Healing Our Families in an Industrialized Society Through Attachment Parenting and Natural Education

"""You must be the change you want to see in the world""-Mahatma Gandhi

Our culture has moved far away from nature's intended way for us to parent and care for our children. Unfortunately, over many centuries, as the world has become increasingly more industrialized, people have lost touch with their natural parenting instincts. Each generation is parented in a way that causes distress, pain, depression and anger. This in turn causes each new generation to pass down harmful ways of parenting that reflect their hurt, distress and resentment.

Alarms in nature

Nature has built alarm signals into every animal to alert parents, companions and predators that the animal is experiencing or sensing a need, a threat or a danger. In nature, animal parents instinctively respond immediately to the alarms of their young. A human infant's alarm signal is crying, which is intended to alert parents to a need. As children grow older, their alarm signals become more sophisticated when their needs aren't met and often include behaviors that parents find disturbing.

Some of the alarms of children:

· Directly telling us they have a need

· Asking us to help them meet a need

· Asking nicely

· Asking rudely

· Crying

· Whining

· Yelling

· Screaming

· Outbursting

· Pouting

· Tantruming

· Swearing

· Withdrawing

· Clinging

· Defensiveness

· Sarcasm

· Hyperactivity

· Depression

· Anxiety

· Raging

· Distractibility

· Fidgeting

· Squirming

· Oppositionality

· Harassing

· Defiance

· Refusing

· Disrespect

· Threatening

· Aggression and violence towards people and animals (verbal, physical, sexual)

· Destructiveness (vandalism, breaking things, stealing, etc.)

· Self destructiveness (self mutilation, substance use, sexual promiscuity, bad relationships, suicidal gestures, etc.)

· Challenging

· Passive compliance

The distress cries and acting-out behaviors of youth, like the cries of an infant and the behavioral cues of animals, are nature-based alarm signals. Their alarm signals warn us that something in the child's body, immediate circumstance, life or environment is distressing to them physically or emotionally and is threatening harm to their optimal development.

When we fully understand that concerning behaviors are the natural alarm signals of children, we will be less likely to, in good conscience, punish, medicate or force children into compliance with distressing, unnatural circumstances. We will begin to realize more and more as we look around our society, that from the hyperactive toddler to the rageful 17 year old, punishment, force, bribes, manipulation and medication do not make distressed children happy, cooperative or compassionate; nor do those reactions fill the voids and satiate the needs children are trying to alert us to with their alarm signals.

The recipe for a happy child: Secure parent-child attachment through meeting our children's needs

Children of all ages require a secure parent-child attachment in order to thrive. A secure-parent child attachment is vital to a child's optimal functioning in all areas of their development. It is the blueprint and foundation of a child's life long physical, emotional, social, intellectual, sexual, spiritual and moral functioning. It is the blueprint and foundation of a child's lifelong happiness and ability to cope with life and relationships.

A secure parent-child attachment develops as the result of parents meeting children's basic physical and emotional needs, and then higher level needs, from infancy until young adulthood. This natural function of parenting is part of the human attachment cycle:

1. The child feels a physical or emotional need;

2. The child expresses the need using a signal such as crying, showing, asking or telling;

3. The parent meets the child's need as soon as possible;

4. Every time the child's needs are met, the child feels calm, satiated, homeostasis, joy and trust in the parent.

As a result of this unbroken cycle, secure attachment builds and develops.

If parents usually do not meet their child's needs or usually delay in doing so, their child will feel distress, rage, grief, anxiety and distrust in the parents. Every unmet need builds and builds and an insecure or disrupted attachment develops. When a child suffers a disrupted attachment, emotional and/or behavioral problems may show up immediately or may slowly begin to surface over a period of years.

Parenting and educating the way nature intended

People in peaceful tribal cultures and non-human mammals are the natural models that can teach us how nature intended us to parent. In tribal cultures where violence is very low and mental illness is reportedly a rarity, people are found to parent in line with the rest of our closest mammal relatives. The most critical features of natural parenting are:

· Constant skin-to-skin contact and non-stop carrying of the infant for the first 12 months of life;



· Breastfeeding for at least two and a half years and optimally, up to four and ½ years;

· Co-sleeping with infants and young children;

· Responding to the physical and emotional needs of children all through childhood;

· High levels of physical affection, emotional connection and cuddling through out childhood;

· Nonviolent, democratic discipline and guidance;

· Strong family and community relationships

· Strong family and community modeling of respectful, compassionate, interdependent (everyone doing their part for the benefit of the whole) behavior;

· Natural education through play, exploration, imitation, self-directed learning, physical activity and being an active part of the community; and

· Allowing children the freedom to develop, learn and mature at their own pace.

Many of our mammal relatives show similar ways of parenting, especially mammals that carry their young or have frequent physical contact with them, such as bonobos, gorillas, elephants and dolphins.

Child development

As children grow through life, they face certain developmental tasks at each phase of their life. A secure parent-child attachment and natural education helps them resolve and complete their developmental tasks to an optimal level, without being rushed or forced.

School and day care harms secure parent-child attachment

One of the most life-changing disruptions to the parent-child relationship is when children are placed in day care, preschool and grade school. The conditions of traditional schools are often harmful:

· To the parent-child attachment relationship,

· To democracy,

· To a child's natural development,

· To intellectual development and creativity,

· To the child's body and health,

· To social development, and

· To emotional and behavioral stability.

Day care and preschool separates children from mothers at the age when it is critical to brain development that young children are with their families. Older children, through late adolescence are often unhappy, bored, frustrated and mentally exhausted in school. They have little time for the high-energy physical activity, exploration, inventiveness and play that they need for optimal brain development. Homework further takes children's time away from their own interests and from family and friends. Additionally, many children are negatively influenced by their school peers and pull away from their parents at younger and younger ages.

But isn't school good for children?

Almost everything about the ""one size fits all"" environment of traditional school is opposite to what nature intended for a child's development. Some of the reasons why traditional school is harmful to children's natural development are:

· Traditional schools are based on controlling large groups of people so they all do the same thing;

· Traditional school's structure and curriculum are not in line with children's developmental or learning needs at any age;

· Public schools are cutting the very means by which children learn and find joy: Play, recess, art, music, drama, fun events, field trips and hands-on activities.

· Traditional schools do not take into consideration that children's primary way of learning is through play and exploration. Schools primarily focus on forcing children to sit and listen.

· Traditional school does not allow children to direct their own learning based on interests, talents, passions and abilities;

· Traditional school labels children who cannot conform as ""learning disabled"" or ""behavioral problems"";

· Traditional school is responsible for thousands of children being prescribed drugs for their exuberance, boredom or a developmentally inappropriate learning environment;

· Traditional school regiments children's basic physical needs (food, water, elimination, physical activity and rest) and fails to allow children to respond to their own needs;

· Almost half of the states in the USA still permit teachers to legally assault children with paddles in public school;

· Traditional school isolates children from their families and communities;

· Children are forced to do homework after being confined for six or more hours in school;

· Homework further isolates children from family time, play time, social time and time for pursuing one's own interests;

· Standardized exams are designed to measure how well a child tests and how well a child can recall isolated facts. This does not demonstrate a child's knowledge, intellect, experience, creativity or moral development;

· Learning is considered to be about ""getting the right answer"" rather than about the process of how to ask questions and where to find answers;

· Traditional school allows children no power, causing children to isolate themselves into exclusive groups or cliques in order to establish a false sense of power;

· Traditional school's control-based practices offer little opportunity for children's wants, wishes, ideas and needs to be expressed, leading some to rage, rebellion and revenge;

· Traditional school fails to function as a democracy to prepare children to participate in a democratic society;

· Traditional school is an outdated institution based on the factory work ethic of the late 1800's and early 1900's; and

· Traditional school has refused to evolve to meet the creative and intellectual needs of children.

There are many joyful alternatives to traditional school which often inspire children to reach learning potentials and excellence far in excess of most traditionally schooled peers. Alternatives include:

· Unschooling (child-led curriculum),

· Homeschooling,

· Democratic schools (which are run as democracies),

· Montessori schools,

· Waldorf schools,

· Private schools that respect play, outdoor time, children's natural development and joy in learning,

· Public charter schools (that focus on the arts and play)

· Virtual (online) public or private schools,

· Independent study or apprenticeships,

· Early college

Our everyday life causes emotional and behavioral problems

Constantly, parents are conditioned to accept and live with so many beliefs, trends, habits, routines and practices that seem harmless but are actually harmful to children's natural development. These include:

· The way children are seen as property and as less-than-human by our culture compared to how adults are seen;

· The way parents and schools teach and model violence, domination and inequality to children by punishing them, speaking to them disrespectfully, using control tactics with them and dictating what they will do, where they will be, how they must act and what they must think for their entire childhoods;

· The self-centered, materialistic, academic-obsessed, work-obsessed, sex-obsessed, money-obsessed, media-obsessed and violence-accepting values parents and the culture model for children about how to live; and

· The way parents substitute themselves with all types of distractions that don't fill children's needs, such as day care, school, school sports teams, TV, video games, cell phones, the Internet, designer clothing and putting peers and material objects ahead of family.

These beliefs, trends and practices also include forcing youth to grow up in ways that are not appropriate to their development and failing to allow youth to develop and grow naturally.

Child trauma and PTSD

Many children in our culture suffer symptoms of trauma and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from distressing and frightening treatment such as physical punishment, and severe abuse and neglect. Trauma affects all areas of a child's development and actually rewires the child's brain, causing emotional problems that may be misdiagnosed. Trauma is believed to be stored in parts of the brain that prevent therapy, maturity, learning and insight from healing it, causing symptoms to last for decades. A special kind of therapy, called EMDR, can help heal trauma.

Examples of trauma:

· Difficult birth

· Infant left to scream in incubator after birth

· Circumcision

· Parents failing to respond to their infant's cries immediately

· Crib sleeping

· Child left alone at night

· Having basic needs ignored or denied

· Physical abuse, including ""spanking"", ""smacking"", ""paddling"" or rough handling of a child

· Sexual abuse

· Emotional abuse

· Neglect of physical and emotional needs

· Abandonment

· Being left in day care

· Being forced to go to school

· Lack of support in upsetting situation, injury, illness or other trauma

· Out-of-home placement (foster care, group home, juvenile boot camp or detention center)

· Loss of parent or loved one

· Death of parent or loved one

· Witnessing domestic violence

· Witnessing any type of violence or attack on a person or animal

· Peer harassment

· Being the victim of racist or derogatory remarks about one's nationality, sex, gender, sexual orientation or appearance

· Pain or illness

· Born substance addicted

· Hospitalization

· Homelessness

· Seeing frightening, violent or sexualized TV shows, movies, games or websites

Extreme breaks in attachment: Foster care, institutional facilities and adoption

Children who have been adopted or who live in orphanages, foster homes, institutions and programs have suffered extreme attachment disruption and often have severe emotional and behavioral problems as a result. These are the children who our culture has failed the most, as they are some of the most damaged and hurting people in our societies.

Our children do not have brain disorders- Our culture is disordered!

