Garden Culture Magazine: UK 3

VIVA ESPAÑA & TEMPERAMENT 1

UK

EDITIO

N YEA

R 1 - ISSU

E 3 · SU

MM

ER 2013

- PRICE: £

3, 99

GA

RD

EN

C

UL

TU

RE

TH

E A

RT

OF

GR

OW

IN

G

UK EDITION YEAR 1 - ISSUE 3 · SUMMER 2013 - PRICE: £3,99

WW

W.G

AR

DE

NC

UL

TU

RE

.NE

T

2 VIVA ESPAÑA & TEMPERAMENT

RhinoFilterThe Name in Carbon Filtration

RhinoProThe Name in Carbon Filtration

Rhino stands for high performance and reliability

Rhino RC-1 Fan Controller

Up to 3 year lifespanThe longest lasting fi lter range in our industry, proven in real world situations.

www.rhinofi lter.comFind your nearest retailer at:

Better Environment = Better YieldsReliably and accurately maintains temperature, negative pressure and air fl ow, enabling you to get the most from your plants.

IN THIS ISSUE OF GARDEN CULTURE:

SOILTECHNIQUES 68

19

9 Foreword

10 Product Spotlight

16 Maximizing Yield from Container Gardens

19 Top 5 Hydroponic Techniques

25 Air Plants are easy

26 Build a community connected by fruit

30 Environmental Avatar

36 Salanova lettuce – a whole new leaf

40 A good start

46 Crafting the one trunk orchard

50 Turn surplus crops into cash

52 Mothering techniques

56 Ubergreen farm above

62 Meet America’s dirtiest lawyer

68 Soil Techniques in hydroponics

72 SIP gardening

76 Embrace the awesome power of air

80 Secret to better tasting vegetables

84 Looking at air

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT10

SALANOVAA WHOLE NEW LEAF

36

26

FALLENFRUIT

56

CONTENTS I GARDEN CULTURE

7 gardenculture.net

MARKETING TECHNIQUES

50

Hydroponic Techniques

top5

UBERGREEN FARM

9

FOREWORD & CREDITS I GARDEN CULTURE

FOREWORD

THE TECHNIQUE EDITION

The sun is shining, and the outdoor season has started

for the masses. I see lots of people working in the yard,

prepping their garden for the summer to come. With

all the business travel and tasks I’ve been caught up in

lately, I must say I haven’t been working in my garden as

much as I would have liked to.

That’s alright though, I got donated a small greenhouse to test and write about which was setup on my rooftop recently. Now all I’ve got to do is get some soil and plants in there which is on my schedule just as soon as we’ve finished this new UK edition of Garden Culture.

For us, here at Garden Culture HQ we’ve reached another milestone, 30.000 copies just got delivered for the first time in North America, extending our reach to more than 50.000 magazines printed every 3 months in more than 6 countries right now. Of course I can say how proud and grateful I am to everyone who helped us get this far.

Thanks to all you guys for the support and have a great beginning of the summer!

Mike NivatoExecutive Editor

CREDITS

Garden Culture™ is a publication of GC Publishers B.V.

E D I TO R SExecutive Editor:Mike NivatoE. [email protected] Editor:Tammy Clayton

D E S I G NJob Hugenholtz

Special thanks the following contributors:Dan F, Sheldon Aberman, April Kazema, Jeroen Dercksen, Sylvia Bernstein, Tom Alexander.

P U B L I S H E RGC PublishersPostbus 4833200 AL SpijkenisseThe Netherlandst. +31(0)181-728101

w www.gcpublishers.nete [email protected]

A D V E R T I S I N GEric Coulombe E. [email protected]+1-855-427-8254+31(0)181-728101

S U B S C R I P T I O N SE. [email protected]

D I S T R I B U T I O N PA R T N E R SNutricultureMaxigrowDirect Garden Supplies

ISSN: 2211-9329

© GC Publishers B.V.All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in

any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic

tape, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without prior

permission in writing from the GC Publishers B.V.

Website : www.GardenCulture.net

facebook.com/GardenCulture

twitter.com/GardenCulture

fresh

10

Known worldwide under various names, this is the origi-

nal, “Bud Juice” complete with new artwork. Bud Juice is

famous for it’s ability to trigger flower production. It in-

creases flower sites and can enhance your yield up to 40%.

Bud Juice also increases floral development and essential

oil production. Another key aspect to Bud Juice’s longev-

ity is it’s use to stimulate a plant’s krebs cycle, increase

cell wall permeability and increase disease resistance.

The only way to see these results for yourself, is to try

it. Bud Juice, THE Original and trusted Organic Bloom

Stimulator. www.growaustralia.com

product spotlightHortiline Clip Fan

Not an ordinary clip fan!

Compact Fluorescent Lighting is ideal for propagation and growing larger plants, giving you energy efficient and

affordable lighting with low heat output. The new Maxi-

bright CFL Pro Reflector uses highly reflective anodised

aluminium for excellent light output and even light distribu-

tion across your plants for optimum growth. For durability in

humid growing environments, the Maxibright CFL Pro is built

with a powder-coated steel body to prevent rust and corrosion.

The reflector body has a built-in power switch to give you easy

power control. Available in single and twin models, the single will

run one CFL lamp (max 400W) and the twin will run two CFL

lamps (max 800W). CFL bulbs are from red and blue 125W-300W

and new dual spectrum 250W. www.maxibright.com

CFL Pro Reflectors

New Maxibright

The secret to Hortiline’s brand new 5W CLIP FAN is it’s ‘Direct Drive Magentic Engine’. Un-like conventional clip fans that use oil to lubricate rotation, Hortiline have incorporated a high quality magnetic fan that guarantees a longer life span than other products on the market. The fan also boasts the ability to withstand the extreme changes in conditions that grow rooms can face 24/7. In addition to this, the fan’s low 5W consumption means users can also save big on their electricity bills, making the this Clip Fan one of the best on the market. www.hortiline.com

Maxibright Compact Power Pack 600W

The new Maxibright Compact Power Pack is a revolutionary design of magnetic power pack for ultra-efficient lamp control, lower heat output and silent operation. The internal unit is finished with injection-moulded resin, allowing core heat to dissipate at a greater rate to prevent overheating. A matched digital

Smart Igniter provides efficient lamp startup, detecting as soon as a lamp is ready for re-strike in the event of a power cut and when a lamp has reached its end of life. Precise copper winding gives the ballast great

durability. The wall-mountable case is complete with a handy carry handle for easy use. The Maxibright Compact is a Genuine Quality ballast (www.genuinequality.co.uk), meeting specific EC and quality standards. It therefore gives the

correct power to the lamp, offers guaranteed safety and has a nominal rated life span of ten years. www.compactpowerpack.co.uk

Bud Juice

fresh

gardenculture.net

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT I GARDEN CULTURE

The new DigiLight Pro® Select 600W digital ballast from Maxibright gives you the flex-

ibility to power 250W, 400W and 600W HID lamps with just one ballast. Choose from

6 power modes to run your lamps at normal power, super mode for 10% extra power

or dimmed for ultimate light control throughout the growth cycle. Developed with

new Surge Control® software, when multiple DigiLight Pro Select ballasts are started

from the same power supply they will safely ignite multiple lamps one at a time, reduc-

ing electrical surges. Soft start technology gently starts lamps with a low current for

significantly improved lamp life and efficient lamp output. Fast lamp re-strike ensures

hot lamps start as quickly as possible. Includes a built-in diagnostic LED for fault finding.

www.maxibright.com

HangUps are a new and im-

proved multi-purpose hanger

that can easily hold up to 20KG

(Per HangUp) with a simple push

button and glide action. The all

metal construction is professional

and safe, perfect for hanging your

reflector or lighting accessories in

a controlled environment. Each

pack contains a pair of HangUps

made of steel, 2mtr in length, with

push button gliders and finger discs to adjust to the desired posi-

tion, safely and smoothly, a must for all grow rooms.

www.ikon-international.com

Secret Jardin’s Dark Propagator 120 allows from 480 cuttings with 8 trays up to 720 cuttings with 12 trays. It’s ingenious design controls airflow the way you want it. By simply opening the (light proof) air duct in the left side of the tent you can get the same humidity and temperature true out your propagator. Also you can use the GreenHouse cover to maximize the humidity in the first stages of your cuttings. Removable trays and grids give you ultimate flexibility and allows the propagation of differ-ent plants just they way you want it.www.secretjardin.com

Secret Jardin Dark Propagator 120

Maxibright DigiLight Pro ® product spotlight

Not an ordinary clip fan! Select Power Pack 600W

Hang Up’sMulti purpose hangers

11

Maximum control

throughout your growth

Keeping plants watered while you’re away can be tricky, but with Hippo, the automatic water top-

up valve, you can be sure that your plants won’t go without water. Hippo maintains water levels

without the need for a timer. Simply connect it to a tray or hydroponics system and attach it to a

water supply system. Hippo will then maintain the water level in your tray or system, so your plants

can take up water as and when they need it. Ideal for when your going away for a couple of days.

www.nutriculture.co.uk

automatic water top-up valveHippo

Bud Juice

13 gardenculture.net


Liquid Lead contains a special formula precisely designed

for the heaviest harvest. Liquid Lead is a unique blend of

organic enzyme activators, vitamins, essential amino ac-

ids and carbohydrates that will unleash the fullflower-

ing potential of your favourite plants and herbs. Liquid

Lead also optimises harvest weight, promotes vigorous

growth and increases health of flowering plants. Not to

mention it enhances the flavour & taste of your plants

as well. www.growaustralia.com

The best Reflector Northstar Less heat, more reflection

Mammoth Tents

Full range available now!

The Northstar is considered by some as the best reflector ever designed for indoor grow-ers. Because of it’s innovative design, heat produced by the light bulb gets remove via natural air flow. That new system reduces up to 13.8C the temperature at the height of the bulb and allows you to approach the reflector much closer to the plants. Its inner profile developed to get a homogeneous reflection in a square surface make the Northstar the perfect reflector to grow successfully in a grow tent. Up to 35% increase of the reflection at the corners. Prime and ultra reflective European Aluminium (97%). www.hortiline.com

a New state of the art Hyper Fans ™

We are pleased to announce the arrival of Hyper Fan™. Hyper Fan uses next generation “Multi-Phase” EC Motors that energizes

the motor 12 times per revolution. Power delivery to the fan blade is smooth, ultra efficient and vibration free. This fan uses up to

half the power and produces half the heat of current leading industry mixed flow fans. This results in greatly reduced energy

costs, less wear, improved reliability and increased lifespan. Hyper Fan produces up to a stagger-

ing 2.4 inches of Water Gauge pressure, the highest pressure of any fan in its diameter, deliver-

ing more air movement through ducting, carbon filters or air cooled hoods. Detachable speed

controller is included. Available in 6 inch (315cfm), 8 inch (710cfm) and 10 inch (1065cfm).

www.hyper-fans.com

Liquid Lead: Mammoth Tents have been well known for their mas-sive 3x6 meter grow tents. Designed in Holland with feedback from growers worldwide Mammoth Tents just announced their complete line of grow tents. Covering a large range of sizes, different specification ranges, and

product options, the product range will have something for

every grower. Of course all tents feature Mammoth’s dis-

tinctive characteristics like strength and durability and the

product is backed up with excellent customer service. www.mammothtent.nl

fresh

14

Medi-One 4-3-3 is a one part, start to finish, and all natu-ral nutrient. It is formulated from all natural ingredients for use in organic gardening. It contains hydrolyzed fish soluble extract from Atlantic Menhaden that are slowly steamed and hydrolyzed to preserve the amino acids. These are blended with North Atlantic Kelp Extract, Bloodmeal and mined Potassium Sulphate to provide additional nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N-P-K) 4-3-3.Natural Hu-mate complexes are also added to increase the over-all balance in this high quality liquid organic fertilizer. This liquid fertilizer can also be used on all vegetables, fruits, flowers, trees and house plants. Recommended by Dr. Hornby.www.growaustralia.com

product spotlightVortex Brewer

This modular Super Cloner helps you root up to 84 plants better than ever. Within 5 minutes from opening the box

you’re in business. The system comes with an 1500Ltr/h

XtraPump water pump, an irrigation ramp with 360° spray-

ers and 84 neoprene foam discs. You can easily access the

reservoir and pump true through the removable front cover

or you can check the nutrient levels in reservoir true through

the graduation scale on the outside. Measuring 90*40*32cm

it can fit any growers cloning space. The best thing about this

Cloner is that it’s completely modular with Platinium Hydroponics

Product line, by using the same tank, and by substituting a few spare

parts you can repurpose this cloner for your specific needs.

www.platiniumhydroponics.com

Super Cloner 84

The Vortex Brewer is a complete system, meaning it comes plug and play and contains a total

brewing recipe. Besides being an awesome compost tea brewer you can also use it to potentize

nutrient solutions, to create energized water or to stir the BioDynamic preparations (BD500-

508). It will also allow for perpetual brewing so you can have living, organic compost tea available

on demand 24/7. www.VortexBrewer.com

Plant Vitality Plus is a one application spider mite spray that kills eggs as well as the living mites,

fully UK registered and safe to use in confined spaces. It also contains a blend of micro nutrients

to repair and boost plants. No longer do you need to use unregistered and potentially dangerous

pesticides on your crop. This product will clear your growroom of these damaging pests without

harming you or your crop. Available in two sizes (1L & 5L) both in a ready to use bottle complete

with spray applicator. www.downtoearthkent.co.uk

Medi-One 4-3-3:

Plant Vitality Plus No more spider mites

Brew your own

fresh

gardenculture.net


Wheatgrass in a Box is a complete turnkey kit for growing the most vibrant nutritious

wheatgrass on the planet. Renowned for its therapeutic properties, wheatgrass juice

contains high amounts of chlorophyll and a complete range of vitamins, amino acids,

minerals, enzymes, and nutrients that your body requires. The Wheatgrass in a Box kit

contains with materials for two weeks of juicing and comes with Earth Tonic and special

Wheatgrass Soil Mix. www.ProgressEarth.com

Unleash the power of your soil with

Mykos pure mycorrhizal inoculum

Xtreme Gardening’s natural root pro-

moter. Mycorrhizal fungi have been shown

to increase the availability of the nutrients

and moisture required for plant growth,

while stabilizing soil. Mykos provides a

connection which helps bridge the gap be-

tween roots and the nutrients present in

soil and hydroponic media. Mykos has been used to help break

7 World- Records for plant growth, including a 900 kg pumpkin!

Xtreme Gardening products are 100% free of GMO’s (geneti-

cally-modified organisms) and harmful pesticides. Be ready for an

xtreme harvest! www.xtreme-gardening.com

gold labelnew bags

Wheatgrass in a Boxproduct spotlight

15

Photoponic System One Set (PS1) is perfect for propagation and all day everyday growing. The kit comes complete with 2 x 24w self

ballasted T5 lights, power plug, connecting cable and clip set for mounting. The kit also comes with 4 suction pads making it very easy

to mount to a propagator. Available in purple or white tubes and now complete with rigid connection spine, the PS1 propagation

lighting kits gives flexibility and quality lighting for your all your propagation needs. www.ikon-international.com

PS1 Propagation Light kits.

