A Huge Thank you!

We would like to put a HUGE Thank You out to all our customers, suppliers, and friends. Your support throughout this past year has been in-measurable, your growth inspires our growth. You have helped us transcend from 2 stores at the beginning of the year, into 4 storefronts. You helped raise HUNDREDS of pounds of produce for donation to Feeding America. You have helped us expand our business to include our own CO2 compressor allowing us to fill your tanks faster.

You have watched as our families have grown, and we have watched as your families have grown. For this we sincerely thank you.

To our suppliers; your support and love for the industry have planted the seeds to a revolution. We can't wait to see what 2012 has in store, an adventure for sure. Happy Gardening!!

A Load of News!

Gardeners & Growers!
Get Ready because I have 4 big announcements to make so make sure to read to the end!

1) Time for me to count my blessings! HH wants to thank you all for coming out to the Lansing Horizen Hydroponics Grand Opening! The sales, the give aways and the raffles made our day! You, the customer has made it the best event to date. Thank you for pouring out your Love for Horizen in the Capitol City! Due to the large turn out we want to give back to all our communities!

2) Horizen Hydroponics will now be open Sunday's starting in December! Your favorite hometown hydro store will now be open seven days a week! Horizen Hydroponics garden supply will now be open Sunday from noon to 5p (except for Holidays)! Need it? Get it! Daily at Horizen.

3) Hortilux HPS 1000 watt bulbs just got cheaper! Check it out folks, use discount code "hortilux" to receive the lowest price we can offer! What are you waiting for?!@# Buy it!

4) Free shipping!!!! Can you believe I buried this news this far into my post?!?! That's right, Horizen's Super Discrete free shipping deal just got better! Now it's every order ships for free above $250. Just use discount code "shipping" to get free shipping. Check out our Free Shipping page dedicated to telling you how Awesome we are because of the great deals we dish out.

Lansing Horizen Hydroponics Grand Opening

Growers, You've seen the way we roll and we roll LARGE! Horizen Hydroponics Lansing is reaching full bloom and we want to show it off Nov 18 & 19th. Horizen Hydroponics is hosting a Grand Opening Celebration November 18th from 10a-7p and November 19th 10a-6p.

We will be hosting many vendors of your favorite products. Come and talk with the experts with years of experience. We have amazing deals that will be happening such as 50% off Sunleaves Optilume bulbs during the sale.

Sorry folks the deals are in store only, so Come to Lansing and see our magnificent new store! Horizen Hydroponics is located at 5425 W. Saginaw Hwy, Lansing, MI 48917 across from the Lansing Mall in the Target Center. Call 517-323-ROOT for directions.

Vganics!

General Organics has come to the rescue of many organic growers with their new product line. Vganics is all the rage, it's not only Organic it's VEGAN! Made from all natural Non-Animal based sources. Talk about some really awesome Flavors, Aromas and Guilt free pleasures of living VGANIC.

Don't take our word for it. Read the blogs. People everywhere are talking about being more natural and using VGANIC natural inputs in their grow op. General Organic's Bio Thrive Grow and Bloom will rock any garden. Add in some of the Bio Bud and Bio Weed and your garden will explode with juicy goodness! Take it from the Pro's VGANIC's work! The General Organics GO Box is a great way to try the line before you buy bigger bottles.

Facebook!

What!? You haven't Liked Horizen Hydroponics Facebook page yet! Horizen Hydroponics is giving away products just for following along with our Facebook posts. Stop by, like us and WIN!

Also if you haven't stopped in, you haven't seen our Monthly sales. These are sooo good, you have to be here to see them, our suppliers won't allow us to advertise such low prices.

The Happenings!

Folks, I wanted to share some updates from the Horizen Crew. Horizen Hydroponics Lansing is now open waiting for you! If you haven't been in to say Hi yet, you really should! It's a beauty!

Check our Facebook for fun contests to win Prizes! We are giving away some awesome Mondi products just for making a nice post about us.

