Plant Gardens 101

Indoor gardeners are agog with the introduction of the latest LED grow light to hit the market–the Supernova LED. This family of LED grow lights offers improved light output for a fraction of the cost of using HID or other ordinary types of grow lights. Gardeners are impressed with its light coverage, increased light spectrum control, and cool running temperatures, among a wealth of improvements it brings to ordinary grow lamps.

The Supernova LED grow light offers an increased light coverage when compared with other LED grow lights. While other good LED grow lights offer a three foot by three foot area with good light coverage, the Supernova LED adds an additional two feet to that, for a total of five square feet of coverage area. All this light comes from a lighting unit that is space saving yet very powerful. The Supernova LED grow light achieves this large coverage through the clever use of seven individual circuit boards. This allows the light to flow out of the unit at different angles, and this unique design provides for its improved light coverage that your plants will appreciate. (more…)

Hydroponic gardening is a great way for anyone who wants to garden but does not have a backyard or a hospitable climate to still participate by growing high-quality fruits, vegetables and flowers indoors without using soil. There are some basic hydroponics supplies that you will need to get started, and all of these can easily be found through online hydroponic gardening merchants. Like any type of gardening, hydroponic gardening does take a bit of attention and care, but it is a small price to pay in order to be able to grow wonderful plants where you might not otherwise be able.

Probably the easiest way to put together hydroponic grow systems is through the use of hydroponic kits. A kit will include basically everything you need minus the plants and water to get started. You can choose kits that come in different sizes, so that you can find the most affordable solution for hydroponic supplies. Hydroponic kits are available for many types of hydroponic grow systems, such as aeroponic, deep water culture as well as ebb and flow.      (more…)

All plants need three things to grow and thrive, and they are light, food and water. Light is extremely important, because without appropriate light, the plant will not be able to perform photosynthesis and will not be able to create chemical energy, otherwise known as food, which it uses for growth. With this in mind, bright light is crucial for indoor gardening at all levels, whether for an avid home gardener or a commercial greenhouse grower. Indoor gardeners are enthusiastic about the new grow light called the Supernova LED for many reasons.

The Supernova LED grow light will provide your plants with all of the light they need for excellent growth. Plants need more light from certain spectrums depending on their stage of growth. Plant grow lights come in different color temperatures, ranging from blues at one end of the spectrum and reds on the opposite end. Young plants need light in the blue spectrum for good growth, while mature plants that you want to produce fruit or flowers will thrive with light in the red and orange spectrum. (more…)

The benefits of gardening under grow light systems are hard to ignore. I can’t imagine a better way to grow a healthy crop of green seedlings. If indoor gardening is one of your favorite hobbies, discount grow lights will guarantee your orchids, African violets, and hibiscus will continue to bloom year-round. Maybe you prefer growing wintertime plants such as vine-ripened tomatoes, herbs or salad greens. 400 watt grow lights can accomplish the same results.

A general rule I like to follow for my garden’s required indoor plant lighting is that 1000W adequately provides enough lighting for my garden area. If you are looking to make your plant grow lights system more efficient, use a reflector combined with a light mover. Don’t forget that many types of hydroponic hps grow light systems use a ballast to ignite the bulb. (more…)

Botanicare is a line of products for hydroponic gardeners from American Agritech. Like most hydroponic formulas, Botanicare nutrients are engineered from synthetics as well as organics in order to provide maximum benefit from both. Botanicare products are one of the most comprehensive lines of nutrient supplements available for maximizing hydroponic plant health, yield and quality, and are available all over the world through the company’s international distribution network.

Among American Agritech’s product offerings are Botanicare Cocogro and Botanicare Pure Blend Pro. The former, Botanicare Cocogro, is described by the company as “the world’s most premium coir fiber” that is substantially lower in potassium and sodium. As the name suggests, Botanicare Cocogro is derived from the husks of coconuts. Coir fibers are the layer between the outer shell and the husk of the fruit (they are what give coconuts their “hairy” appearance). Because these have a relatively low cellulose content compared to say, cotton fibers, they are stronger and make for an ideal alternative to peat as a hydroponic medium and is resistant to the types of bacteria and fungi that are often a problem with sphagnum moss. Most of the coir fiber used in Botanicare Cocogro is imported from southern India, where it is allowed exposure to monsoon rains for least three years, and is available in a variety of packages. (more…)

If you are new to hydroponic gardening, you will want to become familiar with hydroponic nutrients. Although there are a dizzying array of different hydroponic nutrients available on the market today, there are a few signals that you can be looking out for in order to help you find the right hydroponic nutrient for your plants.

