grow cycle growers know
Get Your
Grow Space
Fresh and Clean for Spring
With spring just around the corner , let Steve Cather give you some tips on what you can do to help your garden stay healthy and pest-free .
While spring may be the proverbial season for cleaning , these helpful tips should become a regular part of your gardening regimen . Most issues can be traced to a failure in preventive measures that we may have become lazy about as the seasons while away . The effort you make now will pay dividends in the form of a healthy harvest .
Sweep your floors regularly
A common mistake made by indoor gardeners is allowing organic debris and material to accumulate in the space they use . These small bits of plant matter and soil attract and feed pests of all types . The ruinous and notorious spider mite is tiny by virtually any standard . A floor that is free of organic material is a wasteland to a bug . The journey to your garden is a marathon of epic proportions . If a mite doesn ' t find any sustenance on the way to the promised land , it will starve to death long before it reaches a suitable meal .
Clean your plastics
A plastic surface may seem non-porous and uninviting as a habitat . When that same plastic has a layer of slime , dirt , and nutrient salts adhered to it , the situation changes dramatically . Between crops you have unlimited access to all parts of your system . Reservoirs and trays should be washed using a light hydrogen peroxide or bleach mixture . Three per cent hydrogen peroxide should be mixed 1:1 with water . Bleach can be mixed at ΒΌ cup bleach to one gallon of water .
Wipe all surfaces and remove any accumulated material from the cracks and corners . Remove bulkheads and other fittings and soak or scrub them . Bulkheads are easily cleaned with a bleach water soak followed by a cycle through the dishwasher . Take your time and do it right . This is the cost of doing business .
Clean your pumps
An item many gardeners overlook is the common water pump . When cleaning your system , be certain you dismantle the pump inlet assembly and clean the components . The impeller on most aquarium-style pumps is removable and should be completely cleaned prior to reuse in the next cycle . Use paper towels and / or an old toothbrush to clean the cracks and corners . I ' m not going to lie to you . It isn ' t a fun job . However , taking five to 10 minutes to dismantle and sanitize your pump will ensure proper operation throughout the coming cycle .
Clean or replace your tubing
Along with the pump cleaning you should begin a standard practice of cleaning your tubing as well . Short sections of tubing can be cleaned using a paper towel moistened with your bleach water solution . Using a coat hanger or a chopstick , you can push a wad of paper towel through the tubing to remove organic deposits that may have accumulated inside . If the prospect of this slave labor doesn ' t appeal to you then it may be time to pony up a few bucks to replace the tubing . Twenty dollars ' worth of tubing goes a long way toward maintaining your sanity and the health of your garden .
126 grow cycle