My DIY aero/hydro whatchamacallit

[fineexampl]

Here's my go at this.

My $10 tote from Lowes with locking lid.

Checking out the size and fitting.

$10 fountain pump from Garden State Hydro.

My homemade mister/sprinkler thing. I later sealed this with silicone in case of leakage.

 

[fineexampl]

Sealed and set up.

Internal setup.

Everything fits.

Random closeup.

 

[fineexampl]

Fitting the power cable. We have a leak.

Out for paint to keep out unwanted light.

Fixed the leak with the little foam pads found in the tops of a new cakebox of DVDs; a perfect fit. Also sealed the underside of the handle as water was pooling there when running.

 

[fineexampl]

A test cutting a a red vein plant just to check things out.

An action shot. No leaks and only the gentle sound of running water.

Final assessment is that i need a new mister nozzle. This one is good, but it's more a sprinkler head than a mister. I think i want actual mist. I'll have to test out some sprinkler nozzles i saw. If all else fails, sciplus has some misters for fountains for $20. I just want to avoid another $20 if possible.

Total cost here though was under $40 for parts. Not bad.

 

[boutros]

Cool. I really like the simplicity of the design. What kind of time schedule you running the mist on? And what are you putting in it?

 

[fineexampl]

uhhhhhhhhhhh time schedule?

 

[Omri]

Looking great, and I like the whole "Mist it all" idea you got going on there.

uhhhhhhhhhhh time schedule?

Yeah, some people only mist every now and then, like every 2 minutes for 1 minute or whatever... I say just mist away 24/7.

 

[fineexampl]

Looking great, and I like the whole "Mist it all" idea you got going on there.

Yeah, some people only mist every now and then, like every 2 minutes for 1 minute or whatever... I say just mist away 24/7.

that was my intention. i don't have a fancy timer and every one i bought but 1 has broken teh first day of use. I'm running it constant unless i can find good cheap timers.

 

[willard3]

Test any new nozzles carefully, some have high pressure drop and your pump won't run them very long until they are plugged up.

Get an air pump and airstone for the nutrient solution.

 

[buggedcom]

i take it you didn't paint the inside of the box? If you did the toxins from the paint would get into the water supply and thus into the chilis.

 

[TXCG]

that was my intention. i don't have a fancy timer and every one i bought but 1 has broken teh first day of use. I'm running it constant unless i can find good cheap timers.

Yeah, thats the one thing that discouraged me from going with an aeroponic system. Frigging expensive adjustable cycle timers, like $70+. I mean a good aeroponic system will outgrow a good hydro system, but if you don't have an adjustable cycle timer it kinda defeats the purpose of going aero vs hydro in the first place. Most aero systems they'll mist for just a couple minutes on and off, which keeps the roots from being just saturated. This way they form those nice, hairy "air roots" as opposed to the thick, smooth "water roots" like in a DWC system. So I said fuck it and went with a drip system.


I do like your setup though, and if the aero thing is gettin you down just fill it all the way up and throw some airstones in there and you got a DWC. Also make sure your pump has a good filter if you get a fine sprayer, otherwise the nozzle will clog fast. And if the sprayer quits, plants die. At least until their roots can reach the res at the bottom. Aero leaves a little less margin for equipment failure than other more forgiving systems.

 

[Omri]

Yeah, thats the one thing that discouraged me from going with an aeroponic system. Frigging expensive adjustable cycle timers, like $70+. I mean a good aeroponic system will outgrow a good hydro system, but if you don't have an adjustable cycle timer it kinda defeats the purpose of going aero vs hydro in the first place. Most aero systems they'll mist for just a couple minutes on and off, which keeps the roots from being just saturated. This way they form those nice, hairy "air roots" as opposed to the thick, smooth "water roots" like in a DWC system. So I said fuck it and went with a drip system.


I do like your setup though, and if the aero thing is gettin you down just fill it all the way up and throw some airstones in there and you got a DWC. Also make sure your pump has a good filter if you get a fine sprayer, otherwise the nozzle will clog fast. And if the sprayer quits, plants die. At least until their roots can reach the res at the bottom. Aero leaves a little less margin for equipment failure than other more forgiving systems.

Usually you're full of wisdom. today I seriously have no idea what the hell you're talking about. The advantage of Aeroponics over Hydroponics is the even lesser stress and availability of Oxygen. even if you mist them 24/7 it'll work that way, and actually it'll be better than misting them every now and then. the original idea behind the timing thingy is cutting back on expenses, not helping the plant. if you're doing it for the same reason you do E&F, you're mistaken. you're not going to drown your chiles that way. you do need to make sure you're not "overmisting".

