Happy Aloha Friday gang! Ok, we have had allot of fun this week with videos on off topics, social activism etc… Today we are going to get hardcore and talk about some seriously advanced techniques on how to approach your garden in a highly technical and scientific way. Allot of these things have not been covered in previous blog posts, so I will go slow but I will also include links to help you gain knowledge. These are all things any serious gardener should know.

Water Temperature

One of the most overlooked issues in a garden is the water temperature. Imagine how you like to bathe in water then apply that to your plants. If that water is too cold it can create stress and wilting, if its too hot you have a myriad of other issues that can arise. Also plant nutrients tend to work best at certain ranges. Be aware of how cold or how hot your plant water is. Room temp is always the best bet unless you have a really hot room Ideal temps for hydro is 18 to 27 degrees C. Try experimenting with temperatures and see for yourself the effects. Do some research, the temp. of your water greatly effects the amount of oxygen levels in your water which in turn greatly effects the amount of growth your plant has. Always try and give your plants the correct temperature water and you will see better results.

PPM / EC

If your not already using a PPM or EC measurement device on your plants water, your only guessing that you have dosed your water with the necessary amount of food. PPM stands for “parts per million” and it is a way to determine the amount of dissolved solids in a solution. EC stands for “electro conductivity” and it measures the amount of electric current the solution is capable of carrying. Both of these standards can tell you a tremendous amount about your plants and the water your feeding them. PPM is great for knowing how much nutrient is available in your solution for the plants, in general We recommend to everyone to keep your ppm below 1000ppm unless you have learned how to give your plants more then that. The EC can tell you how much nutrient is available in a solution too, but more importantly, the EC tells you something much more valuable. The EC of the water AFTER you water your plants is the telltale variable for success. If the EC of your water goes down after you water your plants, then the plants are absorbing nutrient from the solution, if the EC goes up, then you know that you are giving your plants too much food. Remember EC is measuring the amount of electricity capable of being carried in the water, the higher that number is the more nutrients are available in your water, so if the EC is fluctuating, then your know you have metabolic response occurring in your plants. A sure sign of trouble is an EC that continues to get higher and higher after each watering. The great thing about this technique is you can diagnose a serious nutrient issue and resolve it before its a problem, and it makes determining if you have nutrient burn or a deficiency an easy task. STOP GUESSING !! How many times have you just guessed at what your plants problems were and ended up overdosing or under dosing your plants?

Understanding whats going on with your plants is so crucial and so overlooked by most gardeners. So many people are happy as long as their plants are not dead and as long as they get “something”. This is fear based gardening and unfortunately too many of us suffer from it. Your afraid to give more food, in case it will burn them, and you don’t want to back off the food, because you don’t want yellowing or worse. Even EC and PPM can’t tell you everything. There are several other factors to examine in your quest to be a scientist in your garden. Take it to the next level and try everything availible to you today to make your plants better!

PH – Potential of Hydrogen

I’m sure you all know about PH, it is the amount of acid or alkalinity in your water. That is the amount of acid ( lower PH levels 5.7 – 2.0 ) and the amount of Base ( higher PH levels 6.0 – 9.0 ) your water contains. PH is super important as I’m sure you guys all know, but if your constantly adjusting your waters PH with up and down solution, you are setting yourself up for slippery slope. Ideal PH ranges in general for both hydro and soil applications are around 5.7 – 7.0. Most nutrient companies these days have buffered their food to work within a broad range of PH ranges and adding up and/or down to correct levels actually makes elements in the solution “drop out” leading to a myriad of other potential problems. Always try to resolve your PH issues with either adding more water to raise your PH or adding more nutrient to lower it. I watch people come into the store and buy bottle after bottle of PH up and down and then come in later and ask why did my crop fail? I’m not saying that you should never adjust your PH, I’m just saying avoid constantly adjusting it and when in doubt, don’t over use any chemical, restart fresh and get it right with the least amount of everything. Seriously fluctuating PH levels after watering is another sure sign of trouble down the way. You want your water to be as PH stable as possible, and by using less of everything, you will achieve this.

Now sure, PPM / EC and PH readings are all more advanced horticultural techniques, and if you have never been aware of these things then you have just received a nice amount of valuable knowledge. However, I would like to take this Aloha Friday post even further. Get ready to learn how to really understand whats going on with your plants.

Brix / Refractometers

How can you tell if a plant is truly growing to its full potential other then watching it turn green and form fruit or flowers? The answer is with a refractometer. This is a device that allows one to measure the amount of sugars in a given plant. You take a daily measure of your plants brix levels and if the sugar levels are going up then you know your plants are turning light into sugars and then into fruit, flowers or leaf. If your plant is not increasing in sugar production, then you know your need to make some adjustments. Wine and other fruit farmers use brix refractometers to measure the exact amount of sugars before a harvest, allowing them to get there product to market with the perfect amount of sweetness, not too much not too little. You too can control your harvests to this high degree of refinement. Even with crops that are concerned with essential oil and fragrance etc.. Everyone interested in growing better plants will benefit from a refractometer. I personally suggest this traditional handheld refractometer. We will have these available at our stores soon.

Basically guys, the more you educate yourself and use these tools, the better your harvests will be, both in quality and quantity. Have a fantastic weekend and try to apply some of these techniques in your garden and take it to new heights! ALOHA