Home : FAQ General Information

Q:  How do you ship to 99705?

A:  We ship to everywhere on U.S. soil. Our free shipping on all purchases over $250 only applies to the continental U.S., but for you guys and for Hawaii, we will still pay free shipping to the farthest corner of the U.S. (on orders totaling $250 or more), then the balance would have to be paid by you.  For you, we'd figure out how much shipping would be to Seattle (which is the farthest point in the U.S. from us), then we'd pay that amount of your total shipping cost.  We'd be happy to do a shipping quote with the applied shipping credit if you'd like to see what it would cost to get an order from us.

Q:  What is the correct temperature range for the nutrient reservoir? My reservoir runs about 75 degrees, is this ok? How can I keep it in proper temperature range without the expense of chillers?

A:  At 75° your temperature is running a little high, but not so warm that it's guaranteed to cause you problems. The higher the temperature up to about 82°, the faster your plants will grow.  But, at these higher temperatures the occurrence of root rot will be much more frequent.  By keeping the temperature around 70° you'll be somewhere in the middle, where you won't get as frequent root issues, and you'll still get fast growth.

Commercial hydroponics operations run their temperatures even lower at about 67° and can justify the slower growth by not having to lose plants to root rot.   For hobby gardeners, I think a little more heat is justifiable to speed things up a bit, but over a long period of time, you'll find that the lower the temp, the more stable your systems will be.

One way to cool the res down without a chiller is to keep several almost filled 2 liter pop bottles in your freezer. Freeze them with the caps off, then re-cap them and drop one at a time into your reservoir over the course of the day.  This should bring your res down about 5° to 10° lower (depending on your res size) for a few hours.  You'd have to do it several times a day, but if your temperature gets any higher than it currently is, it may be worth it. At 75 degrees, I don't think you really need to bother with it yet.

Q:  The co2 boost. my room is 4x5 how will it work, is there a less expensive way?

A:  The CO2 Boost buckets will about triple the available CO2 in your 4' x 5' area, which is not up to optimal 1500ppm that you'd get with an emitter system and a tank, but it's three times as good as what's in the air in there now. You'd notice the increased growth rate if you added it to your area. If you went with the only less expensive option (CO2 Pucks), you'd end up spending more in the long run, as they are pretty pricey when you have to add one every day. The pucks are easy to use, and they really do make some CO2 for the plants, but if you're interested in seeing the long term effects of CO2 on your plants, the CO2 Boost is the perfect way to go without spending a ton of money. The best part is that it will keep making CO2 for two months, so you don't even have to think about it once you've got it up and running.

Q:  You sell so many products, and I've already got some stuff, so I'm just trying to figure out what nutrients to add to get better results.  I've tried lots of different products in the past, and it seems like some of them don't go good together.  Can I use some of my left over nutrients with your products?

A:  Find the answer on our General Brand Name Nutrients page.

Q:  I am a bit confused.  If I want to apply Bat Guano as a fertilizer, should I do it during the total growing period or at specific times?  Also, there are a zillion organic fertilizers, should I just throw a dart at the board and get one? They all sound about the same...

A:  Find the answer on our Growing with Bat Guano page.

Q:  ... running CO2, plus have CAN 66 Combo (8-inch CAN fan, filter, flange) that I was considering venting to the atmosphere... while pulling outside fresh air through... via a duct... But I don't want to loose all my CO2, but again, the poor little things so hot all cooped up in there with that stuff, even though they love it.

A:  Find the answer on our Heat in your Grow Room - How to deal with it page.

Q:  My friend has a orange tree, Can I cut a branch off and use a cloning gel, will that work?

A:  If you're going to take a cutting and have it root, it's got to be less than about 6" in length. So, you're probably only going to be able to take a small end of a branches new growth.

There is another method, called "air layering" that bonsai tree enthusiasts use, where you strip some bark (about 2" all the way around) from around a branch, then put cloning gel onto the stripped off layer. Then you quickly pack pre-moistened growing medium (coconut hull fiber, or peat, or ?) around the area, then wrap with saran wrap or something that will contain the moisture. You shouldn't wrap too tightly, because oxygen is needed inside of the saran wrap, as well as continued moisture. Then you make a small hole in the top of the saran wrap, and another in the bottom for drainage. Then, over a 2-4 week period, you keep the growing medium in the saran wrap consistently moist. When you water through the hole in the top, some water should be able to come through the hole on the bottom, and the growing medium should never completely dry out. The branch should root in the saran wrap, and you'll be able to cut the branch off just below the newly rooted area. This will give you the entire branch, rooted and ready to plant. It's a touchy process, and there are no absolute guarantee's of success, but if it works, you'll have a nice little tree. I think you can choose a branch up to about 3' long for this process.

