High Pressure Aeroponics

Re: TAKE 2: HPA + Quantum T 5 Bad Boy 8 bulb

A problem with any hydro rig is dependency on electricity. I had an outage yesterday morning that lasted about an hour. Plants can survive without light, but roots cannot survive without nutes.

I simply filled a spray bottle and whetted my roots every 3-5 minutes. That's doable for a stay-at-home gardener, but not for others.
 
Re: TAKE 2: HPA + Quantum T 5 Bad Boy 8 bulb

The weather here has turned cold, which reduces humidity inside the root chambers. It seems the loss of humidity combined with the delicate nature of young developing roots took a toll on 2 plants.

Not sure they will recover, but to be safe I moved all back into my bubblepod. Unfortunately, the plants are too tall for my dome.
 
Re: TAKE 2: HPA + Quantum T 5 Bad Boy 8 bulb

Will need to start this over. Between 2 weeks of being really sick, and simultaneously 2 weeks of really cold weather, all the seedlings have died or are so near death, I doubt I can revive them. I put three back in the bubbler this morning, under the UFO 90. Time will tell
 
Re: TAKE 2: HPA + Quantum T 5 Bad Boy 8 bulb

Hi PetFlora. First off, thank you for all you've written here. I've followed a few of your latest threads and am still catching up. Aeroponics is a big interest of mine and you have certainly filled in some of the gaps in my knowledge. I am a fan of being on the cutting edge of things and your style is quite similar to mine. I believe people are sometimes skeptical of new methods or technology, and rightly so, but believe me, in a few years aeroponics and LED's will be just another chapter in Jeorge Cervantes new grow bible :)

I myself am relatively new to aeroponics and within the last few weeks have arrived at the point where I have learned the difference between "true" aeroponics and "pseudo" aeroponics. Unfortunately, I learned the difference only after I ordered the Plant Tier system from FHD. Oh well. I think even though it's not true aero, I'll probably be a good starting point particularly considering I've never done hydro before. People have told me I should do DWC first to get a feel for it, but I'm not afraid to try this, even if it takes me several tries, I'll get it eventually. One member pointed out to me that this type of pipe or tube aero pragmatically morphs into an NFT system after a few weeks anyway as the root mass fills up the PVC pipe.

You had also answered a question about nutrients because sediment free is somewhat of a necessity in aero. The only brand that advertises themselves as such is the Plantlife Products line (Hollands Secret), but they are annoyingly difficult to obtain in the states. I wondered about DM, and as you say, their line is designed for aero, so I guess I'll be going with them. I hear good things all around. Some advice was given to me to use an in-line filter in the water pump because apparently (in the tube systems anyway) a bigger concern than the sediment in the nutrient solution is debris that gets washed away from the roots and ends up in the reservoir. This makes it's way back along the feed lines and clogs the mist head. You're using an entirely different system though with an air compressor, not a pump, so I'm not sure how you filter your solution, or if you even need to. I don't want to say too much, because believe me, I could keep going, but I wondered if you had seen this company Aerolife Systems or its products. Maybe you have already built something similar yourself, but this was the first "true" HPA system I have seen advertised. Thought you might find this interesting. Here are some links to a few YouTube videos:

YouTube - AeroBox from Aerolife Systems

YouTube - AeroFog Nozzle from Aerolife Systems

If you have built this device, I'd be very interested to know how you did it. I might just buy the nozzle from them and get my own compressor and build the box.

Thanks for the knowledge and I look foreword to catching up on all your posts both here and on other forums as well!
 
Re: TAKE 2: HPA + Quantum T 5 Bad Boy 8 bulb

First thanks Red for the kind words. I'll address HPA first then close with Lights.

AeroBox video. Adaptable, but probably a lot more expensive than buying Rubbermaid totes. The idea of being insulated is VG. Too many plant holes for mj. Max mj plants in it would be 2 <3ft autos, or 4, < 2ft autos. Did you notice how noisy the compressor is? You can barely hear my pump, plus mine is only on <2 seconds every ~2 minutes.

HPA

During one grow I went from drip to fog to low pressure mist, to HPA. If you're going in, go all in; HPA is that unique.