Plant Vitality Plus No more spider mites

mykos Pure mycorrhizal inoculum

X-Stream propagators New and improved

X-Stream propagators have been trusted by growers for years, and are now better than ever. The range has been

re-developed based on market feedback and now offers greater flexibility and delivers even better results. The im-

proved delivery system nurtures stronger roots, which means your cuttings can be ready to move from the propaga-

tor to a growing system in just 10 days. The original 36- and 105-site propagators are replaced by a 40-site and a 120-site

respectively. The range is completed by a 12- and 20-site propagator. The full range has been developed to provide even

greater access to your cuttings and improved ease of use, making this a must-have for growers of all abilities.

www.nutriculture.co.uk

Gold Label just announced new packaging for their line of substrates. The majority of the line namely Special Mix, Special Mix Light,Coco, Hydrocorn and Hydro/Coco 60/40 all got new packaging and more detailed infor-mation. Rest assured, it’s still is the same well known high quality mix, but now in a vibrant new full color bag. Gold Label soils are the only ones in the world with KIWA Certification, and Gold Label Hydrocorn is the only clay pebble in the world with RHP Certification.www.goldlabel.nl

16

However, what sometimes gets lost, especially to the novice

or the beginner, is what makes that plant and that fruit look

great. That fact is, for most, all the attention is given to the

top of the plant, when in reality, if you do not have a great

plant below, you will not have a great plant up top. I am talk-

ing about the roots. The part of the plant that you don’t see,

but is the reason for the top of your plant being beautiful

and fruitful. If you have great roots you will have great fruit.

For many years a challenge for

container gardeners has been

to create a natural environment

inside a container. Mimic the soil,

temperature, and drainage while

providing an area for the roots

to grow to their potential. After

all, a plant is only as good as its

roots. For a long time the only

option has been a plastic container. As we have learned, tra-

ditional plastic containers do not offer the best environment

for plants to thrive. They do not drain well, they hold heat in

and they do not encourage a plant’s root structure to develop

to its potential.

Maximizing Yield from Container Gardens

These reasons are why companies and home gardeners alike

have made changes to their plastic container designs and to

the mixes they use. Both have drilled holes in the containers to

deliver oxygen and better drainage. White plastic containers

are more popular to guard against heat buildup. Soil companies

have made a nice business from creating mixes that drain well

in a plastic container that doesn’t properly breathe or allow for

proper drainage. Over the last few years, many companies have

addressed these challenges, and now make both hard sided

and fabric containers that offer the benefits that the container

gardener needs to produce a healthy and productive plant.

Growing in a hard plastic container almost always means that

a root-bound plant is your result. A root-bound plant is when

the roots of a plant outgrows the container it is it. This is easy

to do when growing in a container that doesn’t breathe and

promotes root circling.

Plants need oxygen. As they grow they are looking for and

seeking out oxygen. The roots of a plastic container reach the

edge of the container and begin to travel along the slick sides

of that container. With little to no oxygen and nothing to stop

the roots, they circle around and around the container until

they reach the bottom of the container and the drain holes.

Finally, oxygen!

Growing plants and having a garden is a rewarding hobby; especially when your plants look awesome. It

is a great feeling walking out your back door to check on your garden and spotting the first ripe tomato

of the season. It’s almost as good as eating that first ripe tomato. Maybe almost as powerful as bragging

to your neighbors and friends how nice the tomato was or how nice your garden is. The feeling is more

enhanced knowing your garden is nicer than theirs. For a home gardener there is nothing better.

‘a plant is only as good as its roots’

Fabric versus plastic

17 17

AIR PRUNING I GARDEN CULTUREBY CHARLES

gardenculture.net

This is why with traditional plastic

containers there are always roots

coming out of the bottom of the con-

tainer - it’s aerated here. At this point

the plant is basically root bound. Even

though there is a void of root growth

in the interior of the container. That void is there because the

roots have gone elsewhere looking for oxygen. The container

gives the roots very little place to grow because they are try-

ing to get out of the 3 or 4 bottom drain holes. When this

happens many problems can occur. The plant may become

stunted, stretching can occur, smaller and slower flower

and fruit production and watering needs increase dramati-

cally. Not the recipe for a great plant worth bragging about.

With the new technologies that have become available to

the home gardener, these eliminates these problems. Avail-

able now in both hard sided and fabric, there are contain-

ers that actually prevent root bound plants and will even

promote root pruning. I am talking about aeration contain-

ers designed to actually prune your roots. Some work bet-

ter than others, but all of them have the same ideas at

play. They stop root circling and promote root pruning.

In an aeration container when the

roots reach the edge of the container

they come in contact with the oxy-

gen that they need. Since most roots

cannot grow in straight air, the for-

ward growth stops and root pruning

happens. As the roots reach the air at the container wall, the

tip of the root will dry out, resulting in natural pruning. When

this happens that root will branch out laterally towards the

center of the container creating more roots that will grow to

the edge of the container and do the same thing. This action

will occur over and over filling up the entire container with

roots. It’s not just the same roots circling around, but a root

structure that includes many more root tips. The more tips

the better as this spot is most efficient at absorbing water and

nutrients.

Having this well-developed root structure will allow the plant

to absorb more water and nutrients. Just like humans who eat

too much, a plant that can eat more will get bigger too. Roots

will not grow to find nutrients. They grow when there are nu-

trients available. This being the case and the root structure

containing many more roots tips, the plant is sure to grow

beautifully and produce brag-worthy fruit. 3

‘a plant is only as good as its roots’

‘A container that will actually

prune your roots?’

Growing in a hard plastic container almost always means

that a root-bound plant is your result

Aeration containers are designed to stop root

circling and promote root pruning.

‘traditional plastic containers do not provide the best environment for plants’

18

BY JEROEN

Hydroponic Techniques

top5 “ E A C H O F T H E F O L L O W I N G S Y S T E M S H A S A P L A C E I N T H E W O R L D O F G R O W I N G ”

There are many ways to grow plants. Everybody has heard about hydroponics,

growing soilless. Hydroponics itself is more of a catchall term that defines

the soil being absent, but not the actual technique being used for growing.

19 19 gardenculture.net

top5 “HYDROPONICS ITSELF IS MORE OF A CATCHALL TERM THAT

DEFINES THE SOIL BEING ABSENT, BUT NOT THE ACTUAL TECHNIQUE BEING USED FOR GROWING”

Let’s explore the different types of hydroponics that are most successful and commonly used. We

will look at why each of these systems has a place in the world of growing. You’ll see the pros and

cons for each system and why to use them in certain specific situations. None of the systems is the

best per se, but in each different situation there will be a system that is best suited for the applica-

tion. I’m going to make it easy to pick which type of hydro to use in any given situation suiting your

needs.

NFTNFT or “Nutrient Film Technique” uses a flat growing

surface positioned at a slight decline. A thin ‘film’ of nu-

trient solution is continuously running along the surface

of the growing table. Usually plants are held in place by

neoprene discs or rooted in rock-wool cubes to cre-

ate the anchoring needed so plants won’t wash away or

fall over. The film of water is usually a fraction of an inch

deep, with most of the roots actually being out of the wa-

ter. The roots will get plenty of aeration, which in turn

should lower the risk of root problems. It is however vital

to protect the roots from light and to keep them a bit

moist. A cover for the growing table is important to reg-

ulate the moisture content of the air around the roots.

NFT systems are usually recirculating. Nutrient solution

constantly flows past the roots and even though it’s just a

thin film, there will be plenty of water moving past the plant

roots. Disposing the nutrient solution after one pass would

increase water consumption in a massive way and will be

destructive to garden efficiency which you would normally

expect hydro to offer. Depending on the plants and their

nutrient consumption the pH and EC levels of the nutrient

solution will gradually change as it passes through the plant

roots. Because of this gradual change it is advisable to in-

crease the number of growing tables instead of their length.

Since NFT is utilizing a thin film of water that is constantly

flowing it’s absolutely vital that the water keeps moving.

If the water stops moving for whatever reason, the plants

quickly start to show severe drought problems. It is there-

fore advisable to use two pumps for the same application.

In case one of the pumps breaks the other will still keep the

roots moist. Root zone temperature control can be ideal in

an NFT system, but it can also become the Achilles heel. If

the root zone is properly insulated from outside tempera-

ture influences it will only take a small amount of energy

to increase or decrease the nutrient temperature, an es-

sential part of hydroponics. If the root zone is not shielded

from these outside influences the temperature will most

likely get too high during the day. One of the biggest advan-

tages due to this is the small amount of nutrient solution in

use, although some kind of buffering is always a good thing.

top

5 HYDROPONIC TECHNIQUES I GARDEN CULTURE

“WITH NFT INCREASE THE NUMBER OF GROWING TABLES

INSTEAD OF THEIR LENGTH”

airpump

air stone

nutrientpump

water nutrientstimer

nutrientreturn

reservoir

20

AeroponicsThe most high-tech solution to growing plants in a hy-

droponic setup is aeroponics. These kinds of systems

are probably not suited for beginners due to their com-

plexity. Aeroponics systems are a sort of opposite to

Deep Water Culture. Opposed to a container filled

with oxygenated water these systems use a contain-

er with air saturated with a mist of nutrient solution.

Plants are usually

suspended with neo-

prene disks. Net-pots

don’t really work

because they allow

for the nutrient mist

to escape which leaves salt spots everywhere it goes.

The mist is usually made by pumping water with pres-

sure through a nozzle which creates a fine mist. Ob-

viously, it’s important that the plumbing be correct.

Cleaning the system often is necessary to make sure

the nozzles don’t clog up. Overall these systems prob-

ably do more to increase the risk of catastrophic failure.

Like NFT, aeroponics systems don’t do well should a pow-

er or pump failure occur. Roots will dry out and leaves will

soon start to lose their means to evaporate and stay cool.

In theory, this is the best method of controlling the root

climate and nutrient supply. How this works out in reality

depends on quality of the system’s design.

DWCThe key in aquaponics is to get everything the plant needs

to the plant as efficiently as possible. Deep Water Culture

does exactly that, it saturates the roots in a supply of nutri-

ent solution while also adding oxygen to prevent suffocation

of the roots. Deep water culture systems vary in size, each

plant can have an individual unit or you can grow a number

of plants in the same container. The size of the container

determines how much buffer capacity the system has, a

bigger container will lead to more stability in temperature,

pH and EC. The drawbacks of having large containers is

that it requires a lot of water to fill them and in some

cases a lot of energy to heat it to a suitable temperature.

Plants are in net-pots filled with a medium such as clay

pebbles but can also be suspended above the water using

neoprene discs. A common method used in lettuce farms

is to use styrofoam boards to suspend plants. A big ad-

vantage in doing this is the ability to grow plants close

together when they are small and placing them in another

styrofoam board when they have grown. In this way you

know you have full occupancy, boosting overall production.

The most important thing to remember is that the wa-

ter in a DWC must have constant oxygenation. This

can either be done by using a venturi type air inlet

on the circulation pump or by using air pumps. The air

can also be added into the root zone directly which is

even better than just oxygenating the nutrient solution.

DWC is especially suited for places with high daytime tem-

peratures and cooler nights. The buffering capacity that

comes from the high volume of water slows down the

cooling of the water, lowering the energy bill. The amount

of overall engineering in the system is not too high and

pump failures are not as catastrophic as other hydro sys-

tems. The cost or availability of (chlorine free) water can

form a prohibitive factor in some places though.

airpump

air stone

water nutrients

reservoir

“AEROPONICS SYSTEMS ARE A SORT

OF OPPOSITE TO DEEP WATER CULTURE.”

nutrientpump

water/nutrientstimer

reservoir

mist nozzle

top

5

21 21

Conventional HydroThe most conventional form of hydro growing is sim-

ply to replace soil with another - inert - medium. Even

though this resembles soil, the characteristics of grow-

ing are totally different. The grower has full control

over the nutrient supply but the water absorption and

drainage characteristics of the medium can usually be

maintained for longer periods of time than soil giv-

ing these simple methods advantages over soil-growth.

The two best known mediums in conventional hydroponics

are clay pebbles and rock-wool. Rock-wool has better ab-

sorption properties and clay pebbles drain very well. Both

are good mediums for root growth and are reusable. Con-

ventional hydro systems are either recirculating or drain-

to-waste. They give you timed or constant flow options,

depending on the medium used. A medium such as clay

pebbles that drains well will do better in a constant flow

type situation. Rock-wool on the other hand will perform

better with a timed water supply since the rock-wool itself

will absorb water to keep the roots moist. Conventional

hydro is probably the best starting point for people looking

into hydroponics systems. It’s the simplest to set up and

the least likely to fail horribly.

gardenculture.net

HYDROPONIC TECHNIQUES I GARDEN CULTURE

airpump

air stone

nutrientpump

water nutrientstimer

nutrientreturn

reservoir

grow tray

drippermanifold

driplines

“CONVENTIONAL HYDRO IS PROBABLY THE BEST STARTING

POINT FOR PEOPLE LOOKING INTO HYDROPONICS SYSTEMS.

IT’S THE SIMPLEST TO SET UP AND THE LEAST LIKELY TO FAIL HORRIBLY.”

nutrientpump

water nutrients

timer

reservoir

grow tray overflow

fill/drain fitting

excess solution returns to reservoir

ebb & flow cycle (pump on)

timer

solution returns to reservoir via fill tube

ebb & flow cycle (pump off)

23

“EBB AND FLOW IS A LITTLE MORE DEMANDING THAN A CONVENTIONAL

HYDRO SYSTEM”

O t her T h ings to NoteAll these systems still do the same essential thing,

deliver a nutrient solution to the plant roots and pro-

viding this in an oxygenated environment. Choosing

which system to use has a lot to do with personal

preference. The taking into account of your location

is a good thing, in a cold environment a lot of water

will be expensive to heat. On the other hand, a small-

er buffer of nutrient solution will need more manage-

ment to keep the values within the right range.

A good grower can probably have success with any

of these systems in any kind of situation. An experi-

enced grower however is more likely to pick a more

simple system that has less chance of catastrophic

failure. That is also the key to hydro, a small error in

judgment or a power failure can result in mass plant

death. A well designed system has fail-safes to make

sure this does not happen!

HYDROPONIC TECHNIQUES I GARDEN CULTURE

Ebb and FlowA slight adaptation to conventional hydro is Ebb and

Flow, plants in these systems get watered from below

for a set amount of time. This is one of the best sys-

tems to use when recycling nutrients. Nutrient solution

pumps out below the plants. The grower then allows

the plant and medium some time to absorb the mois-

ture, then the excess drains off again. Usually plants re-

ceive 5 to 15 minutes of high water levels, and then a

longer period without nutrient solution on the roots.

Technically, Ebb and Flow is a little more demanding than

a conventional hydro system, using a little more plumbing

to control the water height. Planting young plants requires

some planning, plants need to have roots long enough to

come into contact with the water. Especially if they are

grown on clay pebbles. It is however easy to move around

plants in their individual pots. Unlike other systems there

are drip lines connected to the pots so moving them is easy.

These systems are perfect for experienced hydro growers

that want to have good control of their nutrient solution as

it’s easy to measure what the difference in pH and EC is in

between every flooding. The difference between Ebb and

Flow and conventional hydro comes down to preference.

Neither is a better system and both work about the same.

It’s really up to the individual user and their location which

determines which system should be chosen.

top

5

Don’t grow short of your potentialIt’s a fact; no matter how good your lights, nutrients and

growing medium; if your grow room is missing a hydroponic system your plants won’t achieve their optimum yield.

To find out how hydroponic systems massively increase your yields Visit www.Nutriculture.com

TM

Nutriculture Hydroponic Systems

Record breaking yields since 1976

25

N O S P E C I A L R E Q U I R E M E N T SNo grow lights needed. Pot them,

mount them on wood, or display them

in the most unusual ways. All you need

is indirect bright sunlight or standard

fluorescent office lighting. They will

tolerate a couple hours of direct light

a day, but will need misting a couple

times a week in such a situation.

