We just added two new items to the online inventory, Feliz Blue and Red Fluorescent Lamps.

Feliz Blue Fluorescent Grow Lamps:

• Ideal for use with our Sun System 8 and Bright Wing® fixtures. (300Watt does not fit Bright Wing and is not ETL listed)
• Proven success in high humidity.
• Designed for horticulture.
• Full Spectrum.
• Fits standard mogul base socket.
• Cool spectrum for vegetative growing.
• 6 month warranty.

Feliz Red Fluorescent Grow Lamps:

• Ideal for use with our Garden Bright and Bright Wing fixtures. (300Watt does not fit Bright Wing and is not ETL listed)Proven success in high humidity.
• Designed for horticulture.
• Compatible with digital timers.
• Warm spectrum for flower production.
• Fits standard mogul base socket.
• 6 month warranty.

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)

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.

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…

We just added Emerald Triangle’s Snow Storm Ultra, check it out at http://www.hydroponicsunlimited.com/product/719942.html.

If you like Purple Maxx/Snow Storm, but color is not your primary goal, then Snow Storm Ultra is for you. We isolated the “snow storm” effect and optimized it for maximum results. Absolutely nothing else like it on the market. Does not contain carbohydrates or molasses. Three years of development went into this Humboldt County original. Best of all, this additive works with all your favorite nutrient lines. When used with Gravity, Snow Storm will take your plants beyond anything achievable with fertilizer alone.

We have it in 3 different sizes; 1 Qt – $28.50, 1 Gallon – $85.50, and 2.5 Gallon – $170.95

We’ve just added Organocide to our site.  A great product and definitely work a look. It comes in both a spray and a concentrate.  See below…

Organocide Organic Insecticide – Concentrate 1 Quart

A nature-safe, organic spray oil effective on a wide variety of insects, mites, armored and soft scales and certain fungal diseases. It is insecticidal to the eggs, larvae, and nymphs of insects and adults of soft bodied insects. Controls a wide range of mite and insect pests, and certain fungal diseases such as powdery mildew, black spot on roses, helminthesporium and greasy spot on citrus. Use on vegetables, fruits, nuts, vine crops, herbs, ornamentals, greenhouse crops, landscape plants, bulbs, flowers and field crops. Active Ingredient: sesame oil 5.0% / Inert Ingredients: edible fish oil 92.0% and Lecithin 3.0%. Dilution Rate: Mix 2 oz. with 1 gallon of water. Exempt from EPA registration.

A New Year is quickly upon us and another decade complete.  Lots happened over the last year, and for that mater the last decade.  It’s been coined the decade of the “bubble,” with booms and busts every few years.  But most importantly it has become the decade of mainstream recognition and focus on the environment, energy efficiency and climate change.  But what does this mean for hydroponics in the general sense.  Hydroponics is one of the most efficient ways of growing and curbing the effects of climate change on farming and also reducing human’s foot print on the environment.  I’m making a bold prediction here, but I look at hydroponics becoming the new age farming in the next decade and being adopted by major growers throughout the world.  Hydroponics just makes sense in a world of ever growing populations and less room for growing.  Hydroponics has brought growing up, instead of growing out to the forefront and allows for farmers to grow year round.  Obviously there are more costs associated with hydroponics, but you also get a far superior product–more bang for your buck.  It will take time as traditional farming has been ingrained in us for centuries, but as a necessity I believe that growing hydroponically will be the best solution to our current food epidemic.  Enough said about predictions.

2010 should be a great year for all.  We’ve learned a lot in the last decade and are now pulling out of what the media has coined “the greatest recession since the Great Depression.”  I wish you and yours a successful 2010 and may each of you reach your goals and aspirations!  Happy New Year!

One of the major benefits of hydroponics is that you can grow anywhere and anytime of the year. I recently stumbled across a project called Window Farms from www.windowfarms.org.  Basically the concept behind them is that you can grow indoors in any space, but specifically in spaces without a lot of room.  See below:

“Researchers have argued that to grow some of his own food is the most effective action an individual can take for environment, not only because of the food industry’s heavy carbon footprint but also because participating in agricultural production cultivates a valuable skill set around sustainability issues.

Many neighborhoods (particularly low income ones) in cities aroun the world are considered food deserts, meaning little fresh food is easily accessible. Residents tend to consume processed, packaged, and canned food having depleated nutrients.

Few other projects provide opportunities for such direct personal involvement, make this productive use of existing construction, or so directly target urban dwellers estranged from agricultural issues.

Inner city dwellers can grow their own food in their apartment or office windows throughout the year by means of these elegant, inexpensive, vertical, hydroponic vegetable gardens made from recycled materials or items available at the local hardware store. The first system produced 25 plants and a salad a week in mid winter in a dimly lit 4’ x 6’ NYC window.”

If you go to www.windowfarms.org you can download instructions for creating a kit.  It’s just a great thing to see hydroponics growing to all areas and new ideas for growing spreading.