Hydro Blog » Hydroponics

Roof to Table – Hydroponics Makes it Possible

hydroponicsunlimited — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 14:10:48 +0000

The other night on Dateline NBC, in the last segment they featured a restaurant in New York with a simple concept. We grow what we serve, and they can do this thanks to Hydroponics! It’s the first of its kind — they grow the produce and herbs on the roof of their restaurant using a tower system and thanks to the processes of hydroponcis they can go from seed to mature plant in 7 weeks, allowing them to supply the entire restaurant for at least 10 months out of the year. The video is below, source is Dateline NBC.

Cloning Gel and Solution

hydroponicsunlimited — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 19:40:54 +0000

Here is a great article I stumbled across. It covers cloning gels and solutions. Brought to you by http://growhydroponix.com. Check out the full article at http://growhydroponix.com/.

From Hydroponix:

What makes a good Cloning Gel or Solution?

There are four main ingredients in a cloning solution: water or dry base, the active ingredient, vitamins/minerals, and antibacterial/antifungal elements. Each element is an important ingredient and plays a major role in promoting root development.

The water, sometimes gel, combines the active ingredient, vitamins, minerals and antibacterial elements. For some cloning solutions, the water is replaced with a dry base. In other solutions, the water is combined to form a gel which helps to remain in place around the plant stem increasing the amount of time the stem remains in contact with the solution. The water or dry base also helps to seal the end of the cutting preventing water loss and other harmful elements from entering.

The active ingredient is usually a hormone or a group of hormones. There are several that are commonly used at various strengths. This ingredient is what initiates root cell formation. Common hormones are IBA and NAA.

The vitamins and minerals provide essential elements to help feed the newly formed roots as well as keeping the plant nourished. A common vitamin is B1.

The antibacterial and or antifungal ingredients prevent bacteria and fungus from growing. Rooting usually takes place in 5 – 10 days which is a sufficient amount of time for bacteria or fungus to enter the cutting and take over. These ingredients help to neutralize these harmful elements.

Not all cloning solutions are created equal. A number of them are missing one or more of the essential elements. Some may have too much or too little of each important element, particularly the active ingredient and antibacterial or antifungal elements. Always do your homework and talk to others to find out their success with a particular product.

A little hydroponics ditty

hydroponicsunlimited — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:59:12 +0000

Benefits of Hydroponics

hydroponicsunlimited — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 23:53:52 +0000

Hydroponics comes from Latin and means working water. In its simpliest of terms it is growing plants without water, but in reality it is a lot more. We won’t go into the many methods of hydroponics here — we’ll save that for a later post — but below we’ll take a look at a laundry list of benefits of hydroponics, as well as a few disadvantages. To an avid hydroponics grower they would use no other technique, but why?

The environment is sustained and controlled minimizing the usage of water, green house gasses and does not contaminate the environment.
Hydroponics grows more plants and more vegetables and the production quantity directly increases by ten times than the natural environment.
Ground water gets saved as you do not have to irrigate large patches of land.
Control over nutrient balance.
Significant reduction of soil pests and diseases.
pH and nutrient levels are simple to measure and maintain.
When you use less pesticides the quality of taste of the fruits and vegetables is much higher and is also less harmful to people who eat them.
Hydroponics cultivation can be done within city limits and fruits and vegetables can be grown in urban areas — less distance between producer and buyer.

A few disadvantages that have been noted are:

The cost of starting a hydroponic garden are greater than soil gardens, but these trends are starting to change.
Pumps and other electronics such as Timers susceptible to power outages — but this is easily fixed by having back up pumps and other equipment.
Another often noted disadvantage is that hydroponics is more technical — this may be true, you can’t just throw a seed in the ground and water it, but if that was your gardening method you’d probably never get into hydroponics.

Hydroponics has the ability to change the way the world looks at food production. We can produce much larger yeilds in smaller spaces than traditional soil gardening using less water. All these things will be very important as populations continue to grow and land, water and food become less readily available. Let the hydroponics revolution begin!

Hydroponics Grow Bulbs, HID Lamps and T5

hydroponicsunlimited — Wed, 05 May 2010 16:56:29 +0000

Lighting systems for growing indoors and hydroponics have grown intensively more in tune with the needs of hydroponic growers and gone are the days of lighting your garden with standard bulbs.

Available now are a range of bulbs to use depending on your needs for intensity of output and spectrum of light. Light intensity is measured in lumens — 1 lumen = 1 candlefoot of light (amount of light on one candle at one foot distance). Estimates show that the average amount of lumens per square foot should be within the 2000 range. Spectrum is the range of colors that the light produces. Plants need a variety of spectrum depending, from red/orange to blue/green — red for budding and blue for vegetative growth.

