Martin in Graphics did it again! I love the Montreal Trade Show Limited Edition T-shirt!

I am so inspired by this!

This plant is 10 years old. Grown with BioSevia Terra, this is his most beautiful and bountiful flowering in years.

rhododendron obtusum, also called Kuruma azalea

We are very proud of our work with M. Bedes. He is a longtime supporter and gave us an excellent opening with the bonsaï collectors in France.

rhododendron obtusum, also called "Kurume azalea" : flower closeup

rhododendron obtusum or kuruma azalea in bonsaÏ

L. Brooke & Dr. Cal Herrmann

I also flew down to the University of California at Davis with my dear friend Lawrence Brooke, and met Dr. Heiner, who conducts some of our research as well as his own, using GH products. It was very interesting to hear about his work, and some of his projects. I was also able to show him a slide show of the plants we grow in our greenhouse at GHE, in the South West of France. He was impressed with the huge variety of plants we grow in hydroponics, and the amount of research and work we are doing on our side of the ocean.

This visit was a real pleasure. Planning to go back as soon as possible. Noucetta Kehdi at GH Europe

This video from CNN takes a quick look at farms-in-a-bag that are bringing fresh greens into the urban areas of Kenya. The prototype is simple: a sack full of compost and dirt that can hold 60 seedlings and provide nutritious food in 40 days. The efforts are made by COOPI, an NGO dedicated to reversing the effects of poverty.

The team behind Urban Garden Magazine has been working hard to create a new hydro event called Grow 2010. They just wrapped up their show in Manchester, UK, and sent the video above as a nice overview. If you don’t live in the UK, no worries. They will be hosting a second event in the US in October, at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Can’t wait!

I just got the best letter from our dear friend and former Gen Hydro sales rep, Jessica Lilga.

Its been SOOOO Long! How are you?? I regularly check out the blog, I
see Andy put up a post recently. Great to have employee input!
Are things going well for you? I hope so.

I am having a fantastic time along my travels. Currently, I am in
Manchester UK. I volunteered to help out with the trade show and had
a great time doing so. I helped decide, organize and set up a working
hydroponic display area – featuring 3 GHE units I assembled and
planted. I asked Vicky to send you photos, they really looked great.
The show was an overwhelming success! Attendance, organization and
professionalism exceeded expectations. Many North Americans were
there, in fact, I was so surprised and happy to see Adam and Chill
there! Many people were surprised to see me, thats always fun!

Prior to the UK, I spent a month in Barcelona. I LOVE this city! I
got to see many gardens, of all types. I encountered a wide range of
cultural experiences… and loved every minute. For the most part, I
am doing the couchsurfing.org thing and meeting many people. When I
find a place to upload some photos, I’ll send you some. I believe you
can see photos on my facebook page if you have any interest.

Any travel plans for you and Nat??

All the best,

Jes

In March, General Hydroponics sent our people to two unique hydroponic shows, Adam and Chill from the sales team went to Grow2010 in Manchester UK, and our business consultant Luc Charnay traveled to Mexico for the 7th International Course and Congress on Hydroponics. Luc is back and he has shared a few photos from his trip to Mexico. The event is sponsored by the Mexican Hydroponic Association, and was a 3 day symposium exploring the use of hydroponics as a solution to the agricultural crisis facing Mexico. From the Hidroponia.com website:

Another objective is to disseminate the achievements and perspectives in countries where hydroponics is a commercial activity. It also focuses realistically in the applications and possibilities to use agriculture unsuitable arid or rocky land, or land limited by the availability of water or extreme temperatures.

The course and congress allows establishing contacts and a valuable exchange of knowledge between presenters, producers, and consumers of hydroponics related products.

The event is directed to the current and future producers of hydroponic crops, professionals, technicians, students, and all those persons interested in improving their quality of life.

Luc attended many presentations, and even more importantly, made new friends and industry contacts. The trip was a great way for GH to gain unique knowledge and learn more about the hydroponic movement in Mexico.

GHE is pleased to introduce you to a bioponic (organic hydroponic) tomato production on Saint Barthélémie. Saint Bart is a little island in the Antilles which is famous for its stars and well-heeled tourists from all over the world. I am sharing these photos so you can dream about beautiful plants and sunshine.

