Everest shares some time-honored heuristics to help beginner growers increase the productivity of their indoor gardens.

1.) Reduce Your Concentration!

Hydroponic growers adjust the pH of their nutrient solution to around 5.8 to 6.2 – this provides the best accessibility to the widest range of nutritional elements.  pH adjuster products are sold in grow stores in concentrated liquid (sometimes powder) form.  However, some growers get lazy and add this stuff neat (undiluted) to their nutrient solution.  This causes nutritional elements to precipitate out of the solution and therefore become unavailable to your plants.  To avoid this, make up a dilute solution of your pH adjusters – 1 part pH adjuster to 100 parts water – and use this instead.  The weakened concentration of your pH up or down will enable you to safely adjust the pH of your nutrient solution without damaging your nutrients!

2.) So Near, So Far …

More light = more yield … but only to a point!  In fact, grow lights can represent a mixed blessing for the indoor gardener.  Sure, they provide the all-important light photons essential for photosynthesis – your plants ain’t growing without them!  But these same lamps also generate a lot of radiant heat!    If your plants grow too close to your lamps they will become too hot and shut down (stop photosynthesizing).  In extreme cases they will scorch and burn and the growth tips will die.  This causes untold stress to your plants and drastically reduces your yields.

On the other hand some growers are overly cautious and raise their grow lights too high, causing their plants to stretch in search of more lumens.  The ongoing aim of every indoor gardener is to get as many growth tips in the “sweet spot” as possible.  This is the area where your plants are just at a safe distance away from your bulbs and receiving maximum light intensity.

Different growers combat this problem in different ways.  All growers should try to move the air in between the tops of their plants and the lamp using an oscillating fan.  Some growers also air-cool or water-cool their grow lights while some put their lights on a mover or spinner.

As well as a light meter, use a thermometer with a remote temperature probe to measure the heat at the tops of your plants.  For many popular indoor crops, the magic number is 82°F (28°C).  What’s the temperature reading at the top of your plants?

3.) Brrrrr!  Using Cold Tap Water!

First off, tap water can contain chlorine and chloramines plus high levels of other minerals (often not in a form that is useful to your plants) and other impurities.  You should always feed your plants with the best quality water you can.  Many professional growers and keen hobbyists take control over their water quality by investing in a water softener and reverse-osmosis water purifier.  Also, you should always make sure that the temperature of your nutrient solution is around 65 – 68°F (18 – 20°C) before feeding it to your plants.  Cold water shocks your plants’ roots and warm water contains drastically lower levels of dissolved oxygen.  If your indoor garden is suffering from high temperatures, using a slightly cooler nutrient solution can help your plants get through until you manage to correct your environment.

4.) Lights++ Environment–

So, you’ve managed to dial in your indoor growing environment with two, three or four lights and you’re growing healthy, happy plants and enjoying regular crops of your favorite veggies all year round.  Great, but don’t make the mistake of thinking you can expand by simply adding more lights!   You need to also consider how this will effect your growing environment.  Firstly, more plants will mean more transpiration, and a need for more CO2.  More lights equals more heat to get rid of.  So if you are thinking of adding more grow lights, make sure you budget for increased air transfer too – you’ll definitely need it!

5.) Unruly Plants

A crucial skill that every indoor gardener needs to learn is how to shape and train their plants so that they make the most of any artificial light source.  You need to let your plants know who’s boss.  Do not grow your plants too large.  Small to medium sized specimens are the way forward for most indoor growers.  Remember, your plants receive exponentially less light the further they are from the lamp.  As most gardeners light their plants from above, a common goal for many indoor growers is for shorter, squatter plants with wide canopies.  Think of a candelabra.  Pruning out the leading growth tip will encourage many types of plants to adopt this formation.

