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Aeroponics vs. DWC

W

wordwiz

I really need to find a different hobby, such as playing Solitaire or watching computer screens collect dust. But until then, I'm hooked on growing.

Over the Christmas/New Year's break, I have about 10 days I don't have to do anything in relation to my regular job, so I was thinking about setting up a "whitehouse" in a quasi-vacant bedroom. A room that is from 4' to 8' wide, 3' deep and 6' tall. Inside it would go hydro chambers where I can grow 2-3 plants of some or all of these veggies: Lettuce, sweet corn, tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, broccoli.

I have a DWC system now but it worked much better when the plants were smaller. It came with a small air pump and airstone and I suspect it isn't strong enough to aerate the water that is full of roots.

It's much cheaper to build a DWC system with the variable costs (stronger air pumps, airstones and tubing) for the DWC looking at being about $35 vs. $60 for the water pumps and parts to build an aeration system. This is for four units. The lighting, lumber and containers will be the cost, obviously.

Google (mostly the pot forums) suggests aero is the best for early root growth and DWC rules once the plants get larger. Any of you have experience in both systems and care to share your results?

Mike
 
hey man ever thought of doing Aquaponics??? i will be soon as i move ... man you should read though this web site backyardaquaponics.com this would be tons of fun bro!!!!! you can eat your own fish and grow veggies... it dont get much better than that....:lol::):)
 
redeyes said:
hey man ever thought of doing Aquaponics??? i will be soon as i move ... man you should read though this web site backyardaquaponics.com this would be tons of fun bro!!!!! you can eat your own fish and grow veggies... it dont get much better than that....
Click to expand...

Duh, and I'm supposed to do this in a space that is, at most, eight feet long by three feet wide? :):?::lol:

Up river, in Ripley, lots of tobacco farmers have since become shrimp farmers. But they have acres - acres of room. I have square feet, and she who must be obeyed is probably not going to approve me building a pond upstairs! :)

Mike
 
DWC are ok but can be very restrictive in a number of ways,Ebb and Flow is also a superb system for some plants :whistle:
 
Mike-
I've had excellent luck just using netpots in 5 gallon buckets.
The aerolids fit on a standard 5 gallon bucket-
http://www.discount-hydro.com/productdisp.php?pid=384&navid=48
I just use a couple really cheap Million Air pumps-
http://www.discount-hydro.com/productdisp.php?pid=421&navid=8
I have the air pumps on timers, they're on for 15 minutes and off for 30 minutes. I figure this'll make the pumps last a lot longer and save me a few bucks on 'em, and as you can see below, it's definitely not hurting the plants. Each one of them has more than enough CFM to keep two buckets going- these pictures are from last year, but you get the idea...
60.jpg


59.jpg


The really cool thing about this setup is you don't have to water them every freaking day! I work on remote location and I'm gone for 2 weeks at a time every month, all I have to do is make sure the nutrient levels are up there enough and the plants do just fine while I'm gone unless they are REALLY getting after it.
 
All you guys growing multiple plants in individual DWC buckets could save yourselves a lot of work by converting it to be a waterfarm style system with one large reservoir, one control bucket & then as many buckets as you want holding plants. The reservoir is mounted above the rest of the buckets, and is connected to the controller bucket. The controller bucket simply has a float valve in it to regulate water levels(like the valve in your toilet). Then all the other buckets are connected to the controller bucket at ground level. Each bucket gets its own air stone. And that's it. You get all the benefits of having each plant in its own bucket as well as all the benefits of a large reservoir(greater EC & pH buffering with more volume).

GHwater8farm.gif

(shown here w/ a drip ring, but you could just do straight DWC. I believe these are dwc/drip hybrid in the pic)
I'm thinking of setting something like this up for when I get my 400W HPS.
 
Tx,

I'm still learning what I want to use, DWC vs. Aero, three large tubs vs. one gigantic one (yes, a bathtub that is 60" long and 30" wide). I figure depending on what plants I am growing I can raise anywhere from 24 to 60 of them. And if I sit it along the middle of a wall, with a little ingenuity, I could add a NFT section and ebb and flow or drip section.

Seriously, the tub is only about $100, comes with its own drain, is easy to install and will last for 30 years.

Mike
 
Txclosetgrower said:
All you guys growing multiple plants in individual DWC buckets could save yourselves a lot of work by converting it to be a waterfarm style system with one large reservoir, one control bucket & then as many buckets as you want holding plants. The reservoir is mounted above the rest of the buckets, and is connected to the controller bucket. The controller bucket simply has a float valve in it to regulate water levels(like the valve in your toilet). Then all the other buckets are connected to the controller bucket at ground level. Each bucket gets its own air stone. And that's it. You get all the benefits of having each plant in its own bucket as well as all the benefits of a large reservoir(greater EC & pH buffering with more volume).

GHwater8farm.gif

(shown here w/ a drip ring, but you could just do straight DWC. I believe these are dwc/drip hybrid in the pic)
I'm thinking of setting something like this up for when I get my 400W HPS.
Click to expand...

Tex-
While you are right that some efficiency gains are realized from going with a large scale centralized nutrient tank feeding many plants, you then lose any ability to fine-tune your nutrients for individual plants. Since plants veg and fruit at different stages, you really do not want to have a bunch of different species all plumbed into the same nutrient supply. For instance, I had a Hungarian wax pepper, a Malawi Birds Eye, and some damned infernal hybrid all growing at the same time, in varying stages of growth. All at the same time, the Wax was fruiting just great on a very minimal nute level, the Malawi was being a prima donna, dropping her flowers on the same nute levels, and the shitbird hybrid was barely keeping an interest in being alive. I ended up keeping the wax where it was while cutting the nitrogen levels to the Birds Eye to NOTHING (went to straight water for a week!) and just hating the hybrid for even being alive.
Long story short- each method has it's pluses and minuses.
 
Very true, i guess individual ones would be better. I think the large systems are probably better for growing single harvest crops where every plant is started at the same time like pot or something. Very good point man I never even thought of that. But wouldn't you run into the same problem in any system with a common reservoir like an ebb & flow, aero, etc? Hmm... I need to think about what system to go with as well.
 
I'm basically a dirt farmer and that's what I go by. We raised tobacco, tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, lettuce and a few other crops and they got the same treatment. Same amount of ferts, same soil, same rain. We didn't micromanage things. Not to say that we might not have had an extra bushel of toms or a few more pounds of taters if we would have, but that it wasn't worth it.

Mike
 
Haha good point man, and I guess if you think about lots of people grow multiple things in single systems...so much to think about, i see why you started this thread. I got about a month to plan.
 
wordwiz said:
I'm basically a dirt farmer and that's what I go by. We raised tobacco, tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, lettuce and a few other crops and they got the same treatment. Same amount of ferts, same soil, same rain. We didn't micromanage things. Not to say that we might not have had an extra bushel of toms or a few more pounds of taters if we would have, but that it wasn't worth it.

Mike
Click to expand...

If your going to grow indoors/Greenhouse another great system are Autopots,As they require no power and are passive,There ideal for leaving for long periods you can buy various size tanks and leave them for weeks,A number people are using them with great Success and there not expensive,Mine will be installed in jan/feb with no lights..Just natural as they work so well :)
 
Redeyes,

I'm thinking that I should be able to add such a system as part of mine, especially if I use a DWC system in the tub.

A question, though - does one use an E&F method in the troughs until the roots get long enough to support a NFT one?

Mike
 
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