Happy ALOHA Friday everyone. Another week has gone by, and I hope your garden is enjoying a healthy rearing. I love Japanese culture! They have such an elegant way of doing things, and strike me as being a very intelligent people in general. I just read the most interesting article, and could not resist sharing it with you guys.  The Japanese government has turned to indoor cultivation to “create jobs” and “aid food security”. BRILLIANT! I wish the USA would do the same. The original article was from an all Japanese site and was translated for us. Thanks cityfarmer.com!

Tokyo, Japan. A man tends a tomato plant in Pasona O2, an artificially lit and computer controlled greenhouse built in the basement of a high rise building in the business district of Tokyo on February 15, 2005 in Tokyo, Japan. Pasona Inc, a human resources service company, built the greenhouse in order to introduce the pleasure of agriculture also to train aspiring farmers in the city. The basement space was once used as a vault by Resona Bank Limited. Photo by Junko Kimura

Japanese Government to boost indoor cultivation

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Apr. 10, 2009

The government is set to launch full-scale efforts to promote indoor agricultural facilities to ensure stable cultivation of fruits and vegetables, government officials said.

As part of a three-year plan to boost the number of indoor growing facilities about fourfold, to 150, and raise production about fivefold, the government will offer incentives including low-interest financing and a capital investment tax credit, the officials said.

Besides responding to rising industry demand for safe and reliable food supplies, the government hopes the move also will create employment opportunities. The plan is expected to be included in the additional economic stimulus package currently being compiled by the government and ruling parties.

Indoor growing facilities use air-conditioning to maintain consistent temperature and humidity. Computer controls ensure optimal conditions are maintained for cultivating produce, including the proper mix of carbon dioxide, light and water, appropriate temperature and nutrients for growth.

Indoor cultivation also makes it easy to maintain uniform quality and shape, and renders pesticide use unnecessary.

Industries including major food producers already are operating 40 such indoor growing facilities nationwide. About 10 types of produce, including lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries are being cultivated inside them. Officials added it is possible to cultivate lettuce 20 times a year in the indoor factories.

Meanwhile, the government envisages further indoor agricultural facilities being set up on demolished factory sites, unused or abandoned farmland, or even inside vacant stores within shopping districts.
The government hopes the measures will make use of idle land and help farming villages affected by the aging population, and in turn, lead to a rise in job opportunities.

The government also is set to introduce new legislation to address the problem of vague zoning restrictions for factories that combine agricultural and factory functions, which until now have not been clearly defined, the officials added.

Construction costs for a large indoor growing facility can easily reach hundreds of millions of yen. In addition, air-conditioning costs push the retail price of vegetables and fruits cultivated in indoor growing facilities two to three times higher than ordinary produce.

The government aims to bring down production costs by about 30 percent over the project’s three-year time frame by introducing measures to promote the adoption of energy-saving technologies.

Link to article here.

We still have videos planned for ALOHA Friday’s guys, my apologies for not having any the last couple of weekends. Don’t fret We have already shot an amazingly in depth seminar with Techniflora that is over 3 hours long I am currently editing it down for us. Look out for it next Friday guys!

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Magnum XXXL Grow Reflector

This is such a spectacular innovation that it deserves a second post here at the PGS definitive growers blog. It’s not too often that we use the word “best” in this business, particularly when it comes to grow equipment. There are so many quality companies out there that offer great products. Every once and a while a product comes around that changes the industry. The MAGNUM XXXL reflector is being called the BEST reflector ever and for so many reasons. Besides that it has the largest light reach of any hood we have ever seen, The MAGNUM series seems to have been built with extreme precision! These hoods have quality written all over them. There are three varieties of MAGNUM hoods to choose from.

Great White® 6″ Air-Cooled Reflector

• The largest reflectors in the industry.
• Reflector dimensions: 32” long x 26” wide x 7¾” tall.
• Includes tempered glass, built-in socket and 15 ft lamp cord.
• Completely sealed—Featuring gasketed glass and integrated retention bars to hold glass tightly in place.
• Top panel is interchangeable. Comes standard with white panel. Shown with optional 95% reflective insert (#904508).
• Lightweight aluminum body.
• Exclusive 90.5% reflective Dupont® white powder coating for excellent output and diffusion
• Maximum air cooling with built-in 6″ fittings

Magnum XXXL 6″ Air-Cooled Reflector

• The largest reflectors in the industry!
• Reflector dimensions: 32 1/2″ long x 26 1/4″ wide x 7 3/4″ tall
• Includes tempered glass, built-in socket & 15 ft. lamp cord
• Completely sealed – featuring gasketed glass and integrated retention bars to hold glass tightly in place
• 95% reflective German aluminum interior offers excellent reflectivity and diffusion
• Re-strike bend above the lamp for optimum performance
• Powder-coated galvanized steel body
• Maximum air cooling with built-in 6″ fittings

Magnum XXXL 8 in. Air-cooled Reflector

THE “OCHO!”

