Gardening is good for your health.
Not just in the sense that it grows literal food to feed you (though that certainly doesn’t hurt!). It’s good for your soul. Gardening has been seeing a rise in popularity as of late for its numerous mental and emotional health benefits, particularly among those that struggle with anxiety and depression. It’s a relaxing hobby that yields benefits weeks later, always giving back in one way or another. Should you be considering embracing the art of gardening in your life, starting your journey with a little knowledge will ensure you’re never led astray.
Here are five supplies you need to give your garden, and yourself, the best possible chance at success.
Growing Lights
We all need a little sunshine. When it comes to the growth of your plants? It’s essential for them to remain well fed. When the weather takes a turn for the cloudy or your plants need a little extra warmth to stay healthy, it’s time to buy 8 light controllers or a digital ballast. The grow lights market is seeing a surge in purchases lately, with some market estimates expecting a value of $5 billion or more by 2022. 8 light controllers are designed to provide your lights with all the power they need.
Fertilizer
What else does your garden-to-be need besides regular sunshine and water? Good fertilizer! Where light and water provides the oxygen and carbon dioxide they need, fertilizer gives them the rest of their essential vitamins and minerals. A lesser-known feature for the beginning gardener is also the function of fertilizer to provide steady airflow to a plant’s roots. While your 8 light controllers will give your grow lights the juice needed to stay on regularly, your fertilizer will be feed your plants day and night.
Soil Strips
It’s not enough to buy the right fertilizer and call it good. You need to make sure it’s always maintaining the right pH balance day in and day out. Measuring the pH balance of your soil is making sure the acid and alkaline range is at an amount to encourage, rather than discourage, a plant’s natural growth. A good rule-of-thumb to follow is a pH balance of 6.5, though some plants are able to thrive in a pH balance of 6.0 or 7.0. You can test this with specialized soil strips or a kit multiple times per week.
Flood Table
For those that want to grow a larger amount of vegetables of flowers, you can’t go wrong with good flood tables. These provide you extra room to spread out your fertilizer while making sure you don’t have to deal with any frustrating spills. Not only are these incredibly handy, more flood tables of late are designed to be lightweight and easy to move. For all your hydroponic gardening needs, this is one form of equipment you can’t miss. Speaking of which…what exactly are hydroponic growing methods?
Hydroponic Gardening Supplies
The last thing you should know about maintaining a healthy garden is the hydroponic growing method. Not only is this a smart and efficient means of gardening, it’s a successful method used by both hobbyists and farmers. Using up to 90% less water and the same amount of space, some farmers have found hydroponic crops to still grow faster and more numerous than many old-fashioned methods. Additional estimates have found plants can grow four times the amount of crops in the same space.
Ready to embrace the art of gardening? With 8 light controllers and hydroponic growing methods, you’re already off to a great start.