Magnolia Tree Gardening Blog

Posts Tagged ‘supplies’

Congratulations! At last you have decided to have a nice garden for your biggest house. Now the big question is how to choose gardening supplies, which are useful for your garden at nominal price but with good quality. Identifying proper gardening supplies is an important thing for a garden lover like you.

Do you know gardening is an art, which requires tender care and deep passion for growing plants? But the part of the art knows how to choose gardening supplies. Just like that of pet care, you pat them on the head, you take them for walks and you talk to them. Your plant also requires same care from you. You should clearly know how to choose gardening supplies- the gardening trade tools.

As you care your plants, you can visually see how they grow? It can be both fulfilling and gratifying and also teach how to choose gardening supplies is a step towards that goal. You should also know that different kinds of garden require different kinds of garden supplies.

In general most of the garden supplies are available in packages, which deals with a particular type of garden. Hence the first and foremost tip on how to select your garden supplies depends mainly on the type of garden you own or envisioned. Some garden requires specialized watering system and not a water sprinkler, and some garden may require held shovel instead of ditch digger. It is also advisable that you don’t spend more money on the garden supplies.

In case if you are going to make a nice garden, you can contact the nearby garden supply store and may ask them to stock your requirement or in some instances gardening supplies can be made by yourself.  But it is necessary to know how to choose your required gardening supplies won’t pinch out much from your budget.

Another important indispensable matter to consider is knowing the garden supply stores that can accommodate your type of garden. There are multi various garden supply stores, which are specialized in rooftop gardens, indoor gardens, and all the other kinds of gardens. Even you can easily identify the garden supplies stores, which offer alternative garden supplies such as ergonomic garden tools, pest control methods, and organic fertilizers.

If you find no time to visit mortar and stone shops of shopping malls to get your required garden supplies, you can browse and get your preferred garden supplies through online. Online shopping helps a lot to the gardeners by the way of comparing the prices of an individual garden supplies for better tools. In addition to this, online shopping helps to order your garden supplies without leaving your homes, and also get to know the latest trends in gardening supplies. It is noted that some online shops offer discounts for your supply of garden supplies in their shops. So go visit the online garden supplies to get a product at nominal price with esteemed quality.

Supplies for the garden can range from simple to elaborate, inexpensive to expensive, usable for mini container water gardens at home to large farmhouses. The myriad kinds of gardening supplies available in the market can drive any sane gardener crazy if he doesn’t know what he is trying to achieve with his garden. He should be very clear about the end picture he wants to see of his garden and how much effort and time he’ll be able to put into it.

Almost all communities have a gardening store and there must surely be one in your vicinity as well. Gardeners of all levels can find suitable accessories for themselves at such garden store. Most commonly, small sized tools useful for digging up the soil and planting the seeds are sold in many numbers. You can even purchase mulch at such garden stores. Mulch is the material that is used to prevent the soil from drying up and retain its moisture levels. It’s also effective in checking the weed growth in the garden.

Many other gardening supplies like the seeds, hose, greenhouse plastic, books on gardening, trellis, watering cans, garden gloves, manure, shovels, fertilizers, watering cans, top soil etc. can be purchased from your local gardening store. All these items are essential in some way or the other to maintain the good health of your garden.

These gardening stores are also a good source of many special types of gardening supplies. There are plant stands and lighting fixtures available that can assist the gardener to set up an artificial light mechanism to catalyze the growth of certain kind of plants. Such artificial mechanism is usually put into practice by the gardeners to complement the growth season by creating a warm atmosphere conducive to early growth of the plants. Thus, they can get a head start for the coming season by conditioning the plants well in advance in an artificial manner. In case the gardener has ample space, he can even venture into the gardening supplies helpful in setting up a greenhouse.

In the event that you are unable to find the gardening supplies you are looking for in your local garden store, you can do catalog shopping by ordering several famous catalogs that can be had via snail mail or online. Such catalogs may either specialize in one or two kinds of supplies or may offer you a wide range from plants, seeds to the most advanced gardening supplies. A little time spent on internet can yield many results for vegetable gardens, green houses, container gardens, hydroponic gardens, specific tools or any kind of gardening device usable for any specific type of garden. Such catalogs come up with their new issues every winter to get the gardeners started well in time for the following year.

