MSI OOPS

Grow Lights in hydroponics gardening – Metal Halide (MH) grow lights

Posted on March 18, 2011 by

Generating between 65 to 115 lumens of light per each watt of consumed electricity, metal halide grow light lamps are considered to have high efficiency. MH lights produce light, which is very close to the natural sunlight with the rich blue spectrum. Due to this, MH lamps support vegetative growing in the most desired way – when plants have many leaves on the stem with short internodes.

Structurally, metal halide lamp is a vacuum glass tube. There is also an arc tube inside, filled with mercury and other metals in iodine form. Under the influence of electric current, those metals start to generate light and heat intensively. Though metal halide bulbs can be either transparent or coated with phosphorus, the first type is more preferred for the indoor gardening, since it produces very bright light.

There are different sizes of metal halide lamps, starting from 70watts and finishing with 1500 watts. However 250w, 400w and 1000w are modifications, most commonly used in hydroponics systems gardening. In order to make MH light to work, it is necessary to use a ballast, designed for a particular bulb size. Ballast is, in fact, a transformer, which decreases voltage to some predefined amount.

This is a preview of Grow Lights in hydroponics gardening – Metal Halide (MH) grow lights. Read the full post (335 words, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

Posted in garden | Tagged arc tube, Generating, horizontal application, hydroponics systems, influence, internodes, iodine, metal, metal halide bulbs, metal halide lamp, metal halide lamps, mh lamps, natural sunlight, position, tube, use, watt, way | Leave a comment

Garden Tools From the Kitchen Drawer

Posted on March 17, 2011 by

Why go and spend a fortune at the nursery on new tools, when there is probably a wealth of unused stuff tucked away unused in your own kitchen, or someone you knows kitchen that will more than adequately do the exact job you want, without having to spend a cent.

Just make sure that anything taken from the kitchen really is not wanted there. As well as the fact that such stuff is on a one way permanent trip out to the garden shed.

Here are just a few suggestions of stuff that are useful kitchen refugees,

Old dinner knife for digging weeds out from between concrete sections or pavers.

Old kitchen fork for light weeding in around tight places or where you do not want to disturb root systems that are close to the surface.

Good sharp kitchen knife or a pair of kitchen scissors are great fro dividing up clumps of plants, or for taking cuttings off of a branch.

This is a preview of Garden Tools From the Kitchen Drawer. Read the full post (396 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Posted in garden | Tagged biscuit cutters, kitchen scissors, kitchen tongs, measuring spoons, permanent trip, pot stakes, potato masher, small screws, thorny plants | Leave a comment

Perfumed Aussie Native Garden Plants

Posted on March 16, 2011 by

There is a strong belief among many people, that Australian Natives are beautiful but have no perfume. A stroll through the bush will dispel that rumour easily.

The fragrance of crushed leaves and scented blossoms can be almost overpowering at times. But many of the natives have a more subtle fragrance; you have to be close to them at the correct time to appreciate the flavours and scents.

The perfume of native plants is often produced at different times of the day or night. Perfumed native flowers include many of the Grevilleas (some like G. biternata and G. G. buxifolia have a strong honey-like perfume others like G. buxifolia have a light fragrant perfume), Boronias ( e.g. B. floribunda, B. serrulata and B. megastigma), Sowerbaeas (Vanilla Lilies), Xanthoreas (Grass Trees), Banksias, Eleaocarpus reticulatus (Blueberry Ash) which has a strong almost aniseed scent, Hakeas, Pittosporum undulatum (Native Daphne) — the perfume of this species may becoming overpowering in the evening –, Leptospermum species (e.g. L. flavescens), Homoranthus species (which has a Baked Biscuit scent) and Hymenosporum flavum (Native Frangipani). Many of the white flowering Eucalypts, Melaleuca and Callistemon species have a strong honey scent.

This is a preview of Perfumed Aussie Native Garden Plants. Read the full post (491 words, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

Posted in garden | Tagged aroma, Aussie, australian natives, blueberry ash, citriodora, cymbidium species, foliage, fragrance, fragrant, fragrant orchids, fragrant perfume, grass trees, native frangipani, Natives, Perfumed, spicy aroma, subtle fragrance, time | Leave a comment

Choosing Grow Lights for Hydroponics Gardening – Grow lights Types

Posted on March 15, 2011 by

Plants use light to convert it into energy during the process, called photosynthesis. Growth of the plant is directly dependant on the amount of light received. By the way, the amount and type of light depend on the particular plant and its stage of development. So, a good grow lamp is the one, which is chosen in accordance with the light requirements of the particular plant.