• The largest reflectors in the industry.
• Reflector dimensions: 38½ in. Long x 29½ in. Wide x 9½ in. Tall.
• Includes tempered glass, built-in socket and 15 ft lamp cord.
• Completely sealed—Features gasketed glass and integrated retention bars to hold glass tightly in place.
• Powder-coated galvanized steel body.
• 95% reflective German aluminum interior offers excellent reflectivity and diffusion.
• Maximum air cooling with built-in 8” fittings.
• Aerodynamic junction box improves airflow and cooling.

MAGNUMS STOCKED

We have been challenged to keep these on the shelves. People are buying them by the 20 lot. But have no fear, we are literally stocked to the ceiling with MAGNUM XXXL reflectors. Sunlight Supply has done it again with another revolutionary innovation, come buy some today and start enjoying the success everyone is noticing with these reflectors! 1-866-PGS-GROW.

Hey guys! Hope you all had an outstanding memorial day weekend. At our first store, where it all started, We celebrated with our annual PGS customer appreciation/anniversary day party. We want to say thanks to everyone who showed up. It was so great! We gave away tons of products, held raffles, had free food, and live music all day long. This was a fantastic opportunity for us to give back to our community, share some new products, and party with all our customers. Big thanks to Bountea, Cutting Edge, Sunlight Supply, and Local Harvest for helping us support our event with their product give aways, great advice, and tons of great vibes!  We look forward to continuing to be Sonoma County’s definitive grow resource for years to come. Please feel free to share your thoughts, ideas, tips and tricks with us, just leave a comment after any post. 1-866-PGS-GROW.

Happy Aloha Friday gang!  I have a special article today for everyone. From the incredible people @ National Geographic, here is a truely interesting article about how flowering plants have sculpted our reality on planet Earth.

By Michael Klesius



Essential to life—and to romance—flowering plants lure paleobotanists with the sweet mystery of their origin.

In the summer of 1973 sunflowers appeared in my father’s vegetable garden. They seemed to sprout overnight in a few rows he had lent that year to new neighbors from California. Only six years old at the time, I was at first put off by these garish plants. Such strange and vibrant flowers seemed out of place among the respectable beans, peppers, spinach, and other vegetables we had always grown. Gradually, however, the brilliance of the sunflowers won me over. Their fiery halos relieved the green monotone that by late summer ruled the garden. I marveled at birds that clung upside down to the shaggy, gold disks, wings fluttering, looting the seeds. Sunflowers defined flowers for me that summer and changed my view of the world.

Flowers have a way of doing that. They began changing the way the world looked almost as soon as they appeared on Earth about 130 million years ago, during the Cretaceous period. That’s relatively recent in geologic time: If all Earth’s history were compressed into an hour, flowering plants would exist for only the last 90 seconds. But once they took firm root about 100 million years ago, they swiftly diversified in an explosion of varieties that established most of the flowering plant families of the modern world.

Today flowering plant species outnumber by twenty to one those of ferns and cone-bearing trees, or conifers, which had thrived for 200 million years before the first bloom appeared. As a food source flowering plants provide us and the rest of the animal world with the nourishment that is fundamental to our existence. In the words of Walter Judd, a botanist at the University of Florida, “If it weren’t for flowering plants, we humans wouldn’t be here.”

From oaks and palms to wildflowers and water lilies, across the miles of cornfields and citrus orchards to my father’s garden, flowering plants have come to rule the worlds of botany and agriculture. They also reign over an ethereal realm sought by artists, poets, and everyday people in search of inspiration, solace, or the simple pleasure of beholding a blossom.