TIP:  If you are growing plants that are sensitive to photoperiod bear in mind that they will not respond immediately when you change your light cycle to induce flowering.  Growers of many plant varieties are often stunned by the amount their plants bolt (or stretch) after changing the day length simulated by their grow lights.  Err on the side of ‘small’ when deciding when to switch your plants from vegetative to flowering mode!

6.) Grow Like A Gardener, Not a Robot

So you think you’ve got your nutrient recipe down and now it’s just a question of making it happen.  But the best growers are always in a state of flux.  They are observing their plants on a daily basis, getting in among them, looking for signs of under / over fertilizing and adjusting their nutrient regimen accordingly.

This is especially important if you are making any chance, whatsoever, to your growing environment.  Improved air exchange or CO2 levels in your indoor garden will cause your plants to grow more vigorously.  The saavy grower observes and recognizes this and increases the strength of his nutrient solution accordingly.

Conversely, if the ambient temperature inside your indoor garden rises above optimum levels (e.g. during the summer months) your plants will inevitably use more water.  You should therefore decrease the strength of your nutrient solution.

7.) Stale Food

Re-circulating your nutrient solution?  Great – you’ll save on precious water resources, not to mention expensive nutrients and additives!  But ask yourself – how often do you really drain your reservoir, then rinse, and replenish with a fresh batch?  Once every week?  Once every two weeks?  Or once every … when you can be bothered?  Younger plants will tolerate less frequent nutrient solution changes than more mature plants.  But if you’re really going to turn on the charm, the time for super frequent nutrient solution changes is during flowering and fruiting.  This is when your plants’ nutrient requirements are at their highest and will benefit most from regular nutrient solution changes.

8.) Poor Propagation

Care early on pays massive dividends later.  Be especially patient and watchful during the propagation stage.  Give your plants time to establish healthy root systems before rushing them into a hydroponics system and flowering them off.  Ensure humidity levels are kept fairly high at 60-80%, especially early on.  This reduces stress on the young plant which, in turn, allows it to focus on that all-important root system.

A plant that has been “hardened off” for five or six days under a fluorescent veg lamp, for instance, still needs to be introduced to a 1000W metal halide with care.  Raise the metal halide 3-4 foot above the plants until you see the first signs of growth.  Break those babies in slowly.  What is often diagnosed as “transplant shock” is often more due to the shock of an increase in light intensity.

9.) Lack of Oxygen

Dissolved oxygen in your nutrient solution is so important we can’t harp on about it enough.  Oxygen in your nutrients promotes root health and speeds up your plants’ metabolism meaning it can grow faster and bloom copiously!  Lack of oxygen in your nutrients, on the other hand, invites all sorts of problems, the leader of the pack being pythium which can destroy your crop in a matter of days.  You can increase levels of dissolved oxygen in your nutrient solution by bubbling air into it – the smaller the bubbles, the better!

10.) Don’t Be a Dirty Sanchez

What’s that carpet still doing in your indoor garden?  Is that decomposing plant matter in the corner over there?  Still not got rid of that bag of old root balls from last crop?  Get a grip on your garden!  Clean as you go.  Keep it as spotless as possible.  Filter all air vents.  Think of your indoor garden as a laboratory and you won’t go far wrong.  The cleaner your growing environment, the fewer viruses your plants have to fight; the more energy your plants can put into their primary mission – growing and blooming!  Cleaning sounds boring, and it is.  But how boring is 10% more yield?  Nuff said.

Supercharged plants.  Sounds rather pleasant doesn’t it?  But what exactly are we talking about? A supercharged growing environment is one where no single thing your plants need is in short supply.  Think of it like a series of links in a chain.  The rate of your plants’ development is only ever going to be as fast as the weakest link allows.

So what are these links?  Well, the obvious examples include: plant genetics, light levels, temperature, CO2, and relative humidity.  The not so obvious example is oxygen.  This odorless, colorless gas plays a critical role in plant growth and bloom.  In fact, despite being all around us, it could be the crucial component that is holding your plants back…

WORDS: Jim Lepard

The Key Benefits of Oxygen for Plants

Oxygen usually makes up 45% of the dry tissue weight of a plant.  It is a macro-element, along with nitrogen, phosphorus, hydrogen, carbon, potassium, calcium, sulfur and magnesium.

