Jorie Lott

The end of summer is the time of year when plants are finishing up their growth cycle and are just about ready to have the bounty you’ve worked hard to cultivate harvested. At this particular point in time, the plant is focusing most of its energy and nutrients on producing big, beautiful flowers, leaving its immune system weaker and vulnerable to hungry opportunists. Just before you can get your hands on the fruits of your plants’ labor, you might find that some six or eight legged creepers have beat you to the punch.

Increase your propagation success by inoculating your medium appropriately. Broad-spectrum inoculants that include mycorrhizae and Trichoderma such as Great White Shark are outstanding for soaking Rockwool or peat-based plugs prior to sticking your cuttings. These "good guy microbes" protect the plant from root/stem rot diseases such as Pythium, Fusarium, and Rhizoctonia. In aeroponic or DWC cloning machines, use Botanicare's Hydroguard to keep the water clean and pathogen-free. Proper inoculation is crucial for successful cloning.

More Fans, Slower Speeds: Rather than using just a few fans on high speed, add some extra wall fans and turn the speed down. Air circulation is crucial to exchange CO2 at the leaf surfaces, but high winds can dry out or stress plants. You’re looking for Breezy, not Windy.

Simply put, it's a grow room where there are no vents to the outside and the entire environment is controlled from within the room. This approach to cultivating opens the possibility of providing your plants with the perfect environment where the temperature and humidity can be controlled to a 'T' and headaches such as odor and powdery mildew can be properly controlled. A sealed room can also provide any business-minded individual the ability to form a dynamic foundation in which their business can scale quickly and efficiently.