Date post: | 21-Jul-2016 |
Category: |
Documents |
Upload: | garden-culture-magazine |
View: | 223 times |
Download: | 4 times |
UK
EDITIO
N YEA
R 1 - ISSU
E 3 · SU
MM
ER 2013
- PRICE: £
3, 99
2 VIVA ESPAÑA & TEMPERAMENT
www.rhinofilter.com
Don’t trust your grow room ventilation to inferior brands.
Choose quality. Choose Rhino.
Rhino Twin Speed FanRhino Twin speed fans provide the grower with the flexibility to move between a higher or lower power as their requirements change throughout their growing cycle.
Rhino Thermostatically Controlled FanRhino Thermostatically controlled fans allow for
the management of air exchanges according to the growers’ grow room temperature.
Rhino Single Speed FanA single speed fan designed for high power
and quiet running. Maintenance free, with long-lifespan and low power consumption.
A superior range of fans from Rhino
NEW
Single
Thermostatic
Twin
All fans come pre-wired to new EU compliances
IN THIS ISSUE OF GARDEN CULTURE:
FREAKYTOMATOES 12
68
7 Foreword
8 Product Spotlight
12 Freaky tomatoes
14 Water – the universal solvent
20 Sous vide cooking
23 Greenproducts:5coolfinds
24 Greenoffice:Agroofficespace
28 Urbanfarmer-Cultivatingwithyourcity
34 Grow your own: Mint
41 Sealing in freshness
42 Organic compost
46 Organic gardening basics
54 Greenlight–factorfiction?
56 The sealed room garden
58 AnnouncingtheHomeGrownExpo
62 ThetruthaboutLED
66 Yoursaladtrackstime!
68 Ballast pros & cons
73 4Amazingplantfacts
78 ResidentEvil
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT 8
MINTGROW-YOUR-OWN
34
78
RESIDENTEVIL
62
CONTENTS I GARDEN CULTURE
5 gardenculture.net
ORGANICCOMPOST42
SEALED ROOMGARDEN
56
pros&consballast
THE TRUTHABOUT LEDS
7
FOREWORD & CREDITS I GARDEN CULTURE
FOREWORD
Winter is off and running. Naturally, outdoor grow-
ers are sad, and indoor growers are happy. This time
of year growing food outdoors is tough at best, even
with cold frames and greenhouses. Growing indoors
becomes a lot easier, and the types of plants that do
well in your garden offers much more variety. Here the
grow tent is up with some nice chili’s and kitchen herbs
already flourishing.
Cold weather also means most of us will be cooking every meal indoors. Hopefully, your outdoor garden produced a truckload of great fruits and veggies to keep you eating well until next season. Whether your freezer and pantry is jam packed with summer’s boun-ty, or you buy fresh foods from the whole food store, there’s an excellent new way to cook it all. Better fla-vor with less work! Be sure to read the Sous Vide ar-ticle in this issue, so you don’t miss out on incredible taste created in the healthiest way possible. You’ll find some great reading in this issue. Some of it will help you be a better gardener indoors and in the backyard, and some of it might make your hair stand on end. We know you’ll think twice about tomatoes from the store, and discover more determination to grow your own food after reading Resident Evil.
We’re very busy here at Garden Culture Headquarters with an exciting new project - the Home Grown Expo 2014 in Coventry. We’re hoping to have around 3000 visitors, and with 90% of the floor space already sold out, we’re pretty sure it’s going to be a great event. If you’d like to learn more about the show, check out www.homegrownexpo.co.uk. Get 50% off at the door with discount code GCUK4.Happy reading, 3
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
Mammoth Pro tents are designed for growers looking
for a premium-quality tent. They are feature-laden,
which makes them the perfect product for the pro-
fessional grower.
This range of tents are highly effective at containing
light and have a load capacity of 30kg as well as being
suitable for washing inside and out.
Win a Mammoth Pro 120!!!
For your chance to win a Mammoth Pro 120 tent,
simply log onto nutriculture.co.uk/competitions and
register your details, inserting the phrase ‘I want that
Mammoth’ into the comments area. One lucky win-
ner will be chosen at random which will be revealed
in issue 5 of Garden Culture.
Mammoth pro tents
available now!
8
product spotlightNEW Sunmaster Hobby 600W Digital Ballast
Green Power has become a favourite with UK growers look-ing for maximum grow room protection, thanks to their high-quality, reliable and easy-to-use relays and contactors. Now this popular brand has extended their range to meet the needs of the new and novice grower.The Green Power Hobby is manufactured using high-quality components and safeguards grow rooms from disasters caused by electrical surges.
Available as a 2 and 3 socket version, with maximum loads of 1200w and 1800w respectively, the Green Power Hobby can be connected to any timer, offering the utmost flexibility for the grower. For more information visit www.greenpowercontactors.co.uk
hobby relays
Green Power
The new Sunmaster Hobby digital ballast gives you all the latest digital features at a great price from a trusted brand. With
four power modes you can run your lamps at normal power, dim them, and boost the 600W by 10% with Power Boost at
the final flowering stage. Intelligent Ignition reduces the chance of an electrical surge when multiple ballasts start up, starting
each ballast one at a time. Soft start technology will gently start your lamps for longer lamp life. Dynamic frequency
control ensures consistent light output, even when your mains supply fluctuates. In the event of a power cut,
most ballasts have a set waiting period to let lamps completely cool, leaving your lights off for longer
than is necessary. The Sunmaster Hobby is built with fast lamp re-strike to safely re-ignite
hot lamps with minimum stoppage time. This is the affordable choice of top grade ballast.
www.maxibright.com.
fresh
gardenculture.net
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT I GARDEN CULTUREproduct spotlight
9
Maxibright Compact Power Pack
The NEW Maxibright Compact Power Pack range is growing with units now available in 400W and 600W models! A new generation of magnetic power pack, it gives lower
heat output, ultra-efficient lamp control and silent operation. The internal unit is finished with injection-moulded resin, allowing core heat to dissipate at a greater rate to prevent over-heating. A
matched digital Smart IgniterTM provides efficient lamp start-up, 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. A precision wound ballast
gives it thermal and electrical durability. The wall-mountable case is complete with a handy carry handle for easy use. The Maxibright Compact is a Genuine Quality ballast, meeting specific EC quality standards to give the correct
power to the lamp, guaranteed safety and a nominal rated life span of ten years. For more information visit www.genuinequality.co.uk and check out www.compactpowerpack.co.uk.
new
Rhino has become the trusted name for grow room ventila-tion, and with the introduction of the new Rhino Fan range, growers can now get their hands on a fan that will provide the unrivalled performance that they have come to expect from Rhino products.This new range of highly efficient, superior quality fans are available in sizes to suit growers of different scale who now have the choice of a single, twin, and thermostatically controlled units to choose from. Fully compatible with growers existing Rhino prod-ucts, Rhino Fans are heavy-duty with a selection manufactured from steel, for those who need a fan of the highest durability.This means that no matter what type of grower you are, there’s a Rhino Fan to suit your needs.For more information, visit: www.nutriculture.co.uk
Rhino FansUntil now, growers watered and drained prop trays
by hand. Microclone makes the only low profile wa-
tering tray that fits the width of standard chrome and
steel racks. Four prop trays line up neatly across each
Microclone tray. Clone
trays can be handled
easily in the shallow
two-inch deep tray,
watered manually with
a collective drain, or
automatically by Flood
and drain, drip, NFT,
nearly anything you
can imagine. The Mi-
croclone Rack Tray is
45 inches wide to fit all
common rack units, and is no taller than the prop trays it
is designed to hold. Microclone exclusively uses a flat bot-
tom and thin raised ridges for plenty of drainage and easy
cleaning. There are twin-tap drain wells in the front (or
back) corners that work with all common fittings.
Microclone Rack Trays are distributed by DL Wholesale,
World Wide Garden Supply, and Green Planet Wholesale
an online at planttc.com
Microclone
Rack Tray
11 gardenculture.net
PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT I GARDEN CULTURE
Biobizz supports Justdiggit. Justdiggit is an organization that creates
awareness on, and takes action in the battle against desertification
and climate change. Biobizz also fights for a world that is fertile and
therefore liveable; not only by producing organic fertilizers, but also
by supporting initiatives like Justdiggit.
You too can take part in this battle! Justdiggit is initiated by the Naga
Foundation. The project was established to involve more people in
the battle against desertification and climate change; phenomenons
that will affect us all sooner or later. Biobizz and Justdiggit want to
create more awareness that now is the time to take action! De-
forestation, overgrazing and detrimental agricultural practices are
turning large areas of the planet into deserts.
The top layer of soil has become hard and
impenetrable, and as a result of which rainwa-
ter cannot seep into the ground. The earth
is warming up and drying out. The natural
balance is being seriously disrupted, and the
earth becomes less fertile. Results are failed
crops, hunger, poverty, and climate change.
But there is a solution! This is the time for
you to take action. We need to take care that the rainwater can
seep in the ground again, and channel underground. This can be
done by digging ditches a metre deep along contour lines in the
landscape to open up the impenetrable top layer. All run-off
rainwater is collected in the ditches and can be absorbed and
retained by the soil. The seeds still present in the soil will start
to sprout, and the natural vegetation will return surprisingly
quickly. Thát’s our aim!
The first goal Justdiggit has is turning 266.000.000m2 green as
a start for climate recovery. Biobizz supports this project, and
is collecting money to support the battle for a greener world.
Our first action: for every new friend (like!) on Facebook, Bio-
bizz will donate “one green square meter” to Justdiggit.
You can help! Just go to the Biobizz Facebook Page, and click
the like-button. Help out before it’s too late! For more in-
formation on Justdiggit you can watch their video on: https://
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzCjSuu8azE. For more infor-
mation on Biobizz check out: www.biobizz.com
Dig in for a fertile w
orld!Select Power
Pack 600W & 1000W
The new DigiLight Pro® Select digital ballast
from Maxibright gives you the ultimate flexibil-
ity with just one ballast. Choose from 6 power
modes to run your lamps at normal power,
Super mode for 10% extra power on every
lamp wattage (the only ballast on the market
that can do this) or dimmed for ultimate light
control throughout the growth cycle. De-
veloped 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
to reduce electrical surges. Soft start technol-
ogy gently starts lamps with a low current for
significantly improved lamp life and to maintain
continual efficient lamp output. Fast lamp re-
strike ensures hot lamps start as quickly as
possible. Includes a built-in diagnostic LED for
fault finding. For full features and information
check out your nearest Maxibright stockist at
www.maxibright.com
Maxibright DigiLight Pro ®
12
Some say this micro tomato
forest thing is due to cold
storage. Others say it isn’t un-
common. Huh? Where did the
natural germina-
tion inhibitors go?
Stranger still, to-
matoes picked be-
fore perfect ripe-
ness don’t have
viable seeds. Mature tomato
seeds do not germinate without fermenting. Most of these
hyperactive tomato owners state that the fruit wasn’t rot-
ten. Some were freshly purchased, and furthermore, store-
bought tomatoes are picked unripe.
Freaky Tomatoes
In almost every case, the tomatoes were store-bought.
One woman found the seeds inside a cherry tomato all
germinated. She planted one in a pot out of curiosity. The
thing grew 10 individual main stems!
I had this happen with homegrown tomatoes a couple of
years ago. There was no cold storage. The fresh picked
tomatoes got tossed within days. Others gardeners have
had this happen too, but not with heirloom varieties to my
knowledge.
Are they Frankenmatoes with fish or frog genes in them?
Nope. Sources report transgenic GE tomato varieties are
history. In fact, no new GE tomatoes have been released
since 2000 due to regulation difficulties, among other com-
plexities. It does have to do with genetics... and mutants.
A number of hybridized crops suffer from this precocious
What’s up with the fruit here? A tomato is not supposed to sprout plants. Totally abnormal, and not
some isolated oddity. The earliest report found of buying tomatoes filled with germinating seeds is 2003.
More and more people are talking about this, and sharing bizarre tomato images. Suspicions of genetically
modified organisms loom large.
“Are they Frankenmatoes?”
BY TAMMY CLAYTON©
Chr
is &
Chr
istin
a C
urri
e”
“That ain’t natural. It’s defective.”
13 13
FREAKY TOMATOES I GARDEN CULTURE
gardenculture.net
germination, or ‘viviparous’ tendency. An occasional odd-
ball seed that defies the status quo sounds reasonable. But
a whole fruit full, or several tomatoes on a stem cluster, or
most of your harvest? That ain’t natural. It’s defective.
The cause is hormonal imbalance.
Low levels of ABA or abscisic acid,
a phytohormone that regulates seed
development. Some tomato variet-
ies are more prone to this vivipa-
rous activity. Which ones are they?
The pretty ones that stay edible
in your fridge for weeks after pur-
chase. Bred to stay ripe without aging - a.k.a. Long Shelf
Life.
Vivipary was very common with early processing tomatoes
bred for one-time destructive machine harvesting. Truss,
or cluster types, and cherry tomatoes you buy at the gro-
cery store out of season will all be long shelf life varieties.
Long shelf life tomatoes, if picked at the right stage and
gassed, can remain ‘fresh’ 3-4 months after harvest. Rip-
ened on the plant, they have one month of shelf life max.
While the skin and meat don’t age, the seed continues to
mature using the sugars available
inside the fruit. The most extreme
viviparous tendencies are seen in
rin mutant tomatoes that mature,
but don’t ripen or rot.
What’s a rin mutant? A salad ornament. It’s bright red and
looks good, but has crunch and no flavor. Sound familiar?
It has to do with a mutant gene. One that inhibits ripening.
Rin mutant hybrids ship better. The store has less loss.
The rin gene controls the ripening process. In 2002 Cor-
nell University located the gene in tomato DNA. Scientists
are working on building a juicy GE tomato. Garden fresh
tomato flavor that will ship thousands of miles, and store
for months. Fat chance. Juiciness, soft garden fresh texture,
and flavor is what makes a real tomato unshippable. 3
“Where did the natural germination
inhibitors go?”
“Mature tomato seeds do not germinate without fermenting.”
14 14
BY STEPHEN
theuniversal solvent
water “ T H E B E T T E R WAT E R TA S T E S T O YO U ,
T H E B E T T E R I T W I L L TA S T E T O YO U R P L A N T ”
Like all life on Earth, water is the cornerstone of a plant’s survival. In
hydroponics, the water is the vehicle used to carry the nutrients, making
them available for the roots to take in. With this in mind, it becomes obvious
that water quality is paramount to a hydro-gardener’s success.
