Over watering is one of the biggest mistakes new growers make, reason for this is, because they feel the need to give there plant everything and will overdue a lot of things and one of them is over watering. By over watering your plant you soak the roots so much, they can’t get enough oxygen and slowly die. The plant shows signs of over watering by: Wilting, droopy look, yellow and or dead leaves falling off, which includes leaves that don’t look dead falling off. One of the best ways to tell how NOT to over water is by, picking up the pot when it is dry and then picking up the pot after you water. (This is a reason why it’s smart to use light pots.) When you water, you want to water just enough to where you see a bit of water coming out of the bottom, not gushing or pouring out. Just enough to see a little bit, then you know the plant has enough water. To prevent over watering you can either: add more perlite to your soil, add hydrogen peroxide to your water for extra oxygen, all the while killing bacteria if any in the soil. After watering, wait a few days to water. Most plants like a good watering and then a couple days to dry out in between watering. So it’s very easy to over water. Besides the weight of the pot, another way to test if your plant needs water is to stick your index finger a couple inches into the soil. If the soil at the tip of your finger feels almost dry, then it’s time to water again. The top of the soil should be allowed to dry out between waterings if it’s still moist the plant does NOT need watered. You can also use a moisture meter which will tell you the level of moisture down in the soil. You can buy them at most garden supplies or hydro shops.

Under Watering

Under watering can show the exact same symptoms as over watering can, they show the droopiness along with the top soil being hard. To avoid this make sure every other other watering you give your plants a good watering, like use a bit more water then you normally do, because sometimes your plants will need a good quenching once in a while. So doing this will help the bottom roots and root hairs get enough water to produce newer growth. For new growers they tend to do both over watering and under watering.
More over watering then anything else, they tend to be to “generous”, and then you have ones that are to afraid to water them to much and then they get the under watering symptom. Under watering seems to droop more than over watering does, the fan leaves will droop closer to the stalk and won’t be as yellow as over watering looks like. The only way to stop under watering is to water when the pot feels lite. Make sure few drips of water come out at the bottom of the holes, that way you know the plant has enough water.

To prevent Root Rot, adding product’s like Hygrozyme, Aquashield, Sensizyme, will help protect your plant’s from root rot and will help cure root problems.

Fresh air is an essential yet often overlooked asset to your Indoor Garden, and it can be the difference between success and failure.

Today, the most widely used lights for professional indoor flower and vegetable growing are HPS/SON (high pressure sodium) and MH (metal halide). These are types of HID lights. Normal metal halide bulbs have a slightly bluish light and are used for the vegetative phase of growth, as their spectrum is close to sunlight and encourages normal to slightly leggy growth. Unlike high pressure sodium lamps, metal halide lamps also produce ultraviolet radiation, which may play a role in increasing the amount, quality, and potency of herbs or other materials produced by plants. High pressure sodium lamps may trigger a greater flowering response in plants and are thus used for the second (or reproductive) phase of growth. If high pressure sodium lamps are used for the vegetative phase, plants will usually grow slightly more quickly, but will also have longer internodes, and may be longer overall. Metal halide bulbs with added reddish spectrum as well as high pressure sodium bulbs with added bluish spectrum are also available for added flexibility for use with both vegetative and flowering growth.

Incandescent grow lights

Incandescent grow lights have a red-yellowish tone and low color temperature (approx. 2700 K). They are used to highlight indoor plant groupings and not as a true plant ‘growing’ light (although they may be labeled as such). Incandescent growing lamps have an average life span of 750 hours. In addition, they are less energy efficient than fluorescent or high-intensity discharge lamps, converting much of the electricity consumed into heat (rather than light).

Fluorescent grow lights

Today,fluorescents lights are available in any desired color temperature in the range from 2800 K to 6000 K. Standard fluorescents are usually used for growing vegatables (as leaf lettuce, spinach, and herbs) or for starting seedlings to get a jump start on spring plantings. Standard fluorescents produce twice as many lumens per watt of energy consumed as incandescents and have an average usable life span of up to 20,000 hours. This is 25 times as long as an incandescent. Cool white fluorescent lamps are sometimes used as grow lamps. These offer slightly lower performance, a white light, and lower purchase cost.