Most children in our culture who act out their distress are misdiagnosed with mental illnesses and brain disorders such as ADHD, learning disabilities, bipolar disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. They are often forced to take powerful, mind-altering drugs once they are diagnosed. However, most of the symptoms that these children are expressing are actually symptoms of a disrupted attachment, a developmentally inappropriate educational environment and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Although our culture views these children as ""brain disordered"", it is actually our culture that is disordered. Diagnosing and medicating children does not heal the causes of their distress. The symptoms that children show are actually natural responses to an unnatural and intolerable life circumstances!



Repairing attachment and healing trauma

It is possible for parents to repair attachment and heal trauma with children of all ages! Basic principles of healing, such as physical affection, empathizing and showing compassion to our children, plus getting help for ourselves, are necessary parts of repairing attachment and trauma. Other necessities include:

· Attachment parenting;

· Instilling family principles, self discipline and responsibility through respectful guidance and strong modeling;

· Learning nonviolent forms of emotional expression and communication with children such as Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication (NVC) model or Naomi Aldort's S.A.L.V.E. formula;

· Finding alternatives to traditional schooling such as unschooling, homeschooling, democratic schools, Montessori schools, Waldorf schools, early college or private schools that respect play, children's development and joy in learning;

· EMDR treatment to heal trauma;

· Neurofeedback to retrain the brain;

· Natural attachment therapy to help repair insecure attachment;

· Holistic and body-centered treatments to heal imbalances (EFT, homeopathy, etc.); and

· Learning about the dangers of diagnosing and medicating children's behavior.

Re-parenting children with severe attachment disruption

Even children who have been adopted or children who suffer from severe attachment disruption or Reactive Attachment Disorder can heal and grow to attach strongly to their parents! Parents must make a permanent commitment to their children, secure a support system for themselves and find an attachment specialist, to start this very challenging process.

Parents must be willing to provide their children with re-parenting experiences that meet their children's unmet early developmental needs, including intense physical affection. Parents must have a strong set of family principles in place, and an understanding of how to use consequences and restitution so that they are not punishing their children. In order to help their children develop emotional stability, tools for nonviolent emotional expression can be learned and practiced by every family member. Adoptive parents and parents of children with severe attachment disruption should expect severe testing behaviors and relapse cycles as children grow to deeper and deeper levels of attachment.

Healing our culture now

Our culture is the collective entity of the beliefs and actions of generations of human beings, including ourselves, who have diverged from natural ways of living and parenting. Our culture is truly mentally ill and ""brain"" disordered! However, a giant bottle of Adderoll, Celexa or Risperdol isn't what our culture needs...

Our culture is saturated by violence and anger, leading to disrespect for other human beings, disrespect for other living creatures and disrespect for our own natural environment. Our culture is consumed with shame about sexuality and the human body, leading to rigid, uptight bans on sexuality on one hand and a relentless obsession and adolescent-like mockery of it on the other hand. Each generation passes this sickness of violence, shame and rage onto the next generation, creating materialism, self-obsession, money obsession, work obsession, academic obsession, substance obsession, media obsession and war obsession. More programs, prisons, schools, rules, medications, laws and punishments will not stop it. We must start by raising human beings to think and feel differently.

In order for our culture to heal itself, parents, professionals and law makers must prioritize healing our children and our young adults rather than labeling, punishing, medicating, confining and incarcerating them. As citizens, we all have a responsibility to take part in demanding that mental health professionals, social workers, doctors, scientists, our state's human service agencies and our state legislators prioritize:

1. Meeting all children's needs now;

2. Healing the damage already done to children; and

3. Helping and mentoring young adults with trauma histories in order to prevent damage to the next generation.

""You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result"" -Mahatma Gandhi

To explore attachment parenting, natural education and the natural ways to heal our children's emotional, behavior and learning challenges in more detail, please visit http://www.LaurieACouture.org to learn more about my book, Instead of Medicating and Punishing."

How to Have Lovely Green Lawns

"Wide open spaces of lawns are lovely, but they take a lot of work and resources. They do not just happen. In Australia, we have the added complication of very hot dry summers which most lawns do not like. Lawns need a lot of water, nutrients and time. Lawns are cooling, help us relax psychologically during hot weather and are a great place to sit and have fun. Our kids and pets love lawns, especially to roll and play on.

Many gardeners dream of a soft green lawn but do not understand what maintenance techniques are involved to achieve this look. This article is going to let you in to the tricks of the trade and help you create a beautiful green lawn.

There are two types of grasses cool season and warm season and they both have good and bad points. Cool season grasses such as bent, rye or fescue like temperatures between 10-20C and have two growth periods - autumn and spring. They are lovely and green over winter but they tend to go brown over summer. It is difficult to keep them green over summer and they require a lot of water. They have a finer leaf, are not as robust as the warm seasons grasses and do not seem to get into as much trouble of warm season species. Cool season grasses multiply by seed or by producing more tillers around the first shoot that comes from the seed. A tiller is the new side growth, right next to the parent plant.

Warm seasons grasses such a buffalo, couch and kikuyu like warmer temperatures (20-30C) and tend to die down over winter in colder areas. They like tropical humid conditions and keep their colour over summer. They are drought tolerant and can tolerate neglect. But they are very vigorous and get can get into all sort of mischief. Warm season's grasses spread by stolons and/or rhizomes. Rhizomes are actually compressed stems and one of the big draw backs of these types of grasses are that they grow under the ground into your flower beds. Underground runners are very difficult to get rid off as they constantly grow back. Warm season grasses are much coarser and can be prickly to sit on. They tend to build up thatch over time.

As with all plants, the roots need oxygen and compaction is often the major problem with lawns. Compaction is when the soil particles are pushed together and the moisture and oxygen can't penetrate the soil. This often happens in high traffic areas such as the path to the clothes line. Compaction causes the grass to struggle and weeds to thrive as weeds are able to cope with soils with low oxygen. Compaction also causes bad drainage, preventing the water from soaking into the top soil and moving down profile. Puddles are caused by either the pore spaces being full of water, or the particles are so closely packed together, the water can't filter through. The grass literally drowns because there is no oxygen!

Methods of Relieving Compaction

Remove the problem by installing a barrier or fence to keep people off the area. A barrier may consist of shrubs, a garden bed or a fence.
Put paving or stepping stone in to direct foot traffic
Do not use the garden fork. It pushes the soil particles together causing compaction.
Coring relives compaction. It can be done by hand or machine. Machines can be hired from machinery hiring company or you can use a manual hand corer which can be purchased from hardware stores.
Avoid mechanical cultivation such as rotary hoeing as this can create a hard pan of subsoil and destroy any natural structure the soil may have.




To improve the quality of your lawn there are the three Rs - revitalising, renovating or replacing and you need to decide which process suites you best.

Revitalising is improving the maintenance regime, improving and controlling the amount of water and fertilising the lawn receives plus regular weeding.
Renovating is fixing up what you have by coring (plugs of soil), removing thatch (the build up over years of dead roots) and applying a top dressing of new soil and fertiliser.
Replacing is starting again, either sowing seed or using instant turf. But unless the original problems (weeds, drainage and compaction) have been fixed, you will not achieve a beautiful lawn.


You need to decide which of the three Rs you wish to pursue.

Fertilisers

Lawns require a high nitrogen fertiliser which stimulates leaf growth and causes the lawn to green up. Remember you are trying to obtain a uniform green colour all year round, not surges of green. A good lawn fertiliser should have nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium N.P.K ratio of 3:1:2. Inorganic and organic fertilisers are available. Inorganic ones consist of man-made chemicals which are rapidly absorbed by the grass and give quick results. Inorganic fertilisers release their nutrients slowly reducing the frequency of application. Fertilisers can burn lawns, so to prevent this, water the lawn, apply the fertiliser and water again.

The residential lawn needs to be fertilised 3 times per year. Early in spring, start of December and in March. Fertilising in mid- summer will promote soft leaf growth, which burns easily and is susceptible to disease infestation. Fertilising in winter promotes weeds. You can apply fertilisers by hand or a broadcast spreader. Follow the recommended rates on the product for good results.

Water your Lawn - Irrigation

The best time to water a lawn is early in the morning rather than at night. Wet leaves over night provide perfect conditions for disease outbreaks. Watering early morning allows the leaves of the grass to dry out. The key to watering is to water deeply and not often. Deep watering wets the soil profile right through, encouraging roots to grow down into the soil rather than along the surface. Lawns with deep, well established root systems are tough.

Please Note: Cool season lawns are not as tough as warm seasons lawns and require more water over summer. If you are experiencing a run of extremely hot weather and you want a green lawn, you may need to water every day if you have the water to spare.

Weeds

Weeds will invade your lawn if there are bare patches. They can come in from the nature strip or next door and are carried in by the wind, water, animals or feet. They can be controlled by improving aeration and drainage or cutting the grass higher. You can also physically hand remove weeds. You can also try spot spraying as long as you are careful. The drift from the spray kill the surrounding grass.

Moss

Moss in established lawns is a sign of high acidity, bad drainage, low fertility and poor aeration. It can be removed by one of the above methods or by applying copper sulphate or iron sulphate which can be purchased from your local nursery.

Brown Patches or Dry Patches

This situation usually occurs in summer and is often difficult to diagnose what is causing the problem. Insects or grubs may be feeding on the roots of the lawn and close inspection of the soil is needed. Remove a sod and examine the soil layer immediately below with grass roots. If you see fat white grubs then you have either black beetles or cockchafers. To control them you can use chemicals. Developing a good maintenance regime will also help reduce the beetle the problem.

Lawn and Dogs

Female dogs cause more problems on lawns than male dogs. If you have a female dog you may have noticed dead patches of grass about 20cm across caused by their urine. Male dogs tend to urinate on objects rather than straight onto the lawn. Grass killed by dogs will recover, particularly if tackled immediately by heavily watering the area and diluting the concentration of the urine. I also suggest talking to your vet about purchasing food which does not burn the grass. Also, there are mineral rocks available that you can put into your pets drinking water which will neutralise the urine's pH.

Mowing

Mowing heights of lawns is crucial to the overall health and vigour of the grass. Mowing a lawn to within an inch of its life (scalping) places a huge strain on the grass. There is a direct relationship between the height of the leaves and the root growth. Simply stated, the longer the blades left on the grass after mowing, the larger and deeper the root system will be. A general rule is to never mow your lawn lower than 2.5cm. How often you mow depends on the growth rate of the lawn. In spring and early summer, lawns may need to be mown twice a week. In winter, fortnightly mowing is probably all that is required. For late summer and autumn once a week is sufficient.

Don't mow in the same direction. Mow north/south for one cut, then east/west for the next cut. By changing the direction of the mower, you increase your lawns health.

Removal of lawn clippings is the accepted way to mow your lawn as it provides a neat and tidy finish. Lawn clippings can be put into the compost heap but do not just dump them in a pile. They need to be in thin layers and mixed through. If when mowing, you are leaving trails of grass clippings, this means your catcher is full.

Motor Mowers

To cut the grass cleanly, the blades must be sharpened regularly. Blunt blades can cause server injury to the leaf of the grass thus making it susceptible to pests and diseases. Blunt blades also cause the grass to appear yellow and ragged. After every second or third mow, hose the underneath of the mower out. This removes any accumulated grass clippings that can harbour diseases. Most modern mowers have a small hole located on the top of the chassis where you can squirt the hose in and with the engine running at half speed, will clean out nearly all the accumulated grass.



