I am getting ready to start building an aeroponic system and I have a (dumb) question. First off, from all of my research I can't seem to find a time period for which to spray the roots? By this I mean how often for how long......I am sure this is something best tweaked with experimenting but I would like to get a general idea before I get started. Any help would be very appreciated, I am new to the grow scene but have been doing my homework for about a year now, mostly reading books ( my lask of internet use has hurt me in this I am sure up until now).
Tater
08-21-2008, 05:57 PM
Are you running a true aeroponic setup with a spray size of >50 microns? Or a aero hybrid type deal like I'm using with sprinklers or pin sprayers and a lower volume pump? IMO true aeroponics is a waste of time and energy when trying to grow as the roots need to be suspended and you need to have huge pumps and high pressures in order to obtain the droplet size. Not only that but root suspension becomes a problem. Anyways onto the question, you can run your spayer 24 hours a day because root rot and oxygen are not a problem in a sprayer setup. Or you can run your pump say every 15 minutes for 5 minutes whatever you want, I suggest just running it 24 hours especially if you are running hybrid setup where the roots will be sitting in the rez as this will constantly recirculate the water in your reservoir and keep the oxygen levels way up without the need for an air pump in the rez.
Elven
08-21-2008, 09:04 PM
Are you running a true aeroponic setup with a spray size of >50 microns? Or a aero hybrid type deal like I'm using with sprinklers or pin sprayers and a lower volume pump? IMO true aeroponics is a waste of time and energy when trying to grow as the roots need to be suspended and you need to have huge pumps and high pressures in order to obtain the droplet size. Not only that but root suspension becomes a problem. Anyways onto the question, you can run your spayer 24 hours a day because root rot and oxygen are not a problem in a sprayer setup. Or you can run your pump say every 15 minutes for 5 minutes whatever you want, I suggest just running it 24 hours especially if you are running hybrid setup where the roots will be sitting in the rez as this will constantly recirculate the water in your reservoir and keep the oxygen levels way up without the need for an air pump in the rez.
Hey Tater I am building my first aero system also. I was going to use a separate res, is that a bad idea. my containers are about 16 inches tall, is that tall enough without having the roots in the res. or should I cut enough of the top of the res and the bottom of the aero chamber to allow a full 32 inches of hang for the roots? There are pics of the containers that I will be using on my build. I was going to stack on on the other. If I should just use one I would have much more grow room verticaly. Maybe to much for SOG?
Let me know what you think, and thanks in advance. :D
Tater
08-21-2008, 09:39 PM
Elven sounds good to me, I kept mine simple when I built it and just put a sprayer arm in a rubbermade tub that is about 18 inches or so deep, half the roots sit in the water the other half dangle and get sprayed. Your way sounds like it would work really well because they would get more oxygen just be careful and make sure you find a way to stop the roots from clogging the return or else your sprayers will fill that tub till it becomes top heavy and falls over causing a water fall in your house lol. No fun. If you stacked them and just let them hang that would be awesome and I would love to see pictures of it, I've been thinking of trying it myself. OMG I seriously totally forgot what was going on because I daydreamed about my grow rooma nd just came up with a sweet idea. Thanks man, I'll let you know how it works out.
OH PS the nice part about your roots hanging in the nute solution is that if you ever have a pump breakdown or a clogged nozzle or a power failure etc etc etc, the plants will be fine for a day with no interference from you and if its absolutely necessary you can throw an airstone in and convert it to a poor mans dwc in seconds. Could be the difference between losing and smoking a crop.
Elven
08-21-2008, 10:17 PM
Elven sounds good to me, I kept mine simple when I built it and just put a sprayer arm in a rubbermade tub that is about 18 inches or so deep, half the roots sit in the water the other half dangle and get sprayed. Your way sounds like it would work really well because they would get more oxygen just be careful and make sure you find a way to stop the roots from clogging the return or else your sprayers will fill that tub till it becomes top heavy and falls over causing a water fall in your house lol. No fun. If you stacked them and just let them hang that would be awesome and I would love to see pictures of it, I've been thinking of trying it myself. OMG I seriously totally forgot what was going on because I daydreamed about my grow rooma nd just came up with a sweet idea. Thanks man, I'll let you know how it works out.
OH PS the nice part about your roots hanging in the nute solution is that if you ever have a pump breakdown or a clogged nozzle or a power failure etc etc etc, the plants will be fine for a day with no interference from you and if its absolutely necessary you can throw an airstone in and convert it to a poor mans dwc in seconds. Could be the difference between losing and smoking a crop.
You know what Tater I think that I may just do a one stage with roots in nute solution for right now. maybe once I get the hang of the basic setup I can go large. Anyway that gives me more room to grow. could you take a look at my build journal and let me know what you think of my net pot configuration. its a pdf that is saved.