High Output fluorescents produce twice as much light as standard fluorescent lamps. A HO fluorescent fixture has a very thin profile, making it extremely useful in vertically limited areas. High Output fluorescents produce about 5,000 lumens per 54 watt bulb and are available in warm (3000 K) and cool (6500 K) versions. Usable life span for High Output fluorescent lamps is about 10,000 hours.

Compact fluorescents are smaller versions of fluorescent lamps and are used for propagation, as well as for growing larger plants. Compact fluorescents work in specially designed reflectors that efficiently direct light to plants, much like the HID lamps below. Compact fluorescent bulbs are also available in warm (3000K) and cool (6500K) versions. Usable life span for compact fluorescent grow lamps is about 10,000 hours.

High Output Fluorescent/HID hybrids combine cool burning with the penetration of high intensity discharge technology. The primary advantages to these fixtures is their blend of light colors and broad even coverage. In addition, electricity costs are substantially less than with incandescent lighting.

High-pressure sodium lamps

High pressure sodium lamps yield yellow lighting (2200K) and have a very poor color rendering index of 22. They are used for the second (or reproductive) phase of the growth. If high pressure sodium lamps are used for the vegetative phase, plants will usually grow slightly more quickly. The major drawback to growing under high pressure sodium alone is that the plants tend to be taller and leggier with a longer internodal length than plants grown under metal halide. . They are used in less color critical applications such as parking lots, street lights and for supplemental greenhouse lighting. The benefit of high pressure sodium lamps to the horticultural industry is their ability to enhance the fruiting and flowering process in plants. Orange/red spectrum HPS is the spectrum plants use in their reproductive processes, which generally produces larger harvests of higher quality herbs, vegetables, fruits or flowers. Sometimes the plants grown under these lamps do not appear very healthy (although they usually are). This is due to the poor color rendering of high pressure sodium, which makes the plants look pale, washed out or nitrogen starved. Benefits to high pressure sodium lighting are their incredibly long usable bulb life (up to two years in many cases); and unparalleled efficiency at six times more light output per watt of energy consumed than a standard incandescent grow lamp. Due to their high efficiency and the fact that plants grown in greenhouses get all the blue light they need naturally, these lamps are the preferred supplemental greenhouse lights. But, in the higher latitudes, there are periods of the year where sunlight is scarce, and additional sources of light (aside from HPS illumination) are indicated for proper growth. It also ought to be noted that HPS lamps may cause distinctive infrared and optical signatures, which can attract insects or other species of pests; these may in turn threaten the various herbs, flowers, or vegetables being grown. High pressure sodium lamps emit a lot of heat which can cause leggier growth, this is typically controlled by using special air cooled bulb reflector/enclosures.

Combination HPS/MH lamps

Combination HPS/MH lamps combine a metal halide bulb and a high pressure sodium bulb in the same reflector, either with a single integrated ballast assembly or two separate ballast assemblies. The combination of blue metal halide light and red high pressure sodium light is said by manufacturers to create an ideal spectral blend and extremely high outputs, but in reality it is a compromise on both situations. These types of lights usually cost quite a bit more than a standard light and have a shorter life span. Also because they use two smaller lights rather than one larger light the distance that the light penetrates is significantly shorter, in comparison to a regular hid bulb, due to the inverse square law of light.

Switchable, convertible & two-way lamps

Switchable, Two-Way and convertible lamps are used to burn either a metal halide bulb or an equivalent wattage high pressure sodium bulb in the same fixture, but not at the same time. These fixtures are used for propagating and vegetatively growing plants under the metal halide, then switching to a high pressure sodium bulb for the fruiting or flowering stage of plant growth. To change between the lamps, only the bulb needs changing and a switch needs to be set to the appropriate setting. These are commonly known as conversion bulbs and usually a metal halide conversion bulb will be used in an HPS ballast since the MH conversion bulbs are more common.

LED grow lamps

Recent advancements in LEDs have allowed for the production of relatively cheap, bright, and long lasting grow lights that emit only the wavelengths of light corresponding to chlorophyll absorption peaks. These lights are attractive to indoor growers since they do not consume as much power, do not require ballasts, and produce a fraction of the heat of HID lamps. Since there is a significant reduction in heat, time can be extended between watering cycles because the plants transpire less under LED grow lights. A caution is warned to those growing with LEDs not to over water the plants.