Oxygen provides essential energy for plants to turn their sugars into cell structure.  In other words, plants need oxygen to grow!  Oxygen is also used by plants to control their stomata – tiny but crucial “breathing apparatus” in their leaves.

We tend to think of plants creating oxygen as the end product of photosynthesis but, as with many natural processes, the complete picture is more cyclical.  Plants also use oxygen in two major ways.  They uptake it through their roots and they absorb it via their leaves.

At night most plants reverse the process of photosynthesis and switch to burning carbohydrates and oxygen while producing carbon dioxide and water. So it’s important to make sure that oxygen levels are maintained in the indoor garden, especially at night when plants aren’t producing it via photosynthesis.  Most growers achieve adequate levels of oxygen at night by using extraction fans to bring in a steady supply of fresh air.

Oxygen and Stomata

Stomata consist of pores called stoma, which are bordered by two specialty guard cells. The guard cells regulate the size of the opening of the stoma (pore).  Because the stoma is responsible for the exchange of gases (i.e. oxygen and CO2) plus water vapor, it is critical that stomata are healthy and working properly.  If the stomata are oxygen deprived from the root zone, they begin to shut down and the size of the stoma opening becomes smaller due to the loss of turgor pressure in the stomata guard cells, restricting the exchange of gases and water vapors.  If the flow of water slows in the plant, the plant cannot cool itself and begins to suffer from overheating – visually apparent from wilting.  The uptake of nutrients in the water is also affected, along with the flow of oxygen.  This further compounds the problem, resulting in necrosis of the plant’s leaves. Photosynthesis is slowed as well, leaving the plant sick and weak, unable to fight off insects and disease, resulting in lower yields and eventual death of the plant.

Dissolved Oxygen

Many growers overlook the importance of dissolved oxygen levels in their nutrient solution.  When oxygen levels in a nutrient solution are raised, you essentially give your plants the ability to process more gases and water vapors, resulting in a cooler, faster growing and higher yielding plant. Root systems work more efficiently when highly oxygenated.  This is because oxygen affects the electrical charge of water and nutrients allowing the roots to uptake using less energy.

Increased oxygen levels also help to reduce water borne pathogens and fungi, such as the dreaded pythium and saprophytic fungi.  By elevating oxygen levels, the grower instantly creates a more suitable environment for aerobic bacteria (our friends). The more friendly bacteria we have, the greater their effectiveness in combating any anaerobic bacteria (our enemy).

Cooler water is capable of holding on to more oxygen than warmer water.  So when a nutrient solution starts to warm up, its ‘hold’ on dissolved oxygen decreases. For example, the oxygen content of a fully aerated solution 68°F (20°C) is around 9ppm, whereas at 86°F (30°C), it drops by over 16% to 7.5ppm.

Popular Methods of Increasing Oxygen Levels
Growers who appreciate the importance of dissolved oxygen have historically tried a variety of methods to increase levels in their nutrient solution.  It’s fairly straightforward to improve levels, but far harder to achieve ‘supercharged’ levels.

1. Surface to Air Contact
A submersible pump is placed into the nutrient reservoir.  When switched on it creates turbulence in the nutrient solution which increases its contact with air. The barrier between the water and air is broken (like a waterfall hitting a pool) allowing oxygen to be absorbed into the water.  The more turbulence at the surface, the greater the oxygen absorption.

2. Forced Aeration and Air Stones
This is one of the most popular methods used by growers today. Air pumps or compressors are used together with air stones or perforated pipe placed in the bottom of the nutrient tank. An air stone is traditionally a piece of limewood or porous stone but can also be made from fiberglass.  When air is pumped into the stone it creates very fine bubbles.  As these fine bubbles rise in the nutrient tank, some of the oxygen is absorbed by the nutrient solution.

