D u c k a n d C o v e r , i t ’ s G r o z i n e E d i t i o n D e u x !

The Unseen World of Plants Mitosis Pounds from Prevention Photonnage

100% Rad, Yo!

The -ORIGINAL-Paperless Hydroponics Publication “Illegitimi Non Carborundum www.grozine.com

AD From the Idiot Editor Welcome back to another Edition of Grozine.

In case you are just joining us, we welcome you to visit our previous edition index on our website at http://www.grozine.com/issues. We also hang out online at our facebook page: http://facebook.com/grozine and provide regular updates-drop by and say hi:)

As we start to work through our gears in gaining momentum as the -ORIGINAL-paperless hydroponic publication we start to define our ride a little further. We have had some very positive feedback and have also heard some laughable innuendo surface from industry reac-tionaries.

Are we really the “first ever” electronic hydro publication? We doubt it-but we DO claim to be the most -ORIGINAL-, savvy?

We aren’t sure how concerns about the dangers of smart meters are-somehow translating into in article about stealing power??? Igno-rance, fear...both? Who knows. Read it before you knock it is all we can ask.

If you don’t think Smart Meters effect our community and even our planet you might be -Nuts- in our estimation of things.

So what is the “unseen” world of growing-underground plant cultiva-tion competitions? No. It’s all of the miraculous processes that are going on right beneath our noses that drive plant life and help to sustain our own lives on this planet. Often these marvels go large-ly unnoticed; perhaps taken for granted because we spend so much time worrying about the aspects of our garden that somehow are perceived as more tangible in our collective growing psyche.

While we touch on these processes in how they relate to improve your growing successes, we also begin to take small steps in many other, perhaps unseen journeys in discovering the natural world we exist in.

We are going to talk about the “packets of light” your plants ab-sorb in order to perform, and what you need to know to put them to work in getting the best your garden can offer. Surrounding the leaves we have the regulatory world of water vapor. While beneath the surface, the magic also runs silent as it does deep: Oxygen, your missing link to bigger yields?

And as the saying goes, that’s just the tip of the iceberg-fitting, because what is unseen can sometimes have the biggest impact. En-joy friends!

Highest Regards, Erik BiksaEditor-erikbiksa@grozine.com

circa 2001 bathroom garden

A Visit to the G.P.C.R.C 1999

My old greenhous

e, MB-Canada...

1997???!!!

the Archives:

First MY Tradeshow, Agri-Dome, Vancouver, BC.

Cold War Cover Images borrowed from: http://www.fulltable.com/VTS/c/coldwar/menu.htm Original Vortex Cover Photo By Erik

The -ORIGINAL-Paperless Hydroponics Publication “Illegitimi Non Carborundum www.grozine.com

The -ORIGINAL-Paperless Hydroponics Publication “Illegitimi Non Carborundum www.grozine.com

Wasted: PaPer Problems

Pulp and paper is

the third largest in-

dustrial polluter to

air, water, and land

in both Canada and

the United States,

and releases well

over 100 million kg of

toxic pollution each

year.

Worldwide consumption of paper has risen by 400% in the past 40 years, with 35% of harvested trees being used for paper manufacture

Paper waste accounts for up to 40% of total waste in the United States, which adds up to 71.6 million tons of waste per year in the United States alone

Paper waste like other wastes faces the additional hazard of toxic inks, dyes and polymers that could be potentially carcinogenic when incinerated, or comin-gled with groundwater via traditional burial methods such as modern landfills. Paper recycling mitigates this impact, but not the environmental and economic impact of the energy

Three main issues

with the environmen-

tal impact of print-

ing inks is the use of

volatile organic com-

pounds, heavy metals

and non-renewable

oils

A modern kraft pulp mill is more than self-sufficient in its electrical generation and normally will provide a net flow of en-ergy to the local electrical grid.. Additional-ly, bark and wood residues are often burned in a separate power boiler to generate steam. If the harvested trees are replanted a kraft mill can be carbon-neutral, but re-forestation has been criticized for reducing biodiversity.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_impact_of_paper

