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.

Right now we have a crop of dark, leafy green kale going nuts in the greenhouse. It’s a power veggie, packed with vitamins and minerals. Most people know that it’s super nutritious, but did you know that vegetables grown with General Hydroponics nutrients actually have more nutrition than most soil grown crops? This is due in part to the fact that our products have the complete macro and micro nutrients needed for growth, and that those nutrients are formulated to be easily available to the plant.

But just because we know kale is healthy, it’s often a challenge to want to eat it. Here is a super short and entertaining presentation on “How to Crave Kale”

I’m in between turns right now, and I tend to dream about room improvements when the garden is down. In particular, I am very interested in light movers. My space is long and narrow and I know they would be the best way to optimize my garden. Gualala Robotics has a killer looking kit, has anyone out there got one? If you do, let us know how you like them in the comments. Light movers are pretty spendy, so I’m especially interested in hearing from

Natureshydroponics.com has movers for sale, and a great blog post about the reasons to use them.

The project began as a response to the idea of vertical urban farming. Instead of waiting for the agricultural model to change it’s infrastructure, Windowfarms encourages individuals grow cheap food in their owns homes now. But beyond hydroponics, Windowfarms is a great example of a web 2.0 online community. According to the short video I watched on their site, the founders, Britta Riley and Rebecca Ray are determined to build a crowdsourced platform that creates widespread social change. Users are encouraged to sign up, download instructions and build their Windowfarm. Growers then troubleshoot their gardens online with feedback and guidance from other members. With support from a network of users, it becomes natural for participants to innovate and evolve the Windowfarm project.

To learn more, or get involved, visit the Windowfarm website. The project takes full advantage of social networking as well, with a Flickr page, a kickstarter page for funding, and twitter.

Photos by Nicholas R. Clark

The top photo is of a Chanterelle, considered by many to be the most tasty of wild mushrooms. Don’t let the bottom photo fool you, it’s a non-edible look alike.

Did you know that Lawrence Brooke, founder of GH came up with his first hydroponic system because he too was inspired by nature. He saw that plants thrived on the banks of a creek, with bubbling, oxygen filled and nutrient rich water constantly pouring over them. As I was walking through our complex coastal forest, I realized that while all of our products are inspired by nature, one in particular will actually allow you to replicate nature’s forest floor.

SubCulture-M is the GH mycological root inoculant for soil. It is literally a web of symbiotic life. In the forest floor, mushroom spores identical to those in SubCulture-M live throughout the earth and root zone. They serve two crucial functions. Mycelium forms a hairy protective barrier around the root that allow plants to weather drought and fight off disease. They also increase the plant’s ability to uptake nutrients.

January is a stark month for most outdoor growers. The earth is cold, perhaps even frozen. Plants are bare. There’s little to do. Or so it seems. January is a great time to get caught up on chores. Here are some excerpts from a great list of winter garden tasks. Add your own winter habits in the comments below:

– Damage control. As for those frost-damaged plants, wait to prune blackened branches until March, when the true damage will be more apparent. Mother Nature often stages amazing comebacks.
– Buy bare roots. Now’s the time to take advantage of the bare-root season, that once-a-year chance to buy plants without soil clinging to their roots. Bare-root plants are cheaper and easier to plant. An entire orchard or rose garden will fit into the trunk of your car.
– Step lightly. Remember that soggy garden soil should not be walked on. This is particularly true of clay soils, which compact easily. Wait until the soil dries out some before walking on it.

GH’s Rapid Rooter medium plugs are “a unique matrix of composted organic materials bonded together with plant-derived polymers.” They’re infused with GH’s magic micro nutrient recipe. The plugs come in trays of 50 or 98 plugs or a bag of 50 plugs.

Click here to read the rest, and while you are there, be sure to check out their impressive lineup of blogs.

