PROPAGATION SUPPLIES CHECKLIST:

- Propagation tray
- Liner for tray (potting soils, vermiculite, perlite)
- Tray cover short (seedlings, small cuttings)
- Tray cover tall (large cuttings)
- Grow Medium: 'Starter mix' potting soil Perlite and Vermiculite
- Rockwool cubes : ('Grodan' mm 40:40 cubes are best)
- Propagation slabs Vitamax Hormone Solution

Rockwool has had the most explosive 'growth rate' of any medium since the' introduction of the 'soilless' potting mixes in the 1950's. Part of the wide-spread use of rockwool came from intensive marketing to commercial growers, but good salesmanship only gets a product into use. Continued sales depend on performance, and rockwool can stand on its own in. this regard : lightweight, inexpensive, it comes from its package free of pests and disease, eliminating sterilization and reducing fungicide and pesticide expense and crop set-backs. Rockwool found its greatest supporters among growers of high-yield crop plants, and it is in this area of crop production that it still flourishes today. High-yield crop plants are termed 'heavy feeders' - they have the potential (given good conditions for growth) to consume huge quantities of very strong nutrient solutions, a necessity for their high productivity rates. Those hundreds of pounds of tomatoes had to come from somewhere!

ADVANTAGES OF AN INERT GROW MEDIUM
Just as any business is constantly re-examining its efficiency and productivity, commercial growers refined their operations as new knowledge of plant physiology and nutrition become available. Applying the use of hydroponic nutrients to their growing operations involved pH and food strength monitoring. This made growers aware of how their grow medium was affecting pH and the character of their nutrient solution. Rockwool, an inert grow medium (once initial pH is corrected), allowed growers to supply nutrients to their crops with precise pH, food strength, and composition. Early-growth stage crops could be provided with a moderate to strong 'vegetative' fertilizer mix, encouraging fast root and shoot development. Once crop production began, nutrients could be changed to reflect the changing needs of the crop plants. These abilities were impossible with most other grow mediums, since organic mediums are continually in a process of decomposition which affects nutrient supply in many ways - nitrogen availability, pH, and nutrient buildup in the medium, for example.

ROCKWOOL RETAINS CONSTANT PORE SPACE VOLUME
When organic mediums decompose and 'compact', changes in the pore space content of the medium are inevitable, reducing availability of air, water and food to the roots. Rockwool retains a constant volume of pore spaces with use, ensuring adequate supplies o f nutrient solution and air to the roots through the life of the crop. Root growth itself can influence the structure and characteristics of the medium - excessive root growth rapidly removes pore space availability and diverts energy and nutrients from top-growth and crop production. Roots in a properly-managed rockwool garden are surprisingly compact, covered in masses of 'feeder hairs'. These small, highly efficient root systems keep energy and growth directed to crop production.

CONSISTENT CROP PRODUCTION
Because of the uniformity and inert quality of rockwool, all plants should grow and 'crop out' at the same time, maximizing the timing and efficiency of largescale crop production. This is important for the grower who must schedule 'picking crews' and organize replacement plants for when the crop has finished.

WATER-GIVING ABILITY
A quality of rockwool which has found great favor among commercial growers is its water-giving abilities. Since rockwool will easily give up water to the roots, even when it is almost dry, growers can allow more of the pore space in rockwool for air, while still maintaining a satisfactory supply of nutrient solution to the roots. This increased quantity of air is especially helpful when plants are supplied with strong nutrient solutions, helping the crops to take up food easier and quicker. AVOIDING ROOT DISEASES A well-aerated root zone helps to avoid root disease problems. Since root diseases can spread quickly through a crop which shares a circulating irrigation system, this quality of rockwool - its water-giving ability and resultant increase in air content of the root zone - was a major consideration for growers, avoiding heavy set backs and decreased crop yield due to wide-spread disease problems in the greenhouse.

In short, rockwool:

- is lightweight, inexpensive, clean.
- is inert
- will not affect pH or character of nutrients.
- Retains consistent structure through, life of crop.
- Allows excellent aeration of root zone.
- Encourages efficient root system development.
- Discourages disease problems.

