Greenhouse Misting Systems – Supercharge Greenhouse Growing with Ideal Temperature and Humidity

Greenhouse misting systems and misting fans are powerful greenhouse cooling and humidification tools. They can play a big role in creating ideal growing conditions for greenhouse growing success.

We all know that climate and environment are the primary factors for growing success. Isn’t that why we build greenhouses in the first place? Under ideal conditions and the careful attention of the grower, flowers and plants can reach their full, glorious potential. But just how do we create those perfect conditions for a greenhouse?

Greenhouses are designed to store heat from the sun during the day, creating a warmer temperature in the greenhouse when it is cool outside. But this can often work a little too well. When warmer temperatures develop outside the greenhouse, it can become too hot for plants inside. The results can be disastrous if not kept in check. Ventilation, air circulation, and shading are the first level of defense against heat. But often these are not enough. For sufficient greenhouse cooling, more powerful tools can become necessary.

Then there is the humidity factor. Ideal humidity should be between 50% and 70% for ideal growing conditions. When heat goes up, humidity levels drop. The already stressed plants face double trouble, and it can be a deadly combination.

Here are some tools you can use to protect plants in the greenhouse, and take greenhouse growing to “the next level!”

Greenhouse Misting Systems

Greenhouse misting systems bring dramatic cooling effects using the power of “evaporative cooling.” The basic goal of greenhouse misting is to spray a micro-fine mist into the air. The mist is so fine, in fact, that the water droplets fully evaporate into the air. The chemical process of evaporation actually “uses” heat from the air, and makes the surrounding air a little cooler in the process. Spray hundreds of millions of these droplets into the greenhouse air, and you can see cooling of as much as 35 degrees in the space, almost instantly. Humidity levels go up in the process, so with greenhouse misting systems, the result is higher humidity, lower temperature, and happy, thriving plants!

Greenhouse Misting Fans

Misting Fans also use the power of evaporative cooling to do their magic. But they add the element of air circulation into the mix. Air circulation is important for avoiding those dreaded “hot spots” in the greenhouse. The more circulation, the more predictable growing conditions will be throughout the greenhouse. Fans are available up to 11,000 cfm (cubic feet per minute) in airflow, with misting nozzles on the face of the fan. So cooler air, higher humidity, and air circulation combine to improve 3 of the major factors in greenhouse growing. Oscillating misting fans stir the air even better if you can afford them.

Greenhouse Humidification Fans

Greenhouse humidification fans use centrifugal force to “whip” water through the face of a fan. These fans differ from the misting fans in that they provide less airflow. They are available at a much lower cost, though. They are also nice in that they are basically “self contained” units. You do need to attach a hose, but they can be hung and moved around as your needs change throughout the growing season. They are available in oscillating or non-oscillating versions, and in various sizes. For small to medium sized greenhouses, these are a good choice for those on a budget (And who isn’t, right?)

The bottom line is this, if you have struggled to “beat the heat” in your growing space, consider any of these greenhouse cooling tools. You’ll be amazed at the improvement in plant health, and have many more options in what you can grow as well.

Information provided by http://www.mistingpros.com – Your online outlet for quality misting systems and misting fans.

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Intermittent Mist – Removing the Rooted Cuttings From Intermittent Mist

Successfully removing rooted cuttings from intermittent mist

What do I do after the softwood cuttings have roots?

Is this a question you find yourself asking? Well, fear not! I will explain what needs to be done to help the cuttings survive.

After the cuttings have rooted, you must decide what you are going to do with them. Will they be potted up to be sold retail or given to friends or relatives, planted in a grow bed to continue growing for a year or two and then sold bareroot or as a liner, or simply planted in your landscape for you to enjoy?

Gently remove the rooted cutting from the rooting medium. Lightly shake off any medium that is clinging to the plant. Getting all the material off is not important, but saving as much as you can will allow you to continue rooting cuttings with the same rooting media.