There is currently some controversy surrounding the efficacy of air stones.  One theory suggests that larger bubbles rising in the nutrient solution absorb smaller suspended bubbles on their way up and air dissipates out of the solution.  In one test the oxygen levels in a nutrient solution actually dropped after running the air stone for 50 minutes!  Other growers (and aquarium owners) swear by them!

3. H2O2  (Hydrogen Peroxide)
Hydrogen Peroxide is known for increasing oxygen levels and its high oxidizing properties.  When H2O2 is first introduced to the nutrient solution there is a spike in oxygen levels and the plants receive a boost of oxygen.  However, the oxygen levels quickly drop off, especially with an air pump and aeration or agitation of the water via a water pump circulating through the system.  Along with the higher amount of oxygen, comes the high level of oxidization.  This is fine if the plants are suffering from any fungi or pathogens that may be in the system.  However the indiscriminating oxidizing effect of H2O2 can also attack a healthy root system.

Double air diffuser

4. Air Diffusers
The large scale solution.  Air diffusers force concentrated atmospheric oxygen into the nutrient solution. These systems achieve very high oxygen levels but they have to be regulated carefully and tend to be used by large commercial greenhouses that can afford the room and cost of such equipment.

5. Electrolysis
Oxygen is produced through electrolysis when a DC current is passed through an anode and cathode in an acid or salt solution.  As the solution passes by the anode and cathode the current separates the oxygen atom from the hydrogen atoms at a molecular level, leaving the oxygen suspended in the water. The plant absorbs some of the beneficial hydrogen but because hydrogen is 16 times lighter than oxygen, most of it is disbursed through the surface of the water.  The benefit of this method of raising oxygen levels in a nutrient solution is that oxygen is not being forced into the water.  The oxygen is actually being generated from the water, within the water.

Still not convinced about the importance of oxygen?  Then check out this basil crop, brought back from the brink of death after a spell of freakishly hot weather!  How? Oxygen levels were raised in the nutrient solution using electrolysis. The basil was infested with pythium (root rot) but started to recover almost immediately!

Healthy white roots appearing days after the nutrient solution was regularly treated with oxygen electrolysis.

Basil roots 10 days after the beginning of electrolysis treatment.

Incredible! After being all but overcome by pythium, the roots of this basil plant have been restored to health after 21 days of electrolysis treatment.

If your plants are not fighting root rot and disease, there’s no doubt that you will harvest bigger, heavier crops – without the need for chemical pesticides or supplements.

Now take a deep breath. Feels good, doesn’t it?

Just imagine that this super-experienced, righteous and magical dude has poked his friendly face around the corner of your indoor garden and, what’s more, he’s agreed to spend some quality time with you to get you growing like a pro. You see, Harmon was cultivating copious amounts of vegetables, fruits, flowers and herbs when Everest was no more than a spark in his daddy’s arc tube! Time to read and heed!

So pay attention, you soft and stroke-able newbie growers: here’s the Indoor Gardening Grand Wizard Harmon himself, ready to add some magic to your indoor garden!

#1 Environment is Everything

Greetings Urban Gardeners. Did you know that some new indoor gardeners think that all they need to do is buy a grow light and hang it above their plants? WRONG! These growers are underestimating the importance of environmental quality. Just like people, plants can only perform well when they are comfortable and receiving proper atmospheric conditions. Maintaining a proper temperature and humidity range is really critical to your success. Many plants enjoy higher relative humidity (60-80%) in their vegetative stage and lower (40-50%) during flowering. I try to maintain my indoor garden at 82°F (28°C) when the lights are on and 64°F (18°C) when they are off – but hey, that’s just me and my capsicums. Different plants have different requirements.

