Just to give you all a taste of what is possible try growing 30 lbs. in 16 weeks from seed under only 1 600 watt HPS light. 
Not just theoretically possible but actually accomplished by Atlantis Hydroponics. 

 The Set-Up:

• A 4’ x 4’ Viagrow Grow Tent
• A 600 Watt HPS Hortilux Super HPS bulb
• A General Hydroponics Euro Grower hydroponic system
• Canna nutrients Aqua Fertilizers
• 8 plants of a variety known as BLACK KRIM…

  From January 1^st 2011 when the seeds were planted until the last of the fruit was ripe and picked Atlantis Hydroponics’ own
Scott from Chattanooga TN grew the Black Krim tomatoes with ease using the Canna Aqua series of nutrients. 
They tasted even better then they look!

     After playing around with hydroponics for almost 20 years, and growing everything on the planet I could get my hands on I came to an impasse... I ran out of stuff to grow!  After some research I came across something truly out of this world!  Designed for NASA with the help of the University of Florida & Utah State University the MICRO-TINA tomato was developedto be grown on the International Space Station.  A true dwarf tomato plant with good flavor and a super fast finishing time.  At only 8 to 10 inches tall these short mini bush style tomatoes require only minimal light and 69 days from seed to first harvest (WOW!!!)  They are awesome to grow, and to eat. 

Mankind has often benefitted from chance mistakes made during scientific research.  Among the multitude of accidental discoveries are: champagne, crazy-glue, post-it notes, LSD, and penicillin.  Today I will share a story with you that may help your hydroponic garden…and you guessed it, it was a discovery made by accident.  

In a research lab a lowly graduate student had the chore of mixing up stock nutrient solution.  This meant individually adding chemical compounds to tanks of water to get the desired fertilizer mixture.  This student accidentally put MgCl12 (Magnesium Chloride) into the mixture instead of MnCl12 (Manganese Chloride).  Weeks went by and most of the hydroponics systems in the lab became infected with Pythium.  Pythium is a very nasty water born pathogen that can destroy hydroponic plants in short order. 

When the mistake was figured out the research lab determined that Mn (Manganese) had a disease suppressive property similar to that of Copper.  It is recommended to double your Manganese application rate to suppress Pythium in a hydroponic system.  This little accidental discovery may save countless crops…including yours. 

My favorite product to add Manganese is Organo-ADD (Atlantis Hydroponics code 719710).  It is completely organic and OMRI certified.  It also has a complete array of micro nutrients to boot.  Remember it is a lot easier to prevent Pythium than it is to get rid of it!

    Hello Everyone, 

     It has been a bit since I last blogged but I have been testing new products and will soon have a bunch of new information to share.  As for today I would like to talk to you all about is a product called ORCA Film.  It is a reflective wall covering that is so far superior to all of it’s predecessors that it is light years ahead! (No pun intended)  As the adage says a picture is worth a thousand words…

The picture above is of 2 identical boxes side by side, each illuminated by a single 150 watt HPS bulb.  When the light output is measured inside each box the Mylar box (on right) measured 1210 Foot-candles, the ORCA Film box (at left) measured 1900 Foot-candles!!!  That is 57% more Foot-candles from simply changing the reflective wall covering!!!!  It comes in 25’, 50’, and 100’ rolls (54" wide) & also has a sealing tape to join sections or cover staple holes.  We pay so much for light for our plants it only makes sense to spend a few more dollars (it is a one time purchase as ORCA Film is 11 mills thick and totally washable) to get 57% more light!!! As an added benefit with ORCA Film more light is reflected and therefore it is not turned into heat.  The above experiment resulted in a 3ºF temperature decrease in the Orca box (80ºF) compared to (83ºF) in the Mylar box.

      Now because it reflects light across the full photosynthetic spectrum all photosynthetic pigments (such as chlorophyll) will be able to produce more energy and as such, your plants will grow that much faster.

Check back soon for more exciting new information and products.

