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Archive for Harvesting Tips

Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

Posted by: Brett McCormick · Comments (0) · February 22nd
Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Everybody knows in the back of their mind that a healthy diet is the foundation to a healthy lifestyle.  Health Canada states, “Adequate nutrition is essential for proper growth and development …Healthy eating contributes to an overall sense of well being and helps people look, feel, and perform better.”  It is suggested that you should eat 5-10 servings of fresh fruit and vegetables daily.  If you are concerned about quality of what you eat you should consider growing your own food.  This is because recent food production has been shifted from quality to quantity.   As well as the fact that genetically modified foods are widespread throughout our grocery stores.   One of the best ways to cultivate your own food is hydroponically.

You can convert a basement, spare room, or garage, into a hydroponic grow room that will help you live a healthier lifestyle.  A study done by Plant Research Technologies in San Jose found that tomatoes and peppers grown hydroponically had dramatically higher vitamin and mineral content than that of its soil counterpart.   Another advantage to growing hydroponically is that you can have multiple harvests per year, opposed to only one harvest in soil.  Cultivating food in your own hydroponic garden can be a very fun hobby and very rewarding once things are up and running.

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 : Grow Room Development, Harvesting Tips
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Maximizing Nutrient Environment-Part 1

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

Nutrient management can be a hard task to master however once you are dialed in; you will reap the benefits of enhanced plant growth, higher yields, and higher overall crop quality.   It is all bout understanding your equipment and your grow room environment.  It all starts with the water.  You need to know what is in your water.  Water with high levels of conductivity, or high salt levels, is not ideal for hydroponic cultivation.  It is important to constantly check your water source with a dissolved solids meter, also called an electrical conductivity (EC) or parts per million (ppm) meter.  By doing this you will be able to tell if your water source is consistent.  Consistency and keeping all grow factors in proper balance is key in an indoor grow environment.

Your nutrient solution temperature should remain in the 65 and 72 degrees Fahrenheit.  Also it is good to remember that plants roots evolved in soil where soil temperatures are slow to change.  With this in mind, extreme changes in temperature in the root zone can cause shock or invite root disease.  The next topic for maximizing your nutrient environment is maintaining your nutrient solution’s pH between 5.5 and 6.8.  You want to adjust your pH to remain in this range, checking it periodically.  But there is fine line that you don’t want to cross, maintaining a perfect balance of 6.2 can actually do damage.  A fluctuating pH is common and this just means that your plants are absorbing the nutrients from your solution.

Another important aspect in nutrient management is changing your nutrient solution.  The common question is when do you change the solution, but there isn’t a common answer.  When you top off your reservoir you should make note of how much water was added.  Top off the reservoir as needed and make sure you make a note as to how much water you are adding each time.  Once the amount of water added equals the total reservoir volume, it is time to drain and replace the nutrient solution.

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 : Harvesting Tips
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Power Propagation

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

It is important that your plants are properly propagated to ensure that you are introducing healthy and vigorous plants to your indoor hydroponic grow room.  People are usually over anxious in getting their cuttings, or clones, into the hydroponic grow room.  Just because there are signs of root growth from your young plants it doesn’t mean that it is time to move them along to their next step.  A properly propagated plant with a highly developed root system will be extremely beneficial to the outcome of your crops.

The first stage of propagation is preparing your rockwool.  Your rockwool should be soaked in a low strength ‘grow’ nutrient or in a young plant nutrient.  This will balance the alkalinity and preload the medium with nutrients.  After you allow the rockwool to soak for 12-24 hours, it is important to allow them to fully drain.  The next process is called “hardening off”, this allow the plants to become accustomed to their future growing environment.  You do this by gradually opening the propagators’ vent over a couple of days.  During the propagation stage it is important to water your plants with care.  Your propagation blocks should never be watered on a daily basis, as it is important not to over or under water your young plants.   The next step, which is the most important step to the propagation process, this is air pruning.

