Indica HPA Aeroponic Grow Experiment 2020

[leblanca]

Im taking a little break for now, have a lot of different project on the go but im planning to restart the system end of november after i do some modification.
Im currently trying to grow clone from small mother plants but im not having success so i keep trying until my setup is ready, if i still have had no success i restart with seeds but its not my preferred option.

 

[HunterHunt]

cuttings cut on a node at a 45 degree, dipped in hormones, rapid rooter plugs and a ice tray and keep it moist. 100% success rate.

 

[PK]

very sick setup. you can easily see the workmanship experience and intelligence in the design. Not sure if this was mentioned, but i hope that ac in the inclosed box has constant fresh air supplying it, if not it can burn out through time.

 

[leblanca]

very sick setup. you can easily see the workmanship experience and intelligence in the design. Not sure if this was mentioned, but i hope that ac in the inclosed box has constant fresh air supplying it, if not it can burn out through time.

Oh yeah, there is a 6 in filtered vent to allow fresh air in as hot air is pulled from the box and exhausted outside.

 

[Straightupgro]

You running a second cycle ?

 

[leblanca]

Probably early next year i will, cant wait to try out those new lights!

 

[Straightupgro]

Nice yeah I was looking into some leds as well to improve the efficiency. Can't wait to see the new grow.

 

[leblanca]

Started a new grow, for those interested to follow, check the link in my signature.

 

[emilio96]

Hello!
This journal will be about an Indica grow in a HPA aeroponic setup with HID Lighting.
5 Strain had been chosen for the experiment.

• 3X Purple Bud
• 3X Tangerine Dream
• 3X Blueberry
• 3X Warlock
• 3X Strawberry Diesel

The Growing Medium will be a 1in rockwool cube in a 3in net with Clay pellets.

The aeroponic setup was built over the last 3 months, i will include pictures of the setup.
I am using 2x 1000W MH and HPS light in a 8'x 4' Tent 9' high with the extensions.
There is 5 totes of 50 Gal.
Each totes has 6 Nozzles anti-drip 2x @ 0.014in and 4x @0.012in.
The first pressure switch is adjusted to close at 130 psi and open at 148 psi, the second pressure switch is adjusted to close at 115 psi and open at 148 psi.
Im thinking of having 2 second on and 10 min off on my timer with a 5 min interval on each timer.
The system use an accumulator, solenoids and pumps, line filter, pressure relief valve, pressure gauge and more fittings than i can think of.
I also installed a UPS of 900VA on the pumps and timer with solenoids to maintain water in case of power failure.
Im also trying a air conditioned air box around the root chamber to cool down the root area from overheating, this is very experimental so hope it helps.
For ventilation there is a 800CFM intake fan and sam CFM for exhaust in the garage.
The tent has 4 circulation fans, 2 fans for cooling the light and 2 fans for tent air circulation with a charcoal filter.
There is an additional 2 fans for circulation air in and out of the air box that cools the root zone.
The system will be running on RO water with Emerald Harvest fertilizer chart 3 part and drain to waste.
The garage has no drain or water so i have to pump the water from my basement to my garage, so i made a heat traced hose for moving water when its -30 .c.
Also had to install a 45Gal. Drain tank which is very thin, a local business had it but its expansive...
A hose gets connected between my basement RO water supply / drain to the Drain / water tank in the garage.
I pump RO water in the garage, than pump the drain tank back in the drain of the house with the same hose and than open an air valve connected to an air tank to push all the water out of the hose in the drain of the house.

The seedling have been started in 5.5 ph adjusted rockwool under a 100W COB with lens with a heat mat set at 26 .c the 10 February 2020
The 15 seed sprouted and all seedling were looking ok by the 13 february, little tap root was reaching for the water lower so i prepared some nuts at 100ppm and changed the waterthe 17 february , went out of town for work and came back the 21 february and 7 out of them got damping off... made a mistake and used an old bucket that was used for gardening before to prepare my nuts mix and i had only rinced it so i probably got some fungus in my plants.
A few more really struggle to keep it together but i might end up saving 6 out of the 15 to go in the Grow tent.
So out of the lot we have left and alive

• 1X Purple Bud
• 2X Tangerine Dream
• 2X Blueberry
• 1X Warlock
• 0.3X Strawberry diesel...

Friday will be the transplant in the tent as the roots of some of them is already 4in long and they are near 3 in.

