The Hydro Store Blog
Expert Knowledge Centre
Increase Your Yields By 70% - Guaranteed!
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  23rd March 2016

It may sound like a wild claim, but this isn't the usual pitch on a new flowering booster, just simply a tried and tested method of growing...

The Hydro Store's aim is to get you, as a valued customer, the BIGGEST, BEST YIELDS EVER so here is the first step in the right direction. This method is so SIMPLE that when you read it you are probably going to think 'Why haven't I been doing this since Day One?!' ..."

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It's In The ( CO2 ) Bag...
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  28th January 2016

"It's In The ( CO2 ) Bag...

Have you started using a CO2 bag yet? Join the thousands of people who are now reaping the benefits of this simple addition to your setup. So what Is A CO2 Bag? A CO2 bag is a bag that is placed in the growroom that is designed to increase the CO2 levels in your growroom. It does this by producing CO2 naturally in the same way used in commercial mushroom farming.:…"

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Do I Need A pH and EC Meter?
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  10th November 2015

"Do I Need A pH and EC Meter?

Every single day at The Hydro Store we help growers resolve problems in their grow rooms and get them back on track to successful harvests. Alot of the time the problems revolve around nutrients, or misuse of nutrients to be more precise, so a couple of the things we check when helping growers figure out their problems is:…"

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5 Mistakes You Could Be Making With Your Nutrients And How To Avoid Them
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  3rd November 2015

"1... Never Mix Your A & B Nutrients Together.

It might seem obvious to some but this mistake gets made often. When mixing your nutrients add your A nutrient to the water, give it a good stir and then add your B nutrient and stir again. The reason nutrients are in separate bottles is because when mixed together without water it causes a chemical reaction…"

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How To Tackle Gnats In Your Grow Room
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  27th October 2015

"It would seem that this year has been exceptionally bad for gnat infestation. We have had a lot of customers being overwhelmed by attacks from the little critters.

Our usual remedy would have been GNAT OFF but as this has been removed from the shelves by the manufacturer we've been left searching for a solution.…"

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GROW ROOM MISTAKES YOU MIGHT BE MAKING AND HOW TO AVOID THEM
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  23rd October 2015

"1... Over Watering Young Plants

Young seedlings and cuttings don't need a lot of water after you have planted and watered them. Be sure to allow them to dry right out. This aids roots zone development as roots go in search of water. A good way to remember is if the soil looks damp it doesn't need watering, after all, if your flowerbed outside was wet after it had rained you wouldn't go out with the watering can! George says…"

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HOME GROWN EXPO 2015
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  27th May 2015

"This weekend is the Home Grown Expo, being held in Coventry, in the West Midlands.

The Expo highlights the latest and greatest in the world of hydroponics lighting, nutrients, ventilation equipment, grow tents and anything and everything else used for indoor growing. At 10am on Saturday, the 30th May, 2015, the exhibition opens its doors FREE OF CHARGE, and is host to all the big companies in the field such as Canna, Nutriculture, Autopot, General Hydroponics, to name but a few. …"

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USING CO2 IN YOUR GROW ROOM SETUP
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  20th May 2015

"Most people know that plants breathe Co2 and that the air that surrounds us contains some amount of Co2, so plants take the Co2 from the same air we use to take the oxygen to breathe while they use the Co2.

What you may not know is that optimum levels of Co2 for a plant's needs is nearly 4-5 times more than what is in the air surrounding us every day. So, just like when we feed our plants with premium nutrients or fertlisers we are giving them the optimum amount of food they require then why aren't we all doing the same when it comes to air supply? ..."

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HOUSE AND GARDEN CEASE PRODUCTION
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  8th May 2015

"Some of you may already have heard, but for those who haven't, HOUSE & GARDEN NUTRIENTS have ceased trading in Europe and are in the process of moving operations to America... What does this mean for you, the product user?

The Hydro Store still has a very limited stock of certain products and you may find that other shops may have a limited supply also…"

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THINGS ARE HOTTING UP, PART TWO
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  30th April 2015

"Those of you who read my previous blog about ways to tackle the heat may have noticed that I missed out air-cooled lighting. This was because we felt that the subject was so big it should have its own dedicated article.

Over the years of serving customers here at The Hydro Store we have been fortunate to be able to learn the different ways, sometimes crazy, that growers have found to tackle problems. But if it worked for that grower at that time who are we to judge?!..."

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THINGS ARE HOTTING UP, PART ONE
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  23rd April 2015

"As the summer rolls in, outdoor growers roll up their sleeves and indoor growers let out a sigh of desperation, knowing of the hard work and headache to come in the following months as the hot weather outside makes it challenging to create the correct environment inside your grow room.