Growing medium is any medium, in which a plant can grow. Generally, hundreds of multiple types of growing medium exist: some are manmade and some are organic. Sometimes, even old AIR can work as a good growing medium for roots.

Defining the best growing medium is pretty challenging and disputable. It is a matter of personal likes, preferences and exact growing needs or requirements in most cases. It is like choosing a car: everyone picks the one, which suits his/her personal likes and requirements: someone chooses a small economic car for city traffic, and someone prefers powerful SUV to conquer sand and morass. Just like choosing a car depends on many factors, while choosing a growing medium it is also necessary to consider many variables, for example, what type of system is used, what plants you are going to grow and under what environmental conditions. Though there are a great variety of factors to consider while choosing a particular growing medium, it often comes to price, availability and personal preferences. 

The most common types of growing mediums as well the description of their key advantages, disadvantages, their basic characteristics and tips on general use are specified below.

Oasis cubes

 Expanded Clay Pellets

 Rockwool

Coconut Fiber

 Sand

 Gravel

Perlite

 Sphagnum Moss

 Water

Vermiculite

 Fiberglass Insulation

 Saw Dust

Soilless Mix(s)

 Air

 Lava Rock

Oasis cubes

Oasis cubes are lightweight cubes, which serves the best for plants propagation from seeds or cuttings. Pre-formed oasis cubes are commonly used by hydroponic gardeners. This type of growing medium features neutral pH level and can hold water very well.

Since oasis cubes are usually used at the first stages of plant growth, they are usually not larger than 2” x 2” inches in size. It is very easy to transplant such cubes into any type of hydroponic system, growing medium or even into the soil. 

Hydroponics implies growing of the plants without soil; however, they still need medium to grow in. Hydroponics stores online or local ones offer a wide range of mediums to choose from, and it is better to know them to make the optimal choice.

Different Types of Growing Mediums

Although almost any substances can more or less serve as the growing medium, the most popular are those named below:

- Water / Air / Sand / Gravel

- Vermiculite / Perlite

 - Lava Rock

 - Sphagum Moss / Sawdust

 - Expanded clay pellets

 - Oasis Cubes

 - Coconut Fiber

 - Fiberglass Insulation

 - Proprietary Soilless Mix

 - Rockwool

Although rockwool is the last in the list, it can definitely be named the most popular growing medium among hydroponics gardeners, because it is easy and cozy to use.

Rockwool was initially used as insulation material in building. However, hydroponic gardeners in Denmark were the first to discover its advantages when used as a growing medium. Nowadays, rockwool is highly valued and commercially available in the forms of rockwool cubes and rockwool plugs. To produce rockwool stone and sand are melted together and then spun into various shapes and sizes, which sounds similar to the production of cotton candy.

Rockwool Advantages

Rockwool cubes (sized 36” by 12” by 3”) are very convenient to use, because they can be easily cut to a shape matching your needs. This material perfectly holds water and air, being very porous. Therefore, the roots of the plants will be protected both from rotting and drying out in case of the pump malfunction or other event long enough for you to be able to correct the situation.

The granules of the rockwool plugs keep together well and are not less easy to use.

Precautions

Unfortunately, rockwool has weakpoints as well, besides the benefits mentioned above. It can hardly be called environmentally friendly, as it is made of rock and thus does not bio-degrade, requiring some efforts to eliminate it. Moreover, it can be dangerous for the human health, causing silicosis if accidentally inhaled. For this reason, it is recommended to wear a face mask with a HEPA filter and handle rockwool carefully. 

One more thing, a gardener should keep in mind while using rockwool, is that this material has a very high pH level, which should be reduced with available acidic substances and regularly checked.

In spite of the rockwool cons, it is still so easy and comfortable to use that it remains the most popular growing medium type among the hydroponics gardeners. The only thing to do is to take necessary precautions while working with it.

Hydroponics vs Soil Grown Plants

The benefits, offered by hydroponics, are pretty simple, yet impressive: one can receive 200-1000% increase in yield with only half of time and space requirements in comparison to traditional soil horticulture. Absence of soil also results in protection of growing plants against pests, commonly living in soil. In hydroponic systems, plants receive all the necessary nutrients through hydroponics nutrient solution and never suffer lack of water. As the result, hydroponic plants concentrate of producing fruits instead of growing large roots to extract water and nutrients from the soil. Hydroponic plants have smaller roots in comparison to common plants, which grow in soil. This allows increasing the density of plants in your garden. It is also a proven fact, that food products, produced in indoor hydroponic systems, are cleaner and have longer shelf life.