I've never done this, so take my instructions loosely, and do some research on your end before you go forward with any air layering experiment.

Q:  I have been using GE Lucalox 600w bulbs with a purple Lumatek digital ballast. These work great, but I'm looking for a new bulb and want to order from you. Can you recommend a HPS bulb that you carry for the Lumatek 600w digital, please? From what I've read, this can be tricky, and I want to be certain of a good match.

A:  You're right, it can be hard to find a good match between 600 watt electronic ballasts, and lamps that they'll tolerate. My understanding of this is that the electronic ballast's have microchips built-in to them that are designed to sense potential problems, and as bulbs age the ballast's seem to pick up on this as a potential problem, or safety concern. At that point, the ballast may refuse to run a perfectly good lamp. With some bulbs, the ballast's built-in safe guard won't even tolerate a new bulb.

My best suggestion is the Agrosun Red 600, which is made by Hydrofarm. It's the only 600 watt bulb that specifically targets the 600 watt digital ballast's. We sell a ton of them, and get very few warranty returns. Our best selling 600 watt bulb is still Hortilux, and many are probably used with electronic ballasts, but we've got a much higher return/failure rate on them. The manufacturer of Hortilux bulbs doesn't recommend their use with electronic ballast's at all.

Q:  What is the shelf life of the Maxicrop liquid products, bat guano, and the FoxFarm liquid products?

A:  All of these would last better if stored under favorable conditions, but according to the manufacturer, Maxicrop has no real shelf life if stored correctly, bat guano is the same, although it's more sensitive to moisture and humidity, and the Foxfarm products have about a 4 year shelf life. Foxfarm achieves their shelf life by adjusting the pH to a very acid, which won't allow bad bacteria or fungus to grow.

Correct storage is simply to not expose them to any extreme conditions. Freezing is bad, direct light is bad, and heat is bad. For the bat guano, a big sealing storage container will help to keep it dry for long term storage.

Q:  When you site shows an item that states "shipping applies" does that mean i will have to pay shipping even if the total purchase is over $250?

A:  Only on those items that say's "shipping applies" would you have to pay the shipping charge, everything else will be free shipping if the total is $250 or more. We used to offer the free shipping on everything, but some of the items we sell are so heavy that the shipping cost is more than our profit on the item we're selling. Just for example, a 50 liter bag of hydroton cost's us $19 per bag to ship from Michigan to Pennsylvania. We don't even make half of that shipping cost on a bag of hydroton, so we have no choice but to charge the actual shipping cost. We don't add anything for packaging, or handling, and we've got good volume discounted shipping rates, and we've got good prices, so even with shipping added, it's a good deal. It was either that, or we'd have to stop offering the heavy items on our site.  If you'd like a shipping quote on anything in particular, just contact us.
 

Q:  I use Hydroton expanded clay pellets in my ebb and flow system and have a question regarding its re-use.  I soak and rinse with a mild bleach solution but removing all of the fine root mass is painstakingly time consuming.  How necessary is it to remove 100% of the finer roots?  Certainly the root ball and vast majority of the roots are removed, it's the last 10% of organic material that is so hard to remove.   Am I doing my garden a disservice by not getting everything removed?

A:  By getting 90% of the roots out of the Hydroton, you are doing better than most people probably do.

If you wanted to go one step further, you could start out your next group of plants with one of the "zyme" type products for the first week or two.  There are several of them available, and their function is to eat up all non-living soft organic matter, which would effectively clean up the Hydroton.

As a side bonus, when you use one of these zyme products at the beginning of the cycle, you will achieve faster root production on the new plants.  The only drawback to these products is that they are expensive, but if you only use it at the beginning, the cost isn't too bad.  All of that being said, I don't think you'll experience any terrible problems with such a small amount of leftover root pieces in the hydroton anyway after you use the bleach.

If you've got any interest in the "zymes", here are some links:   Hesi PowerZyme    Hygrozyme    Humboldt ProZyme

Q:  Is it possible to use a metal halide bulb in the hps fixture? I am wanting to veg w/ a metal halide bulb and then change to the hps bulb during flowering. Good idea, or no?

A:  They make conversion bulbs that would burn as a halide in your HPS fixture. The bulbs are a little more expensive, but they do work well. You can check them out here.  But, you can use a metal halide bulb in your HPS fixture if you want to.

