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WILD WASABI TAMEDSECRETS TO BOOST YOUR HARVEST

THINK MICRO FOR MACRO RESULTS

IT’S ON!UK EDITION YEAR 1 - ISSUE 1 · AUTUMN 2012 - PRICE: £3,99

THE INVISIBLE GARDEN:

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GROW YOUR OWN MONEY:BITCOINS

RhinoFilterThe Name in Carbon Filtration

RhinoProThe Name in Carbon Filtration

Rhino stands for high performance and reliability

Rhino RC-1 Fan Controller

Up to 3 year lifespanThe longest lasting fi lter range in our industry, proven in real world situations.

www.rhinofi lter.comFind your nearest retailer at:

Better Environment = Better YieldsReliably and accurately maintains temperature, negative pressure and air fl ow, enabling you to get the most from your plants.

To watch product videos and to find a stockist Visit www.Nutriculture.com

A quick guide to fulfilling your potential

Manage up to 20 plants from one tank

The Wilma pots are filled with coco, soil or pebbles, the timer

is set and a pump delivers nutrient solution through the

drippers into the pots.

Available in sizes from 4 pots up to 20 pots.

Ideal for cultivating plants for cuttings

The Flo-Gro pot is filled with clay pebbles, the timer is set

and nutrient solution is pumped through a dripper ring over

the plants.

The fast-draining action pulls fresh oxygen into the root-zone

every feed.

Record-breaking yields

The Ebb & Flood can be filled with clay pebbles or with

pots containing any growing medium.

Roots are flooded several times per day - pushing out stale air,

then pulling oxygen to the roots as the solution Ebbs away. The

result is superb access to oxygen and huge yields.

Our 3 hydroponic systems, each as simple as a pot, produce bigger yields by...✔ Automatically feeding little

and often ✔ Preventing nutrient dilution or

build-up ✔ Providing roots with superb

access to oxygen

IN THIS ISSUE OF GARDEN CULTURE: EARTHSHIPS42

72

WINDOWFARMING

22

K.I.S.S.

7 Foreword & Credits

8 Product Spotlight

12 Carbon dioxide in plants & greenhouses

15 Product Spotlight

16 Humidity: the good, the bad & the ugly

20 The invisible garden: a perfect balance

24 Modern slavery and the illusion of consent

28 The art of lighting

32 Aquaponics: a sustainable solution

38 Cilantro

42 Earthships: down to earth

48 Fungi, molasses & rock phosphate

54 Things that make you a better grower

57 K.I.S.S.

58 Hydroponics for small apartments

62 Soy GMO

65 The world’s hottest Chilli peppers

68 Bitcoins: grow your own money

72 Window farming

76 Fresh wasabi

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT 8

HYDROPONICS

FRESHWASABI76

GARDEN CULTURE I CONTENTS

6

26THE ART OF LIGHTING

57

58

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

7

FOREWORD & COLOFON I GARDEN CULTURE

FOREWORD

WELCOME TO GARDEN CULTURE MAGAZINE’S FIRST UK & IRELAND VERSION

These last seven months were a trip to say the least.

There have been lots of travel meetings and making

new friends. We finally did it though; the first issue of

Garden Culture in English is a fact.

As with any print publication we’re always looking for new writers who bring knowledge to the table, if you have the knowledge or a cool grow room you’d like to show off please contact us. Besides the magazine we’ve also invested lots of time in our website (www.gardenculture.net) and our new Fa-cebook page (facebook.com/GardenCulture)

We are proud to offer you the most effective garden tool ever used: knowledge. We have brought together on these pages intimate understanding of plant biology with vast ex-perience in gardening so that you can achieve a perfect balance in your garden. Each article adds a new brick in the construction of better gardens and shortens the path to enjoying great harvests. In your hands is an authoritative reference to help you optimize the productivity of your grow space.

This issue of Garden Culture focuses on how to make the most of your hydroponic garden with articles about using carbon dioxide, tuning your grow lights, and even growing live fish with your plants to save resources. It is this enhancement of natural processes through wise use of technology that we like to call the art of growing. In this increasingly crowded world the ability to grow your own is not only valuable to you but also does a great favour to the planet. Keep it green! Mike NivatoExecutive Editor

CREDITS

Garden Culture™ is a publication of GC Publishers B.V.

EDITORSExecutive Editor: Mike NivatoE. mike@gardenculture.netManaging Editor: Ben SearlE. ben@gardenculture.net

Art Director / DTPJob Hugenholtz

Special thanks the following contributors:Dan F, Sheldon Aberman, Wade, Tammy Clayton, Alison Thompson, April Kazema, Chris Oldenburg, Erik Biksa, Evan Folds, Fred Decker, Jeroen Dercksen, Kayla Shaw, Maaike Visser, Sylvia Bernstein, David Murphy

PUBLISHERGC PublishersPostbus 21133200CC SpijkenisseThe NetherlandsEU +31(0)181-728101

w www.gcpublishers.nete info@gcpublishers.net

ADVERTISINGEU +31(0)181-728101E. sales@gardenculture.net SUBSCRIPTIONSE. subscriptions@gardenculture.net

ISSN: 2211-9329

© GC Publishers B.V.All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in

any form or by any means, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic

tape, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without prior

permission in writing from the GC Publishers B.V.

gardenculture.net

fresh

8

Happy Ending is an all-natural bloom stimulant that will increase the productivity of your plants through a pro-prietary blend of organic guanos and trace minerals that increase total yields and secondary metabolites – turning your plants into a flowering powerhouse.

www.xtreme-gardening.com

The needs of hydroponic growing are comprehensively covered by this collection of additives. Pure Essentials takes care of every possible requirement hydroponically

grown plants have at every stage of development. The ad-

ditives are premium quality and Black Label Nutrients have

made them simple to use and hard to mess up. They can be

used in any hydroponic medium and insure plants will be lacking

nothing even during incredibly fast growth rates. This is state of

the art technology applied for huge harvests. www.pureessentialsblacklabel.com

Nutrient Pack

Black & Decker have domesticated the chainsaw by

making safety the main feature of this design so that

anyone can use it around the garden. These gattors

can cut branches up to 10 cm in diameter keeping

users safe and in control with the patented alligator

jaw. Comfortable and quiet to use, the B&D Al-

ligator Lopper GK1050 makes any chopping a cinch

and will not disturb the neighbors.

www.blackanddecker.co.uk

alligatorlopper gk1050 from black & decker

product spotlight

Pure Essentials Black Label

XTREME GARDENING’S Happy Ending

fresh

9 gardenculture.net

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT I GARDEN CULTURE

lopper gk1050 from black & decker

The people at Widowfarms have condensed all that

they learned in their open-source community proj-

ect into a working garden that anyone can use. Any

source of light is sufficient to grow plants using this

hydroponic system though sunlight through a window

is ideal. All you need is a Windowfarm Kit and the will

to grow. A Windowfarm won’t stop you from visiting

the grocers but a thousand will, and that is part of the

idea: to bring part of the farm into the city by letting

everyone participate.

www.windowfarms.org

Now there is another weapon in the arsenal of guerrilla

farming. These friendly blasts of beauty only need some

water and good aim to send some blooms into any for-

gotten spot or even your own garden. It is a great way to

spread flower power and even come in packs designed to

help bees or even share love. Get militant and choose some

targets for seedboming. Always throw seedboms responsibly

and give them a good chance by choosing targets with some

soil, moisture and light.www.kabloom.co.uk

These revolutionary “no hassle, no tools” light and tray stands allows for a quick and simple assembly in min-utes. Designed and engineered for the pieces to simply slide together, the Fast Fit™, is truly a pioneer in the industry. The Fast Fit™ Tray Stands were created with heavy duty steel and interlocking components for ex-cellent strength and stability. The simplicity makes it easy to configure the tray stand and light stand the exact way you want it. Never mess with nuts, bolts, wrenches or screw drivers again with Fast Fit™! Accommodates popular brand trays and reser-voirs. Assorted add-on options available for many configurations and uses. Patent pending. Visit www.fastfitstands.com to see the assembly video and for more information.

Fast Fit Tray Stand

window farm kit

product spotlight

fresh

10

No matter how you grow; measuring the strength (EC) of your nutrient solution is key to maintain-ing plant health and achieving maximum yield. HM Digital have now released a meter to meet the budget of the hobby grower, packed with the features to satisfy the green fingered expert.The COM-80 is the partner meter to the massively popular PH-80 – the UK’s best seller – and offers the features of a high end meter at a great price;-Choose your preferred reading – the COM-80 reads in mS and ppt, as well as uS and ppm-Monitor your solution temperature – switchable reading from degrees Fahrenheit and Celsius Automatic Temperature Compensation (ATC)-Simple maintenance – features ‘push button’ digital calibration and low battery indicator-Peace of mind – COM-80 carries a one year manufacturer’s warrantyThe wait is over! The COM-80 EC meter from HM Digital is now available in the UK. Ask your hydroponic retailer for HM Digital.Wholesale enquiries contact:Nutriculture – www.nutriculture.comDirect Gardening Supplies – www.directgardeningsupplies.co.uk

Plant Magic Magne-Cal+ is now available from your local retailer. It’s a Magnesium and Calcium additive that can be used throughout the entire growing cycle, but is particu-larly effective when used alongside a PK booster during the flowering stage. Magne-Cal + will prevent deficiencies and also assist in the uptake of Potassium, enhancing the effect of the booster; dra-matically enhancing you yield.

Ask your hydroponic retailer for Plant Magic Magne-Cal+.Wholesale enquiries contact:Nutriculture – www.nutriculture.comDirect Gardening Supplies – www.directgardeningsupplies.co.uk

Easy reading!

product spotlight

Use a premium bloom stimulator?

You need this product!

fresh

11 gardenculture.net

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT I GARDEN CULTURE

From one of the most respected innovators of hor-

ticultural lighting comes this state of the art light kit.

This kit uses a 240 Volt electronic ballast to power

Philips GreenPower 1000W 400V Double Ended

lamp. These technologies teamed up are the latest

step toward providing optimal lighting conditions for

great harvests and maximum efficiency in power us-

age. Two factors growers always appreciate.

www.gavita-holland.com

The ideal solution for a two light

garden, 5 sockets provide one

point for all electrical appliances.

Well-built for safety and peace of

mind the 5-Way Relay Timer pro-

vides timed power points for lights,

fans, heater and an extraction control-

ler. The specific needs of growers with

a two light system are known and Green

Power provides the smartest solution.

www.greenpowercontactors.co.uk

Rhino Products set the industry standard in high qual-ity ventilation products. The RC-1 thermostatically con-trolled, dual fan controller enables growers to create the ultimate two fan air exchange system.Let Rhino do the work! The RC-1 enables growers to accurately control the air exchange, set desired temperature and main-tain negative pressure in the grow room. Intake and extraction fans will run at maximum speed to quickly establish desired temperature, once reached the fans will drop to a minimum idle speed ensuring the room is adequately ventilated and preventing air leaks.www.nutriculture.comwww.directgardeningsupplies.co.uk

New! Rhino RC-1 Fan Controller

product spotlightGavita Holland Pro Line 400v Light Kits

G R E E N P O W E R 5 - W AY R E L AY T I M E R

12

Plants like all living creatures need energy to survive.

Animals get this energy feeding on plants or other crea-

tures. But plants don’t feed on other creatures; plants

store the energy they need by combining elements from

soil and air using sunlight to power the reactions. A rad-

ically different survival strategy compared to animals.

This method of energy harvesting is commonly known

as photosynthesis.

In essence photosynthesis isn’t all that complicated,

however when inspected more closely one will find out

that it is a cascade of many chemical reactions. To make

this a little less complicated photosynthesis can be split

up in two parts; ‘Light reactions’ and ‘light-independent

reactions’.

LIGHT REACTIONSLight reactions are the first part of photosynthesis.

These reactions require light in order to work. When a

Carbon dioxide in plants

photon from the sun or a grow light strikes the photo-

receptive pigment called chlorophyll, water is split into

two oxygen molecules and one positively charged hy-

drogen atom, also known as a proton. These protons in

turn are used by the plant in the light-independent reac-

tions. But most importantly, the plant uses the energy

of the protons to convert ADP (adenine di-phosphate)

into ATP (adenine tri-phosphate) by adding a phospho-

rous group. This is how plants store energy in a usable

way, essential in many vital processes. The ATP can be

used as a means to transport chemical energy because

when it is converted back into ADP energy is released.

The molecule can then be recycled into ATP again. The

resources the plant has to invest in order to perform

these reactions is always the same. However, not all

wavelengths of light are equally effective at stimulating

chlorophyll and some wavelengths transfer no energy at

all. In general plants are most efficient in the blue and

red ranges of the spectrum. Green light for instance

There are a couple of things that plants can’t live without. Carbon dioxide is one of these substances.

It’s a gas, commonly found in the atmosphere. Although it isn’t as common as oxygen and nitrogen,

which make up around 99% of the atmosphere’s volume, carbon dioxide is still relatively common.

Over the past decade or so, carbon dioxide has been in the news frequently and has suffered from a

bad reputation for being a greenhouse gas that contributes to global climate change. This conclusion

has some merit since it is often added to greenhouses to boost plant production. This article is a short

introduction into the how and why of carbon dioxide addition in greenhouses.

An introduction:

13 13

CARBON DIOXIDE I GARDEN CULTUREBY JEROEN

gardenculture.net

Carbon dioxide in plants

is poorly absorbed by chlorophyll and is therefore re-

flected into our eyes, making plants look green to us.

LIGHT- INDEPENDENT REACTIONSThe dark reactions then follow up on the light reac-

tions. This is where carbon dioxide comes into play.

The proteins that were created during the light reac-

tions are now used to fixate carbon. Carbon fixation is

performed by plants using a process called the ‘Calvin

Cycle’. A number of different chemicals, including the

protons, carbon dioxide and ATP go into the reaction

and in the end yield a simple sugar which in turn can be

used by the plant to produce a number of other things

including larger sugars and starches. Contrary to the

light reactions, these light-independent reactions cost

the plant energy.

Like with any chemical reaction, or biochemical reaction

for that matter, a plant has to have all the ingredients

to perform photosynthesis. One of these ingredients is

going to be the limiting factor to the reaction. One can

understand that if enough water and light are available

to plants, CO2 could become a limiting factor. This can

certainly be the case since CO2 is present in the atmo-

sphere at levels around 360ppm (parts per million). This

and greenhouses

CARBON DIOXIDE I GARDEN CULTURE

14 14

is where it starts to get more difficult. Most

plants benefit from CO2 addition because the

enzyme that transports CO2 inside the plant

can get distracted. You see, this enzyme can

also bond with oxygen, transporting less carbon

dioxide into the plant. This makes the process rather

inefficient, as oxygen is available at higher concentrations in

the atmosphere. These plants, called C3 plants, benefit greatly

from added carbon dioxide.

CARBON DIOXIDE PRODUCTION In a greenhouse there are a number of ways to produce

carbon dioxide. Piles of composting materials can be used

to produce carbon dioxide in a greenhouse however this

has drawbacks when it comes to pest control. A more

modern way to increase the CO2 concentration is by

burning propane, or some other gas. Gas burners can be

linked to controllers and sensors that monitor and adjust

the burn rate according to the need of the plants. This is

the most common method of CO2 production and, besides

recycling CO2 from another source, the least costly. Using

pressurized cylinders is too expensive and cumbersome.