Usually, hydroponic plants can grow both indoor and outdoor; furthermore, even a loft, cellar, or closet can be turned into a garden with hydroponic system.

There are two major subtypes of hydroponic plants: solution and medium cultures. Solution culture does not require any growing medium for its growing; the only thing necessary is nutrient solution. Among solution cultures aeroponics, static and continuous flow cultures are defined. Medium culture needs a particular growing medium to grow in, for example, rockwool, sand or gravel. In most cases, the growing medium is contained within a reservoir, made from plastic. However, glass, metal or wooden containers are also used. The only requirement to hydroponic container is that it should not let light pass.

History of Hydroponics

Hydroponics as a term was first mentioned in the middle of the previous century to identify a method of plants growing without soil in the special growing medium. However, the method itself has roots in the prehistoric times. The Floating Gardens of Aztecs and those of the Chinese, Hanging Gardens of Babylon, perceived much as the myth only, and the flooding of the Egyptian Nile may now be treated as the very first attempts of hydroponic gardening. Moreover, even ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic records, which are actually documents, not myths, mention the ways of growing plants in water.

Thus, it would be unfair to say hydroponics is a brand new method of gardening: even Da Vinci made much progress in creating what we now call “hydroponic gardening”. At the same time, research of the last decades has significantly explained and improved the nuts and bolts of this agricultural option, actually, reviving it. This process started during World War II thanks to the government financing, and in the 50th of the 20th century it gained worldwide popularity. Just for the record: these days the incidence of hydroponically grown fruits and vegetables occupy about 65% of all those sold in the UK stores, and about 90% of the sold cut fresh flowers are grown with the help of hydroponics and HPS grow lights.   

Among the researchers who worked on creating the ideal conditions for plants growing was a Belgian scientist Jan van Helmont, who discovered in 1600 that plants receive elements for the normal growth from water. Robert Boyle from Ireland managed to grow plants in the bottles with water, which is recorded in the documents dated 1666. 33 years later a notable discovery was made by the English scholar John Woodward, who found out that various constituents from different types of soils were also of vital importance for the plants growth. Thus, he made a valuable contribution to the work started by Jan van Helmont. Unfortunately, the absence of the necessary equipment prevented John Woodward from proceeding with his work.   

With the development of chemistry the world got to know that plants consist of chemicals obtained from air, soil, and water as food and the materials for the proper growth. This real breakthrough was made by the French scientist Nicolas de Saussure in 1804. Jean Boussingault, his fellow countryman, made much progress in studying plants growth in various types of medium, as quartz, charcoal, and sand. That was he who found out that dry plant material is mainly made of hydrogen and carbon dioxide, received from the air.

Knowing the plants’ chemical structure and the ingredients necessary for the growth scientists became curious whether it was possible to grow plants without soil.

The scientists who succeeded in this task were Germans Sachs and Knop, who managed to grow plants in water solution in 1860’s. They called their invention “nutriculture”. Many years passed till the real interest to the “nutriculture” appeared. The pioneers of the greenhouse industry fully understood its cons and helped in the further improvement of the method between years 1925 and 1935.

The first effort to turn laboratory “nutriculture” into a commercial product was first made by Dr. William F. Gericke, who explored soilless plant growing at University of California Davis and was very successful. It was Dr. Gericke, who first used the term “hydroponics”, which means “waterworking” in Greek. Since then, the public interest to hydroponic gardening spread rapidly around the world.  It is interesting to note that even the U.S. Army had special units, whose main duty was to grow hydroponics and provide fruits and vegetables for kitchen. In the military environment it is not always possible to grow plants in a traditional way, so hydroponic systems and hydroponic supplies was chosen as the way to grow plants virtually anywhere.

It is good when people treat seriously to any thing they are going to occupy themselves with. They get acquainted with the theoretic base, they learn how to do everything right, and they buy all kinds of tools and materials, which, they think, may be necessary. However, sometimes the successful beginning may easily be done using simple things – those that everyone has at home.

