Indica HPA Aeroponic Grow Experiment 2020

[Rollincoal]

Hows the set up going you getting it all dialed in hope so

 

[Backlipslide]

Good question Rollin coal!

 

[leblanca]

Hows the set up going you getting it all dialed in hope so

Yes its a work in progress, i just left 4 days out of town and came back today, out of the 6 that were still alive when i left 3 are healthy and 1 is struggeling.
The blueberry seems to not have gotten enaugh roots to pick up the mist and died of dehydration, i feel that i would need to gieve a more direct spray on the roots of the plants rock wool cube so it stays a bit moist while the plants developp its new roots structure.
So whats left and well is

• 1 Tangerine dream
• 1 Warlock
• 1Purple Bud

Those 3 have delopped nice roots to pick up the mist and seems to be doing well.
Im considering modifying my watering system to be able to isolate some totes to not waste water and nutriment in 5 totes if only 3 totes are used. Or i could plant some strawberry.... anyway something will have to be done to not awaste so much.

I think what im noticing is that the plants need to have a quiet well established root system to increase survival rate when moving from the rock wool cube tray where roots just bath in water to the aeroponic chamber where they only get mist.
The problem i noticed though is not every plants developped a nice root system at the same speed so since my tent is used for both veg and flower they have to all come in at the same time or they wont have the same growth when its time to flip them.


Purple Bud is doing well

Tangerine dream had a rough start but is okay now

Warlock seem pretty healthy now.

Thsi tangerine dream is still alive but might not make it.

Roots of purple bud

Roots of tangerine dream

Roots of warlock

 

[Rollincoal]

Right on man hope you get the rest of the bugs worked out

 

[leblanca]

Friday the Nutriment solution was Changed, i had about 7 Gallon left of nutriment solution out of 40 Gallon prepared, so it consumed about 33 Gallon in the last 5 days.
Prepared a nute at 340 ppm, 17c, 5.6 ph

Today the plants seems to be doing okay, i think that the 2 tote the further away from the water supply are getting a lower pressure and might not spray as much as i have lost my blueberry in those 2 tote and had moved my purple bud that was doing really well on friday to the tote further away and the roots dried out, the plant started having droopy leaves and you could clearly see the roots hard partly dehydrated. I moved it back to the other it was before and its been 2 days and it seems to be doing better but its seriously stunted as a large portion of its roots died.

Also added the tangerine dream and the purple bud seedling with the other, its a survive or die can of deal...


The Warlock is doing really well, green and lush with very nice roots formation

Tangerine Dream seems to be doing okay, a bit of yellow at the tip of the leave.

Struggling sister

The stunted purple bud

And the other sick little sister

 

[Backlipslide]

Definitely a learning curve to go with that eh?

 

[leblanca]

Definitely a learning curve to go with that eh?

O yeah, its not a premade kit and i never grew aeroponic or hydroponic so there is a lot to learn, but im sure it will all be worth it in the end.

If i can get the warlock to grow so well, its just a matter of adjustment.

 

[Rollincoal]

Ya it would definitely be a lot of playing and adjusting. If your furthest pot is not getting the proper spray what if you used a smaller line for that one. It would require less volume. But not sure if it would cause your other two tubs to have to much pressure? If that is not an option and you use one pump with a manifold move your furthest tube to your closest port to your pump in hopes that it would get the spray first. Food for thought

 

[leblanca]

Ya it would definitely be a lot of playing and adjusting. If your furthest pot is not getting the proper spray what if you used a smaller line for that one. It would require less volume. But not sure if it would cause your other two tubs to have to much pressure? If that is not an option and you use one pump with a manifold move your furthest tube to your closest port to your pump in hopes that it would get the spray first. Food for thought

Yeah i was thinking to do something similar to what you suggest, but first i install a pressure gauge at my blleed valve of each tote to measure the pressure at the end of all the nozzle when they spray, if i notice a noticable drop i change the tubing to feed a Tee into 2 Tee that will feed the 5 tote, i have a slight pressure drop from using more Tee but shoudnt be drastic.
High pressure is not a problem, with this system, if i could pump 1000 psi in those nozzle i would but those pumps are way too expansive.
Currently the whole system from feed tank to each tote is in 3/8 tubing, than each tote has a 1/4in tubing loop in the tote.

 

[Rollincoal]

ya that would probably be a better way to start.

 

[leblanca]

Today i inspected the plant thermal reading, from what i see adding a protective white tarp over the tote would help reduce the heat in the root zone as the cover is at 28.C but the leaves were at 22.C on all plant.
The root structure seems to be doing well also, apparently the ideal temperature is between 16-21C.

 

[Backlipslide]

Fancy!

 

[Rollincoal]

Wish i had me one of those fancy cameras

 

[leblanca]

Wish i had me one of those fancy cameras

Bought one of those to help me with troubleshooting at work, might as well find new use to it

 

[leblanca]

So it seems the purple bud that got shocked by being dehydrated recovered. there was new growth and new leaves are growing.
I also had to add 5Gal to the system as it would have ran out of water, so it seems it take 45 Gallon for 7 days to run the system without running dry.


A comparaison of the same plant a day after being shocked and 48h later, it seems the recovery is quiet quick.
Left is taken on Thursday and right was taken on Tuesday

Nice root growth of the warlock.

 

[leblanca]

Its friday so time to make the new nute for the week, his time i will be using 45 gallon of water.


Currently making the nute, aiming for about 400 ppm, i guess im too high.

 

[Backlipslide]

420 for the win!

 

[leblanca]

The plant seems to be growing properly for the 3 that made it, i realised that i am slightly under fertilizing them, my blue lab display in EC, TDS or ppm, well my emerald harvest feeding chart said to go for 300-400 ppm for aeroponic system in early vegetative but i realised they mean the ppm 500 not the ppm 700, so when i am currently at 400 ppm im actually just at 290 tds ppm. Its not a big deal but i have to make sure to adjust the fertilizer to the TDS next time...


Warlock going strong

Tangerine Dream behind

And the little purple bud

 

[Backlipslide]

They look happy! Nice colour of green!

 

[Rollincoal]

Ya for sure looking good man