First, you will need to know that hydroponic nutrient is just another name for plant food, or hydroponic fertilizer. All plants require certain kinds and amounts of macronutrients and micronutrients. Macronutrients are needed in larger quantities, while micronutrients are required in lesser amounts. When grown traditionally, plants will pick up their macronutrients and micronutrients through the soil, but this is not an option in hydroponic gardening, which utilizes soilless growing mediums, or aeroponics, which uses no growing medium at all. (more…)

For anyone starting out with indoor or hydroponics gardening, using grow light kits can help you get started on the right foot. Making sure you provide a stable, managed environment can make all the difference in your garden’s success. While it is possible to purchase indoor grow lights and other components that you’ll need separately, starting out with a kit can be a much simpler solution.

Benefits of using grow light kits

The most significant benefit of any kit is that it is ready to use immediately. While this his hugely convenient, new and seasoned gardeners alike will appreciate that kits are failsafe. The components included in any grow light assembly must integrate correctly in order for a lighting system to work correctly. There are different types of ballasts, bulbs and reflectors. An HPS grow light, for example, must be paired with a suitable ballast in order to work properly. The risk of pairing incompatible components is completely eliminated by the use of grow light kits. (more…)

If you are a commercial greenhouse owner, you understand the need for a steady supply of seedlings. Those little seedlings grow into plants that can then be sold at retail, so in the spring and summer months it is your responsibility to make sure that you have plenty of seedlings coming on to replace the plants that you sell and keep your gardening nursery stocked. By using a growing tent, you can easily provide the seeds with exactly what they need for optimal germination to occur. Home gardening enthusiasts can also benefit from the use of a small grow tent for their seed starting. indoor grow closets are convenient to use, and offer the perfect solution to starting your seeds. (more…)

Advanced Nutrients’ corporate website is probably one of the most complete and comprehensive Internet-based resources for hydroponic gardeners. Even if it’s very dense and a bit challenging to navigate, you can find out about almost anything you want to know about hydroponics there – and in any event, you have to love a product with a name like Advanced Nutrients Voodoo Juice. Advanced Nutrients offers products that result in “Bigger Buds” for “Bigger Yields.”

In fact, one of this company’s product lines is called Advanced Nutrients Big Bud. Consumers can choose Advanced Nutrients Big Bud Bloom Booster Liquid or Powder as well as several other products engineered with a combination of synthetic and organic formulas.

At least as far as hydroponic gardening is concerned, synthetic nutrients are not necessarily a bad thing. Purely organic nutrients such as are offered by FoxFarm are excellent for traditional outdoor gardens, but can cause problems when used in hydroponic systems. The reason is that organic formulas release nutrients very slowly; salt and acid-based formulas are engineered to release nutrients very quickly, which can have a detrimental effect on the soil. However, quick-release nutrients are fine and even desirable for hydroponic gardens – something of which the people at Advanced Nutrients are well aware. (more…)

Use A Grow Tent To Improve Germination And Speed Plant Growth

by Susan Slobac

If you are trying to start your own seeds, you might have discovered some of the challenges in this project. One issue that has to be dealt with is appropriate air and soil temperatures for germination to occur. The other is adequate light, and a third is sufficient moisture. If all of these areas are at suitable levels, you will have a better chance of your seed having a higher germination rate. If any of these three are missing or at too low a level, however, you will not get any germination from the seed at all. What many growers do to take the guesswork out of seed starting is to use a grow tent, also known as a grow closet.