Right now on the market there are HID and Florescent bulbs to choose from. Florescent will get the job done, but the intensity of the light is lacking and the light would have to remain a few inches away from the plant to get the best results. Florescent bulbs are great for the home hydroponic garden as they are cheaper or the person new to hydroponics. HID (High Intensity Discharge) bulbs are more expensive, both to purchase and to run, but the results are worth the cost for the serious grower. HID works by shooting a current into the bulb and when a certain voltage is hit, gas sparks creating arc light. HID gives off a mixed spectrum of light making them a great choice for hydroponics and indoor gardening.

There are also new developments using LED lights that Nasa has been experimenting with. This could one of the best things to hit the hydroponics lighting market and could push both florescent and HID to the brink of extinction — but only time will tell.

A little more on bulbs…

You can put any bulb in any hood, but you need to make sure that your ballast wattage matches your bulb wattage. Depending on the wattage of your bulb, you want to make sure that the plant is positioned at the right distance from the bulb (1000 watt=2 feet, 600 watt=18 inches, 400 watt=12 inches, 250 watt=12 inches). You want to have at least 100 watts per plant. Grow bulbs last an average of 1 to 1.5 years. Grow bulbs are specifically engineered for growing and are tuned to the color spectrum for plants to grow.

The best bulb for white ballasts is Hortilux, while for digital ballasts the best bulb is Ushio. T5 modern fluorescents with smaller tubing come in cool white and warm white. Cool white is best for vegetation and the warm white is best for flowering. You can also mix cool/warm/cool/warm/cool/warm within your hood for full spectrum light. These bulbs are only sold at grow stores. Metal Halide bulbs are for vegetation growth and has a blue spectrum. HPS (High Pressure Sodium) bulbs provide for more flower production with its red spectrum making flowers grow faster. If you have any questions or are unsure of the right bulb for your growing purposes, contact us.

Check out our Artificial Lighting Guide for more information…

Hydroponics Lighting Glossary of Terms

hydroponicsunlimited — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 16:54:16 +0000

We can all use a reference guide and so here for your pleasure is a glossary of hydroponics lighting terms. Print it out, bookmark it, write em down — this should cover any terms you stumble across while walking down the path to growing godliness. If you ever have any questions on anything hydroponics, shoot us an email to info[at]hydroponicsunlimited.com.

AGROSUN

A metal halide bulb manufactured exclusively for Hydrofarm which puts out 38% more light in the red portion of the spectrum than regular metal halide lamps.

AMPERE (AMP)

The unit used to measure the strength of an electric current.

ARC

The luminous discharge of electricity between two electrodes in HID lighting.

ARC DISCHARGE

A transfer of electricity across two electrodes (anode and cathode), characterized by high electrode current densities and a low voltage drop at the electrode.

ARC TUBE

The enclosure which contains the luminous gases and also houses the arc.

BALLAST

An auxiliary piece of equipment designed to start and to properly control the flow of power to gas discharge light sources such as fluorescent and high intensity discharge lamps. In metal halide systems, it is composed of the transformer, capacitor and connecting wiring; sodium systems require an ignitor in addition to the transformer and capacitor.

BU

An industry code indicating that the bulb is to be operated only in a base up position.

BULB

The glass outer envelope component of an HID lamp which protects the arc tube.

BULB WALL TEMPERATURE

The temperature at the bulb wall of a lamp, which effects lumen output and input wattage and which is important in lighting calculations.

CANDELA (CD)

A unit of luminous intensity in a given direction, equal to one lumen per steradian.

CANDLEPOWER (CP)

The luminous intensity of a light source, as expressed in candelas.

CANDLEPOWER DISTRIBUTION CURVE

A curve that represents the varying distribution of luminous intensity of a lamp or luminaire.

CAPACITOR

An electronic device that can store electrical charge. The capacitor is one of the main components of an HID lighting ballast. Because they can store a very strong electrical charge, capacitors can be very dangerous to someone who is unaware of this fact and opens a ballast in order to examine or repair it. If one does not know how to safely discharge the stored electricity, one should allow a trained technician to do any ballast repairs.

COLD START TIME

The length of time required to bring an HID lamp to 90% light output from a cold condition.

COLOR TEMPERATURE or KELVIN TEMPERATURE

The unit of measurement to express the color (spectrum) of light emitted by a lamp; the absolute temperature of a blackbody radiator having a chromaticity equal to that of the light source (see correlated color temperature).