Superthirive.. O boy, this is one of my favorite rants. I’ll start by saying this. If you have really crappy soil, like sand, then adding this to your water will help if you did nothing else. So, I’ll grant it that. But, here is what I’ve heard. First off notice the label.. Notice how it hasn’t changed in about 50-60 years.. Do you know why? From what I’ve heard it’s cause it was grandfathered in to the truth in advertising act and if they update the label. They need to bring the whole thing up to current standards and they know they cannot make those claims. So it remained the #1 plant perfecter. < not even a word.. lol Biousables? A trademarked, by them word? lolThen you need to note that it comes from the horticultural Mecca of Hollywood CA and let me assure you that Hollywood is not a nice place. It’s a shit hole. The other rumor is that because it’s from the American Vitamin Company (or something like that) it’s said to be the left over from human vitamin productions. Not that this is bad but it’s leftovers or maybe the QA rejects. My mother used it for houseplants and over the years I’ve sold a 100 gallons of the stuff. It’s not poison but it’s folklore to me. I’d rather use micro blast or something like that if I needed it. But I don’t.

John B

GZ: Ha, ha-we still use the stuff on freshly rooted cuttings here

I loved issue uno!

Emily W,

GZ-Thanks Emily :)

**********************************************************************************************************************************************

I really like what you are doing... and I have a ton of respect for you. Just want to give you some feedback. One of your articles has a video that is titled ... “how to double your production with a lung room”. This title is obviously misleading. It takes more than a lung room right? You need a second garden, 2x the light and plants and so on. All the ad’s in our industry are claiming bigger yields... and most are BS. while I agree you can greatly increase ef-ficiency with a lung room when you have 2 gardens side by side... theres a big differ-ence between that and doubling your yield because you set up a lung room.

Gaby BGZ-thanks for the Feedback, G!

EB Note-We all use paper,so know that

there are in fact “clean” sourc

es out

there-look for them!

The -ORIGINAL-Paperless Hydroponics Publication “Illegitimi Non Carborundum www.grozine.com

There is often much more to a picture than meets the eye. And it sure holds true in your growing endevor. When’s the last time you stopped to think about just how mind-boggling what you might be doing in the spare room or corner of the basement really is. Think about it: a tiny seed or sprout, a proverbial “fish out of water” is able to grow into a specimen that you value enough to spend your time and money on in a completly artifical environment that you create-or is that really the case?

background image courtesy of Garden Grove Organics-they rawk!

I.II.

Consider that you are simply (or not so simply) tap-

ping into some pretty incredible forces that sur-

round, and in fact sustain us. Even as growers-stew-

ards of living things-we can miss the big picture

because we are too busy being in the middle of it

(loosely quoted from Kurt Vonnegut Jr.).

When we take that step back, and let our eyes

widen and go out-of-focus is usually when we are

able to see that holographic illusion ar

t that our

friends assure us is in fact a real pict

ure!

Well, let me tell you: there is a picture right in

front of us, an interactive and living picture that

is a work in progress; all the way up to the time

you consume your harvest or share it.

And like all of the BEST THINGS in LIFE

-they are

FREE, or at least near free;)

In the spirit of inter-action, -click- on t

he various

areas highlighted in the images on this page an

d

you will go further down the hole....

If you are having browser issues or use an older

platform, fear not-we have also numbered and in-

dexed the coeresponding articles in thi

s, edition of

Grozine. Download Adobe Reader, it’s linked at site.

III.

IV.

V.

I.-Relative Humidity-(R.H.) Page 06 II.-Temperature-(Temp) Page 07 III.-Dissolved Oxygen-(D.O.) Page 10 IV.-Carbon Dioxide-(CO2) Page 13 V.-Photon Flux Density (PFD) Page 13

so much of what is really “valuable” to us cannot be touched, or even “seen”...take friendship or love, you can’t exactly hold them in your hand-but you sure know it when they are there!