Light is essential for health of your indoor plants, but choosing a proper grow light may be challenging and always requires thorough considerations. Grow light fluorescent offers the benefits of high effectiveness, no heat generation and full spectrum of light. For comparison, incandescent bulbs also produce a lot of light, but at the same time they generate a lot of heat, which is not always beneficial for indoor plants.

Each stage of plant development requires a particular light. When the plant is in its growing stage during which stem, branches and leaves develop, it is the best timing to use metal halide lamps for they produce blue spectrum light. However, when plant forms flowers and fruits, it is better to use high-pressure sodium or HPS lamps, which provide red light spectrum.

This is a preview of Choosing Grow Lights for Hydroponics Gardening – Grow lights Types. Read the full post (579 words, estimated 2:19 mins reading time)

Posted in garden | Tagged amount, ballast, Development, growth, halide, heat, heat generation, high pressure sodium, hps lamps, incandescent bulbs, indoor plants, intensity, light spectrum, metal halide lamps, metal vapor, plant, spectrum light, stage | Leave a comment

What is Hydroponic Gardening – benefits, place in present and future agriculture industry

Posted on March 14, 2011 by

Key Facts on Hydroponics

Hydroponic plants do not require soil to grow in. They use different growing media instead. All the required nutrients are supplied through nutrient solution. Hydroponic system allows cultivation of plants, irrespectively to climate and environmental condition. Hydroponic system allows increasing the density of plants significantly (up to 3 times higher in comparison with traditional soil gardens). It may be surprising but hydroponic plants consume considerable less water than those, growing in soil. Since soil is not used in hydroponic systems, there is no need to worry about crops rotation. Hydroponic plants are healthier, because there are no or very little risks for them to get infected by parasites, living in soil. Hydroponic gardening does not depend on seasons of the year. You can grow plants and gather harvest all year round.

Hydroponics in the Present

Thanks to many technological achievements and innovations, hydroponic growing has already become much more effective, convenient and affordable. Plastic, used for manufacturing of hydroponic equipment, such as plumbing products, fittings, growing pots and containers, etc., made it possible to lower the cost of hydroponic systems significantly.

This is a preview of What is Hydroponic Gardening – benefits, place in present and future agriculture industry. Read the full post (352 words, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

Posted in garden | Tagged agriculture industry, density, environmental condition, equipment, extreme environmental conditions, hydroponic plants, hydroponic systems, key, lumen output, manufacturing, nutrient, plastic, plumbing products, pots and containers, round, solar heating systems, solution, space | Leave a comment

Hydroponics gardening guide – growing mediums used in hydroponics – Soil less Mixtures and Coconut Fiber

Posted on March 13, 2011 by

Soil less Mixtures

There is a great amount of soil less mixtures available, which contain different ingredients. Sphagnum moss, perlite, and vermiculite are the most widely spread hydroponics components, used in such mixtures.

Being organic, soil less growing media are usually used for container gardening wick systems or on-recovery drip systems. It is also possible to use soil less mixtures in recovery systems, however, it is necessary to remember that because of very fine particles in such mixtures, they can clog tubes, pumps and drip emitters, when used without a good filtration system. By the way, according to the urban gardeners, one can use panty hose as a filter: just fit it to the return line and to the pump inlet, and all the tiny particles will be filtered out.

Most soil less mixes form a good growing medium for multiple hydroponic and organic gardens, because they can hold water well, have great wicking action, and, at the same time, they provide a reasonable amount of air to the roots of growing plants.

Coconut Fiber

This is a preview of Hydroponics gardening guide – growing mediums used in hydroponics – Soil less Mixtures and Coconut Fiber. Read the full post (344 words, estimated 1:23 mins reading time)

Posted in garden | Tagged amount, clog, coconut fiber, drip, drip emitters, drip systems, growing mediums, guide, hydroponic systems, organic soil, oxygen capacity, root, root diseases, soil, Sphagnum, urban gardeners, way, wick | Leave a comment

Hydroponics gardening guide – growing mediums used in hydroponics – HOW TO USE ROCKWOOL

Posted on March 12, 2011 by

The most widely-spread growing medium is, perhaps, rockwool. Originally used for insulation purposes and also known as mineral insulation, rockwool was first used as growing medium by Dane gardeners. Now, it is frequently used for drip-style indoor gardens around the globe.

