The folks at UC Davis are at it again. A research team has just identified a signaling molecule which alerts rice plants to the presence of destructive bacteria. There has been a lot of interesting research about “communication” between plants and microorganisms lately. It seems that the cliches about the forest “talking” are totally true. [...]

Here’s an old-school article, from the Hydro Farm website, written in 1998, by Gordon Creaser for the Aquaponics Journal. It talks about a Hawaiian family getting set up with a large scale lettuce operation. Does anyone out there know if they are still growing?

I’m reporting live from beautiful Hawaii, where I can’t take a single step down the street without seeing the most amazing blooming trees. This is called an Orchid Tree. They bloom from September through November, so I consider myself lucky to have been here during the season.

For more information, click here to read a [...]

Ginger is one of my favorite things to eat. The flavor of its knobby root is like none other. It truly transforms any dish with its vivid taste. And the health and healing properties it imparts are also one of a kind.

Here is some insight on the chemistry of ginger from Wikipedia:
The characteristic odor and [...]

I’m on location in Hawaii, and there are the most amazing flowers all around me. I have never been so inspired to fill the GH greenhouses with my own personal TigerLilly collection of tropical plants! We already have blooming bananas, but now I need these amazing ground orchids too! They are terrestrial, as opposed to [...]

When Jessica left for Thailand, a massive search was launched to find someone living in the local area to take over her duties as a sales rep. Adam, our head of sales, literally received hundreds and hundreds of resumes, and I’d like you to meet the hire, Luke Silverman.

Luke is a veteran grower, who spent [...]

Does it seem to you like we run the same tests on the same plants over and over and over again? It’s because we DO run tests all the time, and we repeat them, tweak them and repeat them again. Here is the current batch of cukes!

I just love this window garden, created by San Francisco blogger Gomistyle. From his blog:
Let me begin with a simple admission. I don’t know much about gardening. Until a few weeks ago, I had never planted a seed, or maintained houseplants. My thumbs weren’t green, they were red and swollen from playing [...]

I have only one blurry photo to share from Lawrence Brooke’s talk at the Science Cafe, but I’m going to share it anyways!

Larry talked all about hydro, aeroponics, and the science of testing formulas. There were 30 or so people in the audience, and I think it’s safe to say that no everyone there was [...]

This is a great post on germination with from the Cheap Vegetable Gardener, who dropping some science and math on us. Follow his equations to determine the viability of your seed stock.
How To Determine Seed Germination Rate

I am here to announce the winners of the Bhut Jolokia giveaway.  And the winners are . . .  everyone that replied in the contest post.
Please send the username that you used in the post, name, and address to webmaster (at) red-icculus.com to receive your free fiery peppers.

I am so excited to see our founder speak about water, aeroponics and hydroponics tomorrow night at an ongoing local community science salon. I promise a full report!