15 15 gardenculture.net
theuniversal solvent
water “PH AFFECTS HOW WELL A PLANT CAN
ABSORB EACH UNIQUE ELEMENT”Water Quality We categorize water into two descriptive terms - hard or
soft. The calcium and magnesium concentration will be the
deciding factor in which of the terms your water falls un-
der. Having an abundant (over 300) parts-per-million (PPM
or measurement of the total dissolved solids) of these es-
sential nutrients will make your water hard, while having a
miniscule PPM will make your water soft.
In hydroponics it is better to have a lower PPM in your base
water rather than a higher PPM. If you have hard water a
reverse osmosis filtration system is an invaluable tool to
any serious gardener. A good tip is that the better water
tastes to you, the better it will taste to your plant.
H2O Tools In hydroponics there are tools to help a gardener take
precise measurements of their water to enable them to
succeed.
pH Meter: Potential Hydrogen (a.k.a. pH) is the scale
used to measure the acidity or alkalinity of an aqueous so-
lution. It’s measured on a scale from 1 to
14. Pure acid is a 1, pure base is a 14, and a
neutral solution is a 7. Every point change
on this scale exponentially multiplies the
acidity or alkalinity by ten. This fact de-
mands careful and exact measurement and
observation, which is achieved with this in-
valuable tool.
Most plants grown hydroponically prefer a
stable pH around a 6 with a .5 acceptable
variance ( i.e. 5.5-6.5). Since pH affects how well a plant can
absorb each unique element, scientific testing has shown
plants thrive on the higher threshold of this pH range in
vegetative growth, and more acidic in the flowering stage.
pH is safely manipulated and buffered using phosphoric acid
(pH Lower), or potassium hydroxide (pH Raise). The me-
ter must also be calibrated at least once a month to ensure
accurate readings using a calibration solution.
Hydroponic NutrientsHydroponic nutrients are a comprehensive soluble form of
all the essential nutrition required to raise plants to their
highest capabilities. There are primary nutrients known as
“macronutrients” or the primary nutrients. Others we re-
fer to as “micronutrients,” secondary nutrients, or trace
minerals. All nutrients are either mobile or immobile.
Mobile nutrients are able to move about the plant as the
plant sees fit. This means that the plant, identifying a mobile
nutrient deficiency, will move the nutrient to the newest
growth rendering the older growth damaged first.
“ALL NUTRIENTS ARE EITHER MOBILE OR IMMOBILE”
EC (or TDS) Meter: Hydroponic nutrients, in the form of
nutrient salts, are made up of a precise measurement of all
nutrients and minerals needed to grow vegetables, fruits,
and flowers. These salts are safe. Consider the pink Himala-
yan sea salt from your local whole food store. It is chock-full
of minerals! Salts make liquid more electrically conductive.
Therefore, the more hydroponic nutrient, the more con-
ductive your water is.
An EC (electrical conductivity)
meter measures the nutrient (salt)
strength via pulses of electricity. It then
calculates the total amount of nutrients
in your water, but doesn’t identify the in-
dividual nutrients present, or the portion
they contribute to the whole. We mea-
sure TDS (total dissolved solids) in PPM,
or parts-per-million. It is another way to express EC. You
can find the PPM from the EC by multiplying the EC by 500
or 700 depending on what the conversion factor of your
TDS meter is.
WATER I GARDEN CULTURE
16
nutrient puzzle! It’s needed throughout a plant’s life. Bo-
ron helps a plant’s calcium intake, cell growth, and RNA
development.
Zinc (Zn): a mobile micronutrient that is infamous for
deficiency in soil like ours in Florida! Zinc buddies up with
magnesium and manganese to help with enzymes. Sugars
and proteins owe a debt to zinc, as does stem growth and
chlorophyll. Florida soil’s high pH (above 7.0) is to blame for
the zinc deficiencies in our plants.
Iron (Fe): a mobile micronutrient that’s another casualty
to high pH soil. It also plays a big role in chlorophyll and pho-
tosynthesis. Iron also has a role in a plants respiration, but is
very difficult for a plant to intake, so it’s normally chemically
bonded (chelated).
Manganese (Mn): an immobile micronutrient that is es-
sential to chloroplasts which actually contain the chloro-
phyll. Manganese also helps with nitrogen and iron in the
chlorophyll production.
Chlorine (Cl): an immobile micronutrient that helps ut-
most with the osmotic pressure required to open and close
the stomata on the bottom of the leaves, allowing the plant
to transpire and release excess moisture. It also assists in
root and foliage growth.
Molybdenum (Mb): an immobile micronutrient that
converts nitrates to ammoniums. It’s needed only in very
small doses, and is most effective in roots and seedlings.
During your gardening career you will inevitably find differ-
ent methods and products to use. The goal is to find the
best quality nutrients that do not build up residue and salts
that lead to extra time and labor. You should ask your local
hydro professional for tips and advice in what will suit your
hydro-situation best.
Immobile nutrients do not
move about the plant. These
nutrients stay in their original placement, affecting newer
growth first in the case of a deficiency.
Nutrients used in growing most plants almost
always include:
Nitrogen (N): a mobile macronutrient that is required
most heavily in vegetative growth. Nitrogen is also need-
ed during the flowering phase in lower levels. Nitrogen is
quickly depleted, and makes regular feeding necessary, es-
pecially in early growth.
Phosphorous (P): a mobile macronutrient important
throughout a plant’s life. Fruiting and flowering plants need
the highest levels of this nutrient that helps with germination,
root growth, bud set, and production. There are also flower-
ing additives containing very high levels of phosphorous.
Potassium (K): a mobile macronutrient that assists in
the combination, production, and movement of starches,
sugars, and carbohydrates. It also can aid a plant’s immunity
to bad bacteria and mold issues.
Calcium (Ca): an immobile secondary nutrient that is as
necessary as the macronutrients, and should be equal in
concentration to phosphorous. Calcium creates cells, helps
their integrity and growth. It also creates strong roots.
Plants must always have calcium on their root tips.
Sulfur (S): an immobile secondary nutrient responsible
for important protein synthesis. It is found in several amino
acids, and is essential in oil and flavor production. Sulfur in
the form of sulfates help to buffer pH, and is the building
block of many vitamins and hormones. Vitamin B1, which
aids in stress relief for plants is one of the most notorious
vitamins owing its debt to sulfur.
Magnesium (Mg): a mobile secondary nutrient that is
the found in the central atom of chlorophyll molecules ab-
sorbing light energy for your plant. Magnesium is essential
to a fruiting and flowering plant by transferring enzymes
into carbohydrates and sugars that will become what your
plant produces. Magnesium helps a plant make use of all
other nutrients.
Boron (B): an immobile micronutrient that is one of
the most understood as far as the scope of functions it
performs in a plant. It is known as a needed piece of your
“POTASSIUM CAN AID A PLANT’S IMMUNITY
TO BAD BACTERIA”
16
17 17
Hydroponic MediumsThe inert mediums used in hydroponic growing have no
nutrient content. Their purpose is holding and supporting
the root system, and delivering oxygen, water and nutri-
ents in varying degrees. Factors such as the nutrient con-
tainment, the pH, as well as the composition and texture
of a medium all directly relate to the medium’s needs - and
how well your plant will perform overall.
Soilless Mix is a term that normally refers to a medium
that is a blend of peat moss, perlite, vermiculite, or coir. A
single material is sometimes mistakenly called a soilless
mix. It may be soilless, but it takes at least two of anything
to make a mix!
Perlite is volcanic rock that
can be used as an aggregate
- a substance used to break
up a medium with high moisture holding capacity. It’s also
used as a stand-alone medium with fast drainage.
Vermiculite acts the opposite of perlite. It has a
great ability to retain moisture. For this reason one can
use vermiculite to blend with perlite, soil, etc. when it
drains too fast.
Peat Moss after being wet
down has characteristics similar
to soil. It holds a lot of mois-
ture, and has a fine texture, which
is why it’s normally amended with per-
lite. Dolomite lime is usually added as well to add some
micronutrient charge, and raise the pH level of this
naturally acidic medium.
Coco Coir (Coconut pith) is the ground up material
underneath the husk. It’s a very environmentally con-
scious choice for a medium, as it is one of the only por-
tions left over in coconut processing. Unadulter-
ated, it needs a calcium/magnesium charge,
and a rinse to shed excess sodium con-
tent before use. Coir has natural anti-
fungal properties, and discourages al-
gae growth when added to the top of
other growth mediums.
Expanded Clay (Hydroton/Hydrokorrels) is a round-
ed medium created by heating clay at a high tempera-
ture resulting in expansion. These porous, reusable
beads allow for sharp drainage, nutrient uptake, and air
capacity. Hydroton also provides great support for the
gardenculture.net
root zone. You can add peat or coco coir to help re-
tain more moisture and nutrient con-
tent around the root zone for
plants to feed on between
irrigations.
Rockwool (Stonewool) is a porous
medium made by melting basalt rock using
extreme heat and transforming it into a cotton candy-
like material. It is then spun into a fibrous material that
resembles fiberglass. This medium that can hold 80%
water, and 15% oxygen when fully saturated. Rockwool
is arguably the most popularly
used medium worldwide in hy-
droponic food production. It’s
made into cubes, blocks,
slabs, and a granular material. You must soak
this medium before use in a pH of 5.5-6.0
for a length of time to neutralize its natural
alkalinity.
These are by far not the only mediums used in hy-
droponics today, but are the cornerstones. As hydro-
ponic enthusiasts, we are always anxious to see what’s
next. Testing new innovations always furthers the field
of hydro-gardening, and helps each grower see what
works best for us. 3
“ROCKWOOL CAN HOLD 80% WATER AND 15%
OXYGEN”
“COIR HAS NATURAL ANTI-FUNGAL
PROPERTIES”
17 gardenculture.net
WATER I GARDEN CULTURE
PERLITE
COCO COIR
EXPANDED CLAY
131223 Biogreenspread.indd 2 23-12-2013 14:31:33
131223 Biogreenspread.indd 2 23-12-2013 14:31:33 131223 Biogreenspread.indd 3 23-12-2013 14:35:56
20
S O U S V I DEC O O K I N G“YOU’LL GET UNPARALLELED RESULTS”
BY MIKE NIVATO
T H E S E C R E T T E C H N I Q U E O F G R E AT C H E F S A R O U N D T H E W O R L D . . .
I’ve always loved food, and I always loved cook-
ing, so much so, that I went to school to become
a chef. In all honesty, after getting my degree I
didn’t do much with it in a professional sense.
I’m more comfortable as an amateur cook, but I
haven’t forgotten the techniques learned at culi-
nary school. While some are the same as most
of you use in everyday life, some never make it
to the stove in regular households. The reasons
vary, but it’s mostly because it’s too complicated,
or too expensive.
21 21
COOKING I GARDEN CULTURE
gardenculture.net
“THE JUICES OF WHAT YOU’RE COOKING ARE THE ESSENCE GETTING PRESERVED.”
“COOK BETTER, HEALTHIER, AND MORE FLAVORFUL
FOOD THAN EVER BEFORE”
sous vide [soo veed]
noun
the technique of cooking ingredients in a vacuum-sealed
plastic pouch, usually for a long time at a low temperature.
Sous Vide cooking was once one of those techniques that wasn’t
available for the masses, simply because the technique required
too high of an investment. When using this technique you’ll
get unparalleled results. Smells and tastes get locked in, flavors
become better, and the juices of what you’re cooking are the
essence getting preserved. So what is Sous Vide?
Sounds simple enough, but this is exactly where it becomes
complicated. First of all, vacuum sealing technique’s weren’t
readily available, dependable, or affordable. Good vacuum sealers
used to cost thousands and upwards. Right now, they’re around
a hundred.
The next step is to cook it for a long time
at a low temperature. What’s long I hear
you ask? For vegetables “long” is between 1
and 2 hours. When talking about meat, the
cooking time is 2 hours at minimum - all the
way up to 72 hours for something like spare
ribs.
When talking a low temperature, this is
more than a burner on the stove set to ‘low.’ It’s imperative that
we control the temperature accurately. Fluctuations will make
the product, and its quality, unpredictable at best. Naturally, the
temperature depends on what you’re cooking, but it’s normally
between 55 and 80° Celsius. Controlling a temperature of 55° in
your household kitchen is a nightmare. It requires tweaking, and
an expensive, accurate food thermometer.
That’s where our friends from SousVide Supreme come in to
action. They are so dedicated to sous vide cooking that it’s part
of their brand name. We reached out to them not to long ago,
and asked them for one of their water ovens to write about. A
couple of days later a big box arrived at GC HQ, and we started
cooking. SousVide Supreme developed the world’s first water
oven designed specifically for home kitchens.
This water oven helps you cook better, healthier, and more
flavorful food than ever before. The process combined with
some recipes is pretty straight forward actually. A recipe
book came with the cooker and vacuum
sealer they shipped us, and we’ve used it
extensively.
So what can you do with this cool piece
of tech? Essentially, the possibilities are
limitless. We’ve cooked green asparagus,
glazed carrots with basil, chicken with fresh
garden greens, and much more. A recipe I
loved was a piece of salmon topped with tomato and basil.
With the vacuum and the slow cooking you really could taste
the blending of all the flavors come together in the salmon.
We can highly recommend this technique for the reason
explained above, but also for the health aspect. Since you’re
cooking in a vacuum-sealed bag in water, all the natural juice
and good stuff like vitamins, amino acids, etc stay in your food.
Additionally, there’s no need to add butter or oils which
makes it even healthier eating. Last, but not least, and I’ve said
it multiple times - the flavor is outstanding. The healthy aspect
is great, but for me, flavor is the real reason I now cook with
the sous vide water cooker a big percentage of the time. 3
23
G A R D E N S G O P O S TA LDon’t just send a card. Send one with
more purpose than hanging around. Mail
a postcard with a green future. One with a
gift of fresh watercress that anyone can grow.
Available in 23 countries and a variety of city
and village scapes designed by Another Studio.
From www.PostCarden.com
23
GREEN PRODUCTS I GARDEN CULTURE
gardenculture.net
Plants definitely make the world a better place. Here’s some
great ways to spread hope, beauty and nutrition around.
cool finds
2 0 , 0 0 0 E D I B L E P L A N T SThat’s how many exist on the planet,
and 90% of the modern food supply depends on
a mere 20 species. All of which have had the true
healthy benefits bred
out of them to create
market-perfect produce.
