December 30, 2008

The Changing Face of Indoor Grow Lighting

All plants need three things to grow and thrive, and they are light, food and water. Light is extremely important, because without appropriate light, the plant will not be able to perform photosynthesis and will not be able to create chemical energy, otherwise known as food, which it uses for growth. With this in mind, bright light is crucial for indoor gardening at all levels, whether for an avid home gardener or a commercial greenhouse grower. Indoor gardeners are enthusiastic about the new grow light called the Supernova LED for many reasons.

The Supernova LED grow light will provide your plants with all of the light they need for excellent growth. Plants need more light from certain spectrums depending on their stage of growth. Plant grow lights come in different color temperatures, ranging from blues at one end of the spectrum and reds on the opposite end. Young plants need light in the blue spectrum for good growth, while mature plants that you want to produce fruit or flowers will thrive with light in the red and orange spectrum.

The Supernova LED is unique in that you can control the red and blue light color temperature spectrums independently. This means that you can have a light that produces more red spectrum when needed, and more blue spectrum as you choose, and all from the same lighting unit. The grow light also offers six custom enhanced spectrums of LED light. This is unique in the world of LED grow lights.

The Supernova LED grow light is also highly cost efficient. The Supernova LED, which are 270-watt LED grow lights, run on a fraction of the electricity needed to run 1,000-watt high intensity discharge grow lamps. The amazing Supernova LED, however, produces three times the brightness of ordinary LED lights. This is a powerful phenomenon that results in luxuriant growth in plants grown with these types of LED grow lights.

Another convenient aspect of the Supernova LED grow light is the wide coverage this grow light can achieve. Plants in a five foot square growing space will receive ample light from the Supernova LED. Seven circuit boards within these lights offer the capability of light projection at several different angles to achieve this result.

Many gardeners find that ordinary grow lights tend to run hot. This means you have to purchase products to cool them so that they do not overheat. This is not the case with the Supernova LED grow light. The Supernova LED comes with built-in fans, keeping the unit cool while at the same time saving you the ordinary expense of air-cooled reflectors and ducting.

For better plant growth, cost effectiveness and ease of use, the Supernova LED grow light offers it all to the indoor gardener.


Every so a new innovation in hydroponics equipment comes along to change the face of the way it is carried out. Susan Slobac examines the most recent developments in the world of gardening indoors.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

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Jacaranda The Beautiful Tree

Jacaranda is a kind of flowering plants and native to tropical and subtropical regions of South and Central America. In many parts of the world, the blooming of this tree is welcomed as a sign of spring.

Jacaranda’s size varies from 2 to 30 m tall. The leaves are bipinnate in most species, pinnate or simple in a few species. The flowers are produced in conspicuous large panicles, each flower with a five-lobed blue to purple-blue corolla. The fruit is an oblong to oval flattened capsule containing numerous slender seeds.

Several species are widely grown as ornamental plants throughout the subtropical regions of the world, valued for their intense flower displays. The most often seen is the Blue Jacaranda. Some are also commercially important. For example the Jacaranda copaia is important for its timber because of its exceptionally long bole.

Young trees are upright but assume an irregular branching pattern that produces beautifully asymmetric open crowns as the trees age. From April to June the tree covers itself with showy trumpet shaped flowers that are about 1.5 inches wide and are arranged in panicles that grow at the tips of branches.

Most jacarandas are big size trees, and are not for small properties. Occasionally certain varieties are available that are smaller and can be enjoyed in suburban yards and for patio plantings. Since this is a deciduous tree it is best planted among evergreens that will hide its bareness in the winter and provide a green backdrop for the vibrant flowers in the spring. This tree is especially impressive when reflected in the still waters of a lake.

The jacaranda boasts some of the most electric and intense colors that nature has to offer. It stays in bloom for more that 8 weeks, this makes it even more desirable. Jacaranda are inexpensive and easily available from most nurseries and garden centers in areas where it will grow.

