Issue 21
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Table of Contents:
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1. Here's a good tip for those using electro-conductivity meters
Go to (http://www.hydromall.com/info/eleccon.html). There you will find an excellent chart for just about any plant you want to grow. The list is long but well worth your while to print out and place in a conspicuous place in your growing room area.
The list gives required particulars for each plant, such as pH, category, cF and ppm, all of which are explained at the web site named above.
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2. Some interesting ana
A. For those using extra light, this information may be helpful. Here is the relative efficiency of the following light bulbs. The highest in efficiency is HP sodium at 64%, metal halide at 45-57%, fusion/sulphur at 44%, florescent at 38%, mercury at 29% and incandescent at only 8%.
B. It is predicted that cosmetic as well as pharmaceutical herbs may soon be grown in the increasing supply of bigger commercial greenhouses. The reason for this is that companies who buy such herbs buy in large quantities. These companies also prefer the growing environment to be controlled and clean. Also these companies buy such herbs because of the belief that herbs grown in such an environment will have extra oils.
C. Somebody has figured out how to use Aeroponics with the "A-frame". The frame is constructed with a skin which has holes in it to hold the plants. The plants are then misted from inside.
D. Electrical conductivity gives the strength of your nutrient solution. The lower the conductivity measure, the lower the concentration of nutrients in your solution. Higher conductivity will give more nutrients to your plants. Be careful here. If the electrical conductivity is too high, the nutrient is in danger of burning and killing your crop.
E. Good ventilation helps plants to transpire and therefore grow better. But good ventilation is not blowing the air around and around inside the greenhouse or growing room. Good ventilation should change the air in the entire room, bringing in fresh air from the outside and blowing out the old.
F. Nutrient solution temperature should be kept between 65-80 degrees Fahrenheit or between 18 to 25 degrees Celsius. Make sure the temperature of the water you add to a nutrient reservoir falls within this range as plants can't stand sudden changes in temperature.
The root zone is most important. Use chillers, if necessary, to lower the temperature of the nutrient solution in summer. For winter heating, use heaters such as those which can be found in aquariums.
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3. Lenore Archambo writes...
I received your book several weeks ago & have really enjoyed it, I'm starting on my second time through it. I'm interested in flower farming, & of course hydroponics caught my attention because of the ability to produce more in a smaller area. From everything I've read flowers are the way to go, more specifically lavender. It has so many uses, there are hundreds of markets for it. So, my question is have you heard of anyone successfully growing lavender using the hydroponics method? Do you know of any good books regarding this matter? I would appreciate any help or suggestions you can give me.
And I answered:
Excellent! Dutch growers have become rich with flowers - as well as some growers in the West Indies. I don't know anything specific off-hand but your best bet would be to go to http://www.mayhillpress.com/link.html and go down to the reference section. Outfits like garden.com have great libraries to choose from.
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4. New greenhouse ideas from Australia
At the University of Western Sydney new ideas are being proposed for the perfect or ideal greenhouse. That's new for Australia, but these ideas could work also for climates throughout the world which are similar to Australia's. So lend an ear.
To get the best cross-flow ventilation, the greenhouse is no more than 25 meters wide (about 77 feet). In order to keep the heat in during winter and out during summer and still let in sufficient light, different fabrics are used. These vary according to how much light falls on the various walls.
Seventy per cent reflective fabric is used for the west/north walls, forty per cent for the south/east walls.
Vented saw-tooth roofs are used. Side walls can be rolled up (I use the same idea in the greenhouse design in my book details of which can be found at http://www.mayhillpress.com). The roof vents open a centigrade degree lower than before the side walls start to roll up. The roof is also designed to let water condensation roll down and away from the plants underneath.
One notable feature are two screens - one for outside the greenhouse and the other for inside. The external screen is extended over the entire roof and closes when the temperature inside the greenhouse is at 30 degrees Centigrade. This action cuts down the high summer radiation.
The inside screen is anchored along the long walls and at night rises up and closes over the space above the plants. This helps to reduce heating bills because only the space above and around the plants is kept heated. The screen operates by light. When the sun goes down, the screen comes up and makes the cover. At sunup, the screen unfolds and goes back down again.
Heat is transferred to the greenhouse via pipes which are ducted. Skirts are placed around the tables. Heat is run through pipes which go beneath the tables and allow heat to slowly rise around and among the plants. The return pipe brings back any excess heated air and helps the heating unit to run more efficiently.
The heating setup is remarkable in that it uses a PCM unit or what is known as phase change. Crystal material is used which when heated during the day and melts (like ice) will release that stored energy at night when the crystal material "freezes" again.
This PCM unit is good for places like Sydney whose winter climate is sunny with cold nights. Five days of rain however will shut it down. Why? Because the PCM crystal material doesn't get a chance to go through its phase changes and perform its little miracle.
