The retail stores that carry General Hydroponics products are really the backbone of our community. They provide a way for us to get all our amazing products to you, the gardeners! They offer education, instruction and even the occasional party! We are grateful for the continued support of all our retail locations.

Today, we want to highlight New York City Hydroponics, located right in the heart of the Big Apple. City Hydroponic operates two fully supplied hydroponics stores that carry all the equipment you need to grow your own fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs in all the different types of NYC indoor gardens. They opened their first store, Bronx Hydroponics and Garden Supply, in 2009 and recently opened a new location: Brooklyn Hydroponics and Garden Supply. They are a community-oriented business, serving the gardeners and urban growers of their neighborhoods. They carry lights, systems, nutrients and everything else you could possibly need.

Education is a huge part of their vision. So, not only do they provide all the products you need for your growing operations but they teach classes for both novice and experienced growers. Free monthly workshops are presented by their experienced staff and the occasional distinguished guest, including our very own East Coast representative, Randall. He taught a class in June and plans to teach more workshops there in the near future. 

Lorraine, from Bronx Hydro, sent us some great photos from one of their recent classes. Check out their great space!

We eat all sorts of plant parts so not every vegetable needs pollinating. Leaf and root crops (lettuce, kale, beets, etc) do not need to be pollinated because we eat them before they get to the flower stage of their life cycle. However, there are plants that we eat (like tomatoes, lemons and almonds) that need to be pollinated in order to produce the fruit or seed that we want to eat.

Quick botany lesson:

Male squash flower

Bees (and other pollinators) travel from flower to flower, drinking nectar and spreading pollen. Pollen is the male component of a flower (flower sperm, if you will). When it’s transferred to another flower, it goes into the pistil (female flower part) and fertilizes to make fruit. This process can’t be done without the aid of a pollinator. There are some plants, however, that have both male and female parts and can self-pollinate but you can still give them a little help.

Since there (presumably) aren’t swarms of bees flying around your hydroponic system, you might want to lend a hand to a few of your edible crops. It’s pretty simple. Here’s how to do it:

• Leaf and root crops (like spinach, carrots, onions and garlic): don’t worry about it! They don’t need to be pollinated. Just crunch them and enjoy.

• Self-pollinators (tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, beans and peas): They can generally take care of things themselves but you can help: jog the pollen loose by gently (very gently) shaking the plants, tapping the flowers or try this method:

• Cross-pollinators (squash, cucumbers, melons and most fruit): These plants need to trade pollen in order to produce fruit. The squash, cukes and melons have separate male and female flowers. The male flower will have pollen-laden stamens and the female flower will usually have what looks like a tiny fruit bulging at the base. These guys need the most help and must be pollinated to produce fruit. The how-to:

1. Wait until both male and female flowers are in full bloom, petals open.

2. Get a watercolor paintbrush or a Q-tip. Brush it against the male flower (you should see yellow or orange pollen on the brush or Q-tip).

3. Brush it against the pistil on the female flower (the pistil is tall and gooey and right in the middle. You can’t miss it.)

Female squash flower

That’s it! You’ve done it! You should see fruit begin to form in the next few days. Keep repeating the process with subsequent flowers and you should have lots of fruit in no time.

When we were contacted, the immediate response was to appreciate the sacrifice of the Armed Forces. Our second response was to call and work out the details of their exact needs. We shipped them a WaterFarm 8- Pack with a Controller and the Upgrade Kit. And all the FloraSeries and Floralicious Plus they could need. GH has always reached out to communities, sending PowerGrowers for rooftop school gardens, sponsoring festivals, and providing funding for PBS Natural Heroes. We could not be more proud and more hopeful for this project, and hope that hydro in Afghanistan is a complete success.

Laying the plant down allows the branches growing off the sides of the main stem to reach up towards the light, and it exposes the nodes along those branches to the same amount of light they would get if they were at the top of the plant.

With basil, the tallest and most prominent stalk will produce a large flower, and the other stalks and branches will produce smaller flowers, depending on their place in the canopy and the light they receive. Basil is grown for its leaves, not its flowers, but when you are striving for high yields, crop uniformity is essential. Using the sideways method, each branch of basil can reach its greatest potental.

This plug of basil in the office here at General Hydroponics is just a simple example. Other examples include growing tomatoes upside down, or on their side. Do you grow sideways? Share your results in the comments!

Easy to use: The coco baskets are matted coco fibers that are covered in a natural latex. They can be potted up with soil, or soilless media, like perlite, coir and hydroton. While you can easily use them in a conventional way, and water overhead, the coco baskets are ideal for ebb and flow. The baskets soak water and nutrients up from the ebb and flow tray. They basically let you drench the roots, because the water runs out immediately. The 8″ baskets, shown above have thin walls, about 1/8th inch thick, and the larger baskets have much wider walls, about 3/4 inch thick. All the sizes are incredibly light.

Root health: Indoors under lights, or outdoors under the glaring sun, black plastic pots get really really hot. The coco baskets are remarkably cooler. Air literally moves through the weave of the fibers, to directly cool the roots. And everyone knows, roots love oxygen. The baskets also eliminate larger plants becomming “root bound.” Roots can freely grow through the bottom and sides of the coco baskets.

Sustainability: Our coco products are the most ecologically sound products available. Coco is a sustainable fiber product and also is bio-degradable. But our baskets are sturdy and do not easily break down.

Besides the difference in size between this and the smaller greenhouse, their functions are different as well. The smaller environment is easier to control, and better suited for testing. The large greenhouse is for exhibition plants, like the ones that travel to trade shows and festivals.

I love the rustic looking, extra wide doors on the entrance. 

The building is massive inside.

Shade cloth and electrical outlets hang from the ceiling.

With the doors wide open all day, the temp still got pretty high.

Huge fans help with that.

When you pull into the parking lot at the General Hydroponics manufacturing facility in Sebastopol, CA, the first thing you notice are the roses. They are set up in bato buckets as a sort of European growing style,  like the EuroGrower. The roses are planted in Hydroton and fed all sorts of interesting new fertilizers. I think they are amazing, and every year they bloom more and more.