Air pruning is a technique that stops root growth from extending out of the rockwool.   Basically, when the roots begin to grow the will grow all the way to the bottom.  As they reach the end of the rockwool they will dieback and begin to produce secondary roots. These secondary roots will in turn do the same thing as they reach the limits of the rockwool creating a well-developed root system.  Plants that are air pruned will take longer to propagate but will pay off in the long run.

Source: UrbanGardenMagazine.com

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

Categories : Harvesting Tips
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Maximizing the Nutrient Environment

Posted by: Brett McCormick · Comments (0) · January 29th
Friday, January 29th, 2010

When growing your own foods in an indoor hydroponic garden, it is important to maximize the effectiveness of your nutrients.  The water that you use for your reservoir of nutrients is one of the main sources of problems for pH and conductivity variation.

Another potential problem when growing hydroponically is that the popular growing mediums, such as rockwool and gravel, can be very high in pH causing your nutrient pH to rise to detrimental levels.  Coconut fiber or coir, another popular medium for growing hydroponically, is typically high in sodium levels due to the close proximity of coconut trees to the ocean.  One of the main ways to prevent this from happening is to use a reverse osmosis filter.  This will rid the water of any salts.

Hydroponics is susceptible to a variety of diseases when things go wrong.  With the regards to the nutrient solution, if it gets too warm it’s ability to hold dissolved oxygen is reduced drastically.  This creates an invitation for many diseases to be born in a hydroponic garden.

If you do find a plant that is infected with some type of pathogen or disease, it is important to remove it from the garden as quickly as possible.  It is much better to lose a plant or two than loosing your whole crop.  If a diseased plant is found it is important to flush the nutrient system with a flushing solution.  Good flushing solutions will leach the mediums of any undesired salts as well as clean your hydroponic system.

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

Source: UrbanGardenMagazine.com

Categories : Harvesting Tips
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Food For Thought: The Importance of Full Nutrition in Consumable Crops

Posted by: Brett McCormick · Comments (0) · January 27th
Wednesday, January 27th, 2010

The way we produce food as a whole is not conducive to a sustainable and healthy future of the world’s inhabitants.  Growing foods organically and hydroponically are potential solutions to one of the principle issues we have with regards to our food production.   Our food today is being mass-produced and solely for a profit.  With industrial agriculture, plants are given the bare minimum they need to grow.  For example, tomatoes produced industrially would only contain 13-17 minerals, all used to grow the fruit.  If that same fruit was allowed to ripen on the vine and was provided with a wider spectrum of nutrients, it would contain many more sugars, amino acids, enzymes, and free radicals.  Many people are turning to producing their own foods in hydroponic grow rooms so they can ensure that what they are eating is actually beneficial to their diet.

If you don’t have your own hydroponic grow room or buy foods at farmers markets than you are probably eating nutrient deprived foods.  The reality of the issue is that we are what we eat and nutrition plays a huge role in our overall quality of living.  As Rudolph Steiner, an Australian scientist said, “Nutrition as it is today, does not supply the strength necessary for manifesting the spirit in the physical life.  A bridge can no longer be built to will and action.  Food plants no longer contain the forces people need for this.”

Article by, Brett McCormick, co-founder of Good Green Builders.  Good Green Builders is a hydroponic grow room contractor in Oakland, Ca.  Call today for your free consultation, (415) 246-8055.

Source: UrbanGardenMagazine.com

Categories : Harvesting Tips
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Activated Charcoal Carbon Filters: The Deodorizing Solution

Posted by: Brett McCormick · Comments (0) · January 25th
Monday, January 25th, 2010

After constructing an indoor hydroponic grow room it is important to make sure that you deal with the odors of your harvest ready crops.  Pungent odors, from various indoor crops, will find their way out of the grow room and into the noses of your neighbors.  Cabbage is a great complimentary dish on your dinner plate but it is certain that your neighbors would not like the odor of a 1000 heads ready for harvest.