What tasty, nutrition-
packed fruits, greens,
roots and herbs are you
missing out on? They
might be growing in
your own backyard, or
be perfectly happy in your indoor garden. “Edible
Plants : An inspirational guide to choosing and
growing unusual edible plants” by Plants For A
Future is available from Amazon. 3
G R O W YO U R O W N F U N G IDid you know that
growing gourmet mushrooms
is super simple? Tasty pearl
oyster mushrooms that even
a child can succeed in just 10-
14 days. Mushroom kits in a
box make it a cinch. Just add
a little moisture, and sit back
to watch them grow. Kits are
made from recycled material.
At least 2 harvests in every box. From
www.Fungi-Futures.co.uk.
P E R F E C T S P R O U T FA R MGrow fresh sprouts faster and better.
The iPlant Sprout Garden perfects the process.
Automatic sprinkler, and built-in temperature
control with heating system corrects your wee
sprout farm’s environment. Great gift for you
or someone you know. Your choice of colors.
Comes with one or two growing chambers.
Replacement trays and seed kits are available
too. Search ‘iPlant Sprout Garden’ on Amazon.
S E E D B O M B V E N D I N GGuerilla gardening and seed bombs
aren’t new, but distributing them freely
is. GreenAid has great ways to spread edible, herb
and flowering gardens anywhere. Fresh salad, a
salsa garden, or a pollinator food plot planted via
slingshot in a wasteland? Why not! Buy a kit, buy a
tube of bombs, or put a guerilla gardener’s vending
machine in your business. Help make the world a
greener place. From www.GreenAid.co.
1
2
3
4
5
24
TEXT: GRUBBYCUP, PHOTOS: STOCK
My own adventures in cubicle hell took place in an office too
soul crushingly barren to allow such frivolities of personality
like a houseplant (even the photos of flowers I kept in my cell
were eyed suspiciously by the evil overlords). Fortunately,
my current occupation allows me the freedom to garden
and surround myself with living things (albeit at a substantial
reduction in pay), so here are some tips for those left behind.
Check to make sure it is not against company policy.Believe it or not, the medical industry office I worked in
prohibited personal houseplants for “health” reasons. While
the objection was not well-defined, it appeared to have
something to do with making sure the mold spores the air
conditioning system spewed out got
collected in human lungs, and not allowed to
become an obvious problem. If permission
for a plant is possible to obtain, make
sure to remove dead foliage immediately,
and keep the plant well maintained and
cared for. Healthy plants can brighten
an area, but a withered dead plant in a pot is a joy to
none but bugs, and bacterial and fungal decomposers.
While convincing Human Resources that having a plant with
you in your pen will not impinge on the pursuit of the CEO’s
wealth hoarding is likely the most difficult step, there are other
things to consider as well.
Find (or bring) enough light to grow something with.As sunlight is the cheapest and most efficient way to
light plants, I think a good light solution would be to use
the windows in the southwest corner offices for plants.
Unfortunately, that’s generally the location used as a reward
office for management, even though the extra heat such
offices receive often makes it the least desirable of the four
corner offices to inhabit. Consider any available natural
lighting for use, even if you still need supplemental lighting.
If the plant will be out in the open, use
a more natural looking light such as
fluorescents, or a small metal halide might
be the best bet. An advantage to using
fluorescent lighting in an office setting is
that since many offices are lit with them,
there is a familiarity to the lights that can
make them more palatable to others. T5 fluorescent lights
are available in various sizes, from a single 2’ bulb fixture, to
large arrays of bulbs for more intense lighting, and probably
the best choice for a small office shelf of plants.
Metal halide lamps generally give off a bluish colored
If allowed
by the
management,
plants can interject
a little soul into an
office space, and make being
a denizen of a windowless maze of
partitions a little more bearable.
“SUNLIGHT IS THE CHEAPEST AND MOST
EFFICIENT WAY TO LIGHT PLANTS...”
“MAKE SURE TO REMOVE
DEAD FOLIAGE IMMEDIATELY”
Agro Office SPACE
25
GREEN OFFICE I GARDEN CULTURE
gardenculture.net
“AN ADVANTAGE TO USING FLUORESCENT LIGHTING IN AN
OFFICE SETTING IS... FAMILIARITY”
light that is also generally considered
pleasant, but requires a ballast. This
is perhaps more equipment than is
suitable for smaller cubicle spaces.
High pressure sodium light is a popular
choice for indoor gardening in general,
but the orange light is not the most
pleasant to work under and they need
a ballast. Light emitting diodes used
for plant growth often have an unusual
cast to the color of the light (since they
often have little to no green in them).
However, LEDs may be useful if you’re using the inside of a
filing cabinet or other closable container as a garden space.
Select the right sort of plant.Be realistic with your abilities as a gardener and the office
environment. Cacti and succulents do well in areas that have
lots of light and heat, but little access to water, or receive
infrequent watering. Such low maintenance plants often do
well even in conditions of neglect, and tend to bounce back
well from overly dry conditions. Select a variety with soft
or no spines to avoid accidental skin punctures, Jade being
a popular example, or Aloe for those that don’t mind the
thorns.
If a little daily fussing is more your style,
consider starting sprouts (such as radish
or bean), wheat grass, or other easy to
grow greens. If space and conditions
permit, a small cherry tomato plant is
satisfying and tasty to grow. These sorts
of plants offer a source of snacking along
with adding a little color to your space.
Ivy type plants, such as the Philodendron,
are popular office plant choices, that tend
to perform well, but are also poisonous.
Although not required to be
labeled as such, many decorative and
ornamental plants are poisonous, so
either keep such plants away from
children, pets, and unsuspecting
visitors, or better yet - plant
only mildly toxic or nontoxic
plants. Look up perspective
plants before purchase. Common
poisonous plants include foxglove,
some lilies, tulips, chrysanthemums,
English ivy, peace lilies, and pothos. Safer
alternatives include African violets, true
bamboo, banana trees, and Boston ferns.
“BE REALISTIC WITH YOUR ABILITIES AS A GARDENER
AND THE OFFICE ENVIRONMENT”
27 gardenculture.net
GREEN OFFICE I GARDEN CULTURE
SIMPLE IS OFTEN THE BEST, AND
SAFEST SOLUTION
Although the scent may pose problems
if the neighboring stall is too close,
in offices that have doors that close,
aromatics are a delightful way to
brighten work days (HR regulations
permitting). Choosing dill, mints, or
other pleasant smelling plants to grow,
with a simple bruising of a leaf you can
freshen fingertips and partake in the
occasional aromatherapy moment.
For those with a bit more space, there are several trees and
bushes that respond well to bonsai-type techniques such
as root/branch pruning, training, and keeping restricted
by container size. Neem trees are drought tolerant, and
easy to keep small by pruning and root trimming. To trim
roots for stunting, remove about one-third of the roots,
and replant in the same container with fresh media.
Choose the growth media and container wisely.Using a quality indoor potting soil is the most comfortable
choice for many who have had prior experience with
it. It is also the most forgiving of minor mistakes.
The main drawbacks being that it is more attractive
to soil laying bugs, and prone to over watering.
As an alternative to potting soil, consider trying perlite (or
a perlite and coir mix). While not as forgiving of errors
as potting soil, the experience is similar to a fast drying
soil that requires nutrients. Perlite tends to have less
trouble with soil laying insects, and is more difficult to over
water, but the only nutrients available are those added,
and it requires watering more often. Dry perlite also
floats, which can take some getting used to. You can leave
enough water (or nutrient solution) in the tray to water
the plant for a couple of days.
It’s important not to allow the
solution to stand for too long or
it will release its suspended oxygen
and become stagnant, leading to
drowned plants, and/or the wrong sort
of bacterial growth. Capillary action
helps to distribute the nutrient solution
throughout the media in this sort of
passive hydroponic system. As long as
the media has exposure to nutrient
solution, the media will use wicking action to supply the roots.
In either case, make sure that the plant will get proper drainage,
and that a saucer or tray will catch any runoff. Use care when
watering, since spills can happen anytime liquids are present,
and offices are traditionally inconvenient places to spill in.
Self-contained growing systems are available, from simple
self-watering pots (handy for weekends and vacations), to
automated self-contained hydroponic systems (for the more
adventuresome). Be aware that active hydroponic systems
use pumps to run, so there is a noise element to contend with
that is not an issue with hand watered or passive systems.
Active systems also tend to make spectacular sprays of
nutrient solution under certain types of component failure.
While there are clever tabletop implementations
of each type of hydroponic method, simple
is often the best, and safest solution.
Although not nearly as neat, fast,
or trendy as growing virtual plants
online with mouse clicks, growing a
plant or two in the real world can be
a rewarding experience, and a reminder
that outside those bleak grey walls, life
does continue to exist. 3
“IF SPACE AND CONDITIONS PERMIT,
A SMALL CHERRY TOMATO PLANT IS SATISFYING AND
TASTY TO GROW”
28
“old planning
codes
and developmen
t
ordinances are
rapidly changi
ng...”
BY BEN GREENE
with your
citycity
cultivating
URBAN FARMER I GARDEN CULTURE
29 29 gardenculture.net
Many urban farmsteaders look at the needs for their plants and access to an eager local population
of foodies as priorities when searching for a site in their city. But urban farmers have a great obstacle
that rural farmers don’t have to contend with, a devilish nightmare called municipal governments. It’s
very important to consider city regulations when planning your farm because codes and development
ordinances often will shape the way your farm operates, looks, and what you can produce.
A good place to start when planning your urban farm is
to search the internet for press releases that announce
changes in the code or development ordinance. In the past
6 years, there has been a huge push by municipalities across
the nation to encourage urban farming, and as a result old
planning codes and development ordinances are rapidly
changing. Specific changes to look for are notifications
of changes in how produce stands are defined, growing
chickens, small livestock, beekeeping, and where in the
city farming is allowed.
A major advantage that urban farmers have over rural
farmers is easy access to customers and directly marketing
your products to them. However, many cities do not allow
you to grow food and sell food on the same lot, because
cities often categorize selling as a separate industry than
agriculture.
“City permits are often a tangled web of restrictions and requirements”
Distributed in the UK by:
31 gardenculture.net
URBAN FARMER I GARDEN CULTURE
“The doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise
his clients to plant vines.”
If you do have restrictions on
selling your produce at your
farm, you do have options.
One is to create a mobile
market out of a trailer,
converted bus, or the back
of a pickup. Mobile markets
are often not under the
jurisdiction of the planning
department. As an added
bonus, they do not have to
contend with building codes
as long as the mobile market
is a licensed vehicle. You
may also offer home delivery
through a subscription on
your website. Home delivery
is a very popular trend among
urban farmers who don’t have the time to stand for
hours at a farmers’ market or produce stand.
Farm structures have to contend with an onslaught
of code issues. If you’re looking to locate a shipping
container or cheap shed on your farm for storage,
you may run into issues with the aesthetics of the
structure coming under scrutiny from the city
administration.
There are two sure-fire ways to get around this.
The first is to locate the structure on a part of
your property that is not within view of the street.
The second one? Borrow
some wisdom from the great
architect, Frank Lloyd Wright:
“The doctor can bury his
mistakes, but an architect
can only advise his clients to
plant vines.” Trellised vine
crops around your structure
will take it out of the view of
the street and also provide a
cover that is agreeable to most
development ordinances.
How about a suburban farm?
Locating just outside the city
limits can open a lot of options
for you. For starters, many
government farm programs
fall under the USDA Rural
Development. Farming inside city limits sometimes
disqualifies you from these programs that could
provide helpful loans and grants. Many states offer
certified roadside stand programs that often provide an
exemption from building codes, which could be useful
if you don’t want to worry about the energy code, or
providing a public restroom.
City permits are often a tangled web of restrictions and
requirements. Take care when choosing your site, and
look for obstacles in city ordinances that may hinder
your growth in the future. 3
“Farm structures have to contend
with an onslaught of code issues”
Large super-oxygenated pot. Floods from the bottom instead of the top maximising the effi ciency at which oxygen is supplied to a plants’ roots.
The Amazon aeroponic system maximises oxygen in the root zone resulting in the fastest growth and biggest yields.
Since 1976 we’ve been developing and manufacturing hydroponic systems, so you can get the yields you desire.
www.nutriculture.co.uk
Huge 25L pots
Specially designed trays allow
ultimate access to oxygen
Available as a single
and double plant system
01695 554 080 www.nutriculture.co.uk
01226 320 850www.directgardeningsupplies.co.uk
Looking for BIG yields? We’ve got a system for you
The ultimate DWC technique for maximum yields.
Unrestricted access to oxygen – without the need for a timer. Yields are typically 3x bigger than if growing in pots.
Provides roots with fresh
oxygen-rich air every feedUses virtually no
growing medium
Produces spectacular yields
Made in collaboration with
A giant step up from a pot. Perfect if you want the
familiarity of pots and the increased yields produced by
plants fed little and often.
Specially designed trays allow
ultimate access to oxygen
A Super-oxygenated pot. Ideal for maximising growth and yields from large plants and cultivating plants for cuttings.
and double plant system
Large super-oxygenated pot. Floods from the bottom instead of the top maximising the effi ciency at which oxygen is supplied to a plants’ roots.
The Amazon aeroponic system maximises oxygen in the root zone resulting in the fastest growth and biggest yields.
Since 1976 we’ve been developing and manufacturing hydroponic systems, so you can get the yields you desire.
www.nutriculture.co.uk
Huge 25L pots
Specially designed trays allow
ultimate access to oxygen
Available as a single
and double plant system
01695 554 080 www.nutriculture.co.uk
01226 320 850www.directgardeningsupplies.co.uk
Looking for BIG yields? We’ve got a system for you
The ultimate DWC technique for maximum yields.
Unrestricted access to oxygen – without the need for a timer. Yields are typically 3x bigger than if growing in pots.
Provides roots with fresh
oxygen-rich air every feedUses virtually no
growing medium
Produces spectacular yields
Made in collaboration with
A giant step up from a pot. Perfect if you want the
familiarity of pots and the increased yields produced by
plants fed little and often.
Specially designed trays allow
ultimate access to oxygen
A Super-oxygenated pot. Ideal for maximising growth and yields from large plants and cultivating plants for cuttings.
and double plant system
Cool, refreshing Mentha has graced herb
gardens for thousands of years. There
are 10 mint common hybrids, all of which
prefer cooler climates, and soil with consi-
stent moisture.