There are some drawbacks to burning fossil fuels to pro-

duce CO2. With improper combustion there is a possibil-

ity carbon monoxide is formed instead of carbon dioxide.

This is a poisonous and potentially deadly gas, odorless and

definitely something to watch out for.

Carbon dioxide is something every plant needs and is pres-

ent in the atmosphere in small concentrations. In situations

where it’s preferable to grow crops intensively, CO2 is a

welcome addition to boost plant growth. The addition of

CO2 increases the rate of photosynthesis that is possible

in nearly all plants but other factors change too. In order

to get the maximum efficiency out of the added CO2, tem-

perature and humidity have to be pushed to an extreme. In

reaction to this the speed of every process in the garden

increases. This does sound rather easy however a more

extreme climate also increases the chances of pests and

other problems one would want to avoid in the crops. Car-

bon dioxide addition requires a lot of attention to do well,

but it can be a valuable tool in increasing yields. It is the

next step for gardeners who have mastered their indoor

growing environment. 3

WHEN ENOUGH LIGHT AND WATER ARE AVAILABLE,

CO2 BECOMES THE LIMITING FACTOR

15 gardenculture.net

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT I GARDEN CULTURE

The NEW Maxibright Compact Power Pack is available

now in selected indoor gardening stores across the UK.

With a revolutionary new design, the Maxibright Compact

provides ultra efficient lamp control, lower heat output

and silent operation. The internal unit is encapsulated in

resin that bonds to the injection-moulded plastic case. This

allows core heat to dissipate at a greater rate than has ever

been achieved by a magnetic ballast. A timed digital intelli-

gent igniter provides efficient lamp start up and a precision

wound ballast gives thermal and electrical durability. Built

with a wall-mountable case complete with carry handle.

Runs both High Pressure Sodium lamps and Metal Ha-

lide lamps. The Maxibright Compact 600W is a Genuine

600W ballast. For more information on Genuine 600W

visit www.genuine600w.co.uk.

The complete range of Maxibright Compact Fluorescent

Lamps has been expertly designed for every stage of plant

growth. Energy efficient with low heat output, they are safe

to place close to your plants to maximise light to your plants.

The Maxibright CFL range comes in blue 6400K for promot-

ing vegetative growth and red 2700K for flowering and is avail-

able in 125W, 200W, 250W and 300W. Simply interchange

between lamps to suit your plant stage. A new addition to the

range is the Maxibright Dual Spectrum CFL in 250W, the latest

in horticultural technology, providing enhanced red and blue light

wavelengths throughout the plant cycle. For more information

check out your local indoor gardening store.

www.maxibright.com

The NEW Maxibright Compact Pro is a leading magnetic ballast built with high quality components for a 10 year life expectancy. The Maxibright Compact Pro has a unique compact wall-mountable case design. The internal unit is set in resin that bonds to the injection-moulded plastic case for excellent heat dissipation and silent operation. Built with a timed digital intelligent igniter and a preci-sion wound ballast to ensure thermal and electrical durability and energy efficient lamp control. Runs both High Pressure Sodium and Metal Halide lamps. The Maxibright Compact Pro 600W is a Genuine 600W ballast. For more information on Genuine 600W visit www.genuine600w.co.uk.

Maxibright Compact Pro Power Pack 600W

Maxibright Compact Power Pack 600W

Maxibright Compact

Fluorescent Lamps

www.compactpowerpack.co.uk

16

THE GOOD,

The Bad & THE UGLY

17 17

light cycle. However, different plants and different stages of

growth require varied humidity. So, be sure to learn what the

best RH levels are for your crop at each stage, as some plants

will prefer a drier climate and others need high humidity.

A seed sprouts and rapidly develops a good foliage

canopy and abundant roots in the cooler, shorter days

of late spring and early summer when high moisture

is present. As temperatures climb and day length

increases, high outdoor humidity can be a bad, even ugly

thing. The purpose of an indoor garden environment

is to give plants optimal conditions through all stages

to harvest. Coaxing them to produce that bumper

crop you want includes controlling relative humidity.

This is why many indoor hydroponic growers have separate

vegetation and flowering to fruiting grow chambers. It is

also why some plants are good indoor companions and

others aren’t.

gardenculture.net

Moderation applies to all life formsAs a grower you must regulate the environment and

climate for your crop. Especially if you don’t want

them to go on strike, get lazy and refuse to perform it

is best to take your role as climate creator seriously.

Understanding what relative humidity (RH) is and how it

affects the plants in your indoor garden is an important

part of a healthy crop and an abundant harvest. The

wrong humidity level can present you with a number

of issues that vary by crop type. At early growth stages

low humidity can cause your crop to go on a binge eating

spree while profusely perspiring. The result is they burn

to a crisp from the loss of water that maintains nutrient

levels in their systems. Obviously, this is bad, at best.

The plants in an attempt to improve dry conditions absorb

more nutrient solution than in proper humidity. At the

same time they rapidly shed water through the cell pores

on the underside of the leaves known as the stomata. What

is the result of this undesirable situation? Even a weaker

solution will lead to nutrient burn.

What’s the right RH Level?It would be great if it were that easy, to have one metric to

aim for here. You have an average humidity level of 50-75%

for best results with dark cycle RH levels being higher than

BY TAMMY

Everything and everyone is affected by humidity, or

the lack of it. Plants are more sensitive to humidity

levels and its variations than humans or animals.

We manage to live through the discomfort. Plants

manage humid conditions too, but the effect

can be undesirable. Improper humidity levels

affect plant functions and can cause irreparable

damage to roots, stem, foliage, flower and fruit.

The worst case scenario is pretty ugly. You could

watch the death dance in horror, not knowing

how to stop the process.

HUMIDITY I GARDEN CULTURE

UNDERSTANDING WHAT RELATIVE HUMIDITY (RH) IS AND HOW IT AFFECTS THE PLANTS IN YOUR INDOOR

GARDEN IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF A HEALTHY CROP

AND AN ABUNDANT HARVEST

Common Hydroponic Crop Relative Humidity (RH) Averages• Chilli Peppers: Ideal 50-70% (RH), with

65% being optimal.

• Bell Peppers: Ideal RH is 75%.

• Tomatoes: Ideal RH is 65-75% at night and

80-90% for light cycle.

• Herbs: Most prefer 40-50% RH

• Cucumbers: Will do well at 70-80% (RH), with

75% being perfect.

• Lettuce: Maintain RH below 70% at all times.

l Sunmaster Lamps are proven everyday

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hydroponics use

l Delivers 10% more light than

standard high pressure sodium

lamps; provides more energy

essential for optimized photosynthesis

l Long life and economical

l Optimised plant receptive-curve

spectrum with ZERO added heat at the

RED areas

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l Energy Saving... EU Regulations

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l Available in 250, 400, 600 and 1000W

l Fully compatible with existing fittings

and ballasts

l Fully compatible with Electronic/

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l Superior lamp performance

l Energy efficient avoiding excess

heat generation

l Designed to provide optimum

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"PHOTONIC"Enhanced Spectral Stability at lowered and overdriven power levels

One LampSunmaster Dual Spectrum

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SUNMASTER ADVERT AUG 2012_SUNMASTER ADVERT AUG 2012 24/08/2012 17:42 Page 1

19 19

HUMIDITY I GARDEN CULTURE

VARYING RH LEVELS NEEDED FOR DIFFERENT GROWTH STAGES GERMINATION & PROPAGATION STAGE: Maintain rooting

cuttings or germinating seedlings humidity at above 80%. A

propagator makes controlling RH more manageable and allows

your new crop to concentrate energy on producing the roots.

Some crops can be successfully propagated in your grow tent

using a humidifier with a humidistat.

YOUNG PLANTS: Between minimal foliage to breathe

out water (transpiration) at night and the hot lights, many

growers experience problems keeping the RH levels

high enough to produce strong growth and plant vigor.

In 0,6 m2 of grow space, using two 600 watt lights, you’ll

generally find 35-50% RH and a temperature of 22-28 C.

As described earlier, low humidity will make the plants work

overtime at creating humidity. You don’t want the RH to drop

below 40%. This brings issues with nutrient overload and other

related problems. Your target RH level at this stage of growth

should be 60-70% for faster root growth, leaf development

and more compact plants.

VEGETATIVE STAGE: These larger immature plants have more

shoots and leaves. They will take up increasing amounts of

nutrient and emit more water vapor as they increase in size.

At this stage you want to ensure the RH levels don’t climb too

high. This danger increases as plants thicken.

FLOWERING & FRUITING STAGE: The ideal RH range here

is 50-60% during daylight cycle and 60-70% during the dark

cycle. Keep on top of RH control, as both fruit and flower are

easily damaged by fungal disease with soaring humidity. High

humidity related fungal problems can ruin many kinds of fruit,

vegetable and flower crops.

Increasing the RHMisters and humidifiers are used to increase RH levels. The

more water vapor being emitted by your plants into the

grow room environment, the less the humidifier or mister

needs to be run. For plants that need tight humidity control a

humidification system with HR-HRSA humidistat is best.

Decreasing the RHVentilation drops your grow room RH level. Depending on

your crop and grow space situation, at times an extraction

fan with a variable speed control is all that is needed. High

RH levels can also be corrected by with a dehumidifier.

Great care is needed to not remove too much moisture,

creating a dry environment. This can cause some plants to

emit water through leaf tips, allowing it to collect on foliage

and promote disease development. Ultra-sensitive plants

may do best with a humidification system that delivers both

humidifying and extraction functions in one with precision.

Measuring Your Humidity LevelsTo stay on top of the RH level at all times, you

need an instrument known as a hygrometer

to give you humidity readings. Be sure

to select one that is water resistant and

designed for the demands of hydroponics.

These will give you accurate temperature

and humidity measures which are

connected.

RH Changes with Temperature VariationIn your grow space, the relative air humidity is influenced

by temperature. High RH disrupts a plant’s ability to

get rid of excess water. Low RH makes the plant emit

too much water and can cause the intake of CO2 to

stagnate, leading to impaired growth. Nutrient up-

take rate increases with dry air, and for about every 5,5

C temperature increase the amount up-take doubles.

Both of these fluctuations greatly affect your crop.

Ideally, you want your grow room to have a lower humidity

during the day cycle than the night cycle. During the

darkness hours in the growing space, many assume that

without the heat of grow lamps, the humidity will drop.

This assumption could get ugly. In darkness, plants breathe

out water, increasing the need for air flow and ventilation.

Ignoring this puts your entire crop at risk for pest and

disease outbreaks, among other health issues. 3

...IT IS BEST TO TAKE YOUR ROLE AS CLIMATE CREATOR SERIOUSLY

gardenculture.net

20

plant growth and often creates higher yields initially, but is the

growth truly a sign of thriving plants? Or is it obesity?

Plant obesity and deficiency are what attract and create pests

and disease, not unlike a human on a bad diet. Make the

connection that the average gardener believes that pests and

disease are bad luck and, due to this lack of perspective, most

make attempts to kill their problems away rather than address

the roots of the issue. It’s a vicious cycle. Most of the time we

are creating our own problems.

What should we expect when

we use artificial fertilizers and

toxic pesticides to grow living

plants?

Even hydroponic fertilizers contain no more than 17 elements,

or only what a plant has to have. Most plants can use upwards

of 30-40 elements directly or indirectly, some more than that,

but microbes use every single one of them to work their magic.

Growing a garden without all of the elements in play is like

hiring someone to build a house and giving them half the tools.

Consider using rock dusts or sea-mineral based products to

increase elemental diversity in the garden. Not only will you

increase yields, but you will build the innate capacity in plants

and microbes to fend for themselves. After all, why would

Mother Nature make an element not needed in the garden?

The same is true for microbes. The greater the mineral and

The quality of food cannot truly be evaluated until it is eaten,

but we cannot taste all the things that are harmful to us and

artificial flavoring has resulted in us forgetting how food is

supposed to taste anyway. We are farther away from the farm

and our food than at any point in human history. Many farmers

don’t eat what they grow. Agriculture has collectively become

a race to the bottom line and the food that is produced is

designed to sit on a shelf, not nourish our bodies.

But people are clamoring

for real food. Community

Supported Agriculture (CSA)

programs and farmer’s markets

are booming, and record

numbers of people are planting gardens for the first time in

their lives. The future of food is to know your own personal

agriculture. And what better way to do this than by growing

your own?

Growing the best garden of your life is done through the

marriage of quality gardening products and techniques, and

a proper perspective towards the natural world. One of the

primary ideas to keep in mind when growing a garden is diversity.

Using cheap budget fertilizers that have 6-7 elements in them

is the equivalent of fast food for plants. Sure, the plethora of

artificial gardening products available on the market stimulates

Think about it, some of the most important things regarding the evaluation of a garden and the food it

produces cannot be observed. The majority of people don’t imagine that the soil is alive and teaming with

beneficial microbes because they can’t see them. Most think microbes are for hand sanitizer or antibiotics.

Think of it this way...

don’t feed your plants,

feed your soil

THE INVISIBLE GARDEN

21

biological diversity in the garden the more strength and

balance you bring to the ecosystem. Think of it in this way…

don’t feed your plants, feed your soil. Microbes have been

helping and protecting plants since the beginning of time and

they are not going to stop anytime soon. In fact, over half of the

carbohydrates a plant makes for itself through photosynthesis

are exuded through roots to attract beneficial microbes.

A great way to enhance the

beneficial microbes in your garden

is by brewing compost tea. This

involves using aeration to grow

microbes from compost in the

presence of biological food sources and mineral catalysts.

Compost tea can and should be used in every garden, including

hydroponics, as it is a great way to make sure you are growing

thriving plants. After all, people don’t make plant food,

microbes do.

Besides the friendly microbes and fungi there are other

invisible forces active in your garden that affect the growth

of all plants. For those feeling truly experimental, consider

planting by celestial rhythms. It is well known that lunar

cycles affect plant growth. There are many “plant by

the moon” calendars online. There is even a method of

gardening called Biodynamics that includes a broader range

of celestial phenomenon and recommended planting days,

flower days, root days, etc. It’s fascinating. Biodynamics is

used extensively in other countries like Australia that have

poor soil, and is also used widely in viticulture. Not many

farmers pay closer attention to their crops than those

growing grapes for wine. The idea of working with natural

energies in the garden is a foreign concept to most, but life

21

is defined by energy on every level of its existence. The

articulation and use of subtle energies is the new frontier

of farming and gardening. The philosophy that utilizes the

subtle forces of nature in the garden is called Bioenergetics

and seeks physical, mineral, biological and energetic

balance. This is the sweet spot that allows plants to truly

thrive and become vitamins for life.

Beyond all the products and techniques, the most powerful

tool we have in the garden is our perspective. What we

think, we grow. Sure, we don’t have to grow this way, but the

question is…what are we missing?

You will find your own way into verifying and testing these

ideas, but hopefully some seeds of experimentation have been

planted. Now get growing! 3

A PERFECT BALANCE I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

PLANT OBESITY AND DEFICIENCY ARE WHAT ATTRACT

PESTS AND DISEASE, NOT UNLIKE A HUMAN ON A BAD DIET

BY EVAN HOLDS

It’s no illusion... You’ve got it in 1!