Common to drip, fog, hydro/aero/HPA are; the need to correct/adjust; pH & ppms, RH (Relative Humidity), and reservoir temps.

I use a High Pressure pump, not a compressor. To eliminate the hydroponics/aeroponics confusion this site should have its own High Pressure Aero (HPA) blog.

Recirculating Nutes

You will find lots of problems developing from about the second-third week forward in flower.

Rez pH, and ppms will be impossible to stabilize, a result of the hormonal changes the plant goes through during the entire flower process. All of that toxic stuff is dumping directly into a recirculating rez. Good luck staying on top of that. Roots will shed too, no doubt clogging feed lines.

The simple solution is drain to waste (D2W), at least during flowering, but you can't do that with recirculating systems. HPAs separate (and non recirculating) rez solves that.

Nutrients

Botanicare and Fox Farm grew nice plants BUT clogged both my low pressure and high pressure heads. Not wanting to toss two nearly full quart bottles, I had no choice but to add a 200 mesh filter. Don't need it with DM nutes. One less item to leak.

LEDs

I have one of the good UFO 90s, but the same $350 buys a Quantum Bad Boy T-5 (8 bulb). It is roughly 2 x 4, which mean you can give your plants more room, which allows for greater canopy penetration.

LEDs are already quite capable of growing SOG, SCROG, or autoflower plants < 2 ft tall. But they are one dimensional. When a particular spectrum blows (or losses its' strength), replacement requires sending it to the factory. Good luck with that. And what do you use in the mean time, as you are likely doing a grow? Happened to me twice!

The BB allows me to change individual bulbs (<$5), as well as mix 2400/6500 bulbs to better match the light at spring planting through to fall harvest. My theory is this will pay huge dividends.

Photos

If it was easier to upload/download photos I would, but, my oldest plant is doing quite well, 10" tall (and growing), with very tight internodes. Another is finally recovering after a week in the bubblepod. It should make it, but at 3-4" it's going to be way behind the 10' plant, assuming it's a she.

I plan to start 6 more seeds on the new moon , some 2 weeks from now.

HTH
 
Re: TAKE 2: HPA + Quantum T 5 Bad Boy 8 bulb

Growth under the 400 watt BB has been decent, but not explosive.

As a first time user of DM nutes, I have been cautious. I think it's time to move from DMs 'standard' feed schedule, closer to 'accelerated'.

I increased the ppms of DM Gold from`800 to ~1000. I will run this for a week, keeping a close eye on leaf tips, growth, etc., and adjust accordingly.

Keep you posted.
 
Re: TAKE 2: HPA + Quantum T 5 Bad Boy 8 bulb

Awesome stuff, and thanks for the response. It sparked a few thoughts/questions.

AeroBox video. Adaptable, but probably a lot more expensive than buying Rubbermaid totes. The idea of being insulated is VG. Too many plant holes for mj. Max mj plants in it would be 2 <3ft autos, or 4, < 2ft autos. Did you notice how noisy the compressor is? You can barely hear my pump, plus mine is only on <2 seconds every ~2 minutes.

Yes I agree, they are very expensive and I think building your own would be much more cost effective. The compressor in the video is loud but I looked into it and there are much quieter compressors on the market, like 30dB which is roughly the level of a loud whisper. I could deal with that.

What kind/brand of high pressure pump are you using?
How come you use a pump instead of a compressor? It looks like you have a compressor in one of your pics.
I have this one, X-Stream g2700. It's a 2700ghp pump
X-Stream G2700 Pump - Water Pumps

Also what mist heads are you using? And how do you know the micron level of spray they are putting out?

The simple solution is drain to waste (D2W), at least during flowering, but you can't do that with recirculating systems. HPAs separate (and non recirculating) rez solves that.

Interesting you should mention that. I probably wouldn't do it in a low pressure aero system like the one I have just ordered because it would just waste too much water and nutrient solution. But with HPA you could. On the Aerolife video, they mention that even keeping a chamber constantly fogged (I think in the video it comes on every 15 min or half hour to fill the chamber) it consumed only about one gallon per week. If the reality is even remotely close to that, it would really put a different paint job on things! For one you could easily do D2W without worrying about wasting nutes or solution; it would make maintaining ph and ppm super easy; you wouldn't have to worry about recirculating waste material contaminating the reservoir, messing up the ph, or clogging mist heads; it would be ultra cost effective for making nutrient solution because instead of 18-30 gallons of nutrient solution, you'd only need 2 or 3 at a time.

