Kristi - yeah, don't worry about consuming the synthetic ferts. Sure, I would prefer it wasn't BLUE, but... other than that it's just minerals. (I mean, think of the whole e. coli on spinach thing we had last year - even organic ferts are dangerous when used incorrectly.) I say if you grow your stuff organic with the exception of adding some synthetic ferts, you can still call them "Nutriclean." I have nearly convinced myself to do this writing these posts today :) I'm trying out the Dr. Earth dry food on my acid-lovers... I like that it doesn't contain chicken poo to burn my plants. I suppose that depends on the formula. I am not sure how MUCH "probiotics" they put in, or how well they wake up when you use it, but the idea is sure good. You can see from the trend of manufacturers including those things that people are starting to come around to understand the soil food web. On the other hand, mychorrizal fungal spores die within a few hours after waking up, if they don't find roots to form a relationship with. They are probably more effective when applied directly to the roots just when planting, but it sure can't hurt. Now as far as the compost tea, it's alive... it must be used fresh. So it's best to make it yourself, unless you have a nearby tea source and can use it immediately. It's not hard to make, but certainly something you want to read up on. I can describe a simple way to make it, but should probably start another thread if you'd like that info. You will see bottled "worm tea" out there and honestly, I'm just not sure what's in those bottles. I can't see how it can stay alive or aerobic. I would not recommend it. Now, you certainly can buy good compost to make your tea with. Especially if you have a local source of worm castings - I'm lucky to have one nearby. I haven't looked lately, but I bet you will find tons of posts on compost tea if you search - probably in the organic forum and vermicomposting. The single best source for info on this subject, though, is a book called "Teaming With Microbes." You'll find it on Amazon. There is also a sort of "bible" of compost tea called the "Compost Tea Brewing Manual" which is available from soilfoodweb.com. There is also a "Compost Tea" group on Yahoo Groups which is THE source for info on compost tea. You can often get your questions answered by the world authority on the subject, Dr. Elaine Ingham. However - it gets AWFULLY technical there! And they ask that people who participate understand the basics first from the two books I mentioned above. I mention this though, because JaG, I have noticed there is an effort to set up government standards for compost tea. The way it is classified right now it is in the same category as manure and must be applied 90 days prior to planting. Organic growers are unable to use it as intended, and therefore, research on the subject is greatly impeded. But Dr. Ingham has expanded her labs to a worldwide operation so that organic producers everywhere can get their soil and teas tested by her labs. You are right in thinking that testing your compost and tea is the only way to know for sure what you are applying. I've never done this, though, and have been happy with my results. Never done an experiment either, though :-) JaG, there may be many reasons you didn't get results with your tea - poor extraction of organisms is the biggest problem a home brewer usually has. If there is interest, I can elaborate more on a seperate thread as I mentioned above. Jenn Here is a link that might be useful: Soil Food Web Inc.

I'm not in Toronto or the GTA but we use Homegrown Hydroponics here in Barrie. DH works in Toronto and went to the HGH store out by the airport. He says it has more supplies and part of their store is set up with grow stands etc. I would recommend them. BTW, the people who work there also use hydroponics.

Nice overview. I would also recommend BACI's hydroponic FAQs for more detailed information. These are available by doing a search in this forum for "FAQ".

So the story goes - they heard a noise, and his wife started for the house door to open it up and see what was going on, and she had just opened the door a crack when they hit the door with their ram (or whatever they use for breaching the door) causing the door to hit the wife in the face, knocking her unconscious. The police report apparently said that the sheriff reported being able to smell pot from outside of the building, and heard plants being torn inside (destruction of evidence) which is reason enough to breach the door without waiting. He says its a small town ~500 people (on the outskirts of Chicago), and that the sheriff was running for re-election, and came by and asked the wife if she would let them put a sign in their yard... she called for her husband, and when the sheriff saw him, he reportedly just got back in his car and left. I'm not fully convinced of the guys story either, but it does have a number of parallels to stories that have been in the newspaper in my area. I think I linked it earlier, or gave the search terms of "largo hydroponics raid". Some of them have been quite successful, the largest bust I've heard about caught a group of criminals with over a hundred pot plants. A friend of mine trained swat for pinellas and hillsborough counties - which is Tampa, St. Pete, and Clearwater, he recently retired. He tends to be defensive of any police action, but he'd likely know more about the local happenings.