Let It Grow Hydro

Hydroponics Industry Sees “Quantum Leap” in Hydroponics Nutrient Technology

Gary Hagerty — Fri, 18 May 2012 03:29:17 +0000

A quantum leap in hydroponics nutrient technology has been made. A new pH balancing technology now automatically adjusts and balances growers’ nutrient solutions and growing mediums without the use of “pH up” or “pH down” chemicals, totally eliminating the need for pH monitoring and balancing equipment.

Advanced Nutrients has just released a new generation of “pH Perfect” hydroponics nutrients containing this technology.

Hydroponics growers spend considerable time and money attempting to balance nutrient solution pH. This is because plants only absorb nutrients in a narrow pH range.

“Growers have always had to carefully monitor chemical conditions in hydroponics root zones and hydroponics nutrient reservoirs, but no more,” explains Advanced Nutrients co-founder Michael Straumietis.

Straumietis says the company’s pH Perfect® Technology and Bigger Yields Flowering System® contain proprietary ingredients and utilize a “systems approach.” This means hydroponics growers can more efficiently deliver better nutrients to their plants without worrying about water alkalinity or acidity (pH).

Advanced Nutrients plant scientists and dozens of research assistants spent 109 man-years creating the company’s unique new nutrients system. For the first time, the mixing and application of nutrients have been standardized, sending quality nutrients into plants faster. This also frees gardeners from pH worries, according to Straumietis.

The company explains that the pH Perfect Technology and Bigger Yields Flowering System provide growers with a unified hydroponics program that enhances root size and nutrients absorption. In addition, it protects plants from pests and diseases, speeds growth rates, and increases harvest size and quality.

“Our new system helps growers increase their mastery of hydroponics gardening by streamlining their feeding program, saving money on hydroponics nutrients and utilizing our integrated systems,” says Straumietis. “This approach helps even hobbyist growers quickly learn high-profit, professional hydroponics techniques.”

According to hydroponics journalist and grower Chris Jefferson, who has covered the hydroponics industry for two decades, the pH Perfect Technology and the Bigger Yields Flowering System are the most significant chemistry and manufacturing innovations in hydroponics nutrients since hydroponics gardening was introduced in 1937.

“This is not an add-on or minor change to existing nutrients categories,” Jefferson emphasizes. “It’s a completely different kind of hydroponics nutrients. What you might call the hydroponics nutrients equivalent of putting a man on the moon.”

The company explains that the pH Perfect Technology and Bigger Yields Flowering System provide growers with a unified hydroponics program that enhances root size and nutrients absorption. In addition, it protects plants from pests and diseases, speeds growth rates, and increases harvest size and quality.

To find out more about Advanced Nutrients, pH Perfect Technology, the Bigger Yields Flowering System, and hydroponics gardening, visit http://advancednutrients.com/ph-perfect/.

Advanced Nutrients is the world leader in hydroponics nutrients, hydroponics equipment, hydroponics education, and hydroponics media. The company utilizes top scientists and rigorous testing worldwide to create proprietary nutrients and equipment technology that have modernized the hydroponics industry. By connecting directly with tens of thousands of hydroponics growers worldwide through Rosebud magazine, Rosebudmag.com, and technical support, Advanced Nutrients is credited with increasing the popularity and importance of hydroponics gardening.

PROBLEMS WITH YOUR PLANTS? WHY REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER MAYBE THE ANSWER!

Gary Hagerty — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 00:54:13 +0000

Walk into leading hydroponic store and you will most likely see that they sell Reverse Osmosis water purification systems (RO Water). You may ask yourself why someone would spend money on a water filter to grow plants.

Most people give straight tap or hose water to their house and garden plants and they do just fine. But, what about more prized flowers and fruits? What if you only want give your vegetables the best and most pure ingredients? Most importantly, what if you were interested in pushing your plants to the max and achieving explosive growth? Serious gardeners have long realized how important pure water is to the success of their important crops. After all, water is the root of hydroponics and therefore the most important component to a healthy garden. Water acts like a carrier that bathes your root zone with nutrients, additives and promoters.

If you look at the top nutrient manufacturer’s feed charts, you will notice a common theme. They all require using 0 PPM (parts per million) water as a starting base for the nutrient solution. Without this ultra pure base, it is much more difficult to dial in the PPM’s of your formula while making sure you have the proper amounts of each component vital to healthy growth. When the feed chart says bring the nutrient solution to 1200 PPM and you are starting with water that is at 500 PPM, what do you do? It is hard to even guess what that 500 PPM is composed of, nonetheless try and adjust for it in the nutrient formula you are trying to perfect.