 

[TXCG]

Usually you're full of wisdom. today I seriously have no idea what the hell you're talking about. The advantage of Aeroponics over Hydroponics is the even lesser stress and availability of Oxygen. even if you mist them 24/7 it'll work that way, and actually it'll be better than misting them every now and then. the original idea behind the timing thingy is cutting back on expenses, not helping the plant. if you're doing it for the same reason you do E&F, you're mistaken. you're not going to drown your chiles that way. you do need to make sure you're not "overmisting".

It's not about drowning or overwatering. It's about available oxygen.

I'll have to try and dig up the article for you lol, i swear i'm not pulling that stuff out of my ass. I almost built an aero system but the expensive timer held me back, so I did a lot of reading on the subject. You're right about the availability of oxygen to the roots, but according to what i read, if you mist 24/7 the roots will eventually just get soaked and might as well be sitting in water. Hence the reason they sell those damned expensive adjustable cycle timers in the 1st place.

Advantages: Faster growth, tons of oxygen at the roots, less nutrient solution used/wasted, and others

Disadvantages: cost of setup, small margin of error (if pump dies, misters clog, etc, plants die cause no media to hold water as a backup).


But yeah, i swear i read that the advantages of aero are cancelled out by running the pump 24/7. Instead you should run like 3 min on 5 minutes off 24 hours a day...

I'm still gonna build an aero system in the future....but i couldn't afford to do it right so I just didn't do it.

 

[TXCG]

Oh, sorry for the threadjack, but I can't pass up a good civil debate lol.

 

[fineexampl]

i take it you didn't paint the inside of the box? If you did the toxins from the paint would get into the water supply and thus into the chilis.

What for kind of fool do you think i am? It's just the outside.

Oh, sorry for the threadjack, but I can't pass up a good civil debate lol.

don't sweat it.

At the very least, i have a bitchin cloner. I have a cutting off my black pearl from last year in there with a dip of clonex gettin wet.

I think i might swap out my timer for the lights and use it for the cloning. The rockwool will stay damp for the life of a light cycle and get wet again once the power kicks back on.

 

[TXCG]

What for kind of fool do you think i am? It's just the outside.

don't sweat it.

At the very least, i have a bitchin cloner. I have a cutting off my black pearl from last year in there with a dip of clonex gettin wet.

I think i might swap out my timer for the lights and use it for the cloning. The rockwool will stay damp for the life of a light cycle and get wet again once the power kicks back on.

Easiest way to make a cloner that kicks ass is really similar to what you already have set up. You basically make a DWC system in a shallow box, put a couple air stones and set the water level so it is just below the net cups/rockwool. You want it at the right level so that when the bubbles pop, they flick water up on the cuttings but the cuttings don't actually get submerged. Again, its "ideal" to have the cycle timer, but i always ran the thing 24/7. Cloned fast with just plain water. Don't even need a pump.

Don't give up on hydro though, it's awesome I just think aeroponics isn't necessarily the best thing to jump into without toying with other systems first, at least that was the impression I got while doing research. Seriously not trying to discourage you, just wanna see you get great results.

 

[Omri]

My Aeroponic system had better result with monitored 24/7 run.

 

[fineexampl]

Easiest way to make a cloner that kicks ass is really similar to what you already have set up. You basically make a DWC system in a shallow box, put a couple air stones and set the water level so it is just below the net cups/rockwool. You want it at the right level so that when the bubbles pop, they flick water up on the cuttings but the cuttings don't actually get submerged. Again, its "ideal" to have the cycle timer, but i always ran the thing 24/7. Cloned fast with just plain water. Don't even need a pump.

Don't give up on hydro though, it's awesome I just think aeroponics isn't necessarily the best thing to jump into without toying with other systems first, at least that was the impression I got while doing research. Seriously not trying to discourage you, just wanna see you get great results.

i do appreciate everyone's feedback. no worries my friend.

i have it running 24/7 right now, but i might just plug into my 12/12 timer. the rockwool won't dry out that quick in this climate...yet.

 

[Omri]

Don't be a noob, go 24/7! just remember to keep it misty to a certain level, you don't want it to be full of water.

 

[willard3]

My system is aeroponic and I don't make mist.,...the roots grow down out of the baskets and one side of the basket has a small nozzle doing low flow/velocity. 3/4 of the roots are not sprayed but get moisture by capillarity. None of the roots is submerged, ever.

I tried misters and they're waaaayyy too maintenance intensive and can't be used with readily-available hydro pumps.

I run the pump 16 hr/day with the lights. I have tried many different times/timing periods and the simple one works just fine. I think the timer cost $15.