Grow. Bloom. Harvest. Dump all that media. Buy a load more. And start all over again. It’s a cycle that many of us, as indoor gardeners, are all too familiar with. Whether you choose to grow in soil, coco coir, rockwool, clay balls or soilless mix, chances are, when the crop’s been chopped, invariably it’s [...]
Curtis shares his experience and evaluation with the Sure To Grow medium.
Your choice of growth media is central to the way you irrigate your plants. Here’s our quick guide to some common, and not so common media to help you know what options are out there.
Jargon Buster
Cation Exchange Capacity – CEC
The ability of a growing media to hold and release positive charged elements (cations). Important nutrient [...]
Rockwool is a mainstay of commercial hydroponic growers – and for good reason. It takes up a minimal footprint and, when used correctly, yields like crazy. We asked Dr Lynette Morgan, a world authority on hydroponic vegetable production, to give us some expert advice on growing tomatoes in rockwool. There’s LOTS to be learned here as Dr Morgan takes us through how to develop irrigation strategies for your particular growing environment.
Sturdy, healthy tomato starts are important for both hydroponic and outdoor gardens.
What’s the secret? Tough love.
WORDS: Heather Walker
Germination Basics
To go from seed to seedling, tomato plants need a moist growing medium, light, and warmth. I grow seedlings in my own organic potting mix of peat moss, vermiculite (some growers prefer perlite), green sand, bone meal, [...]
Curtis reviews the Gel2Root gel cloning cups.
Compact. Self contained. Inexpensive. Easy to set up. Virtually no growth media required. No need to dial in complex irrigation schedules. Total control over a hyper-oxygenated, thriving root zone. Our main man with a high yielding plan, Everest Fernandez, takes a first look at NFT Gro-Tanks and shares some of his hands-on experience.
Daniel Wilson invites us to rethink what gardening in earth vs. gardening in water really means to the sustainability of indoor gardening.
It’s National Lawn Care Month in the U.S. this April: an excellent time to rip up that sod and start growing your own food! Urban Garden Magazine tells you how.
We all want to use items that increase our garden’s fertility in the hopes of explosive yields. With that as our aim, there is one item that stands out as a must-have for all soil and soil-less gardens: worm castings. Vermicomposting is the use of worms to break down organic material. Worm castings are the result of their digestion process. This process will give you some of the highest quality castings available and help you create a more technical and successful garden experience without a lot of effort.
© 2012 Urban Garden Magazine