Commercializing with Aeroponics

[nimo_253]

Ok, I've been watching some aeroponic units on ebay for some time and was wondering if it'd be worth it. I did my homework on various types of systems.

I HATE soil! My current grow is 210 plant soil based and it sucks the yields seem to be not to great. (Not getting the results that I'm hoping for.) The bales needed to fill those fucking pots! This is my last time with soil.
A pic of my first soil grow
Yurple

I've done DWC with fucking crazy results. Downside would be the same as soil. Watering over +160 buckets would not be fun. Not only having to place air pumps to each bucket.
A pic of my DWC
100_1876[1]

Ebb & Flow wasn't too bad... I want to stay away from rockwool. Results wasn't to great.
A pic of my Ebb & Flow grow
ebbflow3

I got 32 GH dripper buckets, but probably gonna use them for mother plants.

I've spent $1000s on systems and I'm trying to simplify my grows as plant sites get larger.

I could name off great aspects of aeroponics.
1. More sites per square footage
2. No more spending $ on rockwool and just reuse stakes to prop plants
3. Centralized reservoir

Dowsides to aeroponics
1. Power outages
2. clogged emitters

I'd like to get a Botanicare power cloner to use with this setup also.
Only thing im worried about the is the results. Would it be "possible" to get 3-5 pounds off a 60 site unit with 2 weeks veg time? (SoG) If anyone out there has grown with aeroponics please, let me know how you did.

nimo_253 Reviewed by nimo_253 on 03-27-2008. Commercializing with Aeroponics Ok, I've been watching some aeroponic units on ebay for some time and was wondering if it'd be worth it. I did my homework on various types of systems. I HATE soil! My current grow is 210 plant soil based and it sucks the yields seem to be not to great. (Not getting the results that I'm hoping for.) The bales needed to fill those fucking pots! This is my last time with soil. A pic of my first soil grow Yurple I've done DWC with fucking crazy results. Downside would be the same as Rating: 5

[stinkyattic]

Look into NFT before you give up on plain hydro.

http://boards.cannabis.com/grow-log/...-darkside.html
That's an example of a VERY cheap DIY system that you can EASILY scale up with a larger runoff tray, bigger res, and more hose. The hydroton is completely re-useable. I haven't been working on the log because all the clones I took to go into that system went to a friend who needed a bunch of clones fast, lol... so it's still just sitting there... updates soon though.

3-5 pounds - are we talking per harvest? Using CO2, doing everything perfectly, and under the requisite 3000+ watts of light to hit the 0.5 g/w/m number you still aren't likely to reach the goal, because think of the footprint of your 60 site system. 2 weeks veg time in a typical aero system will give you plants probably bigger than you want at the time of the flip, all crowded into that system. You can train them outward from the center to increase the footprint but crowding and decreased air flow may be problematic.

You're correct about power outages; a now-former buddy of mine ended up in serious trouble running aero with no backup generator- he'd borrowed startup $$$ from some shady character and OOPS! Ice storm! Crop failure! Angry hoodlum banging on front door! lol

If I were going for 3 lbs per harvest in hydro, using minimal electricity, I'd do NFT that is modular so that I could start stuff close together and spread it out as it grew so that the canopy is ALWAYS continuous and even consider moving the lights apart to maximize efficiency. That's kinda overkill, but someting to think about.

3- 100w HPS or 6- 600wHPS (preferable if you have the $$$ to spend; and you will if you build your own system) would be suited for this goal.

In my experience, a newly rooted clone, of an appropriate commercial strain, tossed into flower, in that NFT system shown or in 1 gallon pots of soilless, will spread out to about a 10" diameter by harvest, and spacing of 6-8" apart means that crowding at harvest time is not bad at all.

A note, it's kinda tough to start a grow with the goal 'I want xxx pounds by xxx date'. Shit happens, and it can be frustrating. Think of how much SPACE you have, how much LIGHT/ELECTRICITY you want to use maximum, and concentrate instead on building the most efficient system possible for your personal conditions.

Just some thoughts.

BTW your Yurple is very pretty.

[nimo_253]

I was thinking of getting a General Hydroponics Aero2 setup x4. Space isn't an issue, I have about 2200 sq ft of available space to use up. But with electrical wiring issues, its not possible without having to re-rig the house with 220v. My current lighting system consists of 6 parabolic reflectors 5 1000w HPS bulbs and 1 1000w MH. Ooops gotta go ill finish this post when I get back.