Mint
C r o p B i o g r a p h yNamed after a rather fetching Roman nymph, Minthe,
who caught the fancy of Pluto, the god of death. Upon
discovering the dalliance, the enraged Persiphone turned
her into a ground hugging plant. The Queen of The
Shades wished her belittled and trod upon. The plot
backfired - mint was very valuable to the ancient world,
and globally through the ages.
“ANCIENT ROMANS THOUGHT EATING MINT MADE YOU SMARTER.”
34
Grow Your Own Series
35 35
PERKS & BENEFITSPeppermint tea has been used forever to cure what ails you. It’s
not just folklore. Even modern healers regard mint as a stimulant
and tonic, among its many other benefits. The herb continues
to hold immense value for its aromatic, culinary, and healing
qualities.
Mint tea has antiseptic and antibacterial qualities. Consumed on
a regular basis It’s a good blood cleanser, herbal mouthwash,
natural diarrhea remedy, antiseptic, and helps to combat acne
or blemishes.
A massage with oil infused with bruised spearmint and
peppermint leaves offers relief of migraines and aching muscles.
Adding peppermint oil to lotions helps reduce pain and sensitivity.
Strong mint oils also have anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and
anesthetic properties for temporary relief of an infected tooth.
It’s a good herbal remedy for swollen gums, mouth ulcers,
mouth thrush, bruises, and swollen joints.
Revitalize skin and clean pores with apple mint and spearmint
in a facial steam. Gauze pads wetted with peppermint tea to
minimize dark circles under the eyes or refresh them on days
you wake up not well rested.
MINT I GARDEN CULTURE
gardenculture.net
...USED FOREVER TO CURE WHAT AILS YOU...
BY TAMMY CLAYTON
Mint“EATING MINT KEPT ONE’S
TEMPER IN CHECK DURING THE MIDDLE AGES”
“EARLIEST RECORDED HEALING PROPERTIES...1550 B.C.”
Scotch Mint (Mentha x gracilis)More variegated and golden than other mints. It’s also
known as Ginger Mint and Scotch Spearmint. Commercially,
it is found in chewing gum, toothpaste and pharmaceuticals.
Popular fresh garnish and fruit dish seasoning.
Spearmint (Mentha spicata)More mildly flavored than Peppermint. Used in teas, chutneys,
salads, desserts, for seasoning vegetables, and more.
WHEN CAN I START… AND HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?True mint plants are sterile and not grown from seed. You
can start mint cuttings when healthy plants are available to
purchase, which is usually in spring.
Take tip cuttings just below a leaf node from non-blooming
stems about 4 inches long using super sharp shears. You
don’t want to crush the stem end. Remove a leaf or two
from the bottom, and snip off the immature set of leaves at
the tip. Dip the cut end in rooting hormone before inserting
it into rockwool cubes.
It takes 1-2 weeks to get your cuttings rooted nicely in
hydroponic starter cubes. Finishing the crop can be done
in slabs or directly in the NFT trough. You can expect the
first of unlimited harvests after transplant to be 4 weeks in
summer, and 6-7 weeks in winter. Mints are perennial, and
continue to produce future yields off the same roots.
Prefer using traditional potting methods? Start your cuttings
in a glass of plain tap water. You’ll have new roots in less
than a week. Let it sit a few more days, and new stems start
forming at the leaf nodes. Use quality soilless mix that has
excellent moisture retention with good drainage for potting.
Remember that mint hates dry feet.
WHAT DO I NEED?Both HID lamps and compact fluorescents running 14-16
hours a day will provide ample light for mint. Poor conditions
and weak light make it prone to develop rust - an incurable
and highly contagious plant disease. Do not buy plants with
yellow or brown spots on either side of the leaf. If you find it
on plants in your grow space, remove and destroy the plant
immediately.
RECOMMENDED VARIETIESSome types of mint have greater concentrations of menthol
valuable for essential oil used in commercial products and
pharmaceuticals. Others are more palatable for eating.
Apple Mint (Mentha suaveolns)Perfect for culinary use and tea. Lovely flavoring for drinks,
sauces, jellies, fruit and meat dishes. Hairy leaves make a
poor garnish. Variegated version is called Pineapple Mint.
Blue Balsam Mint (Mentha x piperita)A strong flavored hybrid often used for tea, culinary,
aromatherapy, and cosmetic applications.
Candy Mint (Mentha x piperita)Along with true peppermint, this is commonly used to
flavor chewing gum, oral health products, and medicines.
Valuable all around culinary herb too.
Chocolate Mint (Mentha piperita piperita)As rich looking as it tastes, the dark leaves with brown
veins offer big chocolate flavor laced with refreshing mint.
Divinely aromatic. Perfect for teas, iced drinks, syrups and
desserts. Harvest before flowering to avoid bitter leaves.
Egyptian Mint (Mentha niliaca)True biblical mint. Strongly flavored, and very aromatic.
Used for tea and cooking.
Ginger Mint (Mentha x gentilis)Distinctive flavor. Delicious tea, and fruit or vegetable
seasoning. Gold variegation makes a beautiful garnish. Dried
leaves are used in potpourris.
Orange Mint (Mentha aquatica ‘Citrata’)Heavy scented, and also known as Bergamot Mint and Eau
de Cologne Mint. Used fresh in beverages, vinegars, salads
and desserts, and as a garnish. The distilled oil is used in
making perfumes and Chartreuse liquor. Lime Mint has a
slightly different flavor popular in Middle East cuisine and
teas.
Peppermint (Mentha piperita)The classic flavoring and fastest growing. It has the highest
menthol content and is used in making many products and
medicines. A strong disinfectant just as at home in recipes
and herbal remedies.
36
37 37 gardenculture.net
The Perfect Mojito
The secret to a truly great mojito contains 5 letters. FRESH.
Freshly picked mint steeped properly in simple syrup.
Ingredients:
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 2 handfuls fresh mint leaves
• 1.5 - 2 ounces of light rum
• 1/2 lime
• Club soda or water
• 10 Easy Steps:
• Simple Syrup
• Mix the water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil.
• Stir for about 1 minute to dissolve all sugar. Turn off
the burner.
• Add 1 handful of mint leaves. Steep for at least an hour.
Strain and chill well.
• Mojito
• Tall glass. Pour in 1 oz. of your fresh mint syrup.
• Add a handful of mint leaves, and muddle it together
with a spoon or muddler.
• Add crushed ice. Muddle some more.
• Pour in the rum.
• Squeeze in the juice of half a lime.
• Add a splash of club soda and stir. No soda on hand?
Use water.
• Garnish with a sprig and slice of lime.
MINT I GARDEN CULTURE
The sweetest flavor and heaviest oil yield comes from warm
days and cool nights. No special nutrient requirements
here. A standard NPK hydroponic nutrient can be used.
Their preferred pH range is 5.5-6.5. Maintain day temps of
75-80°F, nights at 55-60°F with 75-80% humidity in summer
for rooting and vegetative stages. You want lower humidity
in the winter to prevent leaf mold.
Use liquid or slow release fertilizer in traditional container
growing. Heavier feeding results in more abundant top
growth. Be sure to maintain air humidity and keep the roots
moist, but not waterlogged. Your yield will not be as high as
plants grown hydroponically.
HARVESTING TIPS A mint plant can produce harvests for up to 15 years. If
you’re growing it indoors using traditional potting methods,
you will need to divide and repot periodically to maintain
good vigor over such an extensive time. Root bound
container plants never perform at optimums, and keeping
media moisture present becomes difficult when root mass
is greater than the amount of media.
For the best flavor, harvest mint leaves in the morning. Never
cut in excess of two thirds of the plant’s height. Hydroponic
NFT system harvest yield should be 2-3 pounds per 5-feet
of trough in summer, and lower in winter at 1-2 pounds per
10-feet.
CULINARY OR HEALTHY INSPIRATIONRestaurants don’t give you after dinner mints for breath
freshening. It’s to aid digestion, a practice that has been in
use since ancient Rome.
Many delicious recipes from around the world feature mint
in fresh, dried or extract form. You will often see it paired
with lemon, and used in everything from entrees featuring
fish, lamb, or chicken to fruit or vegetable dishes, salads,
sauces, desserts and beverages. Mint jelly is simple to can,
and always have on hand.
Fresh mint is necessary for whipping up a proper Limonana,
Mint Julep, Mojito, and the best tasting Creme de Menthe
liqueur you’ve ever had.
39 39 gardenculture.net
DIY Essential Mint Oil1,001 BENEFITS & USES
There are more reasons to keep mint oil on hand than you
can shake a stick at. Good tasting stuff that’s valued for just
about anything. Google “uses for essential mint oil,” and
you’ll see just how much it can do for you.
Save your hard earned cash. It’s a cinch to whip up your own
using commonly available items.
• 473 ml Canning jar
• 354 ml Vodka
• 113 gr Fresh Mint Leaves, minced
• Cheesecloth
• Funnel
• Sharp knife
• Glass storage bottles
Pour the vodka and minced mint leaves into the jar. Cap it,
and shake well. Place the jar in a dark area. Shake it every
few days. Curing time is 6 weeks. When your brew time
has completed, pour the jar’s contents through a funnel lined
with cheesecloth into a clean glass jar. Gather the remaining
leaves in the cloth, and squeeze out all captured extract they
are still holding. Fill your glass storage bottles. Check that
the caps are on tight so no evaporation occurs. Store your
essence of mint in a cool dark place.
Since mint essential oil is measured in drops, storing it in
glass dropper bottles makes it much handier to use. Three of
these 118 milliliter bottles should store your yield. 3
MINT I GARDEN CULTURE
40
41 41
SEALING I GARDEN CULTURE
gardenculture.net
YOU CAN SAVE MONEY AND
TIME WITH THIS PRESERVING METHOD
Advantages of Vacuum SealingVacuum sealed foods will last longer than other storage
methods, aside from canning. Regular plastic wrap, foil, zip-lock
bags, and even air tight containers cannot preserve foods as
well as vacuum sealing. Besides lasting longer, they also taste
fresher, and the structure of foods (for example, vegetables)
feels better in your mouth than with other storage methods.
You can save money and time with this preserving method,
because the food you grow will not go to waste. To realize
just how possible this is, you need to understand the
science behind vacuum sealing.
Why Vacuum Sealing Works BetterFood ripens as a result of oxygen exposure. Fruits, herbs,
vegetables, and meats will begin to spoil after a certain amount
of time, because they’ve been exposed to the air. Often mold
and bacteria will develop, leaving the food undesirable, because
of the change in odor, color, and texture of it. Sometimes bacteria
can develop without air, but mold does not
develop without a healthy supply of oxygen.
When you vacuum seal your food, what you
are actually doing is removing the air and
oxygen from the bag. Without air, mold and
some bacteria are unable to live or grow.
Over time, however, the food you store
might spoil if it is not refrigerated or frozen.
If you vacuum seal your food while it is very fresh, and store
it appropriately, it will last longer than if you had used another
storage method.
How Does Vacuum Sealing Work?Actually it’s pretty easily explained. By sucking out all the air
the vacuum sealer creates a vacuum and then it seals it. Pretty
simple huh? It vacuums, and it seals. The technology behind it is
a little bit more complex.
There are 2 types of vacuum sealers on the market, the non-
chambered and the chamber vacuum sealer. Since the chamber
vacuum sealer is pretty expensive, it’s almost solely used by
professionals like chefs, and the food industry. So, for this article
I’ll focus on the non-chambered version.
The biggest difference in usage is that non-chamber units
cannot vacuum seal liquids. There’s a way around that limitation.
To package liquid items, first freeze them
into a solid form. They can then be vacuum
packaged and stored in the freezer to
maintain the frozen state.
Vacuum Sealing is Easy!It just so happens that I got sent a vacuum
sealer from our friends at SousVide Supreme
while researching another article on vacuum cooking, which you
can read in this issue. Some brands of vacuum sealers for home
use aren’t that great,
but I can definitely
recommend that
one since we’ve
used it extensively
over the last month.
You don’t need to become an expert to use a vacuum sealer. It’s
as simple as placing your produce in bag, place the open side of
the bag in the machine, and press the vacuum/seal button. 3
Every time I harvest something there’s usually more than I can eat in one go or keep fresh. The daunting question
then is what to do with it. Put it in a jar? Freeze it? Give it away? Dry it? Well, there’s another option I’d like to add to
that list, vacuum sealing.
“FOOD RIPENS AS A RESULT OF OXYGEN EXPOSURE.”
Sealing In Freshness
More info on vacuum sealers?
www.sousvidesupreme.com
42
ORGANICC O M P O S TC R E A T I N G R I C H S O I L
BY TAMMY CLAYTON
All organic matter naturally decomposes into compost,
be it from plants or animals. In some countries, compost
from strictly plant materials is known as green manure.
Animals of all sizes, fish, birds, worms, rodents, bugs,
and even microscopic organisms eat different parts of
plants. Whether dropped by a plant or an animal as
waste, at the end of the natural cycle, we have this soft,
rich soil that garden plants adore. It’s exactly what you
find as topsoil on the forest floor.
43
ORGANIC COMPOST I GARDEN CULTURE
ORGANICC O M P O S TC R E A T I N G R I C H S O I L
IT’S WONDERFUL STUFF FOR YOUR GARDEN, AND MAKING IT AT HOME HELPS TO REDUCE OUR CARBON FOOTPRINT
You can buy compost by the bag
in any garden center. Bagged com-
post is a commercial product, and
the result of creating profit out of
waste that would otherwise increase
operating costs for waste removal
companies and landfills.
It does make more sense to recycle
organic waste as a soil amendment or natural fertil-
izer than to bury it. You could save a lot of money if you
stop paying a trash service to haul away your yard and
kitchen waste, only to pay them handsomely to buy it
back again! Anyone can make compost. It’s wonderful
stuff for your garden, and making it at home helps to
reduce our carbon footprint. It takes a lot of fuel to
make commercial compost available to you: collecting
it, processing it, packaging it, shipping it, and getting it
home... once again.
Still if you’d prefer the convenience route of just buying
it, being labeled as ‘compost’ doesn’t have anything to
do with the content’s quality. You don’t know what’s in
the bag. Commercial compost is fast and easy, but don’t
lose site of the fact that it’s just a means of handling
waste and garbage more profitably.
Don’t buy it blindly. Make sure it is richly colored, con-
tains no big chunks of trash or not yet decomposed ma-
terials and that it has a soft,
earthy smell. You would be
wise to get a soil analysis from
the manufacturer too. There is
also the possibility that residual herbicides and other
chemicals are present in commercial compost.
