Ask the Professor – Prev. Questions 7

Professor – I have just gotten started with a home built hydroponic system and so far have been having excellent results. I have been noticing that the leaves on all my plants (vegetables.. squash, beans,tomatoes) are very soft and at times downright limp. What is up with that? I’m using white 4gal buckets, could there be too much light coming [ read more ]

Ask the Professor – Prev. Questions 6

Professor – How fast can plants grow in hydroponics? Sabin Sabin – This question is just about impossible to answer. The rate that a plant grows depends on several variables. Amount and quality of light, the amount and quality of water and nutrients, the genetic make up of the plant, etc, etc……..I can’t tell you exact numbers. Generally speaking – [ read more ]

Ask the Professor – Prev. Questions 2

Professor – Ok, I found another hydroponics site that talks about feeding the seeds a solution, but they measure the solution in parts per million, how do I measure out to parts per million” This is delaying me from starting my hydroponic greenhouse. I talked to a lady here, and the hydro plant food she sells says to use one(1) [ read more ]

Nutrient Comparison Test – Week 5

At week 5, space has dictated the elimination of one of our tomatoes. Well I have to say that taken on their own merits, no one would be disappointed in any of these plants, by comparison the General Hydroponics tomato has no hope of being in the same league as the other two. It did take a lead over Foxfarm [ read more ]

Nutrient Comparison Test – Week 4

At week four both the Canna tomato and the Foxfarm tomato have well established fruit set and vigorous flower production. The Canna plant still has a commanding lead in size and approximately 30% more flowers. The General Hydroponics tomato has gained significant size but is showing almost no signs of flower development and zero fruit formation. One important difference can [ read more ]

Nutrient Comparison Test – Week 3

On week 3 all plants are well into veg. The Canna tomato is still holding the lead with much thicker stalks and considerably more new growth. The Foxfarm tomato is a strong second with nice color and dense new growth. General Hydroponics is slipping behind a bit with less size and new growth and lighter coloration in the leaves. Check [ read more ]

Nutrient Comparison Test – Week 2

Our second week has Canna already taking a lead in size and new foliage growth. The Foxfarm tomatos holding its own with lots of healthy growth and a close second in height. The General Hydroponics tomato is healthy but lagging in size and leaf production. Photos were taken on 3/6/09. Check back for weekly photo and progress updates. « Week [ read more ]

Nutrient Comparison Test – Week 1

Click below to see the photo’s on the first week of our latest nutrient challenge. This is the fourth in a series of test we have run on the Canna nutrient line. Canna is the best selling line in the world but we don’t take for granted that best selling means best product. However, one can’t argue with success. In [ read more ]

Comparative Product Testing

At Simply Hydroponics, we’ve always strived to provide our customers the best information possible and not the product hype of the moment. That’s why we haven’t jumped on the LED lighting bandwagon or pushed the overly complex and overly priced nutrient formulas promoted by some popular product lines. As a hydroponic retailer, we are bombarded with product info from manufacturers [ read more ]

Article 6-1 Natural Bug Control

Hello. I am looking for a natural control for spider mites that will not harm caterpillars. Is there such a thing? Thank you, Shari Shari, The first choice would be predatory insects such as Phytoseiulus persimilis which prefer to consume spidermites. Luckily, they also do a pretty good job of it as long as the spidermites are detected before their [ read more ]