The -ORIGINAL-Paperless Hydroponics Publication “Illegitimi Non Carborundum www.grozine.com

1) RH-Relative Humidity-Finding the right bandwidth for Relative Humidity (RH) levels in your indoor or greenhouse garden can have a significant impact on what you harvest from your garden, and the degree of difficulty you may experience arriving there.Of course if you grow indoors hydroponically, you will have heard about the impor-tance of RH-however, once you learn and even master how it actually works on your plants and how they will respond to different ranges is when you may realize how much you may have underestimated this unseen force that is at work in your grow,And it is in fact a force that is at work. The water vapor that surrounds the leaves of your plant will in large part, play a role in how fast your plant can freely transpire moisture into the air, after it has been taken up the roots (trans-porting water and nutrients) and exists through the tiny openings in the leaves called stomata. Essentially, the higher the concentration of water vapor (ie, higher humidity level) that surrounds the micro-climate around the stomata, the greater the degree of external pressure that is put against the water trying the leave the plant, pardon the pun.

In short, most gardeners have realized: the drier the air, the quicker the plant can lose moisturen with higher RHlevels contributing to lowered water loss by plants into the air.

That in itself is virtually useless information to you as a grower-what you need to understand is when and how far to push or loosen that external pres-sure on the plant for healthy growth as varies with climate and growth phase.

During propagation, we don’t want plants to lose water too quickly; they don’t have the root system to support higher loss levels and plants get stressed or worse. During germination and rooting cutting, levels of around 85-90% are common. Once roots are showing, this level is gradually lowered.

Typically, during transplant and early vegetative growth, most plant strains respond well to RH levels in the neighbourhood of 65%, here we are encouraging more water and nutrient uptake but are still being careful not too push the plant too much before it’s ready>>>>>>

You can offset your wa-

ter-consumption footpr

int

by supplementing your

R.O.

filtered garden water with

“living” water that you cap-

ture as condensate. A

fter

practicing, you will better

gauge when it is time to wa-

ter again ;)

The -ORIGINAL-Paperless Hydroponics Publication “Illegitimi Non Carborundum www.grozine.com

CAUTION: Humidity levels of above 50% indoors can contribute to con-densation where warmer air tem-peratures may be contacted cool temperatures, for example cold air intake ducting-be careful no drips are created that cause water pool-ing or damage. Typically this isn’t a problem; cold water pipes or cold air ducting may be insulated to prevent this.

Once plants develop a thicker can-opy of leaves (essentially creat-ing their own micro-climate) finding the right RH level for your strain, climate and growth phase becomes a useful tool in regulating plant growth patterns and growth rates.

One of the reasons plants will stretch more is if the humidity lev-els rise higher than 60% in the dark phase or when the lights are on in early flower. Plants sense there is more water vapor in the air, and then create more distance between sets of leaves in order to compensate for it. Stretching is not desirable indoors, as artificial light intensity drops quickly with distance it travels.

Later on in flowering, if humidity levels are past 65% when flower have formed, typically they will be looser and more “airy” versus flowers that develop more in the 55% RH humidity bandwidth. (+/-5%). Higher humidity levels in late bloom contribute to rots and in early bloom may encour-age flower abortion in tomato, for example, and weaken pollination.

However, drier isn’t always better; especially earlier on. If your plants don’t have at least 45% RH they typi-cally suffer. While you may think this is a novel way to stimulate faster growth, typically this creates more stress than anything. Leaf mar-gins that curl upwards a a sign the air is too dry. It’s also a sign that

your plants are running short on Potassium (K), because they will need more of it to regulate the stomata in drier air. Powdery mildew is more likely to happen in drier air than with a higher RH, especially if plants are soft due to higher Nitrogen lev-els.

Depending on your set-up and season whether you need to ADD or REMOVE humidity is what you will first need to determine.

Adding humidity is typically much easier and affordable. A humidifier with a humidifying (on DROP) stat is all you need. This is pure gold for CEA growers in the earlier stages, where the air tends to be driers from big air-conditioners.

Removing water vapor can be more costly and intensive. Typically a vent fan, or better yet a de-humid-ifier connected to a Dehumidistat (on RISE). Note that de-humidifiers tend to add heat to the grow air, but luckily they are usually only active in the dark cycle because either the exhaust fan or air conditioner will remove enough water vapor from the air while the lights are on.