If you use a lawn mowing service, you are quite within your rights to specify that the lawn needs to be mown higher and that it is not mown in the same direction all the time.

Shade

There is no lawn grass that will grow in full shade. Lawn seed mixtures sold as shade tolerant still require some sunlight to grow properly. They do however have low light requirements. A trade off for using these types of lawn species is that they often require more water and frequent fertilising. In shade, lawns should not be mown as closely as those areas in full sun. This will give the appearance of a denser cover of grass.

It may even be necessary to select a lawn alternative that may be a low growing ground cover.

pH

Soil pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity and is measured on a scale ranging from zero to fourteen. On this scale zero is extremely acid and fourteen is extremely alkaline. Lawns like a pH between 6 and 7. If you perform a pH test on your lawn and it is above 7, then you can apply some sulphate to lower it. If it is below 6, apply some gardener lime, this will raise it. You can buy both these products at your local nursery.

Lawn Alternatives

Babies Tears: (Helexine soleirolii) Grows best in a moist shady area. It requires occasional trimming. Can be invasive.
Dichondra: (Dichondra repens) Grows well in dry shade. Tolerates foot traffic and recovers if damage. Needs an occasional mow.
Ivy: (Hedera sp.) Ivy is incredibly tough once established. Can be mown down to encourage new growth.
Bellflower: (Campanula portenschlagiana) It does best in slightly shaded areas. Tends to scorch in full sun.
Lamium: (Lamium 'Beacon Silver') The silver foliage brightens a shady area. Dies back in winter.
Native violet: (Viola hederacea) It grows well in moist shade but flowers best in full sun will naturalise if left uncontrolled.


Lawns are great, but a lot of work, resources and money. They create a sense of space and are brilliant at cooling the garden on a hot summer day. Your lawn does not have to be bowling green standard, but to have a healthy lawn you do need to carry out some maintenance. If your lawn has not had any attention for the last decade, it is time to do some."

Alzheimer's - Finding the Right Treatment Plan

"Over the past 8 years, my family has been dealing with signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's in my Mom who is now 86. Initially, with her forgetfulness and not recognizing someone right away, we thought, you know she is getting old; she is entitled to not being right every now and then, heaven knows we forget from time to time ourselves. But the frequency of these signs started occurring on a regular basis. My Mom was initially taken to a geriatric psychiatrist in NH where she lived. The Dr. prescribed a drug called Aricept, the one you see most of the time on TV commercials. This drug with its popularity sounded promising, but after a couple years of trying this medication, there were no significant signs of improvement. She also suffered many of the side effects associated with this medication i.e. dizziness, upset stomach, nausea, trouble eating, and sleeping disorders.

In 2005, my Mom desperately needed knee replacement surgery on her right knee. The operation was successful; however, there was a drastic change in my Mom's memory and behavior. My Mom would hide her purse and wallet, thinking everyone wanted to steal it. She could never remember where it was hidden and would accuse family members of taking it. In addition to the stealing and hiding, she became very paranoid. She needed all the window shades drawn and the outside doors locked late in the afternoon everyday. The level of anxiety and agitation she displayed became more heightened. She would get up and down from her chair to check the windows and locks and repeat herself over and over asking everyone if the doors were locked. Just in general, she was up and down and would never stay still for any period of time. She was like the Ever Ready Bunny, i.e. she kept going and going. I was exhausted just watching her and I am 35 years younger. She had always been physically active walking and exercising. She took good care of herself eating right, baked or broiled, chicken and fish and lots of vegetables. She religiously took her vitamins and supplements every morning with a bowl of homemade oatmeal sprinkled with bran on top, a glass of half prune and half orange juice mixed together, yogurt and a cup of coffee.

My Mom was an old-fashioned cook, making everything from scratch. Her nickname was Betty, aka Betty Crocker, making sure there were three balanced meals made everyday with desserts. These meals were not your simple toast and coffee. I am talking bacon and eggs, homemade blueberry muffins, pancakes, homemade oatmeal, percolated coffee, roast beef sandwiches from the prior night's dinner for lunch with homemade soups, homemade cookies, then homemade spaghetti sauce and spaghetti for dinner with bread, salad and more desserts, like apple or blueberry pie with ice cream. For the holidays, she out did herself making numerous cakes, pies, breads, cookies, fudge, and other various desserts along with all the main meal's homemade items. She made enough food to feed an army, our family, friends and neighbors. If you can believe it, we were all pencil thin, the good old days for sure. This cooking exercise was my Mom's regular routine for over 60 years until Alzheimer's hit. At that point, she had difficulty remembering how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Also as part of my Mom's regular routine, she cleaned, cleaned and cleaned, using Ammonia, Clorox, Pinesol, Lysol, Windex and Pledge. Did your love one use any of these products? I sometimes wonder if there is a link with these products or a combination thereof and Alzheimer's. Or is there a correlation with the bleached sugar used in all the desserts we ate? Or the Crisco and butter?

Back to the surgery, a few year's after the surgery, I learned that being heavily sedated, i.e. under anesthesia can cause Alzheimer's to progress more rapidly. I had also heard in more recent years that if surgery is necessary in an Alzheimer's patient, inquire on whether or not a spinal block could suffice or if there are various levels of anesthesia, maybe a lower dosage. My Mom required a second knee replacement in 2008. This surgery advanced the Alzheimer's to an almost uncontrollable state with full-on hallucinations and delusions, screaming fits. My Mom after surgery didn't believe she was in a hospital or that she had been through surgery. With all the wires and monitors, she thought someone had pulled her house apart and was doing construction. She screamed that she was going to sue for wrecking her house. She yanked out her IV and next tried her catheter. While in the hospital, 24/7 nurse bed watch was required. I believe that her pain medication OxyContin attributed to her crazy uncontrollable behavior. We had never seen her in this psychotic state. That medication in my mind was not for her. After being released from the hospital and into a nursing rehabilitation center, she gained control of some of her senses but not all. A doctor at the rehabilitation facility introduced more sedating medication like Seroquel and Lorazepam. Her downtime from this surgery seemed miraculous. She was capable of walking almost instantaneously with no pain. I believe that the Alzheimer's numbed that part of the brain in charge of pain, no brain no pain. My Mom continued on low doses of Lorazepam,.5 mg and Seroquel, 25-30 mg. These medications were used to quiet her symptoms of agitation and anxiety which occurred late in the afternoon and early evening. These symptoms later became known to us as the Alzheimer's symptoms for sundowning. Going from light to dark triggers a reaction in the brain that causes agitation.



For the next year, my Mom's legs strengthened, but her mind and behavior declined. The decline may be attributed to insufficient social interaction. I have been told that social interaction for Alzheimer patients is very beneficial and therapeutic, adult daycare centers specializing in Alzheimer's is a good avenue to pursue. Seek daycares that have programs involving physical exercise, mind games, eye, hand coordination activities e.g. arts and crafts. Also, ensure that the facility has some type of security or wander band should your loved one become confused and walk away.

My Mom, on the other hand, was being watched by only one family member and received limited visitors. In March 2009, my younger brother and I became jointly responsible for my Mom's health which at that time, I brought her to CA. I was eager to have her here, because I felt that California's medical care surpassed that in many other states. My belief is based upon our elderly population. We have a greater population due to our weather and state size. CA also has the greatest number of doctors of any state due to size. I am also surrounded by many retirement communities.

One notable event that occurred while travelling by air from Boston to Los Angles, half-way through our flight, my Mom flipped out. What I mean is, she started screaming, swearing, kicking, hitting and pulling my hair. She got out of her seat and started aggressively charging towards first class. She thought she was at a job that she held more than twenty years ago. She wanted to speak to the bosses because she didn't know where all the products went that they had made. With the assistance of 4 flight attendants and paging a doctor, my Mom was brought back to her seat but would not sit down; they walked her up and down the aisle to calm her. My Mom carried on for the remainder of the flight and when we started approaching Los Angeles, she would not sit down for landing. The doctor, a geriatric psychiatrist seating diagonal to us helped to seat her. We both held her down for landing. The flight attendants were going to use a straight jacket. I was never so scared or embarrassed. I thought my Mom would sleep the entire flight since I choose a direct evening flight.

After this episode and finally returning home and getting settled, I did my research to seek programs available for people with Alzheimer's. I had the good fortune to speak with a Program Director at our local Adult Senior Daycare Center. The woman I spoke to provided me with names and telephone numbers of medical resources to contact to have my Mom evaluated. Prior to this time, no one really medically evaluated her. My Mom went to the doctor's every several months and family members talked about her condition, but there was no real testing. The appointment time would probably last 15 minutes tops every 6 months to a year. No one ever explained anything to us or what direction we should go. There was no Alzheimer's map. Now, the next set of events was the most valuable and sped up the finding of a successful treatment plan in a matter of a few months.

1. My Mom went to a Neurologist who ordered that a MRI, blood work, and a genetic test be performed called the Apolipoprotein E Genotype. There is a genetic marker that seems to be prevalent in most people with Alzheimer's, it could be all patients but I don't remember exactly. If you are tested for this marker, and have it, it doesn't mean that you will have Alzheimer's if I understood the Doctor's explanation correctly, so double check if you have it done. If you have a parent with Alzheimer's, you have a 50/50 chance of having Alzheimer's too.

2. The Neurologist also had an Internal Medicine doctor perform an extensive memory test. This test was more intensive and longer than what is called the Folstein Mini Mental Test. The Folstein Test is a good test to try at home and as a doctor's follow-up evaluation. I found this link below that had a good example of the Folstein test.

http://www.utmb.edu/psychology/PRT_Courses/ClinPsych04/Mentalst.htm

3. Once all the tests results were evaluated, my Mom was placed on several prescription medications to begin the trial and error process to determine which medication(s) would work best. Medications work differently with each person. It was also explained to me that my Mom could have Lewy Body, and not Alzheimer's. The words Lewy Body were completely foreign to me. What the heck was Lewy Body? Lewy Body has the hallucinations and sleep disorders along with other symptoms and falls into the Parkinson family. A definitive diagnosis cannot be made, unless a brain autopsy is performed upon death.

4. My Mom was initially prescribed Namenda, Exelon, COQ10 (400 mg) and a low dosage of Seroquel. The Doctor had said it would take awhile for the medications to get into her system and take affect before the result could be determined. For the next few weeks, I thought I had Dr. Jeckal and Mr. Hyde living with me. My Mom didn't sleep, she thought my Dad was still living and she would scream ""Where is he?"" She thought my 50 year old brother was 6 with the Mumps and would scream ""Where did he go, he is very sick with a high fever?"" Ever few minutes I became a different person to her. She would ask ""Where did the other person go that was just here?"" You could never convince her that you were the same person. Or that her kids were all grown up. She lives in the past when she was a young girl and her Mom was still alive. My Grandmother has been dead for over 50 years. My Mom would go to my son's room and ask him where his parents were and how could they leave him here. She told him not to eat the food it was poisoned. My Mom rarely slept, which meant I didn't sleep. My house has lots of stairs so I was nervous my Mom would get out of bed and go roaming and maybe fall. I slept right next to her or tried. My Mom would put clothes over her pajamas when she got dressed. I became so frazzled you would have thought I was the patient. I finally called the Doctor after a couple weeks and conveyed everything to him. He said some things were symptoms of Alzheimer's and some were side effects of the medications. Now how was I suppose to know what was what. I asked if my Mom could be checked into a facility where they could monitor the various introductions of medications and behaviors to come up with which ones would work. When he said yes, that was all I needed to hear.