During the past few years, the attention of gardeners has been captured by the dramatic improvements in nutrient formulas, lighting and growing systems. Growing mediums like Rockwool, once mysterious and poorly managed by hobby gardeners, are common place as growers gain from the experience of others in learning how to handle their crops. These have been exciting times, and as the dust settles (leftover potting soil), we see gardens that are beautifully lit, with the most advanced growing systems and the latest nutrients in use. We have created gardens with tremendous potential for crop growth and yields.   With so many growing conditions in place, it's time for gardeners to consider improvements to their air movement through the garden and their use of supplemental C02. Since our plants are almost 90% air (carbon and oxygen), better air flow and more efficient C02 delivery could provide the "missing link" to improved crop growth, health, and yields.

Directional Air Flow

The term "directional air flow" refers to the practice of moving air from an intake source through the plants and out the exhaust system - directing the air movement, rather than stirring it around. The advantages of this directional movement are many: fresh, low-humidity, cool (21 Celsius=70 F) air is constantly replacing the warm, moist air around the plants and moving the "old" air towards the exhaust fan for removal from the garden. Besides keeping garden temperatures and humidity levels stable, the steady air flow encourages faster movement of water and nutrients from the roots to the leaves, resulting in faster growth. When oscillating fans direct air movement towards the exhaust fan, they increase the efficiency of the exhaust system. The air movement - and the stable growing conditions it maintains - can help plants avoid serious disease and pest problems too! But the real benefit of horizontal air movement is in the way it "feeds" Co2 to the plants - which brings us back to that 90% of our plants that come from air.

Plants have had 100 million years or so to get used to horizontal air flow -winds traveling along the surface of the earth and they have developed precise techniques to take advantages of this air movement. The groove along the top of a leaf stem allows it to twist in the wind, and leaf curling exposes the stomata - the breathing pores on the underside of the leaf - to the carbon dioxide that is moving across the leaf surface. Plants have gotten very skilled at "eating on the fly" snatching carbon dioxide from moving air. In fact, given good growing conditions, active growth and Co2 rich air moving horizontally through plants, the amount of Co2 that they will take up is amazing! One research project discovered plants consuming a steady diet of 2700 ppm Co21 hour after hour. They were happily munching eight times normal levels of carbon dioxide. Other researchers were amazed to learn that an enzyme responsible for Co2 uptake in the leaves, called RUBISCO, could capture C02 27 times as fast in Co2 enriched environments, as in normal, still air! Why would plants have such an appetite for this gas? When our crop plants first appeared, Co2 levels in the atmosphere were very much higher than today, and they've been dropping ever since. Plants had to become very efficient at grabbing Co2 from the air as it became scarcer. And they still have a tremendous potential for growth that is limited by the amount of Co2 they're able to obtain. 

Horizontal air flow is "nature's Way" and it's the most efficient method of Co2 uptake in our indoor gardens. For growers supplying supplemental Co2 to their crops, during periods of active growth, the directional air flow concept provides a perfect method for maximum assimilation of Co2 by the plants. Tanks of compressed carbon dioxide are simply placed near oscillating fans, and airline hose feeds the Co2 from the regulator to the back of the oscillating fan. Using extra hose and air line tees, its possible to supply several fans from one tank. Within a week, your plants will show you two things: how well they are using Co2 and how evenly you are distributing the extra carbon dioxide among the plants. Rapid increases in growth rate, larger healthier leaves, fast crop growth - these are signs that the plants are making good use of the Co2 supply and growing the way they always wanted to. They've waited a long time (90 million years or so) for Co2 levels to get back to "normal", and they're eager to show off how well they're able to grow now. A warning for gardeners who thought they knew their plants - be prepared to be pleasantly surprised!

If some of the plants (closest to the oscillating fans) are growing unbelievably well, while others show slower growth, its an indication that there's uneven distribution of Co2, so add more fans and more Co2 to the garden, improve spacing between plants and enjoy the view!