Don’t assume that these super drought tolerant beauties need no

water at all. Still these easy keepers normally require just one good

soak once a week. Establish a hydration schedule. Soak them in a

sink or bowl for 20 minutes

on a regular basis. Then let

them air dry where there is

good circulation.

They aren’t real fussy about

climate either. Most air

plants do nicely at 10-32°C

and without the demands

of precise humidity found

in maintaining indoor grow

rooms. 3

25

AIR PLANTS I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

are eas y !

THESE LOW MAINTENANCE BEAUTIES ONLY NEED INDIRECT BRIGHT SUNLIGHT OR STANDARD FLUORESCENT OFFICE LIGHTING...

Between structural limitations, hectic schedules and different

plants’ various needs - it isn’t always easy to have great looking

indoor plants. Atmospheric Tillandsia (air plants) change every-

thing, even for the accomplished brown thumber.

BY TAMMY CLAYTON

Air Plants

C O O L L O O K I N G T I L L A N D S I A• Bromeliads

• Bulbosa Belize

• Ionatha

• Caput Medusae

• Junicea

• Xerographica

• Streptophylla

• Usneoides (Spanish Moss)

• Tectorum

Space challenged?

Tillandsia will fit anywhere!

Don’t grow short of your potentialIt’s a fact; no matter how good your lights, nutrients and

growing medium; if your grow room is missing a hydroponic system your plants won’t achieve their optimum yield.

To find out how hydroponic systems massively increase your yields Visit www.Nutriculture.com

TM

Nutriculture Hydroponic Systems

Record breaking yields since 1976

26

FALLEN FRUIT (DAVID BURNS, MATIAS VIEGENER AND AUSTIN YOUNG)

An activist art project founded by David Burns, Matias

Viegener and Austin Young, Fallen Fruit started as a mapping

of all the public fruit in our Los Angeles neighborhood,

Silver Lake. We encourage everyone to harvest, map,

plant, and sample public fruit, which is what we call all

fruit on or overhanging public spaces such as sidewalks,

streets, or parking lots. We believe fruit in public space is a

resource that should be commonly shared, like shells from

the beach or mushrooms from the forest. Fruit is universal

and uniquely democratic, crossing all classes as a symbol

of generosity and bounty. It is a healthy food, unrefined

and unprocessed; eaten virtually off the tree, it symbolizes

the uncomplicated goodness of nature, beauty, fertility,

and hospitality, not the excess or waste of commercial or

industrial culture.

We’re intrigued by the status of fruit hanging from a tree

in public space. Los Angeles is a city of moderate density

spread over a large area peppered with lawns, shrubs, trees,

and even survivors of long-gone fruit orchards, and public

fruit is found on almost every block. Bananas, peaches,

avocados, lemons, oranges, limes, kumquats, loquats,

apples, plums, passion fruits, walnuts, pomegranates,

guavas, and more grow year round in every neighborhood

in the city.

Urban public fruit, whether deliberate or accidental,

is more efficient to grow than farmed fruit because it

eliminates the cost of transport. Since it is not a mono-

crop, as in an orchard of a single variety of apple, there

are fewer pests and less chemicals required to treat them.

A further irony is that most public fruit in Los Angeles is

organic, blessed by neglect.

We began mapping the public fruit in our neighborhood,

just the triangle between our three houses. We appear in

our first images wearing plastic suits and rubber gloves, as

if we’d fallen to earth from another world and began by

investigating what there was to eat. The conceit was to

The most ancient forms of communion among people came through food. Hunters and gatherers

banded together for survival, and gatherers became farmers; farming laid the ground for human’s

connections to the earth and farms became the first communities. The social exchange of food

forms the basis of the culture. Among all the foods, fruit holds a special place as a symbol of bounty.

Signifying fertility, beauty, and hospitality, fruit is grown everywhere that people live, which is perhaps

why of all foods we most like to give fruit as a gift. The gift model, giving without expectation of

return, forms the basis and connecting thread of Fallen Fruit’s work.

(DAVID BURNS, MATIAS VIEGENER AND AUSTIN YOUNG)

Build A Community Connected By Fruit by Fallen Fruit

27 27

PUBLIC FRUIT I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

“FRUIT IS UNIVERSAL AND UNIQUELY DEMOCRATIC, CROSSING ALL CLASSES

AS A SYMBOL OF GENEROSITY AND BOUNTY. IT IS A HEALTHY FOOD, UNREFINED AND UNPROCESSED; EATEN VIRTUALLY OFF THE TREE ”

make ourselves look unnatural, wrapping

ourselves instead of the fruit in plastic,

which is how fruit increasingly appears to

us in the world. Perhaps a bit of our own

alienation manifests

itself in these images. We coined the term

“public fruit” as it expressed the way in

which a certain public or communal or

shared quality was lacking in these streets.

Overlaid with our fascination with space is

our interest in fruit. Three forms of fruit

presented themselves very quickly: the

private, the public, and the fallen fruit — no one’s fruit,

the waste of fruit. Whose banana is this, we began to

wonder, this banana that presented itself at arm’s length on

a city sidewalk? Certain residents prune their fruit tree’s

branches at the very edge of their property, and not an

inch further, while others clearly let their

trees spill into the public sphere. As we

came to know neighborhoods and spoke

to people who lived there we learned

that some residents were indeed inviting

strangers to pick. Their generosity is a

grassroots model for alternative thinking

about public space, property, and

resources.

An outgrowth of our maps and public

urban plantings, we regularly stage

Public Fruit Jams, inviting the public to

join us in making communal jam. The Public Fruit Jam

is our favorite public project because it forms dynamic

temporary communities. Since its beginnings it was

always considered an experiment in public participation

and social relations.

(DAVID BURNS, MATIAS VIEGENER AND AUSTIN YOUNG)

by Fallen Fruit


PUBLIC FRUIT I GARDEN CULTURE

The jam is a classic collaboration. The ingredients can be

anything the participants bring, as well as fruit from the

communal table. Funded by arts grants and taking place

mostly in galleries and museums, these free events bring

strangers together around a table to cook. The fruit

is picked from the streets or grown at home, though

participants with store-bought fruit are not turned away.

We don’t use recipes, just simple proportions, and the jams

are negotiations among each group

of three to six people. Collaborative

and experimental, the process

echoes ancient rituals of communal

food preparation in contrast to the

anonymity of contemporary urban

life. Unusual jams are more tempting

than the kinds you see in a store:

apple pumpkin jam or quince and pear

with lavender. (Almost any fruits can

be jammed, even bananas, if you dare.)

Urban fruit is blessed by neglect,

almost always untended and thus

organic; it is like the electric wires or

the water systems underground, a

layer of urban infrastructure that could

be utilized far more than it is. Many

people are uncertain about its basic

edibility. They don’t need to worry; it

is entirely safe to eat. Even automobile

soot simply wipes off. It’s essentially

organic status, never sprayed or

fertilized, often barely watered, is

striking to the health-conscious consumer. In a playful way

it starts a conversation on our relationship to the natural

world, and to each other. 3

“THE PUBLIC FRUIT JAM IS

OUR FAVORITE PUBLIC PROJECT

BECAUSE IT FORMS DYNAMIC

TEMPORARY COMMUNITIES”

“URBAN FRUIT IS BLESSED BY NEGLECT, ALMOST ALWAYS UNTENDED AND THUS ORGANIC”

1st Public Fruit Park PlantedThe Forbidden Fruit guys recently

finished their first installation

in Los Angeles. They’re already

planning a new one in the city of

London, UK for 2015.

Learn more about

their unique venture at

www.ForbiddenFruit.org.

“The social exchange of food forms the basis of

the culture”

30

PHOTO: S_BUKLEY - SHUTTERTSTOCK

ed begleyjr.Environmental

Avatar

ED BEGLEY JR. I GARDEN CULTURE


PHOTO: S_BUKLEY - SHUTTERTSTOCK BY BRIAN BURK

For this article, I had the pleasure of interviewing a fine actor, and an advocate for green design, Ed

Begley Jr. You may have seen his work on the show St. Elsewhere, or more recently, in the popular

comedy Arrested Development. As of this moment, he is gearing up his brand new energy efficient

home for his web series entitled ‘On Begley Street’.

I sat down with Mr. Begley, at

his modest Californian home, to

discuss his beginnings, how he feels

about organic foods, the Monsanto

Corporation, and a bit about his new

web show.

When did you know you wanted to do something about the environment?1970. It was the first Earth Day and

I wanted to get involved because,

at that time, I’d been living twenty

years in the horrible smog of Los

Angeles. So after that I thought,

‘hey they’re not kidding. Save the

Earth, clean up the air, clean up the

oceans; hell yes!’ I knew it was dirty

out there because you couldn’t catch

your breath as a young man just sitting, let alone running

around. The oceans, you went out in the Santa Monica Bay

and could see all the crap floating out there. It wasn’t the

media trying to scare us; it was real. So in 1970, I started

recycling, composting, and I bought my first electric car.

Do you think there is a big difference between organic foods vs. commercially grown foods?There is. I’ve sought out organic foods since 1970, when

I became a vegetarian. But the word organic, for years,

really meant nothing because there was no way to prove

it. There were no standards. Now when you see organic

carrots that means something. If you’re wrong, you’re

going to get in big trouble. You will have your farm shut

down. You’ll lose credibility in the industry. Organic

produce now has to be organic. But, besides organics,

there is something else that is equal in importance, and

that is local.

What is local?Local is locally grown. It affects the

carbon footprint of that food. It’s not

coming from as far away. I think it’s

good to support your local farmers.

You can meet them and talk to them.

So locally grown and organic, I think,

are equally as important.

So we know you’re against GMO’s (genetically modified organisms). How did you feel about proposition 37 for the labeling of genetically modified foods?I think it was a good proposition. I

was very much in favor of 37. It’s a

good idea that people can choose.

It’s not saying we are going to ban

GMO’s, but people should have the right to know what’s

going into their food. But the opposition to prop 37 was

pretty brilliant; even though I don’t agree with them. You

have to admire them for the genius of what they did. They

convinced the poor that their food costs were going to go

up radically. When in other counties that have passed a

similar labeling law (see China, Russia, all of Europe, etc.)

the food bills never went up. It was simply nonsense.

Proposition 37 did not pass in California this last election. Do you think it still has a chance?I think if it comes back again and we write it better, fight for

removal of some of the exemptions, show credible sources

citing counties where a similar law passed and it did not

increase food costs; it could. We should also show more

about who is for the bill and then who is against it; like

Monsanto.

Save the Earth, clean up the air, clean up the oceans; hell yes!’

To watch product videos and to find a stockist Visit www.Nutriculture.com

A quick guide to fulfilling your potential

Manage up to 20 plants from one tank

The Wilma pots are filled with coco, soil or pebbles, the timer

is set and a pump delivers nutrient solution through the

drippers into the pots.

Available in sizes from 4 pots up to 20 pots.

Ideal for cultivating plants for cuttings

The Flo-Gro pot is filled with clay pebbles, the timer is set

and nutrient solution is pumped through a dripper ring over

the plants.

The fast-draining action pulls fresh oxygen into the root-zone

every feed.

Record-breaking yields

The Ebb & Flood can be filled with clay pebbles or with

pots containing any growing medium.

Roots are flooded several times per day - pushing out stale air,

then pulling oxygen to the roots as the solution Ebbs away. The

result is superb access to oxygen and huge yields.

Our 3 hydroponic systems, each as simple as a pot, produce bigger yields by...✔ Automatically feeding little

and often ✔ Preventing nutrient dilution or

build-up ✔ Providing roots with superb

access to oxygen


ED BEGLEY JR. I GARDEN CULTURE

So now that were on to Monsanto, how do you feel about their Roundup Ready soybeans?I’m going to take off my cynical hat and say that I think

that most people at Monsanto, and a lot of the legislators

who fight for them, really believe that they are going

to help feed the world with this. I really think they do.

And certainly, if things went perfectly, it’s a possible

outcome. But, the fact is, you can see what has happened

in India with the farmers committing suicide from being

dependent on Monsanto seeds. They used to gather their

own seeds, and they would garden without pesticides,

now with their dependence on those (roundup) seeds,

which they have been instructed and urged to buy, has

made them go bankrupt. Then they kill themselves with

pesticides in their fields.

But I really do think they believe they are helping the

world. I don’t think that’s the case when you look at

what can go wrong, and what has gone wrong. Even

natural organisms in the wrong place can cause major

problems. What is going to happen when one of these

things (GMOs) goes wrong? I mean this is not like the

old day of Gregor Mendel taking peas and grafting one

strain of pea with another to hybridize it. That’s art. Like

Rodin, the sculptor, taking a rock and gradually taking

away everything but “The Thinker.” What GMO’s are, is

a guy working on this crazy sculpture of his own, putting

it on a catapult, and firing it at a window at the Louvre

hoping it lands on a pedestal upright so he can call it art.

That’s what they do. They attach this gene that they have

altered, onto a virus. Then they inject it into the nucleus

of a cell, and wait and see if it works. To see if you have

tomatoes that could resist frost because you’ve put in

some genes from an artic char. But I’m not prepared to

say, “Let’s ban all GMO’s.” Keep working on it in the

lab and come up with something that does work and is

foolproof.

But for now, it’s not ready for primetime.

How do you feel about Monsanto and the ties to the USDA and FDA?It’s a revolving door from Monsanto to the USDA back

to Monsanto again. And the thing is, it’s not a partisan

issue. Obama was playing golf with the guy from

Monsanto a few days before the Monsanto Protection

Act (Agricultural Appropriations Bill) was signed.

So my final question, I hear that you have a new web series called ‘On Begley Street’. What is it about?I’ve tried to show, since 1988 when I purchased this current

house, what you can do with a remodel. To try and make

this 1930s energy inefficient home as efficient as possible;

I’ve taken it as far as you can go. My wife has been angling

me for many years to move to a different place. But I vowed

I would never move from this place. Though, I finally said

to my wife, “Ok, if you can find a place that would give

us a bigger yard so I can grow more vegetables and stick

a ten thousand gallon rainwater tank underground, a nice

south facing roof that gets good solar exposure, and find

it for this price; I’ll move.” I thought she would never find

it. She found a place within a week. So then I had to put up

or shut up.

So ‘On Begley Street’ is about showing what you can do

with a new home. Once the new place is finished, the series

will take you around the country to show off other green

technologies. You’ll see what it is like to build green and live

green in 2013 and beyond.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Ed and

his green series, ‘On Begley Street’,

check out edbegley.com

I’ve sought out organic foods since 1970, when I became a vegetarian. But the word organic, for years, really meant nothing because there was no way to prove it. There were no standards.

The Essential Mix

The Essential Mix

web

site

ww

w.a

gric

ultu

ralo

rgan

ics.

com

w

ww

.face

book

.com

/bl

oom

adva

nced

flori

cult

ure

37 37

A TRULY EFFICIENT CROP Excellent pest and disease resistance combined with very

little waste. Salanova is the result of many years of traditional

breeding. The leaves are precisely arranged around the core,

making it simple to a choice of green or red leaf in each type.

Coring has never been easier. Using a sharp knife or a special

cutter developed just for freeing these awesome greens from

the stem, you’ll be done in one swift movement.

