I came across a few items which might offer people an alternative to expensive lighting in their incubator & veg chambers.
Sure, we can germ and veg our plants along under a few CFL bulbs, eventually growing to a proper size for flowering in a couple of months.
What if you could increase your yield, quadruple your growing size in a few weeks rather than months? Would it be worth the small investment of time and money ?
Here are two ideas that you could assemble and take advantage of the technology behind the concepts to increase your germ rate and seedling growth.
Sun Stik from Silicon Sensors, Inc.,
Dept. TMEN, Highway 18 East,
Dodgeville, Wisconsin 53533.
One Sun Stik costs $7.50 (plus $1.50 shipping and handling)
PHOTOVOLTAIC ROOT STIMULATION Quote:
"The root stimulator works best on plants that aren't exposed to much sunlight.
Those studies I mentioned before showed that foliage exposed to bright sunlight receives little or no benefit from root stimulation.
Besides perking up light-starved houseplants, what practical applications might a PV root stimulator have? Well, for one, tests have shown that seeds placed within an electric field sprout more quickly and are more prolific. So if you used a solar disk on your starts, instead of having—say—only 50% of your seeds germinate, you could expect a success rate of 75% or better.
Second, root stimulation works particularly well on seedlings, so a solar cell could be able to help you germinate and raise your starts indoors before the spring thaw comes.
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A second idea/product is:
ULTRASONIC PLANT STIMULATION Quote:
The experiment continued for 28 days, the same period of time used in the photovoltaic root stimulation tests. By the end of the test, the plants treated with ultrasonic vibrations had grown an average of 87% taller than their control cousins. Repetitions of the experiment were run to confirm the initial results, and some of the later tests showed growth rate increases of as much as 150%!
It isn't exactly clear why ultrasound stimulates plant growth.
Evidence seems to support the theory that the sound acts as a catalyst, activating the production of plant hormones called auxins.
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Have you seen advertisements for rodent-repelling machines?
You
can build your own ultrasonic generator. It's not a difficult electronics project, and the device can be assembled for under $20 from parts available at a local Radio Shack store.
The schematic (Fig. 3) shows the layout; the only other thing you'll need is a 12-volt power supply.
~@~
You never know, these two concepts might just increase your productivity 150% percent.
If anyone does experiment with these two concepts, please post your results for others to read about.