Gardeners who use Co2 generators to supply extra carbon dioxide to their crops can still take advantage of horizontal Co2 delivery - it just involves a little more work.. A vary successful and productive setup involved remote placement of the generator, in a room next to the garden. The hot, humid Co2 -rich air coming from the generator was captured by a 10" axial fan in a 10" metal duct and moved through the duct to teed the oscillating fans in the garden. This helped cool the "new air before it reached the garden, with the added benefit of condensation inside the duct removing some of the excess water from the air - these growers sloped the duct slightly and placed a small basin below the duct (at the garden end) to catch any run-off. Some hints on horizontal air movement: - oscillating fans work better than stationary fans - they serve a larger area and can be placed closer to the plants. Most oscillating stand fans are adjustable for height, allowing you to keep air flaw directly through the plants as they grow larger. - watch for wind-burned leaves (white edges) and move fans further away from plants it necessary - C02 test kits can be very helpful when you're installing this horizontal delivery system - to help 'fine-tune' the flow rate and to guide you in fan placement. Once your delivery is perfect, it will be perfect every day - so make sure it's right from the start!

Gardening With Potting Soils

Gardening with potting soils provides beginning growers with a simple, straightforward way to try hydroponic gardening. Plants grow in nursery pots and can be watered by hand, eliminating the need for pumps, timers, and water systems. .

Potting soils may look like garden dirt, but they are "soilless mixes", made with peat, vermiculite and perlite. Because these materials are acidic, potting soils also contain a very fine powdered dolomite lime to balance the PH of the mix. Since nursery pots restrict air and water movement, potting soils are a "chunky" texture to keep roots healthy. .

These soil less mixes contain no fertilizer - we use hydroponic foods, dissolved in water, to supply plants with all the nutrients they need.  

Here are some hints for gardening with potting soils:

. 1) Use good-quality potting mix Some "mixes" are pure peat moss! Your hydroponic supply store can recommend a good potting mix. Many growers use commercial growers' potting soils since they are top-quality mixes. For small (one to two gallon) nursery pots, use "Sunshine #1" Mix; for larger (three gallon or bigger) containers, try "Sunshine #4" mix - it's very chunky and won't pack down too much in the bigger pots

. 2) Use hydroponic nutrients designed for soil less mixes. Today's growers have the advantage of using foods specially designed for gardening in potting soils. Since potting mixes "soak up" some of the fertilizer, manufacturers have developed precise foods for this method of gardening. They are inexpensive, easy to prepare, and your plants will love them! A good "green growth" fertilizer is "Peat-Lite" mix (20-19-18). The numbers refer to the amount of nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium in the fertilizer. These are minerals used in large quantities by plants, called the macro-nutrients. "Peat-Lite" also contains several other minerals, giving young plants everything they need for fast green growth. Another potting soil fertilizer, for flowering and crop production, is called "Blossom Booster" (10-30-20). Note that flowering plants and plants in crop production use less nitrogen - the first number-but more phosphorous and potassium. We'll discuss the specifics of feeding and watering later. The important thing to realize is that there are precise easy-to-use foods available for plants in potting soils for each stage of growth

. 3) Use the right size nursery pot Very small plants can start in a 4" or 6" pot. Soon they will need to be transplanted to a one gallon nursery container. To check if plants need a larger pot: Slide pot away from potting soil to check roots. (The pot will slide off easier if the soil is not soaking wet). If the roots are showing on the outside of the soil, and they are starting to wind around between the soil and the pot, it's time to move plants to a larger nursery pot.

Plants that are kept in pots too long develop long, winding roots - they are called "root bound" or "pot-bound" plants, and they often dry out very quickly. Even when pot-bound plants are transplanted to larger containers, their winding roots are slow to spread into the new potting soil. Transplanting crops before they're pot-bound helps the roots to spread quickly into the new soil.