CONVERSION BULB

A bulb of a certain spectrum type (e.g. sodium) specially designed to operate while used in the fixture/ballast of a different type (e.g. metal halide). The most popular conversion bulbs by far are sodium conversion bulbs, which allow one to have the sodium spectrum while still using a metal halide system.

CORRELATED COLOR TEMPERATURE (CCT)

A specification of the color appearance of a light source, relating its color to that of a blackbody radiator, as measured in Kelvins (K). CCT is a general measure of a lamp’s “coolness” or “warmness.”

DOME

The portion of an HID outer bulb located opposite base (the neck and threads).

DOME SUPPORT

The spring-like brackets which mount the arc tube within the outer envelope (bulb).

DISCHARGE LAMP

A lamp that produces light by discharging an electric arc through a mixture of gases and gaseous metals.

ELECTRODES

Filaments located at either end of a discharge lamp that maintain an electrical arc between them. See arc discharge.

FIXTURE

The electrical fitting used to contain the electric components of a lighting system.

FLUORESCENT LAMP

A discharge lamp in which a phosphor coating transforms ultraviolet energy into visible light. Fluorescent lamps are good for starting seedlings and rooting cuttings, but do not have enough intensity to sustain aggressive growth in plants in the later stages of life, and are not efficient enough in their conversion of electrical power to lumens of light output.

FOOTCANDLE

A standard measurement of light intensity, representing the amount of illuminance on a surface one foot square on which there is a uniformly distributed flux of one lumen. More simply, one footcandle of illuminance is equal to the light emitted by one candle at a distance of one foot.

FREQUENCY

The number of waves or cycles of electromagnetic radiation per second, usually measured in Hertz (Hz).

HALOGEN LAMP

A short name for the tungsten-halogen lamp. Halogen lamps are high pressure incandescent lamps containing halogen gases such as iodine or bromine which allow the filaments to be operated at higher temperatures and higher efficacies. While excellent for home lighting and similar applications, halogen lamps are not effective or efficient as grow lights due to their limited spectrum and high operating temperatures.

HID

The popular acronym for High Intensity Discharge.

HIGH-INTENSITY DISCHARGE (HID) LAMP

A general term for mercury, metal halide and high-pressure sodium lamps. HID lamps contain compact arc tubes which enclose various gases and metal salts operating at relatively high pressures and temperatures.

HIGH-PRESSURE SODIUM LAMP

High-pressure sodium lamps operate by igniting sodium, mercury and xenon gases within a sealed ceramic arc tube. Sodium lamps emit light energy in the yellow/red/orange regions of the spectrum; the red spectrum stimulates flowering and fruit production. Many indoor gardeners switch to sodium lamps when it is time to induce flowering or fruiting of their plants.

HOOD

The reflective cover used in conjunction with an HID lamp. The more reflectivity a hood can provide, the more effective it is.

HOR

An industry code indicating that the bulb is to be operated in a horizontal position.

HOT SPOT

The area immediately under an HID lamp where the light intensity is strongest. Hot spots cause uneven growth, but can be remedied by using light movers.

HOT START TIME

The length of time required to bring an HID lamp to 90% light output after a short power interruption.

IGNITOR

A component of the ballast necessary for the starting of the bulb in sodium systems.

ILLUMINANCE

The density of incident luminous flux on a surface; illuminance is the standard metric for lighting levels, and is measured in lux (lx) or footcandles (fc).

ILLUMINATION

The act of illuminating or state of being illuminated. This term is often used incorrectly in place of the term illuminance to denote the density of luminous flux on a surface.

INCANDESCENT LAMP

A light source which generates light utilizing a thin filament wire (usually of tungsten) heated to white heat by an electric current passing through it. Incandescent lamps are the most familiar type of light source, with countless application in homes, stores and other commercial settings. Light is produced by passing electric current through a thin wire filament, usually a tungsten. Incandescent lamps are totally ineffective as grow lights; they have very limited spectrum, are very inefficient in their conversion of electrical power to lumens of light output (lumen-to-watt ratio). They also put off far too much heat per watt to use in horticulture, even if the above-mentioned problems did not exist.

INTENSITY

A term referring to the magnitude of light energy per unit; light intensity diminishes evenly as you get further from the source.

KELVIN TEMPERATURE (K)

KILOWATT (kW)

A unit of electric power usage equal to 1,000 watts.

KILOWATT HOUR (kWh)

A measurement of electric energy. A kilowatt hour is equal to 1,000 watts of power used over a period of one hour.

LAMP

An electrically energized source of light, commonly called a bulb or tube.

LAMP LIFE

A measure of lamp performance, as measured in median hours of burning time under ANSI test conditions.

