Hydroponics Unlimited Blog

We’ve just added four new products from Bio Bizz!  Bio Bizz TopMax, Bio Bizz Alg-A-Mic, Bio Bizz Bio-Grow and Bio Bizz Bio-Bloom.

Bio Bizz TopMaxx - BioBizz TopMax fuels prolific blooming while enhancing the flavor of herbs and vegetables in any garden. TopMax is perfectly suited for soil but can be used in other growing media as well. All BioBizz products are certified organic by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI).

Bio Bizz Alg-A-Mic – Listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI), this all-natural energy booster contains concentrated seaweed, trace elements and hormones of vegetable origin, amino acids, and vitamins. Alg-A-Mic can be used as a soil drench or as a foliar feed.

Bio Bizz Bio-Grow - BioBizz Bio-Grow (8-2-6) liquid fertilizer is ideal for promoting lush growth during the vegetative cycle, particularly in soil gardens. Bio-Grow can also be used as a plant tonic during the flowering stage. The natural sugars in Bio-Grow benefit bacteria in the soil while the additional micronutrients and vitamins boost overall plant health. Certified organic by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI).

Bio Bizz Bio-Bloom – BioBizz Bio-Bloom (2-6-3.5) encourages abundant flowering and fruit production by supplying much needed macro- and micronutrients as well as enzymes and amino acids.

We’ve just added JD Lightings Electronic Ballasts to our inventory — 400 Watt, 600 Watt and 1000 Watt.  Check them out below and to purchase and for more information head over to Hydroponics Unlimited.

JD Lightings high performing Electronic Ballasts are a technological revolution that creates energy efficiency and produces more Lumen output than magnetic ballasts. This grow light system works with both Metal Halide (MH) and High Pressure Sodium (HPS) Lamps . They are silent, lightweight, extremely efficient – 99.9% power factor, soft starting, increases lamp life and reduces lumen depreciation. They eliminate the need for conversion lamps or multiple light systems. MH lamps are better suited for seedlings and vegetation stages, while HPS lamps promotes fruiting and flowering.

Dimmable Features

50% 75% 100% and 110%

E-Ballast Features

• Extruded aluminum housing is engineered to dissipate heat and keep the components cool.
• Resin-sealed case for completely silent operation
• Resettable circuit breaker for short circuit protection.
• Wire core 120/240V compatible
• Completely silent and lightweight
• Operates both HPS & MH lamps
• Extremely efficient – 99% power factor
• Detachable power cord that allows easy change over
• Available in 250, 400, 600, and 1000 Watts
• 5-YEAR WARRANTY — 3 year full + 2 year prorated

There are some pretty cool resources available on the internet for helping out with all those nutrient questions and calculations. Below are a few that we use and we thought we’d bring them together in one post — the first few are strictly nutrient charts and lastly is a tool that helps with common hydroponics calculations.  Enjoy!

1. Botanicare Nutrient Charts: We have taken the pdf of the nutrient chart provided by Botanicare and uploaded it to Hydroponics Unlimited so that it is easily accessible: Check it out at http://hydroponicsunlimited.com/mm5/nutrientfeedsched_PALM.html

2. General Hydroponics Nutrient Chart: Not only does General Hydroponics provide a basic display of their nutrients, but they also have a fully functional application with Nutrient System, System Type, Water Type, Program Level and Feeding Schedule.  Check it out at http://www.generalhydroponics.com/calculator/index.html

3. Advanced Nutrients Calculator: Advanced Nutrients has a nice nutrient calculator: Check it out at http://www.advancednutrients.com/hydroponics/calc/

4. Canna Nutrients: Canna has some great resources that help you use their products: Check it out at http://www.canna-uk.com/grow_info

5. Hydroponics Dictionary: Hydroponics Dictionary has a handy application that does common hydroponics calculations: Check it out at http://hydroponicsdictionary.com/hydroponics-tools/

Check it out, Proper Plant Conditions from Beginning to End all in one page.  What we have been using for years now is available to all and you can print out as many copies as you like and plaster them all over your indoor garden.  Download the PDF below and also below is a image sample of the PDF.  You can always access the pdf via http://hydroponicsunlimited.com as well.

Download Proper Plant Conditions (pdf)

Cloning Instructions

- Start by cleaning and sterilizing EVERYTHING (trays/domes/scissors/razor blades).

- Soak rooting medium in R/O (reverse osmosis) water mixed with both of these products:

- Nature’s Solution Compost Tea (1 cup per gallon of R/O water) (Root Soak

- KLN Rooting Hormone (2 teaspoons per gallon of R/O water) & Spray)

- Re-soak rooting medium in above solution every 5-8 days (pour any excess water out of tray).

**The trick is to let the grow medium dry out 5-8 days prior to re-soaking (approximately 75% dry). The clones will try to put out roots to find water

- Squeeze the excess water out of the rooting medium (coco plugs or Grodan blocks) and place the medium in tray.

- Keep PH between 5.4 and 6.4

- Take 8″ long clones and place in a cutting tray submersed in room temperature R/O water (this is the safest way to cut a clone).

- Cut down the 8″ long clone to 4″- 6″ at a 45 degree angle underwater.

- Dip 4″ – 6″ long clone (1/2 inch deep) in one of the following Rooting Hormone.

- Clonex Gel

- Dip & Grow

- Rootech

- Wood’s Rooting Compound

- Place clone 1″ deep in one of the following grow tray medium.

