Gallons/Hour Air needed???

[wordwiz]

I've searched and cannot find a direct answer. The closest is that a 160 GPH air pump is enough for 15 gallons of water or another one that 28 GPH is also sufficient for 15 gallons. That's a big difference!

The first system I bought was a 22 gallon reservoir and came with an Eco Air 1 Plus pump. It was enough to raise five plants (toms and peppers)

Mike

 

[Toleman]

My thinking was:

If the roots aren't fully submerged it doesn't really matter if your air pump isn't up to the job.

Are roots going to be better:
Fully submerged getting water and struggling to get air?
Half submerged getting oxygen from the roots closest to the plant and water and nutrients from the bottom half?

In my opinion the air pump is to agitate the water to prevent stagnation.
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Alternatively if your talking about doing it purely for rooting cuttings:

Somebody suggested to me that they don't use an air stone as the bigger bubbles pop better giving a nice fine mist.

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I was also looking at building an aeroponic propagator to get my plants started next year. After a lot of reading lots of people were saying they had problems with blocked misters/ sprinklers.
I was wondering whether a floating air stone would work at creating a good mist? Maybe some sort of hybrid system?

Chris

 

[LGHT]

I have never setup a hydro unit, but from what I read the purpose of the air is to oxygenate the water not to supply water to the roots. The few aero systems I reviewed at a local hydro store the owner said he is trying to get the solution oxygenated not the bubbles to feed the roots. Although you can use an air pump in that manor he said because they usually don't work well he would suggested a mister / fogger setup with small filter to ensure you avoid clogs. He said the best hands off system he setup was a mister that used a small aquarium filter to filter the water PRIOR to being sent to the misting hose. He said this way there is no chance of clogging the line at all and it just worked.

 

[wordwiz]

Chris,

The roots will, once the plant gets any size, be in both air and water. I had a plant at the office that would go through 1.5 gallons of water in a week this spring. That is when it seemed the plant was also growing extremely well.

I pretty much gave up using airstones - one got clogged and the water went sour rather quickly. Rather, I just stick the hose in the water.

LGHT,

I'm using a DWC system, not aeroponics. I suspect it would be rather expensive to set up 40 aero units.

One advantage of using 40 buckets is that I can experiment with different nutrient solutions.

Mike