Some interesting facts regarding these insects are:

• You never should worry about your beneficial insects eating your plants as they will only feed on harmful insects
• One Lady Bug may eat 5,000 aphids in 1 year
• Green Lacewings will eat 200 aphids a week
• Spider mite destroyers will eat 40 mites a day
• Predatory Nematodes will kill over 250 different types of insects

The Bad Little Beasties Inside

All of us have dealt with some sort of critter, varmint, beastie, or #$*%@#% as I sometimes have called them.  I am referring to insects that attack our gardens.  There is nothing more frustrating than putting in all the labor involved in making a perfect indoor garden and then having some little critters come in and lay waste to all of our efforts!  How these little #$%$@ know to attack our best & most prized plants I will never know.  In my time I have battled and waged all out WAR on several different destructive insects.  Sometimes I am the winner and sometimes not.  So what are we to do?

My suggestion today is accept the things we can not change, change the things we can, and have the wisdom to know the difference.  Wait…why does that sound familiar? The point is that it can be very difficult to eradicate an insect population, however like in a natural ecosystem we can establish a balance where an “acceptable” level of insects are left in our garden and an ongoing treatment regime is utilized.  To maintain this balance we will use beneficial insects, and organic or non-toxic pesticides (as needed.)  This approach has gained a lot of support as of late, and is better known as IPM or Integrated Pest Management.  IPM is an approach that combines a wide array of crop production practices with careful monitoring of pests and their natural enemies. IPM practices include use of resistant plant varieties, biological controls (such as beneficial insects), and judicious use of pesticides. IPM systems anticipate and prevent pests from reaching economically damaging levels.

Next blog I will discuss beneficial insects, today I would like to talk about my favorite organic insecticides.  The first group of insecticides we will call sufficants include the following products: Neem Oil, Organocide, Einstein Oil, Safer Insect Killing Soap, etc.  These are oils and soaps that work by covering the exoskeleton of insects which they breathe through and literally suffocating them to death.  This type of insecticide is an effective method for spot treating of insects that are slow moving.  However, it is less effective on fast moving insects, flying insects, and egg or larval stages of most pests.

The second class of insecticides is the knock down type.  This group works by impairing the central nervous systems of most types of flying and crawling insects, blocking nerve junctions so that nervous impulses fail, and the insect dies.  The most common active ingredient in this type of insecticide is derived from the chrysanthemum plant and is called Pyrethrum.  It can be found in products under the names: Doktor Doom Spider Mite Knock Out, Pyrethrum TR, Don’t Bug Me, or Safer Houseplant Insect Killer.  Beware of the synthetic or manmade Pyrethroids which are not organic.  Pyrethrum is highly effective on most pests but is only effective if it comes in direct contact with the pests.  It is short lived as it deteriorates in the presence of light within 12 hours.

Now my personal favorite Azamax, this insecticide is derived from the Neem plant but is not a sufficant.  It was discovered that plants treated with Neem oil seemed to show some future resistance to insect attacks.  Research found that there is a compound in Neem oil called Azadirachtin which was responsible for this insect resistance.  Azamax is essentially Neem oil distilled down to get a much, much higher concentration of Azadirachtin.  Azamax has 3 modes of action to control insects.  First it prevents insects from feeding on the treated plant surfaces resulting in damage prevention.  Second it reduces the hatchability of insect eggs resulting in population reduction.  Finally it interferes with insect reproduction resulting in reduction of egg-laying.  All of these combine to drastically weaken, and over time destroy populations of harmful insects.  One of the best things about Azamax is it is systemic meaning absorbed into the plant’s tissue so you do not actually have to contact the insect with it.  It is also proven that Azamax’s effect of weakening insects makes other insecticides much more successful because the insects in question are already weak and thus more susceptible to insecticides such as Pyrethrum.  Azamax is most effective if it is used before an insect attack and reapplied on a regular basis.  Azamax is also not harmful to beneficial insects or bees.

