The Urban Farmer: New Hobby, Keep it cool, droopy leaves?

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The Urban Farmer, Issue #032 * January,
2011: New hobby? * Keep it cool * Droopy
leaves?

“After all, Eden was a
garden… the garden is a place to go for quiet contemplation, a source not only
of food but also of spiritual renewal and intimate contact with life’s most
basic processes.”

~ Ed Smith

NEW HOBBY FOR THE NEW YEAR?

Think Green!

Most of us find hobbies that we love to spend time with. Here’s an excellent
one, which even refreshes our mind and helps us go green: hydroponics. Most of
us would find it difficult to construct a vegetable garden in our house! Years
ago, you wouldn’t even contemplate such a thing!

So what is hydroponics? It is a method of
growing plants without soil. “Without soil?”, you may wonder. Yeah, exactly. In
this technique, plants are grown in a solution, which contains nutrients for
their growth.

The main challenge is “where to put it”.
The first thing is to find a cool enough place with plenty of light (place it
near windows if at all possible). The tray is to be setup there. Many kits are
now available in the market to get you started. Once the garden is created, you
will need to spend a fixed amount of time every day working with it. One great
advantage of this technique is that it provides refreshment for the mind. A
major bonus: it also gives crops for dinner. Since water is not lost in the
system, you can run it for many months without heavy consumption of water. The
drawbacks of this system are negligible.

So it’s time to start work with your
hydroponics garden now! Get started by visiting this page: http://www.hydroponics-simplified.com/what-is-hydroponics.html

ADVICE FROM SIMON: KEEP IT COOL!

I’ll tell you straight up front… your biggest
obstacle to a successful hydroponics garden will be…..
heat. The lights needed to grow veggies are
hot! If you’re growing inside, you need to think about this. Any garden prefers
a cool climate to an overly hot one. The magic numbers: keep the temp between
65-80 degrees.

Here are some ways you can cool things off:

    *Crack the window open in cool/cold weather.
    *In winter, close off some of the heat getting to the growroom.
    *Use a fan to blow heat away from the plants.
    *Get a grow-light equipped with exhaust tubing & inline exhaust fan.

    *Keep A/C thermostat at 72-76 degrees. Can’t afford that?
      Buy a portable A/C or small window unit for your grow-room.

Hydro Tip of the Month

Got droopy leaves?

Possible reasons:
Temp too high [cool it down]
Not enough fluids [check that system is delivering enough solution]
Nutrient solution too strong [flush plants with clear water only for a week,
then restart with a new batch of nutrient solution]

We hope you have enjoyed this issue of The Urban Farmer Ezine. Each month, we will bring you another inspiring photo, gardening quote or idea, plus fresh new hydroponics news, techniques & products.

Insiders tips to get you growing…