A fast growing crop, with staggered germination, it is possible

to have uber fresh lettuce always available for a lovely garnish, a

sandwich crisper or a full-blown salad. Mix it up for a gourmet

look and taste. One commercial grower of Salanova in Germany

seeds 3 different varieties per growing block for instant salad

variety at market where it’s an instant hit with bouquet flair. Why

select plain green lettuce when you can have three colors and

types of goodness instead? A trick that you can easily duplicate

to get more exciting salads in the small grow room too.

THE COOLEST FRESH LETTUCE IN TOWNCreating a beautiful salad is super easy with these varieties. The

leaves are much smaller than regular lettuces. They’re ready to

eat, as is, and require no chopping or tearing into bite size pieces.

Just one cut to remove them from the head is all the prep work

SALANOVA I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

Grow Your Own Series

“BESIDES BEING SIMPLY BEAUTIFUL, SALANOVA

HEADS PRODUCE 42% MORE FRESH

GREENS PER SQUARE FOOT THAN ANY

OTHER LEAF LETTUCE VARIETY”

BY TAMMY CLAYTON

Heads up! There’s something to get ex-

cited about in lettuce land. Salanova let-

tuces have much to offer the indoor gar-

dener and urban farmer, whether you’re

growing fresh food for your own table

or feeding your community.

Besides being simply beautiful, the heads

produce 42% more fresh greens per

square foot than any other leaf lettuce

variety. Salanova Crispy, Lollo, Oakleaf

and Butter are delicious new stars for

the salad plate. You’ve got a choice of

green or red leaf in each type, making it

a cinch to produce your own salad mix

in either soil or hydro culture.

L e t t u c eSalanovaA Wh o l e N ew L e a f

The Essential Mix

The Essential Mix

web

site

ww

w.a

gric

ultu

ralo

rgan

ics.

com

w

ww

.face

book

.com

/bl

oom

adva

nced

flori

cult

ure

MULTI -LEAF TYPESForming heads with a multitude of uniform baby leaves

arranged around a central core, the multi-leaf Oakleaf

and Butter varieties add flavor and color so desirable in a

beautiful salad. Use them alone or as a group to create the

popular baby greens mix. Fast and clean coring is done with

one cut using the ingenious Salanova cutter, with no waste

whatsoever. 3


Growing Salanova

Like all lettuces, this is a cool season crop. One you

can easily grow on a sunny balcony, patio, in a flower

bed or backyard garden in spring and early summer,

but it’s perfect for indoor gardens year around. Sala-

nova varieties finish out at one foot across, so be

sure to give it room. From germination to harvest

takes 8 weeks in the outdoor garden, and 6 weeks

in the indoor hydro garden. Seeding every 3 weeks

will keep you in a never-ending supply of fresh salad

greens.

SALANOVA I GARDEN CULTURE

OPTIMIZE YOUR SPACE: SALANOVA VARIETIES GIVE YOU FAR MORE YIELD THAN OTHER LEAF TYPES AND HAVE

AN IMPROVED SHELF LIFE. ON TOP OF ALL THAT, THE SEED IS ORGANIC AND

THE PLANTS ARE GMO FREE.

needed. The leaves are thicker than standard leaf lettuce,

giving you more crunchy goodness and better shaping

that keeps a salad from turning into a glob after adding the

dressing.

With all this eye-catching color, flavor and fresh convenience,

it’s pretty hard to resist Salanova lettuces - as a grower and

as a consumer. You can also optimize your space, because

Salanova varieties give you far more yield than other leaf

types and have an improved shelf life. On top of all that,

the seed is organic and the plants are GMO free. For more

business info, visit www.business.salanova.com.

In the UK, you will find Salanova seed available at www.

tuckers-seeds.com.

ABOUT THE VARIETIESWith so many lettuce types on the market, it’s hard

choosing a selection to grow. The process of elimination

gets much easier after investigating Salanova. While it is a

comparable green to baby leaf lettuces, it offers so much

more, including stronger leaves at maturity and a noticeably

increased 3D structure.

Salanova selections are easily divided into incised leaf

and multi-leaf types. You can use both types a few leaves

at a time too, so it’s a vegetable that fills anyone’s needs.

Harvested as living lettuce with roots attached, they remain

fresh without refrigeration.

INCISED TYPESIncised varieties, Lollo and Crispy, have rather frilly, deeply

cut leaf edges and give a mixed salad weight, more texture

and loft. The Lollo types provide a flavorful base that gives

a baby leaf salad much needed structure, loft and weight.

The newer Crispy types provide that iceberg crunch as well.

All of these hold up well to dressings. Separating the bunch

is easily done with a single slice of a sharp knife across the

lower stem.

“HARVEST A HANDFUL AT A TIME

OR AN ENTIRE HEAD”

40

A G O O D

S TA R TIndoor garden productivity requires good

practices and techniques from the beginning.

Abundant harvests from any herb, fruit or ve-

getable plant depends on seed quality and eve-

rything that happens during each of its growth

stages. Even in your garden, excellence is never

the result of inferior materials or shoddy work-

manship. Remember that and deliver perfect

conditions from the very start.

41

Always obtain seed from reputable

sources. An established seed house is

best. Your seed will be fresh and come

from disease-free plants. It will also be

handled and stored properly to make

sure the best germination results are

possible. Stick with suppliers who have

signed the Safe Seed Pledge as your

GMO-free source for garden seed.

Check out: www.councilforrespon-

siblegenetics.org

A seed is a dormant embryo. Each one comes packed with the

knowledge the new plant needs to grow roots, leaves, flowers,

fruit and set seed to continue the species. Powering it up re-

quires only consistent moisture, air and the right temperature.

It comes with its own start-up energy source. They need no

fertilizer or nutrients during the germination stage. Light isn’t

even needed for the first week or two.

SETTING THE STAGEA plant’s idea of the gray area between right and wrong is a

pretty slim window. In your indoor garden, you can’t blame

poor germination on thieving birds and squirrels. If your seeds

don’t germinate, either you have not purchased quality seed,

failed to monitor environmental conditions, or ignored this

particular seed’s needs.

41

There are cool season and warm

season plants. Understanding this is

important. Before you get started,

you need to create the perfect sea-

son for your selected crop. Cool

season plants grow beautifully in an

environment that will send warm sea-

son plants like tomatoes into a sickly

tizzy. You can grow both types simul-

taneously with separate germination

chambers and grow rooms. You can’t

force a plant’s vigor in the wrong conditions. It leads to weak

plants, climatic disease issues and poor harvests... or total fail-

ure.

Maximizing your harvest while reducing costs starts with dis-

covering your seeds’ needs for germination and providing the

best circumstances. Seeds sprout in cooler conditions than for

flower and fruit stages. It’s Nature’s way of protecting their

fragile parts from more intense sunlight and long, hot days.

Maintaining the proper temperature is easily done with a heat

mat beneath your germination chamber. This will allow for

faster, more robust and uniform development. Do invest in a

grower’s mat with a thermostat to avoid cooking your seeds

or sprouts.

A GOOD START I GARDEN CULTURE

“A SEED IS A DORMANT EMBRYO. EACH ONE COMES PACKED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE THE NEW PLANT NEEDS TO GROW ROOTS, LEAVES,

FLOWERS, FRUIT AND SET SEED TO CONTINUE THE

SPECIES”

A G O O D

S TA R T

gardenculture.net

“MAXIMIZING YOUR HARVEST WHILE REDUCING COSTS STARTS WITH DISCOVERING YOUR SEEDS’ NEEDS FOR GERMINATION AND

PROVIDING THE BEST CIRCUMSTANCES”

BY TAMMY CLAYTON

42

SELECTING THE MEDIAUnlike planting outdoors, you want thoroughly moistened me-

dia for indoor garden seeding. There are a variety of materials

you can use, dependent on your growing system. Some people

swear by the wet paper towels enclosed in a plastic baggie

routine. Handling just sprouted seeds is a delicate matter. You

run the risk of breaking or damaging the fragile young root or

shoot. You don’t have to work this hard or introduce such

intricacy to getting a grow going.

Jiffy peat pellets (a.k.a. pucks) aren’t your best option. Issues

include slow germination and root growth, poor air flow ca-

pacity and high acidity. Finally, it is the nature of peat moss to

tie up nitrogen. Thinking of using Jiffy peat pots filled with pot-

ting mix? Wood pulp added to their composition increases this

removal of nitrogen for breaking down. There is also a danger

of peat pucks holding too much moisture causing rot, diseases

or damping off.

Rockwool starter cubes or

propagation plugs commonly

used in hydroponics offer a

perfect balance of air, moisture

and drainage. Sprouting varies

by seed type and takes 2-8 days.

Consistent saturation and a pH

level of 4.5-5.5 is needed de-

pendent on seed type and accomplished by soaking the cubes

for 24 hours. Chlorinated tap water can harm sprouting action.

Use distilled water or mineral water instead. Adjust the soak-

ing solution’s pH level to correct your water’s pH and that of

the rockwool’s alkalinity. Do this by slowly adding acid solution

to lower pH or alkaline solution to raise it. Measure the water

pH until you meet the desired level for the plant type.

Put your prepped rockwool starters in a standard nursery tray

with a dome. Sow the seed at the required depth. Keep the

Essential: start off with good seeds

and always read the package

ALL THE NUTRITION NEW SPROUTS NEED IS IN THE COTYLEDON. JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE SIGNS OF LIFE, DOESN’T MEAN IT IS TIME TO FEED. PATIENCE. YOU NEED ROBUST ROOT SYSTEMS FOR AN OPTIMUM HARVEST, WHICH DEVELOP AT THIS STAGE.


covered tray in a warm, moist place until vegetation appears.

Note that proper temperature ranges are generally only 5-7

degrees apart. Five degrees might not seem like much, but you

aren’t a plant. Deliver the happiness zone.

Seed starting mixes shouldn’t have huge chunks of material.

It should hug your seed loosely without leaving large tunnels

exposing the seed or roots to too much air. Mist if you must

moisten again soon after sowing. Overhead watering causes

light media and seed float resulting in losing planting depth and

central placement. For small seed at a shallow depth, this could

mean failure to sprout due to ending up on top of the media.

A QUESTION OF DEPTHMost seeds grow best when covered with media to their pre-

ferred depth, though some seed types can do well on the sur-

face with enough moisture. Plant too deep or too shallow, and

your germination success is doubtful. Don’t guess - read the

seed packet. The purpose of planting depth ensures that the

seed can absorb enough moisture to activate.

A seed must absorb 50% of its weight in moisture to germi-

nate. Poor drainage, improper planting depth, and loss of

moisture due to evaporation are all things you can’t allow to

happen if you are going to eat. Depending on what you want

to grow, it can vary from 0.3 to 2.5 cm or more. As a rule of

thumb, fine seeds need a shallow depth, while large seeds get

planted deep.

FEEDING THE BABIESAll the nutrition new sprouts need is in the cotyledon. Just

because you have signs of life, doesn’t mean it is time to feed.

Patience. You need robust root systems for an optimum har-

vest, which develop at this stage. Seedlings are fragile, and even

a weak nutrient solution can burn leaves and roots, as well as

make them focus on producing top growth. Don’t mess up their

programming!

If you continue to supply enough pH balanced water, your new

plants will swiftly send roots down deep and in all directions

seeking a food source. The harder they search, the more devel-

oped the roots will become. Nature provides plenty of nutri-

tion with the seed to fortify young plants until they reach the

vegetative stage of growth.

SEEKING THE SUNOnce small seedling leaves appear, plants start reaching to find

sunlight. Remove the dome and get your seedlings under lights

right away. Cover all roots to

prevent damage and support

rapid growth. If you don’t act

fast enough, they will stretch

and get leggy searching for the

sun, leading to less robust plants

and harvest. Give them 12-16

hours a day under CFL lamps.

The heat of HID grow lights will

overheat or fry tender seed-

lings.

Closely monitor temperature

and moisture. In 10-14 days ac-

tual leaves and rooting through the bottom of your media are

present. It is time for transplanting. Your young crop has en-

tered the vegetative stage. Now they need intense light, grow-

ing temps and nutrients. 3

DON’T GUESS - READ THE SEED PACKET.

THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING THE RIGHT PLANTING DEPTH ENSURES

THAT THE SEED CAN ABSORB ENOUGH MOISTURE TO

ACTIVATE Rockwool starters

A GOOD START I GARDEN CULTURE

46

G R A F T I N G T H E O N E T R U N K O R C H A R D“MULTI-GRAFTED FRUIT TREES ARE PERFECT FOR SMALL GARDENS” Seeds and cuttings aren’t the only way

to acquire new plants for your garden.

Grafting is more tedious, but allows

a gardener to accomplish things with

plants not possible in any other way. It

is the technique of joining the parts of

two or more plants to create one plant.

Ornamental plants used in landscaping

and flower gardens are more commonly

seen grafted than with fruits or vegeta-

bles. In the realm of food plants, grafting

is usually found in trees - but not always.

47 47

GRAFTING I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

WHY LEARN ABOUT GRAFTING? Let’s say you have a tomato variety that is now impossible

to find seed for. Maybe you live in a cold climate that makes

it difficult to grow really awesome tomatoes to vine ripened

harvest due to early frosts. Grafting allows you to stick

stem cuttings to a more developed root system, or a more

robust and disease resistant variety to make the impossible...

possible. It can also make certain crops possible at all.

All sweet orange trees are grafted onto sour orange variety

stock because sweet orange trees are highly susceptible to

root disease. In the 1880s a Texas scientist actually saved the

wine industry in France by grafting French grape varieties

onto wild grape roots when a disease epidemic threatened

to drive the French varieties into extinction. Wild Texas

grapes are immune to this grapevine plague and are the only

reason fine French wines are enjoyed around the world today.

While lots of people would love to have an organic fruit

orchard just outside their door, small yard space makes it

impossible. Multi-grafted fruit trees are perfect for small

gardens. It’s your one trunk solution for orchard variety

harvest in limited space. This growing technique lets you

have several types of apples on one tree; or peaches, pears,

cherries, plums and citrus. As long as you stick to the same

type of fruit, it works well.

THE FRUIT COCKTAIL TREESometimes it is possible to graft types of fruit trees

to a single trunk that are less similar. Stone fruits and

citrus plants are easily adapted to each other, making for

successful grafting of a wider variety of fruit grown in

one spot. The Fruit Cocktail Tree gives you a source for

tree-ripened fruit salad even in a tiny outdoor garden.

Stone fruits are those that have pits, like cherries, peaches,

plums, apricots and nectarines. Citrus gives you limes, lemons,

grapefruits, oranges and tangelos variety. You’ll find both

orchard on a trunk delights available pre-grafted offered by

online nurseries. Or you could try your hand at grafting and

create your own Fruit Cocktail Tree. Not only could it be

an interesting project, what if one type of fruit on a ready-

made tree isn’t hardy where you live? What if you want only

heirloom varieties or a different mix than you can buy?

NO YARD AT ALL?You can grow fruit trees in large containers where they

will never get more than 1.85 meters tall. A sort of bonsai

orchard in a movable box that produces full size fruit. So

it’s possible to grow truly dwarf fruit trees on a rooftop,

the balcony or patio. This method would also allow you to

take your orchard with you if you move to a new residence.

Be sure you have proper winter storage for outdoor

container grown fruit trees in a cold climate. Frigid

winter temps aren’t kind to roots above ground. If you

live in the north, container grown fruit trees with proper

winter storage will allow you to grow fresh peaches and

less hardy crops that would never fruit when planted

in the ground. A garage or seasonal room will work for

overwintering. You just need to make sure the temperature

never drops below the lowest range for any given tree.