If you see any of these signs in your garden:  
- Plants dry gout quickly between watering.
- Soil shrinks away from container, leaving an air space between soil and nursery pot.
- The soil surface collapses, forming a bowl shaped depression on the top of the soil.
- Surface soil forms a hard "crust". Water can't flow through this crust: it just runs off the top of the soil and over the side of the nursery pot. Then it's repotting time! Here's a general guide for repotting for fast- growing plants: 4" to 6" round or square pots
- repot after 2-3 weeks into 1 gallon pots. 1 gallon pots
- repot after about 4 weeks into 2 or 3 gallon pots. Remember, this is only a general estimate
- your plants might grow faster or slower, so sliding off the nursery pot to check root growth is always the best way.

Remember to moisten the new soil before re-potting, and water the plant well when you've finished to settle it into its new container

. 4) Hints for feeding and watering

- Never fertilize dry plants
- water well first and feed 1/2 hour later to avoid "burning" roots.
- Always use room temperature water. (21*C=70*F)
- Feed your plants today, then use plain water the next time they are dry.
- Water well to moisten the entire root system, then allow pots to drain excess water.
- Let plants dry a bit between watering, so they're not waterlogged.
- If plants are wilting, you waited too long! Why we alternate watering and feeding: When you feed your plants, some of the fertilizer is "sucked up" by the potting mix. If you fertilized every time, the nutrients would build up in the potting soil and damage your plant's roots. When you give your plants plain water between feedings, it re-dissolves the fertilizer in the potting soil, making it available to the roots and helping to avoid fertilizer build-up. Using the "feed-water-feed-water" method keeps roots healthy and satisfied while the top growth gets all the minerals it needs.

Other hints:
- Keep nursery pots off cold concrete floors
- cold roots mean very slow growth!
- If soil packs down, loosen it gently with an old kitchen fork.
- Plants in the same pot for more than 6 weeks may benefit from an addition of very fine dolomite lime
- use one tablespoon dolomite for a one gallon pot, two tablespoons for a two gallon pot and so on.

THE WHY'S GUY: QUESTIONS OVER THE COUNTER

WHY SHOULD I WATER MY CROPS AT THE START OF MY LIGHT CYCLE?
- Water demand by crops is greatest during the light cycle.
- Unless there is a plentiful supply of water, the plant cannot take up CO2
- the breathing pores will close.
- Watering at end of the light cycle, or in darkness, creates high humidity levels in the garden. This can encourage disease or pest problems to gain a foothold in the garden.

WHY SHOULD THE WATER BE ROOM TEMPERATURE?
- Cold water causes slow growth.
- Hot water damages roots. This reduces the ability of the plant to take up food and water
- and diseases may attack the damaged roots, invading the plant. Even very warm solutions of water and fertilizer can damage roots, especially if the nutrient solution is strong (over 1000 PPM).

WHY CAN'T I FERTILIZE A DRY PLANT?
- The fertilizer solution can cause root damage to dry roots, even if it is mixed at normal strength. Water a dry plant well (with plain water) an hour before fertilizing.

WHY CAN'T I USE OUTDOOR FERTILIZERS INDOORS?
- Outdoor fertilizers can contain high levels of a nitrogen source called ammonia
- this is too active a form of nitrogen for hydroponics crops in containers. In an outdoor garden, armies of bacteria in the soil quickly break down ammonia nitrogen into nitrates
- a milder form of nitrogen
- for plant uptake and use. Outdoor fertilizers often contain only three of the eleven required nutrients that plants use. Gardeners hope the outdoor soil can supply these missing elements. Hydroponic foods contain all the required minerals for best plant growth and crop yield.

WHY IS pH IMPORTANT?
- pH affects availability of nutrients - if the root zone is very acidic or alkaline, some minerals will bond together and become unavailable to the roots.

WHY IS ADDING AIR TO NUTRIENT SOLUTIONS IMPORTANT?
- Well-aerated nutrient solutions allow roots to take up fertilizers easier and faster. - Adding air to water or nutrient solutions reduces disease problems. Hydrogen peroxide can be added to water to actually kill diseases, using the oxygen that peroxide releases into the water to destroy disease cells.