HOW COMPOST WORKS Good, rich soil isn’t always plentiful. Compost can do
much for improving soil quality in the outdoor garden.
Worked in deep over several years, it can build up san-
dy soil, making it very productive with good moisture
retention. The same practice on heavy clay can turn
rock-hard ground into a loose, fertile garden space with
drainage. You can repair over-worked soil with com-
post too, as it is full of important nutrients. This is why
farms plant cover crops, and till them into the fields,
to replenish the soil’s productivity and humus content.
They grow their compost on the spot.
Compost is nature’s way of providing the soil with nu-
trients, and an organic slow-release fertilizer. All essen-
tial nutrients that allow plants to thrive are in compost.
Working it into your garden delivers a slow and steady
source of the beneficial elements your crops need. It’s
also heavy on humus that serves several roles in making
soil good for growing beyond it’s fertility. It improves
43 gardenculture.net
COMPOST IS NATURE’S WAY OF PROVIDING THE SOIL WITH NUTRIENTS,
AND AN ORGANIC SLOW-RELEASE FERTILIZER
COMPOST RECI PE
COMPOST CREATES HEAT. IT’S A NATURAL PART OF THE DECOMPOSITION PROCESS.
YOU HAVE TO LET THE MIDDLE OF THE PILE GET TO A TEMPERATURE OF 71° C.
COMPOST INGREDIENTSUse both green and dried materials to create compost.
Mixing them will give you the best results, and faster
compost. Precise measuring isn’t needed, but generally
one part green to three parts dried waste is perfect.
You’ll get far more smell with higher amounts of green
matter. Your compost will take longer to finish if you
add too much dried stuff. Now for the ‘recipe’...
soils by increasing air flow, its ability to absorb and re-
tain moisture, along with maintaining a happy middle
ground for drainage and workability. All of this increases
your garden’s vigor, and improves plants’ immune sys-
tem. The result? Incredibly robust plants and higher
yields.
MAKING YOUR OWN COMPOSTYou have a choice of a simple compost pile, or using
an enclosed bin. There’s minimal cost with both, but a
pile is usually free. Additionally, it takes water to make
compost, and an open pile will readily absorb rain. In a
closed composting barrel, you have to add the water.
Compost piles smell and attract animals, plus they are
messy looking. However, turning your organic waste
during the decomposing process is much easier in a pile
than an enclosed container.
They do make handy composting barrels that rotate
easily, but they aren’t cheap. There is also the upright
box option with a roof or lid. This will keep the smell
inside, stop marauding animals, and will look much nicer
to everyone who can see your compost area. Enclosed
like this though, you don’t want to forget about adding
water, and turning it now and then.
Compost creates heat. It’s a natural part of the decom-
position process. You have to let the middle of the pile
get to a temperature of 71° C. The temperature of com-
post also kills off harmful pathogens.
At first your compost pile will be fluffy and cool. As the
temperature rises inside, the process begins, and every-
thing starts packing down. On top of water, the waste
also needs air, as oxygen triggers the process too. You’ll
need a shovel or pitchfork to turn a pile, and it is a bit of
work. Containers need flipping too. Heavy as they are,
it’s the only way to restore the airflow to complete the
process. At least with a barrel, you can roll it around.
44
GREEN STUFF• Kitchen scraps - no meats or fish.
• Coffee grounds and tea bags.
• Lawn clippings and fresh green yard waste.
• Fresh manure - chicken, rabbit, sheep,
goat, horse or cow.
DRY STUFF• Dry leaves and cornstalks.
• Sawdust and wood chips.
• Old hay and straw.
45
ORGANIC COMPOST I GARDEN CULTURE
45 gardenculture.net
MANY PROGRESSIVE GARDENING STORES MAKE
FRESH COMPOST TEA WEEKLY
THAT YOU CAN BUY. THEY USE
COMPOST, EARTHWORM
CASTINGS, AND ADDITIVES TO FEED
THE MICROBES
This is aerated compost tea, which is more powerful
than the classic version created by steeping compost,
worm castings, and/or manure in a bucket of water. The
old way pales in benefits comparison.
Once removed from the active aeration, you have four
hours to use the tea by either watering it into the soil,
or as a foliar spray. If you refrigerate it within four hours
it can remain aerobic for about a week. After that it
must be disposed of. You can also “cut” it with water by
up to a 1:5 tea to water ratio. Although no bad effects
have been observed in its pure form, many gardeners
choose to stretch the goodness over a larger area.
The most advanced method of making aerobic compost
tea is vortex brewing, which adds a third dimension to
the process, and increases the benefits. Vortex brew-
ers aren’t cheap, but you just might find a hydro shop
not far away that sells this form of compost tea fresh
in gallons.
If you can’t find a shop nearby that sells fresh aerobic
compost tea, check with the area garden centers. Some
of them will be brewing this organic wonder juice too.
Live too far from any place to buy it? You can make
your own aerobic tea brewer with inexpensive, easy to
obtain items. Learn how to build one here:
gardenculture.net/nutrients/make-your-own-aerobic-
worm-tea-brewer-1494
WHAT IS
COMPOST TEA?Compost tea is an aerobic concentrate of beneficial microbes, and actually contains a denser
population of the beneficial microbes than stand alone compost! Many progressive gardening
stores make fresh compost tea weekly that you can buy. They use compost, earthworm cast-
ings, and additives to feed the microbes, and brew it in an actively aerated, de-chlorinated
reservoir for at least 24 hours.
46
G A R D E N I N G B A S I C S
BY STEPHEN
O R G A N I C - M A D E O F , D E R I V E D F R O M , O R R E L A T E D T O L I V I N G O R G A N I S M S
What is the rhizosphere?
The rhizosphere is the slim area of soil around the roots that
is inhabited by the soil food web, and receives the secretions
and exudates the roots let off at night. In organic gardening,
the rhizosphere helps to give last minute processing to nu-
trients with the help of the food web. The food web retains
much of the nutrient so it is not immediately lost as is the
case in hydroponics. Think of the rhizosphere as a screen to
catch, and filter out the nutrient before it passes through in
the water. The rhizosphere also is the first line of defense
from disease, pathogens, and bad microorganisms before
hitting a plant’s root zone. The rest of the soil outside of the
rhizosphere is called the “bulk soil”.
I have good soil. How do I get the
food web alive and thriving?
Chlorine and chloramines: One of the biggest mis-
takes novice gardeners make when starting organic farming is
using tap water that is saturated in chlorine and chloramines,
or mixing in synthetic components with organic counterparts.
Chlorine and chloramines kill the soil food web on contact!
If not using well water great care must be taken, either fil-
ter the chlorine out or to let the water sit 24 hours letting
the chlorine evaporate. Chloramines are much more stable
and a special catalytic filter must be used as regular carbon
filter provides no defense against them and they will not simply
What is unique about
organic gardening?
An organic gardener utilizes unadulterated natural sub-
stances and uses carbon as a main ingredient for plant
nutrition. Nothing synthetic is used whatsoever in this all
natural methodology. When a gardener grows organically,
he mimics what has been observed in nature; it can sustain
itself with no interference from humans. Decaying organic
materials will all eventually have a metamorphosis into a
form of carbon. Carbon is commonly known as the “build-
ing block of life”. The carbon byproduct is named humus.
Humic acid is a well known additive in organic world. Hu-
mus is one of the main foods for the members of the soil
food web.
What is the soil food web?
The soil web is comprised of a complex variety of mi-
croscopic organisms. These organisms are mainly earth-
worms, protozoa, mycorrhizae (beneficial fungi), nema-
todes, and beneficial bacteria. A good handful of healthy
soil can contains from the tens to the billions of these
symbiotic creatures. They eat humus (carbon), other car-
bohydrates and proteins (exudates), and even each other!
The roots release these exudates in their night time cycle.
They all colonize mostly in the roots rhizosphere compet-
ing for the exudates.
47
ORGANIC GARDENING I GARDEN CULTURE
AN ORGANIC GARDENER UTILIZES UNADULTERATED NATURAL SUBSTANCES AND USES CARBON AS A
MAIN INGREDIENT FOR PLANT NUTRITION
evaporate out. Synthetic fertilizers are
sodium based, and have a drying effect
on the biology. The salt-based casual-
ties lead to the retreating of the survivors ending the natural
balance and processes of a healthy rhizosphere.
Nutrients and Additives: The nutrients and ad-
ditives used in organic gardening are comprised of natural
ingredients and components both to feed the food web
and the plant itself. Popular substances used are emulsified
fish, seaweed, humic acid, humus, molasses, compost and/
or compost tea, yucca extract, guano, earthworm castings,
coffee grounds, bone meal, blood meal, alfalfa meal, green-
sand, dolomite lime, and the list goes on!
Beneficial Inoculants: There are many over-the-
counter beneficial inoculants that an organic gardener can
purchase to take the soil food web into their own hands.
Many of these inoculants contain some mixture of mycor-
rhizae, beneficial bacteria, trichaderma, humates, and/or
kelp (seaweed). The humates and kelp serve as an instant
food source for the other living ingredients. Some popu-
lar brand names for such products include: Mykos, Plant
Success, Piranha, Tarantula, and Orca. Another all natural
inoculant is compost.
What is compost?
Compost is the quintessential
representation of what happens
in nature. Organic green scraps, coffee grounds, and
fruit and vegetable scraps are decomposed using oxygen
and water. Earthworms and mycorrhizae start to inhab-
it and break down the organic material in an attempt to
convert it to humus which is a food source. Healthy aer-
obic bacteria also facilitate the chemical changes of the
organic matter by converting it into heat, CO2, and a
form of ammonium. The ammoniums then are convert-
ed into nitrates that are usable to the plant. Compost
typically contains nutrients (mostly nitrates), beneficial
microorganisms, and humus. It can also work great as
a soil conditioner in the sandy soil here in Florida by
adding moisture retention and increased nutrient up-
take. It is important to use well decomposed compost
as it will actually compete with the plant for nitrogen
if it isn’t. Well decomposed compost is what
gives extra nitrogen to the plant. The
soil food web is well at work here!
This is why compost tea is be-
coming more and more
popular.
THERE ARE MANY OVER-THE-COUNTER
BENEFICIAL INOCULANTS THAT AN ORGANIC GARDENER CAN PURCHASE TO
TAKE THE SOIL FOOD WEB INTO THEIR OWN
HANDS
47 gardenculture.net
the uk’s trusted hydroponics system manufacturer
All systems available in 6-48 pot • 2 year guarantee • Made in UK
www.iwssystems.co.uk
Vegigator Flood & Drain Basic Systems
Flood & Drain and Pro Systems Dripper Systems
Hand Watering SystemsDeep Water Culture Systems
See t
he sy
stem
s in
action
onli
ne
Introduction into the IWS family
Commercial style growing for the hobbyist
Hand feeding made even easier
Turn beginners into professionals overnight
Innovative bubbler system with proven results
Develop multiple plants under one light, ready to be transferred into your IWS system
49
ORGANIC GARDENING I GARDEN CULTURE
gardenculture.net
THESE HORMONES FACILITATE EXPLOSIVE GROWTH AND VITALITY. IT ALSO CONTAINS
TRACES OF NITROGEN, PHOSPHOROUS, POTASSIUM, CALCIUM, MAGNESIUM, SULFUR,
ZINC, AND IRON.
Other than a regular grow/bloom
nutrient, what are some popular
additives?
Vegetative and flowering additives can be in a liquid or
granular form. Liquids have to be added more frequently
and added cumulatively, while slow release granular ferti-
lizers are added less often, and often contain traces of ben-
eficial fungi and bacteria. Popular liquid or granular addi-
tives can help get the most out of your plant performance
and soil food web:
Humic Acid: a byproduct of the decomposition of or-
ganic matter. It feeds the soil food web, and helps with the
transportation of nutrients within the plant.
Kelp: typically Ascophyllum nodosum in the horticultural
field, kelp (seaweed) is a very popular additive due to its
myriad of benefits. Ascophyllum no-
dosum is a north Atlantic seaweed
that grows almost a meter a day in
just above freezing temperatures.
This is facilitated through the pow-
erful growth hormones (auxin-like
gibberellins and cytokinins). These
hormones facilitate explosive
growth and vitality. It also contains traces
of nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium,
calcium, magnesium, sulfur, zinc,
and iron. It can almost be a fer-
tilizer on its own!
the uk’s trusted hydroponics system manufacturer
All systems available in 6-48 pot • 2 year guarantee • Made in UK
www.iwssystems.co.uk
Vegigator Flood & Drain Basic Systems
Flood & Drain and Pro Systems Dripper Systems
Hand Watering SystemsDeep Water Culture Systems
See t
he sy
stem
s in
action
onli
ne
Introduction into the IWS family
Commercial style growing for the hobbyist
Hand feeding made even easier
Turn beginners into professionals overnight
Innovative bubbler system with proven results
Develop multiple plants under one light, ready to be transferred into your IWS system
49
51
ORGANIC GARDENING I GARDEN CULTURE
POPULAR LIQUID OR GRANULAR ADDITIVES CAN HELP GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR PLANT
PERFORMANCE AND SOIL FOOD WEB
51 gardenculture.net
Emulsified fish/squid: a cheap, water-soluble liquid that is high
in available nitrogen. It also contains
traces of phosphorous, potassium, and
secondary/trace minerals. Plants need
a ton of this to develop a toxicity and
the nutrient is immediately available to
the plant.
Worm Castings: is “worm poop”.
Digested humus and nitrogen heavy decay-
ing matter are found in castings along with
many other trace elements. Worm castings
should never exceed 1/5 of the total composi-
tion of the soil. 1 to 1 ½ cups per plant of castings
should be enough to sustain through vegetative growth.
Take care to mix evenly in soil.
Blood Meal: this is the dried and ground
blood that is recycled from slaughterhous-
es. It is mainly a nitrogen booster and
therefore should be used in vegetative
growth. It can be potent so try to add
a little at a time to avoid a toxicity.
Bone Meal: is ground up cow bone
that is collected from slaughterhouses. It
is typically phosphorous heavy and becomes
more so the older the bone was at time of death. This is
therefore more of a flowering additive. Bone meal can also
contain lime and therefore could be a good amendment to
soils with higher peat content to counteract the natural
acidity.
Dolomite Lime: contains re-
spectable amounts of calcium and
magnesium which are two very
important secondary nutrients.
The base PH of lime makes it a
nice treatment for acidic soils as
well.