Remember it is better to prevent an insect attack than to have one, but they will eventually find your garden.  Integrated Pest Management will allow you to control the damage caused by pests and not devote all your time to pest control.

Growing Monsters: Blossom Boosters Live Up to Their Name!!!

        Having been on the subject of nutrient supplements I would like to tell you about what I think is the most important fertilizer supplement.  It is the Blossom Booster category (yes, it has its own category there are dozens to choose from!)  These fertilizers are “the dessert” to a balanced base nutrient’s “meal.”  They encourage large numbers of flowers, bigger flowers, overall more massive fruit or vegetables, and also improve floral fragrances, & increase essential oil production.  I have found that the properly timed addition of a blossom booster can single handedly increase overall production 10 – 20%.  It is a pretty big jump for one additive to make.   They all contain a significant amount of Phosphorus and Potassium.  The Phosphorus within these products encourages blooming and plays a vital role in plant metabolism.  While the Potassium helps to improve bloom/fruit quality and optimizes photosynthesis and starch production.  So give one a try and see the results for yourself!  You can use:

• Via Bloom
• Pure Flowers
• Grotek’s Monster Bloom
• Botanicare’s Hydroplex
• Earth Juice’s Meta – K
• Dutch Master’s Potash+
• Advanced Nutrients’ Big Bud
• Fox Farms’ 3 part Open Sesame, Beastie Bloomz, & Cha Ching
• General Hydroponics’ Liquid & Dry Kool Bloom, & Bio Bud
• Technaflora’s Awesome Blossoms

Phosphites: Is there a New Class of Blossom Booster???

     Many of us use one brand of Phosphorous boosting supplement or another.  These products which I call “dessert for plants,” tend to increase the size and quantity of flowers and fruit/vegetables produced by most fast growing annuals.  There are many, many to choose from: Via-Bloom, Monster Bloom, Big Bud, Kool Bloom, Beastie Bloom, Awesome Blossoms, Hydroplex, etc.  All of these are similar in their composition supplying a boost of Phosphorous and Potassium which plants need more of during the fruiting and flowering phase of their lifecycle.  Most of the above listed supplements use one or more forms of the chemical molecule Phosphate.  Phosphate is a Phosphorous atom bonded to four Oxygen atoms, and is very stable.  This stability lends to the property of Phosphates to be slow to break down and having poor solubility in water.  For hydroponic growers this necessitates application of large quantities to allow our plants to uptake the amount of Phosphorous they need during flowering and fruiting. 

     There is however mounting research that Phosphates are not our only option.  A very similar molecule called a Phosphite (sold under the name PURE FLOWERS) has some properties indoor growers might enjoy.  Instead of 4 Oxygen atoms bonded to 1 Phosphorous atom, a Phosphite has 3 Oxygen and 1 Hydrogen atom.  This slight change in molecular form causes many significant differences that influence its solubility, plant uptake, and effect on plant metabolism and physiology.  Phosphites are much more soluble in water are also able to be absorbed by plants and microorganisms with greater ease than Phosphates.   An even bigger benefit to indoor growers is that Phosphites have a proven ability to protect plants from harmful fungi; most notably Phytophora & Pythium.  While Phosphites do control the above mentioned harmful fungi they have little effect on beneficial fungi like those found in Piranha by Advanced Nutrients and Sub Culture – M by General Hydroponics. 

      There is dependable evidence that Phosphites are absorbed into plant tissue more easily than Phosphates.  This has been proven in experiments conducted with citrus and avocado leaves.  Using a single foliar application of Phosphites to oranges in a study conducted in Florida significantly increased flower number, & yield when compared to an untreated crop (Abrigo, 1999). 

     All this good news is not without a caveat.  Phosphites can cause phytotoxicity more easily than Phosphates.  Also there is some evidence that Phosphites applied to soil can take several months to truly benefit plants.  So my advice is that you should try PURE FLOWERS (the Best brand of Phosphite based blossom booster) starting with a single foliar application before your plants fruit or flower.  Then apply in place of your traditional blossom booster if you see any signs of root disease.   