Grow tents essentially work like a perfect little room especially suited to starting seeds. Better grow tents have a reflective inner lining, which helps to spread the light around the entire grow tent and plants held therein. (more…)

If you have a hydroponic growing system in place, then you will be needing hydroponic nutrients. hydroponic nutrient is plant fertilizer, and because the plants are growing without soil, it is imperative that you provide the plants with all the food they need through the hydroponic fertilizer that you use in the system. Organic nutrients suitable for hydroponic gardening are the best way to go, especially if you are growing vegetables and fruits. These hydroponic nutrients are made without the use of synthetic chemicals, which can be toxic to humans and animals, and thus offer a safer choice for growing food crops in your hydroponic growing system. (more…)

In lean times, people have looked to ways to provide for their families, and one of those ways was through growing some of their own food. The “Victory Garden” came into being during World War II and times of food rationing. Today many people are looking for easy ways to grow delicious fruits, vegetables and herbs, and this can be done through indoor gardening. There are gardening methods, such as hydroponics, which require no soil at all in order to grow wonderful foods, as well as aeroponics, which allows plants to grow in the air. With any of these indoor gardening systems, you will need appropriate grow lights in order for the plants to grow and thrive.

Plants need light in order to perform photosynthesis, whereby the plant converts light to energy for itself. This energy is what causes the plant to grow, mature and reproduce. The key to good photosynthesis in indoor gardening situations is having ample grow lights available to all plants. Without grow bulbs, growing plants will struggle to reach the little light available, and will grow spindly and weak stems, if they grow at all. (more…)

Without proper nutrition, all living things eventually will die. This is certainly true of plants grown indoors, that rely on fertilizers for food. If you practice hydroponics or aeroponics as a form of indoor gardening, then you know that the plant food appropriate for this type of gardening system is called nutrient. There are a wide variety of hydroponic nutrients available, and they are suited to the type of plants you are growing as well as the plant’s stage in their life cycle. Advanced Nutrients and Bcuzz offer several good varieties of hydroponics nutrients.

Advanced Nutrients offers a range of hydroponic nutrients suitable for different plant performance needs. They make base fertilizers which are suitable for use as plant nutrition. The Advanced Nutrients called Sensi Bloom encourage your plants to produce a wealth of flowers, which is important if you are growing plants for their flowers, or if you are growing plants that require many flowers to produce a better yield of produce, such as tomatoes. Advanced Nutrients also offers an organic product called Iguana Juice hydroponic nutrients. This plant fertilizer helps to produce plants with strong branches and a large root system.     (more…)

Hydroponics systems offer a way for everyone, regardless of their location, to garden effectively. If you live on the top of a skyscraper, then hydroponics is for you, because it allows you to grow fruits, flowers and vegetables without any soil at all. If you live on the tundra, or in the desert, you are in luck as well, because hydroponics systems offer a way to grow all sorts of plants indoors, where you can control the climate. Although there are several different types of hydroponics systems available, one of the most popular ones is deep water culture, and a related method of indoor gardening called aeroponics.

Deep water culture is one of several types of hydroponics systems where the roots of the plants actually stay in the in the growing medium that is a solution, which is made up of water and plant food called nutrient. In deep water culture the plants receive needed oxygen even when the roots are submerged in water through the use of a aerator pump and air stones, which both help to oxygenate the water. Deep water culture requires equipment such as a container like a bucket, which holds the solution and plant roots. The top of the plant, called the crown, has to be held above the water or it will rot. This is accomplished usually by using a net suspended over the lid of the bucket with a hole cut out of the center of the lid.    (more…)

Unlike gardening in the ground, there is no bad time to start hydroponic gardening. Because the gardening occurs indoors with hydroponics, you can start growing your own fruits, vegetables and flowers even in the middle of winter, when ice and snow keep outdoor gardeners inside. You also do not need any dirt to garden hydroponically, because plants grown in this unique way require no soil whatsoever for growth. Instead, other hydroponics supplies are used, such as a growing medium like coir, or no medium at all is used in the related growing style called aeroponics. If you want to get started with hydroponics, there are a few basic hydroponics equipment and hydroponics supplies that you will need to get started with this fascinating and useful gardening practice.