Hey man! great job building this whole system, I am a huge fan! would you mind to give me the type of nozzles/tees or where you bought them, I would love to buy but dont know if I can trust amazon when I just order some random 0.012" orifice nozzles. Kind regards, Emiel

 

[leblanca]

Hey man! great job building this whole system, I am a huge fan! would you mind to give me the type of nozzles/tees or where you bought them, I would love to buy but dont know if I can trust amazon when I just order some random 0.012" orifice nozzles. Kind regards, Emiel

Got mine off amazon, brand was AZ coolmist, got the T on ebay.

 

[linux]

Holy Sh*t Dude... This is by far the best aeroponics system I have ever seen over the past 10+ years of researching this type of hydroponics system for cannabis.

What you built and put together is what I'll call a valid state of the art system.
A lot of care and details was put into this True aeroponics system.
The massive colas and the bud shots is literally jaw dropping, nothing I've seen before, it's like all the facts I hear about aeroponics is just proven right here in this thread thanks to you.

I would definitely need to consider following your design principles, mainly using rectangular shaped root chambers is interesting. I know rectangular shaped totes is good for cloners.
I've seen other people using stacked up 5 gallon buckets or large garbage cans.
I would recommended/experiment using some kind of a root spreader disc, so that the roots would spread outwards and the center of the root mass is hollow during the vegetative stage.

I see that you had some issue with rot root. I too had issue with this. The best thing to tackle root rot is to use calcium hypochlorite at 4-6ppm, this will keep your roots nice clean white. This is little tricky because it needs to be automated to be effective. I would recommend to get an "ORP" sensor kit from "Atlas Scientific".
They have "Consumer" grade and "Lab" grade, any one will do but go with the Lab grade stuff.
Buy 56% or higher concentration of calcium hypochlorite which is sold as "Pool Shock".
Make a diluted batch in a separate dedicated tank labeled as "calcium hypochlorite".
Have a microcontroller such as a simple Arduino or ESP32 to monitor the ORP levels in your reservoir tank and to automatically dose calcium hypochlorite using a peristaltic pump.
Your root rot will be history.
You could get a product called "clear rez" which is used for aero cloners (low pressure stuff) and works wonders to keep roots nice and clean, the active ingredient is calcium hypochlorite. You could initially experiment and test your next grow's roots using "clear rez" and see if it eradicates root rot for the entire grow regime.

Would also like to point out that someone mentioned that "organic" growing methods can not be done on a High pressure aeroponics, this is a false statement. Aeroponics will work fine with organic fertilizers and active beneficial bacteria. GH actually sells organic hydroponic fertilizers which works perfectly on aeroponic systems.
For aeroponics or hydroponics, I would rather go with the sterile route (non organic fertilizers), the growing experience is more predictable and maintainable.

Would recommend to get two main types of beneficial bacteria, Mycorrhizal and Trichomerda.
They will work perfectly on an aeroponics system because these beneficial bacteria fungi lives on the roots.
To use beneficial bacteria, you only need to do it once or twice, make a concentrated solution of beneficial bacteria mixed with distilled water and pour/spray it all over the roots manually, best done during good root mass at the initial vegetative stage.
You first inoculate the roots with Mycorrhizal beneficial bacteria, wait two weeks for it to infect and establish on the root system. Then add Trichomerda.
This way both will work symbiotically together with the roots.
If you add both Mycorrhizal and Trichomerda fungi at the same time, the Trichomerda will kill and consume the Mycorrhizal fungi. Some products have both of these fungi in one bottle... which is weird, don't get those.

Would also like to point out that a chlorine concentration of 2-4 PPM will not harm the beneficial bacteria population.
A study has been done on this and lab results show low concentration of chlorine does not eradicates beneficial bacteria. Here is a YouTube video conducting a test:

Lastly, for real aeroponics misting nozzles, would recommend getting them from "Agrihouse" these are the scientists who invented aeroponics and is sponsored by NASA. Luckily they sell the nozzles right on their public website for anyone to buy. Only $5 for two pieces which is extremely fair and good since it's made by real scientists, specifically for true aeroponics. They are designed and engineered to be clog free and made of quality plastic to prevent deterioration.

As again this is the best hands down true aeroponics grow journal I have ever seen for cannabis grow.
Very well documented, amazing results. Excellent stuff!

