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.

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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.

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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

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Video Duration : 0:1:5

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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