There are four chlorophyll absorption peaks and LED grow lights use four different types of LEDs to hit all four peaks (two red and two blue).Early LED grow lamps used hundreds of 1 or 2 watt LEDs and were not effective replacements for HID lamps. Newer advanced LED grow lamps use automotive grade 6 watt LEDs and have shown similar results to HID lamps

Light Spectra

Different light spectra are used for the different stages of plant growth. The initial vegetative stage requires blue spectrum of light, whereas the later “flowering” stage is usually done with red–orange spectra. The lights can be bought by spectrum colour specifically, or some companies produce a full spectrum bulb which caters for all stages of growth.

The light is usually used in conjunction with a reflector, to control and intensify the light emissions, and will include an electrical ballast to control the current to the light. This is required because of the high intensity of the light that is necessary to produce something akin to sunlight.

Outdoor crops have a supply of air packed with CO2 that is constantly being refreshed by the wind. They also have rain to wash away accumulated dust and pollutants. Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen are both necessary to a plant’s growth: Carbon Dioxide combines with light energy and water to form sugars that are metabolized by the plant, while oxygen is used for respiration, burning of carbohydrates, and nutrient absorption in the roots.

An Indoor Garden must be specifically calibrated to replicate the outdoor atmosphere, and most Gardeners must take the time to set up an adequate ventilation system. Three factors effect air circulation,stomata, ventilation, and circulation.

Stomata are essentially a plant’s nostrils, they are used to inhale CO2 and release oxygen. Stomata can be clogged easily by dirt or other pollutants in the air, and pesticide sprays. To avoid clogging stomata, spray foliage with tepid water a day or two after spraying with pesticides, fungicides, or nutrient solution.

Air circulation is important because when air stands still plants can use up all of the CO2 rich air surrounding leafs in minutes, creating dead air zones. This can also lead to an easier infiltration by fungus and insects. To avoid this, you may want to keep a door or window open and/or install an oscillating circulation fan to keep up a constant circulation of air currents.

Ventilation is important to consider as well to get rid of exhaust air and bring in a supply of fresh air. An open window and a fan may be adequate in bringing in fresh air, but if no vent opening is available one must be created. Ventilation ducts and fans can be used to push or pull air into a room, and roof vents are a practical and discreet option as well.

Carbon Dioxide Supplementation

Carbon dioxide supplementation can be useful in some applications. If all of the other environmental factors are at optimum levels, such as light intensity, nutrient levels, temperature and humidity, increased CO2 can provide the extra material necessary to help the plant to flourish.

C O2 Tanks

Carbon dioxide can be supplemented in different ways. On a small scale, CO2 tanks can be used. Flow meters can precisely control the amount of extra carbon dioxide being released into the grow room, and timers can be used to stop the flow at night, when CO2 is no longer of significant use. For a 10′ X 10′ grow room, a flow rate of about 1 cubic foot per hour should yield excellent results.

C O2 Generators

For larger growrooms and greenhouses, CO2 generators can be used. CO2 generators burn natural gas or propane, producing carbon dioxide as a byproduct. Smaller units are available for 300-600 square foot rooms, and larger units offer saturation capacity up to 3600 square feet.

You’ll first suspect spider mites when your plants start showing up with little yellow speckle marks, right on the leaf surface. (Also see thrips.) When you turn the leaf over, tiny, oval shaped mites are seen scurrying around, about pin-head in size. Their eggs, best seen with a magnifier, will be scattered around at random (perfectly round, all the same size, color ranging from clear to tan). With larger infestations, a fine webbing can be seen covering the plant tops (crawling with mites), and leaves will be browning and dying. Spider mites seem about the most common pest to show up in a greenhouse or indoors. They’re best controlled with spider mite predators, similar sized mites that eat them. A few gardeners report success with pirate bugs or ladybugs. Spider mites take about 2 weeks per generation at 70 F. (from egg to adult). At low temperatures below about 50′F. they become dormant, and at higher temperatures above 86 F., their life cycle is sped up to about double. They prefer lower humidity levels, so raising the humidity helps control them. The most common mite species by far is the “two-spot: spider mite. They’re usually yellow/tan/greenish in color, and have two dark spots on their shoulders, one on each side. How large these spots get depends on the age of the mite; they get larger as the mite gets older. These two spots are also varied according to how much chlorophyll is in the plant being reared; some crops produce mites colored much darker than others. Strangely, spider mites have the ability to go dormant in winter, and then return when it warms up again. Triggered mostly by the daylight getting shorter in the fall, some or most of the mites turn red in color, stop feeding and egg laying, and then crawl off to protected nooks and crannies to hide through the winter. A warm, heated greenhouse can counteract these impulses to hibernate, but some probably will anyway, so it’s easy to see why spider mites tend to keep coming back – season after season. Spider mites can also float along with wind currents, or be carried by pets or clothing. The common two-spot spider mite is found throughout the world, it’s so widespread.