TIP: Collect the water that comes out of your (clean) condensation lines from your air conditioning and de-hu-midifcation equipment. This is pure living water from the plants, and you can feed it right back to them. Hint, it also helps tell you when it’s time to water again;)

As a final note, when humidity lev-els are higher, you can feed a little stronger, when drier back-off. If you anticipate that the humidity will drop and you have been fertilizing your plants more strongly, back off on the strength for a couple of suc-cessive applications

R.H.-Relative Humidity-Cont.’d...

II-T

emperature

II-Temperature-Temp

Science teaches us that temperature is the Number One governor of all living reactions on our planet-yet, have you ever really “seen” it?

If you are viewing a crop with FLiR, meaning looking at it with an InfraRed scope or camera, it’s entirely possible. Smart farmers have been using this technology for years, and here’s why:

Most living things give off heat, as a by-prod-uct of their natural processes. When we are sick, we run a tem-perature; perhaps your Mom used to use this to gauge whether you were faking it or not in your ploy to skip school.

Companies like Prairie Agri Photo Ltd (www.prairieagri.com) have been using the differ-ent heat signatures given off by plants and soils for years in order to provide ag-riculral producers with a real “picture” on how their crop or field is Feeling via InfraRed Photography

Becasue we live in a digital age, this is no longer done on film-they don’t even make it anymore.. The aerial digital InfraRed images that are gen-erated can reveal a lot for a grower. Farms are HUGE these days, and “walking the field” while always having a place, just may not be practical-es-pecially when a single appli-cation of a product can run thousands of dollars or more..

So, instead of telling you, for the thousandth time, to keep your “lights on” temps below 85 deg F (29.4 deg C), we thought we would show you how a few aerial InfraRed photos we en-joyed viewing at Prairie Agri’s site.. “See” temperature!

Fertility

Irrigation

Management

InfraRed Aerial Photography

The -ORIGINAL-Paperless Hydroponics Publication “Illegitimi Non Carborundum www.grozine.com

Your AD WILL look great here! YOU Saw it, didn’t you? Con-tact us today. Just -CLICK-or visit our site, please

The -ORIGINAL-Paperless Hydroponics Publication “Illegitimi Non Carborundum www.grozine.com

An O.Z. of Prevention is Worth a L.B. of Cure By Casey Jones Fraser

Alternatively,: about 30 grams of prevention is worth about 456 grams of cure (for those who live Metric)

Most of us are reactionary in our gardens. When we see obvious problems, we take care of them. At that point, however, your garden has already been impacted. If you can learn to predict issues before they arise, you will experience faster growth and better harvests.You must learn to see the unseen, young Grasshopper.

Nutrient deficiencies are a common

problem for many growers. You may have

noticed the following scenario in your

own garden:One day the leaves are reaching for

the sky, nearly straight up. The next

day they start to fold in slightly like

a taco shell. By the end of the week,

the leaves have yellow spots.

You can start giving your plants more

Calcium, Magnesium, and Iron to treat the obvious deficiencies, but the yield

and quality have already been affect-

ed. Next time, use a base nutrient with

higher levels of macro and micro nutri-

ents, or add a cal-mag product from day

one. (Heat and humidity problems can

cause similar symptoms.)Plants store nutrients and use them

over time. The calcium that your plants

receive today will not be used for two

days or more, depending on metabo-

lism and type of calcium used. If your

plants need higher levels of a specific

element this time, they may need it

again in the next crop.

Big Box stores sell low quality potting soils. (EB-Those Dirt Bags!) There, I said it. If you grow plants in the cheapest soil possible, don’t be surprised by a lack of roots and fruits. Yeah, sure, the bag says things like “organic” or “feeds plants up to two months”, but those soils were never intended for our plants in our gardens.The worst part about bad potting soil is that you can’t change it. Once your plants are flowering, you will only make matters worse by shaking off the old mix in an attempt to re-pot them in premium soil (or soil-less). Next time, get an opinion from an expert grower be-fore buying a growing medium. That cashier at the hardware store is probably not an expert grower! Find a local shop with real grow lights and hydro equipment. That’s where the pre-mium bags are sold.

“Experimental” is fi

ne

when you can afford

it-

BUT, when it counts, HID

is

well proven.

De-Humidifiers are great for preventing a wide array of problems that can surface from excess humidity in the growing environment.

