aeroponics- 54 gallon rubbermaid- 3 inch net pots

[lokeeca]

i am currently trying to make an aeroponics system with a 54 gallon rubbermaid tote. i have seen a lot of do it yourself videos that use these containers. my question is how many 3 inch net pots should i use for one container. please keep in mind that i will be letting the plant grow from start to finish in a 3 inch net pot. i have seen some growers use 8 sites in this big container and i have seen some growers use 32 but they didnt say if there grow was successful or not. what is the maximimum amount of 3 inch net pots i can use without affecting the plants roots or health?

 

[BuddyLuv]

What are the dimensions of the tote?

 

[DirtySouth]

I suggest buying 2. That way when you do a res change all ya go is set the new res. and move the lid over. I'd stay w/ 6-8 6" pots. You do not want to get cheap totes for the weight of the plants will cause the lid to buckle. Go to Home Depot and get 2 "strong boxes" as you can see they will hold 170 w/ no problem. Also your roots w/ be huge. They will push up from the bottom of the tote pushing your pots out, thus the 5 gal buckets w/ a snap on lid-pot.

 

[HydroManiac]

I suggest trying something small and buying the right rigging pvc pipes etc..

 

[Barbapopa]

I was just using something similar that I had made. I put a 3" pot between the ribbing of the lid, much like the lid in the pic that Dirtysouth posted. On his lid you could get about 20 plants in there, the corners would not be usable. If you cut through the ribbing it makes the lid weak. And that's bad. If you go this route, you may need to get a water chiller as well due to the fact that the submersible pump needs to be on 24 x 7 so it tends to heat the water up and plants do not like that.
On my grow I had room for 17 plants per tote x6. I have since scrapped them due to many issues encountered with aero. Aero is great, except when it f***s up then everything dies Example if the pumps goes out, power goes out, mist heads get clogged etc.