About the Author
About the author:
Tigerlilly began dreaming of a blog for GH when she realized that there were so many stories here that just had to be told first-person. She’s a hobby grower with a unique “in” at the office: her husband, Natty, who works as a GH graphic designer and illustrator. The blog was inspired by her frequent visits with him to the FarmLab and experiment greenhouses, as well as getting to meet all the characters who create these amazing products and get them into stores. It is her hope that this blog helps to build an online community for retailers and growers, especially hobbyists like herself.
Tigerlilly’s Grow Stats:
Lights: 1 hand-me down, off-brand setup, 1 Eurosystem setup, both with 1000-watt Hortilux bulbs.
Style: I call my style Lazy Ebb and Flow. I only change my reservoir every 2-3 weeks, and so to keep it from getting really nasty, I use Subculture and have built a bio filter.
Room: I rock 2 boxes, one for each light. They each hold a 4′X4′ tray, and have an 8′ ceiling. One has recycled cardboard walls with white plastic lining, the other is made from a salvaged plywood shipping container painted white on the inside.
Ventilation: Mad ventilation, I heart CFMs. But, if I could change one thing, it would be to start using CO2. I know that would step up my game tons!
Heat/AC: Nope, it is Northern California, after all … perfect weather for growing.
Nutrients: General Hydroponics, of course. I have actually been testing the latest in organic formulas. I know, you want them too … they will be released SOON!
Comments
Comment from Tiger Lilly
Time January 27, 2009 at 4:02 pm
Awe shucks, Dave, thanks! I just wrote up a post with a simple explanation of my bio filter, here’s the link:
http://www.generalhydroponics.com/blog/?p=917
Comment from k.k.baby
Time February 1, 2009 at 6:40 pm
thank you. info.& resources are personaly simplified. highly recommended 4 beginners/enthusiast.
Pingback from Red-Icculus.com › GH WaterPower MagDrive Pumps
Time March 16, 2009 at 6:50 pm
[...] have the pleasure of trying out a WaterPower 120 MagDrive Pump by General Hydroponics. Tigerlilly on the Gen Hydro Blog did a great writeup on this pump. It is a great submersible or inline [...]
Comment from Red Icculus
Time March 16, 2009 at 6:55 pm
With so much ventilation, do you get windburn on your plants, especially around the exhaust?
Comment from Tiger Lilly
Time March 16, 2009 at 7:31 pm
Good question! I’ve never experienced wind burn, and that could be because the boxes are 8 feet tall, and the exhaust fan is at the top. Nothing in my garden ever grows more than 3-4 ft. There are 4 supplemental fans that move the plants around, too, but they are more for strengthening stems by providing movement.
Comment from Lady Green
Time June 18, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Beautiful and talented?
No fair!
Comment from David
Time July 13, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Tiger Lilly, I have been enjoying your blog all day now. I have been growing indoors now for a few years experminting with design. I have settled with a GH AF60 and GH Flora Series nutrients. I have been using my af60 only for a couple months and all is well. I do have a question I could not find any comments on. I recirculate, but of course change the nutrients regularly. My question concerns what other growers/readers are doing with their spent nutrients. I am interested in growing responsibly, and repurposing this waste would help me clean up my gardening cycles. …DFR
Comment from Tiger Lilly
Time July 13, 2009 at 4:00 pm
David! I have been enjoying your comments all day too! Thanks for reading, and for leaving such interesting information. I love that you are down to share your experiences. So, as far as my waste nutrients are concerned, I try to stay responsible in a couple ways. One, is that I always let my res go for ages. Sometimes 2 weeks pass without a change. That saves water and reduces the amount I have to dispose of. When I do empty my res, I rotate around, and run it onto various cover crops. I’ve fed a quince hedge, and a raspberry patch that really loved to eat the waste nutrients. And using the res to water lawns is another great trick. Lawns are a major water hog, so using the waste water from a reservoir is a great way to keep them green. But even old GH nutes will boost growth, and so you’ll end up having to mow more often, lol!