Whiteflies

Suspect whiteflies when you start seeing small (1/12″), pure white “moths” that are mostly resting on the plant leaves. When disturbed, all rush out in the air, hesitate a while, then fly back into the foliage. Looking closer, the plants might appear shiny with honeydew. With a magnifier, small clear-white “scales” (the pupa) are seen on the lower, underneath sides of the plants. All stages suck on plant juices, and heavily infested plants will yellow and grow poorly. There are at least 2 whitefly species now causing distress for gardeners, greenhouse whitefly and sweet-potato whitefly. For greenhouse whiteflies use whitefly parasites. Whitefly parasites work against sweet-potato whiteflies, too, but not as well. For these we suggest you also use whitefly predators, and possibly also green lacewings. (It’s difficult to tell whitefly species apart, but one chart appears below. We suggest you check with your county agent to be sure – you can have both.) You can also use yellow sticky traps – seriously, whiteflies are attracted to the color yellow. Our yellow whitefly traps are coated with a long lasting sticky substance (Stickem-Special), and the whiteflies fly right to them. (Don’t wear yellow clothing around whiteflies – you’ll just carry them from plant to plant!) Some gardeners use a vacuum cleaner – one person rustles the plant leaves to stir up the whiteflies, the other sucks them out of the air (paint the inlet bright yellow for extra attraction). Make a game of it! What finally kills plants off with a heavy whitefly infestation isn’t usually whiteflies themselves, but a black sooty mold that grows on accumulated honeydew. By the time plants get to this stage, there’ll be clouds of whiteflies, and no mistaking this pest. If you’re at that point, rinse the shiny coating off the plants with a strong water or soapy water spray, so the mold can’t grow on it. Rinsing off excess honeydew helps your beneficial insects, too.

Aphids

What you notice first with aphids is leaves that are curled, puckered, and discolored. Looking closer, dense colonies of tiny (1/32″-1/8″), soft bodied, pear shaped insects are seen, especially on tender growing tips and underneath sides. Young aphids look like miniature adults, and the whole family will be found feeding together. Even when disturbed, aphids move quite slowly, compared to most other insects. Coming in almost every color, aphids can be green, yellow, pink, brown, or black, or any shade in between, for that matter. To make a final diagnosis of aphids, with a magnifier, find the pair of tiny “dual exhaust pipes” coming out of their rear end, called “cornicles” – aphids are the only insects that have these. Aphids all feed by sucking on plant juices, which is damaging enough, but their most serious damage is the plant diseases they carry – that’s what causes the leaf distortions so often seen with aphids. They produce shiny honeydew, too, and when enough of this builds up a choking mold starts growing that can quickly kill plants. (Keep this mold hosed off.) Combine these problems along with aphids unusual breeding abilities – they’re born already pregnant (in fact, there are miniature embryos inside of other embryos!), they’re all female, and they reach adulthood in one week – and you see why aphids can be such a rapidly devastating pest. There are lots of aphid species, too, with enough variety that just about every plant has at least one species that really likes it. Ladybugs are the classic aphid eaters, and are known for sometimes dramatically fast cures. They’re economical, and can be stored in the refrigerator, often making ladybugs the first choice for aphid control. Long-term control is sometimes better with aphid predators, larvae that devour aphid colonies, and breed from there. Green lacewings are also effective against aphids. Our newest control is aphid parasites. Between these choices, greenhouse aphid control is usually quite successful. These same aphid controls are effective in the outdoor garden, too, with regular releases