Hydroponics gardening may also be started simply: do not overbuy on supplies, use plastic tubs or children’s swimming pool to make your first grow beds for the plants. Consider expensive sophisticated hydroponics supplies the next step you will take in hydroponics.

Beginners usually find it reasonable to get a “plug and go” hydroponic gardening kit. It includes plant cubes, heating pad, nutrient solution, and seeds. Sunlight and water are the only things that you will have to add in this case.

If you have already decided where your hydroponic garden will be arranged, you may wish to purchase a “grow tent”, which is easily installed within an hour. Its price may vary from $250 to $500.

Thinking about a small greenhouse, take into account that it will need a drainage system and cement or gravel flooring. Also note that the price for a greenhouse may be a few thousand dollars, though the simplest ones may cost only $500.

If you plan to have a medium to large greenhouse with many plants, you will have to control temperature inside. A grow room temperature control unit will be of help in this case. It will turn the blowers or fans on if it becomes too hot in the greenhouse. It may also be used to open and close air ducts. Note that the temperature depends on the number of plants you have.

To provide the normal plants growth it is necessary to install two types of grow lights in your greenhouse – blue and red spectrum lights.

The necessary minimum may be enriched by the more advanced irrigation and drainage system if you become a skilled gardener. The quantity, types, and size of the plants will help you choose what other supplies and equipment you need in your hydroponic garden.

With the lapse of time, an experienced grower needs to have grow light fixtures in his garden, an exhaust fan, a high quality and convenient aeration system, heating mats, a temperature control unit and other supplies.

All hydroponics equipment can be found at a hydro shop. Beginners can also rely on the advice and practical tips of the professional and knowledgeable personnel. Moreover, gardeners will always find people with the similar hobby there to communicate with. 

Thinking of hydroponics as of something too difficult some people are reluctant to try it. As a matter of fact, it is not always true. With hydroponics everything actually depends on the gardener. He is the master, who can make the process either as simple or as complicated as he wants. A beginner can succeed in it, or an experienced gardener can be faced with serious difficulties. The clue is in the system, either built or bought by the gardener. Anyway, there is no the least reason to hesitate. And the final result is really a worthy tribute.   

 

Hydroponics is a technique of growing plants without soil, using a nutrient solution instead.

 

Though there are various methods to hydroponics, we will discuss the easiest and the most frequently used ones. The key elements of hydroponics are given below.

SYSTEM TYPES

Depending on the way of delivering nutrient solution to the plants roots passive and active systems types are defined in the hydroponics.

Passive systems are the simplest and, therefore, recommended for the beginners. This type implies that the nutrient solution gets to the plant through a wick or through the growing medium (rocks, gravel, vermiculite, etc.). This easy method has, however, a weak-point: the solution cannot circulate, which requires additional care and attendance of the gardener.  

Wick System is a vivid example of a passive system.

Active systems suggest the circulation of the nutrient solution with the help of the pumping equipment. Being pumped into the system, the solution nourishes the roots and then drains down back into the reservoirs due to the gravity, and it is later reused. Such systems may need more efforts to initiate their work, but they do not require significant maintenance.

 

Ebb and Flow, Aeroponics, Nutrient Film Technique (NFT), and Top Feed belong to the active systems.

NUTRIENT SOLUTIONS

Nutrient solution is another vitally important element of hydroponics. The first thing to do here is to take as much tap water as required by the type of your system. To get rid of chlorine just let the water stay in the buckets for 24 hours.

 

The next step you should take is to dissolve nutrients in the water. They come either in liquid or in powdered forms, the latter one being usually less expensive. Different mixes of the nutrients are always available online or in the garden supply stores. It is recommended to strictly follow the instructions not to exceed the amount of the nutrient needed. 

 

Prior to using nutrient solution be sure to check its pH level, which can be neutral (7), acidic (0-6), or alkaline (8-14). pH level depends on many things as the chemical composition of the water in your tap, its temperature, light, etc. The optimal pH for the majority of plants is about 5,5- 6,5. To check it you can use testing kits available in the majority of garden shops or with the help of the electrical tester.