5. The hospital facility has a unit that is for the sole purpose of assessing a dementia patient and deriving at a treatment plan. This unit is comprised of a team of Psychiatrists, Internal Medicine Doctors, Social Workers, Physical Therapists and Nurses. The Team works with a small group of patients in an assisted care type of environment. They have a calendar of daily events that the patients participate in. For example, there are exercises, arts and crafts, brain games and afternoon movies. The patient is observed 24/7 for a period of 2 weeks. Each week the team meets to discuss each patient's progress and whether or not the prescribed medications are working or if medication modification is necessary.

6. A psychiatrist meets every day with each patient. The patients wear their normal street clothes and a wander bracelet for safety. During the first 3 days of treatment; it is recommended that family members do not visit. The purpose of no visitation is to assess the patient's true behavior. This type of program is needed and should be available in every city and state throughout America in every hospital. The program only takes patients 55 years old and up. This particular Facility's program should be used as the model to replicate everywhere.

7. At the conclusion of the 2 week stay, they were able to keep my Mom calm so she wasn't up and down and roaming all over and would sleep through the night. My Mom even participated in some classes. She thought she was in school and asked when she was getting her report card. The combination of medication this time around consisted of Namenda, Depakote, Lorazepam, Seroquel, this dosage went from 25 milligrams to a 300 mg time released formula. Everything seemed to be going well until I brought her home. She became very anxious and didn't know who I was. She thought that I was poisoning everything and was going to kill her and my son. When she bathed, she couldn't believe she wasn't turning blue. She came out of the bathroom naked. She said the audience was going to be mad at her. I immediately paged the Doctor and had spoken to him a few times prior. At this point, he said to bring her back. When we arrived at the hospital, my Mom knew something was going on and didn't want to go into the building. She ran from me. The hospital is on a busy street so I naturally panicked. After pretending, I was leaving, I got back into the car and she eventually got in. I drove to the back of the hospital where the team was waiting.

8. My Mom stayed another 2 weeks. During this time she was given a drug called GEODON, 40 mg. After seeing her on this drug, I thought she was cured. She was acting normal, and coherent, and spoke logically. I couldn't believe it. This drug along with the prior medications in 4 seemed to do the trick. My Mom acted normal with me during the remainder of her stay with me in CA. In the middle of August 2009, I transported her to St. Louis to stay with my brother. We share her jointly. I stayed in St. Louis for 2 weeks to ensure the transition would go smoothly.



Another noteworthy event was the flight to St. Louis. My Mom started to act somewhat crazy. She wanted scissors to cut her seat belt so she could get out. She kept fidgeting trying to get it to release. I had placed her in a window seat and made her stay seated until we landed. I tried my best to keep her distracted. Thank God we were close to landing. I think there is something that happens with the brain at high altitudes or under the condition of being in a compressed air environment. I asked the doctors, but no one could answer. Maybe the oxygen supply becomes thinner like when you climb a mountain. I believe there is a direct link with the brain and a person with Alzheimer's behavior so don't transport someone alone, like I did and if you can travel by ground do so.

9. Since my Mom has been in St. Louis and under my brother's care, she was approved as a candidate for a trial research drug program for Eli Lilly. It is approximately a 2 year program. The test medication has gone through many prior test trial programs. The programs have seen much success with the drug. This drug attacks the plaque in the brain and breaks it down. The plaque build-up is what expert believe causes Alzheimer's. My Mom receives an infusion every month. We don't know for sure if she is the patient receiving the actual medication or the placebo, but we believe that she is getting the drug. After the infusion, she becomes very alert and sometimes wakes up during the night. Since being on this trial program though my Mom has lost over 40 pounds and has more or less stopped eating sufficient meals. She is consuming protein shakes which contain 25 grams of protein along with other vitamins and minerals, bananas, berries, vegetable powder, ice cream or yogurt. She drinks these twice a day along with drinking a couple Ensures. We are not sure if her lack of appetite is due to the medication, progression of the disease, or a change in her environment. Her Doctor is okay with her current weight. She keeps asking ""When am I going home, my Mother is looking for me."" My Mom has incontinence and constipation and needs full assistance bathing and dressing. She has fallen a few times due to not always using a walker to steady her gait.

In conclusion, is there any real cure? No. Is there a treatment plan that can work? Yes, however, depending if you take the one doctor one drug at a time approach it may take a lifetime to find out what works and doesn't work and you may end up in the hospital from stress and fatigue. I recommend the team facility approach to expedite results. If Alzheimer's runs in you family, make sure to get a Durable Power of Attorney for Health and Finance and a Will and Living Will put in place early while you are still deemed competent for your health and finance. Also specify your wishes for facility placement should your care become too overwhelming for your family or caregiver. If you have assets, you may wish to gift them early to your heirs, the rule is 5 years or more so they are not taken for payment to get into a facility. There are also rules to qualify for Medicaid. If you are over the threshold but cannot pay 100% of a facility's monthly amount, Medicaid may kick in the difference which falls under paying for the Medically Needy. Medicaid has monthly income and asset thresholds. Check with your state to find out how much those thresholds are. You can normally find this information online.

I have a survey that I created to see if there is any correlation with a person's environment, foods they ate, cleaning fluids or chemicals they may have been exposed to. I am not a doctor or in the medical field, but I feel that if I could see all the data, I may be able to determine if there are any correlations with everyone, what is the common denominator. Doctors are working on curing Alzheimer's and not what is causing it. If you would like to participate with this survey, please email me at comments@herocardsinc.com. Or if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me. As always, let's thank our everyday Heroes, our military, firefighters, police force and especially our doctors, nurses, paramedics, caregivers, etc. Thank you!!!! Hero Cards, Inc. ( http://www.herocardsinc.com )

For more information on Alzheimer's, please go to the Alzheimer's Association website."

Elective C-Section - Would You Do It?

"It's the latest thing. As fashionable as Kabbalah, without all the studying. Madonna did it. So did Elizabeth Hurley. Cesarean section by choice has become almost a fad of sorts. Do Yoga at 8 a.m. Have your baby at 10 a.m. It not only fits your schedule, but your doctors and you get the added benefit of avoiding anything remotely like a labor pain.

Sandy, 34, had an elective Cesarean section and frequently encourages other women to do the same.

""It is so exciting to finally hear other women and members of the obstetric community saying what I have said for the last six years,"" she said. ""I had an elective Cesarean section with my first pregnancy because I had a wonderful female OB who respected my desire to avoid vaginal and pelvic floor trauma. My section was awesome - wide awake and no pain, I was up walking in less than 8 hours.""

Diverse attitudes between doctors and mothers about the ""right"" way to deliver a baby are not only causing confusion for new mothers who are frightened about their first labor and delivery experience, but divisiveness among feminists. For many years feminists fought for the right to take control of their bodies once again and deliver babies naturally without the unnecessary medical intervention that women throughout much of the twentieth century were subjected to. Now, a new generation of feminists assert that it is also their right to choose to deliver their baby without pain. But how safe is an elective Cesarean section?

Some studies and doctors claim that elective Cesarean is just as safe if not more so than a vaginal delivery and that the possible side effects of a vaginal delivery make c-section even more attractive.

Dr. Jennifer Berman, a urologist, author and television personality, said that she elected to have a Cesarean section with her second child and wished she had done so with her first.

""I had a very difficult time with the delivery of my son, Max in December, 1999. I was in labor for 18 hours, which was made more difficult by the fact that I had an epidural too early, which in turn caused the birth process to slow down.

""Max was supposed to have been a seven-pound baby, but was actually nine pounds, eight ounces. His head and shoulders got stuck in the birth canal and he suffered fetal distress. Given my body habitus, he should have been delivered c-section, but I persevered and delivered vaginally.

""My second reason for choosing c-section stems from the work I've done as a urologist. During a reconstructive surgery fellowship last year, I saw women who suffered the effects of incontinence and prolapse. These effects are directly related to vaginal delivery.

""In cases where women are predisposed to incontinence and prolapse, doctors are willing to perform c-section. I experienced incontinence for seven months after Max's birth and it began to recur during this pregnancy.

""Had I seen patients with such problems before Max was born, I would have elected to have a c-section with him, too. I decided that I didn't want to risk more incontinence or prolapse in the future.""

A study performed by H. P. Dietz, MD (Heidelberg) and M. J. Bennett, MD (UCT) and published in the August 2003 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the journal of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, concluded that: Vaginal birth, in particular operative delivery, negatively affects pelvic organ support. This appears to be true for all three vaginal compartments. All forms of cesarean delivery were associated with relatively less pelvic organ descent. These findings may partly explain the protective effect of elective cesarean delivery for future symptoms of pelvic floor disorders.""



Dietz and Bennett studied a total of 200 women, recruited early in their first pregnancy, and examined them during the first and early second trimester, the late third trimester and between two and five months postpartum. A total of 169 women or 84.5 percent showed highly significant increases in organ mobility. In addition, the length of the second stage of labor correlated with an increase in pelvic organ descent, suggesting that vaginal delivery is a major contributor to pelvic organ prolapse.

However, what many advocates of elective Cesarean section do not mention is the fact that the same study also states that the most significant pelvic floor damage occurred in women who experienced an operative vaginal delivery.In particular, women whose babies were delivered with the help of forceps or vacuum extraction experienced the highest degree of damage. In addition, Dr. W. Benson Harer, Jr., president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, while maintaining that every woman should have the right to choose between a Cesarean section and a vaginal delivery, also concedes that many pelvic floor issues (urinary incontinence, uterine and bladder prolapse) can be prevented by improved labor and birth techniques.

Episiotomies are also associated with pelvic floor damage and long-term complications. They have been proven to be unnecessary and harmful in most births, yet the majority of American women are still subjected to this surgical procedure during a vaginal birth.

The belief that Cesarean section is much safer for the baby is also contentious. In fact, the risks to the baby can be substantial. Cesarean section is major surgery and brings with it many risks to both mother and child. Babies born by Cesarean section do not receive the natural stimulation that comes from moving down the birth canal, and therefore must often be given oxygen or a rub down to help them breathe. They also miss out on the natural hormones that are released during vaginal birth to help the baby during his first moments of life.

According to the Mayo Clinic's Complete Book of Pregnancy & Baby's First Year the risks of Cesarean section are substantial for mother and child:

1. Premature birth. If the due date was not accurately calculated, the baby could be delivered too early.

2. Breathing problems. Babies born by Cesarean are more likely to develop breathing problems such as transient tachypnea [abnormally fast breathing during the first few days after birth].

3. Low Apgar scores. Babies born by Cesarean sometimes have low Apgar scores. The low score can be an effect of the anesthesia and Cesarean birth, or the baby may have been in distress to begin with. Or perhaps the baby was not stimulated as he or she would have been by vaginal birth.

4. Fetal injury. Although rare, the surgeon can accidentally nick the baby while making the uterine incision.

Risks to the mother are more common and include:

* 1. Infection. The uterus or nearby pelvic organs such as the bladder or kidneys can become infected.

