hydroponics:not in B&Q
derek_ho...@my-deja.com
A shop opened in my local area selling hydroponic equipment: lights,
tanks, mediums etc. How can most people justify prices ranging from
£130 up to £400+ for a sodium lamp with a hood?
It’s rather odd a shop like that opening in the area it has, no parking
only pedestrians and in an deprived (shops bordered up for years) area
of town. And some of the promises made by the shop brochure seem to be
bordering on the incredible, so much so that I must ask about this.
Call me an fool for not knowing a great deal about hydroponics, but why
has it caught on like it has with prices that border on the obscene?
The big garden centres don’t have anything like this, but if there was
money in this they would have been the first on the bandwagon, surely?
What’s the score on this hydroponics, as the shop seems to have people
buying everytime I go past it? The part I can’t get my head round is
the big chains not catching onto this if it ‘so good’, is it the price
factor, or what?
The brochure claims, ‘Hydroponics is the future for the world’.....Um!
I’d like to see an where the hell an African farmer is going to be able
to pay those prices.
Derek,
Horbury,
West Yorks.
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m.m...@lycosmail.com
and pieces of hydropoinics.
Some will tell us the explanation I'm sure.
ŁsaverŁ Mick
John Neale Baraclough
from derek_ho...@my-deja.com contains these words:
> Hydroponics...And the £ Prices £
In Scotland we have a famous hydroponicum in the very far north
where a hotel produces all its own exotic fruit and veg by that
method.The plants grow in water with a flow of nutrients added, no soil.
There is also hydroponic gardening in lofts and cellars, of
cannabis.Hence the artificial daylight lamps.Its not worth the outlay
for anyone else, hence B and Q don't promote it.Selling or buying the
kit isnt illegal, sowing cannabis is.
Janet
Peter Maughan
writes
>Hydroponics...And the £ Prices £
>
>
>A shop opened in my local area selling hydroponic equipment: lights,
>tanks, mediums etc. How can most people justify prices ranging from
>£130 up to £400+ for a sodium lamp with a hood?
>
>It’s rather odd a shop like that opening in the area it has, no parking
>only pedestrians and in an deprived (shops bordered up for years) area
>of town. And some of the promises made by the shop brochure seem to be
>bordering on the incredible, so much so that I must ask about this.
>
>Call me an fool for not knowing a great deal about hydroponics, but why
>has it caught on like it has with prices that border on the obscene?
>The big garden centres don’t have anything like this, but if there was
>money in this they would have been the first on the bandwagon, surely?
>
>What’s the score on this hydroponics, as the shop seems to have people
>buying everytime I go past it? The part I can’t get my head round is
>the big chains not catching onto this if it ‘so good’, is it the price
>factor, or what?
>
>The brochure claims, ‘Hydroponics is the future for the world’.....Um!
>I’d like to see an where the hell an African farmer is going to be able
>to pay those prices.
>
plant nutrients are supplied as chemicals, usually disolved in water but
sometimes applied dry. The plant roots may be held in another
substrate, such as gravel, sand, peat, or rockwool, or the roots may be
bathed in nutrient fluid by some other means.
You must agree that there isn't any _real_ soil in a grow-bag. So
anyone who grows tomatoes in a grow-bag and feeds them with Tomorite or
Miraclegro is practising hydroponics. Many people buy grow-bags,
Tomorite and Miraclegro from B & Q, so you are wrong in suggesting that
B&Q do not supply the hydroponic market. But I agree that it is strange
that specialist hydroponic shops are able to ask high prices for
substrate and chemicals.
Growing plants under artificial light is, strictly speaking, something
separate from hydroponics, though many hydroponic shops sell growing
lights. Many commercial growers use artificial lighting in greenhouses
to supplement natural light in the winter months when the days are
short. And growing rooms can be set up where all the light is
artificial. A relatively high intensity of artificial lighting is
required to activate photosynthesis. The expensive lights you have seen
operate more efficiently than domestic lighting, thus producing a
relatively high light output per watt of energy consumed. No doubt the
commerical growers do their sums and work out what input of energy is
cost effective in bringing their produce to market. Many electricty
suppliers have a "Grow-Electric" adviser to help with these calculations
and the choice of appropriate lighting.
Growing under artificial light is not restricted to growing cannabis,
although clearly the criminal element has siezed on the idea and given
it a bad name.