Within an indoor grow environment heat and humidity can cause aromatic compounds to multiply creating an unpleasant odor.  Some of these aromatic compounds that add to the pollution of the air are: Pollen, plant material, growing media, nutrient solutions, organic sprays. There are a few different ways to deal with these problems and the most effective and most environmentally friendly way to do this is through carbon filtering.

Charcoal activated carbon filters have become the favorite method of odor removal in the hydroponic industry. Activated carbon is an absorbent made from vegetable or mineral based raw materials.   A good filter is able to filter out 99% of air born aromatic compounds.  Carbon’s ability to absorb decreases at higher temperatures and diminishes with a relative humidity of higher than 60%.  Hydroponic grow rooms should not exceed 60% so this shouldn’t be an issue.  Carbon filtering is the only solution for grow room odor.

Article by, Brett McCormick, managing partner of Good Green Builders.  Good Green Builders is an indoor grow room contractor in Oakland, Ca.  Call today for a free consultation, (415) 246-8055.

Source: Hydroponics.com

Categories : Harvesting Tips
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Why Air Movement Counts

Posted by: Brett McCormick · Comments (0) · January 22nd
Friday, January 22nd, 2010

When constructing your own hydroponic grow room one must consider all of the factors essential to the growth of your plants.  It is understood that while some factors are more important than others, they are all part the big picture and must remain in balance to obtain the best results.   One of these factors that promote a healthy plant is the movement of air.  Air movement is very important for a few different reasons.

Often times indoor gardeners believe that more is better and don’t realize that more can actually hurt their indoor garden environment.  An exhaust fan is one of the most important pieces of equipment in an indoor grow.  This is because it helps regulate temperature, CO2 levels and relative humidity.   A quality exhaust fan should be able to remove the volume of air in the room in three to five minutes.  This process of removing hot air and replacing it with cold air (through an intake fan) is easier in the winter months due to outside temperatures.  With that said, it is much harder to control temperatures in the summer months.

There are a few different things that you can do when trying to lower the temperature of your grow room in the summer months.  One of them is turning your lights on in the middle of the night.  Another solution is having air-cooled reflector lights that has its own exhaust system.  This will remove the heat of the bulbs before it reaches the indoor grow room.

There are many pests and diseases (mold, mildew, spider mites) that can be prevented through the proper movement of air in an indoor hydroponic garden.

Article by, Brett McCormick, managing partner of Good Green Builders.  Good Green Builders is an indoor grow room contractor in Oakland, Ca.  Call today for a free consultation, (415) 246-8055.

<small>Source: Hydroponics.com</small>

Categories : Harvesting Tips, Indoor Grow Rooms
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CO2: The Secret Ingredient for a Better Harvest

Posted by: Brett McCormick · Comments (0) · January 20th
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

Every recipe has a secret ingredient that is essential to the outcome of a dish.  The same can be said for that of indoor hydroponic growing.  If you already have an indoor grow room you know how important it is to have every aspect of the grow in proper balance.  In the latest edition of Maximum Yield, it discussed how carbon dioxide (CO2) is that secret ingredient when growing hydroponically.

Without taking water into consideration, plants are comprised of mostly carbon and oxygen, which comes, mainly, from the CO2 in the air.  CO2 is an essential element of the photosynthesis process, without CO2 the plant would not be able to grow to its full potential.   As the concentrations of CO2 increases in your grow room, the photosynthesis process is increased and therefore your plant will grow much bigger.  However, there is a point of diminishing returns.

A plant ideally requires a CO2 level of 700 parts per million (ppm) and 1000ppm during the light period and around 400 ppm in the dark period.   You want more CO2 in the air during the light period because that is when the photosynthesis process occurs.  CO2 isn’t the only factor in your grow that is important to the end results.  It is important to master the basic needs of your plants and then start enriching your indoor grow environment with CO2.  CO2 alone will not have a significant impact on yields and flower quality if all the other factors are properly maintained.

Categories : CO2, Harvesting Tips
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