 

Relying on the testing done you may need to adjust pH of the solution. To do it you can use pH adjusters, some of which lower pH level, while others increase it. On the other hand, some gardeners prefer to use baking soda (one tablespoon per three gallons of the solution) to lower pH level of too acidic mixture, or white vinegar if it is too alkaline (one tablespoon per four gallons). Though this process needs some practice to be successful, it is still an effective alternative way of adjusting solutions, which works well for many gardeners.

LIGHT

To achieve proper growth rates plants require sufficient lighting. Natural sunlight is ideal, but not always possible to get in the necessary amount; thus, artificial lighting is a common practice in hydroponics. Grow lights or artificial horticultural lights are usually present in almost any hydroponic system. However, they can be quite pricy, so it is better to shop around before making the final decision which one to purchase.

We welcome everyone, who is willing to grow herbs, plants and flowers inside the house. It is so easy to get lost among the large number of sources about the indoor gardening; that is why, we will do our best to give you the most important and easy to understand information before you start.

HOW TO CHOOSE A PLACE FOR HYDROPONIC GARDEN?

The very first and the most important task for you to do is to choose a place in your house, where you will make a garden. Actually, any free space, whether it is a closet or a basement, will do. You will need 250 Watt – 400 Watt high pressure sodium or halide light for not less than about 6 feet (150-180cm) of grow room height to avoid the growing place overheating. These lights are enough to properly light up the space of about square meter.

 WHAT DO I NEED TO START INDOOR GARDENING?

Hydroponics belongs to those avocations, which, along with requiring much time, knowledge, and skills, will need good equipment to be successful and satisfying. Here belong inert hydroponic media, hydroponic system, either natural or artificial source of light, hydroponic nutrients and, actually, plants. 

COULD YOU, PLEASE, EXPLAIN WHAT HYDROPONICS MEAN?

Hydroponics is an art of growing plants using a nutrient rich solution instead of soil.

ARE THERE ANY REQUIREMENTS TO THE PLACE FOR HYDROPONICS?

The trickiest and the best thing about hydroponics is the possibility to grow plants everywhere: inside or outside the house, as well as in a greenhouse. To tell the truth, any plant can be grown with the help of hydroponic method, though some herbs may require more skills from the gardener to grow well.

 WHAT DOES AEROPONICS MEAN?

Aeroponics is another way for the gardeners to get rich crops. In this case the infusions of oxygen into the nutrient solution are used to hasten plants growth.

ARE HYDROPONIC PLANTS ORGANIC OR NOT?

For the time being, the question whether hydroponics is organic remains debatable for many people. However, a large number of gardeners are definitely the advocates of this statement. Hydroponics uses the methods of direct supplying all the necessary minerals to the plants without growing them in the soil. It is a proven fact that the yields obtained in this case are much richer and of better quality than those received from any other organic method of plants growing. 

WHAT IS THE KEY BENEFIT OF HYDROPONICS OVER SOIL CULTIVATION?

Having the possibility to adjust the rate of nutrients required for plants optimal growing, hydroponic gardeners manage to achieve the best growth rates and increased crops volume for the shortest period of time.

IS IT TRUE THAT HYDRPONIC PRODUCTS HAVE DIFFERENT TASTE THAN THE SAME PRODUCTS, GROWN ON SOIL?

Taste, flavor, and nutrition rate of hydroponic produce often surpass those of the soil grown produce, due to the fact that nutrients, necessary for the plants, are easily accessible for them at the time when plants need them the most. 

WHAT MINERAL ELEMENETS IN PARTICLUAR ARE NEEDED FOR PLANT GROWTH?

To succeed in the plants growing a gardener should know what elements are essential for the plants. Here belong those provided by water and air: oxygen (O), hydrogen (H), and carbon (C); several others are available for the plants from soil or growing medium: calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg), nitrogen (N), sulfur (S) and potassium (K); as well as some others, determined as essential not so long time ago: zinc (Zn), molybdenum (Mb), copper (Cu), chlorine (Cl), manganese (Mn) and boron (B).

hydroponic plants receive all the nutrients they need for growing and fruiting from the growing liquid with all the nutrients dissolved in it. Hydroponic nutrients are available in great variety at specialized hydroponic stores. By the way, both chemical nutrients and organic nutrients can be used for the needs of hydroponic gardening. The only thing to remember is that organic fertilizers require more skills, time, and attention to use them effectively.