Thrips

Tiny, slender thrips feed by scraping and rasping at tender leaf surfaces. First symptoms are usually leaves that appear finely speckled with yellow spots. Later, a silvery-metallic looking sheen may cover leaf surfaces (not with all thrips, though), and black specks (thrips fecal material) may be scattered about. Only after close inspection is the real pest found. About 1/10″ long, thrips can move quite quickly for their size. To the bare eye, many gardeners report thrips as a small “worm” with legs. Both larvae and adults look similar, except adults have wings and can fly. In small numbers, thrips may not do much damage. However, with larger populations, they can be quite damaging. There are hundreds of varieties of thrips, coming in many colors, but they all feed and damage plants similarly. For control purposes, the main difference is where they pupate as youngsters. Most pest thrips move down into the soil (they’ll also use rockwool or other synthetic media) to pupate, as part of their lifecycle, where they can be controlled by predator nematodes. This is the easiest stage to kill. It does take 2 or 3 applications before good control is seen, however, because only the immature thrips are killed, and not the adults. These adults can be controlled with Safers Soap, if necessary, and after 2 months regular applications of predator nematodes alone usually gives good control. A few other thrips species pupate directly inside leaf tissue.(notably the species greenhouse thrips), where the nematodes are not as effective. You can tell if thrips are using the leaf to pupate, because when they are, the hatching thrip causes a small eruption on the leaf surface – it looks something like a tiny pimple, or a little volcano complete with crater. Unhatched eggs look like a little dab of Elmers glue. If you see these signs, thrips parasites are a good control. (Other thrips species that pupate in the soil are not controlled by these.) Other natural thrip controls include thrips predatory mites (see right) which work well in greenhouses with higher humidity levels, green lacewings,, and pirate bugs. A few gardeners report success with ladybugs too. Cool temperatures help control thrips, too – they seem most damaging in hot greenhouses with temperatures 90 and higher. Thrips also prefer lower humidity levels, and higher humidities help slow them down.

Fungus Gnats & Fleas

When you see small, dingy-gray flies flying around aimlessly, or seeming to come out of the soil, you’ve probably got fungus gnats. Adults look very similar in size and appearance to fruit flies, and don’t feed on plants in any way. Their larvae, a small worm that lives in the top inch or two of the soil, feeds mostly on organic debris, fungus, algae, etc. While they’re doing this, however, they can nibble on the roots of young seedlings, too. Plants usually outgrow them rapidly, though, so they’re often more of a nuisance than a real pest. Fungus gnats can be told apart from whiteflies, a much more serious pest, because fungus gnats are a dingy gray instead of pure white, and they don’t spend much time resting on the leaves like whiteflies do. If fungus gnats seem to be causing harm or becoming a nuisance, the adults can be quickly trapped out with yellow sticky traps. Long term control has been best with predator nematodes, applied to the soil every 4-6 weeks. Between the two, fungus gnats are soon a forgotten problem. Just about everyone with dogs or cats is familiar with fleas. Not only do fleas cause our pets true misery, but many humans are severely bothered as well. Fleas bite because they need blood meals to complete their lifecycle. Flea saliva secreted while feeding causes many common allergic reactions, on both people and pets. Pets can’t help carrying around fleas and their eggs wherever they go. Those fleas and eggs are constantly dropping off, in sleeping areas, rooms pets have access to, and outside. Thorough vacuuming (including crevices) every 3 days controls house fleas. However, for fleas in the yard, new research shows that Predator Nematodes sprayed outside where pets have access to, especially during moist periods, greatly reduces flea populations, before they even crawl on your pets in the first place.

