Need advice on aeroponics systems

[mahatma]

I will be purchasing a new hydro system to fit my current (2) grow rooms, and need advice from anyone familiar with aeroponic systems. My room dimensions are L-5',W- 2', H-3' and L-5', W-6', H-7'. The small room has a 400 watt HPS and the large room has two 1000 watt HPS. For the smaller vegetive growth room , I intend to use half the space (approx. 2 ½' X 2' X 3') keeping 4 - 8 mothers alive indefinitely for cuttings, and the other half of the space for 8 daughters in their vegetive stage. The larger flowering room can hold up to 32 plants. The trick to estimating the equipment, space, and timing requirements for an operation like this, is having a good knowledge of the four different stages of growth: mothers, clones, veggies, and flowers. For example, one needs to know approximately how quickly or how many clones a mother plant can produce, as well as how long it takes for flowers to ripen. If sizing the systemâ??s input capacity (the capacity of the mothers to produce cuttings) with its output (the capacity to ripen flowers) werenâ??t tricky enough, one needs to coordinate the cloning and veggie stages into the operation as well. Here is how I estimate this timing will work with my new system: Four mother plants should produce at least eight cuttings for cloning every two weeks. The clones would then be placed in an aeroponic cloning machine where they should take two weeks to root. After rooting, eight of the clones would be placed in the larger aeroponic growth system. They would be grown vegetatively for two more weeks, then moved into the flowering room where they would spend eight more weeks flowering. The whole operation is based on a two week cycle, where the mother plantsâ?? input of eight cuttings every two weeks correlates with the harvesting of eight plants every two weeks. Do these estimations seem plausible or are they way off the mark.

Two more specific questions:
Most manufacturers of aeroponics offer two types of systems in their product line: one for cloning and the other growth. My question concerns the larger growth systems, which come fairly standard with five inch baskets spaced about eight inches on center. Since the manufactures do not offer larger aero systems capable of handling â??tomato sizeâ?� plants, like the drip systems which use large buckets and clay pellets for a media, I must assume that the compact aeroponic systems must be large enough to handle plants to their maturity. Admittedly, I have some doubts about this because the spacing and basket sizes seem so small. However, my belief is that these systems are indeed big enough, because they were probably engineered to be used in a Sea-of-Green operation, where the plants are kept small and close together. I just need some reassurance on this point.

I had intended to grow my mothers in 5 gallon buckets with a soil mix. However, Iâ??ve considered growing them hydroponically in one of those â??tomatoâ?� buckets currently on the market. Can someone advise the best way to keep mothers?

[Tech]

Well i know little about airoponics but I do know one small mother should supply you with about 15 cuttings a month .
No need for four of them unless they are differen,t strains that you like to keep.
I also think you are being a bit optamistic about your rooting times of two weeks and veging time of two weeks , I would say a month for each, twice as long.
But your idea is fine , if you get it all up and running without problems you should have a harvest every two weeks .
The only bastard is having to flush the ripe ones with fresh water so you will have a full time job flushing them by hand or changing em onto a seperate iragation system.

And to your other question i suppose you would have to get a comercial system to be any bigger as all these are for cultivating in a cupboard or a closet.

Looking after a mother is easy just look after it like you would any other plant food water light . A few days b 4 taking cuttings it is recomended to give a high N diet.

My mothers are kept on a high N diet .
If i want 10 cuttings i take 15 and trow away any that are shit and keep the rest.

Don,t expect it to run like clockwork .

Good luck
Disco........

[mahatma]

Thank-you Tech for the info. Just a bit of clarification please.

It sounds like my estimates were not far off from yourâ??s, because admittedly I estimated conservatively in speculating the number of clones a mother could produce. Your figure of ten to fifteen clones per month, per plant, sounds more realistic. My overly optimistic estimate for rooting times were based on a machine called the E-Z clone. It cost about $250 and can clone up to thirty cuttings. It seems like the best (most expensive) one on the market, and claims to root cuttings without the use of nutes or rooting hormones in just three to ten days. I figured these ads were inflated a bit and conservatively estimated two weeks.

I estimate the veggie stage would only take two weeks because I do not expect to grow big plants. I concur with you that probably reason for the compactness of these aeroponic systems was for the intended use in â??cupboards and closets,â?� or a Sea-of-Green configuration. My grow rooms are in fact about the size of a large cupboard (5' X 2' X 3' veggie room) and closet (5' X 6' X 7' flower room.), which is why I want to grow a SOG.

Please clarify why is it a â??bastardâ?� to flush ripe plants. If what you are referring to is feeding the plants with straight water before harvesting, then my question is, how do you do this â??by handâ?� in an aeroponic system. The system I am specifically looking to use is the MicroGarden Aeroponic Perpetual Growth Machine. To flush, you simply drain the reservoir and replace the solution with water. What system are you using?

[Tech]

I thought you ment harvesting two plants in your grow area every two weeks .
When i,ve done that sort of thing with hydroponics i had to take the fertilised feed from the ones due to come out next and feed em with water by hand .
It,s not realy a bastard , it,s just me being a bit lazy
Yes if all the plants are coming out then yeh obviously you just change your solution to pure water.

But like i said i know very little about airoponics i use a gravety feed hydro drip with censor cones for each plant.
.

[sensiskunk]

DONT GET AN AEROPONIC SET UP, unless ya want to clean up a WHOLE bunch of shit when it breaks! Aeroponics grows plants twice as fast, with a twice a big of yield, the only thing is, with all that high pressure water running through mazes of tubing, its bound to explode one day, and from what i hear, its not a pretty site. Grow Hydro-organics, and put dozens of air stones right beneath the pots, itll be just like Aeroponics, except better! I am currently doing this Hydro-Aero-Organics, and it works great! FOr your mother plants, look into a bubbler bucket, I have made my own for a quarter of the price, and its awesome.in my opinion, bubbler buckets are best for mothers, because their grown hydroponically, and there is tons of O2 in the bucket as well, cause of the air stones i put in the bucket. The roots grow SOO fast, and they look soo healthy, the yield is extra ordinary as well, once u bud the mother.

[mahatma]

Thanks Sensiskunk for that bit of info.

Iâ??m not familiar with â??Hydro-Aero-Organicâ?� systems. But it sounds like you are describing a drip system with air stones in the reservoir tank. These systems use a timed pump which â??bubblesâ?� the solution over a growing media like hydroton rocks. I guess the â??organicâ?� part of your system refers to an organic nutrient solution.

I canâ??t say if aeroponics systems are any more prone to breakdowns or more disastrous when they do occur, than bubbler systems. The aero systems I am looking into are self contained units, with all of the high pressure pumping enclosed inside the grow tubs and reservoirs, so even if the pipes do leak or burst, the damage is contained. One could easily make a case against any automated hydro system, so my feeling is that all are equally susceptible.

I have another question for anyone using aeroponics or drip systems with hydroton rocks: How do you start mother plants from seed if you are using hydroton rocks for a media? Unlike the other medians, which usually have some sort of seed starting plugs, hydroton rocks do not.

Peace

[bonbon]

a rockwool or coir or jiffy sponge seed starter cube,of course i think the RW is best for that purpose....bonbon

[bonbon]

you're a very sharp cat....bonbon