1) HYDROGEN PEROXIDE
At number one on our list is hydrogen peroxide. It is an environmentally safe alternative to bleach for all your sterilizing and cleaning needs. Peroxide reduces diseases on cuttings and seedlings, while safely adding extra oxygen to the nutrient solution. Mix a 3% peroxide solution at a rate of 1 pint per gallon of water.
2) AQUARIUM THERMOMETER
Aquarium thermomters are a cheap, efficient way to to monitor the temperature in your garden, be sure to pick up extras to place in different spots in your garden. You can use them to monitor the temperatures of your germinating seeds, water reservoir and to spot check around the growroom.
3) TDS METER
A TDS meter is a device that tests the total dissolved solids in your nutrient solution, helping to ensure the nutrient levels in your solution are appropriate for your plants. A lot of failures have been the result of under or over fertilization, so this device can come in extremely handy.
4) WHITE PAINT
White paint comes in very handy in a growroom under any circumstances. When you cover the walls of your growroom in white paint it reflects a larger percentage of light, thereby, increasing the total amount of light available to your plants.
5) ANTI-TRANSPARENT SPRAY
Anti-transparent sprays prevent cutting(clones) from wilting by coating the leaves in a non-toxic film. These sprays eliminate the need for misting with water and humidity domes, and reduces the risk of fungus.
6) QUALITY ELECTRICAL CORDS AND CONNECTIONS
Make sure to use only the proper gauge wires when connecting lights in your indoor growroom. Always make sure to check your breaker box to ensure that there are no overloaded circuits. If you have no basic understanding of electricity, find someone to install all your electric appliances, so as, to not risk injury to yourself.
7) WATER FILTER
Much of the countries water supply is unsuitable for growing plants. The most common problems are toxic levels of chlorine compounds, excessive minerals and an improper ph. Most inexpensive filters remove chlorine, but can't reduce the amount of mineral content. Removing minerals requires costlier distillers, reverse-osmosis units and deionizers, but don't use water softening filters, they add harmfull amounts of sodium to the water.
8) A NOTEBOOK
A notebook comes in handy for all sorts of things. Whethers its to find out when your last watering was, the height of your plants at different point, how much each plant produced or to compare how much one plant grows in one kind of fertilizer and how much a clone from the same plant grows in a different fertilizer, a notebook can be very beneficial.
9) INSECTICIDAL SOAP
Insecticidal soap kills a wide variety of garden pests. It works by coating the skin of the insect, so they never develop a tolerance like they do with chemical sprays. While most sprays should be avoided during a plants fruiting period, insecticidal soap breaks down within a week and is safe to use lightly in extreme circumstances.
10) GERMICIDAL SOAP
For you, not the plants. Before handling plants, especially new clones, a wise precaution would be to thoroughly sterilize your hands. Be sure to clean the tips, they harbor the most germs on the hand.
11) PATIENCE
Rome wasn't built in a day, and your garden will likely follow its example. Give your plants time to grow and react to changes you may make. Resist the temptation to add fertilizer when you just added some yesterday, and you feel they need more, gardening is a slow, productive, art that takes time and patience to create.
12) GOOD LIGHTING
It is quite possible to grow decent plants under fluorescent lights, but your vegetables and other plants yields will vastly increase with high-intensity discharge lamps(metal halide or high-pressure sodium).
13) OZONE UNIT OR IONIZER
Ozone units and ionizers are very effective in the destruction of airborne pollen, mold and fungi spores and bacterias that can be harmful to your plants health. They can also help keep the air in the room clean from cobwebs and dust reducing predators that find these kinds of atmospheres welcoming.
14) AQUARIUM POWERHEAD
These water pumps are perfect for hydroponic applications. They are cheaper and more efficient than pumps sold at other specialty stores. Since surface circulation in your reservoir is what adds the most oxygen into your water, simply aim the powerhead along the surface of the water for maximum circulation and oxygenization.
15) CALENDAR
A calendar is good to keep track of things such as when to change the water in the reservoir, light bulb changes, ballast changes and other important maintenance that you might accidentally forget.
16) GARDEN CLIPPERS
Garden clippers are a necessity, especially when dealing with taking cuttings. They can also be used to prune your plants, in case their foliage begins to overgrow any of your other plants. I, personally, would recommend a spring action pair of gardening scissors.
17) FERTILIZER
Although organic fertilizers such as cow manure and bat guano are preferred for vegetables, indoors these present a bug and disease hazard. Water soluble fertilizers, like Peters and Miracle Grow, are therefore recommended to limit risks to your garden health. Always follow the manufacturers usage instructions for best results.
18) MAGNIFYING GLASS
A magnifying glass is useful in finding insect and might infestations. With a good 30x magnifier($10 at Radio Shack) you can also locate the larger insects eggs, allowing you to more effectively use your insecticide sprays to irradicate an infestation early, before insects or mites do any major damage.
19) RUBBING ALCOHOL
A good bottle of isopropyl alcohol makes an excellent sterilizing agent. Use it to clean your TDS meter electrodes(weekly), to polish your HID bulbs, to clean your cloning table and other tools that are involved in you garden.
20) DUCT TAPE
Duct tape is an all-purpose fix-it all. From taping together cords to taping my calendar on the wall to taping stakes to the sides of my plant containers, duct tape is perfect for anyreasonable size garden.
21) PH METER
When your plants seem kind of droopy and you are sure that you have supplied all elements for your plants to grow, then you might have a pH problem. You should monitor your tap water, nutrient solution, and soil with a digital pH meter. To test your soil make a slurry of the soil and distilled water, and then test with the meter. Check your plant varieties pH needs, match them and watch your plants flourish.
22) EXTRA EQUIPMENT
Spares always seem to come in handy at one point or another. In the growroom it is always important to have a spare everything. Whether it's bulbs, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, fertilizers or garden clippers you will eventually find it useful.
23) SCALES
Scales are a very important part of your indoor gardening experience. They allow you to weigh your end product and chart your progress in your notebook. You will be able to chart each plants growth and harvest weight to decide on which are the best plants fit for your garden.
24) CLEANING PRODUCTS
You should always have a broom, mini-vac, and/or garbage can, preferably all three. You never know when an accident might occur or if something will spill. A clean grow room also helps prevent a lot of germs and insects from entering your garden, making it an inhospitable environment for them to live in.
25) GROW GUIDES
No matter how much information I give you, you will still need a grow guide for your particular plant. A plant guide can help you figure out what the proper pH of the soil
should be, what nutrient levels it needs for optimum growth and the amount of light needed for the fastest amount of growth possible.
As always, be careful in your activities. You should always take all precautions when dealing with an indoor garden, especially when electricity is involed. I hope the tools I suggested are useful to you, and help provide you with the best indoor garden harvest ever.
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