new aero grow

[bonclyde]

hiya folks i've just made an aeroponic system and it works brill, should have done it years ago. been with soil for so long, the results with this system is so much faster. can't believe the results on the roots in a matter of a few days, the roots are already about 4-5 inches long and theres masses of them!

Just a few questions tho, the water temp is sitting at about 80deg f, what would be the ideal temp for this setup? got a 600w and 250w lights in room plus 3 x2 strip fluoros for other plants at 70watts each. got extraction fan and blower in room plus got a small fan at bottom of aero tank blowing cool air but temp wont' really go down any further.

Also, as a wee experiment i took a cutting and just stuck it in the aero system thru the mylar and its sitting pretty will send pics in when i get a chance. I'm sticking with this system now anyway, don't think i'll go back to soil after the results i'm seeing.

Next question, anyone else that uses an aero system, how long in total do the grows normally take ie from start of veg to end of flower as it seems pretty quick, when would be the ideal time to switch from veg to flower?

Also has anyone had any probs with the roots getting so big that they interfere with the misters/sprayers? the depth of the tank i'm using is about 750mm. The misters are sitting at about 400mm just above water res level, so i have about 300mm room for the roots, but looks like they are going to hit the bottom pretty soon! Judging by the way they've performed up until now anyway i'm going to have to flower soon i think.:)

[PharmaCan]

bonclyde - I don't know the answers to your questions, but, since you seem impressed with your root growth, check out the root photos on this page (http://boards.cannabis.com/hydroponics/112455-racerxs-g13-3000watt-recirculating-dwc-grow-2.html) and see what you may be in for.

Good luck with your grow!

PC :thumbsup:

[bonclyde]

Pharmacan that looks pretty scary!!! nice but scary, think i may have to adapt my current setup to accomodate the potential root growth, i am going to have to expand my system anyway as i have about 60 seedlings that will need transplanted soon plus about 60 cuttings that are all looking good. i was thinking of seperate tanks for the plants and a seperate tank for the res, as it is a bit of a pain lifting the plants out to check the ph and ppm, as currently i need to do this about 3-4 times a day as the ph keeps going up. if i had a seperate res for the water and nute mix it would be easier to maintain and clean i think.

Or heres where i'm getting carried away, or so the other half thinks anyway!, use a high pressure 12v 160psi pump lol using compression fittings plus plastic pipe for the misters, in the ranges of 100+ misters as it will have to supply quite a few plants and a heavy amount of rootage judging by those pics i saw on that grow.

Any advice from others would be great, and what you's think about my current and potential setup, cheers.

[palerider7777]

my ph was doing that when i had them in the dwc buckets. so i switched to 30 gal rubbermaid tubs that holds 8 plants each. and my ph has stayed the same since and that was 2 weeks ago. it started out at 5.8 and it's now at6.1 and from what i have read thats still in the range it needs to be in. i have 2 res filled to 22 gals each. and 1 at 10 gals i just wanted to see if there was a diffrence and all of them are staying the same. so i don't know what was causing the ph to do that. but when i went to a bigger set up it stoped so

[palerider7777]

what does ur set up look like??

[bonclyde]

hiya palerider thanks for the info re ph. I've since been doing a bit more investigating and found that perhaps the root growth with aeroponics may not be as much as with the bubblers etc, i came to this conclusion as i've been looking at other systems where they use the big pipes for holding the plants. i don't understand how the roots don't clog the system when they don't have much room to grow in great length in those pipes, ie clogging the misters or sprayers, as the pipes are only so much in diamater. SO i'm thinking that they maybe don't get that long/big with aero?

I've grew in soil for a few years and a bit of a newbie to the hydro concept, but hope that my setup will work ok. I'm going to try having a separate res for the water/nute mix with the pump in it and have the pipes going to the seperate tanks holding the plants so that the misters and sprayers are the only other thing in the tank apart from the plants, and the run off going back to the seperate res via another pipe.

I don't have any pics of my setup just now as i don't have a dig camera, i might try the camera on my phone to get a few pics and post them soon if they turn out ok. My setup may look a bit guerillaish, but basically i've had to work with what i could get my hands on for as little cash as poss as funds are limited and can't afford to splash the cash too much. i basically used my old cold water tank and drilled some holes in a sheet of thick fibreglass for the net pots, used some 22mm pipe and compression fittings to hold the misters and sprayers, and the pump sits in the bottom of the tank, and some total blackout over the top to minimise light getting into the roots. recently got two more pumps to expand my setup as i need to start flowering soon, so i'll be buying another couple of plastic tanks, prob 90litre ones and a sep one for the water and nutes and pump.

what do u think? sound any good, its when you look at the price of what an aero system costs, i've managed to kinda build one for a fraction of the price, and get more plants out of it too, hopefully anyway!!

