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BALLAST: A device that maintains the current through a fluorescent, mercury, MH, or HPS lamp at the desired constant value, sometimes also providing the necessary starting voltage and current.
BENEFICIAL INSECT: A good insect that eats bad flower and vegetable munching insects.
BIODEGRADABLE: Able to decompose or break down through natural bacterial or fungal action, substances made of organic matter are biodegradable.
BOLT: Term used to describe a plant that has gone to seed prematurely.
CHLOROSIS: The condition of a sick plant with yellowing leaves due to inadequate formation of chlorophyll chlorosis is caused by nutrient deficiency, usually iron or imbalanced ph.
CLAY: Soil made of very fine organic mineral particles, clay is not suitable for container gardening.
CLIMATE: The average condition of the weather in a garden room or outdoors.
COLOR SPECTRUM: The band of colors (measured in nm) emitted by a light source.
COLOR TEMPERATURE: The relative whiteness of a piece of tungsten steel heated to that temperature in degrees Kelvin.
COLOR TRACER: A coloring agent added to many commercial fertilizers, so the horticulturist knows there is fertilizer in the solution.
COMPACTION: Soil condition that results from tightly packing soil; compacted soil allows for only marginal aeration and root penetration.
COMPANION PLANTING: Planting garlic, marigolds, etc., along with other plants to discourage insect infestation.
CORE: The transformer in the ballast is referred to as the core in hid lighting systems.
CORMS, RHIZOMES AND TUBERS: Dormant stems planted in the fall for spring blooms, or forced indoors for winter blooms. Common varieties are dahlias and irises.
COTYLEDON: Energy storage components of a seed that feed the plant before the emergence of its first true leaves.
CROSS-POLLINATE: Pollinating two plants having different ancestry.
CUBIC FOOT: Volume measurement in feet: L" x W" x H" / 1728" = CuFt
CUTTING: (1) Growing tip cut from a parent plant for asexual propagation (2) Clone.
DAMPING-OFF: Disease that a1tacks young seedlings and cuttings causing stem to rot at base.
FERTIGATE: To fertilize and irrigate at the same time.
FERTILIZER BURN: Over fertilization: first leaf tips burn (turn brown) then the leaves curl.
FLAT: Shallow (three inch deep container, often 18 by 24 or 10 by 20 inches with good drainage, used to start seedlings or cuttings.
FLOOD AND DRAIN (EBB AND FLOW) SUBIRRIGATION: In its simplest form, there is a tray above a reservoir of nutrient solution. The tray is either filled with growing medium (clay granules being the most common) and planted directly, or pots of medium stand in the tray. At regular intervals, a simple timer causes a pump to fill the upper tray with nutrient solution, after which the solution drains back down into the reservoir. This keeps the medium regularly flushed with nutrients and air.
FLUORESCENT LAMP: Electric lamp using a tube filled with fluorescent material, which has a low heat output.
FOLIAGE: The leaves or more generally, the green part of a plant.
FOILAR FEEDING: Misting fertilizer solution which is absorbed by lilt foliage. Best to do when first turning on your lights.
FOOT-CANDLE: The unit is defined as the amount of illumination that the surface of an imaginary 1-foot radius sphere would be receiving if there were a uniform point source of one candle in the exact center of the sphere. The foot-candle is equal to one lumen per square foot. foot-candle is a derived unit of illuminance from lux. one foot-candle is equal to 10.76 lux.
FUNGISTAT: A product that inhibits fungus keeping it in check.
FUNGUS: A lower plant lacking chlorophyll which may attack green plants; mold, rust, mildew.
FUSE: Electrical safety device consisting of a metal that melts and interrupts the circuit when circuit is overloaded.
FUSE Box: Box containing fuses that control electric circuits.
GENE: Part or a chromosome that influences the development of plant; genes are inherited through sexual propagation. Genetic make up the sit of genes inherited from parent plants.
HALIDE: Bu compound of a (halogens) with an electropositive elements
HERMAPHRODITE: One plant having both male and female organs; the breeding of hermaphrodites is hard to control
HERTZ (Hz): A unit of frequency that cycles one time each second: a home with 60 hertz AC current cycles 60 times per second.
LEAVES: The external part of a plant attached to branches and stems for the purpose of taking in light from the sun s energy, they do this with chloroplasts in the cells which contain chlorophyll.
LEGGY: Abnormally tall internode space, with sparse foliage. Leggyness of a plant is usually caused by lack of blue light or CO2 too much nitrogen can also cause this.
LIFE CYCLE: A series of growth stages through which a plant must pass in its natural lifetime; the stages for an annual plant are seed, seedling, vegetative and floral.
LIGHT MOVER: A device that moves a lamp back and forth or in a circle across the ceiling of a garden room to provide more even distribution of light.
LIME: Used in the form of dolomite or hydrated lime to raise and stabilize soil ph.
LITMUS PAPER: Chemically sensitive paper used for testing ph.
LOAM: Organic soil mixture of crumbly clay, silt and sand.