“I always get spider mites around this time.” I’ve heard that phrase from grow-ers over and over again, usually about three weeks into flowering. Spider mites love those hot HPS lights. Spray a reli-able and safe bug killer in the vegeta-tive stage, and during the first week of flowering. You might not see them now, but if they usually show up, that means you already have them. Persistence dur-ing the first two weeks of flowering can keep you bug free through harvest.This one is simple: summer is coming so get a real air conditioner and a de-humidifier. If you can’t keep daytime temps at 72-82F, then just shut it down for the summer.Don’t bank on experiments. If you re-quire big yields, use tried and true methodology and equipment. Seriously, you knew those LED lights were a gam-ble, so don’t complain about a drop in yield. That’s why it’s called an experi-ment.

Finally, don’t ruin your domicile. I know a pair of growers who were taken to court

by the landlord for rotting out the upstairs floor and

the downstairs ceiling. These

two guys never prepped the workspace for water, because they were going to be

“extra careful.” Then a hose came loose. It was an expensive lesson. They are now in

a new location, growing in a tent with a waterproof liner. Now that’s worth a pound

(456 grams) of cure.

Casey Jones Fraser is

an obsessed gardener.

He grows veggies, herbs,

and flowers with both

traditional and hydro-

ponic methods. His years

of botanical experi-

ences have taken him

everywhere from Jamai-

ca to Northern Califor-

nia on a quest for more

knowledge. You can read

his articles in various

hydroponics magazines,

or visit his retail shop:

Garden Grove Organics

in the Northern Ken-

tucky region of Greater

Cincinnati. www.garden-

groveorganics.com

The -ORIGINAL-Paperless Hydroponics Publication “Illegitimi Non Carborundum www.grozine.com

There are always a lot of things to look after and consider in the garden;

especially if you are a hydroponic grower or do your growing indoors under

lights. Having the right feeding ratios of nutrients, the right temperature,

the optimal light intensity for the growth phase...and the list goes on.

Sooner or later (hopefully sooner) most growers who are going to go the dis-

tance with their growing endeavour get all of these aspects in order, and

over time they begin to “dial them in” to perfection; perhaps customizing the

growing environment or nutrient regimen for the strain they choose to grow.

When that happens you start to see improvements in crop qualities and

growth rates in your yields if you really played your cards right.

Buidling up your indoor garden is just like building up a car-more displace-

ment, better exhaust, handling, traction etc. SO, where’s one of the easiest

places to get more performance out of any combustion engine that also hap-

pens to be one of the most overlooked performance factors in most gardens?

Oxygen (O2) is that missing link to faster growth rates, healthier plants and even bigger yields.

While most growers are aware that their plants use CO2 (carbon dioxide) through their leaves, and know they may increase growth rates by increas-ing these levels. However, few “think O2” when contemplating what is pro-pelling their garden forward in the hopes of achieving health yields.

If you have spent some time and ef-fort getting your garden dialled in but just aren’t where you want to be, consider giving this growing param-eter further examination.

Just like in humans, O2 is critical for respiration-when plants actually use all the sugars they manufacture dur-ing light hours to grow, this mostly happens during the dark cycle. You

can load your crops with carbs, but if they don’t have enough O2, that can become a limiting factor in how much of those carbs they can “burn” for growth. Oxygen availability in the root zone is highly critical for root health and nutrient uptake. In warm and wet conditions, oxygen levels are low because colder water holds much, much more water oxygen-as do the pore spaces around the roots when empty.

Once the pore spaces become de-pleted of O2 for a period and then coupled with warmer temperatures, rots and diminished uptake are sure to follow. Even though your plants aren’t showing root rot, it doesn’t mean that they are wasting a lot of their valuable energy fighting infec-tions at the roots rather than grow-ing faster; all simply due to a lower O2 level at the roots.

Observe a farmer’s field in early spring a day or two after heavy rains. Plants that are growing where water has pooled due to poor drainage often look yellow or pale and are clearly not growing as well as the others-they are getting choked of oxygen, they have plenty of water, right?

Typically 16 PPM (parts per mil-

lion) of DO (dissolved oxygen)

at the roots is considered very

good. Most healthy growing situations are probably half of

that. Double these amounts are

possible with specialized tech-

nologies that actually dissolve

O2 in solutions, rather than just

bubble it through (diffusion).