HOW DO I DECIDE ON THE STRENGTH OF MY FERTILIZER SOLUTION?
- The first time you use any new fertilizer, mix it only half-strength. - Mixing instructions on a fertilizer assume plants are healthy, free of pests and diseases and actively growing in full sun, with lots of fresh air, and with moderate temperatures (about 30 degrees C). If all these conditions are in place, plants can use full-strength nutrient mixes. - If plants have disease or pest problems, poor air movement, bad light, or very high (or low) temperatures, use only half-strength fertilizers while you correct the problem.
- For fast-growing crop plants with excellent growing conditions, the use of additional CO2 and growth hormones ("Growth Plus") can create situations where plants might be able to make use of stronger fertilizer solutions than the manufacturer's recommended mixing rate. Always use a food strength meter to be sure that gradual increases in nutrient concentrations allow plants to adapt to stronger food levels. If you decide to try increasing your food strength, do it gradually, by 200 PPM increases, allowing two or three days between increases. Keep a close watch on crops to spot signs of nutrient stress of damage. Flush roots well with plain water (or water/powerthrive solution) and reduce food strength if our plants show signs of over-feeding.
- During periods of slow growth, reduce strength of fertilizers.

WHAT'S FERTILIZER BUILD-UP? HOW CAN I AVOID IT?
- "Fertilizer build-up" refers to situations when foods accumulate near the roots, burning them and stressing the plant. Some grow mediums
- the soil less mixes
- tend to hold fertilizers and need different treatment than hydrocorn or rockwool crops to avoid build-up of fertilizers in the potting mix. Feed plants in potting soils once, then use plain water the next time
- by alternating feeding and watering, we avoid fertilizer build-up, since water re-dissolves the food that was held by the potting soil, making it available again to the roots.
- In hot weather, feed crops in potting soils once, then water twice as needed before the next feeding.

MY CROP IS GROWING IN SUNSHINE MIX AND NURSERY POTS, WHEN SHOULD I TRANSPLANT? WHY?
- Roots spread through potting soil until they reach the container. Then the roots wind around the inside of the flower pot, forming a web around the outside of the potting soil.
- Root bound plants need re-potting. Sure signs of root bound conditions are: Soil dries very quickly between watering.

Soil shrinks away from containers, leaving an air gap between the soil and the nursery pot
Soil "collapses", forming a bowl-shaped surface, often with a crust.

- Re-pot before signs of root bound conditions occur.
- Remove container from soil occasionally to check on root conditions
- Re-pot plants when roots have reached the outer surface of the potting soil and are just starting to wind around the inside of the container. Roots spread easier into the new soil. Plants with thick, winding roots spread slowly into large containers, and the web of roots can interfere with water movement through the potting soil. Your new soil could be moist, but the inner core of soil will stay dry, causing plant stress.
- Re-pot to final pot size at least two weeks before starting flowering or crop production stage.

WHEN SHOULD I USE "GROWTH PLUS"?
- After transplanting to larger containers
- During periods of active growth (green growth, flowering, crop production).
- Use every 10 - 14 days.
- Mixing rage: one capful / one liter (foliar spray) OR one capful / five liters (root soak)

WHEN SHOULD I NOT USE "GROWTH PLUS"?
- When crops are "shifting gears" - changing into a new growth stage:
- plants adjusting to higher light levels (new transplants). Plants changing from green growth to flowering cycle, especially with reduced day length. (See "Shifting Gears" information sheet for more hints on getting through this period of change.)
- During high-temperature periods, or when crops have disease or pest problems.
- When plants are growing in low light level conditions.
- During the final two weeks of crop production, as growth slows.

WHEN SHOULD I USE "POWER THRIVE"?
- For new cuttings and seedlings:

To pre-moisten grow mediums
To "water in" new cuttings and seedlings.
For misting and watering cuttings and seedlings until established.

