Tips for Foliar Spraying

2. April 2011Nutrients and Fertilizationadmin0 comments

Here are guidelines for foliar spraying:

• When mixing up your formulation, whether mineral, organic fertilization, or compost tea, use non-chlorinated, well-oxygenated water. Bubble air through chlorinated water or leave it to off -gas overnight. You can try using seltzer in your foliar spray to give plants an added CO2 boost.
• Make sure mineral ingredients are dissolved and the solution is very dilute. Chemicals in high concentration tend to “burn” foliage and leave a salt residue. Compost teas need to be diluted 10 to 1.
• Add a natural surfactant or wetting agent to help the solution fl ow over and stick to foliage. Yucca is a natural surfactant and is often a component of compost teas. Use true organic soaps such as Dr. Bronner’s, Tom’s, or Pangea. The great majority of other soaps contain detergents that do not break down easily.
• Young transplants prefer a more alkaline solution (pH 7.0) while older growth prefers a somewhat more acid spray (pH 6.2). Use baking soda to the raise pH of your spray and apple cider vinegar to lower it.
• Spray with a fine sprayer for foliar fertilization and with a coarser, low-pressure sprayer for compost tea. The microbes in compost tea need large protective water droplets. Apply in the early morning or evening when the stomata are open. Do not spray if the temperature is over 80ºF (~27ºC) or in the bright sun. Harsh ultraviolet rays can kill microbes in compost tea.
• Cover at least 70 percent of the foliage, paying particular attention to the under surfaces of the leaves.
• Apply foliar fertilization or sprayed compost tea every two to three weeks during the growing season.

Fruit Bearing Plants for Greenhouse Hydroponics

15. March 2011General Gardening Tips, Hydroponic Basicsadmin0 comments

Now we’re ready to discuss specific cultivars. Greenhouse tomatoes are generally grown from F1 seeds. Beefsteak cultivars include Blitz F1, Match F1, Matrix F1, Geronimo F1, and Trust F1. These cultivars produce large tomatoes in the half-pound range.
Cluster or truss tomatoes are four or five ounces in weight and grow with three to seven fruit attached to the truss. They keep for a fairly long time and have a little tougher skin than do beefsteak tomato fruit. Cultivars include Tradero F1, Clarance F1, and Ambiance F1. If you are interested in small tomato cultivars, Dasher F1 is a grape tomato and Flavorita F1 and Conchita F1 are cherry tomatoes. Read more »

Skyscraper Farms of the Future

27. October 2008Gardening Newsnextgen0 comments
Skyscraper Farm of the Future

Skyscraper Farm of the Future

Dickson Despommier, a 67-year-old microbiologist at Columbia University suggests that skyscraper farms will be the future of agriculture. With the world’s population forecast to grow from 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion by the year 2050, a massive amount of agricultural land will be required to feed us. And with 41 percent of the world already being used for agricultural purposes, not including the land we live and work on, it poses a major problem. Where will expansion come from? Given a finite amount of land available, Despommier believes it’s time to think upward. Despommier, who also sits on the board of New York Sun Works and is responsible for the urban-farm floating barge, came up with the idea eight years ago while teaching. Read more »

Earth Machine Composters Available from Local Municipalities

11. October 2008Gardening Newsadmin0 comments

Many local city governments are now offering composting bins to their residents in order to promote green behavior. An average family produces over 500 lbs. of compostable garbage every year. That is 500 lbs. of garbage that can be reused as mulch instead of going to the local land fill. This may be why my own home town of Raleigh is subsidising over half of the cost of Earth Machine composters. For $32, Raleigh residents can pick up an Earth Machine from the Solid Waste Services Department.
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Identifying Bad Water Quality Part 2

30. September 2008Hydroponic Basicsadmin0 comments

When is Your Water Too Dirty?

Let’s look at a possible scenario. Say you test your water and learn that the ppm is 300 and the hardness (calcium and magnesium) is 11 grains or 188 ppm (1 grain of hardness is equal to 17.1 ppm hardness).

Because you’re on well water you surmise the other 112 ppm are other minerals, such as iron, and possibly sulphur. The water tastes great to you and your friends and everyone believes it would be great water to garden with. It’s time to transplant some freshly rooted cuttings into larger containers. You know you are working with a variety of flowers that are sensitive to high ppm in their early stages. You want to keep your feed formula at around 400 ppm for the first week. At this point do you add 400 ppm of food to your water that is already 300 ppm or do you only add 100 ppm food? That’s the dilemma — you can never accurately control the amounts of critical inputs your plants need to feed properly.
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