Alternative Garden Supply

Truth...

Gertrude Jekyll was one of the most influential horticulturists and gardeners of the last 200 years. She wanted her flowers to be displayed to full effect even indoors, so she designed her own vases. That's dedication!

Vertical 'Pinkhouses:' The Future Of Urban Farming? : NPR

Wow... 2.2 million plants under artificial light in Texas...

Vertical 'Pinkhouses:' The Future Of Urban Farming? : NPR Architects have come up with spectacular concepts for vertical farms that would grow crops in city skyscrapers. But many horticulturists think the future of vertical farming isn't in skyscrapers, but rather in large, indoor warehouses lit up magenta by superefficient LEDs.

Geneva's Western Avenue School students work in garden

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/suburbs/batavia_geneva_st_charles/ct-tl-geneva-garden-20130523,0,1299934.story

Start 'em young... :D

Geneva's Western Avenue School students work in garden Each time the 300 students at Western Avenue School in Geneva pass their school this summer, they'll see the pumpkins and gourds they planted in the front yard last week grow a little larger.

EZ-Clone System - EZ-Clone - Cloning Machines - Propagation / Rooting

http://www.altgarden.com/propagation-rooting/cloning-machines/ez-clone/ez-clone-system-3.html

EZ-Clone has updated their product line with new models... and as such, we are moving out their original line at 40% off retail... an excellent opportunity to pick up the original EZ-Clone at close to a steal!

EZ-Clone System - EZ-Clone - Cloning Machines - Propagation / Rooting The EZ-Clone is the Cadillac of cloning machines. This unit is custom made exclusively for cloning plants. The EZ-Clone comes with custom neoprene collars, high flow-rate irrigation system, external air intake system, leak-resistant lid, deep lid base

Please support this important Illinois legislation...

If you are a homebrewer in Illinois or appreciate homebrew and have not already called your Senator and asked them to support HB630 now is the time!

The bill is scheduled to be read for the third time tomorrow, May 8th, and will hopefully be voted on immediately after this reading. The main issues this bill resolves is specifically making it legal to transport homebrew outside of your home, allow for homebrew samples to be given to the public, and allowing homebrew retailers to provide demonstrations and samples.

Please see the attached flyer for information on what to say when you call your Senator.

http://www.illinoishomebrew.org/il-senate/

Fantabulous...

Holy Tower of tomatoes! This central Florida rooftop greenhouse transforms an otherwise useless rooftop into a highly productive urban farm that uses 12 foot tall Tower Gardens to grow 60 miniature tomato plants per Tower that will yield countless harvests of fresh off the vine tomatoes. They employ a combination of aeroponics, hydroponics, and aquaponics to grow food and other plants.

Some days... ;-)

The Hydroponic Grower

Common questions answered about new HID lamps by EYE Hortilux...

One common question we get every day is "Is my bulb old because there are burn marks inside the bulb?"

Those are not burn marks. What you are seeing in the picture is the chemical dose that creates the bright light and the spectral distribution. The little silver ball that you see is supposed to be there as well. That is the mercury dose that all HID lamps have (some more than others). This is the chemistry that provides the high intensity light for your plants.

Home. Land. Security.

We agree...

Good things come to those who...

Security system...

Clepsydra Urban Farming

http://www.agri-tecture.com/post/12156069436/clepsydra-urban-farming#.UVn8FjeFUQU

Could this be the future of urban farming?

Clepsydra Urban Farming Clepsydra is by far one of the most impressive vertical farming projects that I have come across. The project is the brain child of architects Florencia Costa and Bruno Viganò. What makes their design unique is that it is not a solitary structure that grows food but rather a supplementary structur...

General Hydroponics picks April 1st to announce and debut new product...

Welcome to Flavor Country (it's a big country)

Largest Indoor Vertical Farm In The Nation Opens In Chicago

http://chicagoist.com/2013/03/22/largest_indoor_vertical_farm_in_the.php#photo-1

Fantastic...

Largest Indoor Vertical Farm In The Nation Opens In Chicago FarmedHere, a brand you may have seen recently at your food store, has officially opened their 90,000 square foot indoor aquaponic farm.

Space intensive balcony garden...

This tiny balcony garden only uses 3 square yards of space and produces 21 varieties of food http://bit.ly/YMObcn

Space intensive yard garden...

If you can dream it, you can do it.

