Hey guys, its been a cold winter, and it looks like spring has come a little early. It feels so good too! It also feels great to let everyone know that our end of year inventory is over and we are again fully stocked with all the essentials you need for your grow room. We are also gearing up for what is anticipated as the biggest grow season ever. Viva 2010, with outdoor and indoor projects being taken on in extremely aggressive levels, its super exciting for us to be able to provide for all the Sonoma County growers and beyond who are getting involved. We have -

• Traditional soils, organic blends, soilless blends, rockwool, and coco pots ready to go.
• Grow lights, electronic ballasts, magnetic ballasts, reflectors, high output fluorescent systems, LED Grow lights, replacement bulbs.
• Hydro trays, containers, smart pots, complete hydro setups.
• Complete organic and hydroponic nutrient lines – General Hydroponics, General Organics, House and Garden, Cutting Edge, Technaflora and tons of grow and bloom enhancers and accelerators.
• Carbon filters of every size and shape
• Wall, pedestal and exhaust fans and blowers of every shape and size
• Ducting, clamps, foil tape, flanges, reducers, extenders, splitters, splicers
• Co2 generators, controllers and parts
• Organic and chemical pest control products
• Master light controllers, Environmental controllers, High temp. shut off devices
• Water purification systems, accessories and replacement filters
• Ready to grow, self contained Darkrooms
• Valves, elbows, tees, custom hydro fittings, replacement sprayers and misters
• Full service repair dept. complete with loaner ballasts
• Full time accredited botanist

We love to serve and provide the best advice and products available in the indoor/hydroponic/organic gardening industry, give our friendly grow experts a call today and let us know how we can help you. 1-866-PGS-GROW

Ok, so you have grown a few crops and now your ready to maybe “kick it up” a little. Sounds good, we all get to that point, and building an indoor hydroponic, or container garden from scratch can not only be fun, but incredibly rewarding as well. Instead of mapping out different systems for you guys, and explaining features, I going to work from the premise that you guys are familiar with the equipment we will be featuring today. I want to show you how PGS has everything necessary to help you design your dream grow room.

Galaxy Electronic HID Ballast

Lets start with the foundation of any indoor garden, lighting…First thing is first, electronic ballast, or magnetic ballast. We have both types stocked in 600 and 1000 watt varieties.

Harvest Pro Magnetic HID Ballast

Next thing to consider….Light Reflector. We carry a HUGE line of options, priced competitively. We can help you determine the optimal reflector for your situation based on 20+ years of experience.

HID Reflectors Stocked and Ready

Moving on to…. grow method. If your a die hard organic soil or soil-less fanatic, or a hydroponic scientist, we have a complete stock of containers, hydroponic mediums, and complete systems to meet anyone’s needs.

Next Step… Ventilation.
Anyone serious about growing indoors knows that ventilation is one of the most important things to take seriously. PGS has got you covered. Dampers, Filters, Extenders, Fans, Clamps, Reducers, Controllers and more….

Lets continue on to CO2 Enrichment… Tired of small yields and airy product? Increase your yields and overall structure with CO2 enrichment. We carry a large line generators, tanks, regulators, and controllers.

Little things that make the difference between bumper crops and bogus results.

Keep your plants happy and healthy through the entire bloom cycle!

Now lets address Environmental Control….
Now that you have a great room in the making, don’t let the environment go to shit with neglect! Dial in the perfect temperatures, humidity levels and your electricity to run flawlessly at all times. PGS has any kind of controller for your environment you can imagine.

Get Notified While Your Gone If You Have a Fire or a Breakin

Onto… Propagation What good is all of this without clones and cuttings to get your future crops ensured? PGS carries popular aero clone machines, as well as tradition Oasis, and Rockwool cubes, clone solutions, gels, and powders, modern T5 fluorescent systems and more…..

The key to success over a long period of time, is an intelligent, planned out nursery program, that includes all the things you would address in your bloom or vegetative environment. Temperature, co2 levels, relative humidity etc… Your future crops are only as good as the plants your nursery produces! Take the extra time to really create a perfect nursery and you will enjoy years of massive crops and prosperity!

T5 Fluorescent Grow Lights - Perfect For Vegetative Growth and Propagation

Let’s not forget the staple of ALL gardens.. Nutrients

Ah… what to say about nutrients? Take the time to learn what works best for your particular situation. We can help, we have just about every major plant nutrient product that is available today, AND we know how to use them.

Perhaps you want a ready to go Growroom? There are some really great ready to go grow rooms that are easy to assemble, and easy to break down. They make alot of sense for even the most experience growers in some situations. They come in every size for any project… Including massive Mammoth size ones for epic projects.

Don’t let garden pest ruin all your have built!… Pest Management.