- For fast recovery from stress:

Plants recovering from disease or pest problems
Plants recovering from heat or water stress

HOW CLOSE SHOULD MY LAMP BE TO MY CROP?
- The closest minimum distance between lamps and crops is determined by temperature, since plants grow best at 30 degrees C = 85 degrees F. Since heat levels will vary from one garden to the next, the minimum distance in your garden may be different from another garden with different light levels, air movement, etc. To find the minimum (closest) distance for your garden:

- Use a small thermometer, mounted at the top of your plants.
- When the thermometer gives a continuous reading of 30 degrees C, the lamp is at its closest possible position to the crop - note this distance so you'll remember to keep moving the reflector up as crops grow, to keep the best temperature for your plants.
- Once you have learned how close you can safely have the lamp from your crop, move lamp away from the crop until all plants are well-lit.
- Fix the lamp into this position. Maintain at least the minimum distance from the crop by moving the lamp higher as plants grow taller.
- High temperatures cause SLOW growth and STRESS plants! . .

READY FOR A RIDDLE?

Ready for a riddle? O.K., What's invisible, feeds your plants, fights off bugs, brushes off disease, helps your crop bring food and water up from the roots, keeps garden temperatures just right, and hauls away excess water? It has no batteries, no mechanical parts, and you'll never run out of it! Of course we're talking about air! It's the most versatile, yet unappreciated, worker in the garden. When gardeners understand how many chores a little air can do, they can put it to better use to make their gardens healthier and more productive. Let's start with air "feeding" plants. Everyone knows that plants grow from fertilizers, right? Guess again!

Almost HALF the dry weight of plants is carbon, taken from air! Another 42% of your plants is oxygen! All those fertilizers you've been mixing and feeding to your corps? They only make up about 2% of your crop's dry weight! Considering air only has 300-400 parts per million of carbon dioxide (0.03%), we can concluded two things: plants are pretty good at grabbing CO2 from the air, and they can use all the fresh air they can get! Air is your greatest ally in the war against bugs and disease! Moving air can blow insects off your crops, and interfere with their meal-times.

Who can eat in a hurricane? Air movement also lays havoc with egg-laying and the growth of baby bugs in your garden. Bugs want still, moist air - and if they can't get it in your garden, they'll go somewhere else! This is one good reason why we emphasize good spacing between plants, oscillating fans, an air intake source and good exhaust fans. Let someone else get the bug problem! Air movement through the garden helps keep diseases in check, by keeping humidity levels from climbing to unhealthy levels. Diseases multiply quickly in still, moist air, and use any water on the leaf as an entry point to damage leaves. If you can run ALL your fans 24 hours a day (without chilling your garden) you'll help your plants stay healthy and disease-free. Air fights disease in the root zone, too.

The worst diseases need waterlogged conditions to multiply and attack roots - air is their poison! (talk about a safe, cheap fungicide!) Want to keep roots - and plants - healthy? Don't overwater, and let air work for you in the root zone. How can air make crops take up water and food faster and better? In two ways: first, air in the root zone means healthy, growing roots eater to work hard supplying the top growth with food and water. Second, good air movement through plants draws lots of food and water up from the roots.

How? To understand this, you'll want to meet the STOMA, a tiny breathing pore on the underside of a leaf. This stoma's a busy place - a sort of grand central station of the plant world. Carbon dioxide and oxygen are coming and going through this tiny opening, and this is where water vapor drifts out of the leaf into the air.

Lots of water vapor - if your crops used 100 gallons of water and food mix last week, they "transpired" 99 gallons of water out of this breathing pore, keeping only one gallon for actual growth! It sounds wasteful, doesn't it? But plants have a purpose in handling all this water: as a drop of water evaporates and drifts out of the leaf, it yanks another drop of food and water into the roots. In this way, plants suck water and food into the roots and draw them up the stem to the leaves, concentrating the minerals from the fertilizer mix in the leaves for use by the plant. Evaporation of the excess water also cools the leaf, keeping it at an efficient working temperature.

Another important use of this water movement: it keeps air spaces int he leaves moist so CO2 can dissolve into the damp air - a necessary first step for uptake and use of CO2 by the plant. When we supply good air movement through the garden, we help to speed everything up - CO2 uptake, food and water movement into the plant, utilization of minerals by the leaves - in other words,

we speed up GROWTH! Air isn't a riddle any more - put it to work for you and your garden, and it will prove its usefulness to the health and yield of your crops. . .

