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Archive for March, 2010

Growing in a Sealed Room

Posted by: Brett McCormick · Comments (0) · March 31st
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Constructing a sealed hydroponic grow room can be more expensive to set up, but you are able to create a totally controlled environment where every aspect of the plants growth can be manipulated.  A sealed room is exactly what it sounds like, completely sealed, there aren’t any holes or vents to the outside from your indoor grow room.  The first grow factor to control is the temperature.

Every indoor gardener knows that it is vital to the health of the plants to control temperature and to ensure that there aren’t any large fluctuations.  The way that you deal with the heat from all of your lamps, dehumidifiers, pumps and ballasts, is by using an A/C system.  The rule of thumb for deciding how big of unit is necessary to cool your sealed grow room is 4000 British Thermal Units, or BTU’s, per 1000 Watts of lighting.  After temperature is dialed in, the next issue would be enriching your air with CO2.

CO2 is essential for pants to be able to photosynthesize.  There are two standard ways to inject CO2 into your grow environment.  One of them, which is more common among larger setups of 6000 Watts or more, is using a burner, where propane or natural gas is lit and the off gas produces CO2.  The next method would be to open a bottle of CO2 and enrich the air directly.  Many growers have found that having CO2 enriched air can produce up to 30% more yield. Next lets look at humidity.

Humidity is important to control, especially in the flowering stage of a plants life cycle, so you don’t create an environment where mold and mildew will thrive.  Using a dehumidifier can control humidity.  Much like an A/C unit, a dehumidifier can be purchased in many sizes and it is important to select on that fits your room size.

In a sealed room, you are able protect your plants from negative outside influences and at the same time, create a perfect environment for your plants to thrive.

Article by, Brett McCormick, co-founder of Good Green Builders.  Good Green Builders is a hydroponic grow room/Greenhouse contractor in the San Francisco Bay Area.  For more information or a free consultation, call today, (415) 246-8055.

Categories : Indoor Grow Rooms
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UV-C: The New Weapon Against Indoor Garden Pests

Posted by: Brett McCormick · Comments (0) · March 25th
Thursday, March 25th, 2010

Pests and other pathogens can make growing indoors somewhat difficult.  It is all about proper management of your indoor grow room or greenhouse.  Preventative measures are always the best way for pest and pathogen management but sometimes these little critters and fungi spores find their way in to your grow room and begin to thrive.  One new technology that is being used in commercial greenhouses and grows rooms is the use of UV-C T5 lamps.

UV, or ultraviolet, refers to a broad spectrum of light, anything from 100-400 nanometers.  Ultraviolet has been further broken down into subcategories, and UV-C is the category that we are interested in.  It is the section of UV between 185-280 nanometers.  UV-C rays have the highest energy and is the arguably the most dangerous part of UV.  UV-C rays can destroy anything from viruses, mold, bacteria, and mildew to plant pests like spider mites.  Although it is successful in killing unwanted diseases and pathogens, it needs to be closely monitored because it can be harmful to not only you but your plants as well.

UV-C lamps can be used to sterilize a grow room before use, even though it is still recommended to clean everything with a weak bleach solution.  Another possible application for UV-C lamps is to have them in your indoor garden and have them turn on for a few seconds to a minute depending on the wattage of the lamps.  The UV-C rays only kill what they hit so it is necessary to place them in intervals in-between the plants to ensure that the plants are getting hit from every angle.

There is still more research needed for this application, as far as dosage of UV light, how far from the plant lamps should be placed, how long between dosages, but this will be a way for companies to reduce their dependence on chemical insecticides.

Article by, Brett McCormick, co-founder of Good Green Builders.  Good Green Builders is a hydroponic grow room and Greenhouse builder in the San Francisco Bay Area.  For more information or a free consultation call today, (415) 246-8055.

Source: UrbanGardenMagazine.com

Categories : Indoor Grow Rooms
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Root Parasite Fungi: How to Control Pythium in Hydroponics

Posted by: Brett McCormick · Comments (0) · March 23rd
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

When operating your own hydroponic grow room or greenhouse it essential that you understand various pathogens and how to prevent and treat them.  What is a pathogen?  A pathogen is an organism that can cause sickness.  Fungi like: fusariums, pythium, verticillium, phytophtora, are ferocious invaders and can lead to total crop destruction.  We have to understand that there is a large diversity of organisms that live on plants, in soil and water, in and on our food, and even on our skin.  Some of these organisms are beneficial but the others are considered pathogens.  These pathogens attack at the slightest sense of stress.