LEDs

I have one of the good UFO 90s, but the same $350 buys a Quantum Bad Boy T-5 (8 bulb). It is roughly 2 x 4, which mean you can give your plants more room, which allows for greater canopy penetration.

LEDs are already quite capable of growing SOG, SCROG, or autoflower plants < 2 ft tall. But they are one dimensional. When a particular spectrum blows (or losses its' strength), replacement requires sending it to the factory. Good luck with that. And what do you use in the mean time, as you are likely doing a grow? Happened to me twice!

The BB allows me to change individual bulbs (<$5), as well as mix 2400/6500 bulbs to better match the light at spring planting through to fall harvest. My theory is this will pay huge dividends.

Unfortunately I think you're right. I bought 2 180's from Mike at GrowLedHydro, and I must say, they are awesome. But when they go, there is no way to replace the bulbs or board other than sending them back to be serviced (god knows what that'll cost), or buy new ones. I don't want to deal with the heat issues and ballast problems of HID's so I guess the T5 solution is the lesser of 3 evils. I'm going to compare the LED's against a quantum badboy or possibly a solar flare. I just read borntorun's T5 badboy vs solar flare journal and was very very impressed with his results.
Borntorun's Latest, New Lights, AK-48

Question: how would you compare the temperature of the t5 badboy with the LED?
With my LED's, I can have them on for hours and literally put my hand on the light with no issue. I like how close you can get plants to the light, it really makes a hughe difference and also gives a lot more penetration and much better results. You can have em like 2" or 3" away from the tops without breaking a sweat, no sign of burn at all. Can you do the same with the badboy? borntorun mention that the solar flare got a bit hotter, but those are 95W VHO bulbs, whereas the badboy are 65W HO I believe, so they wouldn't run as hot. I may try both, maybe 12 bulb units which I think is somewhere around 780W. I try, even with the new technology (LED's and T5), to use a comparable wattage as what I would with an HID. It is also interesting about being able to change the spectrum of the bulbs as you go, and perhaps as the technology develops, there will be more and more spectra available. The LED I have has 11 different spectra and works extremely well. I got it after reading Irishboy's LED grow. I think T5's will get there eventually though too.

I like what you have written about foliar feeding and liquid light with the saturator formula. I've heard really positive things from many people. It seems to make node sites very dense and tight. I haven't tried it myself but am dying to try.

What is the other foliar spray formula you use 4x a day?
Have you ever used seltzer?
Would this be effective in any way as a CO2 delivery method?
I haven't done any research into this area so if this is an idiotic question, I apologize. Logic dictates that if it were effective, people would discuss it more, but you never know.

P.S. You mention an Accumulator in some of your posts: what is that?

sorry for the barrage of questions, but I want to emulate your grows in so many ways, and you seem to be on my kind of program :)

Thanks :popcorn:
 
Re: TAKE 2: HPA + Quantum T 5 Bad Boy 8 bulb

Red, Most of your equipment questions are covered in my other journal. PUMP, tubing fittings and mist heads were purchased from Reptile Basics. If you call to order tell him I sent you.

In HPA you have to relearn how and when to feed. By focusing your attention on the roots you will get a feel for how often to feed. It seems the younger the plant (smaller root mass) requires more frequent feed intervals. As the root mass develops for budding, it significantly increases in size, requiring fewer feeding intervals.

The reason for a HIGH PRESSURE pump is to provide near instant 80+ pounds of pressure to create the atomized feeding mist that is only on < 2 seconds (an Accumulator is far more accurate).

Heat

T5 (8 X~ 50 watts= ~400 watts) has more than my UFO 90, but by no means 'hot'. Although, the ambient temps are quite cool right now.

Distance

I raised the light from almost directly on top to 4-6" as I wanted some stretch. ambient temps and hours of light will be factors as to how close.

FF

I use the same nutes as in the rez, but diluted. Strength of dilution depends on your strains reaction. I am using around 25%.

