Growing plants can take many shapes and forms. Those of us who want to rest assured that our plants are as happy as can be at all times need to be monitoring important environmental indicators of plant health. Light, temperature, humidity, dew point, barometric pressure, pH, and soil moisture are all measurements advanced growers need to take to ensure the healthiest, highest yielding, brightest plants.
Light– Each species of plant needs a specific range of the light spectrum for chlorophyll to produce energy for plant growth. Knowing what your plants range is and monitoring for consistency will really make your plants explode with growth!
Temperature– Plants come from all different corners of the world and want to match their native habitat. Make sure that the temperature around your plants matches its’ native conditions to really make them feel right at home.
Humidity– The moisture in the air in your growing space. Humidity affects the opening and closing of stomata which controls the gas exchange in your plants. They need to breath oxygen and inhale carbon-dioxide and the humidity will control at what rates that can do so.
Dew Point-The temperature that water condenses into liquid at the same rate as it evaporates into gas. Important for many plant functions.
Barometric Pressure– Also known as atmospheric pressure, measures the weight of the air directly above a single point. Changing the pressure around your plants can have various affects. Some experiments have been done in increasing the carbon dioxide in a hyperbolic chamber to increase the barometric pressure to increase plant growth.
pH– Extremely important for plant health. Measures the levels of hydrogen activity in your grow media. pH levels lower than 7 are acidic and higher than 7 is alkaline. Every plant has a specific pH they like to grow in and stabilizing the pH at the plant’s needs is a must.
Soil moisture– Measures the amount of water in your grow media. Based on a percentage of pore space volume and the water filling them. At 0% soil moisture, there is no water at all in your grow media, at 100% the pore spaces are completely filled with water.
Measuring these environmental conditions can have endless beneficial effects on your plants. It will also bring you closer to your plants and your understanding of them.
There are many ways to measure each of these conditions. You can buy individual measuring sticks for each of these important factors. Or save a lot of time and frustration by checking out this new inclusive measuring device Zigrow is about to launch. Happy growing!
Support Zigrow’s Indiegogo campaign here: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/zigrow-the-ultimate-sensor-system#/story
Photo: Zigrow
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