Coffee grounds: if you make drip coffee
you’re in luck! Coffee grounds are abundant
in nitrogen and trace elements. It is also
very acidic. This can be used to treat base
soil but be careful not to use to much. It
also draws bacteria to the soil!
Greensand: is a great source
for silica, iron, phosphorous,
and potassium. Greensand can
be very slow releasing, so its
better to treat soil or plants that
will be utilized for quite some time.
Rock Phosphate: is another very slow releasing
fertilizer. It can contain up to 30% phosphorous giving it
its moniker.
Guano: the excrement of bats and seabirds from around
the world. The rule usually is that the new guano is high
nitrogen, while older guano is high phosphorous.
As far as buying it goes, Mexican guano
is high nitrogen, Peruvian guano is
high nitrogen and phosphorus (all-
purpose), Jamaican is high phos-
phorous (bulking), and Indonesian
is high phosphorous (ripening). Guano
can be brewed in a tea and watered in
or applied as a slow release top dressing.
Feather Meal: is good for com-
post piles or as an additive. It is high
in nitrogen and releases slowly.
Chicken manure may also be found
in the mix. The feathers are taken
from the slaughterhouse, steamed,
dried out, and ground into a pow-
der-like substance. 3
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
54
How Plants “See” LightThe sun is the ideal light source for plants, because it
includes the full spectrum of colors, from red to violet.
Plants use the entire spectrum of colors for the process of
photosynthesis. However, most plants respond best to red
and blue light in the grow room.
The color we see when we are looking at an object is the
reflected light that isn’t absorbed. This means that since we
see most plants as green, they are reflecting some green
spectrum, instead of absorbing this light.
Pigments are responsible
for light absorption in
plants. Chlorophyll is their
primary pigment, and ab-
sorbs very little green
light. While the leaves
have other pigments that
do absorb green light, the
primary pigment does not
have this ability.
Green Light
The Effects of Green LightDespite plants being less sensitive to green light as ener-
gy for growth, in nature they are exposed to green light
from the sun. Obviously, green light is not harmful, but is
only helpful to the growth process when used in the full
spectrum lamp. Hanging a green light will not benefit the
growth of your plant.
Why Growers Use Green LightGreen lights are used by gardeners to “see” in the dark.
The new generation green LED lights have a low percent-
age of “white light leakage” combined with low lumens.
This allows a grower can see in the grow room during the
night cycle with the normal grow lights off.
Using a green LED light, you can check up on your plants,
perform maintenance, and other tasks without too much
disturbance of the crop’s nightly cycle. A word to the wise -
never keep a green LED on all the time. There’s still a small
percentage white light “leaking” from the bulb, which can
disturb your plants’ rest. Always switch off the green light
when you’re done. 3
The use of green light is a commonly debated topic in the world of indoor growing. On one side of the
debate are those who believe green light will hurt plants and their growth, while others firmly believe that
it will have little impact at all, and then there are those who say it’s possibly beneficial to plant growth.
“Chlorophyll is their primary pigment and absorbs very little green
light.”
BY APRIL KLAZEMA
“green light is a commonly debated topic...”
Fact or Fiction?
“Green lights are used by gardeners to “see” in the dark.”
GARDEN CULTURE I GREEN LIGHT
Specialist Horticultural Products maxibright.com
BY APRIL KLAZEMA
56
BY TAMMY CLAYTON
THEsealedroom GARDEN
“IN A SEALED GROW SPACE YOU’VE GOT EVERY ASPECT OF YOUR PLANT’S NEEDS COVERED”
To gain total control of your indoor
growing environment, you need to
take it a step further than having a
grow tent or grow room. You’ve gotta
have a totally sealed space - like a food
storage box for the freezer. When you
have holes and cracks, air and light
leaks in from outside the garden. This
makes it impossible to manipulate and
customize the optimum conditions for
your plants. A sealed grow space isn’t
the least expensive approach, but it is
what you need for the ultimate harvest.
YOU WILL HAVE EXPLICIT CONTROL OF HUMIDITY LEVELS DAY AND NIGHT - 365 DAYS A YEAR WITH A SEALED GROW ROOM.
WATER COOLED CO2 GENERATOR
PROFESSIONAL SEALED ROOM GARDENS
57
SEALED ROOM GARDEN I GARDEN CULTURE
gardenculture.net
Wondering about
humidity being an
issue? True, your
plants in a sealed
indoor garden will
continue to transpire,
and if left unchecked, high humidity can
invite pathogens to attack, along with a marked reduction
in plant growth. Standard venting is going to bring natural
humidity in from outside the grow room anyway in most
geographic locations. You will have explicit control of humidity
levels day and night - 365 days a year with a sealed grow room.
Using a dehumidifier that is the right size for your space will
take care of your humidity woes in short order. Don’t skimp.
Make sure it’s a good fit.
One thing that will get far easier to control in a sealed
indoor garden is pests and disease. Of course, you still
have to keep the space clean, and ensure you don’t
inadvertently carry in bad stuff from outdoors, or from
other people’s growing rooms and greenhouses.
There are three ways these nightmares
looking for a place to happen arrive in your
garden - on your clothes or skin, on your
pet, or through the fresh air duct. Granted,
a well controlled environment can ward off
some growing problems, because weakened
plants from radical temperature changes,
high humidity and other things that are out
of kilter, also invites pest and disease issues
to take off like a rabbit from hell. Especially,
if you’re not paying close attention to what’s
going on in your garden on a daily basis.
The sealed grow room gives you complete control, and a
garden free of anything that is going on outdoors. This really
is the best way to protect your garden from negative outside
influences. Growers have found great success in heightened
efficiency using this concept for years, and it’s something
every new gardener really should consider. Your job gets
so much easier when you’re not battling Mother Nature, or
other people’s need for spraying chemicals on everything in
their yards. Chemicals? Well yes, if your garden isn’t sealed,
anything floating in the air will enter. 3
Wait a minute! Surely temps will soar with
these lights blasting sunshine up to 18 hours
a day. Not to worry, in a sealed grow space
you’ve got every aspect of your plant’s
needs covered. The optimum temperature
range for any plant is not very wide, and
they don’t like radical changes. On top of the heat your grow
lamps give off - hydro pumps, HID ballasts, dehumidifiers, and
any other equipment inside the room create even more heat.
The solution to controlling the temperature is an air
conditioner. Figuring out how much AC you need is simple.
For every 1000 watts of light power you’ll need 4000 BTUs of
cooling power. It’s not necessary to have central air installed.
You will find a number of portable AC units designed just for
the indoor garden available.
Having conquered temperature control, now
you need to address your plants’ need for CO2.
Without it photosynthesis can’t take place,
which won’t do your harvest any favors. A
standard ventilation setup will give you normal
atmospheric levels of CO2, but what if your
crop needs more? In fact, why wouldn’t you
want total control when adding CO2 ups your
harvest by 30%? It doesn’t make much sense to add it when
the exhaust fan will just pump it out straightaway. You
could simply shut down the ventilation system for a bit, but
your plants will be baking in soaring temperatures. Radical
change. Not good.
In a sealed room you can add more CO2 without losing it
all before your crop can make use of it. So, how does one
add CO2? There are a number of ways to accomplish this
- propane burners, natural gas burners and simple bottled
CO2. In a small grow room the bottled gas is sufficient. With
a bigger room that’s running 6000 watts or more of lighting,
it is usually the burner that’s opted for to supply the required
400-2200 PPM boost in CO2.
Naturally, a CO2 burner will create a new source of heat, but
your AC unit will take care of that. Something you won’t need
to worry about with the bottled gas, and there are also water-
cooled CO2 generators available. If your room is small, you
might want to add a diffuser to your bottled CO2 to deliver it
automatically as needed by your plants.
“THE BEST WAY TO PROTECT YOUR GARDEN
FROM NEGATIVE OUTSIDE INFLUENCES.”
“YOU’VE GOTTA HAVE A TOTALLY SEALED SPACE - LIKE A FOOD STORAGE BOX FOR THE FREEZER.”
PORTABLE AIRCONDITIONING
CO2 BUCKET
Announcing the Home Grown Expo 2014
We’re proud to co-host the next big thing in the urban gardening field.
We’ve been secretly working on it for a while but now the cats out of the
bag and Home Grown Expo 2014 is a fact. The event will open on Saturday
the 31st of May 2014 at 10.00 am for the general public. For business owners
we have Sunday June 1st reserved as a “trade-only” day.
58
HOME GROWN EXPO I GARDEN CULTURE
What to expect?Expect to see Garden Culture magazine coming to life. Expect
walls with fresh plants, the top companies in the industry and
of course expect Urban Gardening examples. We already
have the vast majority of the floor space sold to the major
brands & companies in our industry like Maxigrow, Dutch
Pro, Gavita, Hesi and many more. If you want to check out
new gear, learn techniques or roam around with likeminded
people this show is for you. We also have several artisan food
companies lined up to provide you with tasty juices, raw food
and mind blowing high quality meats. Be ready to get your
taste buds blown away!
How to buy tickets?We’re sending tickets to all hydro stores in the UK to give
away to their customers for free. So ask them first. If they’re
fresh out of tickets you can always go to the Home Grown
Expo website at www.homegrownexpo.co.uk and enter the
discount code: GCUK4 for 50% off your ticket. Last but not
least check out our facebook at fb.com/homegrownexpo for
raffles and other give aways.
The locationFinding the right location at the right date was hard to say the
least. Our team has roamed all over the UK to find the perfect
spot because just like in real estate, location is key. After a
lot of comparisons
we’ve came up with the
perfect location for our
first show, Coventry in
the West-Midlands. It’s
right in the middle of the
UK and is right near the
M6, M69, M45 and M40
motorways. Also for our
international visitors it’s ideal, we’re expecting a couple of
busloads of them, its 15 minutes away from the Airport.
The event is held in the Ricoh Arena, a stadium complex that
houses the football stadium, a 6,000m2 exhibition hall, a hotel,
a night club, a leisure club and a casino. The perfect location
for the show itself but also for the VIP party we’re hosting on
a Saturday Night.
Get your tickets now at
www.homegrownexpo.co.uk
IF YOU WANT TO CHECK OUT NEW GEAR, LEARN TECHNIQUES
OR ROAM AROUND WITH LIKEMINDED PEOPLE THIS SHOW
IS FOR YOU
59 gardenculture.net
Check our website for more info:
www.woma-tuintechniek.comVisit our web shop to order your kit today!
www.womashop.eu
For experts, by experts...
A new and revolutionary nutrient line: 1 2 3
Woma Tuintechniek presents:
61 gardenculture.net
Would you fit in?
ad garden culture A4+5mm 16sep2013 oct-dec.indd 1 16-09-13 09:51
62
surface at a certain distance. LED light is very directional too,
with poor intensity spread - like a flashlight. It also doesn’t
blend nicely, and well... sunlight isn’t spotted. It delivers the
same spectrum levels smoothly and evenly.
There are certain colors of LEDs available that are as efficient,
or even more efficient, than HID lamps. However, not all
colors are evenly efficient and specifically not the white LEDs
which provide a wide spectrum. Basically, they are just blue or
near UV LEDs which have a phosphor coating, so actually they
give indirect light just like a CFL.
Still, Tekstra says that LEDs have merit in certain applications.
On top of growing greens and let-
tuce, they’re great for conserving
space by layered growing of young
plants, because you’re able to have
them close to the light. Far red LEDs
work well as steering lights to make young cucumbers stretch,
and to spread light into the lower regions of tall crops like
tomatoes, where overhead light cannot penetrate as it should.
Growing in a warm climate? For you LEDs are a blessing as
they don’t produce the infrared heat that ID lights create.
However, you need growing style and fertigation adjustments
to overcome lowered plant transpiration.
More advantages are found in using LEDs in greenhouses as
supplemental light. Here they provide ‘interlighting’ between
rows of tall crops, help increase day length, and allow pho-
LIGHTING EXPERT POINTS OF VIEWIf you really want to know the truth about grow lights, it is
wise to gather some input from people who make high quality
garden lighting. These are the guys who find solutions to light
issues in the grow room or greenhouse. It’s those solutions
that put them in business, and keeps them providing you with
the gear it takes to succeed in energizing your plants.
Here’s what horticultural lighting expert had to say from a
manufacturer and marketing point of view:
“For a long time the market has been literally fooled by manufactur-
ers who say that you can replace HID lighting with much lower watt-
age LEDs. You might remember the red
and blue LED UFO lights, where 200W
of LED would be able to replace 600W
of HPS. Most of the fixtures were based
on just red and blue, while in horticultur-
al research we already know for many years that other colors such
as orange, yellow, and green are just as important for healthy devel-
opment of a flowering plant. In many cases the simple recipes of red
and blue do work - but only for purely vegetative crops. Horticultural
research already proved that the complete sunlight spectrum is the
best light for plant development, including UVA and UVB.”
He also made some solid points in regards to lighting specs
on LEDS and their efficiency. It’s difficult to measure the total
output as we do with other lights. LED manufacturers only
state the PPFD, which means the intensity of the light on the
Forget the marketing hype. What’s the real story
with LED lighting in the indoor garden? Experts and
seasoned growers tell it all.
BY TAMMY CLAYTON
“ L E D S H AV E M E R I T I N C E R TA I N
A P P L I C AT I O N S . . .”
“ S U N L I G H T I S N ’ T S P O T T E D ”
THE
ABOUTTRUTH
63
LEDS I GARDEN CULTURE
gardenculture.net
to-periodic manipulation at a huge operating cost reduction
over the traditional HID supplement so common in commer-
cial growing in the past. Don’t overlook the point that these
situations include all available sunlight as well. Not just a sunny
window - a building that is all window.
Tesla induction lighting manufacturer,
Darryl Cotton, has some other in-
sights to offer.
“There are certain benefits to LEDs that
can’t be found in any other technology. They emit relatively narrow
spectrums that can be tailored to meet plant responses. The prob-
lem is it takes a lot of diodes in different wavelengths to attempt to
accomplish what is in your plants’ overall net action photosynthetic
absorption requirements.
When it takes that many diodes to get even close to meeting action
spectra, there is going to be heat, fans, and the difficulty of getting
all those wavelengths to blend into a uniform spectral pattern that
evenly bathes the plant canopy. What diodes strive mightily to do in
terms of broad spectrum, HID lights do effortlessly.”
Cotton points out that this is still a developing technology, and
plant lighting experts’ understanding of it changes constantly.
Anyone using LEDs today is paying for the R&D as an early
adapter.