After all your doing to build this dream room, don’t let bugs ruin this scenario! PGS has a full arsenal of organic and non-organic forms of pest management.

PGS Pest Managment Station

Did we almost forget Water Quality? Hell NO!

Without healthy, clean water as a basis, you will NEVER have a bumper crop. PGS has simple pacific sands filters, to full on huge RO systems.

Ok, I could go on and on about all the rest of the odds and ends, but the point is WE HAVE IT, from white plastic, Mylar, timers and fittings. Above all we offer a smile, and countless years of combined experience. Call us for prices and tell them Pete from the blog said to give you a deal!!! 1-866-PGS-GROW

The RainForest 36 is ideal for small projects in limited space. A submerged pump circulates and aerates the nutrient solution. This System's size is 12" circular. This system includes: 4 Gallon Reservoir with Lid Rio 600 pump assembly 3" Plastic Cups CocoTek Liners and Caps 3-Part Flora Kit

How are your propagation skills? I have a tremendous tip for all you hardcore PGS blog readers! ( All four hundred and twenty of you ) Taking cuttings and propagating your plants asexually is the most efficient and prosperous way to keep your garden going indefinitely. There are so many ways to take cuttings successfully. I have tried, rockwool cubes, Rapid Rooter Plugs, Oasis Cubes, soil, coco, perlite blends, Light Warrior, Rainforest Aeroponics (all models), Homemade Aeroponic/Hydroponic hydrids, in a cup of water,  a bucket of water with an air stone, capsulized mycelium, compost, bocashy, Ezcloner, Turbo Clone. You name it and I have probably tried it. I know what your thinking, have I ever tried to nestle a cutting into a piece of rock next to a waterfall, right? Actually I have, I used to live in Maui for ten years, and happen to have a waterfall handy I watched the mineralized water splash onto the cuttings and root them right into the rock under the waterfall. Well all of this is leading into today’s blog post. Basically folks, all of these techniques do the job. You can get bright white centipede looking healthy roots from any of the above mentioned techniques. The question to ask yourself, is how long does it take to get your cuttings to root. Aeroponic cloners will clone cuttings faster then cubes in general. The only issue is, if your machine stops spraying oxygenated water onto the plants, they can die right on the spot. The upside is, you can have rooted plants in a very quick time. In all my years, the fastest I have ever seen a plant root is three days, and it was in a Rainforest 36. I was truly astounded to see burly white roots pouring out of some cuttings I placed into the unit only THREE DAYS earlier under a 600 watt HPS. I had never tried to root under an HPS before and I don’t necessarily recommend it to everyone but these plants were extremely healthy and I have never seen that again. Anyway, glancing through Hydrofarms catalog today, I saw this incredibly old school machine dieing for a comeback. Make no mistake, this little aeroponic machine and its bigger cousin the Rainforest 66 will outperform ANY other clone machine.

Hey guys, I just realized that our HWY 12 virtual video tour hasn’t been posted yet, and that’s unacceptable! Our HWY 12 location is one of our most organized and well stocked stores. Come and visit Austin over there and tell him Pete sent you from the blog and get 10% off your next purchase. 1-866-PGS-GROW

Aloha Friday gardeners! Taking cuttings is such an important part of our success that I feel we can’t have enough information here at the definitive growers blog on the subject! Here is a video from Penn State explaining how they take cuttings and propagate them. It’s so interesting to see how many different successful ways there are to take cuttings. I Hope you all have a fantastic weekend. Spend some time in your garden this weekend and give it some love for me.

Ok, lets face it, cloning plants can be a chore, but is such an important part of our success. The EZ Clone Machines make this essential part of gardening a snap. Using an aeroponic application, the clones you put in the neoprene inserts get beautifully misted 24/7 and i have heard reports of VERY fast rooting clones in these machines (3-5 days?) I highly recommend the EZ Clone to anyone who wants to try and reduce root time and have cleaner cuttings in the end.

Happy Aloha Friday growers! It’s been a product filled week here on the blog, I thought we would dim the lights in the room and watch a fun video. This video is a time lapse recording of cuttings rooting in water over a course of 5 days. When I saw this video, it reminded me of the magical wonder of asexual reproduction and how incredible it really is. When you really think about it, one humble plant can be turned into not just a million plants, but an infinite amount of perfect clones, that when applied to food production, could feed the entire world an infinite amount of times. What a truly remarkable metamorphosis plants can make!

CLONEX^®

Clonex is a high performance rooting compound. It is a tenacious gel which will remain in contact around the stem, sealing the cut tissue and supplying the hormones needed to promote root cell development, and vitamins to protect the delicate new root tissue.