We've hired two more people, one for Horizen Hydroponics Grand Rapids, One for the Growers Outlet. Please stop in to welcome our new Greenhorns. They are additional pHriendly faces.

What about Kalamazoo you say. Well Kalamazoo is enjoying their new space and Garden Layout!

If you haven't been in a while you should stop in to see our new even lower prices on lighting. We are also running monthly sales on different items. Septembers sales are for Flushing, Harvesting and Curing. You gotta come in to see them! Prices so cheap we are not allowed to advertise them! Seriously!

If you haven't noticed we continue to improve our website to make the shopping experience even better.

Did you know that Horizen Hydroponics was Michigan's FIRST Certified Bluelab store! Well now you do.

John

3rd Annual Grand Harvest Festival

Come celebrate our 3rd Annual Grand Harvest Festival on Saturday August 27th Noon-5.

In typical fashion we are having a contest! Donate big Win Big. Gardeners who donate their extra produce from their garden will be entered to win $500 in gardening equipment. We are collecting your locally grown produce and donating it to Feeding America West Michigan. The person/group that donates the most in weight NOW through Aug 27th wins $500 in gardening gear. We will announce the winner on the day of the festival. Also come and enjoy live music by Eric Calloway, The Ricochet Brothers, BMF Band and Serita's Black Rose and the disciples of Funk.

Visit with our great vendors: Feeding America W. MI, WMEAC (West MI Environmental Action Council), Local First, Michigan Butterflies, Blue Bird Beads, Hoopy Go Lucky Hula Hoops, Uncle George's Honey, Pretty Pots, The Great Bread Company, John LaMaire Glass blower, Mud Lake Farms(hydroponic lettuce CSA), Roots Organic and more....

Grab some food, burgers and dogs and sweets, and listen to some music and help us celebrate Harvest time.

Enter our raffle for 20 chances to win awesome gardening gear like: Cloners, Lights, Tents and Fertilizers. Play games to win prizes,

Family friendly, Bring the kids down to blow bubbles, chalk and have fun in the bounce house

New Store

Hey Gardeners, John here to tell you about our new Lansing Store. Located at 5425 W. Saginaw Hwy, Lansing, MI 48917, 517-323-7668 (Root). Doors open July 18th at 10. Give a couple days to get the dust settled we've been renovating like Mad! We've got all our favorite top Brands! Stop by and say Hi. This is the old Radio Shack location in front of Target, ABC Warehouse and Chucky Cheese.

Summer Schedule

Hey Gardeners! John from Horizen Hydroponics here,

Horizen Hydroponics is now posting their summer event calendar! Be the first on your block to attend on of Horizen Hydroponics Grow Classes!

Click to see the Kalamazoo Hydroponics classes.

Ladies, join us for our first ever Ladies Night at Horizen Hydroponics Grand Rapids!

Grand Opening

Gardeners! Horizen Hydroponics is proud to announce the Grand Opening Celebration for the Growers Outlet. The Growers Outlet is Horizen Hydroponics warehouse along with a full retail center full of all the product you know and love! The Growers Outlet is West Michigan's largest, fully stocked year round garden supply store.

Visit the Growers Outlet on may 14th, 2011 from noon to 5 for fun, food, Music from Me 3 Mind, and Thick as Thieves, and plenty of give aways!

The Growers Outlet is located at 7720 Clyde Park Ave Sw, Byron Center, MI 49315. Remember if you don't make it, your friend got all the samples and freebies! ;)

Spring Time

Hey Gardeners, Long time no see! It's been a while since we've updated the news section. Hopefully you've been following along with the Horizen Hydroponics news letter. Make sure to sign up, it's a wealth of knowledge.

Since now is the time to be getting your outdoor garden planted indoors! Make sure your plants are healthy and ready for the outdoor with Nectar for the Gods! A new fertilizer line up out of Oregon. It's showing tremendous potential with my plants. I'm sure it will with yours as well! Planting time will be around memorial day for us Northerners, so be ready when the ground is ready, get started today!