The first step is to determine how bad your water is and what type of system would be most beneficial to your garden. Free water reports are available from your local Environment Agency or water company, although water quality fluctuates greatly throughout the UK and over the seasons. Test kits can be ordered online and are quick and affordable. Some hydroponics shops do water testing and there are many labs that can do an analysis.

A key indicator of water quality for plants is total hardness as expressed in PPM of calcium and magnesium or in Grains per Gallon (GPG). With too much hardness, the nutrient formula can be thrown out of balance and deficiencies and lockouts can quickly become a major problem. Any water source over 50 PPM of hardness should be purified. This translates to 3 GPG and is considered soft water, which few people have straight from the tap.

Organic gardeners using compost teas or bio-extraction solutions should use purified water. Anyone gardening with living micro-organisms such as beneficial bacteria, fungi, nematodes, mycorrizae, and trichoderma, must have chlorine and contaminant free water in order for those helpful microbes to survive and flourish. Unfortunately, it’s rare someone’s water source is perfect for their prized plants. Letting city water sit out overnight may get rid of some free chlorine but doesn’t affect the chloramines or other contaminants. Water from well or spring sources is often too high in minerals such as calcium, magnesium, sulfur, and iron. This water may be fine to drink but for hydroponics may be too heavy with these minerals and may contribute to nutrient lockup.

Gardeners that start using pure water never go back to untreated water. There are still plenty of people that haul 5 gallon jugs of water to their garden. They will go through these lengths to pamper their plants and make sure they only get the best. If you do the math, a water purification system from Let It Grow Hydro pays for itself quickly with the money and energy saved hauling water.

What is Reverse Osmosis?

Reverse osmosis (RO) is a filtration method that removes many types of large molecules and ions from solutions by applying pressure to the solution when it is on one side of a selective membrane. The result is that the solute is retained on the pressurized side of the membrane and the pure solvent is allowed to pass to the other side.
Reverse osmosis is most commonly known for its use in drinking water purification from seawater, removing the salt and other substances from the water molecules, but is also used by gardeners and commercial farms who what the best for their crops.

Reverse osmosis occurs when the water is moved across the membrane against the concentration gradient, from lower concentration to higher concentration. To illustrate, imagine a semi permeable membrane with fresh water on one side and a concentrated aqueous solution on the other side. If normal osmosis takes place, the fresh water will cross the membrane to dilute the concentrated solution. In reverse osmosis, pressure is exerted on the side with the concentrated solution to force the water molecules across the membrane to the fresh water side.

Reverse osmosis is often used in commercial gardening and residential buildings for water filtration. It. Reverse osmosis is used to purify water where there is an undesirable impurity.
The semi permeable membrane allows the passage of water, but not ions (e.g., Na+, Ca2+, Cl-) or larger molecules (e.g., glucose, urea, bacteria).

Diffusion and osmosis are thermodynamically favourable and will continue until equilibrium is reached. Osmosis can be slowed, stopped, or even reversed if sufficient pressure is applied to the membrane from the ‘concentrated’ side of the membrane.

Gardening For Schools – National Curriculum

Gary Hagerty — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 13:28:25 +0000

School gardening supports many government priorities like sustainability, healthy eating, food in schools and Eco and Green Flag schools. Helping cover all key stages of education.

Contact with the natural world can also be wonderfully nurturing for children, as they make connections with natural environment, learn about the cyclic nature of the seasons, and begin to find out more about where their food comes from. It is often the children who find it hard to engage in the classroom, who really come into their own and are able to shine in the physical activity of the outdoors.

Growing areas in your school can be created with as little as a hanging basket up to more extensive gardening areas. Growing areas offer students the benefit of practical hands on activities, helping to motivate and enhance their learning experience. Gardening has many positive benefits, particularly in increasing younger children’s likelihood of trying new fruit or vegetables that they have grown and all pupils’ understanding of healthy eating. Let It Grow Hydro supports the ethos of the government backed ‘Growing Schools’ & ‘Food in School’ initiatives’ by offering guidance to support schools setting up a successful growing areas and club and developing a positive linkwith the wider Let It Grow Hydro initiative.