Only a small quantity of vegetables is grown there and even less of tomatoes which were always imported. The problems are the lack of arable ground and the cost of water which is only available after desalination. This is why Mr Hervé Meunier, who is concerned about quality and ecology, has chosen to work with GHE technology (drip system using recycled water) and GHE certified organic nutrients “BioSevia”. Since then he has also been creating living décors with our system and also green walls. It’s a beautiful example of “bringing nature and technology together”.

The dates have been announced for the 2010 Indoor Gardening Expos. Start making plans now to visit us in Montreal- June 5th and 6th and San Francisco- July 24th and 25th. These industry trade show events are the best place to learn about new products and recent innovations. And after hours, they are some of the most epic parties of the year.

I am beyond thrilled to introduce General Hydroponics Europe our readers. The GrowGH blog will be expanding our coverage to include posts from the team there, to keep you updated on our international brethren. Our blog will spotlight their dynamic team, including, Noucetta, William and Frederic, and their efforts in hydro.

GHE has long been working to bring the quality and results of GH to their unique market. GHE not only distributes our formulas, but has created some of their own products, available only through them, that serve the specific needs and trends of growers there. Beyond that, they maintain an exotic greenhouse, and support numerous events and causes that are uniquely GHE.

In 1995, we created GHE in the South of France to better serve the European, African and Middle Eastern markets. At that time General Hydroponics was not well known outside of the English speaking countries. In only a few years GHE built a dominant position in European and global markets, primarily thanks to the quality of our products and to our commitment to common goals: sustainability, quality, innovation, simplicity and value. We printed out labels in numerous languages, built a website in numerous languages (www.eurohydro.com) and registered our products according to the regulations in each market.

With time due to the difference in markets and suppliers on both continents, the two lines, GH and GHE, diverged slightly due to specific needs in regional markets; except for Flora Series, the original nutrient that built our reputation and remains the global leader in sales and product recognition. In Europe as in California, we continue our research to show the diversity of plants you can grow with our technologies. We have developed a line of ‘organic’ nutrients and supplements that work well for hydroponic growers. You can visit our greenhouse online at youtube (enter ‘eurohydro’), or if you are traveling in our area, contact us to arrange a visit us here.

Noucetta Kehdi, William Texier, and Lawrence Brooke

These living walls are beyond amazing. Green Fortune is a company that designs and installs living walls, clearly for the high end client. Architects and designers take note: the benefits of installations like this are cleaner air, more beautiful light, and ultimately enhanced moods.

PS, check out their fun little hydro system, the Stream Garden. It’s obviously not designed for high yields or aggressive growing, but it looks good on a desk!

Via Hydroponics Aquaponics News Digest

Here’s a living wall that I found in SF, and for more reading, check out this previous post from the GH blog.

Here is some insight on the chemistry of ginger from Wikipedia:

The characteristic odor and flavor of ginger is caused by a mixture of zingerone, shogaols and gingerols, volatile oils that compose one to three percent of the weight of fresh ginger. In laboratory animals, the gingerols increase the motility of the gastrointestinal tract and have analgesic, sedative, antipyretic and antibacterial properties.Ginger oil has been shown to prevent skin cancer in mice and a study at the University of Michigan demonstrated that gingerols can kill ovarian cancer cells.
Ginger contains up to three percent of a fragrant essential oil whose main constituents are sesquiterpenoids, with (-)-zingiberene as the main component. Smaller amounts of other sesquiterpenoids (β-sesquiphellandrene, bisabolene and farnesene) and a small monoterpenoid fraction (β-phelladrene, cineol, and citral) have also been identified.
The pungent taste of ginger is due to nonvolatile phenylpropanoid-derived compounds, particularly gingerols and shogaols, which form from gingerols when ginger is dried or cooked. Zingerone is also produced from gingerols during this process; this compound is less pungent and has a spicy-sweet aroma. Ginger is also a minor chemical irritant, and because of this was used as a horse suppository by pre-World War I mounted regiments for feaguing.
Ginger has a sialagogue action, stimulating the production of saliva, which makes swallowing easier.

Here in Hawaii, the ginger plant is used as common landscaping! I’ve been seeing it everywhere, and as of yet, resisted the urge to dig it up and check out its roots… Wonder how this would grow in Hydro? I’ve had some sprout in the fridge, and then planted it, but overwatering did it in before it ever really thrived. Have you got some in your garden, or ever grown it before? I’d love to hear about it in the comments! (I’m talking to you Ragnar! I know you are far from the tropics, but you seem to have at least grow everything once!!!)

PS. Massive bonus points for anyone who can name the song that the title of this post was taken from…..BTW- Google counts as cheating