Speaking of research and development. Steer clear of inexpen-
sive LED lights from China - all claiming to have the ‘best LED
light ever.’ It’s all marketing hype. These lights are inferior. Man-
“THERE IS A REASON WHY THE PROS DON’T USE LEDS”
“ I T I S T R U E T H AT U V L E D S I N C R E A S E
F L AV O N O I D S . . .”
ufacturers of quality LEDs, like Philips, makes no such claims. In
fact, they admit they’re still working on it.
The horticulture division at Philips does a lot of work with fruit
and greens growers, as well as bedding plant, cut flower, and
ornamental plant growing opera-
tions. These businesses work with
Philips to get their supplemental
lighting in greenhouses perfectly
tuned to individual crops during
the off-season. Their livelihood depends on getting things just
right, and Philips configures the LED spectrum recipes plant
by plant to fit their needs. This is highly scientific stuff. Indoor
gardening need not be this complex or costly.
64
GARDEN CULTURE I LEDS
SEASONED GARDENER POINTS OF VIEWIf you ask different experienced indoor growers which LED
light is the best, every one of them will give you a different
answer. Some might give you the name of one they claim
works pretty good on most plants, while the next few will
answer, “as long as all you want are leaves.” A lot of them
will tell you that none of them are good.
There is a reason that the pros don’t use LEDs. It isn’t just
the price of the light. Here’s some quotes:
“There is a ton to know about grow lighting in general, and LEDs
are only one part of it. It offers some great effects, but if used as
a whole, they aren’t a replacement for HID fixtures.”
“LEDs simply don’t provide the required intensity to produce
heavy yielding plants... As far as supplemental lighting is con-
cerned, I can say that they seem to improve the overall quality.
But again, they’re still too pricey even in those terms. If you’re
looking for good and affordable supplemental lighting, I would
recommend just using a few high output T5s in an array of dif-
ferent color temperatures (Kelvin)
placed at near the base of the plants
and shining upward into the plant
canopy.”
“It is true that UV LEDs increase
flavonoids and other desirable compounds. After 6 months your
other diodes will cloud up relieving your garden of needed light,
while all the electricity you’re using for lighting is wasted.”
“LEDs have great color, but lack the ability to enhance evapo-
transportation in plants, which aid the plant’s ability to absorb
nutrients in accelerated amounts to achieve rapid growth rates.
Bright light doesn’t mean intense light. If you’re looking to keep
temps down, use T5 HO lights, or invest in HID lighting and
exhaust to help maintain proper temps.”
“Plants like to cook in the sun. And there’s a reason why the
majority uses HID lights, because you get such a direct sinking
of light... that by using certain hydro or nute methods, you can in-
crease metabolism. Whereas in LED light the plant would never
accept such a huge dose of nutes.”
Good point! Not much energy would be going on in less
intense light.
“Most people look to LED as an option to high wattage/high
temp HID systems. And there are options that work beautifully
in terms of plant yields and quality that do outperform HIDs...
but to find an LED panel that would
be a straight option to HID that
makes sense economically? There
is a reason why most people keep
pumping heat into their gardens.”
Is there such an LED panel available at any price?
Yep. Garden pros say that Heliospectra makes an awe-
some LED. Their 600 watt light even gives your garden well
blended sunlight effects from dawn to dusk. You’ll need a
mortgage to put them in your grow room. The 7 spectrum
arrays developed for researchers cost £4580 each. Rumor
has it that the shipping is free.
Hmm, maybe you should look at the new high output LEDs?
They’re much more affordable than Heliospectra. As one
grow room expert puts it, “It defeats the purpose, as you
have high power requirements and diodes that die quickly.”
The names of some witnesses who provided evidence were with-
held to protect the innocent. 3
“ANYONE USING LEDS TODAY IS PAYING FOR THE R&D...”
“A S LO N G A S A L L YO U WA N T A R E
L E AV E S . . .”
“Plants like to cook in the sun”
66
GARDEN CULTURE I FRESH FOODS
Biology research at Rice Uni-
versity uncovered this fact
while studying how the cir-
cadian clock affects natu-
ral pest fighting compounds
to come to a plant’s assis-
tance. It started with cab-
bage leaves, and investigat-
ing the plant’s ability to resist attack by caterpillars
that feed on its leaves in the field - the very same
enzymes believed to have cancer fighting benefits.
This crossover benefit thing isn’t unique to cabbage. A
lot of the different antioxidants and disease fighting ele-
ments in fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs are part of
their built-in pest, disease and stress resistance mecha-
nisms.
They tested average store produce that’s been picked,
shipped, and stored. The researchers discovered that
cabbage, lettuce, sweet potatoes, blueberries, and
more... all respond to light. Too many light or dark
hours reduces resistance production, as does constant
light, or constant dark. They found that late in the day
on a 12 hour light/12 hour dark schedule, resistance
was twice as strong.
You might want to stop shopping for fresh food at 24-
hour stores - there is no night cycle there. Maybe we
should add a light cycle to the produce drawer in the
refrigerator. The light is only on when you open the
door. 3
“YOU MIGHT WANT TO STOP SHOPPING
FOR FRESH FOOD AT 24-HOUR STORES”
An amazing new discovery reveals that fruits and
vegetables continue functioning after the harvest.
Fresh foods are still alive. They know what time
it is and perform certain behaviors, like increas-
ing beneficial compounds according to hours
of light received. Your food still follows day and
night cycles. It could be at its healthiest best right
before dusk in their current daylength cycle.
“Fresh foods are still alive”
your salad tracks time!
68 68
BALLAST
“IT’S THE BALLAST’S JOB TO MAINTAIN A STABLE OPERATING POINT”
MAGNETIC VS. ELECTRONIC PROS&CONS
Almost every grow room has a pile of ballasts driving a bunch of lights.
There’s a lot of confusion among growers about ballasts. How do they
work? What are they for? What kind is best? Let’s take a look...
69 gardenculture.net
BALLASTS I GARDEN CULTUREBY GREG RICHTER
Magnetic ballasts use a capacitor to move the current and
voltage closer to being in-phase, but the net result is that with
the power factor being quite a bit less than 1. The resistance
of all that wire and the magnetic losses in the core, a mag-
netic ballast’s efficiency is going to be around 85% or so. That
means it’ll take 1170 Watts of power to light a 1000W bulb,
with the extra 170 Watts just heating up the room. Not ex-
actly what we want, but easy to build and inexpensive to buy.
The good news is the only thing that ever really goes
bad on a magnetic ballast is the capacitor, which can
usually be fixed at the store where you bought it.
Electronic BallastsElectronic ballasts have four big advantages over core and
coil ballasts:
1. Variable operating point – Elec-
tronic ballasts can compensate for aging
bulbs so that you get the same light output
even as the lamps age.
2. Efficiency – Core and coil
ballasts gobble up 1100-1200 Watts to run
a 1000 Watt bulb where a good quality
electronic ballast will only need 1050-1100
Watts.
3. Bulbs live longer – Electronic ballasts can adaptive-
ly maintain output power levels to keep bulbs brighter
for a longer period of time. You change bulbs less often.
4. Dimming – Electronic ballasts can be dimmed, and
some advanced designs can also drive multiple bulb
types and power ratings (400 / 600 / 1000).
Electronic ballasts are also:
• Smaller and lighter
• Able to restrike a hot bulb sooner
• Lower in perceived lamp flicker
• Can be quieter and produce less acoustic noise
As prices on power semiconductors came down in the 1990s,
engineers started pushing forward with Switched Mode Pow-
er Supplies (SMPS) since a switching supply running at high
frequency requires smaller transformers and inductors (the
expensive parts) than an SMPS running at a lower frequency.
Designs for HID ballasts have steadily improved and elec-
tronic ballasts are now a practical and accepted solution for
running HID lights. A good electronic ballast has a Power
Factor > 0.98, almost perfect, and runs at better than 90%
What IS a Ballast?Grow lights are usually High Intensity Discharge (HID)
bulbs which take a little work to get running. Whether the
bulb is a metal halide used for vegetative growth or an HPS
(High Pressure Sodium) bulb used for flowering, they all re-
quire a very high voltage to ionize the material in the bulb to
get it glowing and conducting electricity. This Strike Voltage
can run as high as 4000 volts, and is only on for a few sec-
onds or tens of seconds, just enough to get the gasses in the
bulb glowing and conductive enough for the bulb to light.
Once the arc strikes, the bulb needs to be current-limited
as it warms up, and finally held at a stable operating point
when it’s good and hot. It’s the ballast’s job to strike the
arc, limit current during warm-up, and maintain a stable
operating point once we’re up and running. Kind of like a
tightrope walker with a balance pole – it’s
the ballast’s job to maintain a stable oper-
ating point for a naturally unstable arc light.
Core & CoilIron core inductors are a simple and cheap
way to make some of these things happen. If
you wire an inductor in series with your HID
bulb two things happen: First, the inductor
charges up when current flows through it, and dumps all
that energy when the current stops. You can get a pretty
good-sized spark this way, and it’s the same technique we
use to fire spark plugs in a car. Since the AC power line
cycles 50-60 times per second, the
inductor can provide us the needed
high voltage for starting the arc.
Since an inductor resists changes
in current, it can also act as a cur-
rent limiter and, if you choose your
parts wisely, it can set the final operating point of the
bulb. Not bad for a steel core wound with a mile of wire!
The bad news is that current and voltage move close to
90 degrees out of phase with each other across an induc-
tor. Power is voltage multiplied by current, and if they are
out of phase you don’t get the use of all that power you’re
paying for at the meter. Electrical engineers report this out-
of-phase condition as Power Factor, with 1.0 being perfect.
You can think of Power Factor as the percentage of power
you pay for that doesn’t get used by the light – a PF of 0.85
means 15% of the power you buy doesn’t do any work.
“A MAGNETIC BALLAST’S
EFFICIENCY IS GOING TO BE AROUND
85%...”
BALLASTS I GARDEN CULTURE
71 gardenculture.net
efficiency. Some advanced designs are now pushing 97% effi-
ciency, at power factors approaching 0.995! There’s a world of
difference between magnetic and electronic ballasts, and quite
a difference between brands of electronic ballasts as well.
FansOne question I see a lot on the forums and hear in hydro
stores is about fans. Is it better to have a fan on the ballast or
not? Heat is the ending of all electronic devices and you can
count on halving the life of a given device for every 18°F rise in
temperature. So, a fan is good, right? Well, sometimes... Fans
on electronics are like turbochargers on cars – if you can run
without it, the machine will live longer.
If the ballast runs cool without the fan, a little forced-air cool-
ing will make it live longer. If a ballast NEEDS a fan to keep
from melting, that’s not so good. Fans suck in dirt as well as
air, and dirt makes things break. Put your hand on the ballast at
full power. If it is warm to the touch and has a small fan, that’s
fine. If it’s hot to the touch, or has big fans and is still hot, that’s
not what we want. If it needs a fan to stay alive, it’ll die when
the fan does.
Cooler is always better for the life of the equipment, and
for your power bill. Remember, you’re paying TWICE for
all that heat: once to heat up the ballast, and again to have
your air conditioning remove the heat from the room.
Electrical NoiseAcoustic noise is easy to check just by listening, but electrical
noise is the kind that makes pH and TDS meters read wrong.
It also alerts anyone with a radio that there’s a room full of
lights and ballasts next door. When the local WiFi has prob-
lems precisely 12 hours on and 12 hours off, it doesn’t take an
electronic engineer to sniff out the cause!
“ELECTRONIC BALLASTS CAN BE DIMMED...”
A simple and easy test is to take a hand-held AM radio and
tune it between stations so you just hear static. Turn the
lights on and tune up and down the band – do you hear
your ballasts blasting away? Most of them do, and it’s an
easy check to make before purchasing a ballast. Quieter is
better because if your ballast doesn’t interfere with your
neighbor’s radio, cellphone or computer he’s less likely to
give you a hard time about your garden.
Electromagnetic interference (EMI) can come from ballast
itself as radiation, from the lamp cord or from the power
wiring. Every wire is an antenna at some frequency, and
the longer your lamp wiring is, the more likely you’re go-
ing to hit the antenna jackpot. For lamp wiring, shorter
is better.
Conducted EMI coming down the power line is more likely
to cause problems with computers than radios, but there’s
not much a grower can do about it without redesigning
the ballast. In our own EMI testing we found that all the
electronic ballasts were noisy on the lamp wiring but the
worst offenders were the ones that had conducted EMI
(power line) issues.
NotesMagnetic ballasts are heavy, inexpensive and less efficient
than electronic ballasts. Electronic ballasts beat magnetics
in all areas of performance, but poorly designed units can
make enough electrical (RF) noise to cause instrumenta-
tion issues for the grower and radio interference issues for
his neighbors. A quick radio check can save a lot of trouble
in telling a good one from a bad one, as can simply putting
your hand on the ballast to see how cool it runs. You don’t
need expensive instruments to check your ballast – just a
cheap radio and your five senses. 3
71 gardenculture.net
“ELECTRONIC BALLASTS CAN COMPENSATE FOR AGING BULBS...”
“CORE AND COIL BALLASTS
GOBBLE... WATTS”
“IF A BALLAST NEEDS
A FAN TO KEEP
FROM MELTING, THAT’S
NOT SO GOOD.”
“A GOOD ELECTRONIC BALLAST HAS A POWER FACTOR > 0.98...”
www.GreenpowerContactors.co.uk
Available now, new Green Power Hobby Relays
Licensed by Canatronics
The new Green Power Hobby Relay is ideal for growers looking to protect against electrical surges, whilst having the option to use their choice of segmental timer.
Green Power Hobby Relays
Licensed by Canatronics
The new Green Power Hobby Relay is ideal for growers looking to protect against electrical surges, whilst having the option to use their choice of segmental timer.
The new Green Power Hobby Relay is ideal for growers looking to protect against electrical surges, whilst having the option to use their choice of segmental timer.
Colour-coded cables for easy recognition
Handy hanging bracket
Galvanised back plate
• Made with high-quality components
• Can be used with any segmental timer
• 2 way contactor has a maximum load of 1200 watts
• 3 way contactor has a maximum load of 1800 watts
2 YEARGUARANTEE
NEW NEWNEWNEW
3 way Hobby Relay Timer
73 gardenculture.net
PLANT FACTS I GARDEN CULTURE
D
u
h
!
E
=
M
C
2
Plants Are Math ExpertsNot simple stuff like addition
and subtraction. We’re talking complicated
equations - tricky formulas they can adjust at
a moment’s notice. Plants use stored starches
from daylight hours throughout the night to grow.