* 2. Increased blood loss. Blood loss on the average is about twice as much with Cesarean birth as with vaginal birth. However, blood transfusions are rarely needed during a Cesarean.

* 3. Decreased bowel function. The bowel sometimes slows down for several days after surgery, resulting in distention, bloating and discomfort.

* 4.Respiratory complications. General anesthesia can sometimes lead to pneumonia.

* 5. Longer hospital stay and recovery time. Three to five days in the hospital is the common length of stay, whereas it is less than one to three days for a vaginal birth.

* 6. Reactions to anesthesia. The mother's health could be endangered by unexpected responses (such as blood pressure that drops quickly) to anesthesia or other medications during the surgery.

* 7. Risk of additional surgeries. For example, hysterectomy and bladder repair.Researchers at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine also studied the effects of Cesarean section and the results were alarming. After a seven year, population-based, case-control study in North Carolina, the researchers concluded that Cesarean sections cause two to four times more women to die as a result of childbirth than in vaginal deliveries.The authors looked at many factors: demographics, medical risk factor, pre-term delivery, use of prenatal care and health care services, including mode of delivery, to determine what factors were associated with maternal mortality. Style of birth (Cesarean or vaginal) was the most significant factor related to maternal mortality, although whether or not the mother sought prenatal care also had an effect. The study found that the pregnancy-related mortality rate among women with Cesarean deliveries was 35.9 deaths per 100,000 Cesarean deliveries with a live-birth outcome compared to 9.8 deaths per 100,000 vaginal deliveries without complications. The mortality rate for the population presumed to have had elective Cesareans was 18.4 per 100,000 Cesarean deliveries.They concluded, ""Removing barriers to and actively promoting use of prenatal care services and decreasing the rate of Cesarean deliveries could decrease the number of pregnancy-related deaths.""

The increase in Cesarean section births, whether electively or by doctor's order, in the United States is staggering. The World Health Organization (WHO) states, No region in the world is justified in having a Cesarean rate greater than 10 to 15 percent. However, more than one fourth of all children born in the United States in 2002 were delivered by Cesarean; the total Cesarean delivery rate of 26.1 percent was the highest level ever reported in the United States. While the Cesarean delivery rate declined during the late 1980s through the mid-1990s, it has been on the rise since 1996. In addition, the number of Cesarean births to women with no previous Cesarean birth jumped 7 percent and the rate of vaginal births after previous Cesarean delivery (VBACs) dropped 23 percent.



Despite all of the efforts to convince mothers that Cesarean section is just as safe if not more safe for mother and child than vaginal delivery, the United States still ranks 8 in infant mortality among industrialized nations (behind the Czech Republic and Cuba) as of 1998.in the world for maternal death. However the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that maternal deaths are underreported by one half to two thirds, and that half of US maternal deaths are preventable. The rate of death due to childbirth has not decreased since 1982, and increased in 1999.

In an editorial for Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Ingrid Nygaard and Dr. Dwight Cruickshank argue that while they believe offering healthy women who plan small families an elective Cesarean section is justifiable, they do not condone such a recommendation on a routine basis.

""There are many unanswered questions regarding elective Cesarean delivery at term, and it is important that we try to answer them before making this part of the informed consent process. How should we manage the woman who goes into labor before 39 weeks? Is there a point in labor (dilatation and descent) at which time it is too late for Cesarean delivery to benefit the pelvic floor? At least in terms of anorectal physiology, the protective effect of Cesarean delivery is pronounced only if delivery is affected before a cervical dilatation of 8 cm. Is there a fetal size or gestational age below which vaginal delivery is not deleterious to the pelvic floor? As more US women become obese, will the risks of elective Cesarean delivery be greater than anticipated? Obesity itself is a risk factor for urinary incontinence, which may further decrease the value of preventive Cesarean delivery in this population. Given that some racial and ethnic groups are more predisposed to prolapse and incontinence than others, do we manage all patients similarly, or do we take such considerations into account? How should we analyze the economics of Cesarean delivery on demand? Projecting future cost should not rely on the arbitrary charge structure in place today. How do we balance the cost of elective Cesarean delivery with that of treatments for pelvic floor disorders?

""Given the absence of rigorous scientific evidence, we believe that it is currently ill advised to routinely give all prenatal patients the choice of their desired mode of delivery. What appears to be a fairly low-risk proposition in non-obese healthy women having only one or two children is likely not inconsequential in obese women, women with poor nutritional states or medical illnesses, or women who will have several Cesarean deliveries.""

What most obstetricians and midwives do agree on, whether for or against elective Cesarean section, is that mothers need to be informed about all of their options and the benefits and risks of both. Childbirth, even in the 21st century, is still risky business and having all of the information available is the only way mothers can be certain they are receiving the best care."

Top 11 Myths of Home Businesses

"I have a small business providing accounting consulting services which is based out of my home. Most days I LOVE it - it is consistently interesting and incredibly fulfilling. The thing that has surprised me the most is the difference between the perception and the reality of what it means to have your own home business. Here's what I've learned:

Top 11 home business myths:

11. You will not have enough work to make money from home

A lot of people are concerned that there will not be enough work for them to make money from home if they start their own home business. Before starting your own business look into the regional market for your skills (or check online if you are hoping to work remotely). Depending on the local market for your skills and experience you may find that there is an abundance of work available.

MY TAKE: One thing that I found useful during my start-up phase was to work with placement agencies and other contractors in order to find work. Generally you will make less money working with other contractors or employment agencies however you will make invaluable contacts and it will allow you to work consistently.

10. You will not be able to afford to take self employment vacations

It is a common misconception that owners of home based businesses can not afford to take self employment vacations. Contrary to popular belief, with proper planning and good fiscal planning self-employed individuals have a lot more flexibility in the timing and length of vacations that they can take. Employees generally have a limited amount of vacation available to them and get paid for vacation in one of two ways. Hourly employees often receive their vacation pay as an additional percentage on every paycheck, whereas salaried employees are often paid their salary as usual during their time off. Similar to hourly employees, contractors should include vacation pay in their hourly rates or job bids. While market rates and competing bids will sometimes determine the profit you make, there is some flexibility in the rates you charge and there are many factors to consider when setting your rates (more on this below).

MY TAKE: My personal experience has been that successful self-employed individuals must choose between the money they would make during a time period and their desire to have time off. I have prioritized having time away from full-time contracts periodically over the money I could earn during that time. It allows me to try out my own ideas and fully recharge before starting a new project.

9. You will not be able to get a mortgage or small business loan

It is a long held belief that home based business owners have a hard time getting mortgages or small business loans. This is not true. With small businesses and consulting firms on the rise, financial institutions have recognized the need to provide better services and comparable mortgages and loans to self-employed individuals.

MY TAKE: I was an employee when I applied for my mortgage however I have experience working with self-employed clients and friends to successfully apply for mortgages. The first thing I have learned is that it is important to shop around. Some people will be able to leverage their relationship with their bank to get a great mortgage that they couldn't get elsewhere but it is important to be sure that you are getting the best terms. Mortgage brokers are invaluable for shopping around as they can find out the terms a financial institution would offer you based on your specific circumstances. It is also very important that as an entrepreneur you are able to provide the bank with clear, organized business records that show consistent business activity for the past few years.



I have no personal experience obtaining a small business loan or grant. The best sources of information on this are the websites of the major financial institutions and government bodies.

8. You will not be able to get small business health insurance

Many people are hesitant to start a home based business for fear of living without small business health insurance. There are a lot of great benefits providers out there for people who are self-employed. Government and non-profit insurance providers are available for lower income individuals and many other insurance providers have begun offering reasonable health insurance for all self-employed individuals. The key, as with everything, is to do your research.

MY TAKE: My experience seeking benefits for myself has been that there are many companies offering insurance for self-employed individuals but there are some special considerations. Some companies insist that coverage for less than 3-5 individuals will only be offered based on the results of a physical and they may exclude pre-existing conditions from the coverage they offer. It can also be difficult to get coverage in areas such as dental, optical and for specialists such as chiropractors.

7. You will not be able to save for retirement with self employment

Often people fear that they will not be able to save for retirement from self employment without a company pension plan. Financial planning is the key to saving for retirement as an employee or a self-employed individual. Unfortunately many companies are no longer offering pension plans for their employees and therefore the burden of retirement savings on the employed individual is much higher now. Ironically, this shift has meant that self-employed individuals may have an advantage over employees. Most self-employed individuals make their cash up front and pay less in income tax installments and with-holding taxes. This provides them with the cash flow to invest more money in 401ks and RRSPs during the year than employees. Additionally, self-employed individuals often have the option of ""soft retirement"" by shifting to part-time work before retiring completely.

MY TAKE: Personally, my switch to self-employment has sparked me to be more cognizant of saving for my retirement. In fact, my pension savings more than doubled in my first year as a contractor and have continued to grow steadily since then.

6. Your self employment income will be too sporadic to cover your costs

It is common for employed people to fear the fluctuations in self employment income that many people experience. With good budgeting and planning most contractors are able to spread their income over the full year. In fact as an employee your income is fixed but as a self employed individual you can tailor your work schedule to earn more or less money as you need it. Many entrepreneurs find themselves filling downtime or earning ""overtime"" with smaller ventures such as project or interim work.

MY TAKE: Since I started my consulting company I have not had any downtime that I did not plan out as vacation, training or transitional time. Personally I enjoy having one to two weeks off between major projects to work on my own projects and take some time away - therefore I plan for this with both my work schedule and my budgeting.

5. Self employment will look bad on your resume

Truthfully, there are still some places that would frown on some self employment experience on your resume as they may see this as a sign that the person is not suited to be an employee. However, many companies recognize the value of having an employee who shows initiative and has a well-rounded variety of experience. Successful business owners demonstrate many skills that potential employers are looking for such as: leadership; project management; accounting and budgeting; initiative and entrepreneurial spirit.

MY TAKE: In my experience recruiters for full-time jobs will often spread this myth in order to convince you to apply for jobs with their clients. Contracting recruiters will claim that the opposite is true. My experience with employers and human resource professionals has been that they recognize the value of hiring people with the diverse and well-rounded backgrounds that self-employment allows. The main questions that potential employers have are: why did you become self-employed? why do you want to return to being an employee? why now? why here? If you can answer these four questions satisfactorily then even the most skeptical employers will consider your application without reserve.

4. You will make more money with small business earnings

Typically small business earnings are based on higher hourly rates than the effective hourly rate earned by employees and therefore people often assume that contractors make more money for the same amount of work. The truth is that the rates charged by self employed individuals include a premium to compensate consultants for the added risk to the contractor; the convenience factor for the hirer; the costs normally covered by an employer (benefits, pension, some government remittances, vacation, statutory holidays, bonus, double-time, training, supplies, overhead, professional dues and medical or maternity leave); and the cost savings to the employer (administrative and human resource costs such as hiring, termination and severance costs). The larger monetary benefits of working as a contractor seldom come from higher hourly rates but come from lower taxes, more cash flow for pension spending and the ability to control your income by working more or less hours.

MY TAKE: My earnings as a contract worker have been similar to the ""all-in"" salary and benefits%2B amount that I was paid as an employee (with the same growth as my employed contemporaries). The main non-monetary benefit to me has been the ability to work less or more depending on my desire and having more choice over whom I work with and what I work on. The main monetary benefit have been the tax savings I have experienced due to both the additional deductions as a contractor and the additional RRSP (401k) contributions I have been able to make due to the up-front cash I have received.