Announcements!

Announcements!

1st: Classes are starting, go to the Grand Rapids, or Kalamazoo Store for information on times, dates and locations! Four topics to choose from; Introduction to Hydroponics, How to build a grow room, Pests and Diseases and Organic Tea's. All the classes have fantastic information for the newbie to intermediate grower!!! 2nd: A new way to shop for Hydroponics is coming to Byron Center! The Growers Outlet will be opening January 2nd 2011 to fulfill HHydro.com orders, be a 3rd location for top quality indoor gardening equipment in West Michigan and offers Memberships. A membership to the Growers Outlet earns you 20% off at Horizen Hydroponics and the Growers Outlet. No longer will the Professional Growers in West Michigan need to suffer through the unprofessional interactions at other "hobby grower" stores. Join the Growers Outlet and receive discounts toward classes and special invitations to supplier seminars! There are too many benefits to list! Join January 2nd!

Growers Outlet
7720 Clyde Park SW
Byron Center, MI 49315
(P) 616-878-4444
(f) 616-878-4490

Fluorescent plant grow lights

We've done it again, another new video on lighting. We are focusing very specifically because it is the most important part of your indoor garden. As the indoor garden season is upon us, give your young plants a super leg up on the rest with a fluorescent plant grow light today! Check out the new fluorescent lighting video on youtube.com

It's Time...

It's time to say Thank You!! to all the gardeners and local folks that stopped by the 2nd Annual Grand Harvest Party. The Horizen Hydroponics Grand Harvest Party was a huge success because local grows and farmers grew and donated over 1,000 pounds of fresh produce to Feeding America West Michigan. So, great job growers! Get ready for next year because the 3rd annual Grand Harvest Festival, with more vendors, more music and of course more FUN!

It's also time to start thinking final stages of flowering! Now is the time to push your plants to the limits! Right now is the perfect time to be adding products like House and Garden Top Booster or Fox Farm Cha-Ching. These products have the right balance or combination of phosphorus and potassium to make your plants sparkle!

Finally it's also time for indoor planting season. If you start your plants now, they'll be ready for Christmas. Just think of it, as the snow flies you are harvesting your favorite plants. That would be long after all your friends and family have run out.

Get in the grow with the people to know, Horizen Hydroponics. Follow our blog at http://horizenhydroponics.blogspot.com.

2nd Annual Grand Harvest Festival

Come join us for the 2nd Annual Grand Harvest Festival on Saturday August 28th 11-4.

The festival is to support Feeding America West MI. Bring in YOUR locally grown produce NOW through August 28th for a chance to WIN our grand prize of $500 in gardening gear! Large or small every donation counts to help feed the hungry.

The festival features music by Serita’s Black Rose, Me 3 Mind and more. You can enjoy local food, environmental groups, craft and other fun vendors. We will have games and prizes (great freebies from our generous suppliers). Come down to enjoy Food, Music, Games, and great giveaways all to support our local food bank Feeding America West MI.

New Video on Youtube

Hey Gardeners, Horizen Hydroponics has new video on how to select plant grow lights for indoor gardening. See the latest video.

Reducing and Treating Transplant Shock

Reducing and Treating Transplant Shock

It’s a nice, warm June afternoon with no chance of frost until autumn. Your plants have been growing happily indoors under fluorescent lighting for the past several weeks. It seems like the perfect time to transplant. And it is the perfect time to transplant, but first you must take a few precautions!

Anytime you move a plant from one container to another you will almost certainly encounter some degree of transplant shock. Plants do not enjoy having their extremely sensitive roots exposed and jostled around. Therefore, the first transplanting tip is to be extremely gentle.