I am not fanatical about this. Probably-3-4Xs per day

I'm not using CO2

Accumulator

Basically, it stores nutes under pressure. It is used by larger operations to better control mist times and amounts. The set up requires ~ 4 sft of floor space, and requires additional plumbing. Being for personal use, I can grow more than enough plants without it. It is on a deep cycle timer that allows for < one second feed times.

Keeping nutes under pressure takes a load off the pump, minimizing how often it comes on. Pump failure was a big problem for the pioneers (~ 8 years ago), but that was pre-RV pumps, which are small and much better built.


HTH
 
Due to the cool-cold ambient temps, I had not been paying much attention to the RH inside the pod, but about 2 weeks ago I noticed my runoff had changed color. Looking inside the pod I noticed a thin film of algae on the roots and on the sides of the pod. I wiped down the inside with H2O2, and to be safe I soaked the plant roots in 3% H2O2 several times a day for 4 days.

Checking the pod daily, it is hovering around 80% which is on the high side. I have been adding jugs of frozen water to the rez, so not sure why this happened.

2 days ago I moved my lone survivor (3" tall) from a previous start into the main pod to see whether it will root better (and therefore start growing) than it was in the mini DWC pod

I am hoping the small plant is a male so I can get some seeds.

Will be starting new seedlings on the new moon.
 
I would love to swap ideas as my set up is also made from DIY bits, fish tank water and air pump with an added fogger using 125w LED panel in grow room W70cms X D70cms X H100cms only looking to grow max 4 plants to start and see how it goes.

Best wishes,
Toaor

It amazes me that none of the e-mags has a separate HP Aero Forum. And yet HP Aero has nothing in common with low pressure or DWC.

I am on my third HP Aero grow and would love to engage fellow enthusiasts with ideas, and questions.

Mine is mostly a DIY using Rubbermaid totes and mist heads and pump from Reptile Basics. I have a completed grow journal that combines TAG (True Aero grow) with LEDs.

Hope you will come out and join the party, :thanks:
 
After a couple weeks of spraying the roots several times a day with H2O2 to get rid of a sizable algae build up, the plants are finally perking up. Checking the roots today, there is lots of new root shoots.

The largest plant is growing 1-2" per day, and the shorter plant is getting new leaf sets along the main stalk where others died.

I don't think you can get this kind of recovery with any other rig. Look for new pics this weekend
 
After a couple weeks of spraying the roots several times a day with H2O2 to get rid of a sizable algae build up, the plants are finally perking up. Checking the roots today, there is lots of new root shoots.

The largest plant is growing 1-2" per day, and the shorter plant is getting new leaf sets along the main stalk where others died.

I don't think you can get this kind of recovery with any other rig. Look for new pics this weekend

With that statement, wouldn't it be safe to say that you probably wouldn't have experienced the type of problems you have here in any other rig? So far you have lost a lot of time and definitely stressed your plants out to the point where I'm sure they have been stunted. I just don't see as many pros as I do cons with this type of setup.

I definitely applaud your persistence. But at what point do you say enough is enough? I'm sure you must be getting frustrated with the lack of results. It all just seems like too much hassle. You can get top quality product with a much less intricate, and less haphazard setup. Just my 2 cents.

Regardless, I'm still watching. I just hope you have some soil plants stashed in a closet somewhere as backup! :ganjamon:
 
Re: TAKE 2: HPA + Quantum T 5 Bad Boy 8 bulb

Both plants are taking off due to lots of new root growth. Unfortunately they will never regain the momentum they had (see previous photo of 2 root systems), but one is near 12" and growing rapidly.

Thursday I switched to 100% advanced flower regimen (1400 ppms) and they seem to love it.

I also adjusted feeding to 3 seconds on/2.5 minutes pause.

Since I only have 2 plants I turned off half the Bad Boy lights- a nice feature- I am running 3 6500s and one 2900.
 
Re: TAKE 2: HPA + Quantum T 5 Bad Boy 8 bulb

Brain Fart

It just occurred to me how ideal the 4 ft bulbs are for SCROGing.

You could use 1-2 plants pinch each to double the main branch then LST them.

2 plants would give you 2 X 2 area per plant to weave many colas.

And I have 6 seeds soaking now, though 4 are green.
:tokin:
 
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