Safety & Maintenance
There are many safety and maintenance issues you should take into consideration before and during growing.
Corrosive chemicals:
As you are probably already aware, we stock a variety of corrosive chemicals which can cause harm to yourself and others around you if not used and stored correctly. For example, the pH chemicals are highly toxic and aggressive liquids so please make sure you follow these simple points:
Always store aggressive products in
a safe place, preferably locked away
out of reach of children.
Store pH up and pH down well away from
one another.
Always wear rubber gloves and goggles
when handling dangerous chemicals.
Always dilute pH balancing solutions before
use.
It is vital that you take health and safety precautions on board at all times, as a small mistake can possibly cause harm to yourself or others.
Electricals:
When indoor growing many electrical products are used, for example lights and fans, many of which will supply a high voltage, therefore it is very important you understand and follow basic electrical safety.
Many of our fan products do not come wired up and due to health and safety legislation we are not allowed to wire them up for you, therefore you will have to wire many of them up yourself. To do so you will need to understand the safety issues when using electrics; if you wire a powerful component up incorrectly this could lead to fires or shocks.
The correct way to wire any fan or controller up is to follow the instructions which will clearly and accurately explain the way to do so, giving you the colour of wire and what that wire actually does i.e blue=neutral, yellow/green=earth, brown=live. It is very important you follow all instructions or ask staff for advice if you are unsure.
Electricity supply to lighting systems:
There are also safety considerations with using lighting systems. It is extremely important you take precaution whilst dealing with any lighting system as these are probably the most powerful electricity supply in your room and they can be very dangerous if not used correctly. You should always remember:
• The bulb should be screwed into the reflector, then the reflector plugged into the ballast, before the ballast is
switched on.
• Once switched on, under no circumstances should you for any reason touch any of the lighting
components until they have been switched off and had time to cool down.
It is very important you follow all instructions or ask staff for advice if you are unsure.
Maintenance:
Maintenance is another vital aspect you need to be aware of before and during your growing period. Although many people think that just giving their grow room a quick wash down with water and soap is great maintenance, it is not. There are several simple things you could be doing to help reduce risks to your plants such as diseases, damage to your nutrients or early breakage of your equipment through misuse or lack of up keeping.
Grow room cleanliness and maintenance:
It is very important you maintain a clean and tidy grow room throughout the plant’s whole life cycle. If not, this could cause all kinds of problems from mould to pest infestations. Before setting up your room and between crops we strongly advise that you give it a thorough deep cleanse, ideally with liquid oxygen (hydrogen peroxide) and water, just to kill off anything that may be lurking beyond what the eye can see.
The same applies with all equipment used: once you have used a piece of equipment it is very important you wash this thoroughly to prevent any potential damage to your equipment caused by corrosive chemicals or nutrient salts remaining on it.
Storage of nutrients:
It is important you store nutrients correctly. Heating or freezing of nutrients can damage them. Storing your nutrients at the wrong temperature or in bright light could induce a reaction with the chemicals inside your fertilisers. This can alter the chemical structure of your nutrients and be harmful to your plants.
We recommend that nutrients are stored
between 15°C and 20°C and away from
bright lights (ie not in your grow room).
Many nutrients have best before dates. You should always check that your nutrients are still in date before use. A nutrient will generally last 2 years unopened and 1 year after opening (if stored in a cool dark place). A nutrient that has gone off may smell different, have changed colour or have sediment at the bottom or floating on the top that was not there before. If you are not sure on whether one of your nutrients or additives is still fit for use, ask a member of staff for more advice.
Equipment cleanliness and maintenance:
pH/EC meters are some of the most common pieces of equipment that break due to lack of basic maintenance. These are used on a regular basis and you rely on them to be accurate, so it is very important you clean them properly. You should clean your meter with a toothbrush and either water or probe cleaning solution to keep it free from residue and dust. This should be done after every use or at least once a week. To keep your meter safely stored you should always keep the probe inside its case when you’re not using it. For extra care you can use the recommended storage solution we sell in store.
IMPORTANT: Never turn the meter on whilst the probe is out of the solution, as this damages the probe and will lead to the meter giving inaccurate readings.
Your meter will need calibrating on a regular basis whether you clean it or not. It needs to be checked that it is giving correct readings and reset if not. To do this we stock calibration fluids for both pH and EC equipment. This is a very easy process that won’t take long, but is vital if you want correct measurement.
Keeping your equipment clean and well stored is very simple and cost effective – for the small price of these different fluids and a little bit of time you will be prolonging the life of your equipment, helping you get the most out of what you have paid for.
Example maintenance products...
Gloves:
Should be worn whenever handling gels, pH adjusters, hydrogen peroxide, and other
hazardous chemicals.
(PICTURED: GLOVE, SLY8496, £0.10)
Probe Cleaner:
Cleans salt deposit residues left by nutrients off the probe to ensure a correct reading.
(PICTURED: PROBE CLEANING SOLUTION, CSM3696, £5.40)
pH Probe Refill & Storage Solution:
Lengthens the life of the probe, simply moisten some tissue paper with the solution
and keep it on the probe, with the cover of the meter closed. Highly recommended.
(PICTURED: REFILL AND STORAGE SOLUTION, HBT6424, £5.40)
Liquid Oxygen:
17.5% hydrogen peroxide solution. Very potent – just 5ml in a 10L solution will
kill most pathogens in your system including viruses, bacteria and fungi. Used
regularly liquid O2 can be an effective preventative against disease such as pythium
or can be used at higher doses as a cure when required. Higher concentrations can
also be used to disinfect rooms and equipment between crops.
(PICTURED: LIQUID OXYGEN, VARIOUS SIZES)
Flame Defender:
Ready to install self contained fire extinguisher to eliminate any fires caused in the
grow room due to malfunction of electrical equipment. Will automatically set off the
extinguishing agent when at temperatures above 68°C. Attaches to the wall or ceiling.
A must for any sensible grower!
(PICTURED: FLAME DEFENDER 6KG, FLA1266, £89.85)
Click here to view this as a PDF