I recently had the opportunity to talk about food with a food and lifestyle editor here in Honolulu, and when I asked about local agriculture as it relates to fine dining, I was very surprised with what I learned. Hawaii has to import 80% of its food, and reportedly only has enough food to last a few days if shipping were halted. With all this sunshine and rain, I couldn’t believe that local farms were not a bigger part of the food supply. Everywhere else in the United States, local and sustainable agriculture is a growing trend and is supplying more and more of what we eat. I was curious about what was so different here, so I had to learn more.

Apparently since Hawaii is a desirable location, land is quite expensive here. In addition to having a very finite landmass surrounded by ocean, much of the land is steep, arid or volcanic, making this extremely expensive land mostly unsuitable for farming. It’s not economically sustainable to grow basic food crops on land which approaches $100,000 per acre. This got me thinking about hydroponics, and the vertical farm model. With the exceptional climate here, and the high cost of imported food, it seems that this could be one of those places where all the factors would combine to make this new strategy actually economical.

Most of the local farms in Hawaii are supplying the fanciest of restaurants, so local agriculture is still considered something of a luxury concern. However, there are many small farms and institutes which are attempting to change the paradigm by achieving a model for sustainable local food production. Check out this sweet blog from Evening Rain Farm on the island of Hawaii to read more about the experience of tropical permaculture. The University of Hawaii also has an extensive agriculture program dedicated to organic and sustainable methods, which points towards a future of sustainability.

It seems clear that the future of agriculture will center around understanding and working with the relationships between plants and microorganisms.

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

Luke is a veteran grower, who spent years working at Pacific Garden Supply. He actually knew Jessica from his time there. Besides his retail hydro position, Luke has been an independent consultant for 10 years, specializing in helping growers set up the efficent high yield rooms. He found out about the General Hydroponics opening quite serendipitously. A friend of his saw the ad on Craigslist, and emailed him about it, urging him to reply.

Because he has been involved with hydroponics for so long, Luke has some amazing methods for hydro, and is always trying to take steps out and take products out of the lineup. He wants every grower to have less work and more success. He swears by dosers. They are inline and powered by water pressure. “They give you perfect water without a resevoir.” And his ideal formula? Nova Grow, Nova Bloom, Floralicious Plus, and Liquid Kool Bloom. “Follow the feed chart, and you have to add powdered seaweed to keep it in solution for the dosers.”

Luke’s territory is from NorCal to Seattle, and when he is not on the road at stores, he will be on the road working festivals and tradeshows. During his time at the office, Luke will be offering customer service and tech support to who ever needs it. I am happy to welcome him, and just know that he will find success! If you’d like, say hello, and if you have any questions about dosers, leave them here in the comments, and I’ll get them answered!

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

GH Blog: Where did the inspiration for opening a grow shop come from?

Green Earth: I’ve worked within different areas of the industry for 10 years. I got my start with a manufacturer/wholesaler in 1999 and later got into retail where I managed a shop for 5 years. When the opportunity came up, my partner and I bought the store and Green Earth Garden Supplies was born.

GH Blog: What sorts of growing products do you specialize in?

Green Earth: My partner and I have a combination of 25 years of indoor gardening knowledge. We consider this to be our main specialty. We sell everything to meet our customers’ indoor gardening needs.

GH Blog: Do your customers mostly grow in soil or hydro systems?

Green Earth: We have 80% soil customers and 20% hydro customers.

GH Blog: What is your favorite product?

Green Earth: Flora Blend for sure. Also love the Flora Nectar, awesome stuff guys.

GH Blog: In your geographical area, what are the most pressing environmental concerns? Is it heat? Pests? Humidity? And tell us what product you recommend to customers that come to your store trying to combat the problem?

Green Earth: All of the above problems exist so we have to be able to trouble shoot all of these concerns frequently. I can proudly say between Daren, Liana and myself, that anyone who comes in to our store will leave with the right knowledge and products that will allow them to overcome all of their environmental challenges.

GH Blog: Can you give us a growing tip?

Green Earth: Always keep your garden clean. Get your climate in check. Having a “bang on” room or green house is a major key to success. Don’t cheap out or cut corners.

Get in touch with Green Earth Garden Supplies by phoning 604-532-7106