The sun is far more intense than any indoor grow light. Before moving your plants outside permanently you should first slowly acclimate your plants to the intensity of the sun. Letting your plants sit in the sun for an hour or two can help to achieve this goal. Then gradually increase the amount of time spent in the sun over the course of a few days. This allows the plant time to excrete essential oils that protect them from the sun’s rays.

There are several choices of additives that will help your plant cope with the shock when it comes time to put the plant into the soil. B-1 vitamins are well known for helping cope with transplant shock. Technaflora’s Thrive Alive Red B-1 and SuperThrive are popular choices for this type of operation. Derived from British Columbian sea kelp, the vitamins, hormones, and nutrients in Thrive Alive B-1 protect young plants from transplant-related shock and nutrient deficiencies, while promoting vigorous root development. SuperThrive has long been hailed as a super plant tonic that promotes root formation with the inclusion of 1-Naphthyl acetic acid (NAA) in its formula and reduces stress with a boost of B vitamins.

Mycorrhizal inoculants help to ensure healthy growth of roots while lowering dependency on water resources. These can be added before or after transplanting. By ensuring healthy root growth, mycorrhizal inoculants can give a great advantage to all growers in all stages. Products such as the Plant Success Granular can be used before or during transplanting, while Plant Success Great White or Humboldt Nutrients’ Myco Madness can be used at any stage due to their water soluble nature.

Carbohydrates such as Technaflora Sugar Daddy or Botanicare Sweet also help with transplant shock by providing easy-to-access energy when plants are incapable of producing the sugars to feed their cells demands. They will also increase flavor and aroma of your end product while helping to feed beneficial mycorrhizae and bacteria such as those contained in the inoculants mentioned in the above paragraph!

Hope that helps your little gals thrive as you move them into the big, scary world!

Thank You All!

Thank You All!

For coming out to the Grand Opening Celebration on May 1st at our New Kalamazoo Michigan Hydroponic SuperStore. Many fine product samples were given away to the many gardeners that came out for the Food, Fun and Music. Me 3 Mind and Graham Parsons and Friends put on some awesome musical sets. They were both crowd favorites for sure.

Thank you to the Kalamazoo Chamber of Commerce for coming out and helping us celebrate with a ribbon cutting event.

Grand Opening Celebration!

Horizen Hydroponics welcomes all to the GRAND OPENING of the new Kalamazoo, Michigan location. Located at the N.E. intersection of W. Main St and Drake at 4646 W. Main st. in the West Wood Plaza. (Behind the B.P. gas station and AT&T wireless).

What: Horizen Hydroponics Kalamazoo location Grand Opening
When: Saturday May 1st, 2010, Noon to 5p
Where: 4646 W. Main St., Kalamazoo, MI 49006
Why: REALLY?! Giveaways, Prizes, FREE MUSIC, Local gardening organizations and so much more.

Music from Graham Parsons and Friends, and Me 3 Mind plus other special guests.

Proceeds will be donated to Fair Food Matters. There will be a composting and rain barrel display.

Other vendors will be The Natural Health Center for Healthy Body, Mind and Spirit, along with Flowerfield Enterprises.

Don't miss out on the giveaways and prizes. Spend a day with your favorite garden Guru's. See you then!

Benefits of Humic Acid

Humic acid is the remains of broken down organic material. It is found naturally in peat bogs, compost piles, and anywhere else that microbial activity is decomposing organic material. While not technically a fertilizer, humic acid can help you to get the most out of your fertilizer through a variety of different actions it performs. If you are growing in soil this is definitely one amendment not to overlook!

One way that humic acid improves your soil is by helping to break down compacted soils as well as add organic matter (thus water retention capabilities) to your existing soil. In both of these situations you are bound to be left with increased root health due to better aeration in the root zone. A plant without healthy roots is bound to be less successful than possible, if it even lives! So take care of your roots!