Indoor urban farm creates life changing opportunities for unlikely farmers

Nice video showing the inner workings and operational concept of the new FarmedHere vertical indoor aquaponic facility in Bedford Park, Illinois.

Indoor urban farm creates life changing opportunities for unlikely farmers Indoor urban farm creates life changing opportunities for unlikely farmers

Wow...

Red Choi and Basil in Florida

Airport hydroponics... living gardens featuring Tower Gardens at O'Hare Int'l Airport!

Chicago O'Hare Urban Garden uses Tower gardens to supply the airport restaurants with super fresh produce

Hydro at the airport!

Chicago O'Hare International Airport Tower garden Farm

Why not?

A touch of green: http://on.fb.me/Vq9b7i

Rooftop paradise...

A touch of green: http://on.fb.me/Vq9b7i

We can help you do this...

Container gardening options

The Farming Technique That Will Revolutionize the Way We Eat

Aquaponic future...

The Farming Technique That Will Revolutionize the Way We Eat Aquaponics uses fish to create soil-less farms that can fit into cities much easier.

The Chile Pepper Institute

We're kind of partial to chile peppers here at Alternative... and New Mexico State University has an entire department devoted to their study and cultivation... :)

The Chile Pepper Institute The Chile Pepper Institute is a research-based, international, nonprofit organization within NMSU. We are dedicated to educating the world about chile peppers.

Be sure to add Alternative Garden Supply to an Interest List to see more of our posts in the future...

Chicago Flower & Garden Show March 9-17, 2013!

Veggies in the making for the Show! Purchase your tickets online and save an automatic $2 off the Navy Pier Box Office Price. www.chicagoflower.com

How to Graft Greenhouse Tomatoes

Another excellent resource from the University of Vermont Extension agency giving precise how-to instruction for grafting organic greenhouse tomatoes.

How to Graft Greenhouse Tomatoes This video, produced by the University of Vermont Extension, shows you how to graft tomato plants.

From the CropKing Greenhouse: An Introduction to the Process of Grafting in Greenhouse Tomatoes- Par

CropKing, Inc. has a new blog post that further explores the topic of greenhouse tomato grafting...

From the CropKing Greenhouse: An Introduction to the Process of Grafting in Greenhouse Tomatoes- Par

Take the plunge... start growing your own endless summer harvest... :)

From the good folks at American Hydroponics comes this informative piece on pH and plant growth:

Potential Hydrogen (pH)

pH is the acidity or alkalinity of the nutrient solution. It is a measurement of activity of dissolved hydrogen ions. They are most active in the zone where all the elements remain in solution and available for plant uptake.

Plants can survive in the pH range 4.0 to 8.0. Below 4 there is a danger of the roots being burnt and some minerals are not available to plants. Above 8.0 some of the minerals can be precipitated or are not available to the plants. If roots are ever exposed to extremely low or high pH, turn off irrigation, bleed 50% of the tank, add fresh water, get pH spot on and then turn irrigation back on. Most times you can save a crop with this method.

The most important thing to remember is to keep pH between 5.5 and 6.5. Aim for 6. All the elements are available in that range. When plants are growing in good light and warm conditions, the normal trend is for the pH to rise and we have to add a pH lower (acid solution). In cool, dark, short day conditions, it can be normal for the pH level to fall and we have to raise the pH with pH raise (alkali solution). As a rule, as plants feed, their root waste (sometimes in the form of ethylene gas) is basic and raises pH. In media based systems, microbes eat most of this up so pH is fairly stable. In water culture, root exudates raise pH, making the addition of phosphoric acid a regular occurrence.

Used in conjunction with HID lamp spectral distribution charts, the Mcree Curve can show how effective a light source is for growing plants.

WHAT IS THE MCREE CURVE?
The Mcree Curve represents the average photosynthetic response of plants to light energy. The Mcree Curve, also known as the Plant Sensitivity
Curve, begins at 360nm and extends to 760nm. This curve can be placed over a spectral distribution chart to see how well a light source can affect plant growth.

HID Dimming Test Results by Hortilux...

This is the results from our dimming test. This shows how the spectral quality of the lamps is negatively affected changing what is comming out of your lamp.

As you dim your lamps you reduce the heat inside the arc tube. This reduction in heat does not allow the chemicals inside the arc tube to produce the full spectrum.

You are better off using a lower wattage lamp than dimming your lamps.

A very innovative rotating passive ebb and flow system...

نظام حديث للغاية وهو نظام الدوائر وهو شكلة نفس شكل الايطار