The difference between a MH and an HPS bulb is that the MH has a firing unit built right into the bulb.  The firing unit is what 'ignites' the gas in the lamp when you turn it on.  The HPS bulbs don't have a firing unit in the bulb, so they have to have one built into the HPS ballast.  So, if you put an MH into an HPS fixture, there are two firing units, the one in the bulb, and the one in the ballast.  These will both fire whenever the fixture turns on.  If you tried to do it the other way around (HPS bulb in an MH ballast) it wouldn't work at all because there would be no firing unit.  I don't think it hurts the ballast at all, but it may burn the bulb out quicker than usual from the double firing.  The ballast manufacturers recommend the conversion bulbs to be the best approach.   Hope this helps more than confuses!
 

Q:  I do not have a green thumb but I enjoy plants. I tend to 30 houseplants at our office. We have several peace lilies, pothos, philodendrons, spider plant, wandering jew, jade, lipstick plant, sago palm etc. they are all just ok.  Some have a little black winged bug so I have used insecticide soap but still have some yellow and brown leaves.  They just aren't at their best. I so much want to have strong beautiful green healthy plants. What do you recommend to use?  Foliar fertilization or soil or root feeding? Please help!

A:  Find the answer in our Winter Survival Facts page.

Q:  I am an experienced vegetable gardener, on a budget who wants to expand the growing season earlier by starting my own tomato, eggplant, and pepper plants.  I want to keep it simple and small, but effective for supplementing seedlings light requirements for 4-6 hours a day.  The difference between fluorescent and HID seems astounding.  I would like to put under lights 4 flats, for 6-8 weeks, then transplant outside.  What do you suggest?

A:  My recommendation would be to use a 4-lamp T5 fixture.  We love these things!  The light quality is about twice that of a standard 4-lamp T12 fixture (the old style fluorescents), and the plants will thank you for it.  A mix of half warm, and half cool bulbs would be best for extended vegetative growth as you're describing, which points you toward the New Wave T5-44 fixture on our site.  If you wanted to start now and actually produce some vegetables indoors, my recommendation would be the HID lights, but for starts, you really can't beat the T5's.

Q:  I have two can lights over a bay window where I keep orchids in the winter. Would these plants benefit significantly if I plugged ... lighting compact bulbs in these cans? How many hours per day would I leave on?

A:  The plants would love it. The only problem is that these bulbs may be too fat for a recessed fixture, so be sure to check dimensions. The smaller of the compact fluorescent bulbs we've got is the Pro-Start 105 watt C.F.  For duration, I'd recommend 12 to 18 hours a day unless you've got good natural light as well, then you can use less. Your orchids will appreciate the additional light, but for aesthetics, it may be a bit bright for the room if you're going to be hanging out while they're on.  In my own home plant lighting situation, I simply leave the lights on while I'm gone.

Q:  Is it really necessary to have a can fan attached to the can filter? Can't I have any fan with the right cfm to either blow thru or pull air thru the can filter? Are can filters designed to pull air or push air via the fan?

A:  The air movement (or cfm's) isn't the only important part in matching the fan to the filter. It's also the 'pressure' of the fan's output. If you were to run a squirrel-cage type fan on a carbon filter (or an in-line duct fan, or an axial computer fan), they won't have the same torque as a centrifugal fan, so the cfm's aren't the same when you restrict the air movement with the carbon filter. It's hard to get a good match between different types of fans with the carbon filters but it can be done. It's just kind of a hit/miss approach to find the correct air movement with a fan other than the sizes that the manufacturers recommend.

As for the air movement, you can push or pull through the filter, and it will work just as good either way, but in the long run you want to pre-filter the air to get all of the dust out before the air enters the carbon filter. The CAN filters come with a white poly outer pre-filter to remove all of the dust before it can create dust pockets in the carbon. If the dust is allowed to enter the filter (without the use of a pre-filter), it creates pockets of dust that promote bacterial growth, and this bacterial growth limits the overall life of the carbon. So, a pre-filter is important either way whether you push or pull through the filter.

Q:  What packing material do you use? I want to order an organic product and want to make sure it is not contaminated. I'm a big supporter of recycling.

A:  Your organic products are protected from contamination (within our packaging) because we use mostly green CFC-free Styrofoam packing peanuts. You can even use these ecological-safe packing peanuts as a stand-alone growing medium for orchids. Or they can be recycled as a perlite replacement if you crunch them up and mix them with soil. Or use them whole in the bottom of pots for drainage. To recycle packing peanuts, take them to a UPS store - many locations take them for recycling.

Q:  I have an outdoor garden that seems to have voles or moles burrowing in it can you recommend how to stop this problem?