The first thing to keep in mind that plants thrive in stable conditions so in summer if you can't get your temperatures to where you'd ideally want them try to allow your plants to acclimatise to where they are…"

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THE LOWDOWN ON LOCKOUT
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  8th April 2015

"Most seasoned growers have experienced the moment when you realise that your plants aren't looking too good and they haven't really grown in the last few days. Below is a little checklist of things to help ensure that what is commonly known as lockout only lasts for the shortest amount of time possible.

Remember this though, , even if you go through this checklist and it highlights a few things you are doing wrong and you do correct them, your plants won't start growing again overnight..."

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WHAT'S GOING ON INSIDE YOUR POT?
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  7th April 2015

"I often sit down with customers and go through what they need to do to get their plants growing again when they are experiencing problems.

One thing that I find myself having to do is to get the grower to go back to their plants and find out whats actually going on inside the pot. I'm often faced with the reaction, "What, you mean there is a way I can tell what's going on inside my pot?" Well, the answer is…"

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THE BLAME GAME
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  25th February 2015

"When I first started taking my own cuttings I would have a very mixed success - sometimes I would get great results, then other times I would get no result at all. On occasions things would be taking weeks and weeks to root, and I would end up throwing them in the bin as my patience waned, and then low and behold, a week later and an accidental glance in the bin the cuttings have taken root..."

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HAVE YOU GONE POTTY?!
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  18th February 2015

"Every single day we have people coming into The Hydro Store wanting to purchase huge 30 litre pots to grow in. The majority of these purchases are with the buyers in search of bigger yields, as they are of the understanding that if plants are put in a bigger pot ( and changing nothing else ) they will get bigger yields. …"

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PREVENTION IS CHEAPER THAN THE CURE (PART 2 )
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  12th February 2015

"Running on from Part One of ‘Prevention Is Cheaper Than The Cure’, I’m going to take you through another problem you should be trying to prevent when growing – nutrient deficiencies or feeding problems.

We get at least one customer a day who says “my plants aren’t looking too good” or “my leaves are going yellow, what should I do?” As we said in Part One, prevention is easier and cheaper than the cure…"

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PREVENTION IS CHEAPER THAN THE CURE (PART 1 )
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  19th January 2015

"Most people have heard the saying “prevention is cheaper than the cure”, this definitely applies to growing. It is relevant to many aspects of the process of growing but I want to focus on the two main factors that frequently cause the most problems. 

The first is bugs/insect... when it comes to insect attacks on your plants, prevention is prudent. This is not only because prevention is cheaper and easier than the cure..."

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THE SEARCH FOR THE HOLY GRAIL
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  15th January 2015

"This article contains the simplest way to vastly improve as a grower. We have used and passed on this advice to many of our friends and customers, some of whom are now the best growers we know.

Time and time again people come into the shop wanting to change the method they grow and the nutrients they grow with, saying someone they know..."

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BE CLEAR FOR THE NEW YEAR!
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  9th January 2015

"So it’s a new year and for a lot of you this will mean a new start in your grow room/tent.  So with a fresh start in mind I thought I’d run through a few little tips to help give you the best start possible.

Be clinical. A clean grow room is a healthy grow room. Like ourselves, plants grown indoors don’t..."

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HAPPY NEW YEAR - THE REVOLUTION BEGINS HERE!
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  6th January 2015

"Happy New Year to everyone! Hope you had a great holiday, are recharged and ready to go!

Did you make any New Years Resolutions? We did, one of which is to help make our customers into better growers in 2015. We’re going to fill the UK with green... flourishing plants..."

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LAYOUT  BEFORE THE PAYOUT
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  17th December 2014

"Every day we get at least one shop customer ask for a budget option of equipment as they are in a position where money is tight. This follows a trend over the last couple of years with a rise in demand for budget equipment. This  is almost always not the most cost effective option...

When I have invested money in my own setups and nutrients, I have often put myself in a financially tight situation until harvest time..."

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COLD TEMPERATURES COULD BE SERIOUSLY AFFECTING YOUR YIELD
BY GEORGE
PUBLISHED:  13th December 2014

"Listen up UK growers, this current snap of freezing cold weather could be seriously damaging the potential yield of your crop/plants.

Most of you know that hot temperatures are not good for your plants. What some of us forget is that COLD temperatures can be equally damaging, or in some cases more, than the excessively hot temperatures we all worry about in summer..."

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MORE BLOGS COMING SOON...