemical on your plants or food crops for bug control, consider All the Natural options you have! Don't kill the bee's, Feed them!

Taking Cuttings

I am going to give you a few tips on taking cuttings and being successful at it!

Cloning is asexual propagation. After taking your cut and planting it the end will swell up and callus cells form. From the callus cells come the first specialized root cells. Specialized cells are the ones that give the plant a purpose. New root cells will continue to grow on top of each other and start to branch out.

I've worked in hydro shops for years and it seems like the biggest problem is a lack of patience and knowledge in what a plant is actually going through while changing its whole purpose and becoming a plant of its own.

First thing is making sure the tools you are using are sterile. Just as I mentioned in cleanliness is next to godliness, you want to make sure you are not doing damage by using dirty tools. These cutting are very fragile and susceptible to issues because the cut provides an entrance for disease or even pests.

You want to have everything ready and in front of you when you are ready to take your cuttings. It is important that your cuts get put into water or immediately into a cloning hormone and put into your choice of medium. If you wait too long an air bubble can enter and cause the loss of pressure within the plant, called turgor pressure, causing it to wilt. Snip the end again if it does get dry.

Always take your cuttings from a well maintained and healthy plant. It will be an exact clone of the plant its taken from so if the mother plant is weak it could pass that right on to your cuts. The mother plant you take from should be in the vegative stage. Although it is possible to revert a clone from a blooming plant into a vegging one but who has time for that anyways. Plus its just a lot of stress for the plant to go through.

The best place to take your cuts from is the end of the branches where the new growth is. The cuts should be anywhere between 4"-8". The bigger they are and the more foliage on them the more the new plant has to take care of and keep alive. Pick off any extra leaves and trim down the stem. You should always have a few leaves left with both a node and internode left to help produce for the plant. A node is the site where your leaves come out from and the internode is the spacing between each set of leaves.

Your cutting should be in a warm environment between 75-78 degrees with around 80+% humidity. The colder the temps, the longer the process can take. After a few days you can drop the humidity 5% and it will cause the plant to work a little harder to root.

Rooting can take anywhere from 2-4 weeks.  Should be closer to the 2 week mark but it depends on the woodiness of the plant you are cloning. Don't freak out if your plants wilt. I have had people tell me they toss out their clones after 5 days because they were dying. One of the reasons for his failure was most likely too low of a humidity. Patience my friend. Most of the time your plant is going to go through a little bit of a healing stage. I always assume they will look worse before they look better. Once they start to put off new growth I can pick off the wilted or dead leaves left behind.

I prefer to use Grodan A Ok's or the individually wrapped rockwool cubes that you can write on. You can also clone in an aero machine such as a TurboKlone or EzCLone. They allow you to suspend the plants over a misting of constant water and you can use a gel hormone on the stem or even a liquid concentrate you can put straight into the res. Another method is bubbling or DWC.  You can easily make something with a nursery flat and an air pump. You don't want them sitting in stagnant water, they will most likely rot.

Herb Blocks

Over the past holiday I'm sure I've spent over $20 in spices and herbs for my feast. It just seems dumb I don't have my own going, especially when all the seeds are literally staring at me. Soooooo I decided to go with convenience and make myself some little herb blocks I can easily move around and not worry about making a mess.

I've picked out 10 different varieties of herbs and labeled each of my 4x4 blocks with a sharpie. (Its best to do this prior to soaking your blocks so the marker sticks) Much easier then plant labels if you ask me. I never have an issue with it coming off and never have to worry about guessing which plant is which because the damn thing fell out.

After you have them all labeled and ready to go we need to of course prep our rockwool. I have a bucket of water with a PH of 5.5. I will soak the blocks and also a couple A OK's for at least 15 minutes.

Take out your blocks and starters from the bucket. Do NOT squeeze the water out of them. I do however let them drain just the excess before i put them in the tray.

You dont have to do this but they do not make a 4x4 block without a hole so I will fill in in with the A OK's just for my OCD of things looking neat.

Once I have them stuffed I will score the corners where i will put the seeds. Also, another thing you do not have to do but some of the seeds call to be planted 1/8 in deep, I find the scoring helps me get the little seed in there and covered just enough. Others you can simply press onto the surface of your block. I also double up on my seeds in this situation just to ensure my blocks were full. Of course most of them popped. I will weed out the weak oncs when they get a little bigger.

