Hydroponic Gardening: How to Grow Orchids

Do you love orchids? If you are a passionate grower and you love growing orchids, you will be happy to know that you can also grow this precious plant using hydroponic gardening.

Just like for the ones grown in soil, you will need to ensure that your orchids will have proper nutrients, adequate supply of lighting and the accurate temperature and humidity range should you decide to do hydroponic gardening. In terms of lighting, a 400 watt HID light is ideal for many orchid species. Orchid plant species that require intense lighting may be placed directly under the lamp while low light plants may be placed farther away from the lamp.

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The 400 watt dual purpose light fixture can effectively provide a 6′ x 6′ growing area. To promote lush flowering, the Metal Halide lamp should be replaced with a High Pressure Sodium bulb that emits the red and orange color spectrum. Once in bloom, orchids may be removed from the grow room and displayed anywhere. It is also important to note that orchids grown under high intensity lights consume more water than those grown outdoors. However, it is important to make sure not to over water. Ideally, the roots should be almost dry before watering.

In terms of nutrient feeding, orchids grown in hydroponic gardening using supplemental lighting will need to be fed more often because of their vigorous growth. One very potent hydroponics nutrient that you can use is Advanced Nutrients’ 100% organic nutrients formula, Iguana Juice Grow and Bloom. By using this formula, you can be sure that the roots of your orchid plants will not burn and they will grow strong, healthy and lush. You can also use all sorts of growing medium for your hydroponic orchids. For example, expanded clay pellets are uniform in size and quite porous allowing orchid plants to easily stabilize while providing great capillary action. Available in a variety of sizes, clay pellets are a great environment for orchids with thick roots and they do not wear out easily so you can use them for several growing seasons. Another good mix of soilless medium that you can use is the combination of perlite and vermiculite. Perlite and vermiculite are heated natural minerals which can be used individually or with a mixture of peat and bark. Both perlite and vermiculite have a light and fluffy quality that will not get waterlogged. These media are well suited for orchids with thin, airy roots.

Finally, in terms of temperature and humidity range, fresh air and good ventilation are essential for orchids under artificial lights. High humidity required by orchids is an ideal breeding ground for fungus which is why good air movement using a wall or a ceiling mounted fan will help to eliminate fungus and viruses while circulating the air. To keep the humidity at a proper range, grow room walls can be draped with plastic. When white plastic is used, humidity retention and increased light intensity can be achieved inside the grow room, thus, allowing you to have better success in growing orchids using the method of hydroponic gardening.

Hence, if you are interested to discover more about hydroponics, please check out the best hydroponics videos on the web.

Plant Nutrient Deficiencies, HS 26

Erik Biksa discussing common plant nutrient deficiencies in hydroponics and organic crops.

Video Duration: 0:06:00

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Water Farm Hydroponics Use Massive Reservoirs Connecting Multiple Growing Units

Water farm hydroponics is definitely the best facility large business owners could use for extensive soilless cultures. Hydroponic systems all function on the same basis with the only mention that according to plant growing extension, the size of the system has to be adjusted properly.

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This is the case of the water farm hydroponic system that includes very large reservoirs and several growing units connected with the help of a controller that keeps them all balanced in terms of nutrient solution. The important thing is that this system, though mainly devoted to large users, can very well be organized so as to occupy as little space as possible at home.

Size variations

The main constituent in the hydroponic system is the reservoir, since without enough space to keep the nutrient solution, you can’t develop a large culture. The biggest water farm hydroponics systems use reservoirs as large as thirty-five gallons, and there are several producers that manufacture this size: for instance American Hydroponics.

Another company that designs water farm hydroponic systems is Greentrees Hydroponics. The advantage with their products is that the complete system occupies very little space due to its very economic design.

The Greentrees water farm hydroponics systems use the traditional drip kind of irrigation. The structure material is high impact plastic that can be successfully used for indoors as well as for outdoors purposes. The package includes a reservoir, a growing tank, an air pump, a pumping column as well as grow rocks and a specific quantity of nutrients.