“Before flowering plants appeared,” says Dale Russell, a paleontologist with North Carolina State University and the State Museum of Natural Sciences, “the world was like a Japanese garden: peaceful, somber, green; inhabited by fish, turtles, and dragonflies. After flowering plants, the world became like an English garden, full of bright color and variety, visited by butterflies and honeybees. Flowers of all shapes and colors bloomed among the greenery.”

Full Article Here – Subscribe to National Geographic magazine.

Flowering plants depend on everything from mammals to trickery in order to get pollinated. In Madagascar the traveler’s tree is pollinated by the ruffed lemur and has evolved huge white flowers that support the weight of this almost ten-pound (five-kilogram) primate. Enticed by copious nectar that drips from the flowers—lemurs appear to be dependent on the plant’s nectar for food at certain times of the year—they carry pollen on their fur as they move from flower to flower.While nectar is often offered as a reward to pollinators in exchange for pollen dispersal, some species of flowering plants offer no reward at all. Instead they dupe their pollinators with an enticing fragrance, shape, or color. In western Australia a species of hammer orchid has petals that mimic the shape and color of a female wasp and even produces an odor that mimics the smell of a female wasp. In response to these chemical and visual signals, the male wasp attempts to mate with the dummy female. In seizing the orchid flower, the male wasp triggers the hammer mechanism and gets pollen whapped on its back. When the wasp visits the next hammer orchid, it unknowingly distributes the pollen.

—Nora Gallagher

Wow, this week is going by super fast! We have recently developed a relationship with the ultra hip “URBAN GARDEN” magazine. We have enjoyed every issue that has come out, and find all the information to be accurate and helpful. Upon going to their website today we found even more great articles and information that we know everyone is going to really enjoy…. Here is their mission statement, I like it!

Growing is our PASSION!

It’s no secret that everyone involved with Urban Garden Magazine is completely crazy.  Crazy about horticulture that is.  Whatever you want to grow, however you want to do it, you’ll find Urban Garden Magazine tells you what you want to know.

Our Core Aims and Values

• To broaden and diversify the appeal of greenhouse and controlled environment indoor gardening.
• To challenge preconceptions about the scope and applications of water culture and soiless gardening techniques.
• To be a reliable source of practical information on all different forms of domestic horticulture.
• To act as a bridge between manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and customers for effective two-way commercial communication.
• To educate on environmental issues and actively promote sustainable living and associated techniques and technologies.
• To promote awareness on food consumer issues.
• To demonstrate that growing is not only a fun pastime, but also an important life skill.
• To get the world growing again – young, old, rich, poor and everyone in between needs to reconnect with Mother Nature!

So how’s that for starters?  And aren’t we bang on the money?  With rising fuel, energy and food costs doesn’t it make sense to start producing your own food at home, or at your local allotment?  We want to inspire everyone, no matter what their domestic situation, to get growing.  Even somebody living in an apartment on the 37th floor can produce surprising quantities of their own vegetables and herbs.

We really have fun with their tongue and cheek articles and just can’t get enough of the information they share… KUDOS URBAN GARDEN!!

Want to see more?

Take a look at these great taster articles:

• Homegrown Superfoods
• The Right to Drive vs. The Right to Survive:  How Biofuels Could Kill Us
• How to Grow Mushrooms Indoors
• Solid Organic Soil Supplements
• Biological Pest Control

What’s up guys? We now offer a new and popular nutrient line into the fold of our PGS family. Introducing, the BLOOM Advanced Floriculture nutrient line. This company and this line of plant food has sort of mysteriously popped up in the industry. We were patiently waiting for someone to come into one of our stores with a success story or a real curiosity about this stuff. In the last few months we have had several people coming in telling us that they are seeing vast improvements after using BLOOM. We have had reports that include increased aroma, yield, vigor, and color. After 6 years in the business, we have learned to listen to our customers. After many requests and reports from excited gardeners, we are super stoked to welcome BLOOM to the PGS family. They have a relatively extensive product line. We will cover only a few here today. Lets Start with the OOZE. Bloom OOZE stimulates secondary metabolites which aid in the synthesis of terpenoids and polyphenolic compounds. described as terpenophenolic compounds or prenylated polyketides. This stimulates geranyl pyrophosphate (GPP) isopentyl pyrophosphate (IPP) dimethyl allyl pyrophosphate (DPP) which are responsible for the development of essential oils in flowering plants. In other words, this is NOT bathtub made plant food!

