Gardening indoors

Gardening indoors

under artificial lighting.

This booklet should only be used as a guide.

Lighting Setup

· Lighting is the most important aspect of growing a plant, either indoors or outdoors.

· When growing indoors we need to ensure the lighting system we get is the correct light spectrum (colouring) and is bright enough without being too hot for the plants.

· Lighting systems are made up of three parts, the lamp, the reflector, and the control box (or ballast).

· Phillips make a good 423 Watt lamp called a SON T AGRO 400 Watt. These lamps use around 4cents per hour. General Electric also make good lamps. they make a 400watt, 600watt and 1000 watt LucaGrow Lamp, and use 4cents, 6cents and 12 cents of electricity per hour respectively.

· When no other sunlight or lighting is available, we recommend 400 Watt lamps for an area of up to 1 meter by 1 meter and plants up to 60cm tall. (sidelighting can assist plants to a greater height)

· We recommend 600 Watt lamps for an area of 1.5 meters by 1.5 meters and plants up to 75cm tall. (sidelighting can always assist plants to grow higher.)

· The reflector design varies depending on the height of the plants and the area requiring illumination. Highly recommend that you seek advice regarding reflector design.

· Control Boxes all look the same. THEY ARE NOT. Price is a good guide. A good ballast will be completely safe, will not emit noise, or large amounts of heat. They will match the lamp precisely, and will ensure the light levels are as close to 100% output of the lamps design. Cheap control boxes may not be any of these. Please ask for advice before buying any equipment built in the back of hydroponic stores. Imagine if I sold you a five litre bottle of nutrient and it was missing a litre of nutrient. Some cheap ballasts output 20% below lamps nominal rating. This will reduce yield.

Ventilation Setup

· You will need to supply fresh air to the plants as they need fresh quantities of Carbon Dioxide

· Ventilation will stop grow rooms becoming excessively hot, as well as supplying life giving fresh air.

· You will need an inlet fan to let cool air and CO2 into the growing area. This is best situated low, as cool air is heavy and sinks closer to the ground.

· You will need an exhaust fan to draw hot air and CO2 weak air out of the growing area. This is best located high as Hot air rises to the top of the growing area.

· You will need an oscillating fan to blow fresh air into the foliage

· You will need to change the air as often as possible. Minimum would be around 60 air changes per hour and ideal would be up to 120 changes per hour. Use Panda Film Plastic sheeting to create a growing area, and multiply height with width and depth, e.g. 1m x1m x 2.5m (height) = 2.5 cubic meters. You would need a fan to deliver around 150 to 300 cubic meters per hour of fresh air, or to remove that amount of stale air every hour. If a room is sealed, an inlet fan is also recommended.

· Plants grow best in the same sort of environment we find comfortable. Ideal temperatures would vary per plant, but around 25 degrees, and 40 to 60% humidity would be ideal. So as a guide, if you think that its too hot or cold, too humid or the air is stale, then the plants will feel that too and will not perform to the best they can.

· Get advice before purchasing an exhaust fan. Some fans are not designed to run continuously e.g. Bath room fans. These will either fail or make terrible a terrible noise and keep you up all night. If a fan fails during a hot day plants may get very sick as well.

Stages of Growth

· There are several stages a growing plant will go through, but mostly, they can be characterised by three stages of growth - Seedlings and clones (cuttings), Vegetative, Flowering.

1. Seedlings and clones (cuttings)

· All a seed needs to germinate is warmth and moisture. Refrigerate seed at around 4 degrees in a dry container to get seeds to germinate faster. 2-4 days should do it.

· A seed has all the nutrients it needs in the husk of the seed.

· Generally, the medium (rockwool, perlite, peat) used to germinate a seed must be well draining, but remain moist to the touch. Although moisture levels may vary for different varieties, the medium must not be too wet. The media is best described as not dry and never very wet.( Another description of moisture levels could be described as like a sponge used to wipe a counter. Not so wet as to leave water on the counter, but not so dry that it does not clean.)

· Taking a cutting of your favourite plant is an excellent way to ensure a good plant. This method of propagation is a form of Cloning, as the offspring has the same genetic information as the parent/ (or mother plant). For advice on cloning, ask your staff member. Clones take about 10 to 14 days of rooting before they can be placed into a growing system. Use a cloning gel and a clear lidded propagator to get best results. Ask for our cloning booklet for more information.

· Once a seed has sprouted, or a clone is striking roots it is a good idea to give it some indirect light in preparation for its first leaves. ( Lighting should be Fluorescent close to the tops of the seedling or a Son Agro about 5 feet or 1.5 meters from the seedlings/cuttings. Any closer will dry out your plants as they have under developed root systems) The Seedling will sprout with small "false" leaves (cotyldons or seed leaves), but when the first true leaves appear it is a good indication that the seedling now has roots and you should apply nutrient from now.

