I have a fond place in my heart for the infamous red berry.  Planted on April 1st,  these Sequoia strawberries are supposed to be June-bearing.  With our timing we weren’t sure if we’d get berries or not, however we have gotten quite lucky and they have returned from their dormancy with a beautiful 1st round [...]

The greenhouse right now is filled with flowers. Remember the fruit trees that are waiting for transplanting? Many of them are currently in full bloom. I took some really crazy closeup shots, and it just blows my mind how each flower is so different from the next, yet so the same.

The greenhouse team has been busy at work potting up an entire orchard worth of fruit trees. These trees will eventually be transplanted into the General Hydroponics Farm Lab orchard, but for now they are cozy and warm indoors.

It’s really cold here in NorCal, and so I like to sneak over to the greehouse to soak up the warmth. Besides the decent temperature, there is the warming effect of looking at the rainbow of peppers growing in the ebb and flow trays. They look great, and are the perfect reminder of the real [...]

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?

Today the forklift was called into action, with it’s massive lift. The upper vents of the greenhouse came off of their tracks, and this is way better than a ladder, right?

Remember the new setups we’ve been testing?
I took this shot on August 11:

They have exploded in the last month. Amazing.

This banana flower is so cool. Bananas are tropicals, obivously, and this one is thriving in the hot greenhouse.

The zinnias in the greenhouse are still blooming, and they are so beautiful. The longer they grow, the more the petals stack up on each blossom. Generally, flowers bloom full size, but the zinnia flower continues to grow larger and larger on the plant.

This summer our test greenhouse was visited by a class from University of California, at Davis. The students and their professor visited to learn about our newest technology. The group was very diverse, with students from around the globe. Their professor wanted to show them the heart of the hydroponics industry, and brought them to [...]

Last week I blogged about some cucumbers in the greenhouse. I was asked by a few readers for more info. So I spoke with the greenhouse operator and got the details.
Each tray of cukes is getting the same base nutrient GH 3 Part, but a different type of biological supplement. The control just gets the [...]

I had a  rare and exciting chance to visit the General Hydroponics greenhouses.  All of their plants were at the peak of health.  I love peppers, so of course, I had to get a picture.  General Hydroponics products speak for themselves when you see what they produce.

The zinnias and sunflowers are still going strong! I love the late summer!

Tests are very important, because, as the photo illustrates, sometimes one method is clearly better. I love seeing projects in the FarmLab that have significant differences. This is a great example.
UPDATE: One of my favorite readers wrote in to let me know that the plants seem to be getting different light! I wanted to let [...]

Peppers were finally harvested from the big greenhouse. I am excited to taste the different varieties tonight with dinner. Fajitas anyone?

I love the yellow pollen against the black and red. This bad boy is 10ft tall.

Canna is a lovely tropical flower with a simple and pretty flower. In our greenhouse they flourish, and one is almost 12 feet tall.

These tomatoes are out of control.

On Earth Day, people around the globe celebrate a sustainable future and forward thinking progress. The goal is to find ways to make less of an impact on the planet, and I think that hydroponics is an essential tool for these means. Hydroponics is the most ecologically efficient way to grow crops. Hands down. Growing plants in soil-less [...]

Darek, our Greenhouse Operator sent me a great photo of the greenhouse lit up at night, from the outside. I can tell from the size of the pepper plants growing outside that this was prolly taken about a year ago.[Update: October 2007] I love this shot.