Aeroponics - How to use nutients? Please help

[LAmike]

I am a complete noob... I will be using HPS 1000 and MH 1000 lights. I have the parts and will build the system, seems incredibly simply. Going to use a Rubbermain, Fountain Pump, PVC and Micro Sprayers..

Questions regard actually using it now...

1. Do I need nutrients at first or just water until veg?
2. What the heck is VEG.. How much nutrients will I need to buy? I know I need to check PPM and PH so I will buy testers and up/down.
3. How long does it spray 1 minute on 4 minutes off?
4. How long do I keep the lights on for 24 with this setup, then what do I do to put them into flower?

Thanks in advance if anyone actually takes on those questions.

LAmike Reviewed by LAmike on 11-27-2009. Aeroponics - How to use nutients? Please help I am a complete noob... I will be using HPS 1000 and MH 1000 lights. I have the parts and will build the system, seems incredibly simply. Going to use a Rubbermain, Fountain Pump, PVC and Micro Sprayers.. Questions regard actually using it now... :) 1. Do I need nutrients at first or just water until veg? 2. What the heck is VEG.. :) How much nutrients will I need to buy? I know I need to check PPM and PH so I will buy testers and up/down. 3. How long does it spray 1 minute on 4 minutes Rating: 5

[Prodaytrader]

I'm pretty much doing the same thing myself. I started off a lot more complicated then this though so I am glad to see someone keeping it simple. Some things I have learned:
That size light should probably be at least 12 to 18" away from tops of plants. The system you build will likely depend on how long you should water the plants. Don't be afraid to go 24h spraying time if your plants find that to be more suitable. I think a lot of the watering times people recommend really only work in their particular system. I have tried everything from 1 on 1 off to 30 on and 30 off. In the end I think my system requires 24/7 spray times as the plants seem most happy there. Also, the nutrients should be lower then what the bottle recommends by at least half if not more. Think about using water for the first week or more before adding any nutrients.

1. Do I need nutrients at first or just water until veg?
Water for the first week depending the size of your plants. Until they have at least a few sets of leaves they wont need any nutrients.

2. What the heck is VEG.. How much nutrients will I need to buy? I know I need to check PPM and PH so I will buy testers and up/down.

Veg is vegitative stage. Most people give their plants 18 hours light and 6 hours rest during this stage and they use a different set of nutrients during this process. They allow their plants to grow and get big during this time and not focus on growing flowers which is what you are really after. This process usually lasts about 5 weeks in the kind of setup your building. Some people skip this step entirely with the understanding that their plants wont be big or produce as much flowers then if they had waited till their plant was big. I would suggest allowing your plants to get at least 12" high during this stage but whatever target height you are wanting for a final plant size, about half is grown in the veg state. So if you want a 4 foot high plant then you will want to veg the plants until they are 2 feet high. Go to your local hydro store or poke around here for a recommended brand for aeroponics nutrients. I think Dutch Masters is a favorite brand on these forums. It will likely be a 4 part ( an A and a B for both vegetative and flowering cycles of growth) and it should definitely be 100% water soluble not a powder or your misters will clog more. For a ppm level try no more then 100 for the first week or two and then as the plants get bigger add more ppm's to about 400 or 500 at most for your kind of setup. Change water weekly.

[LAmike]

Thank you very much for your reply. I think I understand the meat of it now. I can research the flowering stage ppm I am starting to get that too, you laid it out I nicely so veg means growing leafs and stems and flowering is pretty apparent. If you could answer two more for me. I actually didn't know there were hydroponic stores I will visit one.. lol

1. Seed in bubbler then move whole net cup over? I have a nice fish tank for that.
2. Where can I find a light/time chart or light cycle that works for aeroponics?

[Prodaytrader]

The light schedule is pretty easy. 18 hours on, 6 hours off whenever in the 24hour cycle you feel like doing it. Personally I like to leave my lights off during the day so my 6 hours of lights out is done during the day, but then again I have pretty excellent light control in my grow room. I also need the heat from the lap at night to keep the plants warm. You may not, so therefore you may need to incorporate lights out during the night if you cant ensure your plants total darkness any other way.

At any rate, during seedling stage I use 24 hour light until they are about 1 to 2 weeks old or they appear big enough to fit into my normal system like you were mentioning.

I do not sprout my seeds in that system as it is too harsh and not meant for that. For seed sprouting and stem cloning I use a rooting tray with a simple 100 watt cfl light 24 hours a day. I water the rooting tray every other day and I have a heating mat set to medium to keep them warm. This was actually a very large issue for my when I was learning this process too. It is not as simple as sticking a seed into a net cup. With the system you described you will need to grow your plants up a bit before putting them into the net cups and into the system. Your best bet for that is to look into something called Rapid Rooter. They sell them at just about all the hydroponic stores and some garden centers but frankly I was unable to locate one until I went to my hydro shop. Just google hydroponics in google maps and you will find tons of hydro stores in your area. When your talking about what your growing just refer to them as your "plants" and that you are growing tomatoes and peppers as that is the code for marijuana. Do not mention anything other then that in their store or they will toss you out on your arse. With that tray I can sprout seeds or clone from existing plants very easily and then I transplant them to the netpots with neoprene tops and possibly a little hydroton to keep them steady. I plop the entire rooting cup into the netcup as it would be impossible to separate it from the roots.

After about a week or they have at least 4 sets of leaves on them then I move them into my normal system where they will stay for here until harvest. 18 hours light, 6 hours dark and you do that for the entire veg cycle. When you are ready to flower, simply change the light schedule so that you are giving them 12 hours on, 12 hours off. That's what triggers the flowering in the first place is the change in the lights. Once you change the lights, to the new schedule the plants will respond and begin to produce flowers.

[LAmike]

Thanks my friend you were such a big help! I am ready to start playing with a couple of dummy seeds now.. Want to make sure I am not killing good ones.