LUMEN: Measurement of light output: one lumen is equal to the intensity of light emit by one candle that falls on one square foot of surface located one foot away from one candle.
MACRO NUTRIENT: One or all of the primary nutrients N-P-K or the secondary nutrients magnesium and calcium.
MEAN: Average throughout life; HID's are rated in mean lumens.
NECK: Tubular glass end of the hid bulb, a1tached to the threads.
NUTRIENT: Plant food, essential elements N-P-K, secondary and trace elements fundamental to plant life.
OHM'S POWER LAW: A law that expresses the strength of an electric current; volts times amperes equals watts.
ORGANIC: Made of, or derived from or related to living organisms. In agriculture organic means "natural." in chemistry organic means "a molecule or substance that contains carbon."
OVULE: A plant's egg found within the calyx, it contains all the female genes; when fertilized, an ovule will grow into a seed.
OXYGEN: Tasteless, colorless element, necessary in soil to sustain plant life as well as animal life.
PARASITE: Organism that lives on or in another host organism; fungus is a parasite
PEAT: Partially decomposed vegetation (usually moss) with slow decay due to extreme moisture and cold.
PERENNIAL: A plant, such as a tree or shrub, which completes its life cycle over several years.
pH: A scale from 1 to 14 that measures the acid to alkaline balance of a growing medium (or anything); in general plants grow best in a range of 5.5 to 6.8 pH.
pH TESTER: Electronic instrument or chemical used to find where soil or water is on the pH scale.
PHOTOMETRICS: The study of light, especially color.
PHOSPHOR COATING: Internal bulb coating that diffuses light and is responsible for variations in color outputs.
PHOTOPERIOD: The relationship between the length of light and dark in a 24 hour period.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS: The building of chemical compounds (carbohydrates) from light energy, water and carbon dioxide.
PHOTOTROPISM: The specific movement of a plant part towards a light source.
PIGMENT: The substance in paint or anything that absorbs light, producing (reflecting) the same color.
POLLEN: Fine, dust like micro- spores containing male genes.
POWER SURGE: Interruption or change in intensity of electricity.
PROPAGATE: (1) Sexual: produce a seed by breeding different male and female flowers (2) Asexual: to produce a plant by taking cu1tings.
PRUNE: Alter the shape and growth pattern of a plant by cutting stems and shoots.
PVC PIPE: Plastic (polyvinyl chloride) pipe that is easy to work with, readily available and used to pipe water into a garden room.
PYRETHRUM: Natural insecticide made from the blossoms of various chrysanthemums.
ROOT BOUND: Roots stifled or inhibited from normal growth, by the confines of a container.
ROOTS: Their purpose is to anchor a plant and provide a means in which to feed and hydrate a plant.
REJUVENATE: Restore youth; a mature plant, having completed its life cycle (flowering), may be stimulated by a new 18 hour photo period, to rejuvenate or produce new vegetative growth.
SALT: Crystalline compound that results from improper pH or toxic buildup of fertilizer. Salt will burn plants, preventing them from absorbing nutrients.
STRESS: A physical or chemical factor that causes extra exertion by plants; a stressed plant will not grow as well as a non stressed plant.
STOMATA: Small mouth like or nose like openings (pores) on leaf underside, responsible for transpiration and many other life functions; the millions of stomata, must be kept very clean to function properly.
SUGAR: Food product of plant. Carbohydrates that contain hydrocarbon chain.
SYNTHESIS: Production of a substance, such as chlorophyll, by uniting light energy and elements or chemical compounds.
TAP ROOT: The main or primary root that grows from the seed; lateral roots will branch off the tap root.
TEPID: Warm 70 to 80 degrees F (21 to 27 degrees C); always use tepid water around plants to facilitate chemical processes and ease shock.
TERMINAL BUD: Bud at the growing end of the main st
THIN: Cull or weed out very slow growing seedlings.
TRANSFORMER: A device in the ballast that transforms electric power from one voltage to another.
TRANSPIRE: Give off water vapor and by products via stomata and carbon dioxide intake at the leaves.
TRELLIS: Frame or netting (lattice) that trains or supports plants.
TRIECIOUS: Of or pertaining to a species having male, female, and hermaphrodite flowers on different plants.
TUNGSTEN: A heavy, hard metal with high melting poin which conducts electricity well; tungsten is used for a filament in tungsten halogen and incandescent lamps.
ULTRAVIOLET: Light with very short wave lengths, out of the visible spectrum, pass the blue-violet.
VENT: Opening such as a window or door that allows the circulation of fresh air.
VENTILATION: Circulation of fresh air, fundamental to a healthy indoor garden, an exhaust fan creates excellent ventilation.
VERTICAL: Up and down perpendicular to the horizontal
WETTING AGENT: Compourd that reduces the droplet size and lowers the surface tension of the water, making it wetter.
WICK: Part of a passive hydroponic system using a wick suspended in the nutrients solution, the nutrients pass up the wick and are absorbed by the medium and roots.