Mealybugs

Another insect that sucks on plant juices, mealybugs cause damage similar to aphids – leaves will be distorted, plants are weakened, covered with shiny honeydew, and finally a sooty mold grows, killing the plant. However, when a search is made for the cause, they don’t look much like insects. Clusters of mealybugs look more like some kind of cottony mass instead of pests. It’s only on close examination that they’re seen to be individual, soft bodied, very slow moving insects. Coated with a fluffy, waxy coating, mealybugs tend to gather quietly together in groups, often at a crotch or joint in the plant. But don’t let this innocent looking crew fool you. Even though mealybugs breed somewhat slower than other insects (each generation takes about a month), they can build up to quite damaging populations. Fortunately, we have mealybug destroyers that like to feed on them. Green lacewings feed on mealybugs too, but need to be released regularly. And be sure to keep that honeydew rinsed off the plants as much as possible, with a water or soapy water spray, to keep mold from growing. Between these measures, you should get good control. Scales Related to mealybugs, scales don’t look much like insects, either – they look more like little oyster shells attached to the stems and leaves. Active only as babies, they soon lose their legs, grow a hard outer shell, and settle in for a quiet life of sucking on plant juices. Often, the first symptom noticed is shiny honeydew covering the leaves. (Not all scales produce this.) Looking closer, especially on the undersides of leaves and stems, the scales are visible, singly or in clusters. Shaped circular to slightly oval, they readily scrape off with a fingernail. Plants may be stunted, yellowed, and distorted, damage similar to that of other sap-sucking insects. There are many varieties of scales, both hard and soft, coming in many colors, but all feed and damage similarly. Mealybug destroyers also feed on scales when mealybugs run low, and green lacewings feed on the crawler stage, giving some control. Scale control with natural predators has been variable, and we continue to search for improved controls. Many gardeners resort to spraying or dabbing alcohol, light oil, soapy sprays, or mixtures of the above for scale control. Test a small area for toxicity from any of t hese products first. Flies Anywhere nuisance flies are breeding – compost piles, manure accumulations, livestock bedding, etc., housefly parasites go to work fast. 15,000 treats several head of livestock, or numerous rabbits, chickens, or other small animals. Apply at least once a month for continuing control, or more often for severe problems or larger ranches. We offer a mix of species for control of most pest flies, including house, stable, face, blow, and horn flies.

Nutrient Film Technique

Nutrient Film Technique (NFT)
The nutrient film technique was developed in the mid 1960s in England
by Dr. Allen Cooper. He was interested in building a low cost, large
scale system to be used in parts of the world where soil quality is
poor. NFT ensures a continuous flow of nutrient laden solution over
the root system, allowing the plants to feed constantly, resulting in
increased productivity and yield. NFT systems use little or no growing
medium, thereby keeping operating costs down, but because of the lack
of medium to act as a buffer, plants may suffer if a long-term power
failure occurs. Trellising may be required when growing larger plants
in NFT systems because of the lack of medium to hold the plants in
place.

Ebb & Flow

Flood And Drain aka Ebb And Flow Pod System™

An Ebb and Flow system consists of a growing bed in which individual
containers filled with medium hold your plant’s root systems. The
growing medium also acts as a buffer, holding water and nutrients
around the root system, and reducing the risk of crop loss due to
power or equipment failure. The growing bed is flooded periodically to
feed and water the plants and allowed to drain freely to pull oxygen
into the root zone. Ebb and Flow systems’ low maintenance, high
productivity, and ease of use make them among the most popular
hydroponic systems for not only the beginner, but for the advanced
gardener as well.

Top Feed Systems (drip systems)
A top feed or drip system operates by using a pump and tubing to
deliver nutrient solution to the top of the growing medium, where the
solution trickles through the medium and then returns to the
reservoir. Top Feed systems can use a variety of growing media and are
available in a wide range of configurations. Top Feed systems are
reliable, require little maintenance, and are suited for all types of
plant growth.

Aeroponic-crop-1986

Aeroponic Systems
Aeroponics systems use pumps and sprayers to continually spray oxygen
rich nutrient solution directly onto the root systems of your plants.
Aeroponic systems have shown extremely fast growth rates and clone-
rooting success rates due to the large amount of diffused oxygen
available in the nutrient solution. These systems successfully
propagate very hard to root plants. Very little growing medium in
these systems reduces operating costs.

Air Pump Systems

An Air Pump system utilizes a small air pump of the type used in an
aquarium to constantly circulate oxygen-rich nutrient solution through
the growing medium. This method of hydroponics does supply more
dissolved oxygen to the root system of the plant than other methods
can, although not as much as the aeroponic method does. Air Pump
systems are available in a variety of configurations and sizes.