3. You will be your own boss

You probably want to start your own business in order to be your own boss and truthfully there are many areas of work that contractors have more control over than employees however contractors are not entirely without oversight. As a contractor instead of having just one boss you have many bosses. Every client you have is also your ""boss"" - they determine what you work on, when you work on it, how you work on it and where you work on it. Further, when working on-site for clients it is necessary to comply with all their office rules and guidelines. The other aspect of being your own boss is the responsibility that comes with it. As your own boss you are the one solely responsible for every aspect of your business from beginning to end. You must be comfortable pursuing new work, applying and interviewing for new projects, working at different places on different tasks, and taking care of customer billing and collections.

MY TAKE: As a contractor I can often negotiate my hours, the location of my work, the type of work I do, the companies/people I will or will not work with and the amount of money I get paid. Unfortunately this does not always mean that in the short-term I never have to compromise for a client or project. Some projects dictate that you work longer hours or work outside your region. The main difference is that I have the choice to reject the project or discontinue the work at anytime without legal repercussions.



2. You will set your own hours and work less

Many people start their own businesses in order to have control over how many hours they work but contractors aren't guaranteed to work less than employees. It is true that once you have established your business you can pursue contracts and projects that allow for more flexible hours and less overtime. There is not guarantee, however, that you will always be able to find such projects. Further, as the one who is solely responsible for every aspect of your business, people often find that they are required to work additional hours in order to establish and maintain their business.

MY TAKE: Personally I have chosen to take contracts with longer hours in past due to other considerations (experience, networking, higher rates, great location, etc...) however for the most part I have strived to find positions with flexible hours and little or no overtime. This has given me the freedom to pursue my own projects and spend more time with my family. This has required a lot of planning and budgeting and has generally led to lower annual incomes then I might otherwise earn however the improvement in my quality of life has made this more than worth it.

and the biggest myth of home based businesses...

1. You will always be able to work at home

The words ""home based business"" bring to mind images of working at home while wearing your pajamas. Home based businesses often require travel and/or visitation of external offices. Sales and service jobs typically require meetings with clients. Even remote IT personnel often need to visit their head office periodically. The flip side of this is that, the majority of the time, home based businesses can be run from anywhere - with only a phone and laptop.

MY TAKE: I have taken on contracts which require me to work off-site everyday, four days a week or once a week. I have also done work that was completely remote but I find this to be the exception rather than the rule for my field (chartered accountant).As mentioned above though I have also enjoyed being able to work at home, at the cottage, at campgrounds, at family members houses and many other beautiful places. There is definitely a lot more freedom as to where you work when you have a home based business - but you should not rely on the idea that you can run things without ever leaving your home.

Overall, the best way to know what you are getting into is to do some research. If possible talk to someone in your field who has an established business, talk to local recruiters and businesses about the availability of work, look for contract or project listings online. It is also a good idea to sit down and calculate the amount of money you need to earn every month in order to maintain your desired lifestyle - this will provide you with a benchmark to compare expected earnings to. Whether you decide to take the leap or not it pays to be informed."

Techniques That Integrate Various Techniques to Help With Getting Pregnant!

"I was nearing 40 and finally manifested the right person to enter my life. He wanted to have a child of his own and I was ready to be pregnant again. Our first attempt lead to ectopic pregnancy, which is pregnancy in the tubes. After going through D&C, shots of chemotherapy - I ended up in emergency surgery for internal bleeding. I was now down to a single fallopian tube. The surgery was a traumatic experience as I was not prepared. When you are being rushed into surgery, you start to think of things that you have not thought of before like what if I die.

What is life all about?

Why do we each go through these challenges?

Being a mom is a feeling that made my heart feel like it was overflowing with love. I remember feeling like there was love just oozing out of each pore in my body as I looked in the eyes of my first daughter. At that point you understand what unconditional love is. I used to tear up at times from joy and happiness. I ended up being a single mom for close to 10 years before meeting my soul mate. The love I felt for my daughter help push me into things that I would not have if I had not had her dependent on me.

So here I was nearing 40, with the love of my life and my chances of conceiving was less than 13%! We spend the time and money to go through IVF testing to find out what our chances were. IVF is a great option for those who have trouble conceiving, especially if there are physical limitations.

Being an NLP coach and a spiritual explorer, I have always believed in trying and learning about techniques that are unique. I found a wonderful 'Acupunturist' who specialized in fertility problems for older women.
My first analysis with him lead to things that opened my eyes to a whole new world of accessing information from your body. Since then I have researched and developed many techniques that incorporate how anyone can utilize these signs to help themselves and fine tune their bodies.

Getting pregnant requires timing and bodies being in perfect health to allow for fertilization. I also believe there has to be spiritual energies that need to be in sync. For example, if you want a child but your spouse is not ready to have a child or does not want to have a child, this will interfere with energies. On the flip side, if you sit and visualize and talk about what having a child will bring into your life and discuss the love and excitement of what it will be like, it will exponentially increase your attraction factor. Matter is condensed energy and the more you focus your mental energies the faster you will manifest.

Visualization

Visualization is our imagination and it is the greatest gift we have. You see, our body does not know whether we are actually seeing something or just visualizing it. There has been numerous tests that prove how our body reacts the same way to visualized images as it does for real images. So start to utilize the power to visualize the perfect healthy body waiting for your child, perfect memories with your child, how you will feel, what you will see, think, smell, taste...



Organic Foods

Make a commitment to energize your body naturally. We eat food that have no spiritual or natural energies. Start to eat all natural foods because they contain more than just natural vitamins and minerals, they contain energies that our body knows to utilize. Start to feed your mind and body in positive, natural ways to help you build the perfect state for you and your baby.

When I went to see my acupunturist, he told me to hold off on IVF and to allow him to treat me for three months. At that point, I felt like I didn't have three months I could give up as I was getting older and older and IVF was going to take months just to get ready. But I decided to take try the treatments. My husband and my sister planned a special getaway in Florida for us to try. You see with one tube, I had no idea which side was ovulating. He booked a special night at a resort and we had champagne and talked about what it will be like to have our baby and enjoyed our night.
When I returned my acupuncturist immediately ""tuned-me"" up for implanting.

Two weeks later, I found out I was pregnant. Three weeks later I started to bleed. The emotional coaster I was about to go through had just started. My doctors sent me to get lab tests and sonograms. Sonograms did not show anything. My hormone levels were not increasing as expected. My short lived happiness was turning into fear of another surgery. I felt like I was doing something wrong but didn't know what. What could I be doing that is causing it? There had to be something going on - or so I thought.

Most of us tend to blame ourselves when things do not work out. Part of it is true and part of it is not. If you think about how the universe works and how everyone is manifesting at all times, we are swimming in the sea of energies, so if you are not manifesting your desires strongly, then you are influenced by others. These energies we don't see but our lives are a result of these powers. We don't see wireless data flowing through our computers either but we know it works because we see the results. Manifesting works the same way,-your manifestations, your spouses desires all combine. Belief of trusting the process when you start to take control of your life is the KEY to your success. When I look at my son, I know the reason we went through all the struggles. In my mind, I had to go through all those to get ready for my son. Whether it was his soul, the timing or the right path lining up, you have to have faith that it is all happening for a reason and that it will all line up for YOU!

BELIEF/FAITH
Belief and Faith that everything is lining up for your pregnancy to take place is the one key element most of us lack when we are faced with challenges and problems. But you hear stories of people from around the world who achieve impossible miracles simply by having faith and belief in God, or Goddesses. Whatever you believe in, it provides a channel of energy that is so strong, and I believe, it is the key to manifesting and having all that you want in your life. If you have the belief and the faith it is coming your way without any doubt - the channel is opened! This is one of the things I focus on when I build customized products for my clients. You see everyone is different in their hopes and dreams. Everyone also has certain frequencies that they specifically utilize. Each of us is an energy system. We are constantly changing. You are manifesting, giving off and receiving energies at all times. Whether you are aware of it or not- this is happening. If you decide to take control of it today and see how it changes your life - you can! And ONLY you can do it.

TIME LINE TECHNIQUE
There is a Neuro-Linguistic Programming technique called Time Line. I utilize time line in every session. This is a powerful technique that allows you to fully put your desires in your timeline concept to allow for law of attraction and quantum physics to be put in action. Here are the steps:

1 - Visualize where your time line would be if your past and future are the opposite ends. For some people this is a line going from right to left and others this is a line that goes through them, where their future is in front of them and their past is behind them. I have had clients whose time lines wrapped around them. There is no right or wrong way. However you see your time line is the right way. Make sure you take some time to think about this because it is important to have it exactly right.

Here is a tip of how you can find your time line. When I ask you the earliest memory you have about your childhood, where would that be located? What about something in your future - which direction do you think about or point to when you talk about your past and future. Some people will gesture with their hands from right to left or vs. Some people will gesture over their shoulders for the past.

2- Now that you have your timeline outlined. I want you to put yourself in a relaxed state. You can do this by breathing deeply or playing some classical or soothing music. I want you to step foot in the future on your timeline when you have your baby or when you are pregnant - whichever is the image you think of most often. Now physically move yourself to that spot on your time line. For example; if your future is in front of you, step into that future in your mind and physically.



3- Now we are going to visualize and manifest with all your senses. Now that you have stepped foot in to your future, you can manifest your dream - think about how you are going to feel, what you will see, how you will act, how different your life will be, how your relationship with your spouse is, what you smell, what is around you. Think about how your life is at that point. Include all your sense with your visualizations.

4- Do this on regular basis to put yourself in a happy mood and also to help manifest. Remember the more you focus, the more you create. The stronger your emotions, the stronger your manifestations. If you do this before you go to bed and immediately after you wake up. Your mind will process it all night.

CONNECT WITH OTHERS

Find others who can encourage you and motivate you. If you have people who are negative, they will drain your energy. Surround yourself with positive people. Listen to happy songs, watch happy movies.

DEALING WITH CHALLENGES

We all have challenges that we may not understand. Keeping your faith and belief is the key to overcoming challenges. See them as learning lessons or wake up moments. When I started to bleed, it lead me to discover that my body was rejecting the baby because it could not take care of me and the baby. My kidneys were not strong enough to filter for both the baby and I, so my body was deciding to abort the baby. My regular doctor scheduled me for a D&C where as my acupuncturist told me take herbs to strengthen my kidneys and uterus. One doctor had written my pregnancy off and the other was working to save it! I took herbs and after 2 drinks, my bleeding dropped down to a few droplets. I kept taking my herbs and bleeding stopped. I wasn't going to the bathroom in the middle of the night. I felt hopeful again and decided to take time to meditate. Meditation is alone time with good classical or meditation music. I utilized this time to look at all the events and how all of it was leading me to hold my baby in my arms.

We had challenges, I forgot my herbs while traveling for work and started to bleed again. I raced home to ensure I didn't risk my pregnancy. I went through a lot of emotional roller coaster rides due to tests and expectations. But my acupuncturist guided me through those times.

Our body talks to us. When we are tired, we see it in our faces. When we are unhealthy, our body shows it in so many ways. Learn to read your body. This is what Chinese doctors master.