“GRAFTING ALLOWS YOU TO STICK STEM CUTTINGS TO A MORE DEVELOPED ROOT SYSTEM, OR A MORE ROBUST AND DISEASE RESISTANT VARIETY TO MAKE THE IMPOSSIBLE... POSSIBLE”

Multi-grafted fruit tree

_HyperFan-GC-ad.indd 2 5/22/13 8:30 AM

49 49

GRAFTING I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

WHAT DO I NEED?Obviously, you will need to gather the plants you will use

to make your grafted wonder. Depending on the type

of plant (woody or soft stemmed) you need to decide

if it is best to do stem or bud grafting. The best way

to start your research is searching for answers online.

Next you will need the proper tools and supplies.

Grafting is a precise science, so don’t set yourself up

for failure by trying to improvise. For small projects,

look for a grafting kit online. The basic kits aren’t that

expensive, so it is within most people’s budget to

arm themselves with the stuff that is proven to allow

success. At the very least you need a grafting knife,

grafting tape and grafting wax. To do bud grafts you also

need rubber bud strips. A good grafting kit will also

include a guide booklet you can follow step-by-step.

INVEST IN QUALITY PLANTSNo matter what type of grow you want to do, never

forget that ‘quality in, quality out’ applies to gardening

too. The better the health of the plants you use to graft

your new tree, the easier it will be for you to succeed.

The main tree you use for the trunk should have a well-

developed root system for faster growth and better

graft support. A more whip-like version of what you’re

budding or stem grafting makes more economic sense

as you only need a small piece for your project. Well

developed root systems will cost more as they have

been kept in the nursery at least a year longer for this

purpose.3

Suitable veggies for Grafting

• Tomatoes

• Peppers

• Eggplants

• Melons

• Cucumbers

“DECIDE IF IT IS BEST TO DO STEM OR BUD GRAFTING”

50

Mobile farm markets are riding high on the heels of the

white-hot food truck trend. It’s a new take on the old fash-

ioned neighborhood ice cream truck. Instead of selling ice

cream to screaming kids running after a lighthearted tune

coming from a colorful van, you are selling your locally

grown food to enthusiastic urban hipsters. Calling them to

your mobile market with Twitter, FourSquare, geo location

apps like Google Latitude or blasting obscure indie techno

music from your speakers in dense urban neighborhoods.

Pick your vehicle for your mobile market wisely, just re-

member that character matters. Think converted airstream

trailers, ironic postal jeeps or your grandfather’s old pickup.

For some great examples, be sure to check out Lomo Mar-

ket in Raleigh-Durham, NC (www.lomomarket.com) or the

Honeybee Mobile Market (http://www.honeybeemobile-

market.com/). Cost: About the price of a small row tractor.

Mobile markets created from trailers, trucks or vans

are great for when you have planned stops and a bit of

cash. Perhaps you need something cheaper and easi-

er to do without much planning required. Consider a

slower, more approachable alternative: your bike pull-

ing a trailer full of produce. Turning your bike into a

mobile produce stand offers a charming, approachable

venue to sell to urban dwellers as they stroll through

their neighborhoods and downtown restaurant districts.

The slow speed of a bike-borne market makes it easy for

people to stop and buy, keeping you from having to stop for

extended periods and having to get permits or ask permis-

sion from establishments. There are a few farmers expe-

riencing great success with this technique, if you’d like to

try it out yourself “the Mattapan Mobile Farm Stand” is a

great design, view it

here: www.mat-

tapanfoodandf it-

ness.org. Cost:

A new implement

for your tractor.

Celebrate your un-

sold surplus as an

occasion by cook-

ing a farm dinner

at your farm from

your surplus crops.

Agritourism has

proven a very prof-

itable venture for

many farms. There is actually more money in selling the small

farming experience than the products you’ve produced.

Create a “dinner club” and spread the word through your

Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest accounts. Contact a couple

local food bloggers and invite them to a couple in exchange

for posting about the “privileged opportunity” to attend

Tu r n Surplus Crops i n t o You know the routine, you’ve spent months looking after your crops, cared for them and

watched over them carefully. After all your hard work, on the day you harvest your un-

able to sell your gorgeous harvest at the farmers market because it rained, it’s a holiday, or just

bad luck. Perk up! Turn that surplus harvest into an opportunity to experiment with new ex-

citing approaches to direct to customer business models that are a rising trend across the nation.

Marketing Techniques

Ca$h

Mattapan Mobile Farm Stand

“A BIKE-BORNE MARKET MAKES IT

EASY FOR PEOPLE TO STOP AND BUY. NO

PERMITS NEEDED.”

“CALL YOUR SHOPPERS TO

MARKET ON TWITTER AND FOURSQUARE”

51 51

GOING TO MARKET I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

BY BEN GREENE

your farm surplus dinner.

And if your ‘farm’ is in an

urban basement or small

backyard greenhouse?

Improvise! People love

the unique and unusual.

Its not just where you’re

growing, but what you’re

growing that they’re after.

Follow the recipe for success other’s have done well with.

Don’t have enough diversity in your surplus to create an

entire dinner? Create what you can and make it a potluck,

where the cost is half price if the attendees bring a dish.

Lots of candles, white linen covered picnic tables and am-

ple mason jars are sure to create the perfect mood. Some

great examples of farms using on-farm or local pub dinner

clubs effectively are the Rogowski Farm (rogowskifarm.

com) and the Land’s Sake Supper Club (http://www.lands-

sake.org/). Also check out dinner clubs that travel to many

dinners like the Highlands dinner club (highlandsdinner-

club.com) and City Provisions (cityprovisions.com) Cost:

Free meal for friends in exchange for labor and supplies.

Of course the best option is to eliminate next week’s sur-

plus! Surplus produce is often surplus because your custom-

ers are not familiar with your crop’s use, preparation or just

simply haven’t been inspired to use it. Give them some sug-

gestions by grouping the produce together in “meal packs”.

For example, create a stir fry kit by placing your Asian

greens with a recipe and some bulk seasonings together.

There are many online resources that allow you to type

in your ingredients and an ideal recipe will be generated

from your input, my favorite is gojee.com. This makes

it easy to find a recipe and create soul food meal kits,

salad kits, kids lunch kits, tapas kits, ethnic meal kits, or

create special diet kits like gluten-free, diabetic or pa-

leolithic diets. Cost: Extra labor and sleek packaging.

The prices for these new economic models are within reach

and the most ambitious are often no more expensive than

a piece of production equipment. Instead of increasing your

production this year by 10% with new equipment, consider

receiving twice the price you’d normally receive with an in-

vestment into unique approaches to direct to consumer mar-

keting.3

“PICK YOUR VEHICLE FOR YOUR MOBILE MARKET WISELY... CHARACTER MATTERS”Ca$h

Mattapan Mobile Farm Stand

52

Mothering TECHNIQUES

H O W T O

C A R E F O R

A M O M

53

MOTHERING TECHNIQUES I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

BY JENN DIGIOIA

“IT ONLY TAKES ONE MOTHER PLANT TO CREATE A WHOLE GARDEN OF PLANTS”

Genetically speaking, everyone has a mother. In the horticultural world, being a mom means you

either produce seeds sexually or clones asexually. There are a few different techniques you can use to

reproduce plants without needing pollen from a parent plant(s) to produce seeds. The newest, most

scientific way to do this is tissue culture. This uses a series of chemical processes to grow a full size plant

from a tiny piece of plant tissue, in a test tube. While this method isn’t practical for most gardeners, it

is definitely neat! There are two methods any gardener can easily use: grafting and cloning.

plant. This allows the mother to search out more fertile

ground or better sunlight for her offspring. A mother al-

ways wants the best for her children and the strawberry

mom is no exception. In your garden, you can aim the run-

ners to root into a pot or a desired spot. After the run-

ners have established roots they can

then be cut from the mother plant

for sale or replanting.

Most plants won’t do this naturally,

conveniently creating clones as the

strawberry plant will. So it is impor-

tant to know what to look for when

selecting a mom. You will be making

exact copies of her so choose the

best, strongest looking one you can

find. Keep her planted in a pot that’s large enough to hold

her root mass. The new fabric pots on the market like

smart pots or root pouches are great for mothering pur-

poses. The fabric is a felt-like material and allows air thru

the walls, yet it is enough to not allow light in. This pot can

prevent root rot and root circling known as being ‘root

bound’. Both can stunt or hinder growth at best.

FEEDING YOUR MOTHER Most nutrient product lines have a ‘grow’ formula that,

when fed lightly, will work great for your mom. A few

examples for this are: Botanicare’s Pure Blend Pro Grow

with a liquid N-P-K of (3-2-4), Fox Farms Grow Big (6-4-

4) or General Organics Biothrive Grow (4-3-3).

Need a lot of clones? You may want to train a young seed-

ling to be your mother plant, pruning her to promote

more branching before taking any cuts. We can do this by

WHY DO I NEED A MOTHER PLANT? To get more plants for your garden. Our need for cloning

stems from the gardener’s mantra: bigger, stronger, faster.

One of the big reasons for avid gardeners is to retain ex-

act copies of very rare plants. Cloning can even keep your

grandmother’s heirloom tomato strain

alive for generations to come. It only

takes one mother plant to create a

whole garden of plants. No waiting for

spring to buy plants or for seedlings to

mature. Using cloning to sustainably

manage your vegetable garden just

makes sense. You can make clones of

plants that you consume the most of...

forever.

Cloning is a necessity for some plants. Most of the bananas

we eat today are clones! A devastating genetic mutation

in the edible varieties made the fruits of the banana plants

sterile. In nature this usually means a road to extinction.

Savvy farmers propagated the yummy fruit plants, spread-

ing them around the world centuries ago. This process of

cutting the ‘suckers’ from the base of a plant in the vegeta-

tive stage and cloning them, we still have bananas today.

Nor would we have French wine. A set of devastating dis-

ease and pest plagues almost wiped out the vines. Cloning

via grafting with resistant roots saved France’s vineyards

in the 1880s. Obviously, cloning and mother plants are im-

portant to know about.

Nature has cloned on its own forever. Strawberry plants

are a perfect example. The plant will send out a ‘runner’

shoot at the base parallel to the ground. When it reaches

fertile soil, it automatically produces roots, forming a new

HORTILIGHTADVERT

55

MOTHERING TECHNIQUES I GARDEN CULTURE

TAKING THE CUTAlways start the cutting process with clean equipment

and have everything ready to go. You will need a sterile

blade or scissors, growing medium or rooting plugs, a

rooting hormone to aid in the process and of course

your mother plant. Choose a branch for the cutting that

includes new growth with at least 2-3 sets of leaves. Cut

at a 45 degree angle and quickly get the cut end into the

rooting hormone, then push the dipped end down into

growing medium. Mist cuttings daily with water to keep

them happy until roots begin to form.

THE MOTHER OF INVENTION & SPEEDGrafting takes the root sys-

tem of one plant called a

‘rootstock’ and fuses a cut-

ting called a ‘scion’ to the

top. The plant created has

the genetics of the mother

plant and the rootstock will

supply the uptake of nutrients

through its root system. You can

use the grafting technique to get cre-

ative, combining different mixes of colors

and types of desired crop characteristics of rootstock

and cuttings. It can also allow your plants to overcome

stress factors like diseases or pests, and even the soil

quality of an outdoor garden.

Grafting can make your indoor garden more efficient.

Grafted vegetable plants can also

deliver an earlier harvest and

a much longer harvest pe-

riod. Reproducing ready

to bloom plants offers a

variety of benefits. Suc-

cess starts with a healthy,

happy mom and knowing

when to make the cut. 3

“IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN SELECTING A MOM”

simply trimming the top new growth of the main branch-

es as the plant gets bigger. Remember, less is more when

pruning anything! Be sure to make cuts above at least

two sets of growth so that when you cut one main stalk,

two branches will form from the leaf sets below.

You can continue to use this manipulation trick as the

mother plant grows until you have enough branches to

accommodate your cloning needs. For faster branching,

try an extra nutrient boost using a marine algae product

such as Nitrozime or Bioweed. These help to create the

burst of new shoots at the right time. It can also help

with the rooting process, so include it with the week-of-

cutting feeding too.

MAKING GOOD BABIESCloning is best done in the vegetative stage of growth

for almost all plants. You will need to set up a light to

provide 18 hours of light for your mom to keep her in

that stage (ready) for vegetative propagation.

Mother plants need a regular schedule for nutrients and

water. Being careful not to overdo it on either. Over-

feeding can lock out essential nutrients your mom needs

to thrive. Overwatering can cause a multitude of mold,

fungus and bug problems. An over flux of food or water

in your mom’s system when it comes time to take cut-

tings can also make rooting more difficult. Giving your

mom the right food before cloning her can make a

world of difference in the babies. Remember what-

ever is in her system at the time of cutting will also be

in the system of the clone.

A good rule of thumb is to cut your normal fertilizer

mixing directions in half a week before taking cuttings.

Adding a bit of vitamins and hormones to that week’s

feeding is also a good idea. A dose of Superthrive is also

great for the expectant mother. Follow label directions

for mixing. When deciding how much to water take the

simple route and touch the growing medium. You want

moist media, not wet. If the media dries up between

feedings just use plain water to supplement.

56

on the greenhouse project took

2 years to complete, and started

the first crop in February 2013

with a first harvest planned for

late spring. Along the way, Agoa-

da formed partnerships with a

team of highly qualified professionals, each with a distinct

set of skills and knowledge to take the fledgling farm from

startup to success in short order. The scientific advisory

board includes Will Allen from Milwaukee’s Growing Pow-

er, and Michael Christian from American Hydroponics.

The South Bronx is a place that has distinct cultural groups,

each with their own organizations. In forming partnerships

with local neighborhood groups, Sky Vegetables ensure

that good food is being made available to people living in

the blocks surrounding the farm. Plans include hiring and

training from the neighborhood to fill the duties of caring

While urban farms aren’t new to

New York City, the Sky site toward

the north end of the metropolis

isn’t a touring stop. It’s a serious

agricultural operation that will sup-

ply fresh, locally grown food to the

neighborhood via harvest boxes through community sup-

ported agriculture programs, as well as through markets

across the Bronx borough. All produce is grown without

pesticides or insecticides in greenhouses that will use solar

power and rainwater harvesting. Unlike many other urban

farms across the country, Sky Farm is a totally hydroponic

operation.

Partnerships Are Big At SkyKeith Agoada, founder of Sky Vegetables, began planning

the now functioning rooftop farm in 2009. Construction

Sustainable urban farming hits the roof - literally, and on several levels. In the low income food desert known

as the South Bronx, Sky Vegetables is paving the way to greener inner city neighborhoods everywhere. It’s

a farm that residents will no doubt look up to for multiple reasons, the most obvious being that the totally

closed unit occupies the rooftop of a newly constructed 8-story apartment building.

GREEN

“ T H E M A R R I A G E O F G R E E N B U I L D I N G

TO R O O F TO P G R E E N H O U S E FA R M ”

FARM ABOVE“ N OT H I N G Q U I T E L I K E I T E X I S T S E L S E W H E R E”

UBER

57

for the crops, harvest, distribution and community out-

reach. Since his initial concept to what is now a reality,

Agoada always saw teaching people in the neighborhood

how the growing operation ticks as part of his big picture.

Green InnovationsArbor House, that sits beneath Sky Farm, is not your aver-

age affordable rent building. Freshly completed by Blue Sea

Development, 124-unit housing project is a model in green

building and sustainable living for the city, the state, and

literally all of the United States. Adding a vegetable farm

to the roof is like the icing on the cake. “It is an exciting

project,” as Laurie Schoeman, NYC Community Relations

Manager for Sky puts it. Nothing quite like it exists else-

where.