In just one glance it magically measures all3 critical parameters for successful growth; pH, conductivity AND temperature. Our innovative monitor is a new method to help guard the successful growth of your crops with immediate and accurate results. If you are looking for a quality product that will give you the assurance your plants have all the nutrients they need 24/7, then try a Bluelab Guardian. You will be amazed! Available worldwide www.getbluelab.com for details. Beware of imitations!

24

BORN TO WORK“ “MODERN SLAVERYand the illusion

of consent

25 25

MODERN SLAVERY I GARDEN CULTURE

BORN TO WORK

If you’ve got kids, you’ll probably hear these words on a daily

basis. It’s not that “fairness” is a childish concept; it’s more

that the idea establishes itself so early that it runs to the

very foundations of our collective consciousness and

remains there for the rest of our lives. Indeed,

as we grow older many of us hold on to the

belief that we possess an intrinsic ability to

recognize when a situation is equitable.

BY EVEREST FERNANDEZ

In reality though, this world of fairness and equity is dependent

on one thing; our brains and our willingness to exercise them.

For instance, if I declare myself the “leader” of a remote

Polynesian island and convince its inhabitants that I am their

deity incarnate whom they must please with daily offerings of

their youngest, fairest maidens, while the men labor all day in

the fields and copper mines so that I, the Great Lord Everest,

may be glorified and gracious in sparing them my wrath. The

islanders, if taken in by this almighty bounder, may conclude

that their situation is quite fair and just. It’s a square deal: they

offer up their bodies for sexual and agricultural services in

exchange for my “wrath” being spared. On the other hand,

as an outside observer, you might conclude that they’re being

exploited for their ignorance.

If that example seems a little weak then picture another

scenario, a little closer to home perhaps. Let’s say you and

I are neighbors, living out in the lesser-trodden parts of the

Humboldt countryside in Northern California. Add to this

blissful scene a single cow grazing on my ample pastureland.

And you, perhaps not enjoying so grand an estate, are content

to take care of a small brood of chickens. Now, I’m not

suggesting that this situation is unfair. I may have chosen to

work longer and harder for my larger slice of this fine Earth.

But, in the spirit of community, we choose to share stuff. I

like eggs and you like milk, so we agree to make a swap

each morning: a pint of my (or Daisy’s) milk for two of your

(chickens’) eggs. What could be simpler than this direct barter?

Notwithstanding our animals’ rights or wrongs, so long as we

humans establish mutual consent, we can share and enjoy our

collective resources and life seems a whole lot more sunny-

side-up for the both of us.

However, here’s where the plot begins to curdle. What if I

awoke one morning intent on pursuing a more favorable

deal for myself—say, just half a pint of milk in exchange for

your two eggs? What then? A civil discussion over the garden

fence, perhaps, with the hope of modifying our consensual

agreement? Of course, you might inform me that I can “keep

my milk” or other choice words to that effect. So what if I

choose to avoid confrontation by secretly diluting your “pint of

milk” with rainwater? Just a few drops at first so as not to raise

your suspicions, yet slowly but surely, over the course of a

year or so, I dilute the milk to the point where it’s actually fifty

percent water! I’m patting myself on the back for executing

this change so gradually, while all along you are none the wiser!

I laugh with contempt at your hapless children, for watery

milk is all they’ve ever known! Moooooohahahahaha! Another

generation of suckers is born!

Perhaps I’m guilty of overly-indulging this example. Maybe I’m

assuming a little too much naiveté on your part? Surely you’d detect

that something was up with the milk, wouldn’t you? Nevertheless,

emboldened by your seemingly boundless gullibility, I decide to

take my scam to a whole new level. Instead of giving you watered-

down milk, one day I turn up at the garden fence with something

entirely new. It’s a piece of paper. I call it a “milk certificate.”

“You can redeem this for ‘real milk’ anytime! (Wink, wink)” I

assure you, “What’s more, you can use these milk certificates as

payment in trades with other vendors. It’s so convenient for you!

And, best of all, you don’t have to keep them in the refrigerator!”

Okay, by now you’ve guessed it; we’re talking about money,

not milk. But this milky analogy needs a few modifications

before it even comes close to accurately reflecting our

gardenculture.net

26

services. (The Spanish discovered

this when they returned from the

Americas with boats laden with

gold. They thought they were

going to be incredibly wealthy, but

the amount of goods and services

available back home had not really

changed. Result? Prices simply

went up!) The real privilege of the

super-rich is their priority lane access to this newly created

money. In essence, it’s not so much the quantity of money

they have, but the fact that they get to spend it into circulation

first, before the rest of us cotton on to the fact that it’s been

watered down. By the time these dilute dollars finally meander

to you and me, it’s little more than cloudy water, or symbolic

cloudy water, or … confused? Good. Now get back to work.

Perhaps we need to ask ourselves this very simple question:

what is money? Don’t shy away from it—no need to

overcomplicate it either. You don’t want to spend your

life chasing an enigma now do you? Don’t leave this to the

“experts”—the people whose career depends on maintaining

their intellectual propriety with confusion and obfuscation.

You shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking that money is

intrinsically a bad or evil thing either. At the very least concede

that it’s very useful stuff, helping us to transcend the limitations

of direct barter. Problems really occur when we seek money

as if it were the true wealth in and of itself, rather than merely

a symbolic means of exchange.

So what are we to do? Should we join some protest movement

waving “End the Fed” banners? Should we petition our

governments for greater freedoms, or is that, as the monetary

prophet E.C. Reigel wrote over fifty years ago, just an absurd

act of deference, “wholly lacking the spirit of a freeman.” In

short, are we going to take responsibility for the mess we’re

in, or are we going to let “the economists” sort it all out for us?

All facetiousness aside for a moment, one by one, we are

indeed waking up to the fact that something is very wrong.

Looking at the world with the eyes of our ancients we realize a

fundamental truth—our monetary system has been corrupted

to one where national sovereignty is a joke on a naive

populous. We are collectively enslaved to ‘unelected’ central

banks through usurious and fraudulent money systems, an

eternally un-payable “debt,” created out of nothing but our

promise to repay. It is a deeply absurd and untenable situation

present predicament of economic

slavery. You see, up until 1971, a

dollar was redeemable for gold.

Gold was chosen because it was

viewed as universally valuable.

People, knowingly or unknowingly,

accepted dollar bills in exchange

for real goods or services backed

by a belief that these little pieces of

paper would be later accepted by others—and an assurance

that they were also convertible into physical gold at any

time—well, during banking hours at least.

However, since the dollar was decoupled from the gold

standard, it has lost around 90% of its purchasing power.

Thinking back to our milk for eggs exchange, you might be

tempted to picture a bottle of slightly cloudy water being

handed to you over the garden fence, or a fistful of worthless

“milk certificates.” But think again. For, if I am assuming the

role of the banker in this scenario, I’m actually asking you to

borrow some pieces of paper (with no mention of milk, eggs,

sex, honey or anything else that’s tangible) and pay interest for

the privilege! All these pieces of paper represent is your debt

to me—a debt that I have created out of nothing, meanwhile

you pledge to forfeit your house if you don’t keep up the

repayments! Perhaps the Polynesian islander’s example wasn’t

so far out of whack?

With the woe-is-us-machine we know and love as the Internet

now running on all twelve-cylinders, it’s easy to blame Wall

Street greed, the Illuminati, the neoconservatives, the royal

family—anybody, in fact, but ourselves for the mess we’re

in. But the inescapable fact is the only thing that holds up

our monetary system is our persistent belief in it and our

unwillingness to embrace viable alternatives. Our problem is

one of philosophy, not politics. How have so many of us been

hoodwinked into accepting such an absurd tautology: a dollar

is worth another dollar—what sort of insidious, circular,

recursive symbolism is this? But then, take these dollars away

and how are you going to pay for your groceries?

You really don’t need a PhD in economics (or any other

pseudo-science for that matter) to understand that as more

make-believe money is pumped into the financial system,

the purchasing power of each dollar is diluted, just like the

nourishment of our watery milk. This is inevitable so long as an

inflated money supply chases the same amount of goods and

WE ARE INDEED WAKING UP TO THE FACT THAT SOMETHING IS VERY WRONG WITH OUR MONEY SYSTEM

27 27 27

MODERN SLAVERY I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

WE ARE COLLECTIVELY ENSLAVED TO

‘UNELECTED’ CENTRAL BANKS THROUGH USURIOUS AND

FRAUDULENT MONEY SYSTEMS

for any person to endure. Yet

the mainstream media persist in

echoing the bankers’ threats of the

sky falling down and untold misery if

we don’t put up with the status quo.

Heaven forbid if enough people

discover the truth—that we don’t

actually need banks at all in order to

issue currency and trade with each

other, on a personal, corporate or

even national level.

The Internet has helped us share

our ideas, but its real power is in the

creation of a common monetary

language. Forget about “internet-

banking”—that’s just a sideshow.

Imagine a new form of money,

issued by the producers of this world. By producers I mean

the corporations that generate our electricity, or make our

computers, or grow the tomatoes. Imagine money backed, not

by debt, or by gold (or tungsten) but by … wait for it … real

stuff. Cars, beef burgers, Thai massages, goods and services

that we use every day. Sounds unbelievable? Well, so did the

concept of a spherical earth to most people a few thousand

years ago. It’s time to unplug from the Matrix.

At the center of it all is a global scale of value. What’s that?

Well, think of an inch. Or, if you prefer, think of a centimeter,

a foot, a mile, or a furlong. Where would we be without these

universal units of length? Now imagine if we created the same

thing, but for value. Of course, we’ve been conditioned into

mistaking our monetary units as our value units. When we

talk about the value of things we invariably think in terms

of dollars, or pounds, or yen, don’t we? This beautiful, shiny

phone costs $799. This car costs $25,000. This house is

valued at $500,000. We need to stop thinking like this.

This ignorance is at the kernel of our enslavement to the

bankers. We are guzzling watery milk without so much of

a whimper of complaint. Now it’s time for a good burping.

Unlike an inch or a centimeter, the dimensions of a dollar

keep changing. We call this “inflation.” But how then can we

measure “value” using these shape-shifting units of exchange?

It’s almost as if we are confusing the item being measured with

the ruler it’s being measured on. Are you beginning to see the

magician’s sleight of hand? Money has no real value.

Crucially, take note that a global

scale of value is not the same thing

as a global currency. Moreover,

a global scale of value would

give birth to thousands, maybe

millions of different currencies,

not just one—but they would all

be measured on the same scale,

and all of them backed by goods

and services in common demand.

The ratio of credit to demand

(i.e. offers to buy vs. offers to sell

a company’s credit token) can be

instantly evaluated, thanks to the

Internet, meaning the actual value

of the credits in circulation can

adjust in real time. The idea of

money as fluid and self-correcting,

does not reward greed and is based on real goods and services.

It may be a little tricky to grasp at first but really we’re only

describing a world where the monopoly over the issuance of

credit, currently enjoyed by banks, has been removed. If this

sounds crazy then remember, so did the idea that the world

was a sphere and that there were potentially people living

“upside-down.”

Ultimately, the real treasure of this planet is you and I. It’s time

for the credit commons to be restored to the people instead

of being monopolized by bankers who create nothing. Until

enough of us wake up to their false pretentions towards deity,

docile and malleable human beings will remain the ultimate

resource to be controlled, manipulated and exploited. 3

Footnote: Everest Fernandez did not accept any legal tender in return for

writing this article, but that doesn’t necessarily imply he wasn’t paid.

Want to know more? Check out these amazing videos:

The Essence of Money (7 minutes)

http://youtu.be/qBX-jaxMneo

Digital Coin – An Introduction (15 minutes)

http://youtu.be/dkXclJr1Z4U

28

LED stands for Light Emitting Diode. It’s a technology based

on semiconductors as you find in transistors and chips. One

of the characteristics of a LED is that it emits light at a very

narrow bandwidth, resulting in a single pure color that only

covers a small portion of the light spectrum. Though the

intensity of current high power LED systems is very high,

you will always need an array of LEDs as grow light solutions.

Light Emitting Plasma (LEP) is a new type of plasma lighting.

Sulphur Plasma lighting has already been commercially

available for a long time, but these units are bulky, noisy,

have moving parts in them and are always high output

(>700W). It is very difficult to spread the high amounts of

light from such a small source over a large area. You need

to keep a lot of distance between the lamp and the crop

to make Sulphur Plasma work. In many climate rooms you

don’t have that distance.

LEP is a technology that enables the production of compact,

small plasma lights without any moving parts. It makes the

technology suitable for climate rooms. The principle is very

simple: Using concentrated radio frequency radiation a gas

and metal halide mixture is heated in a vial until it forms

into plasma which emits a very intense full spectrum light.

Other than the technology used to generate the light, the

biggest difference between LED and LEP is the spectral

quality: LEP technology enables a very high quality, full

continuous spectrum and includes UV radiation. Though

there are white (full spectrum) LEDs available most are

based on a phosphorous light emitting layer (like a CFL)

and do not generate a full continuous spectrum. To achieve

that it is necessary to mix several colors of LED into an

array, and include UV LEDs, which are very expensive.

So LEP seems to have really good cards for climate room

lighting and it is an emerging new technology. To understand

the impact of quality lighting in a commercial climate room

we need to understand first how important it is to give

the crop high quality lighting, and specifically: what is high

quality lighting?

LIGHT QUALITY.Many studies have shown that full continuous spectrum

with sunlight quality is the best spectrum for healthy plant

development. This is a full continuous spectrum which

includes UVA and UVB, far-red and infrared. It also includes

a lot of green light and here is something we need to clarify.

There are many new exciting developments in climate room lighting. As scientists start to understand

more about the influence of light quality in respect to quality and yield of the crop, two technologies

are emerging: LED and Light Emitting Plasma (LEP).

The differences between LED and LEP

LEP plasma emitter

Sulphur plasma lamp

29 29

LIGHTING I GARDEN CULTURE BY GAVITA

L ight

gardenculture.net

The differences between LED and LEP

emitting

plasma

LIGHT EMITTING PLASMA (LEP) IS A NEW TYPE

OF PLASMA LIGHTING. SULPHUR PLASMA

LIGHTING HAS ALREADY BEEN COMMERCIALLY

AVAILABLE FOR A LONG TIME, BUT THESE UNITS

ARE BULKY, NOISY, HAVE MOVING PARTS IN THEM AND ARE ALWAYS HIGH

OUTPUT (>700W)

in climate rooms

Image: solar light spectrum

If you study the solar spectrum you will see that green light

accounts for the highest amount in the spectrum. It would

be a waste of Mother Nature not to use that. Our eyes for

example are most sensitive to that green color because we

have evolved such sensitivity to see in the daytime. Most

plant response curves however such as the famous Keith

McCree curve (fig 2) show a lower relative photosynthetic

efficiency for blue and yellow/green light. This is correct for

low PAR levels. Recent studies however have shown that

the green light, which is most abundant in sunlight, is very

efficient when used in high intensity lighting. In fact, at high

irradiation levels the green light is equally or more efficient

than other colors.