III) D.O.-Dissolved Oxygen-

Here are some quick and easy ways to get more O2 to your plants’ roots for bet-ter performance and yields:

-In hydroponic systems, add a small fountain or aquarium circulation pump to your reservoir, and re-circulate the solution 24/7, allowing it to fall through the air back into the tank. When water “falls” it picks up and dissolves O2 into it, and then can deliver it right to your plants roots. Watch the pump doesn’t add too much extra heat to your reservoir

-In re-circulating hydro systems, maintaining the right reservoir temperature is critical, especially if there is no growing medium to buffer temperatures. Six-ty five degrees Fahrenheit is considered optimal by most. Insulting your reser-voir is a good first step in reducing temperatures. If that isn’t enough frozen water bottles or even a water chiller (coil or unit) may be required. Growers may marvel at the difference running their res five degrees cooler can make on their yield and growth rates.

-In soil and soilless gardens, the act of watering introduces O2 into the root zone, because typically, the water is travelling through the air and percolat-ing into the soil, carrying O2 along with it. Improving drainage allows for more frequent waterings and therefore a more frequent replenishment of O2 levels. Note that O2 gets depleted quickly

INSIDER TIP: if watering soil plants in containers, “Shop-Vac” up the excess run off from trays, troughs, floors, etc that your containers are on right af-ter you water. When sucking up the solution below (that is still connected, drop by drop to the roots) on the floor or saucer with a Vac, you will draw a HUGE amount of air into the rootzone. You can actually see it with your eyes,

A Hydroponic Reservoir Chiller, like the one above,

can help keep more O2 in your nutrient solution

The -ORIGINAL-Paperless Hydroponics Publication “Illegitimi Non Carborundum www.grozine.com

Felix Inden Photodesign, Germany

Feli is a photography extraordinaire, and is based out of Cologne, Germany. While his skills are evident in the range and scope of his work, it is his botanical photography that we are very pleased to offer our followers in galleries that will receive regular updates at our website. Be sure to visit Felix Inden Photodesign on Facebook to marvel at the range of exciting shots he regularily updates.

“I was born in Spain and raised in Chile, where I learned to love our nature and biodiversity as a child. At that time i hadnt any interest in photography, but I already loved to be outside and see how fascinating and diverse this world can be.

Later on, I started to get interested in botanics and learned the gardeners profession in a botanical garden in Cologne, Germany, where i have lived since i came back from South America.My photography is focussed on nature, landscapes and architecture.As I grew up as photographer in the age of digital photography, i realized postproduction can bring some amaz-ing results. Since that i enjoy every kind of multishot technique as panorama stitching, focus stacking and so on.In my landscapes i try to show feelings i had while i was outside and in the macro sector i like to maximize

depth of field to get results with big sharpness and detail.”

The -ORIGINAL-Paperless Hydroponics Publication “Illegitimi Non Carborundum www.grozine.com

IV) Another CO2 Article? yeah, but it’s useful....

OK, in the last edition of Grozine (UNO) we discussed CO2 (carbon dioxide) as one of those “unseen”components that re essential to the health and well being of our gardens. We also highlighted the fact that by supplementing or “Boosting” CO2 levels in the growing area that we could improve growth rates, plant health and maybe even yield 10 to 25% more.

But this info has been discussed, so here's some practical applications and guidelines you can follow to realize the benefits of having your plants breathing in more of the good stuff!

Cuttings/Seedlings: W

e have

been hearing reports

about

using CO2 pads unde

r the

domes for improved success

;

stay tuned, we are goin

g to

investigate;)

Young Plants: When plants are first starting out, a small boost of CO2 will provide benefits, however, the plants are throwing down roots-or should be; preparing to explode into full on vegetative growth dur-ing this “pre-veg” phase. 600 PPM is plenty.

Early Flowering: If y

our

plants aren't going t

o

fill out as much spac

e

as you need them too

,

you can amp-up their

developmental stature

by running CO2 lev-

els in the 1200-1400 PP

M

range at this time.

