A Beginner’s Guide to Grow Lights
by Michelle Moore

Anna Neagle, a late British Actress, once pondered: “What, I sometimes wonder, would it be like if I lived in a country where winter is a matter of a few chilly days and a few weeks of rain; where the sun is never far away, and the flowers bloom all year long?”. Owning a greenhouse may not tame the weather of a country, but one’s backyard is another matter. Here, owning a greenhouse can make you feel like you live in a different world altogether.

By Amanda Sylvie
Garden & Greenhouse Magazine

Do you ever wish your greenhouse or indoor garden was higher in humidity during the day, fifteen degrees cooler at night, or higher in CO2 levels? Sometimes controlling the atmosphere in a greenhouse can seem like an unattainable dream! However, as long as you are trying to manage the environment of an enclosed area, atmospheric controls can make life a lot easier. Good greenhouse will be reliable, accurate, economical and resistant to corrosive damage in humid enclosures.

Many times Hydroponic gardeners have results that seem extra ordinary; but, with proper attention to detail, these same results can be had by soil based gardeners as well. Successful hydroponics depends first and foremost on monitoring the pH of the nutrient solution, yet soil based gardeners often neglect this critical factor with their chosen growing medium.

Thrips are a nasty pest that nearly every gardener will face at one time or another. The first sign of thrips is usually yellow specks all over the leaf surface. Tiny black dots of thrips fecal matter might be scattered on the leaf. With some thrips varieties a silver sheen almost like a tiny snail trail might appear on the leaves as a result of the way thrips feed. Some thrips can cause plant leaves to curl. If you look closely tiny 1/16” long, thin, fast moving bugs can be seen scurrying about.