Efficiency of light in the

PAR spectrum (in low light

environments)– McCree ’73

– P curve is plant sensitivity

curve, V curve is human eye

sensitivity

There are many important processes which are influenced

by the quality of the spectrum. Two very important

factors are photosynthetic rate of the leaves and the

morphogenesis of the plant (the structure of the plant).

Photosynthetic rate describes the level of photosynthesis

in a leaf. In sunlight conditions you will see the formation

of sun leaves which have a very high photosynthetic rate.

This enables the plant to develop really fast and use

the light very efficiently. Also the position of the leaves

is optimized to intercept the light, which is steered by

colors in the spectrum. These two aspects are mostly

responsible for the fast vegetative development of

plants under simulated sunlight or full spectrum plasma

light. To build and maintain the photosynthetic system

of a plant you need blue light in every grow phase.

The UVA and UVB in the LEP light harden the plant and

thicken the leaf surface which is better protected against

(fungal) infections. UVB also increases the flavonoids and

volatile oils in the plant which results in a much better plant

aroma for example.

Overall high intensity LEP is the best solution for a climate

room to simulate sunlight conditions, specifically in the

vegetative stage when the plants are small and still need to

develop. But is it efficient?

LIGHT EFFICIENCY.High pressure sodium lamps are known as the most

efficient lamps to produce photons for grow light.

However, the quality of that light is not so good. Analysis of

the HPS spectrum shows a start of the effective spectrum

at about 560 nm (yellow to red). Below that wavelength

there are a few small spikes, but not a balanced continuous

availability and not enough in the blue spectrum.

Typical High Pressure Sodium spectral distribution diagram

Research in greenhouses shows that you need at least 7%

blue light (in a greenhouse from sunlight) for a healthy crop,

as the blue light also maintains the photosynthetic system.

It is important to know that in high intensity lighting there

is not a lot of difference in efficiency between blue and

red light. In climate rooms it is common to use Metal

Halide (MH) lamps to add additional blue spectrum. MH

lights however do not have a long lifetime, are generally

not very color stable, have a spiky spectrum, are not as

efficient as HPS and generate a lot of heat. Ceramic

Metal Halides (CMH) are already better in stability and

efficiency but still do not have the spectral quality of

30

Climate room with LEP

31 gardenculture.net

LIGHTING I GARDEN CULTURE

the plasma lamp nor the UV radiation. So how efficient

is Plasma light compared to HPS? Is it an alternative?

The plasma process of generating light is by itself very

efficient: The conversion from energy into actual light is

very efficient and generates a very low percentage of heat

radiation in the light; the light itself is very “cool”. In the

process of getting the energy to the small plasma cell you

still lose a lot of energy, which is dissipated into convection

heat from the fixture’s driver, power supply and emitter.

That heat will never reach the plant though as it rises

up and is extracted. For temperature controlled climate

rooms there are air

cooled LEP fixtures

available as well.

Air cooled plasma light

LEP is more efficient than high temperature MH lamps

and much more stable. The lifetime is as much as 30,000-

50,000 hours compared to the 2,000 to 4,000 of a MH. It

has a better light quality and is more efficient than MH, but

is it more efficient than HPS? No, it is not. Actually HPS

is 1,5-2 times more efficient in generating photons than

plasma light. But the HPS light quality is really bad. That

sounds like a catch 22. Either you have good light and bad

efficiency or good efficiency and bad light!

FOR A SOLUTION WE GO BACK TO THE GREENHOUSESIf you understand that you need a minimal amount of

additional quality spectrum to guarantee a healthy crop

(just like in the greenhouses) you would like to bring in

some additional spectrum, at least to complement the blue

light up to 7%. Also you want to introduce all the colors that

HPS is lacking, basically all under 560 nm. A 300W LEP can

provide just that in combination with up to 1,200 W HPS

light. This does not re-create the full solar spectrum and still

has more red light in it, but it is sufficient for a healthy crop.

It all makes sense. In greenhouses you need a percentage

of quality sunlight to guarantee a healthy crop when using

HPS lighting, in climate rooms you create that sunlight

by adding LEP to an appropriate level. LEP extras are the

UVA and UVB in the spectrum you normally don’t get in a

greenhouse because of the glass roof which shields UV in

most cases.

WHICH LEP FOR WHICH PURPOSE?Recently Gavita Holland, a horticultural lighting innovator,

introduced a LEP fixture which produces less red spectrum

and more green and yellow for use in combination with

HPS. The philosophy behind that is very simple: HPS is

the most efficient technology to produce red light, so why

would you want your LEP to produce this red spectrum

when used in combination with HPS? This type 01 emitter

is more efficient to use in combination with HPS and still

provides enough quality spectrum for a vegetative cycle.

The spectrum of the 01 emitter primarily picks of where the

HPS stops. Another advantage of the 01 emitter is that is has

a 50,000 hours

lifetime over

30,000 hours for

the 02 emitter.

Gavita Pro 300 LEP 01 fixture

The spectral difference between the 41.01 and 41.02 LEP

emitter.

The original LEP with 02 emitter is also still available

from Gavita and other LEP fixture manufacturers, and

produces the best spectrum for a pure vegetative cycle

or for artificial sunlight, for example for a dedicated

vegetative climate room. It is still a good choice to use it

with HPS, though the 01 green emitter has the advantage

there. There is something to choose now when it comes

to plasma lighting.

LEP IS MORE EFFICIENT THAN HIGH TEMPERATURE MH LAMPS AND MUCH MORE STABLE. THE LIFETIME IS AS MUCH AS 30,000-50,000 HOURS COMPARED TO

THE 2,000 TO 4,000 OF A MH. IT HAS A BETTER LIGHT QUALITY AND IS MORE EFFICIENT THAN MH, BUT IS IT MORE EFFICIENT THAN HPS? NO, IT IS NOT

32

“Can we feed the more than 9 billion people anticipated to live on this planet in 2050

without destroying Earth’s life support systems?” This captivating conundrum was the

title of a cover article for Nature Magazine’s edition titled “Solutions for a Cultivated

Planet.” The article details the findings of an international group of scientists and

researchers who gathered at the University of Minnesota tasked with nothing less

than figuring out how to sustainably secure the world’s future food supply.

33

AQUAPONICS I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

How does it work? Aquaponics is, at its most

basic level, the marriage of

aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics

(growing plants in water and without soil) together in one integrated

system. The fish waste provides organic food for the growing plants

and the plants naturally filter the water in which the fish live. The

third and fourth critical, yet invisible actors in the play are the

beneficial bacteria and composting red worms. Think of them as

the Conversion Team. The beneficial bacteria exist on every moist

surface of an aquaponic system. They convert the ammonia from the

fish waste that is toxic to the fish and useless to the plants, first into

nitrites and then into nitrates. The nitrates are relatively harmless

to the fish and most importantly, they make terrific plant food. At

the same time, the worms convert the solid waste and decaying

plant matter in your aquaponic system into vermicompost.

BY SYLVIA BERNSTEIN

The sustainable solution for the world’s future food supply

34

AQUAPONICS I GARDEN CULTURE

35 gardenculture.net

“Farm and ranch lands cover nearly 40

percent of Earth’s land area”

While aquaponic techniques can’t address this shocking

statistic per se, they can certainly mitigate the impact. Be-

cause aquaponics is a soil-less growing technique, plants and

fish can be grown anywhere, including on land that is consid-

ered unfertile (too sandy, too rocky, too toxic) and even in

old warehouse buildings and unused parking lots.

“Agriculture consumes nearly three quar-

ters of the earth’s available water”

Because aquaponics is a recirculating system, the only

water “lost” is either held in the plants, transpires through

their leaves, or evaporates from the top of the fish tank.

Aquaponics is generally thought to use less than a tenth of

the water of traditional agriculture for the same crop output.

“Agricultural activities such as clearing land,

growing rice, raising cattle and overusing fer-

tilizers make up 35 % of the single largest con-

tributor of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere”

None of these practices have any place in aquaponic growing.

1

2

3

4

5

“About 40% of all crops the planet produc-

es are used to feed animals.”

Fish are the single most efficient converter of feed

to flesh of any edible animal. One and a half pounds

of feed will bring to harvest one pound of edible, om-

nivorous fish fillets. It takes eight pounds of feed to

produce the same single pound of beef fillets.

While not mentioned in the article, we should

also add “consuming petroleum” to this list.

Between oil-based fertilizers, oil-fueled farming

machinery, and long distances between farm and table,

modern food is “dripping” with oil. Aquaponic systems

on the other hand, have no oil-based inputs and are run

entirely on a small amount of electricity. This electric-

ity can be created through currently available renew-

able energy methods.

Nothing in the Nature Magazine report was

surprising for anyone engaged in the worldwide

‘future of food’ dialog. However, what was

striking was that aquaponics (growing fish

and plants together in a recirculating, soil-

less system) was not included among the set

of proposed solutions. Aquaponics is a food-

growing approach that addresses the harmful

practices cited in the study and simultaneously

realizes the potential for increased food

production envisioned by the researchers.

Widespread adaptation of aquaponics

could both alleviate all of the environmental

destruction cited by the researchers and provide the vehicle for increased sustainability and productivity.

First, the environmental problems with current agricultural practices were outlined in the report as follows.

1

Aquaponics is not the answer to all of our future

food supply and environmental issues. Grains and

root crops, for example, will probably always be most

efficiently grown in the soil. But for above ground,

vegetative crops and fish protein, there simply isn’t a

better growing technique on, and for, the planet. 3

2

3

4

5

36

The researchers then recommended five changes to

current practices that they believe will not only help

to solve the issues stated above, but will also extend

our ability to feed the burgeoning world’s population.

All but one can be implemented through aquaponic

growing techniques.

“Halt farmland expansion.”

As explained above, because aquaponics is a soil-

less growing system that can be set up anywhere, it is

perfectly suited to address this goal.

“Close yield gaps. Many parts of Africa,

Latin America and Eastern Europe have

substantial “yield gaps”- where farmland is

not living up to its potential for producing crops.

Closing these gaps through improved use of

existing crop varieties, better management and

improved genetics could increase current food

production nearly 60 percent.”

Because of the consistent and ideal mix of water, oxygen

and fertilizer that an aquaponics system provides, plants

grow significantly faster in an aquaponics system than

they do in soil. In addition, plants can be placed closer

together in aquaponics systems because they are not

competing for those resources in their root zone. This

is an answer to the search for “better management”

techniques that the researchers are seeking.

“Use inputs more strategically. Current

use of water, nutrients and agriculture

chemicals suffer from what the research

team calls “Goldilocks’ Problem”: too much

in some places, too little in others, rarely just

right. Strategic reallocation could substantially

boost the benefit we get from precious inputs.”

Since aquaponic systems use comparatively so little

water, inherently produce their own nutrients, and use

no agricultural chemicals, the problem of redistribution

becomes a non-issue.

“Shift diets. Growing animal feed or biofuels

on top croplands, no matter how efficiently,

is a drain on human food supply. Dedicating

croplands to direct human food production

could boost calories produced per person by

nearly 50 percent.”

Fish protein is not only heart-healthy but, as

mentioned above; it is the most efficient converter

of plant protein to animal protein known to man.

“Reduce waste. One-third of the food farms

produce ends up discarded, spoiled or eaten

by pests. Eliminating waste in the path from

farm to mouth could boost food available for

consumption another 50 percent.”

Because aquaponics systems are raised off the ground

they tend to have fewer pest issues than traditional

agriculture. And because aquaponic farms can be set

up anywhere, producing food directly within densely

populated communities can be implemented right now,

with no new technologies needed. The path from farm

to table can be made as short as down the block or

even from back yard to table. Thus, aquaponics is an

attractive way to localize food production and to cut

out the waste inherent in the long paths we have from

farm to market to home – paths that could be reduced

to near zero with widespread aquaponics.

AQUAPONICS I GARDEN CULTURE

37 gardenculture.net

Sylvia Bernstein

President, The Aquaponic Source, Inc.

email - Sylvia@theaquaponicsource.com

website - http://theaquaponicsource.com/

book - http://aquaponicgardening.com/

Bio

Sylvia Bernstein is the author of “Aquaponic

Gardening: A Step by Step Guide

to Growing Fish and Vegetables

Together” and the President and Founder of

The Aquaponic Source, the leading U.S.

based company focused entirely on the home

aquaponic gardener. She runs the Aquaponic

Gardening Community, the largest online

community site dedicated to aquaponic gardening

in North America, and is the Vice Chairman of the

Aquaponics Association. She also writes

the Aquaponic Gardening Blog and teaches

and speaks extensively about aquaponics and its

exciting potential.

REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE

THE AQUAPONICS FARM HAS IT ALL...

38

Grow Your Own Series:

Scrumptious salsas, south of the border dishes,

along with a variety of Asian and Indian delicacies

just aren’t the same without the unique zip of

different parts of the cilantro plant. Admittedly,

there isn’t any middle ground with this herb when it

comes to taste buds. You either love it or hate it. If you en-

joy the taste, you can’t beat the just-picked vivaciousness it

adds to cuisine. While it is available dried, cilantro is at

its divine best freshly snipped from the plant. Within

hours of being cut, fresh cilantro loses a great deal of

flavor, so if you’re purchasing it by the bunch in the produce

aisle, you’re already missing out on a lot. It’s simple

to keep a never ending supply on hand at home.

39

CROP BIOGRAPHYFor many people, cilantro is excitingly new and trendy. Actu-

ally this wildly popular ingredient is as old as the hills and used

in many foods and confections we’ve been enjoying forever.

Properly identified as Coriandrumsativum, this name comes from

the Greek word ‘koris’ and means ‘stinky bug’. Coriander is its

common name in English and many other languages, but today

generally refers to the seed. The leaves are known as ‘cilantro’

in Spanish, which is how the plant got to Mexico and why the

leaves are so commonly used in Mexican food and the cuisine of

other South American countries.

This is one of the few plants that all parts are edible, as well as

being classed as both an herb and a spice. Dried coriander seeds

are a spice derived from the sweetly fragrant, lacy flower heads

that are used ground or whole in cooking, baking and preserv-

ing. The pungent leaves and stems are classed as an herb, and

together with the roots are used in cuisines from around the

world. Which plant part is favored most often, depends on what

culture created the recipe.

For those who aren’t aware of it, there is a defining difference

between an herb and a spice, though we use these words inter-

changeably today. Spices are fragrant or aromatic parts plants

that are also edible. Herbs also have healing properties used for

medicine, beneficial properties used in cosmetics and food pres-

ervation, along with adding great flavor to food or drink.

BENEFICIAL ELEMENTSThe earliest record of health benefits from the coriander or ci-

lantro plant is in ancient Egypt where it was brewed into tea as

a cure for urinary tract infections, as well as made into salves

and poultices.You know there is something truly special about

a plant when its seeds are buried with King Tut to use in his

afterlife. Cilantro tea is still used in holistic medicine today and

in traditional Chinese medicine for centuries to treat disorders

of the stomach. The Greeks also used the essential oils from the

foliage and stems for making perfumes.

It is known to be high in antioxidants and has antibacterial, anti-

fungal and anti-inflammatory properties and has shown excel-

lent results in treating diabetes where it lowers the blood sugar.