Hydroponic gardening allows anyone to grow organic vegetables, fruits, and flowers. A little research, learning and training, combined with enthusiasm, will soon bring the first success in hydroponics to you.

Today, there are many ready-made hydroponic systems available on the market. They are not too expensive, but such systems can really help to make an easy start in hydroponic gardening. For the beginning gardeners it is even recommended to choose simple inexpensive hydroponic systems – they are enough to give you the necessary experience. Of course, you can always build you own system to suit all your particular growing conditions and requirements, when you have enough experience and understanding of how hydroponic system works.

If organized properly, hydroponics gardening can even be easier than traditional plants growing. For example, with hydroponic system it is much easier and less time-consuming to test and maintain the necessary pH level in comparison to the regular soil gardening, where even the pH level testing can be a very challenging task, not speaking about maintaining it on the required steady level.  

After all, it is necessary to remember, that in spite of the fact that hydroponics differs significantly from traditional gardening, it is nothing but an alternative approach to grow the same fresh, tasty, and healthy food. Just spend some time to research the topic, evaluate all the benefits of hydroponic gardening – and you will see that there are many advantages offered by hydroponics. Growing healthy organic vegetables without polluting and exhausting fertile soils is definitely one of them.

When Starting your own organic hydroponics gardening setup, you should remember that you will need to arrange two beds or layers in your hydroponic garden. The upper bed is, actually, a box to keep the plants in. This box should contain a growing medium for the plants to grow in. You can use perlite, coconut fiber, lava rock, Styrofoam pellets, rockwool or vermiculite for this purpose. The main thing about medium is that it should be able to keep a small amount of moisture for a long time. Experts assure that lava rock is best in this respect.

The lower bed is necessary to keep the water with the dissolved nutrients in it. The water is pumped with the help of an aquarium pump to the upper bed in order to water the plants. This procedure is repeated several times a day at equal intervals, being controlled with a timer.

Gardeners sometimes find it difficult to maintain the pH level of the water, its nutrition rate, and the ration of nutrients at the right level. These are, actually, the key factors, due to which a hydroponic garden or an organic hydroponics prospers. If these three crucial things in gardening are kept in balance with the help of Organic fertilizers, such technique of plants growing is called an Organic Hydroponic Garden.

Organic fertilizers are better for the plants than the chemical ones, as the latter are capable of burning the roots if used in higher concentrations.

When water solution is pumped to the trail with plants, it is partly absorbed by the medium and by the plants roots till saturation point. Consequently, the pumped water, returning back to the reservoir, contains lesser amount of parts per million (ppm) than before. 

Organic nutrients make hydroponic gardening easier, as they do not contain any chemicals, which can change the pH level or ppm of the solution. As a result, many problems, listed among the most common ones of organic hydroponic gardening, get solved on their own.    

It is a common knowledge that the upper part of a plant’s root uptakes nutrients, while the lower one absorbs water. To increase plant’s saturation with nutrients, it is possible to directly add them to the upper part of the roots, which, in the long run, will result in the more efficient organic hydroponics. To introduce such technique into your organic hydroponic garden, you should develop an organic hydroponics system.

The container can be similar as in the hydroponics gardening, or it can be a coir fiber container. It should be half filled with lava rock at the bottom. Then it is preferably to use a medium divider (e.g. coir fiber). The upper part of the tray should contain a mixture of 1/3 horticulture perlite of coarse grade, 1/3 potting soil, and 1/3 of large horticulture vermiculite.

When all this is set, it is necessary to place this container in the grow bed, with water level being a bit lower than the mixture of soils. Such arrangement will ensure the higher efficacy of the organic hydroponic gardening.

Lava rock with the secondary roots of the plants will be submerged in the water, and it will also serve to make this water flow up and moisten the soil mixture. At the same time, the upper layer of medium will be free to absorb the nutrients added directly to the primary roots.

Such hydroponic system saves a gardener from constant controlling and maintaining of the pH level and ppm of the growing medium. Nevertheless, beware of adding too many liquid nutrients to the soil layer: they may leak into the lava rock layer and disarrange your organic hydroponics gardening.