Here is a link to an article written by Good Green Builders for the current edition of Urban Garden Magazine. It is all about creating a community greenhouse that would provide four families with fresh vegetables throughout the year. Check it out and let us know what you think. We hope that you enjoy the article.
http://urbangardenmagazine.com/2010/04/how-to-feed-four-families-with-a-hydroponic-greenhouse/
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
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
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.
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
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.
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
There is a huge up side to the future of indoor hydroponics lighting. The technology is improving but it will come at a huge cost to the consumer. The first lighting technology that will be profiled is the Sulfur Plasma lamp. This technology, developed by Plasma International, a British/ German company., will not be in stores for 1-2 years and is projected to cost around $3500 per light. The lamp and magnetron unit is an electrode-less lamp that includes an evacuated quartz bulb. The lamps produce almost no ultraviolet light and little infrared. It provides a full and continuous spectrum. Full spectrum lighting is the is the best type of light for plants being that this is the type of light that they have evolved to exploit.
A study was conducted by Wageningen University using Plasma International’s Sulfur Plasma Lamp for cucumber growth. They found that cucumbers grew 60% faster then they did under a traditional HPS bulb. It was also noted that there was an increase in size of branches and leaves. These lamps can easily cover the same area of a 1000W HPS lamp but because of the reduced heat, it could be placed closer to the plants. These bulbs are currently available for research purposes only.
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 all today, 415-246-8055.
Source: Urbangardenmagazine.com
The majority of indoor gardeners are using 1000-Watt High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lamps to light their plants and are still using magnetic ballasts. Believe it or not this technology has been around for more than 30 years in its same form. If you think of the computer industry a lot has changed in that same time frame. This was because of all of the human ingenuity and the demand for more from the consumer side. This is hopefully what will happen in the near future for indoor horticulture lighting.
We don’t need a Ph.D. in Photobiology to know that the sun is the only benchmark for new technologies in the indoor lighting field. Plants have adapted over millions of years to best exploit the solar energy generated from the sun. How plants relate to light can be related to how we as humans hear, by frequency. One of the primary reasons that indoor gardeners have used HPS bulbs is because NASA did a study basically stating that plants are efficient at using red light. HPS bulbs do a great job at promoting vigorous plants but they only provide plants with a limited light spectrum and a lot of heat in the infrared part of the spectrum. As we all know, heat can be a nemesis to your indoor garden if not taken care of properly.
There are alternative lighting systems out there that will provide a fuller spectrum of light and produce much less heat but they are not very economical and in some case not even in the stores. More information will be provided on the future of indoor horticulture lighting soon.
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: Urbangardenmagazine.com
Many growers feel that the usage of natural mediums, such as coconut coir, is a sustainable way to grow considering that the coir is from the earth. Although it is widespread and highly effective medium for hydroponic gardeners, many people don’t consider the extensive transportation costs that it takes to ship a bag of coir across the continent to its final destination. Most people start their own hydroponic garden because they want to become self-sufficient or so the can produce their own foods and know what is going into their body. It is important to do this in the most sustainable manner possible.
Water will be the medium of the future allowing growers to use fewer resources and reduce their carbon footprint. Hydroponic systems use mineral salts to provide plants with the nutrition they require to grow and bloom. Hyper-oxygenated water culture methods typically increase the efficiency of nutrient uptake in the plants root zone. You can typically use a much lower concentrations, around 40%-70%, of the recommended dosage for a given nutrient.
The ocean is a circulating, well-aerated solution of H20 and dissolved salts. It is also the birthplace of all plants and life forms. So with that said plants have coded with in their ancient DNA to be able and willing to adapt back to living in water. Water is the growing medium of the future hydroponic gardening.
Article by, Brett McCormick, co-founder of Good Green Builders. Good Green Builders is a grow room contractors in Oakland, Ca. For more information or a free consultation call today, 415-246-8055.
Source: urbangardenmagazine.com