Fertilizer Science & Math

      Today let’s talk numbers, more specifically about fertilizer numbers.  Most of us use a ppm meter (parts per million), an EC meter (electrical conductivity), or a TDS meter (Total Dissolved Solids.)  All three of these measurements are different ways of expressing the same information.  Basically it is the amount of fertilizer or solute that is dissolved in our fertilizer and water mixture.  Knowing this value allows us to push our plants to grow to their maximum genetic potential! 

     First understand that PURE water actually conducts no electricity.  That being said the more fertilizer dissolved in water the more conductive of electricity it becomes.  So measuring the amount of electricity that is transferred from one electrode and received by a second electrode gives us an idea of how much fertilizer is present in a solution.  This is the basic way all of these meters work.  Suppose though you want to know more than just the total amount of fertilizers combined in a solution.  What if you want to know how much of that PPM value Potassium is… then read on!

         The N-P-K ratios are the 3 numbers present on most if not all fertilizer packages.  But aside from figuring out which one is for vegetative growth (a high Nitrogen number,) or what might be better for fruiting or flowering (a higher 2^nd and 3^rd number,) what do they really tell us?  If you want to really understand the N-P-K ratio on your fertilizer then the information below will be very helpful. 

 TDS or Total dissolved solids is a measure of everything that is dissolved in the water

• PPM or parts per million is a proportional measurement of solute (dissolved stuff) in the water.  IT IS A WEIGHT / WEIGHT PROPORTION… 1 part per weight of a solute in 1 million parts per weight water = 1 PPM
• 1 gallon of water (H20) has a volume / weight of 3.785 liters or 3,785,000 mg

(It can have both a volume and weight because at 3.98 degrees Celsius 1 liter of water weighs 1,000 grams & only changes by 4% from 0-100 degrees Celsius)

• If we are looking to determine how much actual Nitrogen, Phosphorus, or Potassium is actually in a solution of XXX ppm then follow the steps below:
• For this example lets use a fertilizer that has an N-P-K of 15-7-11.  Our fertilizer after weighing 10 tsp has an average weight of 1.74 grams per tsp or 1,740 mg.
  • First let’s find how many PPM there are in 1 tsp of fertilizer added to 1 gallon of water.  Take the weight of fertilizer in grams and divide it by the weight/volume of 1 gallon of water.
    • 1,740 mg fert. / 3.785 Liters of water = 459.7 PPM  
    • We will round up and call it 460 PPM
• Now of that 460 PPM how much actual Nitrogen, Phosphorus, or Potassium actually is there.
  • Nitrogen is measured as Elemental Nitrogen so it is the easiest to determine… Just multiply 460 PPM by the amount of Nitrogen in our fertilizer’s NPK…15% or .15 so there is (460 PPM x .15 = 69 parts per million Nitrogen in our solution
  • Phosphorus is more complicated, the NPK uses P₂O₅ which is the oxide form of Phosphorus so we need to multiply by .437 to get the elemental amount of Phosphorus.  So we have [460 x (.07 x .437)] = 14.07 Parts per million Phosphorus in our solution.
  • Similarly Potassium is complicated; the NPK uses K₂0 which is the oxide form of Potassium so we need to multiply by .82 to get the elemental amount of Potassium.  So we have [460 x (.11 x .82)] = 41.49 Parts per million Potassium in our solution.
• So 1 Gallon of water with 1 tsp of 15 – 7 – 11 fertilizer has a total of 460 PPM, of which 69 parts are Nitrogen, 14 parts are Phosphorus, and 41 parts are Potassium. 

• So if you thought that simply 7% or 32ppm of the 460 parts per million in this water was phosphorus then you now see the value of the above calculations!

 If math isn’t your favorite subject then feel free to ask our knowledgeable staff for their recommendations regarding what fertilizers or supplements might best complete or complement your feeding regiment.