A cost-effective way of providing artifical light on a small scale at
home for growing seedlings and cuttings is to use domestic flourescent
lighting, using equal numbers of "white" and "warm whte" tubes. This
spring I bought four 5ft, 58 watt fittings from B&Q for £10 each. They
come supplied with "white" tubes, so I had to buy two extra "warm white"
tubes to get my 50/50 split. No need to go to a specialist hyroponic
shop.
Certainly I found that the seedlings came on very quickly under the
fluorescent lights and were strong and healthy. My main problem was
that in many cases they were ready too soon, before the weather was
suitable for planting out. And seedlings grown under such conditions
need careful hardening off.
--
Peter Maughan
St.Leonards-on-Sea, E.Sussex
bra...@lycosmail.com
opening up at a steady rate. I have also visited one of them in the
town centre, and found that the prices were high and the promises to
match.
There has been press coverage of one of the shops, which was also
making the claims of massive yields etc. I certainly didn’t have alarm
bells ringing loudly when I saw them, and came away with the idea that
this was something special and worth a further look.
So if these shops are so rife with tales of drug manufacture, have we
reached the point where the police are secretly enforcing a policy of
legalisation?
Main Point: How can a rose, tomato, potato and onions grower
benefit...or am I missing the point?
Good point though, why doesn't the retailers open up this market if it
has a future, or is hydroponics too inter linked with the growth of
cannabis now to get anywhere?
The message <7l2s48$1tn$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>
from derek_ho...@my-deja.com contains these words:
> Hydroponics...And the £ Prices £
> A shop opened in my local area selling hydroponic equipment: lights,
> tanks, mediums etc. How can most people justify prices ranging from
> £130 up to £400+ for a sodium lamp with a hood?
> It’s rather odd a shop like that opening in the area it has, no
parking
> only pedestrians and in an deprived (shops bordered up for years) area
> of town. And some of the promises made by the shop brochure seem to be
> bordering on the incredible, so much so that I must ask about this.
> Call me an fool for not knowing a great deal about hydroponics, but
why
> has it caught on like it has with prices that border on the obscene?
> The big garden centres don’t have anything like this, but if there was
> money in this they would have been the first on the bandwagon, surely?
> What’s the score on this hydroponics, as the shop seems to have people
> buying everytime I go past it? The part I can’t get my head round is
> the big chains not catching onto this if it ‘so good’, is it the price
> factor, or what?
> The brochure claims, ‘Hydroponics is the future for the world’.....Um!
> I’d like to see an where the hell an African farmer is going to be
able
> to pay those prices.
In Scotland we have a famous hydroponicum in the very far north where
a hotel produces all its own exotic fruit and veg by that method.The
plants grow in water with a flow of nutrients added, no soil. There
is also hydroponic gardening in lofts and cellars, of cannabis.Hence
the artificial daylight lamps.Its not worth the outlay for anyone else,
hence B and Q don't promote it.Selling or buying the kit isnt illegal,
sowing cannabis is.
Janet
cbw
>
>
>A shop opened in my local area selling hydroponic equipment: lights,
>tanks, mediums etc. How can most people justify prices ranging from
>£130 up to £400+ for a sodium lamp with a hood?
>
>It’s rather odd a shop like that opening in the area it has, no parking
>only pedestrians and in an deprived (shops bordered up for years) area
>of town. And some of the promises made by the shop brochure seem to be
>bordering on the incredible, so much so that I must ask about this.
>Horbury,
>West Yorks.
I believe that one particular species of plant has a very high resale
value but when grown in the open tends to attract constabulary
attention. To avoid this attention it tends to be grown in attics,
cellars etc where hydroponics would be convenient & artificial lighting
would be necessary.
--
cbw
mel
there was hydroponics, Everything was hard and tasted false and flavourless
(imo)
Admittedly the climate won't let much grow in the open except turnips and
potatoes
regards Mel
<derek_ho...@my-deja.com> wrote in message
news:7l2s48$1tn$1...@nnrp1.deja.com...
> Hydroponics...And the £ Prices £
>
>
> A shop opened in my local area selling hydroponic equipment: lights,
> tanks, mediums etc. How can most people justify prices ranging from
> £130 up to £400+ for a sodium lamp with a hood?
