Growing fresh vegetables is satisfying but for optimum nutrition you need to control the processing as much as possible also.

Grinding wheat, barley, oats, millet, corn, rice, rye or spelt grain with your own grain mill into flour as you need it for baking provides the optimum nutritional value possible. Grain husks contain a multitude of vital elements including vitamins, trace elements, minerals, high unsaturated fatty acids, protein building components, and aromatic elements. That’s why classic flour products, prepared with whole grain flour tastes so good and completely satisfying but is none fattening.

Much of the essential goodness of grain is stripped away during the commercial milling process to make white flour. Therefore, the resulting flour loses over half of its nutritional value. Grinding the grain yourself retains all of the nutritional value if used promptly in baking. As soon as grain is ground it reacts with oxygen in the air to oxidize and lose many vital elements.

To enjoy the valuable grain nutrition to its fullest, you need to grind just the flour that you need and bake it immediately.

A Wolfgang flour mill provides a home sized grain mill made with solid craftsmanship and technical precision. The quiet 6 inch by 6 inch by 13 inches tall mill holds 2.2 pounds of grain and transforms the grain at 3.5 ounces per minute into the finest flour. You will be able to gauge the amount of flour needed for baking and grind just the amount needed.

The combination of freshly baked products made from freshly ground grain provides the optimum in taste and nutritional value.

See www.hydroponicsfarming.com/product-479.html for more details about this high quality home grain mill.

The most efficient way to use high intensity lights is to have them moving within the grow room. Moving the lights will eliminate the plants tendency to grow toward the light source and provide light to areas which otherwise may be shaded. Since the light is moving, it can pass closer to the plants without burning the leaves.

More intensity also allows plants to be placed much closer together, greatly increasing yield and quality. Moving your grow lights from one end of your garden area and back provides a number of advantages and a few disadvantages:

• The light can be placed closer to the plants without generating plant killing heat
• The light’s area of coverage is increased
• Provides a much greater variety of light angles to each plant
• Light will more frequently reach foliage at the bottom of the plant which may have been shielded by higher foliage
• Movement of the light will result in a decrease in the amount of light that each plant will receive
• A timed hesitation at the end of each travel will prevent the middle plants growing faster because they received twice the light overhead as did the end plants
• The timed hesitation will result in a level growing area
  Metal Halide and High Pressure Sodium lamps can be mixed on the light mover as desired.

The size and shape of your room will determine the type of light mover that will best suit your needs.

• Lineal movers carry the light fixture slowly along a track and back again during the light cycle. Most are six feet long, support a single lamp, and are recommended when the growing area is long and narrow.
• Circular movers are best when the length and width of the room are similar. They are designed to carry either one, two, three or four lights, in a 360 degree circle, ideally lighting a ten by ten foot area. This diameter can be reduced but rarely extended.

See
for an example of an efficient rotating light system.

For more information about a rotating light unit visit
http://www.hydroponicsfarming.com/product-701.html

Use 1/3 of the space and power of traditional tables or garden space.

You can grow up to 240 plants in a four foot x five foot space by utilizing a hydroponics product that looks and works like a ferris wheel with trays of plants set between two rims. Plants are inserted into 4″ Rockwool type cubes, which are secured in the “quick drain trays”. The garden is motorized and the trays revolve 24 Hours a day around
two center fixed, fan-cooled HID Lamps. It takes approximately one hour for the trays to make one revolution.

Because light radiates out in all directions from a bulb, all rays go directly to the plants and are not lost by having to be redirected downward by a reflector. This direct lighting also will increase the grow light efficiency by directing light into the plant canopy at different angles more commonly known as SHADOW-SHIFTING, and will reduce heat to each plant because the lights never stand still over any one part of the garden. Less heat and higher lighting efficiency means healthier plants and higher yields by as much as 10 to 15%.

The ROTOGRO garden is a flood and drain system. A pump is placed in the bottom reservoir and when switched on, fills the top reservoir to desired depth. The “Quick drain Trays” are then revolved throught the nutrient/water mixture, feeding the plants. Once all plants have been fed, the pump is switched off, letting the nutrient/water mix drain back into the main reservoir.

Because the Rotogro Garden is made from Polyethylene (plastic) and Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC), it is lightweight and easy to clean. Wheels under the unit make it easy to move.

For many years, society has been trying to find a way to grow crops year round while striving to maximize yields while minimizing costs. Well, look no further, the Rotogro system does just that. The specially designed hydroponic wheel increases your yield, while decreasing your power consumption.