Concern that young people have become distanced from nature has increased in recent years, with many not making the connection between the food they see in supermarkets and the land that produces it. This combined with a general lack of interest in food and what constitutes a healthy diet, means many pupils struggle to understand the interdependence between urban and rural environments, and the countryside with the wildlife and people it sustains. Let It Grow Hydro can address this issue by encouraging and supporting and inspiring all schools in the Borough (nursery, primary, secondary and special) to use the outdoor classroom, both within and beyond the school grounds, as a context for learning across the curriculum, weather using traditional methods or hydroponics.

Area of National Curriculum Examples of Gardening Based Activities

English Reading & writing seasonal stories and poems, Making a gardening scrap book, Producing a school garden newsletter.

Mathematics Counting seeds, plants, flowers per plant etc. Using fractions & percentages i.e. Number of seeds that germinate, Measuring plant heights Collecting rainfall measurements

Science Investigating what plants need in order to grow, Observing the life cycle of a plant, Watching and recording changes in the garden through the seasons. Creating habitats for wildlife and watching the results. Making weather observations through the seasons.

Geography Studying the water cycle, Making scale drawings and maps of the garden.

Information & Communication Technology Inputting data into the computer to produce graphs and charts. Investigating topics on the internet. Uploading gardening news onto the schools website.

PSHE & Citizenship Carry out sustainable activities i.e. rainwater collection, composting, recycliny. Develop community involvement in the gardening activity. Carry out activities in teams with individuals having specific roles.

Food Technology Harvesting food and learning how to cook it Discovering which foods can be eaten raw – peas from the pod etc.

Art & Design Making collages using natural materials. Taking inspiration from the outdoors for drawing & painting projects. Creating posters to publicise the garden for fundraising. Photographing the gardening year.

Physical Education Getting exercise in the great outdoors. Learning about fruit and vegetables and healthy eating.

History Study of plants and their uses historically for eating, medicine, making dyes etc. Studies of gardening through history, i.e. dig for victory campaign.

Area of National Curriculum	Examples of Gardening Based Activities
English	Reading & writing seasonal stories and poems, Making a gardening scrap book, Producing a school garden newsletter.
Mathematics	Counting seeds, plants, flowers per plant etc. Using fractions & percentages i.e. Number of seeds that germinate, Measuring plant heights Collecting rainfall measurements
Science	Investigating what plants need in order to grow, Observing the life cycle of a plant, Watching and recording changes in the garden through the seasons. Creating habitats for wildlife and watching the results. Making weather observations through the seasons.
Geography	Studying the water cycle, Making scale drawings and maps of the garden.
Information & Communication Technology	Inputting data into the computer to produce graphs and charts. Investigating topics on the internet. Uploading gardening news onto the schools website.
PSHE & Citizenship	Carry out sustainable activities i.e. rainwater collection, composting, recycliny. Develop community involvement in the gardening activity. Carry out activities in teams with individuals having specific roles.
Food Technology	Harvesting food and learning how to cook it Discovering which foods can be eaten raw – peas from the pod etc.
Art & Design	Making collages using natural materials. Taking inspiration from the outdoors for drawing & painting projects. Creating posters to publicise the garden for fundraising. Photographing the gardening year.
Physical Education	Getting exercise in the great outdoors. Learning about fruit and vegetables and healthy eating.
History	Study of plants and their uses historically for eating, medicine, making dyes etc. Studies of gardening through history, i.e. dig for victory campaign.

Aerogarden Home Hydroponic Grow System

Gary Hagerty — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:38:39 +0000

The AeroGarden is so simple to use – just pop the growing pods into the appliance, plug it in, add the specified amount of water and nutrients, then just watch it grow. It’s fool proof as the microprocessor automatically adjusts nutrient delivery and water flow and even automatically turns the grow lights (supplied with kit) on and off.
The AeroGarden comes complete with or without a Starter Herb Kit. There is also a choice of nine seed kits and a kit that allows you to chose what type of plant you wish to grow.
This fully automated system has been designed for maximum efficiency, using less energy than a 60watt light bulb!
Imagine year round herbs and salads growing in your own home! with No weeds, pesticides or muddy hands!
Features: *A clever domestic growing kit based on Hydroponic principles. *Built-in Grow Lights allowing plant growth all year round. *Pre-seeded herb pods for fast seed germination. *A micro-processor to automatically adjust nutrient delivery, water flow and light cycles. *An indicator to remind you to add water and nutrients. *Can be left unattended for up to two weeks. *Full instructions.