Equally important is clean air, proper CO2 / oxygen ratio, and adequate air circulation. You wouldn’t want to spend your life locked in a stagnant cupboard, would you? Air movement is your best defense against mold and other pathogens as well as the plants’ vehicle to remove waste products from the leaves and facilitate respiration. There is something magical about fresh air so don’t underestimate the importance of it. Fresh air brings fresh supplies of CO2 – a crucial component of photosynthesis – your plants can’t “breathe” without it! You can bring fresh air in with an intake port, exhaust fan and timer. Another way to ensure a constant supply of fresh air is to provide a convection air leak in the enclosure. Furnish a small hole near the floor at one end and another in the ceiling at the other end. Use some kind of filter to catch bugs and dirt. (At the very least a window screen or a pair of old tights if you have any spares knocking around!) For optimum control of temperature and humidity and coordination of CO2 enrichment and ventilation, specialized environmental controls are available to automate and maintain precise atmospheric conditions.

#2 Killing with Kindness

As your plants grow, their nutrient requirements increase, so it’s all too easy to get over-excited when they are young and err into over indulgence with fertilizers, plant additives, enhancers, and other stuff.  Sometimes it’s because of the old adage, “If a little is good, more must be better,” or you just follow too many people’s advice. Before you know it, you’ve got some kind of mysterious blend of chemical hocus-pocus that may not be compatible.

When you see curled leaves like claws, burnt leaf tips, slow overall growth or damaged new growth (terminal shoots), my advice is usually “go back to basics.” Flush the media with clean, pure water for a day or two, and then run a half strength dose of a good quality fertilizer. Once the plants re-establish themselves and begin to show normal growth, slowly increase the nutrient concentration and eventually you can start adding other growth enhancing products again.

A reasonable amount of additives can be very advantageous. My advice is to choose a well-established manufacturer who provides a complete line of nutrients and additives, and follow their program. Always use a conductivity meter to check the strength of your nutrient solution.

#3 Watering and Transplanting

Many new growers start with hand-watering their plants in soil and pots. It seems to be the simplest way but improper watering and transplanting is a common error. Start off your plants in small pots and make sure you transplant your plants in graduations. Let the plants develop a solid root ball before increasing container size, and then only step up a couple inches at a time. The theory here is to keep a consistent medium that the roots can dominate. Empty soil stays too wet and becomes water logged. The plant needs to generate a thick root ball mass to be healthy. Use a good quality soil mix that is light and provides good air retention. Pack the soil firmly and water immediately. Leave soil a few inches below the top of the container to hold water while it soaks in during watering. Do not water too often. It’s good to let the media dry out a little and then water completely. Feel the weight of the pot – it’s a great indicator of how much water is in the soil. Water lightly once to wet the substrate and break the soil tension, then come back after a minute and saturate. Let some water run out the bottom to leach out old contaminants. If you use trays under your pots, do not leave standing water. Kick the bucket, or lift it a bit to judge weight. This is a good indicator of water content. Too-frequent watering and over fertilizing is one of the most common mistakes new growers make. An old saying for soil growing is “fertilize weakly weekly,” and there is some truth to that.

#4 Understanding pH

Besides just the addition of fertilizer, nutrient solutions require other specific properties to work effectively. pH is an important factor. This ranges between 5 and 7 in most cases but varies depending on a gamut of particulars: cultivar, plant growth stage, type of grow system, fertilizer program, water characteristics, and even environmental conditions (light, heat, etc.) to name a few. My advice to growers is to let the pH run a range of about a full point. For typical plants, the rule of thumb is to aim for or 6.0 and let it rise (or drop as the case may be) about a point before adding adjusters. Essential elements become available at different pH values, so by letting your pH vary across the scale you have a better chance of all elements finding their optimum assimilation point. I prefer the range of 5.5 to 6.5 as a good gradient zone. Letting the pH drift alkaline (above 7.0) is more likely to stress plants than a slightly acidic pH. My main point here is that you don’t need to adjust your pH as often as you might be led to believe. Invest in a quality, digital pH meter and calibrate it regularly. Finally, only measure the pH of your nutrient solution once you have added all your fertilizer and additives, as these can affect it too.