Although there are several different ways to garden hydroponically, they all revolve around the idea of plants being grown without soil. All plants require light, water and food for survival and growth, so these all must be supplied by the gardener as part of the hydroponics supplies and hydroponics equipment that you will use. The roots of the plants can be suspended above a basin, and at intervals the roots are washed over with a nutrient-rich water solution that drains back out. This is the ebb-and-flow system of hydroponics, and is one that is very popular with gardeners worldwide.    (more…)

Hydroponic gardening is one of the most popular methods for plant production. This form allows people with no land, or land unsuitable for plant growth, to produce food and flowers with ease. As you go about building your hydroponics system you will will want to invest in excellent grow lights. Many gardeners choose HID, or high intensity discharge, grow lamps because they most closely resemble natural sunlight, and this is conducive to excellent plant growth in an indoor growing situation. However, not all grow lights are created equal.

There are five types of HID lights, and they include mercury vapor, low-pressure sodium, xenon short-arc lamps, metal halide and high-pressure sodium. Metal halide and high-pressure sodium make great hydroponic lights and should be used with a specialty hydroponic digital ballast. (more…)

Smart individuals who practice hydroponic gardening understand the value of using HID lamps and HPS lights. Each of these types of lights that are used in the greenhouse or home require a ballast for their proper function. Correct maintenance of your hydroponics equipment will help ensure its long life, thereby saving you money.

High Intensity Discharge lights are favored by horticulturists and gardeners because they produce more light and a greater intensity of light than other types of lamps. These lights consist of a quartz or alumina inner tube within a glass lamp. Inside this tube you will find tungsten electrodes, gas, and metals. When you turn the electricity on, an electrical arc flows over the electrodes. The gas inside the tube helps illuminate the lamp initially, and the metal produces a continuous light as long as the electricity stays on. A ballast is used to control the flow of the electrical current to the HID bulb. With no ballast, uncontrolled current would flow into the bulb unchecked, blowing up the bulb, so the ballast is vital to its proper operation. (more…)

All plants, because of their need for photosynthesis, require appropriate light in order to ensure their proper growth and maturation. Indoor gardeners use indoor grow lights to supply the illumination necessary. There are a wide variety of indoor grow lights available, including LED grow lights, HPS grow lights, and even discount grow lights. There are some differences among indoor grow lights, so it pays to do a little research before you invest in them. HPS Grow Lights HPS grow lights, referencing high pressure sodium, are a type of HID, or high intensity discharge, light. Although a compact light bulb, they are capable of producing a lot of light, and thus their appeal to indoor gardeners. HPS lights give off light in the red to orange color spectrum, making it the lamp of choice for helping to coax your mature plants to bear fruit or flowers. HPS lamps need to be used in conjunction with a ballast, a piece of equipment that controls the flow of electricity to and through the lamp. The lamps are popular because they last a long time and are efficient to run. (more…)

General Hydroponics Inc. is one of the more venerable players in the field, having been around since the 1970s. General Hydroponics nutrients have the distinction of being the first such fertilizers to be used off-planet; General Hydroponics products have been used by NASA for the hydroponic gardens aboard the International Space Station. Unlike FoxFarm, which caters primarily to traditional outdoor gardeners, General Hydroponics specializes in and markets to hydroponic gardeners, and the company’s products are engineered specifically for hydroponic applications. Located just north of San Francisco in one of the premier agricultural regions of California, General Hydroponics maintains a 45,000 square foot facility where new systems and fertilizers are constantly being tested and improved. In addition, this company offers a full line of equipment and other accessories for the hydroponic gardener, including controllers, pumps and replacement parts for various elements of the hydroponic system. The company website itself is an excellent resource for anyone interested in this type of production, including an online “nutrient calculator” to assist in determining the needs of specific plants. (more…)

If you are a gardener who wants to garden but has obstacles to overcome in terms of soil and climate, why not give hydroponic gardening a try? Hydroponics is a method of gardening in which you grow plants without using any soil. It has been used in parched African lands as well as by NASA scientists, where the land was unsuitable for growing crops, or there was no soil available. A hydroponic garden does require some planning, however, in order for it to work successfully.

There are several systems from which you will want to choose. What you finally decide upon will depend on several factors, including the space you can devote to gardening, the lights you will use, how much you wish to invest in the project and how much time you have available to put the system together and to maintain it properly. In the planning phase you will also want to give some thought to expansion of the system and which sorts of plants you would like to grow using hydroponic gardening techniques. You will also need to think about any ongoing costs in terms of necessary supplies and equipment such as hps grow lights. (more…)