Electricity consumption is calculated by multiplying the Wattage by Hours by Days by $. Eg: The 240 unit is powered by 2-600 watt HPS bulbs, so equals 1200 watts, or 1.2 Kw by 12 hours = 14.4 kw per day, by 30days = 43.2 kw per month. Multiply that by the local electricity rate to obtain your monthly electricity charge.

For more information about this intriguing and highly efficient product see http://www.hydroponicsfarming.com/product-697.html

It is very hard to beat a vertical cylindrical garden for the optimum use of space, light and air flow. A vertical indoor garden can yield several times more than a 3’ by 3’ or 4’ by 4’ flat garden with a more efficient use of floor space and electricity. This type of garden will appeal to urban gardeners without a lot of room or anyone else wanting to use their resources more efficiently.

A vertical design allows a significant increase in the efficiency of light capture and utilization of space. Because light is emitted from all sides of a bulb, conventional gardens require an array of shades and reflectors to direct the maximum amount of light towards the plants. These compromises result in inconsistent light distribution and an inefficient conversion of light energy to plant production.

The vertical garden neatly overcomes these inefficiencies by wrapping the garden around the lights permitting virtually 100% conversion of light to plant growth. Since the majority of flowers have a vertical growth pattern, vertical lighting is the best to maximize the plant’s potential. When more light penetration occurs, there is more yield.

Multiple lights will produce an overlapping light coverage to give a nearly equal amount of bright light to every plant, something not always possible with flat gardens. Vertical cylindrical garden systems fully utilize the bulbs 360 degree light output.

An open vertical cylindrical design permits the free flow of air around the upright columns. A closed vertical cylindrical design may require a fan to blow the warm air up and out of the unit.

The efficiency and design of vertical cylindrical gardens allows them to:
* Easily double your yield for the same wattage as traditional systems.
* quadruple your yield for the equivalent floor space of traditional systems.

See http://www.hydroponicsfarming.com/hydro-vertical-garden.html?p=0 for more information about some interesting and efficient vertical gardens.

These brilliantly designed gardens have the ’smarts’ to automatically water and feed your plants exactly when they need it – without the problems of pumps, timers and nutrient solution management.

Since the SmartGardens utilize the patented SmartValve technology, enabling them to be gravity fed, there’s no more need for pumps, timers or the electricity that goes with them.   This also means you no longer must have a reservoir below your garden to capture runoff.

http://www.hydroponicsfarming.com/images/products//FutGard-SmartGarden4.jpg

Now you can grow anywhere from the ground on up, on racks, shelves or walls.   This system ends The Hassle of Nutrient Solution Management.  Since the SmartGarden doesn’t recirculate used nutrient solution back to your reservoir, gone are the days of having to monitor and manage pH and PPM fluctuations.  Just fill your reservoir with nutrient solution and keep it topped off with more.

Because nutrients gravity feed to Smart Garden planters only as the plants need the nutrients and water, there is no need for reservoir changes and the waste of time and nutrients that go with it.

Each plant enjoys a full 1 Quart planter to spread its roots and get a firm hold in your garden. You can even use whichever growing medium you like, provided it has a small enough grain to draw water up from the bottom by 2-3″.

We’ve found the ideal mix is a 1:1 Perlite to Coconut Coir mix. The pots have a generous 8″ on center plant spacing.

http://www.hydroponicsfarming.com/images/site/FutGard-Vertical.jpg

With this new layout, gardeners looking to grow smaller plants or a larger variety of  plants can have their cake and eat it too since the SmartGarden layouts allow you the luxury of positioning them any way you can imagine.

Since the Smart Gardens only measure 5″ wide x 5″ tall in either 3′ or 4.5′ lengths, you can grow plants literally from the ground up and make use of extremely short areas where gardens with a recirculating reservoir below could not fit. They even work great mounted on the wall!

For more information about this SmartGarden unit visit
http://www.hydroponicsfarming.com/product-671.html

Aeroponics:
The plants are grown in containers or nets which allow the roots to dangle in air above the nutrient solution.   An aeroponics mister pump forces a spray of nutrients through the roots at very frequent intervals.  For example,
one minute of spray followed by 4 minutes of drainage.  The act of spraying ensures that additional oxygen is mixed with the nutrient solution providing an enriched oxygen, nutrient solution that is very beneficial to the plant and results in rapid growth.

