Aeroponics - Who's using it now?

[GetThisOrDie]

Whats up guys... I am very interested in trying Aero. I am still learning though and want to get a few more hydro grows in before I drop all the time/effort/cash on an aero setup.

Farmer Rich: I am looking at that same HT mag lol. He actually says he uses 1700-2000ppm but he notes that some strains CAN handle over 3000ppm.

His finished product looks pretty good and dense but he also uses CO2. I dont think I could ever use a CO2 system. Kind of freaks me out... Your setup looks awesome though! Did you use his blueprints from the magazine? I was hoping I could build it from them and not have a problem...

I am also worried about the whole having to chill the res... $400 for a chiller you said? Ouch!

[Farmer Rich]

Hey GetThisOneOrDie,

I used the basic idea and materials shown in the HT article, though I sized mine based on what lights I had available.

In my veg system, I have an 8 tube, 4\' T-5 HO fixture. So I have 2 rows of 6 plants on 7\" centers. On this system, there are 8 sprayers per side, also on 7\" centers, which puts them on either side of each plant site.

On the flower systems, I have about a 4\' x 9\' useable light footprint. For the flower systems, I put the plant sites on 15\" centers to allow plenty of room for stetch.

The channels are built with 5\" vinyl fence posts, and the plumbing for the sprayers is 1/2\". All systems use a 396 gph submersible pump and ez clone 360 sprayers. All in all, pretty simple..

With the chiller, you should be able to build 1 system for less than a $100..

Good luck!

Peace,

Farmer Rich

[Farmer Rich]

For those of you who are interested in aero growing..

These are some progress pictures from both the veg and flower side so you can see what to expect. The veg pics are around 2.5 weeks. The first 2 systems in flower are week 3, and the one in the back is week 6.

Peace, Farmer Rich

[Farmer Rich]

Forgot to say, the plants in week 3 flower are the same ones from the veg pictures.

Peace,

Farmer Rich

[Prodaytrader]

I'm struggling again myself. Over the past two weeks my leaves started to wilt. My bigger plants are starting to lose leaves which has never happened to me before. Growth is slow and all of this aero stuff is really got me in the bumps right now. My friend is doing soil and we are probably 2 weeks apart on start dates and as I speak he is sharpening his scissors. Knowing what I do now, I wish I started in soil first. lol You wont catch me telling him that though.

[Daddynobucks]

hey PDT
are the leaves limp, or are they droopng but still stiff?if they are stiff, try shortening your on time and lengthening the off time.
and if they are limp lengthen the on time and shorten off time

Depending upon root mass size,I have to change feed the schedule,to deal with usually "droop" . as the roots get larger they hold more water longer.
so they need longer off times

stay with it though,once you get things dialed in,you'll never go back to soil

I am no expert by any stretch,but have been using aero for almost 3 years in one system or another, started with 3"ABS pipes and wound up with 5 gal grow buckets on a central 40 gal rez

one thing for sure every strain I have grown liked something just a little different than all the others,which doesn't help when your trying to fine tune your system.

hope some of this babble helps
Daddy

[FatBudsXXX]

Hi... I think your aeroponics is great... I would like to know what are those pipes doing above the plants? Why did you put these pipes so hi...? in the sky...?
thx...

[Farmer Rich]

The pipes you are referring to are part of the frame and are intended to provide plant support if needed. There is no water/nutes flowing through those pipes.

Peace,

Farmer Rich

[switchback]

Hi Guys,
i,m a newbe and running a aero 60 ive pick up everything i know about it from this board thank god for so many nolag out there lol.I am in my 1st weeks of veg. im useing my most favorite 3 part nuts well 3 or 5 part cutting edge everything so far seems to be going well rapid root growing seems to be showing very awsome all 50 plants are very healthy so far.My ppm is about 1000-1200 my ph is ate 5.8 to 6.0 im keeping the res ate 65 to 70 all these setting is what i have read hear so if there is something not right let me know ,is why im posting in hope of any tips .I been growing since i was 6 lol but all soil old school and ive decited to try what everyone is asking me to grow lol.One thing is im not to sure of is the veg time,Ive allways been a long veg time 6 to 8 weeks depending on how big i wish the plants to be ,but these i need to grow alot smaller one resone is they are very close and because im sure they are not ment to me huge plants.I have read most only veg for like 1 week but im not to sure.. check out my pics hopefully im getting good info lol it seems to be pretty awsome so far...
Last pic is my soil room thought id share :P:rasta:

[ElvisG]

This is my first attempt at aeroponics. It's a Clone and Grow 16. I have eight plants started from seed on 1/9 and I just switched to the flowering cycle. All plants are full and lush between 7 and 12 inches. I worked through my stem issue and all are now strong and healthy. My system is a root mister cycled for 60 secs on and approx. 10 minutes off.

Other vitals inside grow tent (4X4): 400 W HPS (400 W MH During veg cycle), exhaust fan with carbon filter, 6" circulating fan, 5 gallon reservoir with fishtank aereator. Current temp inside tent is 76 degrees and humidity is 31%, reservoir temp is 68 degrees and ph is 5.6 and nutrient ppm is measuring 1445.

I'm a real novice (newbie), third grow, first aero (other grows were hydro) and what I know I've learned here or other reading. Do the above "vitals" look OK?

My current problem is the roots. In one of my tubes (4" diameter X 34" long) roots have managed to grow into and thru my drain tube into the reservoir and are now in the nute solution. Any advice on what to do about this?