Comment from Keenan
Time July 31, 2009 at 10:37 am
Hey tiger lilly, Ive been trying to find a way to send ya an email for some time now.. I have some really beautiful Hibiscus pictures, that i used some Flora Nova on.. they were the most beautiful ive ever seen, anyways lemme know how i can send them to ya if your interested! thanks
keen
Comment from Lucas
Time August 24, 2009 at 10:21 am
I would be interested in learning about the availability of a one bottle GH Organic product that would fill the niche that Flora Nova currently does.
Ive been a follower of GH Flora Series for years, and really like the Flora Nova.
Please let me know when the Organic Series goes public.
respect
Lucas
Comment from Tiger Lilly
Time August 24, 2009 at 10:27 am
Thanks for writing! The organics are starting to be available in most places. It does take a while for all the orders to be processed, and the shipping to happen. As for a single bottle organic formula, I think that will be a while 
. But if anyone can create that formula, I know GH can!
Comment from pete k
Time December 14, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Nice to put a face to the name! ALOHA
Comment from Joe
Time January 5, 2010 at 11:47 am
Hello,
This is my rookie year at hydroponics. I am circulating 10 gallons to feed about 100 3″ net cups to grow tulips. I bought the GH pH test kit and found my reservior to be in the acidic range(below 4.0). How much quantity of the pH Base Up do you recommend to get the proper pH?
Comment from Tiger Lilly
Time January 7, 2010 at 11:23 am
Hi! Thanks for writing! Good luck with your new setup! So, are you using liquid or dry ph? Having your res at 4 seems low to us. What nutes are you using and how are you mixing them? No matter what, we recommend adding a tiny bit at a time until your meter says you are in the ideal range… Let us know, TigaLilly
Comment from Joe
Time January 7, 2010 at 11:49 am
I started by adding 5 capfuls of the GH pH UP. The next day I retested the pH and it was better but still low so I added 5 more capfuls and bingo its right at the 6.5 color indicator. I am using a product called Dyna Grow. -Joe
Comment from Tiger Lilly
Time January 7, 2010 at 2:50 pm
Ok, so you started at a pH of 4. Then, after you added 5 capful of UP, what was the reading? And are you starting to see pH drift? I’m thinking that you are probably already within a very reasonable range after that initial bump. Let it settle down, and keep it within 5.5 to 6.5. If you are within that range, I’d say don’t push it, and try to avoid minute adjustments because they can sometimes contribute to drift. It’s better to go for steady instead of exact sometimes. Let us know how it goes, and remember, when in doubt, always look to your plants for guidance!
Comment from Tiger Lilly
Time January 7, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Oh yeah, and what’s the base pH of your water?
Comment from Joe
Time January 11, 2010 at 11:33 am
I will test it today and let you know.-Joe
Comment from Joe
Time January 11, 2010 at 11:42 am
The base ph of the water without any nutrients is slightly higher than the 6.5 color. The color matches to a 7.0. Is this an important fact?-Joe
Comment from Tiger Lilly
Time January 11, 2010 at 2:04 pm
That’s perfect! I was asking because it can indicate if you have hard water… How is your pH doing at this point? I’m beginning to think that you are having these problems because the nutrient you are using isn’t pH buffered, or isn’t properly pH buffered. Let me know if you are having drift issues still, or still using tons of UP. Cheers! Tiga
Comment from susan harris
Time January 14, 2010 at 7:13 pm
Have you seen this? http://thegardendepotinc.com/blog/
They’re stealing content from lots of us – yours in full. Write me and I’ll send you the form to send to the legal dept of their server.
Comment from Brad
Time February 18, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Hi Tigerlilly, my name is Brad and I run a website called Container-Gardening-For-You.com that has information on hydroponics. I came across your blog while searching information on the subject, and I was blown away by your knowledge and expertise. I think my readers would love to learn more about you; would you be open to an interview with us?
If so, we can send you 5 to 10 questions by email, and you can send them back at your convenience. Your answers can be brief and it shouldn’t take up much of your time. In return for this interview, we’d let you plug your blog and anything else that might benefit our readers.
Please let me know what you think. To give you an idea of how your interview might look, here’s an example of an interview we did: http://www.container-gardening-for-you.com/mel-bartholomew.html
I look forward to working with you and hope you’d like to participate. Thanks for your time and have a great week.
Brad
Comment from Dave
Time January 26, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Chicks that garden rock. I have just gotten interested in using a biofilter. How did you build your own?