However, they never run short and until very recently it was
unknown how they made this happen.
Plants can measure the amount of stored food in their cells
and actually ration it out over the hours between sunset and
dawn. They figure out the rate of consuming the rations by
complex division. Every morning at dawn only about 5% of
stored starches remain unconsumed.
Researchers have studied this. They made nights longer and
shorter trying to trip them up. The plants still made sure they
didn’t run out. Lights were even turned on in the middle of
the night. Plants just adjust their rate of processing stored
food instantly to match the new situation.
Plants Are SocialThis isn’t some far out fringe idea. Plants have a secret
social life. Research not only shows that plants com-
municate with each other, but they have a high vocabulary of
various signals. They respond to
the messages and meet the situ-
ation by changing their behavior
to fit whatever is going on.
What are they telling each oth-
er? They send out alerts about
bad bugs or disease moving in,
changes in the environment, and
more. They report discomfort
and pain, communicate condi-
tions both above and below ground, and combat competing
neighbors in a unified effort.
How do they talk among themselves? Chemicals, physical
contact, and light emissions, or altered wavelength reflection.
Makes you wonder if there are concerns about the noise level
in a meadow, and if plants have a sense of humor.
sources:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10134715/Scientists-find-proof-plants-are-capable-of-complex-arithmetic.htmlhttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130507-talking-chili-plant-communication-science/http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0037382http://www.mindpowernews.com/PlantsControlWeather.htm
No Plant Is An Island They prefer company. Plants perform better in
groups than alone. They also recognize family. Some,
like strawberries, maintain really
close ties being connected to each
other with shared roots or runners.
They have found that this family thing
extends to more distant relations
like cousins. It’s all about survival.
Plants share food and water resourc-
es. They help each other deal with
enemies,and other dangers.
Amazing Plant Facts
4
Hey,
you
look
sw
eeeet!
1
2
4
3
W
an
na
ha
ng
ou
t?
Grrr... gimme some space!!!
The War on WeedsWhy do weeds work
overtime to choke out your garden? Your im-
ported interlopers are hogging the natural re-
sources. Plant families don’t
mind sharing with siblings
and cousins, but your toma-
toes and begonias? They’re
illegal immigrants. The na-
tives are in hostile mode.
It’s war alright, and you
started it. 3
www.GreenpowerContactors.co.uk
Available now, new Green Power Hobby Relays
Licensed by Canatronics
The new Green Power Hobby Relay is ideal for growers looking to protect against electrical surges, whilst having the option to use their choice of segmental timer.
Green Power Hobby Relays
Licensed by Canatronics
The new Green Power Hobby Relay is ideal for growers looking to protect against electrical surges, whilst having the option to use their choice of segmental timer.
The new Green Power Hobby Relay is ideal for growers looking to protect against electrical surges, whilst having the option to use their choice of segmental timer.
Colour-coded cables for easy recognition
Handy hanging bracket
Galvanised back plate
• Made with high-quality components
• Can be used with any segmental timer
• 2 way contactor has a maximum load of 1200 watts
• 3 way contactor has a maximum load of 1800 watts
2 YEARGUARANTEE
NEW NEWNEWNEW
3 way Hobby Relay Timer
Tel: +44 (0) 1223 610021Tel: +44 (0) 1223 500633
Email: [email protected]: www.downtoearthkent.co.uk
Down to Earth Kent LtdD E
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]
show off your indoor/urban garden!
76
Want to see your indoor/urban garden star in this magazine? Garden Culture Magazine
would love to see your unique garden set-up, be it high- or low tech, a window farm,
vertical garden or a real balcony beauty, send your pictures to [email protected]
and you might just get selected to show off your garden to the entire country!
show off your indoor/urban garden!
YOUR GARDEN I GARDEN CULTURE
77 77 gardenculture.net
No. words : 2526No. pages : 3Written by : Tammy ClaytonResources / Pictures : http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-73068163/stock-vector-ecology-background-chemical-formulas-digital-wave-green-bokeh-abstract-light.html?src=artknkW26b9XJhKUEBh1Bg-1-67http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-112545050/stock-photo-a-wall-of-corn-stalks-full-of-corn-in-vertical-format.html?src=ML6VjGVso8fF8F-DxLljOA-1-14http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-133425092/stock-vector-contaminated-food.html?src=jEoVrWlctxojBibsbvL-4w-1-61http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-72844987/stock-photo-contaminated-dirty-water-drop-symbol-representing-dirty-drinking-liquid-that-is-infested-with.html?src=p-76988938-2http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-104402267/stock-photo-toxic-stamp-shows-poisonous-lethal-and-noxious-substance.html?src=gb-wZ7SRuo6Q0DUeFNwyvw-1-36http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-129141344/stock-photo-illustration-label-biohazard.html?src=gb-wZ7SRuo6Q0DUeFNwyvw-7-90http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-132444908/stock-photo-dangerous-food-food-wrapped-in-crime-scene-tape.html?src=h1uC0GEyuiGRuxY_wOFfKA-1-46Checked by : TammyApproved by :
78
BY TAMMY CLAYTON
water too. A situation that is increasing, and will con-
tinue to do so with higher agricultural use for no-till
and Roundup Ready crop production, along with use for
residential, commercial, municipal, and public land main-
tenance. Testing for glyphosate in wells is sporadic, but
water departments do this every year.
Less Toxic Than AspirinIn the 1980s regulations for the allowable residual lev-
els in food crops for animals or humans was close to
non-existent. Glyphosate was then deemed not harmful
at 0.02 ppm on fruits, vegetables and meats, but grains
being a larger part of the human diet, they set at 0.01
ppm. The original list contained 50 crops consumed by
animals and people. Roundup Ready soybeans came out
in 1996 and the allowable levels went up the following
year, as did the number of foods listed. These changes
were just in time to welcome Roundup Ready canola,
and prepare for corn the following year. Levels were
again increased in 2001 with over 100 foods and fodder
crops now on the list. Sugar beets and alfalfa joined the
glyphosate tolerant crop array in 2005.
Soybeans have had an allowable 20 ppm of glyphosate
The active ingredient in Monsanto’s non-selective weed
killer Roundup is government-approved as an acceptable
part of your daily diet. The stuff is in everything you eat
and drink. Don’t breathe a sigh of relief because you’re
only eating organic foods. You haven’t escaped. No one
can.
Glyphosate - the most used herbicide in the world - is
in the air, the soil, rain, snow, and the water supply. The
Potomac River, source of tap water for 3 million people,
contains alarming levels of this chemical.[1] The ill-
health of the fish in the Potomac has the EPA seriously
concerned. Farm and residential runoff are causing large
tumors in catfish and carp - the same results reported
in glyphosate lab tests with rats. There are also gender
bending male bass in the river and the bay carrying eggs
in their testicles.
Contamination is found in well and city water all over
the place. On April 12, 2013, the U.S. Geological Ser-
vice published a report that glyphosate had been found
in 51 streams over a 9 state area of the Midwest - an
increase from just a few years ago.[2] Both the active
and degraded forms of this chemical are found in surface
water, municipal water, well water and no doubt bottled
(Climate Techniques)
The longer you live, the more apparent it becomes that man is his own worst enemy. Some, through
greed, lust, or an overpowering need to control everything, present the world with danger through hid-
den agendas disguised as benefits. Others, and this would be the majority, are so busy specializing or being
entertained that they are totally unaware of what is really happening to them or around them. They have
better things to do.
Failure to pay attention bears a price. What you don’t know can be harmful. Like this fact: it’s okay with the
EPA if you ingest glyphosate, as long as it’s not a lethal dose.
79 79
Furthermore, if GMOs and Roundup Ready crops were
truly so wonderful, there would not be such an issue
identifying them on food labeling, and no labs wouldn’t
have failed to report a high number of lab animal deaths,
falsified data in reports,
or been found guilty of
tampering with glypho-
sate test records.[5]
The idea that non-GMO
crops make food more expensive is ridiculous. Roundup
Ready crops need more chemicals than standard vari-
eties. Plus, the cost of production is higher, the seed
is more expensive and cannot be saved, weeds are be-
coming immune to Roundup, and plant diseases have in-
creased. That’s okay though, Monsanto sells a cure for
every one of these issues.
The reason we have Roundup Ready crops is to guar-
antee that farmers buy Roundup brand weed killer. Any
other glyphosate-based herbicide will kill every plant be-
cause right along with the herbicide resistor, Roundup
has something the knockoffs lack. It has nothing to do
with feeding the world, it is all about corporate profit
and global market monopolization
gardenculture.net
since 1996 - a major part of infant formulas and people’s
diets. Some other alarming acceptable ppms: sunflower
seeds - 85, molasses - 30, instant tea - 5, dried peas - 8...
the list in the Federal Register is lengthy.[3] The ruling
applies to ag producers, food
manufacturers, and chemical
companies alike.
As of May 1, 2013, they have
once again increased the allow-
able levels of glyphosate on your plate.[4] Why would
they do this? Simple. Monsanto petitioned for it. No one
protested. There will be more glyphosate in your food
effective immediately, at rates set by Monsanto to agree
with those filed in their petition. The EPA did not re-
quest any second opinions.
Should you be concerned? Definitely. Glyphosate-herbi-
cides aren’t as safe as they prefer you to believe. There
are plenty of independent studies done outside the
United States that have reported the dangers in medical
and science journals. When it comes to the USDA, EPA
and FDA, wording is more important than realities, and
there’s a revolving door between the government, these
organizations, and Monsanto.
“MONSANTO ORDERS, PAYS FOR AND CONTROLS ALL ‘CREDIBLE’ TESTING.”
HEALTHY FOOD I GARDEN CULTURE
WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW CAN BE HARMFUL
Make the move to Mammoth
mammoth tents
The premier mobile climate room for every type of grower.
Visit: www.nutriculture.co.uk
mammoth eliteThe ultimate in quality for the professional grower
mammoth proA premier product for the professional grower
mammoth classicA mid-range climate room with high-end features
mammoth liteA comprehensive range for the price-conscious grower
• Heavy duty frame, corners and fabric, with stainless steel / aluminium click system
• Multiple intake and extraction socks• Aluminium frame with a 75kg load capacity• Jam proof/waterproof zipper
and waterproof floor• Large doors - easy to access and work in• Material is washable inside and out
• Compatible with most hydroponic systems• Equipment tubes are strong
enough to hold 60kg• Large doors - easy to access and work in• Various intakes & exhausts make setup flexible• Straps & hooks for easy integration
of equipment• Material is washable inside and out
• Compatible with most hydroponic systems• Equipment tubes are strong
enough to hold 50kg• Large doors - easy to access and work in• Various intakes & exhausts make setup flexible• Straps for easy integration of equipment• Material is washable inside and out
• Compatible with most hydroponic systems• Equipment tubes are strong
enough to hold 40kg• Large doors - easy to access and work in• Various intakes & exhausts make setup flexible• Straps for easy integration of equipment• Material is washable inside and out
81 81 gardenculture.net
“FARM AND RESIDENTIAL USE OF GLYPHOSATE HERBICIDES NOW EXCEEDS 185 MILLION POUNDS ANNUALLY IN THE U.S.”
just Roundup Ready varieties. It doesn’t matter at this
point that the plant will quickly die, it’s done its job. The
purpose is to dry up the green matter, and getting the
harvest to market takes precedence.
With the erratic weather seen globally, more and more
farmers have turned to Roundup crop desiccation.[7]
Not only does this increase the use of chemicals, it
leaves a fresh dose of glyphosate and POE destined -
straight for your plate. What’s POE? Keep reading. The
worst is yet to come.
Roundup More ToxicThere’s a lot more to be concerned over with the use of
Roundup and rival brands of glyphosate-based herbicides
than the active ingredient. You see, POEs are 3 times
more toxic than glyphosate...
Damn - we ran out of space! There’s a lot more you need
to know. Get the rest of the true Roundup story with
referenced sources here:
www.GardenCulture.net/non-garden-related/resident-
evil-2036. 3
Monsanto has never conducted any testing that would
provide the real results of humans having a continual
exposure to Roundup or glyphosate, and consum-
ing both from birth to old age. Findings reported are
vague, and even use assumptions. Carcinogenic testing
has never been carried out conclusively. The EPA states
that “glyphosate presents a reasonable risk to human
health.” [6] If you’re going to risk your health, shouldn’t
this be elective, not forced upon you? Nothing like being
a lab rat in Monsanto’s world.
Like it or not - we’ve been eating and drinking residual
Roundup, and genetically modified organisms for de-
cades. The worst glyphosate accumulations will have
taken place since the 1996 harvest of amalgamated
soybeans. The amount of glyphosate herbicides ap-
plied annually has tripled since 1997, and it’s not just
Roundup. Monsanto’s patent ended in 2000, open-
ing the doors for all ag chemical companies to produce
their own version. See why it is so important that the
world grow Roundup Ready crops?
A Jug of Magic TricksFarm and residential use of glyphosate herbicides now
exceeds 185 million pounds annually in the U.S. The
worldwide tally in 2010 was 0.6 million metric tonnes -
expected to hit 1.35 million metric tonnes by 2017.
It’s not all being used for killing weeds either. There is
this practice called ‘crop desiccation’ recommended by
Monsanto to get your harvest in earlier with the help of
their miracle weed killer. How does that work? Spraying
Roundup on grain fields at harvest time dries out plants
so the seed is uniformly low in moisture content. The
only grains farmers won’t do this with are barley and
rye because it’s unsellable, breweries and distilleries will
not accept it. However, just fine for food manufacturers,
and it’s done to all other cereal crops.
Granted there are problems when a farmer’s grain has
too high of a moisture level. Many is the field left stand-
ing long into fall or early winter because the grain isn’t
dry enough yet. This desiccation isn’t practiced with
HEALTHY FOOD I GARDEN CULTURE
CONTAMINATION REMAINS UP TO 3 YEARS AFTER ONE APPLICATION
“ROUNDUP... APPROVED AS AN
ACCEPTABLE PART OF YOUR DAILY DIET”
Specialist Horticultural Products maxibright.com
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 flowering additive based on advanced polyphosphates and
chelated trace elements.
Step 1 Step 3 Step 4Step 2
Gold Label also offers you the best substrates in the market...
Exclusively available in the UK from:
Direct Gardening Supplies T: 01226 320850 W: directgardeningsupplies.co.uk
Maxigrow T: 01246 221125 W: maxigrow.com
Nutriculture T: 01695 554080 W: nutriculture.co.uk