The University's horticultural department has also come up with another interesting idea. The growers there have learned to water just half a plant's root system while leaving the other half relatively dry.
Believing it is water stressed, the plant responds by more photosynthesis and producing more carbohydrates and less stems and leaves. Thus we get the same amount of fruit with better flavor, something the tomato growers in Israel have been doing for some time with salt water.
I'll tell you one thing: you have to keep your eye on these Aussie folk. They have more than one trick up their sleeves.
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5. Integrated Pest Management
This concept is rather simple. You decide what pest level you can put up with and then you manage your resources to help keep those pests at or below that level of tolerance.
Among some protective approaches to the above goal are the use of beneficial insects.
Also, if you shower aphids with streams of water, most of them will be washed so far away from the plant they won't be able to find their way back. They can't fly that well.
Dip a Q-tip in alcohol and dab it on mealybugs which are dining on your household plants. Let slugs and snails have a drink a beer. They'll fall in and drown.
Bacillus thuringeniensis is a natural bacteria which can be used on lots of different caterpillars. Included among these would be cabbage loopers, corn earworm, tomato hornworms, diamondback moths and imported cabbageworms.
If you're going to use oils or soaps to eradicate insect pests, be sure you get insecticidal soap or oils classified as horticultural. Ordinary soaps and touted remedies have perfumes and dyes. These can burn your plants. So be smart: use what's right.
A new and what may be a very important insect and disease fighter is "Messenger" which at this date may have been approved by the EPA. (If interested, check with your supplier or a nursery outlet. I personally only know about it - not where to get it.)
This product contains an ingredient called "harpin". This is a protein produced in nature by bacteria. Harpin binds itself to the receptor's in a plant and actually "encourages" the plant to defend itself more vigorously.
Messenger (or harpin) may thus be classified as a biochemical pesticide, a first. The product seems to be successful for a very broad range of plants. It's toxicity to humans, bees, birds, fish is almost non-existent.
Which, if true, would make this an ideal weapon to include in one's Integrated Pest Management program.
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6. Trichogramma Wasp - Beneficial Insect of the month
The adult wasp itself is only 1/50 of an inch long - about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. Its egg and consequent larva do not need a host egg of any great size. In fact, in the field you can sometimes find as many as 40-50 wasps emerging from one tomato hornworm egg! The wasp itself is yellow, sometimes with a mixture of black. It has antennae that are short and red eyes. Of course they are harmless to humans but a terror to insect pests.
Small they may be, but Trichogramma wasps are very effective and are used very extensively throughout the world. In Russia and China as well as here and in Europe. They are especially effective in a greenhouse. These wasps are one of mankind's most important weapons against crop pests. We could not do without them. BUT they are not immune to pesticides.
The grower must be aware that the field (or greenhouse) must be relatively clear of any insecticide if he wants top performance from the Trichogramma (or any other beneficial insect).
For Trichogramma wasps it takes an egg around 8 days to become an adult. The optimal temperature for egg development is 85 degrees Fahrenheit; the relative humidity should be 85%. Trichogramma wasps lay their eggs inside the egg of the desired host. The wasp egg becomes a larva and feeds on the host egg that has been paralyzed to prevent further development. The wasp larva turns into an adult and emerges to repeat the cycle again.
HERE IS A LIST OF VARIOUS TRICHOGRAMMA AND WHAT THEY PROTECT:
Trichogramma pretiosum: best for vegetable control, particularly tomato and/or tobacco hornworm, cabbage looper, European corn borer, diamondback moth, corn earworm, imported cabbage worm.
Other Trichogramma which affect vegetable pests are: Trichogramma minutum and Trichogramma evanescens. Trichogramma minutum are also good for orchard crops. Trichogramma platneri is another good orchard species. Most of these wasp species will go after the eggs of all kinds of moths and butterflies whose larvae if permitted to live will dine on vegetable and orchard growth. There are more varieties of this wasp family but I have listed the important ones.
For those who want to raise Trichogramma Wasps, please go to: (http://www.mayhillpress.com/insects2.html).
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OUR RESOURCE LIST:
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For the inside dope on hydroponics, go to: (http://www.mayhillpress.com/hydroponics.html)
A hydroponics resource center for inexpensive hydroponic startups
Hydroponics gardening secrets for starting hydroponic businesses. Includes hydroponic nutrients, hydroponics maintenance, hydroponics production, hydroponic greenhouses, and marketing.
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Authentic tips and secrets for growing baby salad greens, gourmet and specialty greens
Specific instructions for raising baby salad greens (gourmet or specialty greens) and detailed methods for marketing these crops at a profit.
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Maybe you'd like to have a beneficial insect farm? Go to: (http://www.mayhillpress.com/insects2.html).
Authentic inside secrets for rearing beneficial insects, lacewing, ladybug, trichogramma wasps
A resource center to help others raise (or rear) beneficial insects - includes diagrams to help the individual build his own rearing equipment.
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