If the cutting will be potted up to be sold retail, pot up the cutting in an appropriate sized nursery pot. Appropriate sized means large enough for the roots to grow, but not so large that the roots get lost in the pot. Usually, with a small rooted cutting of 6 inches or so, a 1 quart pot is sufficient. Potted plants lose moisture at alarming rates, and should be watered twice a day, but you may find that you can water them only once per day with no detrimental effect on the plant.

If being planted in the landscape, they need to be acclimated to normal growing conditions. When using intermittent mist, this means gradually reducing the frequency the cuttings get water. You can safely reduce the watering frequency to twice a day for the first week. Notice I said watering frequency and not misting frequency. You are acclimating them to being watered, and weaning them from the mist. I water mine in the morning before the sun gets too intense, and in the afternoon as the sun begins to lose it’s intensity. Be sure you do not water too late in the evening or you may promote the growth of fungus and other diseases. After the first week, the cuttings can be watered once a day for a week. After the week has passed, reduce the frequency to once per week for two weeks. At this point, the plants should be established and you really should only have to water the plant during droughts.

Bareroot cuttings and liners require special handling. Look for my separate article on handling bareroot cuttings.

Following these steps with your newly rooted cuttings will improve their odds at survival.

For a free report on intermittent misting, including an overview of intermittent misting and how to build your own intermittent mist system, visit the Intermittent Mist website.
Grab your free report today!

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Enhance Plant Vitality Via Use of Ionic Colloidal Silver Misting

COLLOIDAL SILVER AND PLANT VITALITY

Plants, like animals are harassed by pathogens such as bacteria and viruses and also parasites, such as fungi, grubs and sap suckers, not to mention they are food to many insects and their offspring. There are thousands of inexpensive but dangerous chemical pesticides and repellents, expensive natural plant oils and other treatments but the one shining light to plant vitality is extremely low cost ionic colloidal silver.

Home use ionic silver generators can produce ionic silver for as little as 80 cents a gallon, while commercial horticultural production equipment make it for as little as 5 cents a gallon. It is thus not only very economical, effective and safe but also ecologically Green!

What is colloidal silver? By definition it is tiny particles of metallic silver suspended in pure water but that is relatively useless, metals having little bio-availability. Ionic colloidal silver on the other hand has well proven biocidal effects and utmost safety plus you can inexpensively make your own at home. An ion is a atom of a metal with one or more electrons removed, so a powerful stray radical. Our EPA classes silver as an oligodynamic biocide, meaning it is fatal to primitive life forms such as bacteria, viruses, prions, eggs, etc. yet readily used by our more complex cells to kill off pathogens. Death to pathogens is believed to be by the silver ion attaching to the pathogens respiration site, causing death by suffocation.

Silver is a natural biocide and in the ionic form (water soluble) is oligodynamic (fatal to primitive life forms such as eggs and pathogens) yet is utterly safe to plant, animal and insect cells (mature life forms). Many insects such as bees and Lady bugs are beneficial to plants so chemical insecticides are dangerous. Applied as a mist to plant leaves and stems ionic silver can be absorbed by plant cells, to aid in the immune systems natural destruction of plant pathogens while at the same time destroying eggs laid on the plant, breaking the target insects life cycle. Like any pesticide, spray only when appropriate, I.E when unwanted insect eggs are first deposited. Generally beneficial insects would not be laying eggs on the plants so may be of low concern.

Here in Florida ionic silver has controlled tomato mosaic virus, fruit tree leaf curl, kills the mango flower egg (grub) that causes bud drop, kills rose rust, etc.Seeds germinate at 100% and grow robustly when soaked in ionic silver to sprout, etc. In the garden tomato plants sprayed a few times will produce massive yields, due to maximized plant vitality.

Logically, you should not hesitate to use ionic silver on house plants or in any agricultural environment, first from an economic viewpoint as an aid to plant vitality and thus up to 30% improved yield and in particular as a non chemical pesticide, fungicide, virucide and bactericide. From a business mans return on investment consideration the ionic silver equipment can pay for itself in a matter of months. While to the average bloke using a “pharmaceutical grade” product on plants may sound like a waste, consider the real production cost is under 10 cents a gallon, which relates to under a dollar to “mist” an acre, for a superior yet chemical free biocide with pesticide benefits! Even the workers will gain, with less health problems!