If

you are running out

of space, lower down

to around 800 PPM un-

til flowering sites are

established, and the

“stretch” has subsided

.

Veg: Starting out at 600-800 PPM of CO2 when plants are smaller provides notice-able benefits. As plants gain more leaves an stature, increase levels. 1200 PPM by the end of veg is plenty; it cuts down on the time you have to spend when your power bills are highest with the improved growth rates.

Peak Flowering: Here's

where replacing all of

those cylinders seems

all the worth while. If

your plants are healthy

and you have good

lighting, try going as

high as 1600 PPM in this

phase; assuming nobody

is going to be spending

much time in there-if

so, 1200 PPM -MAXIMUM-

(<4000 PPM can be harm-

ful or deadly)

Ripening/Late: Save your money and improve your quality. Just run 600 PPM last 10 days before har-vest. CO2 is an ethylene inhibitor, and you will get denser flowers with better smells and tastes if you cut back on CO2 at this final stage.

Besides nutrients, lighting for crop growth

is one of the most widely

debated areas for grow-

ing plants. Did you know

that light IS a nutrient

for plant growth.?

What?

That's right when light hits your plants, they aren't just getting zapped for growth, they

are absorbing “little packages” of light en-ergy. These very impor-

tant packages are called

Photons, and while you

may not see them, science

says they can be mea-

sured. Plants certainly seem to know they are there, and at the end of

the day if you are grow-

ing, you know that the plant is the boss.

As growers, we usually hear about Lumens when

people discuss grow lighting. This is a mea-sure of the Intensity of

the light rather than its

“Nutritional Value” for growth in the context of lighting. Lumens mea-surements are based in a

monochromatic reference, meaning they are only talking about the green wavelengths of light.

When you compare HPS to

HPS this tells you which is more intense, not which has the most nutri-tional value.

Since growers talk a lot about fertilizers, let's try and look at it

this way: talking about

Lumens is like talking about PPM or EC-it tells

you how “strong” the fer-

tilizer is, not what it's “nutritional content” is, for example how much Nitrogen versu Potassium,

does it have Iron, if so

what form, etc. It's just

the tip of the iceberg!Here's a partial explanation (via PVEducation.org):

“The photon flux density is important in determining the number of electrons which are generat-ed, and hence the current produced from a solar cell. As the photon flux does not give informa-tion about the energy (or wavelength) of the photons, the energy or wavelength of the photons in the light source must also be specified.”...

Here's the important part: “ the energy or wavelength of the photons in the light source must also be specified”.

This means that in generating this measurement, the ENTIRE BANDWIDTH required for known photosynthetic reactions can be engineered into the equation, so when you see a reading in PFD, it is actually telling you the Density of The Packages of Growing Light that are travelling to the surface of an object or organism, in our case plant leaves. This tells us which lights have more nutritional content for growth, allowing us to make better comparisons, rather than who is blasting the loudest in the Green bandwidth only, as is with Lumens or Lux measurements.

This is one of the most useful tables I have found on the subject to date, and is a handy little tool, courtesy of http://www.apogeeinstruments.co.ukNOTE: The conversion from PPF (μmol m-2 s-1) to Lux varies under different light sources. For a complete discussion please see the reference listed below.Conversion Factors

PPF (μmol m-2 s-1) to Lux Lux to PPF (μmol m-2 s-1)Sunlight 54 Sunlight 0.0185Cool White Fluourescent Lamps 74 Cool White Fluourescent Lamps 0.0135High Pressure Sodium Lamps 82 High Pressure Sodium Lamps 0.0122High Pressure Metal Halide Lamps 71 High Pressure Metal Halide Lamps 0.0141

Multiply the PPF by the conversion factor to get Lux. For example, full sunlight is 2000 μmol m-2 s-1 or 108,000 Lux (2000 ∗ 54). Multiply the Lux by the conversion factor to get PPF. For example, full sunlight is 108,000 Lux or 2000 μmol m-2 s-1 (108,000 ∗ 0.0185).

The -ORIGINAL-Paperless Hydroponics Publication “Illegitimi Non Carborundum www.grozine.com

Mitosis-The Unseen Magic In Rooting Cuttings By Brandon Pillon

Each cell contains all the DNA or the genetic code needed to make a new plant. This characteristic is known as totipotency, totipotency means the total potential a cell has for new growth and development of the plant.