A:  The mole or vole problem that your garden has is most likely due to a plentiful supply of grubs in the soil. If they don't have food, the moles will move on. So, based on that, getting rid of the grubs is the more immediate issue. For a natural approach, we've got a product called "milky spore" that is an innoculant for your garden/lawn. You apply the milky spore for 3 or 4 years in the spring and fall and then you'll have achieved many years of control without having to reapply for 7 to 10 years. I've heard many variations on the number of applications, and years of control, but at any rate, it ends up being taken care of for a long time.

Q:  What's the difference between warm/cool bulb?

A.  If you think of it in street light terms, the white ones are cool (metal halide) and the orange ones are warm (high pressure sodium). Plants are very spectrum sensitive, and pick up on different parts of the light than our eyes can see.

To a plant, the cool white lights simulate the brighter, whiter sunlight of spring and early summer, which is better for vegetative growth (more compact leaf and stem development).

The warm orange bulbs are more like mid-summer to fall sunlight, and actually cause the plants to 'want' to produce their fruit, flowers, or vegetables.

When you're growing indoors, by starting out with the cool/white light, then changing to the warm/orange light, you'll get a healthier, stronger, more productive plant.

Q:  How long should I flood the ebb tray for, plus how many times per day?

A:  There is no exact answer to this question, because everyone's setup and environment are so different from one another, but here are some general guidelines. First, it completely depends on what kind of growing medium you're using and your environmental conditions. If you're using Hydroton rocks in containers, and your room temp is around 70 degrees, I'd go 4 to 6 times a day, at 15 minutes per watering, spread out around the clock (maybe not as frequently when the lights are off, but they still need water at night too). If you've got high humidity in the area, you won't need this many waterings. If your temp is higher than 70, you may need more. If you're using CO2, or add CO2 down the road, they'll need more frequent watering then too. If you're using rockwool, you'll probably only need one or two 15 minute waterings per day, and only once every few days at first. Rockwool holds a ton of water, and usually people overwater it at first. If you are using rockwool, you'd want the blocks to start drying out a bit (not completely bone dry) before re-watering. This will force an aggressive rootsystem which will benefit the plant later on. Just don't be afraid to try different watering cycles. You can still over or under water in hydroponics just like you can in soil, but if you really watch the plants (foliage and roots), they'll let you know if they need more or less water. Figuring all of this out will eventually earn you your hydroponics green thumb!

Q:  Are the Air Cooled Cylinders / HPS 600W ballast, meant for just HPS, or are they convertible to MH?

A:  The only 600 watt MH you can get is a conversion bulb, and it's shape is different from standard MH bulbs. It's shaped more like the long skinny HPS bulbs, so it'll fit into the CoolTubes without a problem. The Sunmaster 600 MH Conversion bulb is the best one on the market now. The output from that bulb is a respectable 600 watts of quality MH light.

Q:  Your opinion on the need for CO2?

A:  CO2 is huge. It's number 3 in the level of "important things to a plant", and that's before fertilizer. Achieving and maintaining the natural levels of CO2 that are in the oxygen around us is the most important thing. Adding more beyond that will speed up the growth of a plant incredibly. The oxygen around us contains about 300 parts per million, but if you increase to about 1500ppm, the plants will go crazy.

Q:  I was wondering on which light system I should get. HPS or MH... It will be used for Flowering plants...  Some say HPS make plants grow lanky but promote flowering as MH is from start to finish. Does the HPS require a secondary light source?

A:  I'll have to start by saying that it is advantageous to use both MH, and HPS throughout the lifecycle of the flowering plant. Starting with the MH will achieve a healthier, stockier plant, more able to deal with the weight of it's eventual flowers. Then, changing to the HPS will "fool" the plant into thinking that the season is progressing, causing a jump in natural hormones that forces the fruiting/flowering of the plant to take place more aggressively. That being said, if you just use the HPS throughout, you will probably achieve the same flower size or vegetable weight, but with lankier plants more in need of outside weight support. If you used just the MH throughout, the flowers would be smaller and more compact, but the overall weight of any vegetables would suffer slightly.

Many of the systems that we've got available are able to make use of both the MH and HPS bulbs within the same system. These have become the popular choice in the last several years, and they usually don't cost much if any more than a devoted HPS system will.

Q:  I am looking for my first hydroponic system and have narrowed my choices down to either the starter package 1 or 2 although I am open to suggestions. What are the pros and cons of each system for the novice grower and is the additional cost for system #2 "worth it" for the novice grower. I will be growing plants for personal use only...mainly tomatoes or similar plants.