Innovation abounds between the marriage of green build-

ing to rooftop greenhouse farm. The partnership between

57

Sky Vegetables and Blue Sea is one to be proud of. For

residents, the place is full of healthy lifestyle perks from

the living green wall in the foyer to music in the stairways,

and on to energy efficiency that will allow them more af-

fordable utility bills. While residents might not be able to

access the farm casually, it provides important heating and

cooling benefits to their homes. Arbor House is construct-

ed mainly with recycled materials, and was awarded both

a Platinum LEEDS certification and NAHB Green certifica-

tion.

The Crops and SystemsUnder the direction of master hydro farmer, Joe Schwartz

and his assistant Kate Ahearn, winter crops provide the

neighborhood with lots of fresh greens, including kale, 5

kinds of lettuce, chard and basil. Warmer weather will

bring more sunshine and the crops will change to take ad-

UBERGREEN FARM I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

GREEN

BY TAMMY CLAYTON

“SKY VEGETABLES IS PAVING THE WAY TO GREENER INNER CITY

NEIGHBOURHOODS EVERYWHERE”

Vertical garden in lobby

58

GARDEN CULTURE I UBERGREEN FARM

vantage of that, versus the use of grow lights that is needed

to supplement on days with less than 6 hours of sunlight.

Grow lights are also used for germination to ensure the

process is smooth.

All growing equipment used in the rooftop farm comes

from American Hydroponics. Sky Farm will employ 20 full

time and 10 part time workers. They’re using NFT and flood

and drain setups for seed germination. Anticipated yields

of 272-363 tonnes of local fresh produce are expected ev-

ery year from the 743 m2 growing space.

Aiming HighSky Farm and Arbor House in the Bronx offers the world a

model for sustainable development and building integrated

agriculture. On a mission to improve city dweller’s health

and nutrition, Sky Vegetables also seeks to help localize the

economy, help educate community residents and youth to

growing fresh food, create new jobs, as well as promoting

healthy eating through community programming.

For Sky Vegetables, anticipation for germinating that first

crop’s seeds spanned years. It’s not the end of new begin-

nings for this urban agriculture company. They are already

busy planning the next Sky Farm. Where it will appear has

not been decided, though possible locations exist. One

thing you can most likely count on, it won’t grace the top

of just any building. The project will no doubt be greener

than green.3

“ANTICIPATED YIELDS OF 272-362 TONNESS OF LOCAL FRESH PRODUCE ARE EXPECTED EVERY YEAR”

On a mission to improve city dweller’s nutrition, Sky

Vegetables also seeks to help localize the economy, help

educate community residents and youth to growing fresh

food, create new jobs, as well as promoting healthy eating

through community programming

_SunSystem-UK-GC-ad.indd 1 4/24/13 8:55 AM

62 62

MEET

AMERICA’SDIRTIEST LAWYER

“USING THE SOIL FOOD WEB IS EASY AND MAKE SO MUCH SENSE.”


INTERVIEW I GARDEN CULTUREBY TOM ALEXANDER

Jeff Lowenfels immediately became one of the gurus of the organic gardening world, when his

bestselling book, “Teaming With Microbes”, was published in 2006, and he started traveling around

the U.S. and Canada giving over a hundred presentations at gardening conferences and meetings on

the soil food web and how to keep it healthy. His presentations are a fast mix of useful information

and garden comedy. He splits the year living in Anchorage, Alaska and Portland, Oregon. We were

together in Kauai, Hawaii on vacation when we sat down for this interview.

You are a past president of the Gar-

den Writers Association. How have

garden writers embraced organic

gardening?

I can remember a meeting in NYC when

the group almost broke up because

there was an organic presentation on

the agenda. Wow. Bad feelings were

everywhere… almost no one was or-

ganic! Now it is hard to find anyone who

is using chemicals. The group is probably

99% organic. That is quite a change over

20 years.

What are the most important

benefits of organic gardening and

how do you achieve them?

Well, from the plant’s perspective it is better

soil. Organics support the life that makes soil

structure. You have to have good structure to have

healthy plants. From the animal perspective, we are not

only poisoning ourselves, our families, our friends and our

neighbors. It is pretty simple. There is no question that the

industrial chemicals we are sold are full of things we should

not be putting on our gardens, let alone on our skin, in our

lungs and on the food we eat.

While you were President of the Garden Writ-

ers Association you started Plant a Row for the

Hungry. Tell me more about that.

Hey, Plant a Row is a great program. Everyone who has a gar-

den has something that goes to waste. This is a way we can

dedicate one or more rows in our gardens to feed those

What was your gardening history

while growing up in Scarsdale, N.Y.?

Were you organic back then?

My family became organic sometime

when I was reaching my teen years. Be-

fore that we were pretty heavy into

spraying the apples and we knew the

founder of Miracle Gro so we used that

as well for fertilizing the gardens. My

Dad met J.R Rodale (founder of Organic

Gardening magazine) somewhere along

the line. We grew pretty much all of

our food so it was a pretty important

step. We were big Miracle Gro users, so

it was quite a change.

You have been called America’s

dirtiest lawyer. How did you get that

moniker?

I am a practicing lawyer (even licensed to argue be-

fore the Supreme Court!.) I have also been writing gar-

den columns and stuff for over 38 years. The combination

seemed like a natural one to a couple of my friends and it

stuck….soil and law…dirty lawyer.

You were once a proponent of chemical gar-

dening. What changed your mind?

A great friend, you, sent me a picture of a nematode being

eaten by a fungi that is protecting a root with the words,

“soil food web.” I read up on it and was sold from the very

start. It makes so much sense to let things protect them-

selves the natural way. Who uses pesticides on those old,

old Redwoods?

“TEAMING WITH MICROBES IS ABOUT

MICROBIOLOGY AND ITS STORY GETS THE FOOD TO THE

PLANT.”

INTERVIEW I GARDEN CULTURE


who need the food without the govern-

ment getting involved. Nothing slips from

cup to lip. Gardener’s take their excess

to soup kitchens, food banks, places of

worship or just to those they know who

will appreciate it. Real simple. And, un-

fortunately, really needed.

Your book “Teaming with Microbes” and your

presentations around the country about the soil

food web have changed gardening techniques

for hundreds of thousands of people. What have

your readers shared with you on how your book

and/or presentations changed the way they gar-

den?

I am overwhelmed by the comments I get. Some folks literally

changed their lives after reading the book and hearing the talks

and started soil food web businesses. Hard to believe a book

could have that kind of impact. The other day, I had a fellow

come up to me at a conference in Springfield, Massachusetts.

He flew up from South Africa to hear my talk and to thank me

for changing his life four years ago. Now he is a leading organic

businessman in his country!

Anyhow, once people have the knowledge of what chemicals

do to the soil and the soil food web, they instantly get it. Given

the tools to change how they do things, and they are off and

running. You can tell from their faces and from their questions.

Using the Soil Food Web is easy and make so much sense.

“ORGANICS SUPPORT THE

LIFE THAT MAKES SOIL STRUCTURE.

YOU HAVE TO HAVE GOOD

STRUCTURE TO HAVE HEALTHY

PLANTS”

Some businesses and several

university scientists are criti-

cal of aerated compost tea, one

of the foundations of creating a

healthy soil food web, claiming

there are no double blind scien-

tific studies showing it works.

Still commercial farmers, golf

courses, landscape companies are investing big

bucks in using it and doing so with fantastic re-

sults. What’s up with these scientists? Show

them a good lab experiment and it isn’t good

enough. Show them great plants and that isn’t

good enough.

Well, first of all, it is hard to duplicate things when you use

compost as one of the variables because it is so variable.

However, I know when I test mine on basil or cilantro, for

example, I get demonstrable differences every time. I know

farmers who do too. I have read college thesis demonstrat-

ing teas work and last month read a fantastic study from the

University of Arizona demonstrating that tea worked. Still a

certain group just keeps hammering on compost tea. The last

study was “no good because it was a lab study, not one done

out in the field.” O.K. Don’t use compost tea if you don’t want

to. It is one of three or four ways you can restore the soil food

web. If you don’t want to use it, there are others! It is curious,

however, that so many commercial farmers are successful and

continue to use it. That is pretty good proof to me. These

folks are not fools and wasting their hard earned money on

something that doesn’t work.


Right: Food crops treated with my-chorrhizal fungi

showed increased drought resistance

Today: write with your other hand!

(Practise here!)

Trying something new can be scary, but not with Try·Pack™

Small pack • low price • high quality

A combination for every wish:

· Indoor pack

· Outdoor pack

· Hydro pack

· Stimulant pack

TRY something new

EVERY DAY!

Try the new Try·Pack!Tomorrow:

Check it out on www.biobizz.com or the Biobizz WWO facebookpage

ad garden culture A4+5mm 21mar2013 pub apr-may-jun.indd 1 21-03-13 14:22


INTERVIEW I GARDEN CULTURE

Fungi, like these mushrooms, are an essential part of the soil food web

Cultivating the next generation of organic growers...

How do mycorrhiza fit into the soil food web?

Lots of the minerals needed by plants, especially the metals,

are chemically bound to the soil particles. The root comes

into contact with them and these nutrients diffuse into the

plant root. The area becomes depleted and the plant has to

find more. Mycorrhizal fungi are able to unbind these nutri-

ents and are so much smaller than root hairs providing much

more surface area contact with the nutrients. They then de-

liver these nutrients to plant roots. The plant provides the

carbon the fungi needs completing the symbiosis. This makes

a mycorrhiza, mycorrhizae is the plural… i.e. a root-fungus

partnership, made up by mychorrizal fungi and the roots.

These fungi also come into contact with water and bring that

back to the plant along with some of the nutrients dissolved

in it.

Your new book, “Teaming with Nutrients,” is

due out later this year. The title is obvious but

get more into what it is about.

Well, “Teaming With Microbes” was about microbiology

and its story gets the food to the plant as ultimately it is the

plant’s exudates that attract the bacteria and fungi to the

roots where they eat and are excreted as plant usable nutri-

ents. (exudates, bacteria and fungi, protozoa and nematodes

recycle them in the rhizosphere) but I started to wonder how

the food gets into a plant. How do they eat? So, “Teaming

With Nutrients: The Organic Gardener’s Guide To Optimiz-

ing Plant Nutrition” takes over. Whew, quite a title, huh? It is

based on cellular biology, for the most part. You have to have

some chemistry and botany and cellular biology to get the full

picture… I try and include what is needed and do so in a “light,”

understandable fashion. It’s an interesting read which will lead

you to some logical conclusions to make you a better and more

sustainable gardener.

What is your opinion about GMOs? Are they

screwing up the environment? What are the dan-

gers of GMOs in your opinion?

Well, there is no question that the stuff being used as a result

of GMOs, glyphosate mixtures, are harming soil structure and

that is not good. It takes a long time to make good soil. If they

were as safe as Monsanto and others want us to believe, then

why won’t they agree to labeling. My goodness….what else

needs to be said?

Will there be a third book? A Teaming trilogy?

Well, I have one in mind as we speak. You never know. I like

the idea of doing a trilogy and becoming “Lord of The Roots”

instead of America’s Dirtiest Lawyer! 3

“LOTS OF THE MINERALS NEEDED BY PLANTS, ESPECIALLY THE METALS, ARE CHEMICALLY BOUND TO THE

SOIL PARTICLES.MYCORRHIZAL FUNGI ARE ABLE TO

UNBIND THESE NUTRIENTS”

“IF THEY (GMOS) WERE AS SAFE AS MONSANTO AND OTHERS WANT US TO BELIEVE, THEN WHY

WON’T THEY JUST AGREE TO LABELING”

68

Soil Techniques in hydroponics

“Does a human truly know what a plant WANTS?”

When people are first introduced to hydroponics many marvel at the concept of roots

growing in water and the “technology” involved, or the magic of producing yields ten

and even twenty times larger per acre than those accomplished in soil. While these are

certainly real and relevant ideas, the reality is that a plant is a plant. Even if it was growing

on Mars it would still require the same basic requirements provided by Mother Nature.

The name of the growing game is how to deliver these most efficiently and effectively.

This is best accomplished by considering what the plant wants, not what we want to get

out of the plant. Think of it this way, it is one thing to allow a plant to grow, but it’s another

entirely to allow your plants to thrive.

69 69

SOIL TECHNIQUES I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

BY EVAN FOLDS

For instance, as is attested to by anyone who has used

them, a basic hydroponic nutrient is sufficient to grow a

plant successfully. In other words, it’s designed to provide

everything the plant requires to grow, which amounts to

anywhere from 15-17 elements, depending on who you ask.

Now let’s ask ourselves a question. There are over 90

Earth-bound elements on the periodic table, so why would

Mother Nature make an element not needed in the garden?

Think about that. Does a human truly know what a plant

wants?

The fact is that using natural and “organic” products al-

low people to use a wider variety of elemental nutrition

unconsciously without choosing to bring these materials to

the table because they are diverse by Nature. This is the

basis for the generally accepted concept that hydroponics

delivers higher yields, but “organics” brings a higher quality.

There is truth to this idea. But it is also true that you can

get the best of both worlds.

In order to express these ideas fully it helps to have a clear

delineation of soil growing versus hydroponic growing. In

the simplest terms, hydroponic gardening is an emphasis on

growing the plant, while growing in soil is a focus on grow-

ing the soil, or more directly, growing microorganisms.

Microbes are beneficial to plants directly through making

perfect plant food and helping them eat it, as well as indi-

rectly by acting as a preventive measure towards root and

foliar disease and pest infestations.

It is an apt analogy to compare the living organisms that

make up the soil food web to that of the ocean food web.

Microscopic organism activity supports the entire ecosys-

tem of the ocean, such as photosynthetic bacteria or plank-

ton. In general terms, the big fish eats the small fish and all

survive by attaining biological balance. The strength of the

system is in the diversity and the magic is found, not in a

single component, but in the symbiosis and synergy of the

web of life.

The same is true in the soil. Microorganisms, or microbes,

are the plankton of the soil food web. Up to 50% of the

food plants make for themselves in photosynthesis is actu-

ally fed through its roots as an exudate to attract microbes.

There is an intelligence to this system, and take note that

this teamwork is generally absent from a conventional hy-

droponic system offering only 15-17 elements and water.

Thinking about these systems properly is very important.

In fact, it is the very act of treating soil environments like

hydroponic applications that cause so many of the issues

we experience on our farms and in our residential land-

scapes. Artificial products do not feed microbes. And mi-

crobes make plant food, people don’t.

Given this understanding, the trick is in how to get mi-

crobes and the natural processes of Nature to support the

yield enhancing benefits of hydroponic applications. One of

the best ways to do this is using living compost tea.

Compost tea is the act of growing microbes using diverse

food and mineral sources within aerated water. The result

is microbiological reproduction and the perfect plant food

being created.

While many choose to maintain “cleanliness”, in all real-

ity considering the above arguments, the most important

place to use compost tea is in a hydroponic system.

For instance, budget fertilizers contain maybe 7-8 total

elements, a hydroponic fertilizer maybe 17, but a good

compost tea recipe contains over 90 elements. Not only

are there more elements, but they are more available and

there are more forms of them. Nature makes isotopes, or

different forms of the same element. Never heard of it?

Look it up.

So there’s the total number of elements and the form po-

tential of those elements, but let’s take it one step further.

The different elements actually work together to produce

superior results in the garden.