This process of cell division is known as mitosis. All plant growth oc-curs because of mitosis. Mitosis is a process that ensures a parent cell transmits one copy of every chromosome to each of its two daughter cells.

Chromosomes contain the genes of the cell and are the car-riers of the hereditary information that is passed from one generation to the next. A dicotyledonous plant, or one having a seed with two cotyledons, a chili pepper plant is a good example of a dicot; dicots have three main areas where mitosis takes place. These areas are the stem tip, the root tip of primary and secondary roots, and the cambium layer. The cambium is a layer of tissue in the stem, cell division in this layer causes the plant to increase its girth. Each area is known as a meristematic region of growth. Mono-cotyledonous plants have seeds that contain a single cotyledon. Corn is an example of a monocot. In these plants, there is a forth area of cell divi-sion called the intercalary meristem. This region is just above each node. Growth in the interca-lary meristem produces an increase in the height of the stem; this increase is in addition to the height gained by growth at the top of the plant. Mitosis occurs in four phases, these phases are the prophase, the metaphase, the anaphase, and the telo-phase. The progression of phases is continuous, flow-ing smoothly from one phase to the next.The prophase is the first phase in the division of the nucleus; the nucleus is the control center of the cell. In this phase, the tightly curled chromosomes uncurl and form rod like structures. The chromosomes carry the genetic messages from the parent cells to the daughter cells and ensure the development of an identical plant. The prophase is followed by the metaphase, in which the chromo-somes split lengthwise to form two sets of identical material. In the metaphase, two sets of chromosomes line up at the center, or if you like the equator of the cell. They then move quickly toward the poles of the cell. One half of the chromosomes go to each pole. This

movement of the chromosomes is called the anaphase. As the chromosomes approach the polar regions of the cell, each group of chromosomes begins to form the new nucleus of

a daughter cell. This stage is known as the telophase. New cell walls form to separate the two daughter cells. Each daughter cell

has the same number of chromosomes as the parent cell. After a short period of growth, each daughter cell

begins to divide. The continual process of cell division makes new tissue, resulting in growth

of the plant. Mitosis also occurs when a plant part is wounded and callus tissue

forms. Callus tissue is a group of cells that develops in response to a wound, like pruning lower branches that are shaded from light or taking clones from a mother plant. In plants cal-lus formation is a healing mecha-nism. New roots that form on the callus tissue of cuttings are called adventitious roots.When taking clones or prun-ing it is important to make sure all your tools are dis-infected to avoid infecting your plants with viruses and diseases. For cloning you should not fertilize your mother plant for 3 days to a week before taking clones, and also you should mist your mother plant heavily when your lights turn on to help flush nitrogen. The morn-ing you are going to take your clones water your mother plant

good with pH adjusted water. After you are finished with tak-

ing clones you should fertilize your mother plant with a B vitamin

nutrient; and you should also raise up your light or add shade cloth to

help the mother plant recover and to not over stress it. When it comes to pruning

you should prune the lower branches that are shaded in the first week or two of the flowering

phase, after the plants have stretched a little.

About Brandon:Growing up in Essex County, Ontario I was always fascinated with how plants grow, and would spend hours in our garden patch looking at the plants and insects and gained an understanding of nature and how it works. I decided to further my knowledge of growing and enrolled in the horticulture pro-gram at a local college and have been enjoying furthering my “green educa-tion” both in and out of the school setting. feel free to contact me at bpillon01@yahoo.ca

-Click- to see aeroponic cut-tings roooted>>>>

The scientific basis for cloning (Asexual propagation) is the ability of each cell of a plant to divide and reproduce itself.

Serious Science for Serious Growers.

The -ORIGINAL-Paperless Hydroponics Publication “Illegitimi Non Carborundum www.grozine.com

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Master Hydroponic Crop Feeding Sched-ule: NO BRAND DIS-CRIMINATION; purely result driven from our Long Beach Nutirent Guru.

Product Reviews- The straight goods from indus-try savvy expert growers on what’s new and what’s good-and what’s NOT.

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