Being able to grow large crops by optimizing the used space is a great achievement for anyone in the gardening business, try it and see for yourself. For extensive gardening several such water farm hydroponic systems can be used, depending on your intentions.

Water Farm Hydroponics Price Variations

Given the fact that even with large water farm hydroponic systems there are size variations, the prices change accordingly. Usually, the prices vary between $150 for the smaller water farm hydroponic systems and go up to $500 for very large once. It is recommended that you don’t purchase any system until you know for sure what kind of culture you are going to grow.

Comparing pricers on the Internet is a good idea, not to mention that you can subscribe for newsletters and receive regular updates on prices, promotions or special discounts. Thus you are sure to make a good deal!

Hydroponics Secrets Episode Five, Aeroflo Tips

Erik Biksa reveals tips, tricks and information to give hydroponics growers bigger and better yields.

Video Duration: 0:06:22

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Gardening Hints for Healthy and Happy Plants

Plants, like all living things have basic, minimum requirements to sustain them. Generally, they are food, water and a suitable environment. But if you want them to thrive you need to get more specific. One of the best things to do is look around your neighborhood and see what kinds of plants look great. It means they love your local conditions and are probably easy to grow.

To join the revolution for bigger yields, check out the biggest buds on the web!

With real estate, the 3 key things to remember are location, location, location. With plants it’s preparation, preparation, preparation! Your plants will thrive if you take care of the basics before bringing them home. You need to make sure your soil is enriched with organic material, providing ongoing, accessable nutrients.

This will also help with conditioning of the soil, encouraging helpful micro-organisms and creating the correct PH levels. Continue to add organic matter to the soil for as long as you want a healthy garden.

Be sure to plant your new plant(s) in a suitable place for them in your garden. Some plants cannot tolerate full sun. Others need a minimum of five hours sun to do well.

Also, take into consideration the mature size of the plant. If you have a small courtyard planting a seedling that will mature into a large tree could be a costly mistake. Read the label on your plant or ask the nursery staff if you’re unsure.

Watering is essential to keeping your plants healthy and happy. Deep watering once or twice a week(depending on your rainfall and the season), rather than surface watering often is far more beneficial to plants as it encourages them to grow deeper root systems.

Deeper root systems allow plants to access water and valuable nutrients and gives them the ability to withstand longer periods without water. Mulching with organic material is also beneficial to your garden, preventing moisture loss, soil erosion and helping with weed control, while adding organic matter.

Remember to experiment with your garden. That’s the only way to discover what plants love living in your area and those that don’t. Try different things and see what works for you. You could chat with your plants or even try planting with the cycles of the moon.

Children love to be involved with the garden. If they show interest you could offer them a small plot of their own to look after. They will be delighted with their efforts when they see tiny seeds mature into food or flowers, and so will you.

Hydroponics Secrets Ten, Hydroponics Enzymes

http://www.advancednutrients.com presents Hydroponics Secrets featuring Erik Biksa revealing tips and tricks to give hydroponics and organic growers bigger and better yields.

Duration : 0:09:29

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How to Raise the Strongest Most Beautiful Bulbs

Bulbs are your best bet for success. It’s almost impossible to make a mistake because all the nutrients that the flower needs, are in the bulb. What you may find difficult, is actually choosing which bulbs you want.

This article will help you select healthy bulbs and will give you tips on how to get them ready, from preparing the soil, fertilizing, and planting.

To join the revolution for bigger yields, check out the Growers Underground!

Selecting Healthy Bulbs

The secret to a fantastic flower garden is choosing high-quality bulbs. Make sure that you always buy your bulbs from a reliable source, whether you are shopping from a catalog, outlet or local store. Even if the bulbs are a little more costly, you will save money on the long run, if the source is a good one, than simply searching for the best bargain.