Humic acid also helps to free chemically-bound nutrients that exist in the soil regardless of whether they are naturally occurring or added by human intervention. Whether the nutrients are mineral-based or organic-based doesn't matter - humic acid will help free them for your plants to take up. Humic acid also works to chelate micronutrients for more efficient uptake.

Humic acid also acts as a food source for beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae. As discussed last month, these beneficial micro-organisms impart a wide range of benefits to plants.

Thanks & good luck with your growing!

Beneficial Bacteria and Mycorrhizae

Tips From The Horizen Grow Room

Beneficial Bacteria & Mycorrhizae

What would you say if I was to tell you that an organism smaller than the tip of a pin can be all the difference between a high-yielding crop, or disease, infestation, and flop? It's true! And let me explain just how this can be.

In nature soil contains a wide range of bacteria and mycorrhizae. Most people know what bacteria are, but mycorrhizae deserves an explaination. Mycorrhiza is a form of fungus that forms a network with the roots of many plant species. These mycorrhizae come in two main forms: endomycorrhizae and ectomycorrhizae. Ectomycorrhizae form on the outside of roots while endomycorrhizae actually penetrate the roots of plants. Both types grow in a network of threads called "hyphae". As these hyphae grow through the medium, be it soil or otherwise, they increase the surface area of the roots thus allowing the plant to which they have formed a symbiotic relationship with to more easily locate and absorb water and nutrients. In this sense, you can think of mycorrhizae as extra roots. But wait, that's not all!

Both beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae excrete enzymes. Enzymes are catalysts that speed up the pace of a chemical reaction. The reaction these enzymes are catalyzing are the breakdown of the nutrients in your soil or other medium into smaller, more usable forms that the plant can take up through its roots and use for energy to increase overall health and yield. So, not only are mycorrhizae increasing the surface area of the roots so plants can more easily access water and nutrients, they are actually helping to "pre-digest" the nutrients in conjunction with beneficial bacteria. You can think of them as teeth for you plant!

Further, beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae give your plants an immune boost! They do this by displacing and competing with harmful bacteria (such as Pythium, the cause of root rot). Its the same reason there has been a craze for probiotics such as those found in yogurt. If you have a strong population of good bacteria in your stomach you are less likely to get sick. The same goes for plants but instead of the beneficial bacteria living internally, they live externally in the growing medium.

One final point - beneficial bacteria and mycorrhizae are helpful in hydroponics as well as soil, especially when using organic fertilizers that contain nutrients that are not readily available. Just be sure not to subject them to chlorine or chloramines (found in municipal water supplies) as these can kill your populations that you have spent valuable time and money cultivating!

Good luck!

Test

Kalamazoo Michigan

Hey Gardeners, John from Horizen Hydroponics here to happily announce that our Kalamazoo Michigan store will be open in February to serve West Michigan! Our new location will be at:

4646 W. Main St.
Kalamazoo, MI 49006

This is in the Westwood Plaza at the corner of W. Main St. and Drake St, behind the gas station and Centential wireless.  Peak in the windows to watch our renovation progress.  It's just off the highway on the north side of the road. 
More information to come as we get our phones and emails set up for Kalamazoo.  Directions will be posted in the next couple days.

New Classes starting soon!

Hey Grand Rapids Gardeners,

Horizen Hydroponics will be holding more classes starting January 7th, 2010.  The cost will be $10 per class.  The $10 goes to handouts for each student, a goodie bag of freebies and a $10 gift certificate. 

Horizen will be holding four classes this winter; Basics of Hydroponics, How to Build a Grow Room, Organics and Pest Control.  Class space is limited to 10 serious gardeners that want to expand their knowledge and abilities.  Sign up early to reserve your seat.

Don't worry Kalamazoo, as soon as we find a location we'll be open and holding classes.  Anticipate us Rockin' Kalamazoo like no other in January 2010!!  Classes will start shortly there after.

Hello Gardeners

Hi Gardeners!

Welcome to Horizen Hydroponics new website.  Come back regularly for more information.