I hope sharing this with you has made a difference in your life. I would love to hear your story and comments."

Virus-free. www.avast.com

The Secrets of Master Hydroponic Growers

"Starting and running a hydroponics garden may seem a daunting task but is actually a walk in the park. All you need is learn the basics and spend ample time fine-tuning your system. Once you have learned the fundamental concepts, set up your hydroponics garden, and have well adjusted all elements and factors, then everything should be running smoothly.

The secret to hydroponics gardening is that ""the food is in the water."" Designing and setting up your system will focus and depend on this and the types of plants you intend to grow.

So read on to find out more about this secret.

Nutrients: The Perfect Mixture

Foods Your Plant Cannot Live Without

All plants require foods in the form of macronutrients and micronutrients to properly grow and bear the ideal yield. The same is true with hydroponics gardening. The first group is composed primarily of nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium and secondarily of calcium, magnesium, and sulfur. Some of the micronutrients needed by plants are boron, manganese, copper, zinc, chloride, iron, and molybdenum. In growing your favorite plant, it is a must that you use the perfect mixtures of nutrients that vary according to the particular growth stages they are in or else your investment in them will go down the drain.

These are the foods that your favorite plant needs in order to survive, yield the fruits you want in terms of quantity and quality, and grow healthy enough to reproduce:

Nitrogen: Plants need it in order to produce the proteins and enzymes that are used in photosynthesis and to enable the metabolism processes that are involved in it too. The healthy and right dosage of this nutrient will assure your fruit's quality of leaves and rapid seed production.
Phosphorous: It is primarily involved in the creation of oils and starches in plants. It aids in the transformation of energy from the sun into the much-needed chemical energy thus allowing your plant greater stress tolerance and proper maturation.
Potassium: It aids in protein building and ensures that plants have greater endurance against diseases.
Calcium: It makes the cell walls of plants stronger and provides greater strength to them.
Magnesium: It is essential to photosynthesis because it is a major part of chlorophyll.
Sulfur: This nutrient enhances the growth of plants and their resistance to cold weather.
Boron: It is an essential element in the production of seeds and fruits of plants.
Copper: It is an important ingredient in the reproduction processes of plants.
Zinc: This regulates plant growth. It produces auxin, which is and essential growth hormone. Zinc is also essential in the plant's root development and starch formation.
Iron: An ingredient in chlorophyll creation. Iron deficiency in plants can be minimized by choosing appropriate soil for the plant's growing conditions.
Molybdenum: It assists in nitrogen uses. This important nutrient is important in pollen formation.
Manganese: Assists in the breakdown of nitrogen and carbohydrates.
Magic Mixture Ratios Your Favorite Plants Would Love

Just like children, your favorite plants in your hydroponic garden need the right diet so that they will grow productive and healthy. Too much and too less of any of the nutrients will cause you problems that will cause you mental anguish and financial setbacks. You should take into consideration their growth stages before feeding them any mixture, which are the following:

Vegetative stage refers to that brief period of time where the plant begins photosynthesis. This also refers to the growth period where it develops its height, the thickness of the stems, would-be bud sites, and side branching.
Flowering or fruiting stage, which you will find very fulfilling, is the period when your plants will show their sex and bear flowers.
The 2:1:1 NPK Ratio

During the vegetative or growing stage in your hydroponic gardening, your plants should be fed a ratio of 2:1:1 nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and potassium (K). Here are some tips pertaining to the appropriate ratios that can be used during vegetative stage:

A ratio of 20:10:10. This would mean that 20% of the mixture should be composed of nitrogen, 10% should be phosphorous, 10% should be potassium, and the remaining 60% should be composed of secondary macronutrients and micronutrients.
A ratio of 30:15:15. This would require 30% of the mixture to be nitrogen, 15% phosphorous, and 15% potassium. The remaining 20% will be consisted of the secondary macronutrients and micronutrients.
These mix ratios will give your plants greater resources during photosynthesis and result to better quality of leaves and seeds.

The Flowering Mix

When your favorite plants begin to flower, adjust the ratio to 1:2:2 nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. There should be more phosphorous and potassium than nitrogen in the mix. If you use the 20:10:10 ratio during the growth stage, make use of 10:20:20 ratio during the flowering stage. And if you use the 30:15:15 ratio in the vegetative period, you must use the 15:30:30 ratio during the flowering period. With these ratios, your plants will become stronger and bear greater stress tolerance. Furthermore, it is even suggested that during the flowering stage in your hydroponic gardening project, you can stop feeding your plants with nitrogen and focus on phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, and sulfur. Overfeeding just like in the case of humans could kill.

10 Friendly Tips on Formulation and Feeding

There are two ways to procure the magic mixture and the right ratios. You either purchase pre-formulated nutrients or you formulate them on their own. In the first option, all you have to do is combine a standard quantity prescribed by the manufacturers of the concentrate with water. The second option though is the more cost-efficient and effective because your mixes will be based on what your plants would need. Whichever you choose, there are considerations that you must not forget such as the pH level or acid content of the formula because the ability of the roots to absorb the nutrients will depend on it. Here are some friendly tips you can peruse and consider:

Maintain your formulas' pH level at the best range for your favorite plants, which is 5.8 to 6.5. A level of pH at 1 is acidic, at 7 neutral, and 14 basic. You can measure the pH level by using a chemical test kit that needs replenishment because the materials are consumed or through electronic methods such as pens with LCD monitors that are dipped into the solution.
Adjust the ph level if necessary. This can be done by using distilled vinegar. A perfect mixture or balance among phosphoric, nitric, and sulfuric acids is important especially that they maximize the potential benefits that your plants could derive from nutrients such as phosphorous, nitrogen, and sulfur. In order to increase the pH base you can use potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxides. You can use soda as an adjusting agent too.
Use alternative hydroponic systems in feeding the nutrients to the plants aside from those that are already in practice. Those systems that are most commonly used are aeroponics, continuous flow solution culture, static solution culture, flood and drain sub-irrigation, passive sub-irrigation, top irrigation, ultrasonic irrigation, and deep-water culture. Alternative feeding systems include the use of coconut fibers that are pre-treated. They have lesser potassium and sodium contents and are very rich with magnesium and calcium, which are both very useful in increasing or improving the growth of your plants.
Replace the nutrient solution at an interval of two weeks. Remove the old solution from the reservoir and clean the equipment with hot water to kill any unfriendly bacteria that could have been accumulated.
Recycle the old solution. Instead of throwing it away, use it to water the plants.
Maintain the level of the water reservoir. Be sure to check on it on a daily basis because water evaporates faster during hot days.
Do not overdo the feeding. Too much nutrient could lead to the death of your dear plants and would mean great losses on your part.
Dissolve the powdered solution before you place it in the water in the reservoir. If you are using concentrated liquids, better mix them before directly placing them into the water too.
Stop nutrient feeding your plants at least seven days prior to their harvest. Continue the water feeding though.
Oxygenate your water. You can age tap water for three days by placing it in a container.
Ventilation: Managing Heat


(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();
Due to the susceptibility of plants to weather changes, it is important that you manage heat well in your hydroponic garden. Some countries have only two seasons: wet and dry; and one of them is Australia. The dry seasons would usually last for six months where temperature is lower. During the wet seasons, which usually takes a period of six months too, there is too much rain and the temperature is high due to increased humidity in the air. For hydroponic growers like you, these weather changes could pose a lot of challenges because with the use of artificial lighting, natural temperature is heightened by the heat exuded by the artificial illumination. The more wattage you use, the greater heat is generated. Too much heat can kill your favorite plants even before they enjoy growth or flowering.

What You Can Do

There are several things that can be done to manage heat--to increase or decrease it. You must learn how to handle heat because they could either be too low or too high. If it is too low, your plants will die with cold; and with it too low their leaves will coil in and eventually die. These are some simple things you can do:

Use air-conditioners or vent systems to regulate airflow and thus the temperature of your hydroponics space. If air conditioners are too expensive for you in terms of electricity usage, then create a vent system. The most common vent systems are those that make hot air flow from the ceiling of your planting area to another room. Other vent systems are installed to exhaust the air through the chimney, walls, or even roofs. You can use simple equipment such as bathroom fans to serve as exhaust.
Monitor the humidity and temperature of your hydroponic growth area through a thermometer. Create a system that can clear up the heat in five minutes and in cycles of twenty-five minutes when the artificial lightings are turned on. You need a timer and fan for this type of system.
Set up a system that is based on thermostat. It will automatically turn a fan or air-conditioner on when a specific temperature or heat level is reached and will turn off the cooling equipment when the level decrease by at least 4 degrees Celsius.
For internal air movement purposes, oscillating fans will do. It will aid carbon dioxide circulation and at the same time will keep down the mounting humidity inside the garden. This is necessary to be done in order to reduce incidence of plant ailments due to fungus and absorb the moisture in the room.
To avoid declines in temperature, which usually takes place at night or when your artificial lighting is off, you should install a propane heater that is set to coordinate with a thermostat or timer. If you decide to use a thermostat, set it to detect a temperature fall below 20 degrees Celsius and to turn on the heater and to turn it off once the heat level is at 30 degrees Celsius. Furthermore, this system will provide your plants greater resources of carbon dioxide, which is an essential element in photosynthesis.
Installation of a thermo-hygrometer. You can switch it on for a period of twenty-four hours or longer. It will provide you accurate monitoring of the levels of humidity and temperature.
Lighting: Fluorescent and HPS

Light is needed by your favorite plant even in your hydroponic garden for photosynthesis and as indicators of weathers and seasons. With hydroponics lighting systems, you could control the time and duration of the exposure of the plants to light for purposes of standardizing the photosynthesis cycles. With them you could also simulate the seasons in order to encourage them to flower and extend the growing season so that you would enjoy year-round supply of your favorite plants and fruits. Imagine that even in seasons of winters, your plants would still continue to grow and prosper. If humans are provided calories by fats, plants get them from light. With artificial lighting, your favored plant could grow as high as six feet tall in three or four months.

Great Artificial Lighting Systems

Your favored hydroponic plant will surely bloom to its fullest potential and give you the best quality and quantity possible through the following artificial lighting systems:

Fluorescent and LED (or light emitting diodes) are best used during the stage where the seedlings of your plants are starting to grow.
Metal halide (or MH) and high pressure sodium (HPS) systems would be best for the flowering stage.
Fluorescent Bulbs Explained More

Fluorescent bulbs are ideal for seedlings, and because of their low intensity they need to be placed nearer the plants. They should be hanged at least eight to fifteen inches from the plants. They have the following benefits:

Enhancement of the health and strength of seedlings or cuttings
Superior root growth and quality
Maximize the plant response in terms of photosynthesis
Unveiling Metal Halide Bulbs

They provide your hydroponic garden abundant blue and green spectrum light, which is essential in the growth of the plants. With them, you can be assured that your plant's leaf growth would be maximized and they will grow sturdy or compact. Compared to fluorescent and incandescent bulbs, they are best for the flowering stage because their brightness is 125 lumens, which is quite enormous compared to the 18 lumens of incandescent and 39 lumens of fluorescent bulbs. They are both efficient and effective during the vegetative and flowering stages.

