• Is there one thing that, above all others, determines how well a grower can grow a plant?
• Will my plants grow better if I add sugar to my nutrient solution?
• Will the carbon dioxide that is supposedly making the climate change make my plants grow any faster?

Q. Is there one thing that, above all others, determines how well a grower can grow a plant?

A. There are a lot of thing that go towards determining the quality or quantity of a crop. And, whether you’re growing orchids or commercial tomatoes – the most important elements are caring for the basics. This means:

• feeding the plants correctly
• keeping temperature, light and humidity at appropriate levels
• controlling bugs and pests
• spraying when fungi are detected etc.

All these things and more are involved in keeping plants happy and productive.

However, the one thing that, above all else, is overwhelmingly important and that is, the discipline of the grower.

A disciplined grower with a very basic system, but who will do everything they can to take care of the basics will always out-perform an ill-disciplined grower even if they have the best system available.

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Q. Will my plants grow better if I add sugar to my nutrient solution?

A. Good question. The process of photosynthesis takes carbon dioxide and water and, using the energy in sunlight, combines these two chemicals to make sugar. This in-turn can be converted into all the organic chemicals that collectively produce the phenomenon we call – life!

Hence the theory that if we add sugar to the nutrient solution, then this must be absorbed by the plant and it will grow bigger and faster.

This sounds good, however I am yet to meet a hydroponic grower who adds sugar to nutrients! It may be because growers tend to be a conservative lot and stick to what works for them, or it could be that the theory is a load of rubbish and all sugar does is turn the nutrient into a stinking microbe infested soup!

So, will sugar make any difference at all? I haven’t got a clue, but I can tell you how to find the answer and then you can tell me.

You need to conduct a controlled scientific experiment. Yes - don’t go away! This is one thing every person should know. It concerns the very basics of the scientific method which is simply the way scientists do business.

To do this experiment we need a test, a control and one variable. What this means is the experiment needs to be run twice, with absolutely everything being exactly the same in each experiment except for one (and only one) thing - the variable. In this case, it is the presence of sugar in one of the nutrient solutions.

The “test” is growing a plant with sugar in the nutrient solution.
The “control” is the plant growing without sugar in the nutrient solution.

In every other way the experiment should be as identical as possible.
If after a while, there is a difference between the test and the control, then the difference can only be due to the variable - the sugar.

I encourage you to do the experiment and let me know the outcome!

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Q. Will the carbon dioxide that is supposedly making the climate change make my plants grow any faster?

A. Yes, but not so much that you would notice. Greenhouse growers that use CO2 run it at concentrations that are three or four times the level that is currently in the atmosphere. So, there is still quite a way to go before we see in the impact of climate change on plant growth.

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