Rockwool is produced by a process similar to making cotton candy: a particular mixture of sand and rock is melted and then turned into fibers by spinning the mixture to form products of multiple shapes and dimensions, from 1″ starter cubes and up to large slabs of 3″x12″x36″ in size. The variety of available forms and sizes turns rockwool into one of the most widely-used growing mediums.

Key advantages, as well as disadvantages, of this popular growing medium are listed below.

Rockwool’s Strong Points

HOLDING WATeR – rockwool as a growing medium in hydroponics systems is capable of holding a large amount of water. This creates an additional protection for situations, when water is not supplied because of power outages or failures in pumping or other gardening equipment.

This is a preview of Hydroponics gardening guide – growing mediums used in hydroponics – HOW TO USE ROCKWOOL. Read the full post (441 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Posted in garden | Tagged air, amount, cotton, cotton candy, green material, growing mediums, guide, hydroponics systems, indoor gardens, insulation purposes, mineral insulation, nutrient, plant, plant containers, rock, shapes and sizes, solution, water | Leave a comment

Gardening and Caring for Your Rose Types

Posted on March 11, 2011 by

Gardening and caring for the different rose types

WATERING

Roses are deep rooted and once they are well established are more capable than most plants of surviving mild drought spells. The first spring and summer directly after planting your rose is very important. During this period if the soil around your rose seems to be drying out give your roses a good soaking. Each rose could get about 2 gallons of water. In following years you will only need to water them if drought seems iminent.

FEEDING YOUR ROSES

As with all plants that provide us with beautiful blooms they need plenty of the correct nutrients. Give roses a good helping of blood, bone and fishmeal in early April, about two handfuls to each rose. In June a handful of specially prepared rose fertilizer will give your roses a huge lift. The magnesium and potash gives the rose a great kick. Just work the fertilizer in gently around the soil at the base of the plant.

MULCHING YOUR ROSES.

This is a preview of Gardening and Caring for Your Rose Types. Read the full post (486 words, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

Posted in garden | Tagged bark mulch, beautiful blooms, correct nutrients, first spring, fishmeal, garden compost, hoeing, hybrid teas, rose in june | Leave a comment

Grow Lights in hydroponics gardening – High Pressure Sodium (HPS) grow light

Posted on March 10, 2011 by

Along with water, hydroponics plant nutrients, CO2 and oxygen, grow lights is the key basic component, required by plants to live. Providing additional light is necessary for indoor gardening. Furthermore, light should resemble the sunlight as much as possible. The major concern with other types of lights is that they do not produce light in the appropriate spectrum, required by plants.

Being the most efficient bulbs, HPS bulbs are commonly used by gardeners. Producing light in red and yellow spectrum, light generated by high pressure sodium lamps resembles the natural sunlight during autumn. Due to this peculiarity, HPS light is the best for promoting plants blooming. However, some plants may react negatively to this type of light, growing with oblong stem, etc. To address that issue, new HPS bulbs with color correction have been developed. For example, Son Argo feature properly balanced light spectrum, which suits perfectly for the needs of indoor gardening.

This is a preview of Grow Lights in hydroponics gardening – High Pressure Sodium (HPS) grow light. Read the full post (318 words, estimated 1:16 mins reading time)

Posted in garden | Tagged arc tube, component, concern, correction, high pressure sodium, high pressure sodium lamps, hps grow lights, issue, light spectrum, metal halide bulbs, natural sunlight, oxygen, plant, plant nutrients, pressure sodium lamps, Providing, tube, type | Leave a comment

Compostable Garden Planters

Posted on March 9, 2011 by

Would you like a more natural alternative to using those plastic planter containers? Well, here is a project for you, where you can have an interesting planter during the growing season, then throw the container out in the garden for mulch, without having to add to the world’s landfill problems.

These planters can be used and grown anywhere you can provide good plant growing conditions, including on a patio, pathway or even a roof top. The main criteria being enough sunlight for the plants chosen, easy access to water and an ease of access to maintain the planter/s.

Just follow the steps below.

What you will need

· One or more rectangular bales of hay, (One per planter).

· 4 to 8 seedlings or small plants per planter.

· One to two good handfuls of soil/compost/potting mix per plant.

· Small garden handtools.

· Hose/watering can.

This is a preview of Compostable Garden Planters. Read the full post (400 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Posted in garden | Tagged air gaps, bales of hay, Compostable, Factors, Fertilize, fertilizer, garden planters, landfill problems, Mulch, plant, planter, Planters, plastic, plastic planter, watering | Leave a comment