                                

Once you have all your seeds nestled in to their new home you should put the tray on top of a heating mat and under a prop light. Cover your tray with a dome to keep in the humidity. These seeds pop fast and will easily stretch so  make sure they are not too far away from the light.

After a few days you will see sprouts!

*Boom*  

 

A Few weeks later...

 

It is harder to keep your algae growth down with all the spread out seeds but one thing I like to do is just take some coco chips or even just the fibers and sprinkle it on the surface of the block. I personally am not really bothered by it so as long as its under control I wont worry about it.

 

         Goddess Tip: the small kabob skewers you can get in the grocery store are perfect for supporting your little guys without damaging a lot of the new root material growing throughout the block.

Pineapple update

Its been a little over three months and hes still kickin! It definitely went through some stress and lost some foliage but the roots are forming and starting to grow through the block. Its starting to look healthier everyday. Originally I had it in my prop table but it is currently living under a 600w HPS and is loving it! 

Weekend Fun: Pineapple start in Hugo

Just so happened to get a pineapple this weekend and I decided instead of throwing it away I would attempt to get it to root into a Grodan 6" Hugo. Plus its fun!

First is first. Either cut off or just pull off a good amount of layers until you get this little nub about an inch and a half or so long. The more you pull off the more potential space for roots to come out.


    


Next Im actually gonna let this guy sit in some rooting compound for just a few

                     

After I let it soak for a bit I will pop it right into my Hugo, It just so happens to fit nice and snug in the pre drilled hole. So no need to dig anything out of the block. The block is simply rinsed with clean water, covered with a coco cap (to prevent algae growth), and set in the tray.

Side note: You do not have to use a rockwool cube! I just thought It would be cool. You can always use soil and some people even put them in a glass of water, but this must be changed often to make sure it doesnt rot out.


                        

Its as simple as that! Now I will keep it in a low light place in my kitchen until it starts to root and most likely it will end up under a nice warm T5

Thank you for checking out my blog!

 

 

 

 

 

Getting started: Grow Room Set up

 

If you want to be successful in your growing adventure, you should first be able to provide an optimal environment. In my case I will be gutting a bedroom of all problem starters. First on my list is the carpet. The reason I'm taking it out is because of the moisture it can hold, causing ideal environments for mold and fungi, especially if i have the risk of large amounts of water either getting spilled or if over flows happen. 40 gallons of water on the ground would not be fun to soak up. Another good reason is bug control. They will be very happy to hang out and cause you lots of stress trying to control.

Once we have a fresh space to work with I can get my flooring down. I went over my plywood with some Water sealer, not necessary but I figured it wouldn't hurt. We chose to try out the linoleum 12x12 stick on squares. This was the most effective option for us and I must day I am quite impressed with the outcome so far, we will see how it holds up.

We will be building a frame out of 2x4's and lining our walls with Orca film to avoid as much permanent damage as we can to our home. I have had experience with a lot of different options for make shift grow room material and I must say although the panda or poly film is less expensive i would much rather pay a little extra and have something durable and in my opinion easier to work with. If any of you have gotten a chance to hear the Orca Spiel at any of the Max Yield shows then  you know the advantages to using the Orca over a Mylar or any other "shiny" material.   If not, Here is a link to a short video touching on some of those benefits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEge3XNg9CQ

Once my support beams are up to hold these giant Raptors we can hang them and get them ready for action, Hanging our ballasts to avoid them getting wet on the floor, bundling any  loose cords, and getting things wired to be SAFE.

Finally got a chance to finish my walls! When it comes to room design I do not like anything but sophistication and cleanliness. I was juggling which products to use to finish off my walls and decided to go with Orca Tape. This stuff is pretty heavy duty just like their Film. I am a little concerned once temperatures change that it may come off the wall but for now it is working great and made everything look so nice and pretty!

As you can see, we also got the lights hung and duct ran through them. I chose to have 8" Raptors in there, which proves to be a tight squeeze but should work just fine.
 

 

 

Thanks for checking out my website and don't forget to like my Facebook page and Follow me on twitter!

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Contact and Consultation

Sometimes gardening can get you down when things don't go just perfectly!

Maybe all you need is some guidance and someone to ask those mind boggling questions to without feeling stupid. No question is stupid. 

If there is something you would like to see on my blog or just a question to ask, I would love to hear from you!

My passion is in teaching people the art of growing their own and to expand my own experience, that's exactly why I have created this site. 

Happy Happy Gardening!