The ultimate rooting compound – used by professionals and amateurs the world over. CLONEX is a bright, translucent gel. It is a high performance formulation of hormones, vitamins and mineral nutrients.

CLONEX is better because:

• It seals cut tissue instantly, eliminating the risk of infection or embolism.
• It contains rooting hormone at 3000 parts per million, the full strength required for explosive root development.
• It contains a full profile of nutrients and trace elements to nourish and empower the new plants.
• It is a gel – far safer than liquids or powders because it cannot splash or blow about. Unlike liquids and powders, CLONEX will remain in contact with the stem right through the rooting period.

Happy Aloha friday gang! Lets get into some hardcore science today. Today’s topic is Micro-Propagation / Plant Tissue Culture.

If you have ever wondered what kind of plant science you would be doing if you were in a university program for Horticulture, BAM, this is it. I recently discovered this technique because we had a plant tissue kit that was begging for someone to use it. My curiosity got the best of me and later that night I found myself deep in the throws of a full on academic endeavor. All I can say is, after 20 years of taking cuttings, our community now needs this level of precision, technology, and science. I am so excited about this knowledge and I look forward to sharing it with you guys now.

What is Micropropagation?
Micropropagation is a way to clone plants axenically (sterile). Terminal buds collected from branches of mature plants are surface sterilized and placed in test tubes containing a specific nutrient medium. The different media we are experimenting with usually contain a carbon source, vitamins, plant hormones and antibiotics. Plantlets grown from buds of the same plant, barring mutation, will be clones (i.e., genetic replicates) of the plant from which they were cut. Once we are able to maintain rapidly multiplying plant stocks in the lab, we can use them as a source for additional micropropagation or subculturing. Subculturing involves dividing sterile plantlets into smaller segments and growing plants from these pieces. This is how we grow Widgeon-grass (Ruppia maritima) in the lab, and we are in the process of developing this technique for Shoal-grass (Halodule wrightii). Widgeon-grass is the easiest seagrass to micropropagate; other species, such as Shoal-grass (Halodule), Manatee-grass (Syringodium filiforme) and Turtle-grass (Thalassia testudinum), are increasingly difficult. We are focusing on one species at a time.

Why Use Micropropagation?
Compared to standard nursery techniques, micropropagation has the potential to produce more plants in less time. Fewer stock plants are needed because an explant can supply a great amount of material from which clonal material can be subcultured. Also, not having to rely on seeds and other propagation methods ensures greater uniformity in plants produced. Clones can be screened for different attributes and used for specific applications, or genetic variability can be assured by mixing different clonal strains in restoration projects. Another advantage to micropropagation is the contamination-free condition of the plants produced and the ability to produce microbially fit stocks that resist pathogens.

We have plant tissue kits available, give us a call 1-866-PGS-GROW

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

At Pro Gardening Systems we carry a huge line of professional grow mediums, providing Sonoma County with the finest possible soils available for the indoor gardener. We have all of the soils below in stock……1-866-PGS-GROW

One of the things people come in and ask us the most about is propagation. “How do I root cuttings?” or “What grow medium do you recommend for seedlings and cuttings?” There are several options. The most preferred method for long time, experienced growers is to use Oasis Root Cubes. I personally have used them for over 15 years and have enjoyed a 97-99 percent success rate the entire time. What I really like the most about this product, is that you don’t need to go through any pre soaking like you do for rockwool cubes. Right out of the box, into a tray, wet with water, take your cuttings, and 5-10 days later, you will have roots. Of course there are several rooting agents available to help facilitate the cloning process. We will have a more detailed blog post at a later date, with step by step instructions on how to take cuttings with Oasis cubes.

OASIS® Root Cubes are rigid, open-celled, water-absorbing foams, specifically designed for optimal callus and rapid root formation. Outstanding performance is due, in part, to the unique cell structure, which closely resembles the cellular structure of the plant itself. The composition of the foam anchors the plant and provides capillary action for feeding water to inserted cuttings. These mediums offer the propagator many advantages.

Oasis Growing Media is a low density, high drainage foam with characteristics specifically developed for hydroponics seed germination and vegetative propagation of vegetables, herbs, flowers and foliage crops. These characteristics allow for an optimal balance of oxygen and water, even when saturated with water.

Oasis Rootcubes® Growing Medium offers an excellent starting environment for plant cuttings. Rootcubes® are sold in sheets that fit into industry standard 1020 trays. The engineered balance of air and water ratio makes Rootcubes® an especially good, economical propagation medium for a wide variety of plants and woody ornamental’s.

The innovative formula of this medium eliminates the necessity of leaching before use and assures proper drainage and water holding to achieve optimum air/water balance.

We have tons of Oasis in stock at all of our stores and online soon. 1-866-PGS-GROW