Why Now May Be the Time To Look Into Hydroponics

Gary Hagerty — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:38:18 +0000

Let It Grow Hydro

There are a number of reasons why getting into Hydroponics might be a good idea. One is certainly the high cost of food, especially when it comes to fresh produce. In addition, you don’t always know where your food is being grown, nor the methods being used. You may never know if harmful pesticides or other contaminants are covering your tomatoes or your apples. Some people want to grow their own gardens, but simply don’t have the space to set up a normal garden, but homemade hydroponics, or hydroponics systems may be the answer.

One of the nice parts about getting into Hydroponics is that there are so many choices when it comes to the different systems and methods that are available. It doesn’t matter if you are just starting out, a seasoned pro, or if you have a tight budget, you can get started with hydroponics gardening right away.

If you want to begin with hydroponics, there are several simple hydroponics equipment and hydroponics supplies that you will want to get going using this type of fascinating and helpful gardening practice.

Nevertheless, there are several various ways to garden hydroponically, they all center around the thought of plants getting grown with out soil. All plants demand light, water and food for survival and growth, so these problems should be given by the gardener included in the hydroponics supplies and hydroponics equipment that you will use. The roots of the plants might be suspended over a basin, possibly at intervals the roots are washed finished with a nutrient-rich water answer that drains out of the home. This is actually the ebb-and-flow technique of hydroponics, which is built to be popular with gardeners worldwide.

Deep water culture hydroponics is yet another technique used by hydroponic gardening. The roots of the vegetation is suspended in water which contains nutrients. Water is also oxygenated by way of a pump and air stones. The crown of the plant is held above water normally in the net, to ensure that only the roots dangle inside liquid. You will discover all this hydroponics equipment accessible in many sizes on the web.

AQUAPONICS – HOW IT WORKS!

Gary Hagerty — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 19:37:57 +0000

Let It Grow Hydro

Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponics (soilless plant culture). In aquaponics, the nutrient-rich water that results from raising fish provides a source of natural fertilizer for the growing plants. As the plants consume the nutrients, they help to purify the water that the fish live in. A natural microbial process keeps both the fish and plants healthy. This creates a sustainable ecosystem where both plants and fish can thrive. Aquaponics is the ideal answer to a fish farmers problem of disposing of nutrient rich water and a hydroponic growers need for nutrient rich water.

Hydroponics is growing plants in a solution of water and nutrients, without soil. The solution is created by adding the elements a plants needs to water, which is fed directly to the plant’s roots. In some hydroponic systems the roots are in a growing medium which keeps them moist, aerated and helps to support the plant. Hydroponics provides the plant with the ideal water and nutrient ratios and optimum conditions for growth.

In aquaculture, the water quickly becomes nutrient rich due to the fish digesting their food and excreting waste. The waste water is usually filtered and/or disposed of to keep the tank water free of toxic buildups.

Commercially, aquaponics is in its infancy but, as the technology develops and is refined, it has the potential to be a more efficient and space saving method of growing fish, vegetables and herbs. By incorporating aquaponics, hydroponic growers can eliminate the cost and labor involved in mixing a fertilizer solution and commercial aquaculturists may be able to drastically reduce the amount of filtration needed in recirculating fish culture. Although there is currently a limited number of commercial aquaponic operations, many people are expressing a strong interest in this intensive method of food production.

On a hobby scale, aquaponics is catching on quickly. A home aquarium, with ornamental or food fish, can be combined with a mini garden, growing herbs, vegetables or flowers. A hobby system can serve as a beautiful show piece or a food production system, depending on the size. Many backyard gardeners are setting up systems to grow hundreds of pounds of fish and all the fresh vegetables a family needs. so give us a call to set up your very own sustainable ecosystem.

Let It Grow Hydro

Hydroponics Industry Sees “Quantum Leap” in Hydroponics Nutrient Technology

Let It Grow Hydro

PROBLEMS WITH YOUR PLANTS? WHY REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER MAYBE THE ANSWER!

Let It Grow Hydro

Gardening For Schools – National Curriculum

Let It Grow Hydro

Aerogarden Home Hydroponic Grow System

Let It Grow Hydro

The AeroGarden Hydroponic Growing System

Why Now May Be the Time To Look Into Hydroponics

Let It Grow Hydro

AQUAPONICS – HOW IT WORKS!

Let It Grow Hydro