A brief look at grape production indicates the mist application requirement is 1-2 gallons per acre to wet the leaves – see: mistsprayers.com for what appears to be the most logical applicator on farms. Droplets should be avoided to prevent wetting the soil too deeply for friendly bacteria in the soil would then be destroyed. Further, a dedicated spray tank should also be used, to prevent the formation of nearly non-soluble silver salts (the result of mixing with soluble minerals) as they are generally 10,000 times less bio-available then the highly reactive ions.

Evaporation of the water will leave reduced silver and or salts, which have a minor but sustained bio-benefit. In my 10,000 gallon swimming pool it took 40 gallons to reach the effective biocidal dosage (20 parts per billion) but requires only one gallon per month makeup, due to the high residual effect of the poorly soluble silver salts.

The little I know from local tomato growers is that after each rain another application of pesticides is made so there should possibly be weekly applications. Unlike chemical pesticides the ionic silver is harmless to mature insects (oligodynamic) and a great aid to plant vitality so no problem if applied often, so long as the soil is not soaked. As a minimum it should be re-applied after insect pests deposit eggs on leaves and stems, to break their life cycle.

You have to think out of the box, to realize ionic silver is ideal as a general plant health aid in addition to being an anti-pathogenic material fatal to primative life forms (including eggs). In humans, besides being biocidal it has strong anti-inflammatory effects, promotes the production of mast cells, aids DNA repair and so likely has similar benefits to plants.

You can hardly consider 5 parts per million to be concentrated so there is no risk of over use burning the leaves, just do not saturate the soil.

There is utmost safety, for if you look at our EPA’s data on silver (http//www.epa.gov/iris/subst/0099.htm#oralrfd) there is no risk of silver “overdosing” during spray applications other then the rare case of Argyria, a discolorization of the skin when absorbed in gross doses for extended periods (silver salts are photosensitive so darken after light exposure). They compute the safe daily dose (rfD) at 14 teaspoons of 5 PPM daily for 70 years!

Ionic silver vapors are routinely breathed for lung problems and in fact a Dr. Brooks Bradley cured (6) patients with “terminal lung problems” by having them breath a few ounces of ionic silver mist daily – even lung cancer responded! I routinely use an ultrasonic vaporized to breath the vapors, for persistent allergy problems. The amount a field worker would breath would be far less then a ounce and I have customers that have their whole family ingested a quart a day with no side effects! I caution all to avoid overdosing with anything, for the body reacts by more rapid excretion, reducing its effectiveness but they insist their health has never been better and have used the high dose daily for years. Reported cases of Argyria are only 8 per year according to our FDA and never from silver ions but from non-soluble silver salts that most “home generators” produce when ultra pure water (double distilled grade) is not used.

I have just sprouted (30) Moringa tree seeds in ionic silver saturated paper towels – always get 100% germination as no pathogenic problems. Moringa you may know is the Worlds answer to starvation, called the food tree as leaves, seeds and roots are eatable and extremely nutritious. I plan to add the leaves and eventually seeds to my diet, as it is a very fast growing tree.

Fred Peschel is a graduate Mechanical Engineer with 40 years experience in custom electronic design and manufacture in the high voltage test equipment area. Upon retirement he started studying self healing and in the last 10 years has become a world class expert on colloidal silver manufacture and applications. His web site at http://ColloidalSilverResearch.com is the only manufacturer of commercial ionic colloidal silver generators, with extensive installations world wide. Home units are at http://health2us.com/colloid.htm

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Misting For Plant Propagation

Here’s another good article about greenhouse misting. In addition to the components mentioned in the article, we we recommend using a high-pressure misting system, which requires a water pump and metal misting line and misting nozzles.

