Article 1-5 Lighting & Plant Growth

As the importance of artificial light in the plant growing industry has increased, lamp manufacturers have begun to rate lamps specifically for plant needs. This article discusses and compares the different measures of “light level” that are currently used for plant growth and hydroponic applications. Light level is one of the important variables for optimizing plant growth, others being light [ read more ]

Article 1-3 On The Leading Edge

Since water cooled growing lights have been in use by the hydroponics industry for a number of years now, it seems like a good time to look at them more closely and the best place to start is by showing just how leading edge a development they are – probably much more so than most people imagine. Why do I [ read more ]

Article 1-3 Electrical Safety in Grow rooms

Electrical Safety for the Indoor Growrooms One of the commonly asked questions regarding electrical and gardening with High Intensity Discharge (HiD) lighting is “how many 1000 watt lights can run on this set?” Generally an outlet on your bedroom or basement wall is part of a 15 amp circuit. There are up to 12 lights and or plugs on that [ read more ]

Article 1-1 Evolution of Reflectors

You’ve just spent a small fortune on lighting equipment: metal halide and sodium in lamps; transformers, capacitors and starters; sockets, wiring and timers to make it all run. Your wallet is empty, your pets are at the pawn shop, and the reason behind this is very simple: you want to give your garden the best light possible, so your plants [ read more ]

Article 6-6 High Performance Lighting

Part 1 – Introduction: High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting has formed the core of lighting technology in the horticulture industry for the last 20 or so years. Metal Halide (MH) and High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) lights are the most commonly used variants of the HID family. This is no surprise as HID lights offer the most lumens per watt in practical lighting [ read more ]

Article 5-3 Yield Predictions

I am working with a family which is raising hydroponic tomatoes (loose, not clusters or cherry). We need to be able to establish a “normal/expected” yield and we do not know where to obtain that sort of information. Can you point us in the right direction? Connie Skinner Connie, Thanks for your question. If growing in a well-managed hydroponic environment, [ read more ]

LIGHTING

Simply Hydroponics and Organics Brings you some articles from Maximum Yield that will answer some of our most commonly asked questions. Maximum Yield Article 6-6 – High Performance Lighting. Maximum Yield Article 6-4 – Create your own grow room. Maximum Yield Article 5-4 – Q’s Eric Fulvic Acid. Maximum Yield Article 5-4 – Carbon liquid and gas. Maximum Yield Article [ read more ]

Ask The Professor

“The only stupid question is the one that is not asked” Author Unknown If you have a question or a problem that isn’t covered by the information on this website, do not despair. You can always ask the Professor! The Professor doesn’t claim to know everything, but he has many contacts and can find the information that you need. If [ read more ]

Classes

We have combined some of our best articles and info into a series of short class’s that give step by step instructions on many common gardening tasks.  Don’t worry — there are no tests and the classes are quick and easy to understand.  If you have a specific question that isn’t covered here you can always “Ask The Professor“.  The [ read more ]

Lighting Basics

Although artificial lighting produces an imperfect spectrum compared to the sun, it does allow control of variables such as duration and intensity. Equipment Overview Artificial lighting requires the use of a ballast (used to ignite then regulate current to the lamp), a shade or reflector (directs light towards the plants and usually incorporates the lamp holder/socket), a timer (controls when [ read more ]