Cilantro is also used in the U.S. today for fighting cholesterol,

and research shows it is twice as effective at killing Salmonella

as gentamicin.

SEED VARIETIES & CROP PLANNINGFor those who try to time outdoor garden harvest of tomatoes,

jalapenos and cilantro for the most heavenly of salsas, the heat

required to finish of the peppers and tomatoes makes the plants

quickly bolt and turn into coriander. As soon as the plant begins

39

to form flowering stems, the sought after flavor of cilantro is

ruined as the leaves become bitter tasting. This makes indoor

growing of cilantro even more valuable year around.

Coriander, like all other cultivars, has been paid great attention

to by hybridizers. You will find seed varieties available that are

sold as having improved flavor and slower seed setting. Still this

annual performs best for prolonged cilantro harvest at cooler

temperatures, so be sure to make note of this inherent trait.

Pinching back flower stems buys you a little more foliage harvest

time, but not much. For continual harvest, it is better to start

new seeds about every 4-5 weeks to ensure that you have a

continual supply of fresh cilantro for whipping up your favorite

dishes.

All varieties of cilantro or coriander mature to about 60 cm tall

at flowering, so be sure to have ample height for lighting adjust-

ment as they grow.

SOWING & GROWING INFOCilantro is a great candidate for indoor gardening with its hardy

constitution, minimal light requirements and preference for

lower ambient temperatures. With good grow lighting, you can

enjoy great success in potting soil, but it is also a simple crop for

hydroponic containers, and Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) or

drip irrigation systems. In a greenhouse it is difficult to maintain

the climate for this crop and it is prone to fungal infections. Days

that are too short cause the plants to quickly thin, wither and

die off, so don’t cheat your plants out of any of the required

sunshine hours.

This member of the carrot family does not transplant well, so

CILANTRO I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

HIPPOCRATES PRAISED THE HERB FOR ITS HEALING BENEFITS AND WAS USING TEA BREWED FROM

THE LEAVES TO TREAT HEALTH DISORDERS IN 500 B.C.

GYO Fast Facts• pH range 6.5-7.5 for best results

• Cilantro likes low humidity

• 20-23 C best for leaf harvest

• 11-hour daylight minimum

• Crop yield: 1 Kg. x 3 m.)

of NFT trough

• Harvest per sowing: 2-3

• Harvest 12 months a year is possible

BY TAMMY

Don’t grow short of your potentialIt’s a fact; no matter how good your lights, nutrients and

growing medium; if your grow room is missing a hydroponic system your plants won’t achieve their optimum yield.

To find out how hydroponic systems massively increase your yields Visit www.Nutriculture.com

TM

Nutriculture Hydroponic Systems

Record breaking yields since 1976

TASTE BUD TEASERSRub it on meat, sprinkle it in salads or have

a constant supply for any number of ethnic

dishes. Cilantro is used in so many popu-

lar dishes today; it will be hard to imagine

how you lived without it constantly avail-

able for picking fresh. Here’s an awesome

sounding recipe to try.3

41 41

CILANTRO I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

you will want to start and finish it in the same medium. The

best mediums for hydroponic growing of cilantro are high qual-

ity free-draining soilless mixes or sterile media. Seeds start best

at 20 C - 24 C), and will germinate in 5-7 days. Cilantro is best

started misting the medium twice a day and keeping the con-

tainer in a covered germinating tray or sealed plastic bag. Main-

tain full sun lighting for 12-14 hours each day. Plants are ready

for your drip irrigation or NFT hydroponic system when the

seedlings are 2-3 inches tall. The plant’s preferred daytime tem-

perature is 24 C and 15.5 C at night with no more than 75%

humidity and a minimum of 11 hours of sunlight a day. Higher

grow room temperaturebrings bolting rapidly. You want only

the immature parsley-like leaves for cooking. Once the feathery

leaves that precede bolting appear, you might as well allow it to

produce seed. The feathery leaves are bitter and of no value.

You can expect good harvesting in 4-6 weeks. If you can’t wait

that long to whip up some salsa, you can begin cutting as early as

you have about 6 inches of leaf and stem available. The plants will

continue to generate new stems, as their goal in life is to flower

and set seed. Just don’t expect them to grow thick and full in

the face of your impatience for culinary ingredients. At the same

time, trimming helps to stall bolting. If you’re after both seed and

leaf, plan your crop and harvest accordingly.

Controlling the heat that causes cilantro to quickly bolt and start

the seed setting process is much easier to accomplish with light-

ing versus summer temperatures outdoors. This plant does very

well under standard fluorescent or high output fluorescent lights

and High Intensity Discharge (HID) grow lights. With the thin

leaf structure and hot HID lights, you will need a fan with the

power to circulate air rapidly enough to prevent over-heating of

your crop. The last thing you want after successfully producing

great plants is to burn the uppermost foliage.

Nutrients for cilantro will be ‘grow’ solutions that are high in ni-

trogen for increasing leaves and roots as opposed to flower and

fruit. If your interest in growing fresh cilantro is more business

orientated, plan on the full 6 weeks for your first crop harvest.

You’ll find a good market for this fast growing herb in super fresh

condition almost anywhere, especially when organically grown

which will bring the highest wholesale crop income.

Spicy, piquant sauce perfect for topping off botanas or

grilled vegetables. For fresher fire, omit the cayenne

and add a jalapeno pepper. A little dab will do you,

this flavor explosion sauce will go a long way.

• ¼ cup olive oil

• 1 scallion, chopped

• 1 clove garlic, chopped

• 1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts or walnuts

• 1 ½ teaspoon lime juice

• 1 cup lightly packed cilantro leaves (short stems)

• 1 cup lightly packed parsley sprigs (small stem)

• Few pinches of cayenne pepper

• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Put all ingredients but the salt and

cayenne in your blender or food

processor and mix to combine.

If you’re using fresh chilli, you

will want to add it with the first

ingredients.

Add the salt and puree until smooth.

Transfer to a small serving dish for the table.

Bon appetite!

Cilantro Pesto

DAYS THAT ARE TOO SHORT CAUSE THE PLANTS TO QUICKLY THIN, WITHER AND DIE OFF, SO DON’T CHEAT YOUR PLANTS OUT OF ANY OF THE REQUIRED SUNSHINE HOURS

Don’t grow short of your potentialIt’s a fact; no matter how good your lights, nutrients and

growing medium; if your grow room is missing a hydroponic system your plants won’t achieve their optimum yield.

To find out how hydroponic systems massively increase your yields Visit www.Nutriculture.com

TM

Nutriculture Hydroponic Systems

Record breaking yields since 1976

42

D O W N T O E A R T H

Coming from the north, east or west it seems like a

little hill grown over by grass. But who approaches

an Earthship from the south will recognize a cry-

stal like greenhouse. When you think about it for

a minute you realize that the windows are facing

south for a good reason. They are directed toward

the most sunlight, toward where the sun gives life

– in the Northern hemisphere, anyway. And this is

one of the key concepts of what Earthships are all

about: to enable one to live comfortably with what

nature has to offer.

Earthships

43

Public Park Nooterhof in the city of

Zwolle (the Netherlands) lodges one

of these Earthships. This Earthship

functions as a public tea houseand

opens its glass doors to visitors fasci-

natedaboutliving in and with the earth,

and outside the paradigm of the mod-

ern urban world.

THREE PRINCIPLESKnown as radically sustainable green,

these curious buildings covered in dirt, not only spare the en-

vironment, but help improve several issues the environment is

faced with nowadays. As is often the case with brilliant ideas,

the principles behind an Earthship are surprisingly simple. In

fact, the buildings leave anyone first looking into their concept

startled by its simplicity. Three principles give Earthships their

deep green color: the use of recycled products, self-sufficiency

for its inhabitants, and the implementation of sustainable tech-

nologies.

STACKED TIRES FILLED WITH EARTHStanding next to the Earthship’s several feet thick walls makes

you realize that they are nearly impossible to penetrate, or

even to disturb. It is discarded car tires, stacked like bricks

43

and jam-packed with earth, that make

up the building’s frame. Visitors of the

teahouse are allowed a peak into the

Earthship’s outer walls. A small piece

of the northern wall has been left un-

finished. It showsa couple of the thou-

sand discarded car tires that shape the

walls.

However impressive, not car tires but

earth is the humble secret ingredient

that makes up the Earthship. Just as the building’s name sug-

gests. Earthships use earth as their weapon in a building’s nev-

er-ending battle with the ambient air temperature-with hardly

any intervention of air conditioning or heating. Earth functions

as thermal mass that passively absorbs natural heat when the

sun is out. During the night or on cloudy days, the earth gives

its stock of warmth back to the room. This way, even in cli-

mates as chilly as the Dutch, Earthships provide fora constant

indoor temperature year-round with a minimum of utility bills.

GLASS WALLSWhoever has concerns about an Earthship’s aesthetics can

stop worrying. Itscar tire, earth-filled walls are normally

plastered and painted over making them appear similar to

EARTHSHIPS I GARDEN CULTURE

THREE PRINCIPLES GIVE EARTHSHIPS THEIR DEEP GREEN COLOR: THE USE OF RECYCLED PRODUCTS,

SELF-SUFFICIENCY FOR ITS INHABITANTS, AND THE IMPLEMENTATION

OF SUSTAINABLE TECHNOLOGIES

gardenculture.net

radically sustainable greenEarthship in Taos, New MexicoEarthships

BY MAAIKE VISSER

44

Earthship in Zwolle, the Netherlands

45

EARTHSHIPS I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

those of an elegant, modern adobe style house that would

fit any community. The inside walls, however, are the walls

that allow for creativity in interior design. Looking at these

artsy walls you would almost forget that they are sound-

damping, temperature moderating as well as fine-looking.

EFFICIENCY AND SELF-SUFFICIENCYNow that the earth-part of the concept has been cleared

up, the mystery remains why these buildings are dubbed

ships. This piece of the puzzle will fall into place at the mo-

ment one enters an Earthship. Walking into one of these

self-sufficient capsules in their earthly environmentsis

like boarding a ship: suddenly you are autonomous from

the outside world. As Earthships are not connected to

any power, gas, water or sewage lines, they are fully self-

contained. Not only does this trigger a strong feeling of

independency, it also allows for more efficiency in terms of

energy, water, economics and environment.

Rainwater that hits the Earthship’s roof is collected, fil-

tered in plant troughsseveral times, and then used and re-

used.Starting off as drinking water, it seconds as shower,

washing machine, and toilet water, after which it is finally

used to water the plants. And solar panels beaming on top

of the roof generate enough electricity and warmth for a

family to get through a normal day.

THE FIRST EARTHSHIPOne tire at a time, an experienced international Earthship

crew finished construction of the Dutch tea house in 2009.

Thereby they realized the first Earthship in the Benelux, but

certainly not the very first of its kind. Introduced by American

eco-architect Michael Reynolds, the prototype Earthship was

built in the desert of Taos, New-Mexico.

Ever since graduating from the University of Cincinnati in 1969

Reynolds has been devoted to building houses out of natural

resources and discarded items. His conviction that, with the

right formula, products can be recycled to form buildings that

won’t spoil the resources and beauty of the earth, led him to

design the first Earthship in the 1970’s. Since then Reynolds has

written five books on the topic and directed the film ‘Garbage

Warrior’ in 2007.

WORLDWIDE HYPEThe tea house in Zwolle is just one of the many Earthships

that can be found worldwide. After some start-up trouble,

they now have reached worldwide celebrity status. Hun-

dreds of Earthships can be found throughout the globe today

and still dozens of Earthship crews work on new radically

sustainable green buildings. Each building is custom made to

fit the climate it is placed in, and through a process of trial

and error, each new Earthship is a bit better than the last.

As for the Netherlands, after having introduced Earthships

to the Benelux, the country is currently the first in Europe

to develop an official Earthship district. Last spring the

construction of twenty-three radically sustainable buildings

started in the city Olst.

YOUR CUP OF TEA?Earthships are remarkable buildings that enable civilized living

while helping to restore the exhausted and damaged environ-

ment. Anyone interested in these sustainable and recycled

buildings can go and have a look at the tea house Earthship

in Zwolle. Reflecting over a cup a fair-trade tea here makes

you realize all too well the beauty and comfort of radically

sustainable living. And while you are there, don’t worry about

enjoying that piece of pie: it has been locally grown. 3

AS EARTHSHIPS ARE NOT CONNECTED TO ANY POWER, GAS, WATER OR SEWAGE LINES,THEY ARE FULLY SELF-CONTAINED

48

Fungi, Molasses, & ROCK PHOSPHATE

Many plants go through a juvenile stage where they sharply increase in size before shifting

their energy into flowering and fruiting. The size plants reach during this stage has an impact

on how much harvest they produce.

Beneficial fungi, molasses, and rock phosphate have been used to help boost plant growth

during this critical stage for years. They work in concert to help plants thrive.

49

GROWTH BOOSTERS I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

BY GRUBBYCUP

Fungi, Molasses, & ROCK PHOSPHATE

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MYCORRHIZAE AND THE PLANT IS A SYMBIOTIC ONE; BOTH ORGANISMS BENEFIT FROM THEIR ASSOCIATION WITH THE OTHER

The two most important fungi for most gardeners are

ecto-mycorrhizal, and endo-mycorrhizal.

Ectomycorrhizae form primarily on tree and woody

plant roots, although some can form on a wide variety

of plants. The fungus forms a covering on the roots, and

then branches out into the surrounding soil.

Similar to hair extensions for roots, this

fungal web called hyphae both extends

the reach of the root system, and in-

creases the amount of surface area

collecting nutrients for the plant.

This network of nutrient collect-

ing hyphae is anchored between

the cortex cells of the roots. The

hyphae pick up nutrients from the

soil, and transport them to the

plant in exchange for carbohydrates

made by the plant. Certain varieties

also have antibiotic properties, which

help protect the plant from infection, and the

sheathing of fungus on the roots offers some pro-

tection from nematodes. Since the hyphae strands are thin-

ner than roots, they not only extend the reach of the root

system by meters, but they can also exploit smaller nooks

and cracks in the growing media. One milliliter of colonized

soil may contain up to four meters of ectomycorrhizae.

For most other green leafy plants including vegetables, en-

domycorrhizae is the more important fungus.

Instead of helping the plant by extending the root system, they

improve the existing root system. Where ectomycorrhizae

help by moving nutrients into the plant, endomycorrhizae help

move nutrients within the roots themselves, speeding them

to the rest of the plant for use. Weaving itself into the corti-

cal cells of the roots, endomycorrhizae form small structures

Since beneficial fungi take time to establish and colonize

the root system, they are best introduced early. Mycor-

rhiza fungi are beneficial and assist in nutrient collection

and uptake. Adding carbohydrates to a nutrient solution

is a gardening trick for boosting plant performance going

back to at least the 1960’s.

Mycorrhizae (fungus-roots) are found

naturally occurring in healthy “live”

soil. Sterile hydroponic media

may require a spore inoculation

to establish colonies. They are

caused by mycorrhiza fungi in-

fecting a plant root and the two

together are what are known as

mycorrhizae.

Plants with well-established mycor-

rhizae tend to perform better than those

that do not. Approximately 90% of all plants

can benefit from some form of mycorrhizae, includ-

ing trees, shrubs, and garden plants. The relationship be-

tween mycorrhizae and the plant is a symbiotic one; both

organisms benefit from their association with the other.