HPS Bulbs at Their Best

High pressure sodium bulbs are considered as best for the enhancement of the budding and flowering processes of your favored plants because they emit light of the red and yellow spectrum. In other words, they are bulbs emitting light that closely imitates natural light. Most users prefer them during the flowering stage of their hydroponic garden.

Basic Lighting Tips You Must Practice

Whatever your preferred system is for your hydroponic garden, you should not forget to do the following in order to maximize your plants' health, growth, and reproduction:

For two months, continuously expose the young plant or seedlings to light. When in vegetation stage, illuminate them at twenty-two hours in a day; and when they are flowering, keep them lighted at a maximum of twelve hours a day.
Keep the light close to the plants, but never allow them to touch even the leaves. When the edges of their leaves curl, it means that they are overheated.
During the vegetation stage, use bulbs that emit blue or red bands of the spectrum. Metal halide lamps provide the blue light; and fluorescent, the red light.
Minimum light exposure is twenty watts per foot. You can go much higher but not too high or else your plants may fry and not too low because they might droop.
Fix the lamps to the roof to afford you flexibility. As the plants grow taller, you can raise the bulbs higher.
Use reflectors to ensure uniform illumination among all your plants. Those that do not get sufficient light as the others would grow disfigured, taller, and thinner.
Plan and design a daily lighting cycle. If you will not do this, your plants will grow poorly. And if you wake them up when they already have been accustomed that it is the dark period of the day, they will be traumatized and could become ill.
Paint your walls, roofs, and even floors with white to provide greater light reflection capacity of your space. Brighten the days of your favorites and make them feel loved and cared for.
Clones: Increasing the Success Rate of Your Hydroponic Gardening

Cloning is simply taking a cutting from your growing plant and placing it together with other cuttings in a separate pot or container. Be sure that the clone you choose comes from female plants. When properly taken cared of, they will become mature plants that are exact copies of the original or source plants. It is a method that would surely aid you in controlling the quality of your plants, seeds, and their fruits. The clones grow faster than those that are raised from seeds, and this will make your time usage more efficient.

Useful Tips to Improve Your Success Rates

Clones are very effective tools in reproducing your plants in your hydroponic project. You must take extra care though to ensure the success or else you will just be wasting time, energy, and money on them. These are useful tips that could help you:

Only clone plants that are healthy, well developed, and have enhanced flowering capabilities.
Take more cuttings than you need to plant so that you will have a wider range of choices. Choose among them the best.
Before taking a cutting, remove the nitrogen from the source plant by feeding it heavily with water that is pH adjusted and without any fertilizer or nutrient for at least two and maximum of three days. If you fail to do this, you will impede the growth of the roots of the clones.
Choose well the media that you will use for your clones. You can make use of cubes that are pre-formed and contain holes fit for the cuttings.
You should cut holes in the top of the medium that would be of the same size or circumference as the stems of your clones.
Take extra care when you cut. Do not forget to sterilize your cutting equipment before you proceed with the cloning process because you might infect the mother plant. Be sure that when you cut, you do it quickly in order to keep air from being shot into the stem.
The clone should be between three and six inches long--no more and no less. There should at least be one leaf inter-node and if possible, two inter-nodes.
Place the cuttings in a misting dome where they will be artificially moisturized two to three times in a day. Keep them well ventilated too by cutting small holes on the top of the dome. Maintain their temperature at 72 degrees to 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
Use double tube fluorescents that emit white light--both cold and warm. Keep them close to the clones at a distance of one or two inches. In case you use an artificial lighting system that utilizes metal halide bulbs or high pressure sodium lamps, keep the cuttings at a distance of two or three feet if the light source is between 175 and 400 watts. If the bulbs' wattage is at least a thousand, keep them at a distance of at least four feet. Keep the cuttings illuminated at least eighteen hours a day.
Water the clones every two days with distilled water with nutrients. If the external temperature is high, you can water them once a day. Do not make the mistake of submerging or setting them in water because the stems will become rotten or decayed.
In about a week, check on the clones. If you see that they have started to root, stop the misting or artificial moisturizing procedures. If they have properly rooted already, remove them from the dome and plant them.
Harvest: Curing the Correct Way

The Right Time to Harvest Your Hydroponic Garden

If you have reached as far as this, it only means one thing: you have been successful with your plants' growth and flowering stages. You have won over the challenges of hydroponic gardening and triumphantly circumvented the adversities of raising your beloved fruits. The average harvest time is after eight to twelve weeks of flowering. You must remember that they are best harvested when trichomes production or THC level is at a maximum. An indicator of this is when at least a third of their pistils or hairs have turned from white to dark such as brownish or reddish in color. Use a magnifying glass to monitor the pistils. Do not over-wait though until all of the pistils are dark because it will decrease the value of your plants.

Potency and quantity are two non-parallel objectives in harvesting. If the former is your goal, you should harvest when the THC level production is at its maximum and your harvested plants will weigh lesser but their quality would be a lot better. If the latter is your target, then harvest them after all the pistils are dark.

Drying to Improve Quality

After harvest, you have to separate the leaves from the buds. The next step would be to dry and cure them. You must not forget that your leaves and buds leave a bad taste in the mouth and have harsh aroma if they are used or consumed right after harvest. They must be dried to take out or evaporate the water from them. The curing step will complete the drying process and completely transform the leaves of your plants to bearers of good dreams and magic. Here are some things you must do when drying your plants:

Hang them in an environment that is dry, dark, and cool. Keep the temperature at 20 degrees Celsius or 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Too much heat and light will destroy their quality.
Do not directly handle the plants. Avoid damaging the quality of the heads, buds, and leaves by contaminating them with dirt or the sweat of your hands.
Separate the large branches and wider leaves in order for you to give better drying exposure to the smaller branches and narrower leaves.
Keep the drying branches at a distance of half a foot. When they are too close to each other, your plants might attract mold; and when they are too far from each other, they will be dried faster than what is necessary. Both situations will lead to the loss of potency and decrease in quality.
The average drying period is between a week and three weeks. To check if your plants have properly dried up already, take some branches and bend them. If they would snap at an angle of 90 degrees or less, it means that your plants are well dried already. If they will not, then you have to let them dry some more.
The Magic of Curing

Curing is an important procedure in your hydroponic gardening project as they are responsible for transforming your plants into marketable products with quality that is of high commercial values. Just be sure that before you do any of the steps related to curing, you have properly dried them. Observe the following tricks and for sure, you would enjoy the triumph that you have longed for:


(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();
Place in air-tight containers your plants. Store the containers in a room where the temperature is stabilized at 20 degrees Celsius. Be sure that no light will permeate the room because it will damage the product.
Any remaining moisture in the contents of the sealed containers will definitely evaporate and cling to the internal surface of the containers. Slowly open the lids and let the extra moisture escape. Do this during the first week at an interval of twenty-four hours for about a period of thirty minutes. During the second week, repeat the process at an interval of forty-eight hours. Repeat this in the third week and other succeeding weeks if necessary until all condensation is removed.
Watch out for possible decay caused by too much moist. Signs of decay include a smell that is the same to that of compost and new grass clippings.
Keep the dried plants that are not so green anymore stored in air-tight containers that should be placed in a place with a temperature of twenty degrees Celsius.
Keeping them in a fridge would help a lot in avoiding exposure to contamination, heat, and light that could cause deterioration of quality and shortening of shelf life. Keep them untouched for several weeks or months.
Prevention and Eradication

The prevention and eradication of bugs have been one of the most important concerns among hydroponic planters and scientists in agriculture. With the advent of more scientific researches and methods in studying bugs, modern science have came up with innovative methods to counter the growth and prevent the existence of bugs. The most recent and effective so far is biological pest control. This method is simple and only requires that friendly bugs are introduced to the environment to counter the damage of harmful bugs.

The Predator Bugs You Must Destroy in Your Hydroponic Garden

At different stages, your plant could suffer from different kinds of bugs. You should be familiar with them so that you will know how to prevent and destroy them. During the growth of the seedling of your plants the following bugs could infest them and either kill or damage them:

Cutworms: Larvae of the turnip moths. They feed on the leaves, stems, and buds of young seedlings.
Hemp flea beetles: They are very small jumping beetles that eat the leaves of seedlings.
Crickets: They are harmful to humans but very deadly to plants because they feed on leaves and buds, especially those that are just at their early growth.
When your plants grow taller and develop wider leaves and when they also start to flower, the following bugs would surely give you tons of headaches unless prevented:

Spider mites: They are very small and almost invisible to the human eyes. They reproduce at a very fast rate; and before you know it, they have destroyed your whole crop. The proof of their presence is usually the occurrence of dead spots on the leaves. When they have powerfully infested your plants, the leaves will turn yellow, almost the shade of bronze.
Aphids: They are also called plant lice and are very common in temperate zones. They feed on the sap of plants and are most likely to damage the flowers even before they bloom.
Whiteflies: They look like fruit flies but are more devious because they chew on the leaves and flowers of your dear plants.
Leafhoppers: Taxonomy wise, they are like grasshoppers just pretty smaller. They thrive on green leaves.
Other bugs that could infect the stems, stalks, and roots are the following:

European corn borers: They are generally found in corns, but they have also been observed to damage your favorite plants' stems.
Hemp borers: Most of the time they infest fruits, but they also love the stalks of your green healthy produce.
Weevils: They prefer dry plants or environment. They are dangerous destroyers of stalks and stems.
Root maggots: They feed on the roots of plants. They damage the osmosis capability of the roots.
Termites and ants: Self-organized insects that feed on the roots and are capable of adapting to whatever environment the plants are in.
Fungus gnats: They are dark small flies with short lives but vicious effect on the roots they infest.
The Best Solutions

There are many available solutions that would help you eradicate and prevent bug infestation of your favored plants. Five of these techniques are the following:

Biological pest control through the use of a beneficial or small animal that eats the bugs that damage your plants. They control adult pests and destroy their young, eggs, and larva. Some examples are predatory mites to counter greenhouse mites, nematodes for weevils, lace wing for aphids, and parasitic wasp for white flies.
Bio-best spray that either come in concentrates or spray cans. All you have to do is spray it on the affected leaves.
Sticky plates that serve as the alarm systems, and they draw bugs because of their yellow color.
Plant protectors that emit odors that are bug repellants.
Neem oil that damages the nervous systems of bugs.
Sound Preventive Measures

Eradication could be very expensive, and prevention could cost you nothing at all. Here are some suggestions that you may consider to prevent bugs infestations in your growth room:

Always clean your tools before and after using them.
Maintain proper drainage to ensure cleanliness of the area.
Do not overwater because the unused water can become the haven of bugs.
Quarantine infected plants to prevent others from being infested too.
The Perpetual Harvest: Sea of Green Techniques

These techniques involve the harvesting of batches of small plants that mature early. They refer to that method in hydroponic gardening where smaller plants are grown over shorter periods of time instead of growing few big plants over a long period of time. With hydroponics where the environment is controlled from lighting to ventilation, it is possible to start one batch at an earlier time, and as they mature, another batch is started. This method results to a year-round growing and harvesting cycle. Another way of doing this is starting all the plants together and creating a green canopy where you let your plant be harvested more times than once. Taller plants will be harvested from the top first without uprooting them. As the plant grows some more, the earlier lower level becomes the top that is ready for harvest."

Virus-free. www.avast.com