One destructive pathogen is pythium.  Pythium is a root-parasite fungus that can multiply very fast under optimal conditions and will deprive the plant of food.  This fungi will be present in almost any grow environment, no matter how clean it is.  There are numerous ways for this fungi to reach your grow room so it is very important to keep it clean and track your quality of water that you are using. Pythium is considered a secondary infection because it takes advantage of plants that are already slightly damaged or stressed.

Detecting this pathogen in soil-based plants is a lot harder than that of hydroponic growers because of the access to the root system.  If pythium has started to attack your plants, you will notice that the roots have started to turn from their normal white color to a light brown and eventually black.  In a severe case, the lower portion of the stem will turn black and slimy.   Fighting this pathogen can be quite simple if you have everything in your grow room dialed in.

There are some products that are sold to prevent the infestation of various pathogens including pythium.  These products include but are not limited to, special silicate powders, beneficial bacteria or fungi.  These products, either sold separately or in mixtures of various strains of both, are added to the nutrient solution.  However, the main way to prevent this pathogen from taking over your plants is to keep your plants healthy.  These basic rules are: good water quality, good ventilation, ideal temperature and humidity levels, optimal oxygenation of nutrient solution, general cleanliness, and a appropriate feeding program.  It is very important to pay close attention to your plants to ensure that they are health and not susceptible to pathogen infestation.

Article by, Brett McCormick, co-founder of Good Green Builders.  Good Green Builders is a hydroponic grow room/greenhouse builder in the San Francisco Bay Area.  For more information or a free consultation call today, (415) 246-8055.

Source: maximumyield.com

Categories : Hydroponics
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Are Hydroponics Organic II

Posted by: Brett McCormick · Comments (0) · March 19th
Friday, March 19th, 2010

Why is it that there are so few organic certified hydroponic growers out there?  This should be a simple question to answer, but it isn’t.  Each state has different guidelines for labeling produce as organic.  In addition to this there are 36 non-governmental agencies, which can certify produce as organic.  If a California grower wants to sell his produce as organic they must register with the California Department of Agriculture and pass inspection.  California growers can also obtain a certification through the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), which actually has higher standards for organic than the state.  If the grower in California doesn’t obtain the CCOF certification, which is optional, they can’t sell produce as certified organic.  A grower in another country can only sell his produce as certified organic if they get certified by one of the 36 non-governmental organizations.  In addition to this, produce from any state can be sold as certified organic if it passes inspection form one of the 36 agencies, even if it doesn’t meet their states requirements.  Sounds like they need to figure this out. And they are…

Basically the organic label is a matter of bureaucratic definitions, which vary from state to state and country to country.  The USDA, state governments, non-government certifiers, consumers, and many other agencies are writing a federally mandated set of organic standards.

While organic farming methods do produce superior and safer crops than the larger agribusiness operations, modern hydroponic techniques can supply equally safe food that in many cases has a higher nutrient level and superior taste to that of its soil counterparts.  Many consumers don’t know this and for them it is only the label that counts.  The main problem for hydroponic growers in gaining organic certification is the nutrient formula that they use for cultivation.

Another concern for certifiers is the way that media such as rockwool cubes and slabs are disposed of.  Considering the fact that the organic label also gives people the sense that the food labeled organic was produced in the most sustainable manner possible.  Even thought this fact has nothing to do with the quality or safety of the product, certifiers have a problem with this.  This is one reason that hydroponic growers have had a hard time gaining organic certifications.

Article by, Brett McCormick, co-founder of Good Green Builders.  Good Green Builders is a hydroponic grow room/greenhouse builder in the San Francisco Bay Area.  For more information or a free consultation call today, (415) 246-8055

Categories : Hydroponics
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Are Hydroponics Organic Part I

Posted by: Brett McCormick · Comments (0) · March 18th
Thursday, March 18th, 2010

The following set of articles will explore the different ideals of organics and how they fit into the hydroponic industry.  This is a very popular debate amongst many growers and produce consumers alike.  There are very few organic certified hydroponic growers out there today and this is because of the difficulty in obtaining a certification for their hydroponically grown crops.  Accepted organic fertilizer components are dependent on organisms in the soil to convert the organic material into a usable form for the plants.  As many people know hydroponics is the growing of plants with a neutral media, where the nutrients are carried to the plants in water.   The various materials, which are permitted for use under organic regulations, are not in pure enough form for use in hydroponic applications.   With this in mind, it is important to remember why the word “organic” became such a buzzword in the ‘90s.