Nutrient Film Technique  (NFT):
In the Nutrient Film Technique, the plants are normally contained in plastic pots with slitted bottoms that permit the roots to dangle through to the water and nutrient solution in the channel below.   The bottom of the root system dangles in the water while the upper part of the roots remain in air at all times ensuring that the roots have access to the necessary oxygen.

The Aeroflo hydroponics system combines the NFT system of flowing nutrients over the bottom of the roots AND the aeroponics system of spraying the roots with oxygen enhanced nutrients.  The increase in dissolved oxygen in the nutrient flow plus continuous root access to the nutrient supply results in improved plant growth.

This method differs from classic aeroponics in that the plant’s roots are not just suspended in air and fed by a spray of nutrient solution; rather the roots hang down through an air gap in which the nutrient is sprayed with the bottom of the roots constantly submerged in oxygen-infused nutrient which is in constant motion.  Spraying the nutrient results in enhanced oxygenation of the nutrient which then falls into the moving nutrient solution below.

This system super-oxygenates the nutrient solution to deliver oxygen, water, and nutrients in ideal combinations, thus creating a root zone environment that surpasses anything found in nature.

The unit works well in a warm, well-lit, well ventilated location, such as an outdoor garden, sunlit window, patio or greenhouse.  Keep your AeroFlo2 away from areas where the inevitable dripping that occurs during filling, draining and pH adjustment could cause water damage.

The compact AeroFlo series are an excellent choice for growing small crops such as lettuce, cucumbers, peppers, basil and other herbs which do not grow taller than three feet.   The resulting high growth rate requires frequent attention to stake vines, harvest produce promptly when ready and replace mature plants with new sprouts to maintain a high productivity.

For more information about this Aeroflo combo unit visit
http://www.hydroponicsfarming.com/product-380.html

“Sprout Recall
Sprout Salmonella Cases Rapidly Rising
NewsInferno.com
Thursday, March 19th, 2009
The ongoing salmonella outbreak linked to a variety of SunSprout Enterprises’ sprouts, has now sickened 121, with 45 additional cases reported in Nebraska and Iowa, says KGAN. The cases are of the Salmonella saintpaul strain, the same strain that was to blame for last year’s massive Mexican pepper recall and outbreak that was first linked to tomatoes. “

March 23, 2009 Email from International Specialty Supply who emphatically stated that their seeds were not involved in any way with this outbreak.

Sprouts in retail stores are normally very safe and nutritious but every so often something happens that results in the spread of some type of salmonella outbreak as the sprouts are shipped from the grower to the distributor to the retailer or restaurant.
One way to ensure that you always have fresh, pure sprouts is to grow your own. With regular and very easy disinfecting you can ensure that your sprouts are grown in sanitary conditions and you know how fresh they really are when consumed.

According to Dr. William S. Peavy, author of Super Natural Gardening, sprouts need to be consumed on the 5th or 6th day of germination, thereafter the young sprouts use their abundant amounts of minerals and vitamins for their own growing process. It is important to consume sprouts fresh and around the 5th day of germination.

A hydroponics sprouter that uses misting to ensure complete coverage of the proper amount of moisture to organic seeds ordered from a reliable seed firm such as International Specialty Supply provides an easy means for ensuring fresh sprouts daily. The misting process also ensures that a disinfectant such as clorox or Hydrogen Peroxide covers all parts of the unit resulting in a complete coverage of all parts of the sprouter unit.

See http://www.hydroponicsfarming.com/sprouters.html for individual sprouting units that can be stacked as your needs grow or can be enclosed in a commercial cabinet for deli or other retail outlets.

Larger garden plants such as tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, etc. often require more space to grow than many hydroponics systems provide. A good method for handling larger plants is to provide them with buckets instead of pots for their root development. The buckets provide more space and support for the roots to grow and allow more room for the plants to expand and grow without overshadowing nearby plants.

The larger size of the buckets also give you a wider range of plants that you can grow in the system. One bucket may contain just one or two tomato or pepper plants or a larger number of small plants that won’t grow large enough to shadow each other from the available light.

The new EuroGrower from General Hydroponics is the ideal system for someone new to gardening or a veteran wishing to grow larger plants.

The EuroGrower provides users with a simple, yet elegant approach to home hydroponics. It consists of eight two-gallon buckets sitting on top of a 40 gallon reservoir with an energy efficient and well sealed 250 gph Mag-Drive pump connected to a Drip system which keeps the growth medium moist. The excess nutrient drains back into the reservoir ready to start the process all over again.