A:  Considering the quality of the components in both of the packages that you mentioned, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend either. The  additional kick that your plants would get out of the 250 watt light  in the #2 package will make you some seriously happy plants compared to the compact fluorescent in the other package, but either will work well. As far as the hydroponics systems, you'll get some versatility with the Megagarden over the Emily's Garden because the Megagarden is basically a 2'x2' tray that you can move the plants around in. That allows you to grow 15 small plants or 1 big one, or any number in between. The Emily's works just as good as the Mega, but you lose that versatility. Again, I think both are good packages for anyone, so you can't really make a bad choice. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.
Find Starter Package 1   Find Starter Package 2

Q: Will the Fantech Variable Speed Fan Control work with an Active-Air/squirrel cage fan?

A: Should work just fine!

Q:  I have a hood over my grill indoors and I need a fan to pull the smoke and heat out the roof in an 8" duct. Will the Can Fan 8-inch 737-CFM Can Fan pull the smoke out through the vent in the roof?

A:  Yes it will. The only problem I can foresee is keeping the fan from lifting an occasional steak off the grill as these things are pretty powerful. It would be a pretty fancy way to give the neighborhood dogs and cats a treat. There are variable speed switches available, made specifically for fans that are used for that purpose.

Q:  What would you recommend for the biggest yield in my garden?

A:  Chemical! If someone asked me what they'd get the best yield possible with, and still achieve some respectable flavor quality, AND they said that price is no problem, here's my best recommendations (there are 2):

The first is the Ionic line from Hydro-dynamics. Ionic Grow, Ionic Bloom, Fossil Fuel, Greenfuse Grow, and Greenfuse Bloom. On top of all of this, Foxfarm makes a 3-part dry additive (Fox Farm Soluble Tri-Pak) that you'd use throughout your entire fruit development.

The other is the General Hydroponics group of Flora Nova Grow, Flora Nova Bloom, Floralicious Grow, Floralicious Bloom, Floralicious Plus, Diamond Nectar, and Kool Bloom Liquid (just after the plants start to produce) and Dry (as the fruit gets bigger and riper).

With either one of these combinations, if you do foliar feeds, you could use Organa-
Add, or Nitrozime (or go back and forth between the two once or twice a week). Also, I've done some experimenting with Mycorrhizal Fungus in the rootsystem in hydro, and found that it makes a huge difference in the size of the rootsystem which should mean larger fruit. Another additive for hydroponics especially in hot weather is Hygrozyme which can be used throughout with either of the lines.

If you don't want to spend as much as you'd have to on my suggestions, I'd say you could use Dyna-Gro, and Dyna-Bloom, and Age Old Kelp Liquid, and maybe during fruiting, throw in the General Hydroponics Kool Bloom Dry. This would give you some respectable results without spending a fortune.

Q:  If someone were so inept as to measure their nutrients without first shaking the container, would this be of concern at a later date? I'm afraid there is an idiot living in my house.

A:  If someone were to pour out nutrients without shaking it up, it would leave out some of the minerals, and maybe calcium - all of the heavy stuff that falls to the bottom of the bottle. When you get to the bottom, it'll be about as unbalanced in the other direction. I'd use it up anyway, but start shaking it first! Also watch the plants closely for deficiencies.

Q:  We are looking for organic all purpose plant food for our large indoor bamboo. What would you recommend?

A:  My recommendation would be to use the Age Old Organics; http://www.4hydroponics.com/nutrients/ageoldorganics.asp grow formula. It's got sufficient nitrogen to stimulate healthy growth, and if you can adjust your soil ph to a slightly acidic ph of about 6 to 6.5, your bamboo should be very happy.

Q:  What's the best way to set up a Can-Fan and Can-Filter combo?

A:  Find the answer on our CAN Combo page.

Q:  I have 2 ft wide x 6 ft long x 8 ft deep indoor room. Maximum odor control is my goal---which can filter do you suggest?

A:  Find the answer on our Growroom Odor Control page.

Q:  I've been hearing that the LED grow lights don't actually perform as advertised. In fact, (competitor) has stated in an e-mail that they don't plan to ever stock them as they are far less effective than HIDs. What is your take on LEDs? I have been looking at the UFO LED grow lights but now am not so sure.

A:  Find the answer on our LED Growlight Facts page.

Q:  I think I have fungus gnats or some type of small fly - they seems to lay eggs in the soil and when I move the dirt the adults fly away and I sometimes see little clear worms in the soil. They seem to be destroying the roots and the leafs turn yellow. I have tried foggers and sprays but nothing works. Any ideas?

A:  Find the answer on our Thrip Facts page.

Q:  I am interested in growing tomatoes, peppers, herbs and spices in a small room in my basement.  What is recommended for this?  I’ve only just heard of indoor gardening

A:  Find my lengthy answer on our Growing Vegetables Indoors page.