#5 Nutrient Temperature

Root health is vital to your garden’s success so naturally you don’t want to cook your roots or allow them to become too cold. Nutrients are most easily absorbed when the nutrient solution is around 68°F (20°C).  Typically, temperatures in your indoor garden will drop at night as much as 10°F (5°C). That is perfectly acceptable. But if your water / nutrient solution is too cool it will cause the growth rate to decrease. Cold tap water can shock roots and cause other problems. However if the solution is too hot all kind of nasty things will happen. As water becomes warmer it can hold decreasing amounts of dissolved oxygen (which is really important for root health). If you are using a recirculating system, pay special attention to heat as it can transfer to the solution in many ways. The most common is absorption from trays, channels, containers or plumbing. This is a result of radiant heat from sunlight or even artificial lighting. Pumps can also create heat and be a factor. Protect your solution from direct sunlight. Insulate or sink your nutrient reservoir in the ground if possible. I have run my solutions through buried hose or pipe to cool them before returning to the system. Water chillers are available for extremely warm conditions. Nutrient heaters (with integrated thermostats) are also available at very reasonable prices to help you cope with cold conditions.

#6 Oxygen

Oxygen content in your nutrient solution is often neglected or misunderstood. Just like fish require oxygen in water, so do plants. Plant roots absorb O2 and need it for various purposes, but the primary reason for keeping an oxygenated solution is to fend off anaerobic bacteria such as Phytophthora root rot (blight) and damping off fungus (Rhizoctonia root rot). For the same reason, soil and other grow mediums must offer good aeration. As I said above, solutions can become depleted of oxygen if the water becomes too warm or stagnant. Organic solutions can easily become deficient as the culture often utilizes the oxygen. Dissolved oxygen is measured in mg/L. Typical optimum values range about 10 and 30 mg/L. Over 40 is considered saturated and under 5 is considered deficient. There are reagent kits and meters available but I hardly find them necessary. Air stones or spray nozzles generally do the trick. I often use a hose-end siphoning device designed for proportioning liquids into a hose stream and just let the intake suck air. It will induce fine bubbles into your water flow. They are cheap and widely available in garden shops. Soils should contain good porous substrates and, again, be sure to let them dry out between watering. Finally, keep your nutrient solutions agitated to prevent stagnation.

#7 Lighting

You could write a whole book on lighting an indoor garden so I’ll just try and outline some basic principles here. Where you place your lights can dramatically influence plant growth rate and structure. If the light levels are insufficient, plants will respond slowly and tend to be weak and elongated. It will be fairly obvious; you need more light. If the lights are too close to the plants the new growth will dry and curl. This will also be pretty apparent and is a more common mistake. Place your hand at the same level as the tops of your plants. Keep it there for a minute or so. If your hand starts to become noticeably warm your lights may be too close. Another good way to measure temperature is to fill a small plastic bottle with water and hang it at plant level with a mercury thermometer in it. This will provide an accurate interpretation of actual temperature. Most of the heat accumulation in an enclosure is from the lights. Air and water-cooled fixtures are a very effective method to remove unwanted heat before it becomes an atmospheric concern.

#8 Know Your Limits

Many plants have a vegetative stage and a flowering stage. Basically, the vegetative stage is when the plant builds its structure – the botanical ‘scaffolding’ to support the future harvest. The flowering stage is when the plant stops growing and focuses its energies on producing flowers and fruit.

What makes a plant flower? Many things can trigger it, depending on the plant type. For instance, I delay my capsicums from producing fruit by physically picking off the flowers. I do this so that they first grow to a decent size before concentrating on producing a bigger harvest for me!