This is the big gun for use during the most rapid period of plant growth and development the exponential flowering phase during weeks 3 and 4. Bloom PHAT puts on bio-mass faster during this period than any other product on the market. That is quite a bold claim, but they are not messing around! These boys from Australia have one serious product on there hands….

Like I said before, I will do a more extensive post on the entire line at a later date, until then, don’t waste another second, call or come in to any of our stores for a free sample and see what you have been missing.

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Hope your monday went off without a hitch! I’m here early tues. morning in the warehouse, and thought it would be cool to show you guys some photos of our new and improved retail showroom. We always have welcomed people into the back area, but only until recently has it become an inviting showroom, where you can see every product your curious about, get pricing, and ask questions right when your thinking about a particular element of your garden. We are enormously proud and excited about what we have changed over here. If you haven’t visited our Santa Rosa warehouse in a while, come on in and see what we have done. If you have never visited, please come on in and say Pete sent you from the blog, well hook you up with a great deal! So check out some photos of whats been going on and we hope to see you all real soon! 3715 Santa Rosa Ave. – 1-866-PGS-GROW

Stocked and ready for you to ROCK

Good morning everyone, I hope you had a fantastic weekend! I realize that time has been quickly passing, and PGS has a really exciting event coming up that I thought would be perfect for our Monday morning blog post. We are having a customer appreciation day in the parking lot of our first store in Sebastopol CA on MAY 23rd @ The AUBERGINE, 755 Petaluma Ave.. We will have free food, live music, and product give away’s, as well as a full on industry expo. where you can learn about new products, and talk first hand with me, and all our other PGS horticultural experts. Mention this blog and get a card good for 10% off your next purchase in any of our retail locations. 1-866-PGS-GROW.

Happy ALOHA friday everyone. I’d like to personally thank everyone who has responded to our blog with such great enthusiasm and compliments! I really appreciate everyone getting involved and making comments. We have so many interesting things coming in the future, including video podcasts and more… stay tuned.

Well I have decided to make ALOHA Fridays the day to make video posts. I am super excited about todays video. Today I present you all with “The Secret Life Of Plants” This movie is truely remarkable. It has some breath taking footage and eye opening facts about plants. To top it off, the sound track was done by Stevie Wonder. Don’t miss out on this fascinating video. Have a great weekend, and give your plants some love for PGS.

We are Proud to announce the live opening of our Online shop – Now you can get “Sonoma County’s One Stop Grow Shop” Online. Get all the great, quality products you have come to expect from PGS right from home, online. We will ship right to your door. Need some advice before you place your order? No problem, give us a call @ 1-866-PGS-GROW. We offer all the friendly and expert advice to our online customers as we have here at the retail shops for the last 6 years. Browse through our definitive selection of indoor and outdoor grow supplies and grab what you need today.

Click here for the best hydroponic, indoor, outdoor, organic and biodynamic online store around..PGS ONLINE SHOP

Still using Metal Halide HID lamps to vegetate your plants? Well I’m here to tell you to STOP! Stop wasting money on inferior light quality, bulbs and less growth. With T5 fluorescent light fixtures, you will see a marked improvement in your electric bill, and with greener, more lush growth in your plants. These light fixtures are economical and exactly right for the job of turning your rooted cuttings into big healthy plants. The lumens that T5s output rivals any HID lamp, and you can have your plants much closer to the light without the fear of burning or stressing your plants. I used Metal Halides and plain fluorescent for years before I discovered how great these lights are. It took me a few years of suffering before I learn that everything I heard about these lights was really true. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Do you want to see 1000 watt type vegetation from your starts? Do you want to use less then a third of that electricity while achieving infinitely better results? Ofcourse you do, grab some T5 fixtures for your next batch of rooted cuttings, and you will be a very happy gardener very soon.