Misting For Plant Propagation

The discovery of misting was a huge turning point in plant propagation. Prior to misting, plant propagators had very few reliable ways of asexual propagation. One common method was to take a cutting of a plant, stick it in moist sand, and place a glass jar over it. The jar would let in light and retain moisture around the cutting. This method does work, but the success rate was not high. Plants would burn if too much sun penetrated the glass. The glass would concentrate and intensify the light ( think magnifying glass) which would burn tender cuttings. Another drawback was fungus. Fungus thrives in moist environments. Having the cuttings under glass with no air movement to help dry it off, usually meant the cutting would die from too much moisture. Frequent removal of the glass helped to replace the stale moist air with fresh air, but was very labor intensive with large numbers of cuttings.

Later, it was discovered that if the cuttings were misted frequently by hand throughout the day, greater success was achieved. Again, very labor intensive.

Misting systems allowed propagators to keep the cuttings moist, but not overly wet, and saved considerable time. Cuttings are usually placed out in the open or an open enclosure, not under a sealed enclosure, which allows the circulation of fresh air which the plants require for it’s respiration, cooling, drying, and watering requirements. Because of the automation, many more cuttings could be done at one time.

All mist kits have the same basic components.

A timer to turn the system on and off daily.

A timer to control the misting duration and frequency.

A transformer to reduce the voltage to the voltage the solenoid requires. Please note that transformers and solenoids are AC voltage and others are DC voltage! Voltage for the solenoid and transformer

MUST be the same!

A solenoid valve that controls the flow of the water to the mist heads.

A reliable water supply.

A reliable electrical supply.

A manifold to carry the water to the misting heads

mist heads to spray a fine mist over the cuttings

A simple misting setup would be assembled as follows: A 24 hour timer set up to turn the system on in the morning, and off in the evening. This timer can be hard wired to an electrical circuit, or a simple plug can be installed to facilitate the systems remove for the winter. The 24 hour timer is wired to another timer that controls the duration and frequency if misting. This frequency varies from geographical location and season, but a 10 minute frequency with a 6 second duration is a good place to start. This in turn is wired to a step down transformer that reduces the voltage to what the solenoid requires. If in question, a competent electrician should be sought. The transformer is then wired to the solenoid. The solenoid will need fittings installed so a common garden hose can be attached. Proper installation of these fittings is essential for the solenoid to work properly. The solenoid is DIRECTIONAL, meaning there is an IN and an OUT. Next, the outlet of the solenoid is attached to a PVC manifold that will carry the water to the mist heads. The connection of these heads can be done a few ways depending on the application. Some are suspended from overhead, others are simply attached to a manifold on the ground and raised to allow the spray to cover the cuttings. One option I recommend for the system is a filter. Small particulates will clog the solenoid or render your mist heads inoperable. The cost of a filter is far less than the frustration from losing cuttings due to a plugged head.

Modern technology has given us even better equipment than the two separate timers mentioned. The transformer can also be eliminated due to the fact that it is built into the timing unit. One timer in particular will operate six completely separate stations. This means you could have six separate mist beds, six different irrigation zones, or a combination of the two; one mist zone and up to five irrigation zones. This comes in quite handy, if you have a mist bed and potted plants, grow beds, perennial gardens, or anything else you need watered.

For areas that do not have electricity readily available, there are also units that are strictly battery operated.

Dwayne Haskell owns and operates Hidden Hills Nursery. He also enjoys teaching others how to grow their own landscape plants from rooted cuttings. After building his own misting system for his nursery, he realized he could design and build a system for home gardeners who are interested in starting their own plants from cuttings. He offers complete misting kits, individual components, and advice at Mistkits.com.

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Choosing a Greenhouse Watering System

As you build or set up your greenhouse, one important item to include is a water system of some kind. It is much easier to install faucets and drains before building begins, rather than trying to find a watering solution later. Regardless of the type of watering system you use, you should have a floor that drains well. Puddles are unsanitary and dangerous.

There are several types of watering systems that work well in a greenhouse. Each one has specific benefits or weaknesses, so you should explore the options before investing in a watering system.