Plants like Poinsettia and Kalanchoe require short day lengths in order to start flowering (usually 11 hours or less). In an indoor garden, you can control when these plants grow and flower just by changing the length of your lights-on period. If you’re growing plants like these (known as ‘photosensitive’ plants) it’s important to ensure that they enjoy complete darkness during the lights off period – so no peaking! They require uninterrupted darkness in order to properly trigger flowering.

I’m wary of opening up a can of worms here but consider the following simple advice:  When growing plants indoors, it’s important to take the space you have available into account. Sounds like commonsense, huh? But listen! It’s all too easy to get carried away in the vegetative stage, thinking that the bigger you grow your plants, they will automatically carry more fruit. This is true to an extent but you have to match the size of your plants to the containers they are grown in, the space available in your indoor garden, and the amount of light available. Also, remember that the transition from vegetative into flowering can be fairly gradual (it doesn’t happen overnight!) so growth can continue for a while even after you induce flowering with shortened days / lengthened nights. Knowing when to induce your plants to flower is a fine art (or science, depending on how you look at it!). Novice growers invariably grow their plants way, way too big at first.

#9 Don’t Get Bugged Out

Keep your indoor garden clean. Don’t get lazy: otherwise insects and diseases will be on you before you know it! Insect and disease control is one of the most devastating and misunderstood hazards of hobby growers. You get bugs, or at least finally notice them, and at that point it is often too late. You spray for them any number of lethal or ineffective insecticides, and that seems to help, but it takes a toll on your plants, and then the bugs come back. It is frustrating and it can cost you your yields and all the time and money you have invested in your garden. Plant diseases are much the same story. But there is a rhyme and reason to this dilemma. You just need to learn the timing and lifecycles of these ailments. You need to be proactive. Take precautionary steps. Beat them to the punch. There are many methods to avoid infestation, both procedural and environmental.

Clean the grow area and all plant equipment and systems between crops. Use 10% sodium hypochlorite (household bleach) or 3% hydrogen peroxide or whatever your desired disinfectant might be. Clean and rinse well. This is the best way to avoid common plant disease. Use filters to keep outside bugs and spores out.

Healthy plants are reasonably capable of fending off disease by their own mechanisms, whereas stressed plants become susceptible to all pests and disease. Bugs and disease usually start on one plant. Closely inspect all plants frequently, especially ones which seem to be weak or ailing. Learn where they hide and the telltale signs of damage. If you find a bug, act quick to reference information on the remedy. Bugs (and disease) have very definite life cycles. Don’t just spray, do your research. You have to know what, when, and how often to administer treatment. There will be a pattern of applications necessary to stop the infestation. This is the key. Believe me. You’ve got to be smarter than the bug (and that takes some effort!), but you will thank yourself many times over if you learn the fundamentals of proper insect management. Otherwise forget it. You might as well give up now and save yourself all the frustration of failure. Once you have a clean garden you might look into the application of predatory bugs, however this takes a wholly different level of skill and knowledge. There is so much more I want to tell you about this subject but … they don’t pay me enough for that. Heheh.

#10 Be Observant!

One of the most common mistakes, if you can call it that, is just not paying attention. You need to spend time just looking closely at your plants. Get your nose dirty. Become one with them. You can actually learn to feel what they feel. And in doing so, you can share in their triumph and trauma. Don’t be afraid to touch the plant. They like it. A healthy plant is not frail. Feel its structure and feel its life force. Look closely at your stem and sun leaves. Look for bugs or mold, injuries or deformities. Look under the leaves and on top and in the internodes. Look everyday at the new growth, the apical meristems and terminal shoots. Look for dry or curled tips, chlorosis or darkening of the stems. They should be growing constantly and look lush and bright green. Rejoice in the splendor of the tiny new leaves unfolding. Use a magnifying glass or microscope at times. Get into it. There is a lot to be learned and gained by simply being observant.

Good luck and happy growing.

Harmon Davidson
Green Air Products