Happy ALOHA Friday everyone! I hope that the health of your garden and your life is at optimal levels! People come in to our stores often and ask us why their plants are suffering. They give us all the reasons why they think it could be, and we interject with reasons why we think it could be happening. One thing to always consider, that we don’t always mention to people, is your mental state. I know it sounds silly, but your attitude reflects in your plants health and vigor. If you don’t believe me, just open your mind for a moment, and read on…..Always remember that when you feel bad or depressed , your plants and family feel it too. When approaching your plants after a bad day or a long day, try and make it a habit to clear your mind and think positive thoughts when you service your garden. I found a VERY interesting video on the subject on Youtube, that documents this in a very in-depth kind of way, and has Leonard Nimoy explaining it all.. FANTASTIC. I also thought this was an exemplary first video for the PGS Blog. This man, Cleve Baxter was a polygraph expert and was hired by law enforcement around the world for his polygraph skills. He determined that plants can sense ones intentions, mood, and more…. His research was ground breaking and enlightening. Look at it this way, your plants are a direct reflection of your health and mental status. If your in disarray, your plants will feel it, and they could suffer from it. If you view your plants strictly as a commodity and think about harvesting them often, they will be afraid of your presence. Next time you walk up to your plants, think about how much you love them and how much you appreciate what they are doing for you! Never think about cutting and processing your plants until it’s time.

Biocommunication:

The general field of study of communication between different biological life forms, mostly in nature, sometimes in the laboratory. It involves the use of instrumentation to observe reactive events occurring in all kinds of life–animal, plant, cellular, microscopic, and so on — and includes observational biology, high quality observational studies. Also included is the study of the effect of human thought and intention on life forms in the environment.

Primary Perception:

The vehicle of communication, the invisible, unrecognized field that interconnects all species and life forms, whereby biocommunication can occur. Coined by Cleve Backster, primary perception is distinct from extra sensory perception (ESP) in that it occurs before the human specialized senses of taste, touch, hearing, sight and smell. It is likely going on all the time. (Needless to say the Quantum Physicists are thrilled with his research.)

Plants were only the beginning….

What would a definitive grow blog be without an entry on the infamous “SuperThrive?”. I have personally been growing for over 20 years. I have seen hundreds of growth enhancing products come and go since 1987. One product that has stuck around and can still be found in just about any garden center or grow store is “SuperThrive.” This stuff is really kinda special. I have used it for years now, and can honestly say that it certainly does have beneficial qualities that are worth exploring. Like any growth enhancer, it should be used sparingly. It can really stress your plants to seed if you use more then the recommended “1 drop per gallon” I know it seems like too small of an amount to be effective, but I assure you, that they really mean what they say. Superthrive is so super concentrated that 1 drop is all it takes to get a noticeable result. One of the notable things to mention about this product is the over the top marketing they use on their labels and ads. Only other product I have ever seen take this approach is Dr. Bronner’s Ca-stile soap. It kinda tries to have the answer to all of life’s questions on the bottle and the packaging. With some truly remarkable claims, they literally cover the entire bottle with text about how amazing the product is. We have a long running joke around here that this is a great example of how NOT to market something. But after more then 20 years in business…. You can’t deny the branded craziness that only SuperThrive represents. I really have seen it revive plants on the verge of death, and boost healthy plants growth to astounding levels. If you have ever been to any hardware store, garden center, or grow store, there is no doubt you have seen this product for sale. If you have always wondered whats up with it, now you know… It works, and most of what they claim is true. Just be careful not to excede the suggested dose and you will be super excited when your plants react with “extra life” Here is some literature from the manufacturer.

They finally did it! SunGRO has created an organic SunShine mix. All the great benefits of their other sunshine mixes but now they offer an organic version. This stuff is fantastic. I grabed a bail and tried it last week. To my surprise I actually noticed a visible improvement in the health of my plants. After years of using Sunshine mix #4, I am really excited about this new organic mix. The extra care and quality that this organic version totes is worth the extra cost. If you are an organic gardener, I very strongly suggest that you give this mix a try.

Sunshine® Natural & Organic Mix #4

Sunshine Natural & Organic Mix #4 is recommended where high air capacity and fast drainage are needed: during winter months, with water or salt sensitive crops, or where frequent leaching is required.

Available Sizes

Available in 3.8 cu ft compressed bales, as well as 2.8 cu ft loose fill bags. Loose fill is also available in 60 cu ft from our Western and Central regions, and 80/60/45 cu ft from our Eastern region. This product is available in our 110 cu ft SunTower bale in the Eastern region.

Ingredients

Formulated with Canadian Sphagnum peat moss, coarse grade perlite, gypsum, Dolomitic lime, and an organic wetting agent.

Applications

This mix is highly recommended for nursery stock, perennials, cutting propagation, hanging baskets and interiorscape.

We have tons of this stuff in stock…. Come on in or give us a call 1-866-PGS-GROW.