That’s right. It’s accepted knowledge in good agronomy

that, for example, you want manganese at ½ of iron, or

“A PLANT IS A PLANT - REQUIRING THE SAME BASIC ELEMENTS EVEN IF YOU’RE GROWING ON MARS”

Compost tea can, and should be, used

in every garden. Water culture

hydroponics is a technique

most vulnerable to root dis-

ease because the roots are

constantly submerged in

the reservoir solution.

The above illustration il-

lustrates this. The fertilizer

solution constantly aerates the

roots from the bottom as they

grow into the solution.

The organisms that cause common

rooting diseases are always pres-

ent in a hydroponic reservoir in the

same way that mold grows when a

room is humid. Again, it is weak

plants and inferior conditions that

allow them to express themselves.

This grower had some browning

roots that were limp and looked

disease prone (pic at left). The

roots were not yet rotten, but slime coated and the plant

growth was limping along.

Once the severely damaged roots were

removed, and compost tea was added

to the reservoir, BOOM, the fresh new

white roots are popping out like crazy.

The picture to the right shows the dif-

ference only 48 hours after adding com-

post tea to the reservoir.

that zinc is 1/10th of phosphorous in or-

der for plants to have adequate ac-

cess to these elements. In other

words, certain elements un-

lock others in proper ratios.

The idea is not to figure all

of this out, it is arguable if

that is even possible. But

one thing is for sure, if

you don’t put all the play-

ers on the field... your

team will not win as many

games.

The diagram on the right is

not proof of anything. It was put

together by many people through

many anecdotal experiences. And it is

only scratching the surface. But most of the

important information cannot be measured directly. Such

is life.

Regardless, it provides a window into the complexity and

potential of balanced growing with natural potential and

hopefully challenges the grower to think outside of the box

of good enough. We need to start asking ourselves what

we’re missing before all we are left with are empty geneti-

cally modified plants. But that’s another article. (Note - A

smilie was here)

Even one step further, it is important to consider elemen-

tal diversity from a plants perspective, but it may even be

more important to consider it from a microbes perspec-

tive. Microbes create and use enzymes to do their work

and every element on the period table has an enzyme po-

tential. It’s called a co-factor, meaning the specific element

defines the enzyme and acts as a backbone, so to speak.

So in a very real sense, without all elements in your garden

it’s like hiring microbes to build a house and giving them

only half the tools.

“THERE ARE OVER 90 EARTH-BOUND ELEMENTS ON THE PERIODIC TABLE, SO WHY WOULD MOTHER NATURE MAKE AN ELEMENT NOT NEEDED IN THE GARDEN? BASIC HYDROPONIC NUTRIENTS HAVE ONLY 15-17 ELEMENTS”

70

elemental connection

root slime

no slime left!

71

Below is 72 hours after adding compost tea to the reser-

voir with images of two more plants that were in the same

system. All of them have pearly white roots exploding from

the root system. The above images are the middle plant

below.

Here is another side-by-side from a customer using com-

post tea in hydroponics. In the image to the left you see

rooting before adding compost tea. The image to the right

shows the same plant 48 hours after adding it.

Following is a side-by-side we did in-house in an ebb & flow

hydroponic system. They were grown next to each other

in separate systems.

The plant on the left was the control and grown with a base

hydroponic fertilizer and water. The plant on the right re-

ceived 1 cup per gallon of compost tea with the same base

hydroponic fertilizer. The results speak for themselves.

SOIL TECHNIQUES I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

“UP TO 50% OF THE FOOD PLANTS MAKE IS ACTUALLY EXUDED THROUGH ITS ROOTS TO ATTRACT MICROBES”

Pearly white root system after 72 hours with compost tea

before addition of compost teaafter 48 hours with compost tea

WITHOUT Compost Tea WITH Compost Tea

Many already use hybrid approaches using “soilless” mixes

containing peat moss or coir fiber. They cost less and are a

suitable for making custom mixes. They are also more suit-

able for establishing healthy microbiological activity.

And if you’re wondering. Don’t be concerned about kill-

ing microbes with artificial hydroponic nutrients. You’re

not helping them, but microbes are extremely resilient and,

generally speaking, if you are not harming plants with the

salt toxicity you are not hurting the microbes.

Besides, microbes actually act as a clearing solution. Most

hydroponic growers tell themselves that living compost tea

solutions will “contaminate” or “gunk up” their systems

with bioslimes and all sorts of other scary things, when, in

fact, the opposite is true. Use compost tea at a 1:20 ratio on

reservoir changes and you will have the cleanest reservoir

you’ve ever seen. Try it.

Just goes to show that sometimes life is not as it seems.

Consider the perspective that the first thing that we should

know is that we don’t. The humility in this approach is

where real progress is made.

Happy growing. 3

72

The problem with standard containers and planters is the you must pour lots of water in through the top

to get good consistent moisture to all the roots. Potting mix has sharp drainage to protect roots from rot,

so you have very low moisture retention as all unabsorbed moisture quickly exits at the bottom. This is

great on automated irrigation. At home, it results in plants enjoying a heavy drink, getting parched, binge

again existence... and the cycle continues for the length of their life.

Not only is this a huge waste of water, it throws your plants off-balance. First they’re lovin’ life. Next

they’re battling stress. Then it’s back to living large again when you come by with the watering can.

You know what this kind of constant mood and energy swing does to you. Imagine what it does to

plants and their ability to grow food!

(self irrigating planter)

“THIS TECHNIQUE IS ALSO KNOWN

AS PASSIVE HYDROPONICS”

PLANTS AREN’T MADE FOR CONTAINERSContainer growing any plant means being super vigilant

in staying on top of your watering. Let it get too dry and

you have foliar damage at best. This situation can maim

or kill even a rugged plant quickly under the midday sun

outdoors. Inside a building won’t make parched potting

mix any friendlier. In fact, it’s much more critical. Modern

homes and offices are climate controlled, free of dew and

rainfall.

With a SIP system, or self irrigating planter, you can still en-

joy just picked delicious produce at a far lower cost. You’ll

also use way less water and none of it is wasted. The bonus

with these growing systems is that you have greatly re-

duced your risk of crop loss because you forgot to water.

autopot

73 73

seeds. Here your containers sit on an absorbent mat with

ends that drop over a riser stand to draw water from the

pan below. In a seed starting tray like this, a clear plastic

dome keeps moisture from simply evaporating and disap-

pearing too quickly. Self watering growing systems today

also enclose the water tray and reservoir for this same

reason.

Old fashioned methods of wicking into containers used

cotton rope to pull water from the reservoir into the con-

tainer where the media and roots could do their thing.

Technology and advanced knowledge has improved this

technique of low maintenance growing. Some SIP systems

still use a wick, others use the wicking action naturally

present in soil or moisture holding media.

Water is heavy, but with proper aeration, any of it stored

below is drawn up into the substrate easily without a

wick. That is what capillary action is all about. When fine

tunnels are available in the soil or potting mix, water can

defy gravity and rise. Your plants make full use of it where

it counts most - at the root zone. A huge reduction in

water use and foliar issues from overhead watering.

You can increase your water conservation with the use of

lightweight sheet mulch covering the surface of the grow-

ing media. Additionally, these techniques allow fruits and

veggies grown anywhere with minimal labor while deliver-

ing high yields in a very compact space.

HOW DO I GET ONE?You can buy ready to use systems online, at local garden

centres and hydro shops. What you can grow this way

runs the full gamut. There are shallow planters perfect

for herbs and greens to those large enough to grow sweet

corn and full-sized tomato plants. Plant a mixed mini plot

in a single container, or a whole garden of goodness grow-

ing in several containers at once.

SIP GARDENING I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

BY TAMMY CLAYTON

You can also go away for a week and not come home to

dead plants. The biggest benefit might be that your har-

vest will ripen more quickly than in a traditional summer

garden and with a higher yield.

Here’s the really cool part. You can grow totally organic

food this way - indoors or outside. SIP gardens are per-

fect for an empty corner, a windowsill, rooftop gardens,

patios, balconies, classrooms, greenhouses and even your

office. For best results indoors, do plan on using full sun

intensity grow lights.

HOW DOES THIS WORK?Any self watering planting system will hold a great deal of

water in a reservoir with a storage capacity ranging from

one to many gallons. Some are battery operated drip sys-

tems and others use natural gravity, water pressure and a

specially designed container. An important note about in-

expensive automated drip systems. Your tap water could

cause problems with valve functioning. Claber makes

one you’ll find easy to find that can water 20 plants for

40 days, but the reviews are anything but glowing. Why

bother if it’s not reliable?

Gravity is free and far less prone to issues. Plants know

exactly how to make this system work. The simplest form

of self irrigating system uses what is known as wicking

or capillary action. This has long been used for starting

“WITH A SIP SYSTEM, OR SELF IRRIGATING

PLANTER... ENJOY JUST PICKED DELICIOUS

PRODUCE AT A FAR LOWER COST. YOU’LL ALSO USE WAY LESS

WATER AND NONE OF IT WILL BE WASTED”

homemade set-up

EARTHBOX SHOOL GARDEN

www.theneutralizer.euMade and Designed in Spain

Professional Odour Eliminator

Unrivalled odour elimination for just 4p per hourThe Neutralizer requires minimal energy consumption and offers 6 weeks of round the clock, odour free cultivation, providing you with a cost effective aroma neutralising solution for your grow room. (Replacement cartridges available). The blend of natural oil based ingredients used in The Neutralizer effectively diffuses unwanted aromas from 375 cubic metres area within an hour of activation.

The Neutralizer – Small on stature. Big on impact

Complete Kit

£99.95Replacement

Cartridge£39.95


“WATER CAN DEFY GRAVITY AND RISE INTO MEDIA USING CAPILLARY ACTION.”“.”“YOU CAN GROW INDOORS AND OUTDOORS WITH ONE UNIT - DEPENDING ON THE SEASON.”

SIP GARDENING I GARDEN CULTURE

BRANDS TO INVESTIGATEAll of these function without timers or power,

though you do need electricity for grow lights

for reliable indoor gardening. If the SIP system

has a pump, it operates using gravity triggered by

water level when needed. This technique is also

known as passive hydroponics.

EarthBox• Window box styling; 2 sizes & 3 colors

• Fill your own or purchase a full kit

• Organic kit available

• Accessories & supplies available

• Priced from £17

• More info and dealer location:

www.earthbox.com

Lucheza• Gorgeous individual pots for discerning

indoor gardeners


• Supplies & accessories available

• Visual reservoir level monitor

• Stacking systems available

Autopot Easy 2 Grow• Gravity triggered pump

• Passive hydroponics

• Natural capillary activity

• Reservoir feeds & waters up to 4 weeks

• 2 pot system kit with reservoir

• Used in homes and commercial growing

• Expandable system with 1-2 pot trays

• Larger reservoirs available


Quadgrow and Octogrow

(by Nutriculture)

• Gravity fed passive hydroponics

• 4 pot or 8 pot system, doubles available

• Slim & square footprint options

• Capillary action via Smart Strips

• Easily expandable system

• Quad: Priced from £43

• Octo: Priced from £85

STRAPPED FOR CASH?You can build your own SIP planters. Check

out these great plans that could cost as

little as £4 to complete here: http://www.

seattleoil.com/Flyers/Earthbox.pdf. Prac-

tice some savvy repurposing or recycling,

and you might do it for less. If you’re new

to growing food,

the DIY directions

on that web page

explains what you

need once you’ve

got your planter

built. There are also

winterization tips

if gardening solely outdoors, but you can

grow indoors and outdoors with one unit

- depending on the season.

A note about building your own. Look for

plastic tubs that are safe, like recyclable

symbol 5 on the bottom, which identifies

food grade polypropylene construction.

WHICH IS BETTER?Factory produced systems are probably

much more durable and they are the clos-

est thing to a plug and play SIP garden pos-

sible. If you’re not real handy and can afford

them, buying a ready made gardening sys-

tem might be your key to success. 3

“CONTAINER GROWING ANY PLANT MEANS

BEING SUPER VIGILANT IN STAYING ON TOP OF

YOUR WATERING”

YOU CAN BUY SIP

PLANTERS OR BUILD YOUR

OWN

EarthBox

Lucheza

autopot

quadgrow slim

76

Cuttings are ideal for

aeroponic systems be-

cause the roots grow

much faster than in

growing medium and

they are less prone to

diseases because the

roots are in air instead

of lying in growing sub-

strates that provide a

habitat for pathogens.

Cuttings rooted in

aeroponics are ideal for

transplanting into hydro-

ponic and soil based growing systems. Often, many grow-

ers use aeroponic rooting machines like the EZ-CLONE

aeroponic cloning machine or they may create their own

system from a plastic storage bin and spare plumbing parts

from their local hydroponic retailer.

Here are the some simple steps to use a rooting machine

to turn your fresh cuttings into a rooting extravaganza!

Embrace the Awesome

Power of Air

STEP 1. Fill ‘er up!Fill your machine with room temperature water.

You might be inclined to throw some nutrients into the wa-

ter at this stage, but your cuttings will not uptake the nutri-

ents because they lack roots. As you begin to notice roots,

you can gradually add nutrients to feed your cuttings. It’s

recommended to use non organic mineral based nutrients

over organic nutrients because the plant can immediately

absorb the nutrients. There are numerous nutrient mixes

on the market designed for rooting cuttings. Look for nu-

trient products with phosphorus to encourage the growth

of your roots. Try to get you’re your EC between 0.4 and

0.6.

STEP 2. Environment ControlsPamper your cuttings with an ideal temperature of around

24 degrees Celsius and try to keep the highest tempera-

ture to below 29 degrees to reduce stress. The nutrient

solution should stay between 26.6 and 29 degrees. Keep

an eye on the submerged pumps, air vents, and placement

on appliances, or strong sunlight that could vary the tem-

perature of the nutrient solution.

If you’ve got the need for speed let go of your dir t and water! Aeroponics, cultivating plants in

an air or mist environment without a growing medium. Aeroponics often uses misting nozzles to

create a humid environment that roots thrive in.

“Pamper your cuttings”

All images courtesy of EZCLONE, INC (http://www.ezclone.com/)

“Cuttings are ideal for aeroponic systems because the roots grow much faster...”

77 77

CUTTINGS I GARDEN CULTUREBY BEN GREENE

gardenculture.net

Embrace the Awesome

Power of Air

STEP 3. Light it up!Cuttings require much less light than they will need dur-

ing later stages of their life. Avoid intense light and direct

sunlight as it distracts the plants from rooting. Window

sills are fine, but growers prefer the control of 55 watt T5

fluorescent lights placed 30-38 cm above the cuttings. The

lights should stay on for 18-24 hours a day for maximum

growth.

STEP 4. Place your cuttings into the aeroponic machineMany aeroponic machines use neoprene foam inserts. En-

sure that your foam inserts are clean and free from debris

to prevent disease. You should insert the cuttings into the

slit in the foam, allowing 2” of the stem to dangle into the

misting chamber. Only bare stems should be placed in the

misting chamber.

STEP 5. Go Forth and Grow!Expect the leaves on your cutting to wilt slightly for a few

hours while they are becoming adjusted to their new envi-

ronment. If the cuttings continue to wilt, mist the leaves

with water. If it looks like you may lose a couple of cuttings

after the first 24 hours, go ahead and create a replacement

for those. You should begin to see white roots forming on

the cuttings by day 3. At this stage you can begin to add

your nutrient solution.

Keep an eye on the machine and ensure that your nozzles

don’t clog, this is very important, because extended peri-

ods of dry air will lead to a quick death for your cuttings!