In a Drip system, the nutrient solution is delivered to the plants through drip emitters on a timed system usually scheduled to run for approximately 5-10 minutes of every hour. The timed cycle flushes the growing medium, providing the plants with fresh nutrients, water and oxygen as the emitter is dripping. The growing medium supplies support for the roots and retains some moisture and nutrients between the timed drip sessions. The draining of the water and nutrients allows oxygen to reach the roots.

The plant roots are most commonly grown in a medium of perlite, grow rocks or rockwool. You can grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and other plants cleanly without DIRT in a 3-foot by 5-foot space on the floor. A hydroponics system like this works well in a greenhouse, patio, apartment terrace or porch without a grow light or indoors under a 600 Watt, 800 Watt, or 1000 Watt growlight.

See http://www.hydroponicsfarming.com/product-569.html for more information about the Eurogrower hydroponics system.

Principles of Carbon Dioxide Enrichment

Research laboratories and universities have proven that increased levels of carbon dioxide will greatly improve plant growth. Plant metabolism is regulated primarily by the availability of the essential requirements – light, nutrients, water, humidity, temperature, oxygen and carbon dioxide. If any of these basic necessities are deficient or limited, then the growth rate of your indoor plants will be limited.

CO2 combines with water, nutrients and light energy through photosynthesis to produce sugars (food).  These sugars provide energy to manufacture plant tissues for new growth. When CO2 levels are inadequate or inconsistent, plant growth diminishes, health and vitality decline, and crop yield is reduced.

The shorter daylight hours of winter limit plant growth. To bring this growth to a maximum rate, it is essential to not only provide normal summertime CO2 saturation rate but to “fertilize” the air with additional CO2.

Adding carbon dioxide to a growing environment that is not receiving proper nutrients or is low on light will not produce the desired results. Similarly, plants that are receiving plenty of sunshine and nutrients will only perform as well as the ambient level of CO2 will allow.

The ambient level of CO2 in the earth’s atmosphere is generally between 300 and 600 ppm. Most plants receive far more water and energy in the form of sunshine than they can use. Increasing the CO2 in the growing area will let the plant use the excess water and energy that is stored in the leaves. The result is a substantial increase in the growth rate of any plant that uses chlorophyll in the process of photosynthesis.

The average CO2 level that is recommended is 1000 to 2000 parts per million (PPM). The object is to maintain a constant level in the atmosphere.

A low cost CO2 generator provides the necessary CO2 to speed up plant growth and during the shorter daylight hours of winter plant quality is also improved as you add low cost warmth to your greenhouse.

Enrichment should commence at sunrise or when photoperiod begins and refrain during darkness hours.

You can run a small unit continuously during photoperiods or you can use a larger unit and time it to function periodically.  Where exhaust requirements are frequent, the latter method is preferable. After the exhaust function the generator can be cycled to replenish CO2 quickly to maintain rapid plant photosynthesis.

CO2 Generator operations also may be automatically functioned according to actual ambient values when installed in conjunction with a Carbon Dioxide Monitoring Controller.  This control device continually samples the level of carbon dioxide in the growing area and runs the generator whenever CO2 levels do not meet your predetermined values. Frequency of recharge depends on the rate of consumption.

See http://www.hydroponicsfarming.com/product-694.html for more information about Carbon Dioxide (CO2) generators.

Two new SuperNova LED Grow Lights have been added to the efficient LED UFO light systems.  These new Light Emitting Diode lamps produce 1000 watts of HID light while using approximately only 270 watts of electric power.   The Supernova’s independently adjustable spectrums allow you to fine-tune the red/blue ratio of light to your plants specific needs.

The SuperNova LED’s contain seven different circuit boards which project the light at different angles for maximum coverage and flexibility in use.  The SuperNova’s provide the high intensity lighting required to grow lush and bountiful gardens within a five foot by five foot growing space.

All LED lights are very efficient with a long 8 – 10 year life span while running much cooler than HPS lights.  This reduces or eliminates the need for additional air cooling which saves more money. 

The Enhanced Spectrum SuperNova includes six additional custom spectrums of LED light.  These added LED’s extend the photosynthetic range covering the entire spectrum from 405nm to 465nm in the blue, as well as 620nm to 740nm in red.

The LED SuperNova comes with everything necessary for plug and use performance.   The system is 120v/240v switchable and comes pre-wired for 120v.

See http://www.hydroponicsfarming.com/product-678.html for more information about these new and innovative garden grow lights.