Consumers are becoming more conscience of what goes into their bodies.  They don’t want to consume any produce that was treated with any sort of hazardous chemicals or poisons.  Another reason for organics is the desire to create a food model that doesn’t harm the soil, water or ecosystems.  There is an increasing public demand for produce that is cultivated with our planet in mind and that doesn’t harm our soil, water, or ecosystems.   With hydroponics, less water is needed for cultivation and therefore, more food can be produced with less water.  Hydroponic fertilizers are ultra pure and aren’t present in the cultivated fruits and vegetables.  The result of providing the plants exactly what they need in the form of dissolved minerals in water, the plant is able to achieve higher growth rates, yields and even higher quality than organic methods.  Since hydroponic technologies are more efficient than soil methods, more people can be fed with less area and ecological impact.

Article by, Brett McCormick, co-founder of Good Green Builders.  Good Green Builders is hydroponics grow room/ Greenhouse builder in the San Francisco Bay Area.   For more information or a free consultation call today, (415) 246-8055.

Categories : Hydroponics
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Temperature For Indoor Garndening Part III

Posted by: Brett McCormick · Comments (0) · March 12th
Friday, March 12th, 2010

Below are a few more ways that temperature can be controlled in you indoor grow room.  Oscillating fans are a great way to control temperature and ensure that the heat doesn’t build up in one area.  They wont lower the overall temperature of your garden but they will help to make sure plants don’t shut down due to overheating.  Also, during winter months, if you have a space heater, oscillating fans will help distribute the warm air around the indoor grow room.  Managing the temperature of your garden is very important but it is also imperative that you control the temperatures of your nutrient reservoir.

The temperature of your nutrient solution should be in the range of 60-75F.  The ideal temperature is 65F because this is where water holds the most oxygen.  Letting the temperatures of fall below 50F or above 80F could be disastrous to your root systems.  To control temperature in a nutrient reservoir a reservoir chiller or a aquarium heater may be used.  Make sure that if you do use an aquarium heater that it is plugged into a grounded plug, and that it doesn’t rest on the bottom or the side of the reservoir.

To speed up the rooting process of your cuttings you can put them on a heating mat.  Keeping them 10F warmer than the ambient air will speed up rooting on cuttings and increase their survival rate.  All you need to do is place a heating mat underneath the tray of cuttings.  This can speed up rooting of clones from two weeks to only three days.  These are a few ideas on how to control temperature in you indoor grow room.

Article by, Brett McCormick, co-founder of Good Green Builders.  Good Green Builders is a grow room contractor in Oakland, Ca.  For more information or a free consultation call today, (415) 246-8055.

Source: Hydroponics.com

Categories : Harvesting Tips, Indoor Grow Rooms
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Indoor Garden Temperature Part II

Posted by: Brett McCormick · Comments (0) · March 11th
Thursday, March 11th, 2010

This article will give you some insight on different ways that you can control the temperature of your indoor grow room.  As explained in the previous article, temperature is one of the most important grow factors to control in order to promote healthy and vigorous plants.  One of the main ways to control temperature is with an exhaust fan, this will help you keep your grow room temperature to an ideal 70-75F.   A quality fan should be able to exhaust your room of the stale air in about five minutes and should be turned on once an hour.   In conjunction with the exhaust fan you will need an intake fan to bring in cool, CO2 enriched air from either an adjacent room or outdoors.  Another thing that you could do is hook up the exhaust fan to a thermostat, once the temperature in the grow room reaches its designated limit, the fan will turn on and exhaust the hot stale air form the room.

If you are having heat problems due to your lamps, an air-cooled reflector might provide some relief.  An air-cooled reflector is an airtight reflector that runs an inline with a fan to take all of the heat from the bulb and exhausts it out of the garden.  This will allow you to bring the lights closer to the plants than normal, which will greatly increase the efficiency of your lights and should lead to greater yields.  These are a few ideas to help control the temperature in your grow room.  More ideas are to follow.

Article by, Brett McCormick, co-founder of Good Green Builders. Good Green Builders is a grow room contractor in Oakland, Ca.  For more information or a free consultation call today, (415) 246-8055.