Because the bulb stores the energy in the bulb (in the form of starch,) larger bulbs may produce larger flowers. This does not mean however, that you should buy only large bulbs. Don’t hesitate to buy smaller ones as well from a reliable source. These smaller bulbs may just need a season or two to catch up to the larger ones. If you want to have spectacular blooms this year, then buy the larger bulbs.

If you’re buying your bulbs from a local store, inspect them carefully. They should be firm and not have any cuts, blemishes or spots on them. They should not feel dry or light, but more on the heavy side for their size. The basal plate (where the roots emerge) should be solid and firm. It’s okay for the bulbs to have loose skin or little nicks. This would not affect their development in any way.

Getting Ready

It’s always important to choose the right spot for your bulbs, whether it be inside or outside. You probably know about the differences in planting in the garden; how certain plants will thrive better under certain conditions than others.

When you select your location for your new bulbs, try to think about its needs and where it may do best. Don’t forget that even a few feet can make a huge difference with levels of light. What may be suitable lighting at the edge of your shrubs may not be suitable over by the corner of your house, even if it’s only a small jog away.

Preparing the Soil

Except for Siberian irises, most bulbs prefer loose, porous soil because they need to have good drainage. If your soil does not drain well, improve it by adding nutrients, raising the beds, or installing drain lines.

Almost any soil can benefit from organic materials, especially sandy and heavy clay soils.

Fertilizing

Mix bone meal or superphosphate into the soil at the bottom of each planting hole. Because phosphorus does not move easily; it must be planted deep enough to allow the roots to reach it.

Planting

Try to plant your bulbs as soon as you can when the weather permits and is suitable for planting. If you can’t plant them right away, store them in a cool place such as your refrigerator. Never store them in closed bags as they might rot. Bulbs need to breathe!Open the bags or place them instead in paper ones.

Most bulbs are planted at a depth three times their diameter. It’s easier if you dig up a larger area at the proper depth, set them inside the hole, and then cover them.

How to Build Hydroponics Ebb and Flow

EBB and Flow Advantages over DWC (deep water culture) are easy to move plants around, change resovior, rotate plants, set them outside unit.

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Growing Hydroponic Marijuana: How to Determine Male Plants from Female Plants

If you plan on growing hydroponic marijuana, it would also help if you knew what type of marijuana plant you’re growing. Sensimilla marijuana is a term for female plants that have not produced seeds. Not producing seeds allows the plant to use more energy producing THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and other chemicals that users require. As an ancient tradition for cannabis growers, the sensimilla is the result of removing male plants from the grow environment before they have a chance to fertilize the female marijuana plants. More growers prefer to grow sensimilla indoors in the form of hydroponics because growing it outdoors can be difficult. This is because in an outdoor setting, a single male marijuana plant can fertilize female marijuana plants within an area of a few hundred feet.

To learn more about hydroponics, please check out the best hydroponics videos on the web!

So before you start growing your hydroponic marijuana plants, there are a few things that you need to know. If you have started from clones, it is most likely that the clones you obtained were female marijuana plants. But if you have grown from seed, you will have to separate the male marijuana plants from the female marijuana plants before the male plants flower and produce pollen, unless you are planning to produce seeds as well. However, there is approximately a 50% chance a seed will be either a male or a female.

Assuming that all the marijuana seeds are of the same strain, the male marijuana plants will always mature sooner compared with the female marijuana plants. This is because the male plant will have small oval pollen sacks that the female will lack. Once you see these sacks, remove the male plants from your hydroponic garden. In contrast, white hairs or pistils will begin to develop at bud sites of female plants. Male plants from some marijuana strains may be potent, while other strains are worthless. But if you wish to ensure that you can greatly benefit from your hydroponic marijuana, you can remove the male marijuana plants from your garden.

Hydroponics Secrets Episode Four, Piranha and Tarantula

Celebrities for Advanced Nutrients

http://www.growersunderground.com Join on this website if you want to take your indoor garden to the next level! Check out these Hollywood celebrities who love Advanced Nutrients! Even Big Mike gets into the action! Try it, and you will too!

