Maximum Yield Modern Growing | UK EU Edition | May June 2017

grow cycle
spring cleaning
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
¼ 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
sanitise 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 labour 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.
40 grow cycle