The plant provides a carbohydrate source for the fungus,

and in return, the fungus helps assist the plants in nutri-

ent uptake, drought resistance, and blocking their environ-

mental niche from pathogenic fungi. It is better to have

helpful flat mates than destructive ones, so making sure

beneficial fungi take up the space can prevent something

worse from moving in. Mycorrhizae collect and process

nitrogen, phosphorus and a variety of micronutrients and

pass them to the plant. Of particular use is their ability to

increase phosphorus uptake, which dramatically increases

over non infected plants.

Mycorrhizae

50

called arbuscules. These arbuscules are where the fungus

delivers the transported nutrients for the plant to receive,

and picks up carbohydrates supplied by the plant. Nutrients

transported by endomycorrhizae include nitrogen, phospho-

rous, potassium, calcium, sulfur, and zinc, with an emphasis on

phosphorous uptake. Of particular use is where rock phos-

phate is being used as a phosphorous source instead of the

more available superphosphate, as endomycorrhizae speeds

the solubility conversion. Adding endomycorrhizae generally

replicates the effect of increasing the strength of phosphorous

in nutrient solution by improving existing phosphorous uptake.

Although commonly already present in healthy soil, mycorrhi-

zae fungus levels can be increased by adding powdered spores

(inoculants) available at garden and hydroponic shops. Sterile

media and poor soils can be brought from a complete absence

of mycorrhizae to abundance with the use of inoculants. All

they need is food (carbohydrates), water, and half a chance.

High applications of chemical nutrients can be detrimental to

development, so this system is less appropriate for “goose

pate” style gardens where nutrient is supplied to the plant at

the upper end of its ability to absorb. This can create an appar-

ent paradox where continuing to apply additional nutrients can

impede the plant’s nutrient absorption. For example, killing off

the endomycorrhizae will require additional phosphorous to

be added to make up for the loss in efficiency and uptake.

If using mycorrhizal inoculants, apply at the beginning of

the season to establish the colonies early. Once estab-

lished, the infected roots should serve as a host to allow

the fungus to spread throughout the root system. Much

like a small colony of mold will take over an entire loaf

of bread; in a healthy root system mycorrhiza will spread

to fill the available space. Plant improvements from inocu-

late use are particularly pronounced when used early in

poor or sterile mediums. In soil that already contains high

Roots with mycorrhizae

THE BENEFITS OF ADDING CARBOHYDRATES ARE MOSTLY INDIRECT; THEY FEED THE BENEFICIAL MICROORGANISMS AND MYCORRHIZAE WHICH HELP THE PLANTS

51

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levels beneficial fungi, adding more

spores has a less pronounced effect.

Mycorrhizae thrive on carbohy-

drates, which is part of what they

receive in payment from the plant

in exchange for helping the plant

thrive. One way to boost benefi-

cial microorganisms including my-

corrhizae is to feed them with a

carbohydrate additive such as molasses.

Carbohydrates (saccharides) are molecules with spe-

cific combinations of carbon and water. A subset of

carbohydrates are the sugars ending in “-ose”. For ex-

ample, table sugar is sucrose (C12H22O11), milk sugar is

lactose (also C12H22O11, but the atoms are arranged dif-

ferently), blood sugar is glucose(C6H12O6) and so on.

Carbohydrates store energy that many life forms can use,

people included. The “sugar rush” from eating a lot of

sweets is an effect from overindulging in sugars. The en-

ergy is easily converted, but then is quickly used. Keep in

mind that unwelcome visitors such as ants may be enticed

to visit if a carbohydrate banquet available, so make sure

to clean up any spills promptly.

The benefits of adding carbohydrates are mostly indi-

rect; they don’t help the plants directly, they feed the

beneficial microorganisms and mycorrhizae which help

the plants. These microorganisms use the ready en-

ergy available in carbohydrates to thrive and reproduce.

Cane syrup, maple syrup, fruit juice, and molasses can

all be used as carbohydrate sources. Dilute to two tea-

spoons per gallon (10 ml./3.8 l.) of water. Cleanliness is a

must, as these may attract insects and leave a sticky resi-

due. Ants may be attracted to the residue, and if hydrated

(mixed with water) and allowed to go anaerobic (stale)

these may encourage the wrong sort of fungal growth.

Molasses (also known as Treacle) is a byproduct of sugar

refining, and contains not only plenty of carbohydrates

to add to your garden, but potassium, nitrogen, and iron

as well. Many micronutrients are locked in their chelated

form and require a chelating agent to unlock them. Mo-

lasses acts as a chelating agent (like Humic Acid), by en-

ergizing the root level biology, it makes micronutrients

more readily available for nutrient uptake by the plants.

Be careful when purchasing molasses as prices vary widely. Al-

though all three are usable for gardening

purposes, molasses marketed as a plant

additive tends to be very expensive, mo-

lasses intended for human consumption

is moderately priced, and molasses sold

as cattle feed supplement tends to be

pretty cheap. Molasses sold for cattle

feed is often mixed with a grain to add

structure. The addition of grain not only

makes the molasses easier to work with, but adds composta-

ble organic material as an additional benefit. Personally, I tend

to purchase molasses made for human consumption, as I don’t

have a large garden; I like it on my pancakes, and in Shoo Fly

Pie. Apply at two teaspoons (about 10ml.) per gallon of water,

or the same amount per pancake.

To complete the trio, add a good dollop of powdered

rock phosphate to the mix. Not only will this provide

the mycorrhiza with a supply of phosphorous to supply

the plant, but it can also provide a suitable environment

for other beneficial organisms to take up residence. The

well fed mycorrhiza should be put to work, and what they

do best is absorb and supply phosphorous to the plant.

Rock phosphate is available in two forms, “soft rock”

phosphate, and “hard rock” phosphate. Soft rock phos-

phate contains a higher amount of immediately available

phosphorous, and is usually the choice for container soil

enhancement. Hard rock phosphate is better suited to

improve a field where plants are to be grown for several

years, or where the soil is reused.

Mycorrhiza help bring phosphorous and other benefits to

plants, and carbohydrates help mycorrhiza. During early

growth is a good time to add inoculants with a packed

carbohydrate lunch and rock phosphorous dessert to

your growing media. Feeding your fungus carbohydrates

regularly throughout flowering can have the end re-

sult of giving your plants a phosphorous boost, and re-

introducing spores can help reestablish lost colonies.

Beneficial fungi help with keeping plants well fed, and

proper nutrition is one of the keys to bountiful harvests.

Embrace the fungus among us, feed them, and give them

phosphorous to carry.

Peace, love, and puka shells. 3

MYCORRHIZA HELP BRING

PHOSPHOROUS AND OTHER BENEFITS TO PLANTS, AND CARBOHYDRATES

HELP MYCORRHIZA.

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54

T H I N G S T H AT M A K E Y O U A B E T T E R G R O W E R

Improving your grow-game doesn’t always have to be

expensive or difficult to learn-our greatest growing

successes are often the culmination of many small ef-

forts and tweaks rather than one grandiose slam-dunk.

55 55

GROW TIPS I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

BY ERIK BIKSA

Let’s have a look at a few tasty bits that you can easily adopt

into your garden -whether you are just starting out or have

been enjoying indoor harvests for a few moons now.

• Don’t water your plants right out of the tap or

immediately after RO (reverse osmosis) filtering your

water into your holding tank-chances are, it’s too cold and

is going to shock your plants. The roots will have to warm

again for the plant to get back on the rails of accelerated

growth. Temperature is the number one governor of all living

reactions on this planet.

• Understand how much space your

plants are going to need. How many

plants it will take to fill your grow

space within the time you allot for

the crop? This usually takes practice

to dial into perfection; you need to

understand the characteristics of

the strain you are working with. Will it grow 25% or 300%

more after you initiate the bloom phase? Asking breeders or

other growers may provide some answers. Those answers

can be worth more than gold!

• Keep the growing area clean and uncluttered. Too many

growing disasters originate from clutter or plant debris

scattered about the growing area. Keep the inside of the

grow room or tent as clean and as organized as possible-

no wires on the floor either! Your life may seem like pure

chaos, but in your garden is where you can reign supreme.

• Maintain the right temperature. It’s easy to blast plants

with light; and it’s even easier to overheat your crop if you

can’t manage it properly. Most artificial light sources throw

off a lot of heat. If you can’t keep your grow temperatures

below 29.5 C when the lights are on, your plants are likely

to suffer. Dimmable ballasts or using lower wattage lighting

may be an option if your ventilation abilities are maxed-out.

• Don’t fly blind, learn some biology. While you don’t

need to become an HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air

Conditioning) expert or a fertilizer chemist to achieve great

results these days, it still pays to have a good understanding

of how the different types of equipment operate in your

garden and what the different nutrient ingredients are going

to do for your plants. Reading gardening magazines can help

a lot, and the internet can also be a good source of info.

Once you understand the fundamentals you can make it all

work better for your particular growing needs.

• Don’t under estimate the

importance of training and sculpting

your plants in the garden so that they

can give you the best production

and quality possible. For example,

the lower third of the plant is often

receiving much less light than the

top. These lower portions produce

poorly and rob energy from the more intensive top

growth. Prune those suckers off after about the second

week of flowering.

• When you are a grower, avoiding disaster is as much

a mark of success as any. If you have waterlines that are

pressurized in the grow room, for example city or well pump

pressure; make sure that you use reinforced hosing that will

not burst when unattended. You could wind up coming back

to a huge problem if you don’t.

• Avoid interrupting the dark cycle, especially in the bloom

phase. If you don’t you can wind up with confused plants

that produce poorly or that go straight to seed. When

entering the room during the dark cycle is a must, only

green LED lighting is recommended. It will help you see your

way around without seriously interrupting your plants’ rest.

Make sure you don’t see any light leaks when you stand in

the room during the dark phase. 3

WHEN YOU ARE A GROWER, AVOIDING

DISASTER IS AS MUCH A MARK OF SUCCESS AS ANY

57

What could this possibly have to do with

gardening and the success or failure of

your garden? When you need a new cell-

phone do you head down to your local

electronics supplier and buy a bunch of

microprocessors and resistors and head

home to construct your new phone like

the mad doctor did with Frankenstein on

that stormy night? Of course not, you

head over to the cell phone store or dial

it up online and click buy, pay for it and

then start texting your friends to boast of your new pur-

chase. You don’t know how to wire or build a cell phone and

for most of you new growers, your garden is no different.

You’ve spent hours researching online, head out to your lo-

cal Hydro store or order online and acquire your new grow

equipment, head home and start to assemble the puzzle of

pots, trays, tubing, pumps and then muster up the courage

to mix up your first batch of feed solution. You’ve done all

this with no experience growing a plant and no knowledge

of how it should all work, why?

Your new garden is a like a new baby. Would you bring

your new bundle of joy home and sit him in front of a giant

57

NY prime steak and expect him

to eat, would you? You’ve got to

take it slow, learn to walk before

you run and K.I.S.S.

A new grower should start simple

with one ore two lights, minimal

number of plants, pots with soil

and a very basic nutrient feed

solution. Hand water these new

born babies and spend time in

your garden EVERY DAY!

Take the time to study your plants, study their reactions, what

makes them happy and of course what makes them sad. As

you get through your fist crop or two, you will begin to realize

that there is more to indoor gardening then meets the eye and

only then can you begin to make the educated decisions need-

ed to outfit your garden and progress into a more advanced

and automated grow system.

The simpler your first garden is, the more SUCCESSFUL

you will be! There will come a time for the latest technol-

ogy and all the bells and whistles, just think of the evolution of

spy planes. Clarence Johnson said it right when he coined the

phrase Keep It Simple Stupid! 3

K.I.S.S. I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

Keep It Simple StupidHistorical concepts for a Bumper Crop

YOUR NEW GARDEN IS A LIKE A NEW

BABY. WOULD YOU BRING YOUR NEW

BUNDLE OF JOY HOME, SIT HIM IN

FRONT OF A GIANT NY PRIME STEAK AND EXPECT HIM TO EAT?

The acronym was coined by Clarence Johnson, lead

engineer at the Lockheed Skunk Works (creators of

the Lockheed U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird spy planes,

among many others). The principle is best exemplified

by the story of Johnson handing a team of design engi-

neers a handful of tools, with the challenge that the jet

aircraft they were designing must be repairable by an

average mechanic in the field under combat conditions

with only these tools. Hence, the ‘stupid’ refers to the

relationship between the way things break and the so-

phistication available to fix them.

The principle most likely finds its origins in similar concepts such as:

• Albert Einstein’s maxim that “everything

should be made as simple as possible, but no

simpler”.

• Leonardo da Vinci’s “Simplicity is the ultimate

sophistication”

• Mies Van Der Rohe’s “Less is more”

• Antoine de Saint Exupéry’s “It seems that

perfection is reached not when there is noth-

ing left to add, but when there is nothing left

to take away”

BY SHELDON

58

Hydroponic growing systems are your answer to grow-

ing food in tight spaces. When you grow food hydro-

ponically the food grows up to 25 to 30 percent faster

because the plants do not have to spend valuable energy

growing roots to find food. The plants are suspended in

a nutrient rich solution which also saves you the has-

sle of dealing with messy soils and insects that are at-

tracted to the soil. This nutrient rich solution contains

essentials such as potassium, zinc, magnesium, borine,

copper, etc. The pH level needs to be constantly moni-

tored to maintain the balance. There are many meters

and monitors available to keep a constant watch on the

solution as the pH strips are not reliable for constant

monitoring.

The benefits farmers gain from using hydroponics grow-

ing systems are that they don’t use soil so you never

have to worry about contamination or soil borne dis-

eases. Operation is easy as there are automated sys-

tems that do all of the timing for you and hydroponic

systems recycle the potable water so you only have to

change it once every couple of weeks. Aside from all

the benefits of the hydroponics system, there are sev-

eral different plants that you can grow in this method

including, but not limited to, tomatoes, potatoes, beans,

cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, grapes and a variety of dif-

ferent herbs.

The basic 0.5 m2, sixteen unit hydroponics setup is easy

and affordable. You can either buy the unit from an online

retailer or hydroponics store or you can build one your-

self. There are many variations on the hydroponic growing

system, but the easiest method to use if you are limited

by space is to use the drip method that includes a pump

and timing system. First you must decide to either buy the

system or build the system. It would seem that building one

would be cheaper than buying a ready-made system, but

by the time that you buy all the individual components it

actually costs about the same. Not to mention the money

that you will save growing all or even a small part of your

family’s food supply.

Just because you live in a shoe box doesn’t mean that you can’t grow delicious food that provides a

large supplement to your family’s normal diet. While it may be easier to have the expansive and rich soil

of farmland in the Great Plains, you can easily mimic the process of growing food in only a four by four

feet chunk of space. With the right set up and know how you can grow almost any type of vegetable

or fruit that you can imagine.