[palerider7777]

i can't really tell with out the pics but i have a set up for 35 plants (if i wanted to)and it cost 10$ea for the tubs 7 ea for the 3/4inch pipe and misters 360% and 20 ea for the water pumps + i also have mine set up on air stones the air hogs 1 in ea tank with 1 big 270 air pump with 4 lines one to each tank i got the light set up for free so i have around 600$for everything else tri meter pumps res 5inch net pots nutes

[bonclyde]

hiya i managed to get some pics although they're not that good, had to take them with my camera phone. I also had to move the aero tub from grow room into small cupboard as it was getting too hot with the other lights in the growroom.

The tub i made has holes for 36 plants although think it would get a bit crowded if i put all of them in, so i've kept it to 21 plus 2 clones as a trial to see if they take without putting them in rockwool.

i got most of the stuff off ebay ie the misters, tubing, connections, pump, the tank was my old cold water tank and i used 22mm pipe from b+q ( a homeware store) as well as the connection fittings for it, and had to buy a digital ph tester and truncheon as well, so it all came to about £150 ( about $300 i think), and i could have probably bought an aero system for that amount but i've still got bits and bobs left over for the other tanks i might make up, so not too bad overall i think. i also got the bluelab truncheon for a bargain price off ebay so saved a bunch there too. i'll see if i can attach the pics and see what you think, the roots look pretty good though i think. they've only been in the tank for about a week or so, and the roots were only just starting so show when i put them in.

[palerider7777]

thats lookin nice how old are they mine are about 2 weeks old and are far from that.are they clones or seeds?

[bonclyde]

hi palerider thanks for the compliment! They range from 2-4 weeks old, i've been adding them to the system as they are ready and they are half clones and half seeds.

the seeds were from plants that we had that a mate was looking after that seeded (he had hermies in the growroom and think they pollinated the plants or something to that effect), the plants budded as well though so smoked the bud and we kept the seeds and thought we would see if they would hatch, nothing to lose so thought what the hell, which they did and to be honest they seem pretty strong!

I've got about another 30 or so seedlings on the go just now and they're looking ok. The clones were from a batch of skunk. we think the seeds are a cross of grapefruit and chronic. I've added a couple more pics but some wouldn't load and they were good pics of the roots as well, but they seem to be doing fine. Have you got any pics of your grow? I'm adding a couple of pics of the clones in my other post that i'm querying cloning with hydro/aero if you want to have a look.

Its fun having a wee experiment with the aero system though, didn't think the results would be like what they are in comparison to the soil, i knew it would be good but didn't know this good!

[palerider7777]

i have a thread under (this is what i have )it's in the hydro section

[bonclyde]

palerider your setup looks pretty cool, my seeds are quite spangly as well, i've got them next to the fluoro's and they still stretch, it doesn't seem to matter what kind i get, they always seem go like that, but with a fan blowing on them too it makes them strong wee buggers!

[palerider7777]

yea the pics were takin when i was building it it looksalot better in there now but yea i was keeping them in the seedling dome and right under 300w of fluoro's and they still stetched so i put my new batch (ww ice crystal) in the dome but i moved it to be right under the 1000w of mh so i'll see how that does

[bonclyde]

hi guys just thought i'd put a wee update on to how the babies are doin, they're doing pretty good, gettin bushier and i've bent a couple over slightly, also the roots on most of them are about hitting the bottom of the tank!! Although not all the roots are like that, the pic i've taken with the mass of roots on the right hand side, there seems to be alot more rootage there and bulkier, whereas the others are gettin longer, don't know if this is normal? anyway they look good and just thought i'd share it with you's. gonna flower soon, thinkin about transplantin them into bubblers to give them more room for the roots. think this tank is good for veg but not big enough for flowerin, should have thought about this eh?! never mind, the bubblers give damn good results too so I'm sure i won't be disappointed, gonna move the aero tank back into veg room for bringin the others on:)

[bonclyde]

guess nobody's too interested in my grow!! Any input/suggestions/feedback would be greatly appreciated!

[palerider7777]

mines about the same i guess u have to have a few thousand post on here be4 they will say more than 2 words to u it seems clickish like around here lol u know what i mean?

[palerider7777]

hey wait am i considered nobody?? lol well i guess here i am.and one of my fav movies is my name is nobody the best movie of all time:)

[bonclyde]

lol palerider you make me laugh lol think your right mate:D never mind at least we like our grows man, hows yours comin on, infact i'll check your post out. cheers:thumbsup:

[palerider7777]

damn what happened