Jacaranda prefers enriched sandy, well drained soils but is tolerant of most soil types. It is not a salt tolerant plant. It prefers bright sunny conditions. This tree will tolerate some shade but will bear fewer flowers. It likes moisture but will tolerate some drought. Doesn’t like soggy or poorly drained situations. Selected varieties are grafted. But in most situations, it propagates by seed.

Pretoria in South Africa is called as The Jacaranda City due to the enormous number of Jacaranda trees planted as street trees. In flowering time the city appears purple in color. The time of year the Jacarandas bloom in Pretoria coincides with the year-end exams at the University of Pretoria, and students believe that if a Jacaranda flower drops on your head, you will pass all your exams.

The University of Queensland in the city of Brisbane in Australia has a very high concentration of the tree, and due to the impressive display of purple flowers in mid-Spring, students claim that one will not start studying for exams until the jacarandas have molted. At Sydney University, stundets claim a similar expression: By the time the jacaranda in the main quadrangle flowers, it is too late to start studying for exams.

Brisbane’s hilly geography allows views of the city and suburbs in which the brightly coloured flowers can be easily seen for miles. The jacaranda has become a part of the city’s identity, despite the fact that it only flowers from September through October.

About 70 years ago, when new mothers leaving the hospital, they were given a jacaranda sapling to plant. People believe that is the main reason for the Jacaranda’s proliferation in Brisbane.

The city of Grafton on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia, is also famous for its Jacarandas. Every October the city has a Jacaranda festival during the period of full bloom.

Jacaranda is also popular throughout most of southern California. In California, jacarandas are known as the trees that bloom twice a year, although the fall bloom is generally not as striking as the spring bloom.

Jacarandas were introduced to Israel over 50 years ago, where they are in full bloom during May. They are popular and can be found in cities all over Israel.


Jacaranda, The beautiful tree.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

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December 26, 2008

The Supernova LED Grow Light Offers Benefits to Indoor Growers

Indoor gardeners are agog with the introduction of the latest LED grow light to hit the market–the Supernova LED. This family of LED grow lights offers improved light output for a fraction of the cost of using HID or other ordinary types of grow lights. Gardeners are impressed with its light coverage, increased light spectrum control, and cool running temperatures, among a wealth of improvements it brings to ordinary grow lamps.

The Supernova LED grow light offers an increased light coverage when compared with other LED grow lights. While other good LED grow lights offer a three foot by three foot area with good light coverage, the Supernova LED adds an additional two feet to that, for a total of five square feet of coverage area. All this light comes from a lighting unit that is space saving yet very powerful. The Supernova LED grow light achieves this large coverage through the clever use of seven individual circuit boards. This allows the light to flow out of the unit at different angles, and this unique design provides for its improved light coverage that your plants will appreciate.

When you purchase an ordinary grow lamp, it comes with a particular color temperature and color tone built in. This is also the case with the Supernova LED grow light, but with the major benefit of allowing you the flexibility to change the color spectrum as you wish. This is accomplished through independently adjustable spectrum control. In addition to this flexibility, the Supernova LED also comes in an enhanced spectrum version, providing you with six more custom LED light spectrums at your fingertips. While young plants require the blue light spectrum for growth, mature plants need red and orange light in order to produce fruits and flowers, so if you can adjust your light to meet their specific needs, they will experience much better growth rates. The unique Supernova LED grow light allows you to fine tune your light to exactly what your plants require, unlike any other grow light available.

Ordinary grow lights have a side effect, after being on for a length of time, of increasing heat temperature, so much so that extra equipment must be brought in in order that the lighting equipment does not overheat and malfunction. LED grow lights such as the Supernova LED avoid this issue because they have fans built into the units. This keeps the Supernova LED lights cool, and avoids entirely the need for ducting and air-cooled reflectors, which offers a tremendous cost savings to you, the indoor gardener.

A Supernova LED grow light is a new innovation in indoor gardening lighting that will offer superb lighting for your plants while saving you money.


Susan Slobac has used a variety of grow lights in her indoor gardens. Recently she has tested the Supernova LED and reports her findings to other indoor growers.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com

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