Source: Hydroponics.com

Categories : Indoor Grow Rooms
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Temperature and the Indoor Garden

Posted by: Brett McCormick · Comments (0) · March 8th
Monday, March 8th, 2010

As many of you know, there are numerous factors that go into creating an ideal environment for your indoor hydroponic grow room.  Temperature is one of the most important factors to control within an indoor grow.  This can also be one of the most difficult grow factors to control especially in the cool winter months and during hot summers.  When growing in a small area lights and ballasts will raise the temperatures to a dangerous high in no time.  Most gardeners don’t know that controlling the temperature in very specific ways can help them achieve a superior crop.

First of all, it is important to have a minimum and maximum thermometer.  Without this tool it will be impossible for a gardener to know the exact fluctuations between nighttime and daytime temperatures.  It is essential that there isn’t more than a 10-15 degree F difference between the two different temperatures.  If your temperatures fluctuate more than this desired amount you will risk stressing or shocking your plants.  Daytime temperature should remain around 70-75F.  If temperatures drift higher than 95F, not only will the plant’s enzyme production be shut down, photosynthesis will stop due to the stomas in the leaves closing in order to conserve water.

If you are enriching your air with CO2 an ideal temperature range is 80-85F.  This temperature range promotes the exchange of gases between the plants and the environment.  Also it can speed up the process of photosynthesis.   A plant in an environment at 86F will perform carbon extraction from CO2 twice as fast than a plant in a 68F environment.

Another reason to control your grow room’s temperature is because biological processes are sped up exponentially with certain temperatures.  Spider mites can reproduce up to 10 times faster with every degree that the temperature rises.   The same principle can be applied to fungi, molds, mildew, and bacteria, which can spread more rapidly when temperatures in the grow room exceed 90F.  Higher daytime temperatures coupled with low nighttime temperatures will cause condensation to form on the leaves.  This condensation promotes mold, mildew and other biological processes that can harm your plants.

Article by, Brett McCormick, co-founder of Good Green Builders.  Good Green Builders is a grow room contractor in Oakland, Ca.  For more information or a free consultation call today, (415) 246-8055.

Source: Hydroponics.com

Categories : Harvesting Tips, Indoor Grow Rooms
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Benefits of Hydroponic Food Production

Posted by: Brett McCormick · Comments (0) · March 2nd
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010

Many people don’t understand that hydroponic grow rooms aren’t just meant for marijuana cultivation.  There are many different benefits of hydroponic food production.

Hydroponic food production is mostly pest free and therefore there isn’t a need for pesticides.  As far as nutrients are concerned, you know exactly what is going into your plants and there for you know what will not be in your final product, genetically modified organisms.   Genetically modified organisms are currently in the majority of store bought food.  In a closed system, nutrients are recycled and thus utilizing less fresh water than traditional field/soil farming.  Another interesting aspect about nutrients is the fact that they are specific to the various stages of growth and you can use different strengths for different types of plants.  One of the last benefits is that hydroponic fruits and vegetables are is vine ripened.  Vine ripened produce eliminates consumption of artificial ripening agents and pesticides on imported produce.

Article by, Brett McCormick, co-founder of Good Green Builders.  Good Green Builders is a grow room contractor in Oakland, Ca.  For more information or a free consultation call today, (415) 246-8055.

Categories : Hydroponics
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Pulse Start Metal Halide

Posted by: Brett McCormick · Comments (0) · March 1st
Monday, March 1st, 2010

SunPulse bulbs were designed to produce the true photochemical reactions plants need to photosynthesize and produce the maximum amount of chlorophyll.  This means that these bulbs were made specifically for plants.  Gerald Garrison designed this bulb; he has indoor food production facilities of his own.  These are the first digital bulbs to be introduced to the market.  It is made in four unique Kelvin colors: 3K, 4k, 6.4K, and 10K.  A lighting schedule is located on every bulb box, which outlines when to use each particular bulb.  These rotating bulbs allow for full spectrum lighting.  SunPulse’s 1000W commercial Grade bulbs were originally designed for commercial food facilities.  They are now made for the smaller producers as well.  They are currently in stores available for the consumer and cost around $1,950.

Article by, Brett McCormick, co-founder of Good Green Builders.  Good Green Bulders is a grow room contractor in Oakland, Ca.  For more information or a free consultation, call today, 415-246-8055.

Source: Urbangardenmagazine.com

Categories : Harvesting Tips
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