Creating Good Growing Conditions in the Garden :

Temperature
If plants could be fussy about one main growing condition, it would be temperature. Aside from drying out the roots completely (not recommended unless you enjoy funerals !) the quickest way to create problems in your greenhouse is to mess with your plant's temperature.
The bad news is : Letting the thermometer climb - or - drop by only a few degrees can make plants clench up and stop growing.
The good news is : We know what they like. Here is a list of recommended temperatures for different stage of growth in the garden.

Please note: The listed temperatures refers to TEMPERATURE AT THE TOP OF THE TOP OF PLANT not the floor , wall, or outside!

Use a small thermometer on a bamboo stake for accuracy!

SEEDLINGS AND CUTTINGS 21 C (70 F) Day and night

GREEN GROWTH 30 c (85 F) days 18-21 C (65-70 F) Nights

FLOWERING AND CROP PRODUCTION 27 C (80F) Day 15-18C(60-65F) Nights

ROOTS (Green Growth and Crop Production) 21C (70F)

Hydrogen Peroxide

Do you know how to use it? Most distributors of 35% food grade Hydrogen Peroxide recommend using 3-5 ml per gallon of solution. Here is what they don't tell you, they do not know how it works in hydroponic situations and how it relates to nutrient solutions and delicate root hairs.

When Hydrogen Peroxide is added to water it creates a certain level of Ozone, Ozone will, having the opportunity, react with any organic compounds that are present and this is called oxidation. Hydrogen Peroxide is water with an extra oxygen molecule causing it to be unstable and when you add it to water H202 + H20 = H403, the 03 in the equation is ozone and requires oxidation to break it down into 02 which is stable.

The directions for use in hydroponics is 1 ml per gallon of water without nutrient present in the water, if you add Hydrogen Peroxide to your nutrient solution then you run the risk of the ozone reacting with the mineral salts allowing them to fall out of solution. Do not use more than this because it may break down the outer layer of the root hair making it susceptible to root disease which is in many cases the very reason you are using it. When used properly it will enhance your oxygen content of your solution. Another thing I need to mention is that when you add Hydrogen Peroxide to your water let it stand for 1/2 hours before you add your nutrient so as not to get any reaction.

1ml per gallon
let stand 1/2 hour
add only to water

When deciding upon what light source you want to use, you must consider the plants needs. The blue-violet and red-orange segments of the visible light spectrum are the most important for photosynthesis and chlorophyll production. Red-orange light will encourage flowering and stem elongation. Light strong in the blue-violet spectrum will keep plants short and bushy with short internodal space. In combination the two will produce more balanced growth. Metal Halide or Multi Vapor H.I.D. lamps provide the most complete spectrum for plant growth from a single source in absence of actual sunlight. Metal Halide lamps produce a decent amount of light energy in both the blue-violet and red- orange ends of the spectrum but, leaning slightly towards blue-violet as the predominant area of spectral energy. Metal Halides can be used for both vegetative and flowering stages. A definite improvement upon the standard 'white' metal halide is the new Daylight Full Spectrum bulb by Duraguard. This bulb illuminates a very definite blue spectrum resulting in very healthy vegetative growth, with short internodal spacing. Since this bulb has a balanced spectrum it would be a perfect bulb for a one lamp operation. Available in both 400 and 1000 Watt. High Pressure Sodium or HPS lamps produce light energy weighted toward the red-orange area of the spectrum. Many growers use these lamps for all stages of growth, unless natural sunlight is available we would only suggest their use during flower initiation and development periods. There is a new strain of HPS bulbs that have an augmented blue segment (30% or more) making them a worthwhile choice for all growing periods. For those who have metal halide systems and want to add or change to high pressure sodium lamps for flowering, there are Retrofit High Pressure Sodium Lamps available that are compatible with a metal halide ballast. The definite advantage that the retrofit bulbs have over conventional H.P. S. bulbs, is that you can use metal halides for strong vegetative growth as they are predominant in the blue-violet spectrum and high pressure sodium lamps, which are high in the red- range spectrum for flowering. Available in both 360 and 940 Watt.

We hope this information will help you make an educated choice in purchasing your next lighting system.