Hand watering can be both easy and effective, since you can deliver water directly where needed. With a watering can, or hose and nozzle, you can deliver a flow of water anywhere from a fine mist to a high volume. A watering wand is needed for high-hanging plants and baskets.

Drip irrigation systems have many strengths. They conserve water, since flow is regulated and timed. Their weakness is the possibility of the individual nozzles or drippers clogging. There are many systems on the market, and they are very easy to put together. These systems consist of many small tubes branching from a pvc pipe, each one delivering water to an individual plant or container. The whole system can be connected to sensors and timers for an automated system.

If you have a greenhouse with beds along the walls, then a perforated or drip hose may work well. These hoses have tiny holes that allow water to ooze out slowly. The hose is simply laid along plants rows in the bed, and can be connected to a timer for interval watering.

Mat watering is a good system if you have many plants in various sized pots. A thick mat is placed over poly on the bench, and one end is set into a gutter filled with water. Capillary action keeps the mat wet, and the plant pots, with large perforations on the bottom, take up the water in the same way. Many garden suppliers carry these mats. Their downside is they will eventually clog with algae.

Misting is an efficient way to keep seedlings moist. A pipe with fine nozzles can be set up over a row of plants or seedling trays. This is an efficient way to keep cuttings moist that you are propagating. It also helps maintain humidity, since some of the fine spray will evaporate. In turn, this cools the temperature inside the greenhouse.

Misting is not a good way to water large plants, since constantly wet foliage encourages mold, and the root systems do not get the needed deep watering. Misting systems can be set up with electronic timers, programmed to mist throughout the day at set times and for set periods.

As you research watering systems in detail, you may find that a combination of systems will be needed, depending on how you intend to use your greenhouse. Watering can be a time consuming job in the greenhouse, and the health of your plants depends on it. Regardless of which system or systems you use, keep a close watch on your plants, and be aware of their water needs at all times.

Gardening expert Nicki Goff offers a free e-mail starter course all about her main passion… herb gardening. Visit her website for access, and even more great tips in her new comprehensive e-book on creating, maintaining and enjoying your own home herb garden, along with bonus e-books on specific aspects of herb lore. Look for more gardening tips, links and articles on her gardening blog.

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Intermittent Misting Systems – How to Minimize Leaching of Nutrients From Cuttings

Intermittent mist was a great revolution in propagating plants. It enabled the propagator to quickly and cost effectively produce many plants at a time. However, with the benefits comes negative impacts on the nutrients that are within the cuttings. Not knowing how your cuttings are performing can cause them to form roots very slowly, not form roots at all, or cause them to die.

Unrooted cuttings rely on their reserves of nutrients to help the cutting survive until they form roots. Until the cuttings actually form roots, they do not absorb new nutrients from the rooting media. The cuttings get these reserves from the parent stock plant the cutting was originally taken from.

Cuttings absorb nutrients from the rooting media or potting media once the roots have formed, but until the formation of roots has completed, leaching of the nutrients from within the cutting is possible. Hardwood cuttings tend to be more susceptible to leaching than softwood cuttings because the softwood cuttings retain more nutrients in their cell walls which make the nutrients harder to leach out. The level of nutrients in the cuttings is highest when first taken from the stock plant, declines as the cutting is rooted, and increases again once roots develop.

Nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron and boron are the most likely nutrients to be leached out of cuttings while they are under mist. The result usually will be first seen as foliar deficiencies. These deficiencies may be yellowing of the leaves, spotting, and other symptoms.

Most small plant propagation nurseries do not have the facilities to properly test for nutrient leaching. So what should you do?

• Be sure the stock plant you will be taking your cuttings from is healthy and well fed with fertilizer before actually taking the cuttings. This will ensure that the cuttings you do take will have the maximum amount of nutrients in them. Ensuring the cuttings have high nutrient levels will increase your odds of them surviving past the critical stage of when the unrooted cutting turns into a cutting with roots that is able to absorb new nutrients from the soil.
• Do small scale tests and record your findings. Add a small amount of slow release fertilizer to your rooting media. This will ensure the cutting will have nutrients available when it needs them. Too little fertilizer is better than too much! Note which plants do best and the amount of fertilizer you used. Good record keeping will enable you to duplicate the process when you find the one that works. Your records will also keep you from making the same mistakes over and over again!
• Do not over mist. Over misting will leach the nutrients from the cuttings much faster. You want to keep the leaves of the cutting moist but not too wet. On the other hand, never let the cuttings wilt during the misting process.