Samantha Barcelona

The Grow Goddess

Email: Thegrowgoddess@yahoo.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thegrowgoddess

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheGrowGoddess

Geo Pot Quick Stix

I was told by a little bird about the Quick Stix from Geo Pot. At first I was not sold on these but for the price (MSRP $14.95 for the combo pack) I was willing to try them. You can use them to push your branches apart from each other or pull them in. They come in multiple sizes either on their own or a combo pack of all three. Just so happens I have some chocolate sunflowers that are leaning due to seed production. It took me longer to figure out what size to use then to actually put these things on. Very simple and surprisingly stable on the plant. Take a look for yourself.

The ultimate test will be to see how they hold up in the gusty winds here in the mountains. If they can handle that, I am certain no oscillating fan will take them out. I think they get a Green Thumbs Up from The Grow Goddess. 

Garden Corner

Battle of the Nute's

Red Zebra Tomatoes

 

 2 week old Red Zebra Tomatoes

 Half in Rapid Rooters and half in A-OK 1.5" Starter Cubes.

 

 

GH Flora Series             Simple Path               Soul Sythetics

Each line will have a chance to show their stuff in straight Coco and Grodan Grow Cubes. I will feed each of them the same EC levels of each fertilizer. 

Keep in mind the Soul Synthetics line does have organics in it so it will not be a true apples to apples comparison. Soul will have an advantage as long as Im basing this on even EC levels.

 

Hydroponic Corn

Blue Jade Corn

 Did you ever think that you could grow corn hydroponically?!

While this will be my first go at corn in soilless mixes I am interested to see the outcome of the different mediums used. 

Half of my seeds were started in Rapid Rooters while the other half are started in Grodan's A-OK 1.5" starter cubes on 2/15

 

 

This is the corn at 2 weeks from germination. 

Corn #1 is in started in an A-OK starter cube and in a 4x4 block   

Corn#2 is in a coco and rice hulls mix                                             

Corn#3 is in a half and half mix of grodan croutons and coco rice 

Happy Valentines Day Hydro Lovers!!!

Check out this cool "I love You" Bean I found 

It is started and growing in a 4x4 Grodan Cube

 

Don't get caught being Stale: Ventilation

Ventilation and air flow is one of the most important elements of harvesting a successful crop. Not only do you want to make sure that your grow room is receiving ample amount of fresh, cool air, but also that you get out the stale, warm air that hangs out in the upper level of your room. Everyone knows that plants need carbon dioxide and oxygen for Photosynthesis. I'm not sure how well you would do if you couldn't eat. In a not so ideal environment your plants stomata can become clogged and make it very difficult to do its job and keep itself healthy. Fresh Air is the easiest element to come by, and its free! So no excuses.

The warm, humid air hanging around can cause your plants growth to become stagnant and make a great environment for disease to arise. Ideally your intake and exhaust fans would be on opposite sides of the room so the air is pulled across your plants.So yes, my drawing in slightly off but you get the point. My exhaust fan is placed high in order to catch the hot, stale air right where it likes to gather. Both of my fans would be on a thermostat so that they will automatically kick on when the room reaches, lets say 75 Degrees which gives me a nice even balance of temperature.

Ventilation fans are measured in CFM, Cubic Feet per minute. Ideally your fan should replace the volume of your room in less then five minutes. You can figure out the cubic feet of your room by multiplying the rooms Length x Width x Height


It is also necessary to to have an oscillating fan to move around and mix up the air. Without this, you will create a stagnant area of stale air the is most likely right at plant level in between your intake and exhaust. It is important that the oxygen and Co2 around your plants is replaced and circulated regularly.  The oscillating fan also helps harden up your plants, making them move around helps your stems get nice and strong.

You can also take advantage of the flanges on your hood that allow you to cool directly from the heat source. This will eliminate a lot of hot air going into the room from the start, making it easier to cool.

If you are wanting to exhaust through a Carbon filter you can easily figure out the proper size by calculating your CFM with the formula above. Each filter supplies you with two CFM ratings. One being for ventilation purposes and the other for scrubbing.

If you are Scrubbing your room, you are simply setting the fan on the filter and letting it recirculate through out the room. If you are exhausting you are pushing it directly outside the room. Remember when you have air pushing out you will need a comparable fan putting air back in the room or you create a negative pressure. Those of you with tents or home made boxes made of poly will find this rather annoying when your walls suck in and you loose a foot of space on each side.