The General Hydroponics blog has grown from just a concept to a robust website with many posts and appreciate all your comments. I want to thank each and every one of you for visiting and for making this what it is today. I am moving on to different projects, and wish all of you the best. Cheers! Tiger Lilly

GH is very excited to head to Denver for the Max Yield Show! Dates are March 31 to April 3rd. It’s gonna be a long, fun weekend. If you are anywhere near the Rocky Mountains, start making plans to get to this event. From Linda, publisher of Maximum Yield:

The Indoor Gardening industry and gardening enthusiasts alike are in for a treat at Maximum Yield’s 1st Annual Maximum Yield Colorado Indoor Gardening Expo, March 31 to April 3, 2011 at the Colorado Convention Center. Together with the Progressive Gardening Trade Association (PGTA) celebrating their 14th Annual Meeting and Seminar Series, this four-day event will feature keynote speakers, socials and over 14 hours of face-to-face tradeshow time with over 240 international exhibitors. Check out our interactive Colorado Expo floor plan, new this year, featuring exhibitor information and links to their websites.

FloraDuo is the latest General Hydroponic product to hit the market! This new nutrient is complete, balanced, and very simple. And like all of General Hydroponics’ formulas, it is highly concentrated and cost effective. FloraDuo makes all the essential macro and micro nutrients available to your garden and also provides plants with specific ingredients to help resist pathogens and insects.

Let us know in the comments if you’ve tried FloraDuo, and please submit any questions too!

This video of flowers glowing in the dark after drinking highlighter ink is really trippy. It proves what hydroponic growers have always known to be true- that plants are super sensitive to everything they are exposed to.

One of our readers recently wrote in to ask for an update on the Aerogarden strawberry hack. Andy replied, and I thought his comment would make a great post:

Hey David,

Happy Growing!

Hydroponic Economics has a good, simple post with tips for troubleshooting your drip system.

I love The Cheap Vegetable Gardener! He seriously goes the distance with his product reviews! Take this waterproof powerstrip by Wet Circuits, for instance- CVG documented his test for everyone to see. And, good news, it works! This is a brilliant tool for any indoor grower. Not that I needed one more thing to add to my grow room wish list!

Photo by CVG

My good friend Mark sent me this excellent video of his sister-in-law Gail brewing up a nice batch of compost tea. Instead of keeping a giant pile of rotting compost, she uses our Ancient Forest and Floralicious Plus and a few other select ingredients. Her instructions are simple, and her results are amazing- tomato plants to die for.

Related Content:
Actively Aerated Compost Tea Q&A
What does it do? Floralicious Plus

Today on Huffington Post, “Hydroponics” is included in a list of the 30 Most Underrated Innovations of 2010. Here at GH, we have actually been bringing innovation to hydroponics for 3 decades, but I am glad to see that hydro is gaining more mainstream recognition. It’s an amazing tool for providing fresh crops, no matter where you are on the globe. I’m also glad to see that they linked to the rooftop Rainforest 318 video:

#14 — Hydroponics, no, not intended for home marijuana growth
Another interesting green initiative, hydroponics, was picked by none other than Shawn Connally, Editorial Director of MAKE and CRAFT magazines. Hydroponics is the practice of growing plants without soil, using water as the base because mineral solutions are what are vital to plant growth, not soil itself. Here’s a geeky DIY, how-to one Brooklyn dweller did to create a Hydroponic Herb Garden on her rooftop. Green is good!

Powdery mildew (PM) is one of the most disturbing problems in any garden. First of all, it’s just disgusting- the smell and the nasty texture are just awful. But even worse is the damage it does to crops. Once infected with mildew, your plants are weakened and any crops contaminated should not be consumed. Indoor gardeners are especially prone to developing PM, mainly because high humidity and overcrowded plants are ideal conditions for the disease.

The ideal solution is prevention:

*Keep your temperature in check, and don’t overcrowd your plants.

*If you visit a friend’s room, be sure to change your clothes and especially your shoes before you re-enter your room.

*Treat your room with Azamax to prevent fungus from taking hold.

*Remove any leaves with PM, and then wash your clippers or scissors.

But if you do find yourself battling PM, I recommend checking out the solutions in this article from Urban Garden Magazine. They break down many different methods for eliminating the problem, including using hydrogen peroxide, a milk solution, and even pH up. I hope that you never have to deal with powdery mildew, but if you have any tips, please share in the comments!

Photo of powdery mildew on pumpkin leaves by Jeff Kubina on flickr.

I grow indoors using 1000 watt bulbs exclusively. I know lots of growers use 400′s and 600′s but I personally like to go big, so I stick with the thou-ies, and my garden produces huge yields to reward me. Outside of my grow room though, are amazing house plants and orchids that need better light. They are doing ok, but not thriving because they are in a dark corner of the house. There is no way that I’m going to install a ballast and wear sunglasses in my living room, and I also don’t want to set up a T5 or any other ugly fluorescents. So I was excited to find this standard Dayspot Grow Bulb from Hydrofarm at the hardware store yesterday. According to the box, the bulb is guaranteed to last for a year, and will provide my house plants with full daylight spectrum. It was less than $10, so I figured it’s worth a try! I threw it in a lamp, aimed it at the plant, and I’ll be sure to let you know how they do.

If you use any kind of alternative lights in your home, let me know. I’d love to know how they work!

All kale, all the time. It’s the kaleblog, a distant cousin to the famous lolcat. I don’t get it, but I like it.

How often do you change your reservoir? I only change mine every couple of weeks, because my system is really stable. I don’t see much fluctuation in pH, and my res is filled with beneficial bacteria that I keep happy with a biofilter. For me, it’s a matter of effort vs. reward and my garden generally rewards my minimal efforts! But over on the GHE blog, the question was addressed by their head of R&D, William Textier-

Question: “How often should you change the nutrient solution?”

Answer: “It depends on the quality/price ratio between nutrient costs and crop yield and return. If this is an important ratio for you, it is best to replace your nutritive solution every 10 days. If it is not, you can keep it up to 3 weeks without problem, providing you regularly verify your pH and EC levels, and adjust your solution accordingly. Do not discard your old solution. If you have home potted plants, or a garden, use the old solution, with added tap water, on your soil plants.”

I am so impressed with these clever rain gutter planters. They are a great example of brilliant repurposing! Via MAKE

Related Content:
Fiskars Rain Collecting Barrel

This project, featured on Treehugger.com is one of the best home greenhouses I’ve ever seen. The ambitious garden was built by Jim Dunn and is totally tricked out with features. The dome is all about providing a stable growing climate. To achieve this, the location was carefully chosen to maximize exposure to the sun, and 600 gallons of water are used as a thermal mass to trap heat and slowly release it. The planting beds sit on top of heat pipes to keep the root zone perfectly warm, and the dome structure features a solar panel and temperature activated vents. The farmer isn’t growing hydroponic veggies, but I’d imagine that the water tank could be easily converted into a reservoir!