>
> It's rather odd a shop like that opening in the area it has, no parking
> only pedestrians and in an deprived (shops bordered up for years) area
> of town. And some of the promises made by the shop brochure seem to be
> bordering on the incredible, so much so that I must ask about this.
>
> has it caught on like it has with prices that border on the obscene?
> The big garden centres don't have anything like this, but if there was
> money in this they would have been the first on the bandwagon, surely?
>
> What's the score on this hydroponics, as the shop seems to have people
> buying everytime I go past it? The part I can't get my head round is
> the big chains not catching onto this if it 'so good', is it the price
> factor, or what?
>
> The brochure claims, 'Hydroponics is the future for the world'.....Um!
> I'd like to see an where the hell an African farmer is going to be able
> to pay those prices.
>
Andy Mabbett
<ch...@coalole.demon.co.uk> writes
>To avoid this attention it tends to be grown in attics,
>cellars etc where hydroponics would be convenient & artificial lighting
>would be necessary.
I've read that there have been arrests after the use of heat- sensitive
cameras on police helicopters have identified rooms where hydroponics
were in use...
--
Andy Mabbett
"In derelict sidings, the poppies entwine
With cattle trucks, lying in wait, for the next time"
Roger Waters, 1982
Stuart Brown
allegedly scrawls wildly
>
>So if these shops are so rife with tales of drug manufacture, have we
>reached the point where the police are secretly enforcing a policy of
>legalisation?
I think they are dismayed at the fact that it remains legal to buy and
advertise everything to do with cannabis production, the seeds,
hydroponics etc making it easy to obtain the required items. It is far
more widespread in attics, sheds etc. than your average law-abiding
citizen realises, most haven't a clue what goes on and remain naive to
the 'darker' side of society. The police just don't have the resources
to deal with it. The outlay costs of equipment can be exceeded in the
first years crop if you know where to sell it.
If anybody isn't sure yet what cannabis smells like, then have a sniff
of your tomato leaves in the greenhouse. A member of the same plant
family I believe, but far less risky to grow :)
Stu
--
Stuart Brown
bra...@lycosmail.com
allegedly scrawls wildly
>
>So if these shops are so rife with tales of drug manufacture, have we
>reached the point where the police are secretly enforcing a policy of
>legalisation?
Nothing allegedly about what I'm writing, my point was whether the
nutrients were better than what the garden centres have on
offer.....nothing to do with cannabis.
I was very surprised also by the amounts of these type of shops, and it
wasn't until reading the pieces that I realised that this maybe was the
sole purpose of these shops.
I would still like if any gardener out there knows if these stockists
are better equiped than the garden centre, and if some of the hype that
the shops advertise are really true.
When I saw an advert for one saying, 'Increase your crop production by
300%'. I went into the shop and asked about how this could be so, only
to be told that it was part of the promise given by a manufacturer of
an ebb and flow system costing in the region of £700ish. No thanks.
Stuart, all I can say then that to reclaim that sort of money, there
must be a lot of entrepreneurs going about. If only they could turn
that talent into........well, that's for another day.
Bracken
I think they are dismayed at the fact that it remains legal to buy and
advertise everything to do with cannabis production, the seeds,
hydroponics etc making it easy to obtain the required items. It is far
more widespread in attics, sheds etc. than your average law-abiding
citizen realises, most haven't a clue what goes on and remain naive to
the 'darker' side of society. The police just don't have the resources
to deal with it. The outlay costs of equipment can be exceeded in the
first years crop if you know where to sell it.
If anybody isn't sure yet what cannabis smells like, then have a sniff
of your tomato leaves in the greenhouse. A member of the same plant
family I believe, but far less risky to grow :)
Stu
--
Stuart Brown
Kay Easton
<Stu...@sebmail.demon.co.uk> writes
>If anybody isn't sure yet what cannabis smells like, then have a sniff
>of your tomato leaves in the greenhouse. A member of the same plant
>family I believe, but far less risky to grow :)
No - cannabis is the hop family, not Solanacaea
--
Kay Easton
Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/garden/
Bob Harvey
> If anybody isn't sure yet what cannabis smells like, then have a sniff
> of your tomato leaves in the greenhouse. A member of the same plant
> family I believe, but far less risky to grow :)
back in the 60s a friend of mine planted some cannabis in his father's
greenhouse. The neighbour, a keen show horticulturist and police
sergeant, asked 'what's that in your greenhouse, George?'