Hydroponics

59 59

HYDROPONICS I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

BY KAYLA SHAW

If you live in a small space you will need to allocate at least

a 0.5 m2 space in your apartment or on your balcony. You

can reduce this space even more by building vertical, with

a two by two feet space on the floor and another two by

two foot space on the wall above the floor units. When you

do it this way, you will have 16 separate units that you can

use to grow different plants, the same plant in all of them

or do half and half. This is all up to you and your food needs

and preferences. However, wherever you decide to put the

system, it needs to be in close proximity to a window so

that it can receive the sunlight it needs. If this is impossible,

then you can also buy lamps that will give the plants the

radiation they need to grow.

A drip system is one of the easiest hydroponic systems to

use because there is not a lot of setup and the maintenance

is not time intensive. A drip system incorporates a reser-

voir of nutrient rich solution that gets pumped to the indi-

vidual units and is placed right at the roots. The usual tim-

ing is to drip the solution on the roots for 15 minutes every

couple of hours. The plants are very sensitive to this so you

must keep a schedule for watering. This is why a pumping

system with a timer is a very handy thing to have because

otherwise this can become a full time job. This pump and

reservoir system recycles its own water so you only have

to change the solution every couple of weeks and you can

use the gray water as water for your other house plants.

Now you have the basic information you need to start

growing hydroponically in your apartment, on your balcony

or in your back yard. There is more to learn and many dif-

ferent methods you can use than what is described here.

There are also a multitude of products and gadgets that you

can buy to make growing food hydroponically extremely

simple and cost effective. 3

WHEN YOU GROW FOOD HYDROPONICALLY THE FOOD GROWS UP TO 30 PERCENT FASTER

for Small Apartments

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62

engineered varietals. Their “high

risk” list includes soybeans, canola,

corn, sugar beets and zucchini. Al-

falfa also makes the list, because it

affects GMO-free and organic cer-

tification when it’s used as fodder

for livestock.

Major GMO crops such as soybeans and corn are among the

hardest to avoid, although their direct role as foodstuffs is rela-

tively limited. Their importance lies primarily in their use as a

raw material. Corn and soybeans are grown in such huge quanti-

ties that they are the ultimate agricultural commodities. If an in-

gredient can be extracted or refined from them, they are usually

the cheapest available source of that ingredient. A considerable

portion of the biotechnology industry is devoted to finding new

uses for these crops. As a result, anything from your morning

vitamin C tablet to the aspartame in your diet soda might have

been extracted from a GMO food.

Consider soybeans as an example. Figures published by the U.S.

Department of Agriculture show that 94% of the U.S. Soybean

For consumers in much of the in-

dustrialized world, this is already

the case. The European Union,

the United Kingdom, Australia and

Japan all require labeling of foods

containing GMO ingredients. So

do India and China, despite their

large populations and constant

concerns over their respective food supplies. South Africa, the

continent’s major producer of GMO crops, has labeling laws

but their enforcement has been questionable. The question of

labeling has been a subject of hot debate in emerging nations

throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America. Yet, that hasn’t been

the case in Canada and the U.S.

If you’re among the nearly 80% who doubt the safety of GMO

foods, you might be shocked to learn how widespread they are.

In North America, several major crops are currently grown

almost entirely from GMO seed. The Non-GMO Project,

which provides third-party certification of GMO-free foods,

maintains a list of staple crops that are dominated by genetically

In a joint survey released in October of 2010, news agency Thompson Reuters and National Public Radio

polled Americans about their attitudes toward genetically modified foods. The study, viewable on the

Thompson Reuters website, revealed a number of contradictory perceptions. Just over 64% of the study’s

respondents said they were unsure whether GMO foods were safe, and another 14.6% felt they were unsafe.

Yet, 60% also said they’d be comfortable eating genetically engineered plant products. There was a broad

consensus on one point: 93% of those polled felt that GMO foods should be labeled.

SOY

FIGURES PUBLISHED BY THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE SHOW THAT 94% OF THE U.S.

SOYBEAN CROP WAS GROWN FROM GENETICALLY ENGINEERED

SEED IN 2011

GMOI S E V E R Y W H E R E

63

crop was grown from genetically

engineered seed in 2011. This af-

fects many other countries as well,

because the U.S. is the world’s

leading soybean exporter. Her

closest rival is Brazil, which by 2010

was using GMO seed for 80% of its

own production. Between them,

these two countries account for

three quarters of the world’s to-

tal production. Unless you live in a

country where GMO products are

prohibited by law, your food almost

certainly contains some of these

soybeans.

You might not eat tofu or drink soy milk, but soybeans are al-

most inescapable in the food chain. Soy lecithin is widely used as

an emulsifier in processed foods, helping ingredients combine

more readily. Soy protein is incorporated into processed foods

as a meat extender, or as a flavoring agent. It’s not only present

in processed foods: “seasoned” chicken breasts or pork chops

from your supermarket probably contain soy protein as well.

This soy-based seasoning is one that’s familiar to most consum-

ers. It’s best-known as monosodium glutamate, or MSG. The

label on your food will often list it under a less-obvious pseud-

onym, such as hydrolyzed plant protein or simply “natural fla-

vor.” Shoppers who diligently scour product labels for MSG

frequently overlook the possibility of finding it in uncooked,

minimally processed meats. The controversial flavor enhancer

isn’t always manufactured from soybeans, but they’re often used

as a source because of their low cost.

There are a number of other, innocuous-sounding ingredients

that often betray the presence of soy. The most universal are

63

the various gelling prod-

ucts used to improve

the texture of processed

foods. They might be

listed as gum Arabic, guar

gum, thickening gum, bulk

thickening gum, vegetable

starch or the blandly unin-

formative “stabilizer.” These

are used in soups, ice cream, sal-

ad dressings, baked goods and snack

foods among other products. Ironically,

health-conscious diners may be consuming more

soy than others: these thickeners are often used to

create palate-pleasing textures by replacing eggs or fat in low-fat

and vegan foods.

If you’re making an earnest effort to screen your food for po-

tential GMOs, food-allergy organizations and support groups

are often a good starting point. They offer a variety of useful

resources, including tips for identifying less-obvious sources of

soy. Soybeans are among the handful of most significant food

allergens, and any packaged food that contains soy must be la-

beled under the laws of the United States, Canada and many

other countries. However, if your goal is avoiding GMO ingre-

dients rather than catering to a food allergy, food labeling isn’t

comprehensive enough.

Studies evaluating soy’s impact as an allergen have shown that re-

fined soy oil seldom triggers an allergic reaction. It’s accordingly

exempt from allergen-labeling laws, making oil another common

source of GMO soy. Vegetable oil almost always contains soy

unless it is clearly labeled as 100% canola, peanut, sunflower or

other oil. Most varieties of consumer and commercial shorten-

ing and margarine also contain soy.

SOY GMO I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

SOYBY FRED DECKER

IF YOU’RE AMONG THE NEARLY 80% WHO DOUBT THE SAFETY OF GMO FOODS, YOU MIGHT BE SHOCKED TO LEARN HOW WIDESPREAD THEY ARE

THIS SOY-BASED SEASONING IS ONE THAT’S FAMILIAR TO

MOST CONSUMERS. IT’S BEST-KNOWN

AS MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, OR MSG. THE LABEL ON YOUR

FOOD WILL OFTEN LIST IT UNDER A LESS-OBVIOUS

PSEUDONYM

I S E V E R Y W H E R E

64

GARDEN CULTURE I SOY GMO

Even buying organic foods doesn’t

necessarily guarantee that you have

a GMO-free product. Organic label-

ing has historically required that any

GMO or potentially GMO-containing

foods be held to less than 1% of the

total ingredients. However, it’s in-

creasingly difficult for organic farm-

ers to avoid cross-pollination from

neighboring fields where GMO crops

are grown, contaminating their own

crops. There is a movement afoot to

relax organic labeling standards to re-

flect this new reality.

The growing difficulty of avoiding

genetically-engineered foods, and big

agriculture’s resistance to consumer labeling, has begun to trig-

ger a backlash in the United States. Critics argue that allowing

unlabeled, untested GMO ingredients in the food chain amounts

to a large-scale human testing program, one that represents a

massive abdication of responsibility by government and indus-

try. State legislatures in Connecticut, Hawaii and Vermont are

actively considering bills to mandate labeling of transgenic foods,

and in California a campaign is underway to put a labeling initia-

tive on ballots for the November 2012 election.

Industry apologists typically cast the debate as a clash between

scaremongering Western elitists and the world’s hungry. They

argue that GMO crops raise yields and improve crops’ ability

to survive and flourish under adverse conditions. The reality is

rather different. Most GMO soybeans were developed to show

resistance to patented herbicides. Unsurprisingly the same com-

panies that sell the herbicides also sell the herbicide-resistant

soybeans. Farmers using the engineered seed are committed to

using the corresponding herbicide for weed control, sharply in-

creasing the patent-holder’s profits. The seed companies forbid

farmers to save their seed from one year to the next, requir-

ing the purchase of new seed. This combination of expensive

seed and expensive herbicide can be difficult even for Western

farmers, and often represents a crippling expense for growers in

developing countries.

The problem goes well beyond the economic impact of the

seed companies’ strong-arm seed marketing techniques. For

one thing, the spread of GMO soy has resulted in an increased

use of toxic herbicides, encouraging

unsustainable farming methods and

greater environmental contamination.

Worse, their altruistic-sounding goal of

feeding the hungry masses has proven

groundless. There is no third-party re-

search to demonstrate that genetically-

engineered crops produce higher yields

than conventional crops, and a grow-

ing body of evidence shows that their

yields might in fact be lower.

A number of groups are attempting to

bring opposition to transgenic foods

into the political mainstream. In the

United States organizations such as Just

Label It and Food Democracy Now ad-

vocate mandatory labeling of GMO foods. Their strategy is to

tap the traditional American reliance on free markets: label the

product, they say, and let the market – in other words, individual

consumers -- decide the future of genetically-engineered foods.

Ultimately it’s up to you to determine how comfortable you

are with transgenic foods, and where you want to draw that

line. For example, in the Thompson Reuters poll nearly 60%

of respondents said they’d be comfortable eating GMO plant

foods, but less than 40 percent were comfortable with trans-

genic meats or fish. Lack of labeling, and therefore lack of choice,

is the sticking point in countries including Canada and the U.S.

Concerned voters in non-labeling countries can choose to sup-

port initiatives such as Just Label It, or write personally to their

elected representatives. Until labeling laws change, seeking out

certified GMO-free foods and minimizing your consumption of

processed foods are viable strategies.

Growing as much of your own food as possible is the ultimate

answer to the thorny question of food safety. Ordering and

growing heirloom open-pollinated varieties of your favorite gar-

den plants, or hybrids that predate the GMO era, keeps you in

control of your family’s diet. Buying grass-fed meats and pas-

tured poultry from local growers provides a similar measure

of certainty. Until the political winds change and create an im-

peccably safe food supply, the best way to ensure your family’s

health is to build one of your own. 3

IT’S INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT FOR ORGANIC FARMERS TO AVOID CROSS-POLLINATION FROM NEIGHBORING FIELDS WHERE GMO CROPS ARE GROWN, CONTAMINATING THEIR OWN CROPS

THERE IS NO THIRD-PARTY RESEARCH TO DEMONSTRATE

THAT GENETICALLY-ENGINEERED CROPS PRODUCE HIGHER

YIELDS THAN CONVENTIONAL CROPS, AND A GROWING

BODY OF EVIDENCE SHOWS THAT THEIR YIELDS MIGHT IN

FACT BE LOWER

65

CHILLI I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

Latest research points to a small area around Lake Titicaca in Bolivia as the ground zero where

the Chilli developed and was first domesticated over 6000 years ago. This is a truly ancient

cultivarthat has been used in its many forms for a very long time. The fact that it was one of the

first plants to be domesticated verges on the mystical in many Mezzo-American cultures and has

spread around the globe in the last 500 years thanks to the Spanish and Portuguese explorers.

Now half the world’s diet contains chillis and peppers from of over 3000 varieties.

BY CHILLIPEPPERPETE

Originally spread by birds that were attracted by the

bright color of the ripe pods and were not affected by the

capsaicin burn which the plant developed as protective

oil against fungal invasion inside the pod.Coincidentally it

also repelled mammals which travel a far lesser distance

than birds. The acids inside the birds gut also softened

the outer casing of the seed to quicken germination.

Bearing in mind the growing conditions of high humidity

and heat and the difficulty of germinating the seed, one of

the first concerns when growing chillis is the germination.

There are many products on the market that mimic the

acid in the bird’s stomach but I have always found a very

mild 10% solution of bleach and water to be successful.

Leave for an hour or so and rinse the seed before planting

shallowly on their edge.

Some seeds can still take up to 6 weeks to germinate at

a constant 29.5C (particularly the new superhots). A

heated propagator is essential for speedy germination.

The growing plants are happy in any medium from compost

to coir but there are a few basics to keep an eye on. A

40/60per cent blend of perlite when using soil substrate

helps aeration. Their ideal pH is 5.7. Any lower causes

trace element problems and any higher can effect nutrient

take up. PH can be balanced with the gentle use of nitric

acid. The 5.7 pH balance refers tothe soil measurement

notthe pH of the input solution.

The plants are very vigorous and can quickly deplete soil

nutrients. The plants require a good root ball which can be

sped up with root stimulatorand the early use of additives

affects the overall balance of looks and heat.

The humidity and heat chillisrequire to grow at their

optimum is best provided undercover where the

environment can be totally controlled and the plantscan

grow to their highest potential. Commercially grown pods

very rarely reach their maximum heat as the control is not

there outdoors.

High humidity and heat increases capsaicin content but at

over 37Cessential flower drop increases. However later in

the cycle temperatures of over37C increase the ripening

process. So, effective temperature control is essential.

Unfortunately optimum nutrient, environmental conditions

andfull spectrum trace element research is sorely missing

at this time. Although there is a lot of research being done

in China which is at this time is leading the world in chilli

production by many factors.

The superhot varieties have a high calcium demand when

young but nutrient lock-out can be a major problem and

too much potassium exacerbates the problem. As ever

balance is everything.

Withholding water regularly and exposing the plants

to wind and generally stressful conditions also increase

the capsaicin content. A chemical that used to be made

from corpses and now called putrescine also shows great

promise of increasing capsaicin content. However it will

take several seasons to know if this compound will do what

it says on the bottle.

Our own research is ongoing and there are many other

inputs to investigate and many new varieties to explore.

The search for the world’s hottest chilli continues. 3

THE WORLD’S Hottest Chilli

68

BITCOINS

GROW YOUR OWN

MONEY

69

BITCOINS I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

BY DAVID MURPHY

In final months of 2010, at the height of the Wikileaks scandal, the major online financial institutions

VISA, Mastercard and Paypal moved to cut off the supply of donations to the site, under pressure

from powerful governments around the world. Faced with ruin, Wikileaks turned to an alternative

currency. One that wasn’t controlled by any government around the world. A currency that had

essentially been created with the press of a single key, by an enterprising young programmer who was

known in the cybersphere as Satoshi Nakamoto. It was called bitcoin.

ers there are, the less each one re-

ceives, and the system is designed to

run for a twenty year period, yield-

ing no more than 21 million bitcoins.

It is the combination of these fac-

tors that give bitcoins their value, in

much the same way as gold acquired

more value than water in the an-

cient world, because it was limited

in quantity and took a great deal of

effort to extract.