On day 7, you should notice a proliferation of roots form-

ing. This is just the beginning! Give your cutting 4 more

days to develop its root system and mature into its own

plant. Root hair formation is a sure sign that your cuttings

are ready to transplant. If you’re not in a hurry to plant,

your plants can survive for weeks in the aeroponic ma-

chine. Go forth and grow! 3

“Use non organic mineral based

nutrients”

: “If you’ve got the need for speed

let go of your dirt and water!”

NUMBER

IN E U R O PE

GUARANTEE

G U A R A N TEE

NUMBER

IN E U R O PE

GUARANTEE

G U A R A N TEE

Is your company in need of a face lift?

GC Publishers is your ‘cosmetic surgeon’ of

choice when it comes to re-vamping your

company’s marketing needs.

We specialize in creative concepts, from a

fresh new logo or new advertisement to a

high-tech website. For every budget.

We’re happy to talk to you about your

specific needs and wishes.

www.GCpublishers.netGCpublishers

80

S E C R E T T O B E T T E R TA S T I N G V E G E TA B L E S“These (cooking) methods preserve nutri-ents, provide great flavor, a nice crunch and does not cook it to baby food hell. ”

81 81

TASTY VEGETABLES I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

What if I told you these methods would preserve nutrients,

provide great flavor, a nice crunch and won’t involve any ge-

netic “enhancements?” Oh what is this wondrous witchcraft

I’m spouting, you may ask? It’s called blanching and steaming. It

may sound familiar. It may sound like it’s a myth. But it is real.

So what is the difference between blanching and steaming?

How can I do this myself without a trained chef? Well that’s

where I come in.

Blanching is a process of flash cooking and cooling. You take a

pot of rapidly boiling water and add a bit of salt. Put your fresh

veggies in (cutting off stems and cleaning beforehand). Cook

for around two to no more than five minutes (depending on

the veggie toughness factor; broccoli takes longer than green

beans, etc.), and then immediately transfer to an ice water bath

for about thirty seconds. That’s it! So why should you do this

few minutes of labor?

I recently visited a small, family owned dining establishment

in Lancaster, CA. While I was there I spoke to head chef and

manager of Barones on the Blvd, Thomas Powers. According

to chef Powers, blanching is reserved for vegetables with a cell

structure that will break down when overcooked. Veggies like

broccoli, cauliflower and squashes he says. When you over-

cook these types of veggies, they turn to mush in a pale shade

of what was. But, chef Powers says, if you blanch, you preserve

the crunchy bite, the lush color and best of all, the nutrients.

Blanching does quick cook the fresh veggie, but does not cook

it to baby food hell.

But wait! Don’t leave your love seat just yet. All this talk about

blanching may have made you jump up and go on a food ad-

venture. Yet we haven’t even touched the other way to make

crunchy, nutrient rich veggies, steaming.

Instead of asking a professional chef for steaming advice, I in-

stead went to my local resident expert and parent, Lucy Burk.

My mother has been cooking veggies and local foods for years.

She has worked in various restaurants as well as feeding my well

for eighteen years of my life. I don’t know a better cook. When

I asked her about what steaming is, she stated, “Steaming is a

method of using high heat (to boil water) to steam the vegeta-

bles without making them wilt.”

Just like blanching, this method preserves flavor and nutri-

ents. This method is quicker, because you don’t need the

ice bath step. But, you may lose some color. Any vegetable can

be preserved this way. All you need to do is get a boiling pot

Attention all home growers! Did you know there are

ways to make your vegetables taste better than they

already do? What if I was to tell you this way only in-

volves some rapidly boiled water, a couple of bowls,

a strainer and about the same amount of time it will

take you to read this article? It sounds crazy, I know,

but bear with me for your own benefit.

BY BRIAN BURK

STEAMING IS A METHOD OF USING HIGH HEAT... THE VEGGIES GO ABOVE THE WATER

TASTY VEGETABLES I GARDEN CULTURE

Tel: +44 (0) 1223 610021Tel: +44 (0) 1223 500633

Email: [email protected]: www.downtoearthkent.co.uk

Down to Earth Kent LtdD E

of water on your stove.

Add a bit of salt for fla-

vor. Once the water is

boiling, put your veg-

gies in a good strainer

and place it on the top

of the pot. The veggies

should be ABOVE the

water, not soaked in it. Vegetables that are more dense may

take about four or five minutes to steam. Veggies that are less

dense could take around two or three minutes to cook. Again,

like blanching, this method preserves flavor and texture.

Now there are some differences between blanching and steam-

ing. Blanching can preserve the color more than steaming will,

but you may lose some nutrients since the vegetables are being

fully immersed in the boiling water. Steaming may cause some

loss of color, but will keep more of the nutritional benefit. Serv-

ing time wise, blanching is better if you’re planning on serving a

bit later in the day or the next day. Steaming, on the other hand,

may be better if you’re planning on serving your fresh vegetables

right after the steaming process.

When you look at it side by side, you can’t go wrong either

way. Blanching or steaming will get you great results as long

as you don’t cook the vegetables too long. Too much cooking,

with either method, will result in mushy lumps of lost nutri-

tion that you couldn’t pick up with a fork. Also, make sure you

clean and cut off all the non-edibles BEFORE you do either

method. So you have your home garden, try something new.

When you have that party, or friends come over for some din-

ner, or maybe you’re making some food for yourself and you

want some great healthy flavor, try one of these methods. Go

ahead. Get up and do it. 3

“TOO MUCH COOKING WILL RESULT IN MUSHY LUMPS OF LOST NUTRITION”

84

Looking at Air

but the rest can cause heat buildup if the amount of heat

generated by the equipment is higher than the amount

of heat removed from the room.

Hot air is just high energy air, and by removing it close

to the heat source, you can pull the energy out of the

garden before it transfers much of its heat to the sur-

rounding air. To lower the garden temperature to grow-

ing temperatures it is more efficient to vent off the hot-

test air than it is to try to dilute it with cold air.

Since lights are likely your largest source of waste heat

in the garden, they are one of the biggest climate con-

cerns. Whenever possible, keep the ballast outside of

the garden proper. As part of their functioning, ballasts

generate a fair amount of waste heat, and any heat you

can avoid putting into the garden is heat you don’t have

to worry about dealing with. Tents in particular should

have the ballasts located outside of the garden environ-

ment.

In a natural setting such as a meadow; an ocean of air

washes over and though the plant life. Waves of air push

away excess humidity and oxygen, and they carry car-

bon dioxide in. When a plant is removed from its native

habitat, the natural sources of light, rain, and wind are

lost, and the gardener becomes responsible for meeting

the environmental needs of the plant. Indoor gardeners

take their plants away from the wind, and fans or other

environmental measures are used to replace it.

Plants grown in still air tend to have more problems with

molds, insects, and disease. Moving air from fans helps

to keep moisture from collecting and encouraging mold

spore growth. Fans can also help remove excess heat, to

help defend against heat loving spider mites.

Indoor gardens tend to have more trouble with heat

than cold. This makes sense if you consider you are add-

ing energy into a closed room in the form of electricity,

which converts into light and heat by the lighting fix-

tures. The plants absorb and use some of that energy,

(Climate Techniques) “PLANTS GROWN

IN STILL AIR TEND TO

HAVE MORE PROBLEMS”

When all of the beverage from a drinking cup has

been imbibed, it is considered to be “empty”, and

admittedly that definition tends to work as far as

drinking needs go in gardening. It is sometimes

helpful to remember that it is not empty at all, but

rather full to the brim with air.

85 85

Two 400 cfm fans would again clear the air once a min-

ute, and so on. Read the listed cfm on the box, but keep

in mind that fans are usually rated while under a very

low load, so any ducting can reduce cfm dramatically.

Since the lights are usually the largest source of waste

heat in the garden, when you’ve dealt with, then control-

ling the temperatures in the rest of the garden usually

becomes a lot simpler. If hot air is collecting in a particu-

lar area of the room, try to vent it off. Although more

expensive initially, using solar-powered fans to give an

extra boost during the hottest part of the day without

adding to the electric bill. If the garden still needs more

cooling, bring in cooler outside air or air-conditioned

cold air.

One of the reasons that the temperature around the

lights is so important, is that the cooler the lights are,

the closer you can get them to the plants. Since light is

broadcast across an area; a plant at 30 cm away from the

light source receives 4 times as much light energy than

one at 60 cm. Ideally, you want the tops of the plants

in the “sweet spot” where they are close enough to the

light to grow well, without being so close to the light

that the heat damages them.

Fortunately, with a couple reasonably priced meters, it

is easy to find exactly how far away the “sweet spot” for

plant growth is. The two devices you need are a light

meter (£13-£65) and a quick acting digital indoor ther-

mometer (£7-£13).

Put the temperature sensor next to the light sensor, and

hold them below the light. Ideal temperatures are be-

tween 21-29C so raise and lower the sensors until you

find the place where it reads 26C, and check to make

sure the light levels are at least 25,000 lux (in general,

more is better). That is as close to the light as the tops

CLIMATE TECHNIQUES I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

BY GRUBBYCUP

Using sealed and vented hoods are a way to remove

the waste heat from bulbs quickly and efficiently. A fan

and ducting brings cooler outside air to the hood, then

across the bulb, where it captures heat, before being

sent out of the garden. Ideally this creates a closed path

for outside air to pass through the garden and return

without mixing with the air in the garden room itself.

The total amount of air moved is small, and concentrat-

ed around the heat source, so you’ve dealt with much of

the heat before it spreads.

When designing ducting layouts, keep in mind that wide

turns are better than sharp turns, and that unwanted

hot air rises. If a passive air vent is required to replace

vented air (depending on how airtight the garden is), the

incoming air needs to be taken from cooler air from

the outside of the garden and located opposite to the

exhaust vent.

To calculate how many cubic feet per minute of ventila-

tion you need, start with calculating the size of the gar-

den in cubic feet. You do this by multiplying the height,

length, and width of the room. A 2.4x3x3m room would

make for 8 m2 of garden space. A single 800 cfm fan

would move the room’s area air mass every minute, and

a 400 cfm fan would do the same every two minutes.

“THE “EMPTY” SPACE AROUND US ISN’T ALL THAT EMPTY. ATMOSPHERIC GASES LIKE

OXYGEN, CARBON DIOXIDE, AND WATER VAPOR ARE ALL

TRANSPARENT TO OUR EYES”

Distributed in the UK by:

87 87

CLIMATE TECHNIQUES I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

“AN OCEAN OF AIR WASHES OVER AND THOUGH THE PLANT LIFE”

“WAVES OF AIR PUSH AWAY EXCESS HUMIDITY AND OXYGEN, AND THEY CARRY CARBON DIOXIDE IN”

(CO2) to form the sugars the plant can use to grow. If

light and water are already present in sufficient quanti-

ties, then you can increase the heat slightly as carbon

dioxide levels will raise. Without air movement this pro-

cess can result in the plants sitting in a cloud of oxygen

and not receiving enough carbon dioxide.

CO2 is naturally occurring in fresh air, but it is also some-

times added to the garden environment artificially. In the

garden, CO2 is usually generated by chemical reaction,

combustion, biological reaction, or slowly released from

pressurized tanks.

My preference is for the gardener, who is as much a

part of the system as anything else, to spend time in

the garden, and contribute their breath to the system.

If you think that your garden isn’t getting enough CO2,

consider bringing a friend in and do some heavy breath-

ing together. Human beings are fairly large animals, and

generate quite a bit of carbon dioxide when exercising,

just make sure there is enough fresh air to be healthy for

the humans involved.

The “empty” space around us isn’t all that empty. At-

mospheric gases like oxygen, carbon dioxide, and water

vapor are all transparent to our eyes, and therefore easy

to forget, but these gases in the proper amounts are

important for proper plant health and growth. We live

in an ocean of air, complete with currents, flow, and vol-

ume. By giving plants the fresh air and airflow they need,

not only will the plants be happier, but it can help keep

molds and moisture loving fungus gnats at bay. 3

of your plants should get. Then lower the meter until

the light level drops to 20,000 lux or so, that is about

the bottom of the “sweet spot” where unblocked light

is still strong enough that it’s useful.

By using this pair of meters, it becomes very clear that

having the light cool enough placed reasonably close to

the tops of the plants that has a strong benefit in the

amount of light available to the plants. Bright sunlight

is about 100,000 lux and free, which is why even partial

natural lighting can often be cost-effective.

Aside from transporting excess heat out of the garden,

air circulation is also important for evaporation and

available carbon dioxide (CO2).

Evaporation in a garden is important to remove stray

droplets of moisture that may collect. This moisture, if

left unchecked, can encourage unwanted mold and bac-

terial growth. Mold does not grow as well in low humid-

ity, so one of the first steps to treat a mold issue in an

indoor garden is to increase air circulation (although you

must do so with care and not to spread the pathogen in

the process).

Excessive evaporation however, indicates low humid-

ity, which can attract dreaded pests. Too low of a hu-

midity level can lead to spider mites and too high leads

to molds. If the garden is kept between these two ex-

tremes, things tend to go a lot smoother. If a problem

with one or the other arises, change the environment to

disfavor the pathogen. Mist spider-mites regularly, and

let areas of mold outbreaks dry out a bit more than

usual.

Photosynthesis in plants requires light and heat energy,

water and carbon dioxide (CO2). Chlorophyll collects

light in leaves. Plants use part of this energy to split wa-

ter molecules into free oxygen gas (O2), and hydrogen

(H). The hydrogen is then bonded with carbon dioxide

Reduce shadow patterns.

Better yields.

$ave energy & money.

Solidly built in the USA -26 years strong.

Hands down the best light mover on earth.

www.LightRail3.com • 001.303.371.1807 • [email protected]

Specialist Horticultural Products maxibright.com

Maxibright CFLs promote growth at every stage of the plant cycle. These energy efficient lamps have very low heat output allowing the CFL to be placed close to your plants, ensuring they receive the optimum amount of light. All Maxibright CFLs are self-ballasted with a standard E40 base cap for convenient use with your reflector or hanger. Maxibright CFLs are part of our Maxibright expert horticultural product range.

Maxibright products are manufactured to British CE standards and are RoHS compliant.

NEW Maxibright CFLDual Spectrum 250W

The latest in horticultural technology, delivering balanced blue and red light throughout the growth cycle.

Use blue spectrum (6400K) for vegetative growth and red spectrum (2700K) for flowering. Simply interchange between lamps to suit your plant stage.

Maxibright CFLs in Blue & Red125W/200W/250W/300W

Maxibright Compact Fluorescent LampsHigh quality lamps at a great price

www.goldlabel.nl

Triple Concentrated NutrientsWhen a nutrient is this concentrated you know...

- You are paying for top quality ingredients and not for transporting water - - You will raise superior yields and quality -

- It’s Gold Label -

4 steps to a Gold Label YieldRoots

A highly concentrated root and growth stimulator

with biological extracts of kelp, humic acids and high

quality amino acids.

Base NutrientsA perfect mix of elements with added chelated Ca (calcium) which makes Gold Label the perfect

balanced fertilizer.

Ultra MGA nitrogen / magnesium

additive for all plant development stages.

Ultra PKA fl owering additive based

on advanced polyphosphates and

chelated trace elements.

Step 1 Step 3 Step 4Step 2

Exclusively available in the UK from:

www.DirectGardeningSupplies.co.uk www.Nutriculture.co.uk

Date post:	21-Jul-2016
Category:	Documents
Upload:	garden-culture-magazine
View:	224 times
Download:	4 times

Garden Culture Magazine: UK 3

Documents