· For the first week, half strength nutrient can be applied to seedlings. It should be noted that the first two weeks of life are critical. If a plant does not have a good start, then you can say generally that the plant will not grow to be an excellent plant.

2. The Vegetative Cycle.

· Once a seedling becomes a young plant, and clones have roots, full strength nutrient should be used ( On average 2 to 4 sets of true leaves is a young plant). Using a CF meter, adjust your nutrient to the correct strength for your crop. If you do not own a meter yet, mix nutrients according to pack directions. Our staff should be able to provide you with specific crop directions.

· Lamps should be 1 to 2 Feet from the tops of the plants. Hold your hand at the top of the plant and check that is not excessively hot on your hand as this may be too hot for the plants. Close to the plants is good, however, they should not be hotter than you could deal with.

· The Photo period or length of artificial daylight is best set at 18 Hours with a normal household timer. Other "day" lengths are discussed below.

· The rate of growth will gradually become faster; Young plants usually grow slower than they do when they become more mature.

· Plants have been flowered as early as six weeks old (approx) but better end results occur when the plants are eight weeks old before reducing the light hours. The plants are growing at such a rate that they give better results if their metabolic (physical) age and chronological (actual) ages have a chance to catch up on each other. Clones are already mature adults even when small. Once the plants are given enough time to settle in, they can be put into a 12 hour cycle to cause them to flower.

· It is during the Vegetative stage that growers should take their cuttings or clones. For more detailed information on cloning, please consult our staff.

3. The Reproductive Cycle.

· The Light hours can be reduced to produce Flowering or Fruiting. Once the light hours are reduced to 12 Hours, ensure that the plants receive NO LIGHT at all during their dark 12 Hour "night". Should you open a door to your growroom and allow light from a hallway light to enter the room during their 12 hour sleep, this will stress the plants by "waking" the plants up and putting them back to "sleep".

· Stress is to be avoided at all stages of growth. This stress will slow the flowering process. Beware power blackouts as this can cause your timer to switch lights on during their night. Some growers use 11 hours of light so that any change in day length will be unlikely to encroach upon their 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness. Use a good Digital timer with a backup memory to avoid light length problems.

· Plants require less nitrogen during this cycle, and will consume more Phosphorus. There are two ways to combat this. Either increase the strength of your nutrient, or purchase one of the range of Bloom solutions/additives available.

· Flowers generally will be visible in one to four weeks. From then it is only a matter of time for your plant to produce ripe fruit or fully form their flowers. Plants can be harvested and an 18 Hour Vegetative Cycle begun again. It is generally better to restart from seed or cuttings. Usually 8 week flowering is most common.

TIPS

· When assembling your light for the first time, screw the bulb in until it is finger tight, and then give it a little more of a twist to ensure a firm contact. After a week to two weeks, the contacts will have worn in, and could need a little more of a turn. Please check the lamps are fully screwed in.

· Many people use nylon rope to hang their lights. Please ensure they do not contact the bulb and melt. We recommend welded link chain. Unfortunately, these do not go through pulleys very well, but it can be easier to unhook the light and move it up a couple of links at a time.

· Make sure your plants are well ventilated. A plant is 90% water and carbon. The only way a plant can take in Carbon is through the Carbon Dioxide in the air. If the Carbon Dioxide content in the garden is not replenished, plants will grow more slowly and could develop problems.

· The optimum temperature of the growroom is between 22 and 25 degrees Celcius and the optimum Humidity levels lie between 40% and 60% Relative Humidity. Generally, it may be difficult to obtain this range of temperature and humidity, however as a general rule, try to keep the room as close to the optimums and most plants will adapt themselves to their environment. Try to avoid sudden leaps of humidity or temperature as this may shock your plants. (e.g. opening up everything on the weekend, and then closing them up for the rest of the week) If you maintain the environment within the optimum ranges, you will see a much better growth rate.

· There are other essentials to good growing. these include Root moisture to oxygen ratio, pH (Acidity/Alkalinity), and Nutrient strength. Call us if your plants do not look perfect

· Replace lamps every 9-12 months or less if you want to keep lamp output at maximum. As a general rule, never trust second hand equipment. If a lamp has been run, it is most likely to be close to or over 12 months of running. Avoid all second hand ballasts especially if it has been dropped or is not a domestic design, you can end up with a ballast and fuse blowing up, or smoke and flame in your growroom. All our Ballasts are guaranteed not to have these problems and have been designed for home application and are extremely safe.

We are open from 9:00am till 5:30pm weekdays for your convenience.

On Saturdays we are open from 9am until 1pm;

We can be open outside these times by calling ahead.

Shop 17 / 39 Lawrence Drive Nerang Qld 4211.

Phone (07) 5527 4155

Visit us on the Web

www.hydrocentre.com.au