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

I stumbled upon a section on Co2 in the “How to Supercharge Your Garden” book written by Graham Reinders and illustrated by Marseene Mainly. I thought I’d share a piece of the chapter as it kind of made me laugh inside, but also displays our innate relationship with nature and the plants that we grow. See below and enjoy;

“People laughed when it was claimed that playing music to plants made them grow better.  It really did because the sound vibrations actually strengthen the stem fibers, shorten the internode length, and cause stress growth reactions  from the plants.”

(Go figure.  I wonder which genres produce best results.  It might depend on the plant…)

“Then people laughed when it was claimed that singing to plants made them grow better.  However, it is true.  The CO2 from human breath actually makes plants grow faster.  If you and a few gardeners stay in the indoor garden area during the light period, the plants would do very well.”

(So I’m not that crazy after all.  I knew my tomatoes loved a morning serenade.)

“It is thought that the massive plants that developed millions of years ago had lived in an environment with much more carbon dioxide in it.  In their evolution, the plants will maintained the capacity to use much more carbon dioxide than the world has now.”

(So create more CO2? Not so sure on this one…)

“Luckily in smoggy cities, the CO2 level can be as high as 500 PPM, and by just having a good circulating fan, the plants should have enough CO2 for a medium-light indoor garden.”

(Yes luckily.  And we’re located just outside of LA, so we’re very lucky!  So smog is good?)

“A high-light garden with the carbon dioxide amount increased from an ambient level of 300 PPM to a high level of 2,000 PPM can nearly double plant growth.”

(Bring on the Co2)

This book is a great resource and walks you through a number of areas dealing with both growing in general and hydroponics.  A must read for anyone interested in growing.

Check it out…

Hydroponics Unlimited is now stocking .25L size in Rhizotonic, Cannazym and PK 13/14, so you can give each a try without diving in. Canna offers great nutrients and has a awesome reputation. With these new sizes it is worth checking out!

Hydroponics Nutrients from Humboldt County’s Own now recently added to Hydroponics Unlimited’s inventory!  Humboldt County Bush Master, Humboldt County Purple Maxx and Humboldt County Gravity.

Bush Master: BushMaster speed shifts plants into bloom by eliminating the stretch phase of the growth cycle.  Advanced growers are using BushMaster as a shape shifter.  By applying early in the grow cycle plants can develop tight baseball shaped or popsicle shaped clusters of flowers so more plants can be grown in a smaller area.  Contains no carcinogens or toxic chemicals. PLANTS FINISH 7-10 DAYS SOONER!

Purple Maxx (Snow Storm): NO DYES, NO TRICKS, 100% ORGANIC! From Stacker to Trichomax to Purple Maxx Snow Storm, this name has evolved to describe a product so incredible that it couldn’t be developed intentionally but had to be discovered accidentally.  Works well in soil or hydro, indoors or out.  Channels your favorite nutrients to maximize flower and color development.

Gravity (Flower Hardener): Takes your flowers beyond anything achievable through fertilizer alone.  Substantial weight gains are routine.  Outrageous gains are not unusual.  You can feel the difference.  No more slow finishes.  Forces flowers toward complete development.  Just 1 or 2 treatments in late bloom.  Works with all popular nutrients.

A pretty cool video from Discovery on growing Lettuce using hydroponics.

Need a little Jump Start?  Hydroponics Unlimited is giving you a free litre of Advanced Nutrients Jump Start when you purchase $100 or more of any Advanced Nutrients products from hydroponicsunlimited.com. If that’s not enough we’ve got a full line of hydroponics and growing supplies for beginners to experts.  Furthermore, got a question, need some help getting started?  Contact us and we’ll help you start growing GIANT TOMATOES!

What’s the best light for seedlings?
I have a 250w MH and a 400w MH. I think I’ll go with the 250w to keep electric costs down. I would use fluorescents but I’m not sure if they’ll put out enough light. Is the 250w too much on seedlings?
The best light for cloning and seedlings is a fluorescent T-12 tube.  This full spectrum fluorescent is ideal for seedlings.  You can purchase this light from HydroponicsUnlimited.com.
http://www.hydroponicsunlimited.com/product/BUAG24.html

I have tried to clean my grow rocks using a diluted bleach water solution and brushed them around with a big brush.  There is still a white lime looking residue on some of them that doesn’t seem to come off.  Just wondering if you know a good way to clean this off using stuff found around the house?

The grow rocks are dry and need to be soaked in solutions with specific oils to rehydrate.  A product called SM90 from Nutrilife works really well for this.