The father said, 'I don't know. Ask the lad'.
The lad was asked, and said 'Cannabis'
'Oh,' Said the police sergeant, 'I should have known better than to expect
a sensible answer from you.'
--
Bob Harvey
bobharvey@@cix.co.uk
(anti-spam: Correct number of snaily things is one)
Stuart Brown
<k...@scarboro.demon.co.uk> allegedly scrawls wildly
>No - cannabis is the hop family, not Solanacaea
Hmmm...sorry, misinformed. Perhaps I have cannabis in my greenhouse by
mistake rather than tomato then - the fumes must have impaired my
judgement!
Stu
--
Stuart Brown
Martin Brown
bra...@lycosmail.com wrote:
> In Manchester of recent years, we have seen these shops (hydroponics)
> opening up at a steady rate. I have also visited one of them in the
> town centre, and found that the prices were high and the promises to
> match.
Done right the results can be quite astounding. I have personally seen
hydroponically grown tomatos & cucumbers in Japan where the plants were more
or less tree sized and supported on special trellis. Talking here of
established plants with main stems in the 4-6" diameter range and a spread
of stems running about 20 feet in all directions.
Figures of productivity were completely crazy - literally tonnes of produce,
but the plants were incredibly pampered in a custom built computer
controlled greenhouse backed up by online nutrient control. I don't know if
the fruit tasted any good or not.
It's at the Tsukuba Science Museum if anyone is passing.
> In Scotland we have a famous hydroponicum in the very far north wherea
> hotel produces all its own exotic fruit and veg by that method.The plants
> grow in water with a flow of nutrients added, no soil. There is also
> hydroponic gardening in lofts and cellars, of cannabis.Hence the
> artificial daylight lamps.Its not worth the outlay for anyone else, hence
> B and Q don't promote it.Selling or buying the kit isnt illegal, sowing
> cannabis is.
I guess that is what it will be used for at temperate latitudes.
Regards,
Martin Brown
cormaic
<ch...@coalole.demon.co.uk> enriched all our lives with these words:
>I believe that one particular species of plant has a very high resale
>value but when grown in the open tends to attract constabulary
>attention. To avoid this attention it tends to be grown in attics,
>cellars etc where hydroponics would be convenient & artificial lighting
>would be necessary.
The bobbies in Manchester latched on to fitting an IR camera
to their helicopter and flying over the city detecting unusually warm
rooves, followed up by a personal visit, out of concern that the loft
wasn't lagged properly, no doubt. ;~)
--
cormaic Garden - www.tmac.clara.co.uk/cormaic/garden/garden.htm
Culcheth Paving - www.tmac.clara.co.uk/paving2.htm
Cheshire URG web-ring - www.tmac.clara.co.uk/urgring/urgring1.htm
(allegedly) Last Updated on June 24th 1999
cormaic CAN BE FOUND AT tmac.clara.co.uk
Chris Jones
> I've read that there have been arrests after the use of heat- sensitive
> cameras on police helicopters have identified rooms where hydroponics
> were in use...
Many years ago I overheard a "Legalise Cannabis" stall holder at a music
festival complain that a specialist lighting shop in Bristol had handed over
their customer database to the police. Bit cheaper than a helicopter ride I
suppose. That same company sets up a stall at popular music festivals like
Glastonbury which are not known for specifically attacting horticulture
enthusiasts. Maybe the shop is a front for the police.
CJ
========= Chris Jones = C...@wimb26.freeserve.co.uk =============
==Whats my shrub? >>>> http://www.wimb26.freeserve.co.uk/shrub/ ==
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M K Rogerson
Prizes for any non Scot whi can pronounce it correctly first time.
Martin R, Derby (Scot in exile)
hove...@my-deja.com wrote in message <7ml3jg$l25$1...@nnrp1.deja.com>...
Andy Dingley
>complain that a specialist lighting shop in Bristol had handed over
>their customer database to the police.
I look forward to the knock on the door ! If this was the shop in
Bedminster (now closed) then I was a regular customer there for
phosphoric acid. It's handy stuff for rust treatment in old cars, and
the hydroponic people sold it cheaper and more concentrated than
anyone else. I also bought their mylar sheet for making kites out of.
Never actually tried _growing_ anything with their kit though !