The holidays are quickly upon us and then the end of the year.  The holiday season always sneaks up on us and comes with a wrath of emotions and expressions.  Then it’s on to New Years resolutions and what we’ll do next year that we should’ve done this year.  The same cycle happens every year, but this years a bit different.  We’ve hit a down turn in the economy — it’s affected everybody.  We’ve also brought the idea of health care and how it should be handled to the forefront.  No matter which side of the aisle you sit, it is very obvious that changes need to be made in policy towards health care… or do they? 

 I was reading today an article in Urban Garden Magazine entitled “Food for Thought” and it brought up some interesting points, but also pointed the health problems in America–obesity, cancer, and so forth right back at us, the consumer.  “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 from thinking to will and action.  Food plants can no longer contain the forces people need for this.” (Steiner, The Agriculture Course)  Food has become about quantity over quality.  “Take, for example, the tomato.  If we could only compare a tomato today versus a tomato 100 years ago on a scale of nutrient density, we would see a dramatic difference in the two pieces of fruit; the 100 year old fruit being much more healthy and nutrient dense.” (Urban Garden Magazine) Now there’s no way to test such a statement, but what it brought to my attention was the need to pay more attention to what we are fueling our bodies with. 

Science has advanced and has let us grow the most perfect fruits and vegetables year around no matter the climate, but we are still fueling our bodies with junk food. Now it’s nearly impossible for a busy household to grow and maintain enough food for them to live without buying outside resources, but if everyone took a deeper look at how they could fit producing fresh fruit and vegetables into their daily life we may solve health care.  I have no hard evidence or scientific studies, well not on hand at least, but as always said, to eat healthy avoid the black hole in the middle of supermarkets–shop the outside.  Better yet, why not grow the outside yourself.  Hydroponics has allowed for the rapid growth of food year round and with less space.  So how does this bring us back to the holidays and the new year?  Maybe it’s time to re-evaluate how we get our food and what we fuel our bodies with.  I’m not saying cut off from society and start a community farm, but every bit helps and with technology and innovation it’s easier and more available than ever before. 

If you haven’t hear of hydroponics, check it out.  Google it and read about it.  Beyond being more sustainable, the hydroponics practice is often more energy efficient and more environmentally aware.  There are a ton of great resources out there.  So when you’re thinking about the holidays this year, take a look at hydroponics, it’s something everyone can get behind and can bring communities together.

At Hydroponics Unlimited we have some very cool promotions going on right now;

15% Off Gravity

15% Off Purple Maxx

15% Off Botanicare Power Clone

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Beyond that we have great prices for all your hydroponics needs and an extensive range of products to help you grow successfully.

Advanced Nutrients Monkey Juice Bloom and Grow is no longer available and no longer produced by Advanced Nutrients, but we here at Hydroponics Unlimited have extra inventory and at killer prices.  4 Litre – $26.95 and 1 Litre – $15.50.  You can’t beat those prices and there’s only a few left.  Click below for available juice.

Monkey Juice Grow Part B 4L

Monkey Juice Grow Part A 4L

Monkey Juice Bloom Part B 1L

Monkey Juice Bloom Part A 1L

Monkey Juice Bloom Part B 4L

Monkey Juice Bloom Part A 4L

There are variety of hydroponics systems and choosing which is best comes down to personal choice, well at least to a certain regard. The four main systems are the drip/sprinkler system, the flood and drain or ebb and flow system, the nutrient film technique, and aeroponics. But there is yet another that is little discussed or promoted, but from our experience has the best results while saving money and being more conscious of the environment—Top Feed Systems.

First let me explain each of the other techniques and then I’ll tell you about Top Feed Systems—how they differ and why they are the best bang for your buck.

1. The Drip or Sprinkler System: This system “involves dripping or spraying nutrient water around plant roots that are held in place by clay pellets, gravel, rockwool, sawdust, or peat mixes. One of the advantages is that the dripping or spraying nutrient carries a constant supply of air between droplets. In addition, the drips or sprays are timed to allow air-breathing cycles” (How to Supercharge Your Garden, 114)

The overall key to this system is that the roots must remain moist and if any of the drip systems get blocked or malfunction the roots can dry out very fast and the plant can die out very quickly.

2. The Ebb and Flow System: This system involves flooding the roots at regular intervals. There is a floodable area, a tray, that raises and lowers the nutrient rich water around the plant roots. The plants are usually held with some sort of soilless medium. The question that arises with Ebb and Flow is how often to submerse the plant’s roots within the nutrient rich water. “The reason for the flooding is only to keep the nutrient and air constantly moving over the roots.”(How to Supercharge Your Garden, 115) A good rule of thumb is to not submerse the plant’s roots for more than 30 minutes at a time and depending on the medium the plant is held in, this should be done hourly or daily. Problems with this system include, water pooling, standing water, pest problems, algae and mold. You must keep a close eye on this system.

3. Nutrient Film Technique (NFT): “is basically running a constant thin film of nutrient water across the roots on a sloped gutter or pipe. The film of water must be thin enough to be able to carry a film of air along with it. The roots are not held but each plant is supported in a collar with roots hanging into the gutter or pipe.” (How to Supercharge Your Garden, 116)

NFT systems are inconsistent in providing the right amount of water and nutrients vs. oxygen and can vary from plant to plant within the system. You must keep a close eye on the roots to make sure they are receiving enough oxygen. “The browner the roots are, the more they need oxygen.” (How to Supercharge Your Garden, 116)

4. Aeroponic systems use no growing medium. Roots are suspended in a dark growth chamber where they are misted with oxygen-rich nutrient solution at regular intervals. Only air and nutrient solution fill the growth chamber. Aeroponic systems require greater attention to detail but offer extremely high performance.

So we’ve gone through the most common systems used when growing hydroponically, but as I mentioned before there is one more that we at Hydroponics Unlimited have found to out do the others—the Top Feed System. Very similar to a drip system, but with Top Feed Systems, water and nutrients are fed from the top producing 10% more yield using 30-40% less water and nutrients — the greenest way to grow and the way Hydroponics Unlimited recommends. There are no major distributors of top feed systems , but at Hydroponics Unlimited we have begun building customized systems using state of the art materials that can turn any set up into a Top Feed System.

So I was flipping through a magazine the other day, and came across a great article on the “Relative Efficiency of Light Bulbs.”  We love hydroponics, but we’re always looking for information and ways of making hydroponics “greener” than it already is.  We started manufacturing Top Feed Systems for this very reason.  It has really cut down on our energy costs, which in turn helps the environment.  Anyway, back to lighting.  So it all comes down to lumens — measure of light intensity hitting a surface.  Household bulbs are measured in Watts, but when growing we care about Lumens (and lumens give us the most bang for our buck).  So they compared 6 types of light bulbs; incandescent, mercury, fluorescent, fusion sulphur, metal halide and high pressure sodium (HPS).  The 100 watt incandescent bulb shining 1 foot away from an object will put roughly 175 lumens, but 100 watt mercury will produce 600 lumens.  Put a 100 watt HPS bulb in the same circumstances and we’re talking 1,400 lumens.  So in conclusion High Intensity Discharge bulbs may cost more, but you’re getting a lot more bang for your buck and your plants will appreciate you more.  Lastly, here is the relative efficiency for the 6 bulbs types I mentioned above.  Incandescent: 8% efficiency; Mercury: 29% efficiency; Fluorescent: 38% efficiency; Fusion Sulphur: 44% efficiency; Metal Halid: 45-57% efficiency; and the big winner, High Pressure Sodium: 64% efficiency.  

Original Soure: How to Supercharge Your Garden