LAMP LUMEN DEPRECIATION (LLD)

The decrease over time of lamp lumen output, caused by bulb wall blackening, phosphor exhaustion, filament depreciation, and other factors.

LAMP STARTING

Generic term used to describe a discharge lamp’s starting characteristics in terms of time to come to full output, flicker, etc.

LIGHT

Radiant energy which can be sensed or seen by the human eye. The term generally applied to the visible energy from a source. Light is usually measured in lumens or candlepower. When light strikes a surface, it is either absorbed, reflected or transmitted. Visible light is measured in lumens.

LIGHT MOVER (e.g. Hydrofarm’s Light Track)

A motorized device which moves an HID lamp back and forth across the ceiling of a grow room to provide more even distribution of the light.

LUMEN

A measurement of light output; refers to the amount of light emitted by one candle that falls on one square foot of surface located at a distance of one foot from the candle.

LUMINAIRE

A complete lighting unit, consisting of a lamp or lamps together with the components required to distribute the light, position the lamps, and connect the lamps to a power supply. Often referred to as a “fixture.”

LUX

A standard unit of illuminance. One lux is equal to one lumen per square meter.

METAL HALIDE LAMP

A high-intensity-discharge lamp in which the light is produced by arcing electricity through a mixture of metal halides. The light produced by metal halide lamps is in the white-blue spectrum, which encourages vegetative growth and “bushiness” while discouraging upward growth. This is the bulb to use in the first, vegetative phase of plant growth.

MERCURY VAPOR LAMPS

The oldest member of the HID family, mercury vapor lamps work by arcing electricity through mercury vapor. While more efficient than incandescent, halogen and fluorescent lamps, mercury vapor lamps have the least efficient lumen-to-watt ratio of the entire HID family. This, combined with an improper color spectrum for horticultural applications, makes mercury vapor lamps a poor choice for a grow light.

NECK

The narrow, tubular end of the HID bulb, attached to the threads.

PARABOLIC REFLECTOR

A lighting distribution control device that is designed to redirect the light from an HID lamp in a specific direction. In most applications, the parabolic device directs light down and away from the direct glare zone.

PHOTOPERIOD

The relative periods of light and dark periods within a 24-period. Also referred to as daylength.

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

The growth process by which plants build chemical compounds (carbohydrates) from light energy, water and CO2 (carbon dioxide).

PHOTOTROPISM

The gravitation of a plant part toward a light source.

REFLECTOR

The term sometimes used to refer to the reflective hood of an HID lamp.

REFLECTIVITY

The measure of the reflective quality of a surface; the relative ability of a given surface to reflect light away from it without absorbing, diffusing or otherwise compromising the light’s quality, intensity and spectrum.

SOCKET

The threaded, wired receptacle that an HID bulb screws into.

SODIUM LAMP (HIGH-PRESSURE SODIUM LAMP)

SON-AGRO

A sodium bulb which, according to the manufacturer, produces 30% more blue light than standard sodium bulbs. The 430-watt SON AGRO also emits 6% more light than the standard 400-watt sodium lamp.

SPECULAR REFLECTION

The redirection of incident light without diffusion at an angle that is equal to and in the same plane as the angle of incidence. The specular inserts included in Hydrofarm’s HID lighting systems work on this principle.

STERADIAN

A unit solid angle on the surface of a sphere equal to the square of the sphere’s radius.

TRANSFORMER

The component in the ballast that transforms electric current from one voltage to another.

U (for UNIVERSAL)

An industry code indicating that the bulb can be operated in any position: horizontal, vertical (base up) or any other.

ULTRAVIOLET (UV) LIGHT

Light with very short wavelengths, out of the visible spectrum.

UNDERWRITERS LABORATORIES (UL)

A private organization which tests and lists electrical (and other) equipment for electrical and fire safety according to recognized UL and other standards. A UL listing is not an indication of overall performance. Hydrofarm offers the only complete line of growlight systems that is UL-listed.

WATT (W)

A unit used to measure electric power. One watt equals one joule/second.

Proper Plant Conditions from Beginning to End

hydroponicsunlimited — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:31:47 +0000

Some very useful information for all growers out there. We at Hydroponics Unlimited put this together to help you determine proper plant conditions from beginning to end.

Download the jpg here…

Time Lapse of Plants Growing — Very Cool

hydroponicsunlimited — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:47:03 +0000

Stumbled across a few time lapse videos of plants growing, thought I would share.

Hydro Health

hydroponicsunlimited — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:53:02 +0000

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.

Monkey say Monkey do…

hydroponicsunlimited — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:10:52 +0000

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