Video Duration : 0:1:5

To learn more about hydroponics, visit one of the loveliest gardens on the web!

An Overview of Sunflower Diseases

Sunflowers have always been the target of disease. Even though some of them are most dominant in certain locations in the U.S., others manifest wherever the crop is grown. For example, head rot is prevalent throughout California, but downy mildew can be found on crops harvested across the entire country. Over the past few decades, more than 30 diseases have been found on crops (though most of them either won’t cause severe damage or can be controlled easily). Below, we’ll explore a few of the most important diseases and the type of damage they usually cause.

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Rust

Rust is a constant thorn in the side of commercial growers because it evolves, making it difficult (though, not impossible) to cultivate resistant hybrids. It’s caused by a fungus called Puccinia helianthi and shows up on sunflower planted throughout the U.S. In mild cases, you’ll notice auburn-colored spots showing up on the leaves and stems. When an infestation has occurred, rust can show up on the backs of the heads.

The damage caused by rust can be substantial. It can lead to reduced seed count, smaller seed size, and less oil content. The most effective way to prevent an infestation is to plant resistant breeds, though again, it’s hard to keep up with the fungi’s evolution. Also, it’s worth noting that some types of fertilizer can make the problem even worse.

Downy Mildew

Another disease that affects sunflower crops nationwide is downy mildew. It’s usually found in places where the soil is either water-logged or has a significant amount of clay. For years, professional growers were able to use resistant breeds to keep it at bay. However, new strains of the parent fungus (Plasmopara halstedii) have caused growers to revisit their methods. Most hybrids that are used commercially can resist a couple of different strains of downy mildew. However, 9 strains have been identified in the U.S.

This fungus often takes hold at the seedling stage. When that happens, it stunts the growth of the crop and causes the heads to face skyward (as opposed to nodding late in the growth cycle). If the infection spreads across the entire crop, it can have a significant impact on seed yield.

Spots

Spots can appear on the stems and leaves of sunflowers due to 2 different fungi: Alternaria helianthi and Alternaria zinniae. They’re dark brown and can gain control quickly during the flowering stages. The infection is mostly seen in crops that are grown in the Northern states and is associated with high humidity and warm temperatures. If you plant sunflowers in soil that is already infected, there’s a good chance you’ll see spots during the early growth stages.

There are a couple of fungicides that can be used on crops to prevent an infestation. But, most growers prefer to use crop rotation methods. When they notice sunflowers that are infected with spots, they’ll typically bury them, so they’ll decompose quickly.

Disease Management

The strategies that are used to manage the onset and spread of diseases vary by grower. Some use fungicides and seed treatments. Others rotate crops. Most professional growers make use of hybrids that are resistant to specific infections. That said, there’s an ongoing challenge to develop resistance to new strains of the most prevalent fungi. In all cases, it’s important to limit the rotation of sunflowers in the same soil to at least 4 years. Not only does that help minimize the spread of diseases throughout the crops, but it also helps increase yield and soil productivity.

Sunlight Supply--The Truth

http://www.GrowersUnderground.com Hey Sunlight Supply is using some really un-cool and unbelievably illegal STRONG ARM tactics by threatening to put a group of hydroponics storeowners out of business unless they start a boycott of Advanced Nutrients products.

Sunlight Supply CEO Craig Hargreaves will easily put these storeowners out of business because he controls the supplies of grow lights, bulbs and ballasts. Plus, the other things those storeowners needs to stay in business.

Sunlight Supply and the good ol' boys club have been playing these shenanigans for the last seven years on our community. Now they've taken their scheming to a whole new and illegal level.

This video exposes the dirty underbelly of hydroponics good ol' boys club and their leader Craig Hargreaves of Sunlight Supply - it's pretty graphic - they're actually doing this right now.

The video contains a lot of industry insider, store owner and personal stuff in it, so don't watch it if that's not your thing.

If you care about our hydroponics community and your hydroponics storeowner then you'll definitely want to watch this now.

Sunlight Supply--The Truth Video on YouTube