OK, I can hear you thinking…why not use liquid water-soluble fertilizer like Miracle Grow? A few reasons.

• It leaches out of the rooting media quickly.
• Some cuttings do not do well when the fertilizer is applied to the leaves or stems.

Paying careful attention to your stock plants nutritional health before taking cuttings is one of the easiest methods you can do to be sure your cuttings have the nutrients available to them during the rooting process.

For a free report on intermittent misting, including an overview of intermittent misting and how to build your own intermittent mist system, visit the Intermittent Mist website.

Grab your free report today!

Feel free to use this article on your website as long as the author’s resource box, with all links active, is included.

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Why You Need Intermittent Mist – Reason #4

Reason 4 was: Once set up, the system runs with minimal supervision.

Once your intermittent mist system is properly installed, the only thing left is to set the program you want it to follow. Once set, the system will follow that program with little to no intervention.

Depending on the type of misting system you decide on depends on how much supervising will be needed. Mist systems that use two mechanical timers (one 24 hour, and one interval timer) require a little more supervision than a misting system that uses a digital mist timer.

Mechanically operated misting systems have many more components and moving parts than the newer digital ones. Below is a list of components needed for each type of system.

Mechanical misting system

1. 24 hour timer
2. interval timer
3. 24 volt transformer
4. water piping
5. misting nozzles
6. assorted wire (for high and low voltage)

Digital misting system

1. digital timer
2. water piping
3. misting nozzles
4. length of wire (low voltage)

The new digital misting timers replace the 24 hour and interval timer as well as the transformer. Along with replacing these components, the entire digital misting timer takes up much less space. Two mechanical timers along with the transformer will take up an area about 12 inches by 18 inches, where the digital timer will take up an area 4 inches by 8 inches and include both timers and transformer.

Two other features of the digital misting timer worth mentioning are the ability to use the timer to control 6 entirely different misting beds separately and the battery backup.

Mechanical misting systems generally control only one misting bed (or “zone”) with only one program. Every cutting in the bed (“zone”) gets the same amount of mist. Digital timers increase the number of beds (“zones”) you can mist by five times as mechanical systems. They accomplish this by being able to have 6 entirely different programs, one for each “zone”. Each zone operates independently of each other.

The battery backup is by far the best feature of the digitally controlled misting system. In the event of a power failure, the battery will retain the program that was set. Once power is restored, the timer automatically knows whether it needs to mist according to the program, or whether it needs to wait until the next day. In the event of a power failure with mechanically controlled misting systems, YOU have to physically adjust the 24 hour timer to get the system running again. If you are unaware that the power had gone out for a number of hours, the mechanical systems program will be off by the same number of hours. Your cuttings could receive mist during the evening hours which may lead to stress, or receive no mist at all during the hottest hours of the day which would surely kill them.

Intermittent misting systems that use digital timers require only minimal supervision to ensure the system is operating correctly, there are no broken pipes or leaks, and to ensure the cuttings are getting the correct amount of mist. This can usually be accomplished in a few minutes time, then you can walk away knowing the system is taking care of everything all by itself.

Dwayne Haskell owns and operates Mistkits.com where complete misting kits, individual components, and advice can be found. After building his own misting system for his nursery, he realized he could design and build systems for small nurseries or home gardeners who are interested in starting their own plants from cuttings.

He has written an E-book titled Build an Arbor in Just One Weekend, and another on gardening, landscaping and plant propagation tips. He also enjoys teaching others how to grow their own landscape plants and owns and moderates the Mistkits blog, where you can find more articles, polls, and quizzes on landscape and gardening related topics.

You are free to reprint or use this article so long as my author resource box is left intact with all links active.

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