Almost as soon as mining began, Bit-

coin exchanges opened on the web.

If you can’t be bothered spending

your own money on a mining effort,

then you can simply buy a miner’s coins with con-

ventional money through a more traditional digital

currency system such as paypal. At the peak of their

value, a bitcoin was worth more than 15$ although

market fluctuations and other factors have since

brought the price back down to about 5$.

For your cash, you get what is essentially a block of

uniquely encrypted data. It cannot be replicated, and

because every copy of the program keeps a record

Twenty years of aggressive

growth on the internet has given

us a string of dotcom billionaires.

From Larry Paige to Mark Zuck-

erberg, the ability to conjure up

vast sums of money simply by

having the right idea at the right

time is nothing new. But what

Nakatomo was trying to achieve

with bitcoin was something dif-

ferent. His system mimicked the

popular peer-to-peer networks

already used by millions to down-

load and share their favourite

games, movies and music; it also

incorporated new anti-spamming

and cryptography technology which would enable it

to create money literally out of nothing.

It functions on a simple principle. Bitcoins can only

be produced by completing complex mathematical

puzzles, a process referred to as mining. The puzzles

require a real world investment, in terms of comput-

ing power and the energy required to run a proces-

sor, and prospectors are rewarded by the occasional

trickle of bitcoins into the system. The more min-

GROW YOUR OWN

MONEYFOR YOUR CASH, YOU GET WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY A

BLOCK OF UNIQUELY ENCRYPTED DATA.

IT CANNOT BE REPLICATED

71

BITCOINS I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

of where every bitcoin was created,

it would take a million times more

work to fake the file than to create a

real one. If you delete the encrypt-

ed data, or damage the computer it’s

stored on, it’s gone. Other than that, it works just

like any real world commodity. You can spend it at an

exchange, or with a retailer – anyone else who runs the

bitcoin software. You don’t register your name, and

none of your personal details are included in the coin.

Everything is tied to a single bitcoin address, secured by

incredibly complicated, paired encryption keys.

The irony is that the supposed anonymity of bitcoins is

a fallacy. The lengthy chain of data encrypted by each

computer includes all of the transactions ever pro-

cessed by the system, linked to the various IP addresses

of the users. With enough forensic investigation, any

particular transaction can be traced back to a physical

location. There are now sites that offer what is called

a bitcoin “fog”. This fog acts as a mixing service where

funds transferred to the fog get mixed with other us-

ers’ funds and when requested are paid out in multiple

randomized transactions to further obscure the source

of the money.

SO WHY DID SATOSHI NAKAMOTO

CREATE BITCOIN, AND

SUDDENLY DISAPPEAR OFF THE FACE OF THE WEB?

So why did Satoshi Nakamoto cre-

ate bitcoin, and suddenly disappear

off the face of the web? He had

done nothing illegal and he didn’t

stand to make some outrageous,

immoral level of profit from floating the company a year

down the line. Like a 21st century Salk, the creator of

the polio vaccine, he gave his invention away. There

have been suggestions that Nakamoto hoarded a stash

of bitcoins before the software’s release, and that at

the optimum moment in the bitcoins twenty year lifes-

pan he will release them onto the market and make mil-

lions. But like everything else surrounding Nakamoto,

it is merely rumour, heaped on speculation, stacked on

a wobbly pile of guesswork. Is he a single individual? A

cadre of programmers working under a collective alias?

The other coders credited with developing the bitcoin

technology, and with maintaining it, stay tight-lipped

about his identity. For them, the individual isn’t impor-

tant. The project is more about good old-fashioned

rebellion; a reaction to the financial irresponsibility

demonstrated by the world’s leading institutions over

the last five years. It’s about taking digital currency out

of the hands of administrators and governments, and

putting it back in the hand of the private individual. 3

72

W I N D O W F A R M I N G

With farm land decreasing at the same time that population numbers are increasing

worldwide, vertical hydroponic gardens may be one solution to the world’s food

shortages. Because hydroponic gardening is ecologically and economically sound,

it is one of the fastest growing areas of patenting in the U.S. today. The trend is

far from restricted to the U.S., however, and many innovators across the globe are

creating these gardens in urban environments.

73 73

WINDOW FARMING I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

BY MELANIE VOTAW

Some of these farms are large scale, such as

the vertical greenhouse called Plantagon,

which is set to be built in Linkoping, Swe-

den. The concept is a helix system in

which plants are transported on a spe-

cial elevator. The crops grow during

the slow ride down the helix, and an

automatic harvesting machine allows

the food to be harvested in batches.

A smaller scale, grassroots urban

agriculture movement was launched

in New York City in 2008 by Britta

Riley and Rebecca Bray. What start-

ed as a simple idea has since turned

into a worldwide movement and a

company called Windowfarms. More

than 33,000 people now participate in

the Windowfarms community.

Their concept was created for people to

become more nutritionally independent.

Using a vertical stack of recycled bottles in

which plants are rooted in clay pellets with no

soil, a pump at the bottom sends liquid nutrients to

the top. The nutrients then trickle down through the root

systems of the plants, and the roots remain compact, re-

quiring less space than plants grown in dirt. As a result,

organic vegetables can be grown indoors in any climate

year-round using natural or artificial light.

Riley and Bray knew that NASA had been using hydropon-

ics to explore growing food in space, discovering that opti-

mal nutritional yield can be achieved by running high qual-

ity liquid over plant root systems. So, they gathered some

friends and created their first prototype. As Riley said in

her 2011 TED talk about Windowfarms, the first systems

were “leaky, loud, power-guzzlers that Mar-

tha Stewart would definitely never have ap-

proved.” She and her team were able to grow

enough vegetables for a single salad a week

in their New York apartments, but they

wanted to work out the bugs in the sys-

tem and make it better. So, they opened

the idea to co-developers in what Riley

calls “open source collaboration.”

In order to encourage this collaboration,

they created a social media website that

spilled the beans on how the systems are

created, as well as what was not work-

ing. They hoped people would take the

idea and run with it. And run they did.

A number of people wanted to become

more nutritionally independent, so they

each worked on improving and customizing

the farms for their own needs.

One Windowfarms enthusiast, for example,

discovered that using air pumps instead of water

pumps would cut the carbon footprint of the system

by nearly half. Another learned by trial and error that he

could get his strawberry plants to fruit in low light by sim-

ply changing the nutrients in the liquid. A Windowfarmer

in Finland outfitted the system with LED grow lights.

As people shared their ideas and discoveries, Riley’s team

incorporated the improvements that were most likely to

benefit the majority. The end result? Manufactured kits

that will be available for shipment in the U.S. and a few

other countries in the summer of 2012.

Funding for manufacturing was achieved through crowd-

sourcing. Riley’s Kickstarter.com page was begun with

the goal of raising $50,000 in Windowfarm pre-sales. She

MORE THAN 33,000 PEOPLE NOW PARTICIPATE IN THE

WINDOWFARMS COMMUNITY

W I N D O W F A R M I N G

a small amount of electricity is required to run the Win-

dowfarm. In the U.S., the average electricity cost of even a

4-column farm is just over £2.00 per year.

While these small vertical hydroponics do not grow every-

thing, such as root vegetables or tall grain plants like corn

and wheat, most plants like greens and herbs, as well as

fruit, can be grown, with heavier plants tied to the metal

rack that holds the bottles.

74

raised $257,000 instead. Windowfarms is now both a for-

profit company with a patent and a non-profit organiza-

tion. The for-profit company makes the products, and the

proceeds fund the non-profit, which focuses on the com-

munity, the movement, and education.

CREATING A VERTICAL HYDROPONIC FARM AT HOMEIndividuals can build their own Windowfarm rather than

purchase a kit using the instructions provided on the or-

ganization’s website. Setting it up can take a few hours up

to a full day. After that, the system is mostly self-sustain-

ing. Water simply needs to be changed weekly, and some

cleaning must be performed monthly.

The systems are 1.2 meters tall, fit in different sized win-

dows, and are hung by a hook or sit on a platform below

the window (the floor, a shelf, or the windowsill). Wide

windows can handle several columns, while tall windows

can accommodate one on top of the other. Some growers

use clip-on CFL or LED lights on timers to better control

the environment for their plants.

After the initial material costs, maintenance expenses are

minimal. If the pump is run on a timer, as suggested, only

Recycling: collecting plastic bottles in Manhattan for creating window farms

WINDOWFARMS IS NOW BOTH A FOR-PROFIT COMPANY WITH A PATENT AND A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION

75 75

WINDOW FARMING I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

VERTICAL IS THE FUTUREWhile Plantagon is centralized, and the Win-

dowfarms concept is decentralized, both

seek to grow food in cities as a response to

global crowding. Riley says that urbanites rely

on others more than rural dwellers. “It’s pre-

cisely when we hand over the responsibility

for all of these things to specialists that we

cause the kinds of messes that we see with

the food system,” she said in her TED talk.

As a result of these food system issues, the

vertical hydroponics trend is fully entrenched.

As more and more people move into urban

environments, growing their own food or

purchasing from sources like Plantagon may

become the norm rather than a novelty. 3

76

Grow Your Own Series:

If you’re a regular patron of Japanese res-

taurants, fiery green wasabi paste is a

familiar and welcome sight. So, it might

come as a surprise to learn that you’ve

probably never tasted real wasabi. Most

restaurants use a substitute made from

Western-style horseradish and other in-

gredients, including vinegar and mustard

powder.

FreshWasabi

77

That’s because real wasabi, Wasabia japonica, is rare and

expensive even in its Japanese homeland. It’s native to the

cold upland streams of that mountainous country, and is

notoriously difficult to grow. It flourishes only in a nar-

row range of conditions, and most cultivars are specific to

one small region of Japan. However, commercial growers

in Japan, Taiwan and North America have slowly learned

to coax this uncooperative plant into producing reliable

crops.

Wasabi is part of the larger brassica family, which also in-

cludes the cabbages and mustards

as well as Western horseradish and

other root plants including turnips,

daikon and the familiar garden rad-

ish. Like horseradish and the mus-

tards, its fiery nostril-clearing char-

acter is a chemical defence against

predators. When the cell walls are

crushed or grated, enzymes in the

root quickly convert stored sulphur

compounds into an irritating chemi-

cal called sinigrin. It’s highly volatile

and aerosolizes quickly, which is

why you feel the effect primarily in

your sinuses.

Growing wasabi can prove a fasci-

nating project for experienced gar-

deners in search of a challenge. The

plant requires lots of shade, ideally

75 % coverage or better. It requires

high humidity and cool air tempera-

tures, ranging from 8 C to 20 C, and

flourishes best at 12 C to 15 C. In

warmer, sunnier or drier climates

the shade-type greenhouse can be

the best solution, providing shelter

77

and a microclimate that can be kept humid and tempera-

ture-controlled. A fertilizer containing sulphur will help

increase the root’s potency.

In nature, wasabi grows in a semi-aquatic environment

along stony riverbeds. If you have running water on your

property, or have an existing hydroponic system, you can

use that water to cultivate wasabi. Prepare a deep bed or

large box-shaped planter, approximately 75 to 125 cm in

depth. Fill the bed with stones approximately 6 to 8 cm in

diameter, leaving 10 cm at the top. Cover the stones with

a layer of rounded gravel the size of

large peas, approximately 6 to 8cm.

Finally, fill the rest of the bed with

fine sand.

The plants will flourish best when

the water flows gently down a slight

slope, usually 2 to 4 degrees. Wa-

ter should be distinctly cool, with

an ideal temperature of 12 C to 15

C. Water flow should be gentle, no

more than 10 cm per second, to pro-

duce straight and healthy rhizomes.

If the water flow is too strong, the

roots will grow in a curved shape.

The flavor will still be fine, but if

you’re growing them for sale curved

roots don’t fetch as high a price.

Wasabi can also be cultivated on

dry land, in a light, well-drained soil

with lots of sand and organic mate-

rial. Prepare your beds in an area

where there’s a lot of natural shade,

or where you can easily shade the

plants with a cover. The plants re-

quire constant moisture even on

WASABI I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

BY FRED DECKER

GROWING WASABI CAN PROVE A FASCINATING PROJECT FOR EXPERIENCED

GARDENERS IN SEARCH OF A CHALLENGE

LIKE HORSERADISH AND THE MUSTARDS,

WASABI’S FIERY NOSTRIL-CLEARING CHARACTER

IS A CHEMICAL DEFENCE AGAINST HERBIVORES

78

Japanese wasabi farm

79

WASABI I GARDEN CULTURE

gardenculture.net

land, so plan to irrigate with soaker hoses or some other

form of low-flow irrigation. Monitor your plants closely.

Provide more water if they wilt, and less if you begin to

find stem rot.

Wasabi can be propagated from seed, slips or the small

plantlets that grow around the crown of a mature plant.

Plantlets 3cm long, with four or five leaves of their own,

can usually be planted directly into your aquatic or dry-land

beds. Place each plantlet in its own hole, about 30cm apart,

with 1cm of the root left above the surface once you’ve

patted the sand or soil back into place. Plants grown from

slips or seeds must be grown to a height of approximately

5cm before transplanting into their beds.

The fiery roots will usually be large enough to harvest in

16 to 24 months, depending on your growing conditions.

Remove plantlets from the main stem for replanting, and

then wash the root thoroughly. Trim away any small roots

then peel the stem with a paring knife or peeler. As with

chilli peppers, it’s best to wear gloves while working with

fresh wasabi. The juices can be decidedly unpleasant if they

find their way to a sensitive spot.

Real wasabi is best when grated as needed. Japanese chefs

use a special grater made from shark skin, but a very fine

conventional grater will also work. The flavor will reach its

peak within 3 to 5 minutes, and will diminish within 15 to 20

minutes if it’s left uncovered. Fresh wasabi has the familiar,

fiery effect in the diner’s sinuses, but mellows quickly to a

sweet and complex flavor quite unlike the artificial variety.

Grate only as much as you need for one meal, then store

the remainder of the root tightly wrapped in your refrigera-

tor. It will keep for several weeks. To preserve your wasabi

for the longer term, slice and dehydrate the roots. Grind

the dried roots into powder in your spice grinder, and store

it in airtight packaging in a cool, dark place. 3

WASABI CAN BE PROPAGATED FROM SEED, SLIPS OR THE

SMALL PLANTLETS THAT GROW AROUND THE CROWN OF A

MATURE PLANT

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To see our systems in action, visit our website:

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IWS flourish_Layout 1 25/05/2012 09:57 Page 1

with the latest

innovations from IW

S

IWS Flood & Drain System• The most highly developed system on the market• Proven, reliable technology & great results every time• Pro system can run up to 80 pots

IWS Dripper System• Complete control of feed times and duration• Run-off is drained away automatically• Uses technology from D.I.G. Irrigation

IWS Deep Water Culture System• Unique new product from IWS• Precise control of filling and draining• Nutrient solution kept fresh as pots empty and fill

IWS Hand Watering System• Ideal for novice growers• Control your run-off easily and precisely• Available with 10, 16 and 25 litre pots

To see our systems in action, visit our website:

iwssystems.co.ukor contact your retailer for further information.

IWS flourish_Layout 1 25/05/2012 09:57 Page 1

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GROW YOUR OWN MONEY:BITCOINS