- Coco Plugs

- Oasis Cubes/Wedges

- Grodan Blocks

- Cut all large fan leaves on the clone in half with sterile scissors.

- Spray clones immediately with the same mixture from LINE #2.

**Mist clones with this spray once every three days

- After spraying the clones, spray the humidity dome with the same mixture then place the dome over clones and keep the ventilation holes closed.

- Place clones in a dark or subdued light for 24 hours.

- After 24 hours, open (halfway) ONLY 1 ventilation hole and put a Dual Florescent Light (T-12) or a Single T-5 Light Fixture 1″ – 2″ over the humidity dome.

- Set light timer to 20 hours ON and 4 hours OFF.

- Place Heat Mat under the tray and set thermostat at 77 degrees (always keep clones 74-79 degrees).

- After 5 days, open (halfway) the 2nd ventilation hole.

- After 14 days, open (entire way) both ventilation holes.

- You should have rooted clones ready to transplant in 14-21 days.

- 24 hours prior to transplanting, prop open the humidity dome 1″ – 3″ to let air in to harden the clones off.

Tips for after Cloning

**When taking clones from clone tray, feed roots with 1/4 strength bloom nutrients for the first week (PPM should be 300 – 500 and PH should be 5.3 – 6.3).

Advanced Spraying for Veg – Flower

**All sprays should be mixed with 1 quart R/O water and a wetting agent (such as Coco-Wet, SM-90 or Dutch Master Saturator) to make plant sprays.

First Week of Veg: Spray rooted clones with 3/4 tsp. Canna Rhizotonic and3/4 tsp. Grotek Insta-Green. Spray once per day for 5 days.

Second Week of Veg: Spray plants with 1 tsp. Ful-Power Fulvic (Humic) Acid and 1/4 tsp. Dyna-Gro Foliage-Pro. Spray once every other day for 5 days.

Third Week of Veg: Spray plants with 1/4 tsp. Silicate and 1/4 tsp. Messenger (and 1 drop PH Down). Spray only once this week.

Fourth Week of Veg: Spray plants with 3/4 tsp. Canna Rhizotonic and 1/2 tsp. Spray-n-Grow. Spray only once this week.

**This is a good week to cut clones and trim plants before going into flowering

First Week of Flower: Spray plants with 4 tbsp. Dutch Master Max FX Flower and 3/4 tsp. Canna Rhizotonic. Spray only once this week.

Second Week of Flower: Spray plants with 1/4 tsp. Messenger and 1/2 cup Nature’s Solution Tea. Spray only once this week.

**You should start to see small flowers now. The following will be your last spray.

Third Week of Flower: Spray plants with 1 tsp. Ful-Power Fulvic (Humic) Acid and 1 1/2tsp. Sray-n-Grow. Spray only once this week.

**If you wish to keep spraying plants in the flower stage, use Dutch Master Max FX Flower with a very fine misting spray only. Spray once per week.

1. Keep your air temperature 10 – 15 degrees less at night (except in the clone & seed stage).

2. Flush plants every three weeks with a flush product or water with 1/4 strength nutrients and Cannazym or Hygrozyme.

3. No need to run CO2 when lights are off (nighttime). The plants make their own CO2.

4. If you run CO2, run the temperature at 76 – 80 degrees when the lights are on.

5. CO2 levels should be at 600 – 900 during the Vegetated stage.

6. CO2 levels during the Flower stage should be at 1100 – 1500.

7. First watering should be when the lights first come on (morning).

8. Last watering should be 1-1/2 hours before the lights shut off (most mediums).

9. Change your nutrients every 7-14 days.

10. Always pour your nutrients in your reservoir one at a time so they mix slowly.

11. Always keep an air bubbler and air stone in your reservoir for oxygen.

12. Never water plants when the lights are off unless the plants look like they are wilting from no water (this is very rare).

13. If using R/O water, add Calcium/Magnesium/Iron.

14. Spray your plants 45 minutes before turning lights on (or when the leaves are dry).

15. Spray water temperature should be between 75 – 85 degrees (luke warm).

16. I recommend using Foliar Spray all thru the vegetative stage and once every 5-7 days during

the first 3 weeks of flower.

17. PH is how acidic or how alkaline your water or nutrients are. Hydro = 5.3 – 6.3 , Soil = 6.2 – 7.2

18. The following meters measure your nutrients/food levels. PPM (Parts Per Million) , TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) , EC (Electro Conductivity)

19. I highly recommend Microbial Inoculants like Nature’s Solution Tea or Great White.

20. Store all your nutrients in a cool and dark place.

21. Spray plants for bugs every 7-10 days (spray for spider mites every 3 days) or use an auto sprayer 24/7.

22. If water temperature falls below 63 degrees, add a heater. If water temperature above 76 degrees, add a water chiller.

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.

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.

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?

1. The environment is sustained and controlled minimizing the usage of water, green house gasses and does not contaminate the environment.
2. Hydroponics grows more plants and more vegetables and the production quantity directly increases by ten times than the natural environment.
3. Ground water gets saved as you do not have to irrigate large patches of land.
4. Control over nutrient balance.
5. Significant reduction of soil pests and diseases.
6. pH and nutrient levels are simple to measure and maintain.
7. 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.
8. 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:

1. The cost of starting a hydroponic garden are greater than soil gardens, but these trends are starting to change.
2. Pumps and other electronics such as Timers susceptible to power outages — but this is easily fixed by having back up pumps and other equipment.
3. 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!