 

[leblanca]

Holy Sh*t Dude... This is by far the best aeroponics system I have ever seen over the past 10+ years of researching this type of hydroponics system for cannabis.

What you built and put together is what I'll call a valid state of the art system.
A lot of care and details was put into this True aeroponics system.
The massive colas and the bud shots is literally jaw dropping, nothing I've seen before, it's like all the facts I hear about aeroponics is just proven right here in this thread thanks to you.

I would definitely need to consider following your design principles, mainly using rectangular shaped root chambers is interesting. I know rectangular shaped totes is good for cloners.
I've seen other people using stacked up 5 gallon buckets or large garbage cans.
I would recommended/experiment using some kind of a root spreader disc, so that the roots would spread outwards and the center of the root mass is hollow during the vegetative stage.

I see that you had some issue with rot root. I too had issue with this. The best thing to tackle root rot is to use calcium hypochlorite at 4-6ppm, this will keep your roots nice clean white. This is little tricky because it needs to be automated to be effective. I would recommend to get an "ORP" sensor kit from "Atlas Scientific".
They have "Consumer" grade and "Lab" grade, any one will do but go with the Lab grade stuff.
Buy 56% or higher concentration of calcium hypochlorite which is sold as "Pool Shock".
Make a diluted batch in a separate dedicated tank labeled as "calcium hypochlorite".
Have a microcontroller such as a simple Arduino or ESP32 to monitor the ORP levels in your reservoir tank and to automatically dose calcium hypochlorite using a peristaltic pump.
Your root rot will be history.
You could get a product called "clear rez" which is used for aero cloners (low pressure stuff) and works wonders to keep roots nice and clean, the active ingredient is calcium hypochlorite. You could initially experiment and test your next grow's roots using "clear rez" and see if it eradicates root rot for the entire grow regime.

Would also like to point out that someone mentioned that "organic" growing methods can not be done on a High pressure aeroponics, this is a false statement. Aeroponics will work fine with organic fertilizers and active beneficial bacteria. GH actually sells organic hydroponic fertilizers which works perfectly on aeroponic systems.
For aeroponics or hydroponics, I would rather go with the sterile route (non organic fertilizers), the growing experience is more predictable and maintainable.

Would recommend to get two main types of beneficial bacteria, Mycorrhizal and Trichomerda.
They will work perfectly on an aeroponics system because these beneficial bacteria fungi lives on the roots.
To use beneficial bacteria, you only need to do it once or twice, make a concentrated solution of beneficial bacteria mixed with distilled water and pour/spray it all over the roots manually, best done during good root mass at the initial vegetative stage.
You first inoculate the roots with Mycorrhizal beneficial bacteria, wait two weeks for it to infect and establish on the root system. Then add Trichomerda.
This way both will work symbiotically together with the roots.
If you add both Mycorrhizal and Trichomerda fungi at the same time, the Trichomerda will kill and consume the Mycorrhizal fungi. Some products have both of these fungi in one bottle... which is weird, don't get those.

Would also like to point out that a chlorine concentration of 2-4 PPM will not harm the beneficial bacteria population.
A study has been done on this and lab results show low concentration of chlorine does not eradicates beneficial bacteria. Here is a YouTube video conducting a test:

Lastly, for real aeroponics misting nozzles, would recommend getting them from "Agrihouse" these are the scientists who invented aeroponics and is sponsored by NASA. Luckily they sell the nozzles right on their public website for anyone to buy. Only $5 for two pieces which is extremely fair and good since it's made by real scientists, specifically for true aeroponics. They are designed and engineered to be clog free and made of quality plastic to prevent deterioration.

As again this is the best hands down true aeroponics grow journal I have ever seen for cannabis grow.
Very well documented, amazing results. Excellent stuff!

Thanks for the message and advice, currently just starting a new grow, cleaning the tent today to get it ready for in a couple of weeks when they will get transferred there. Had made another journal on y 2nd grow where i managed the root rot issue with Enzyme Komplete and Hydrogen peroxide.

 

[linux]

Yes I have seen it. Another phenomenal grow.

I'll enjoy your upcoming grow. Your grow lights is also a smart choice. Wonder what strains you will be using this time and if you made any changes to your HPA aeroponics system.

I have used a 32oz Botanicare's Hydroguard (beneficial bacillus microbe) and a 32oz 34% H2O2 previously.
The hydrogaurd costs about $25 and H2O2 costs about $28 from the local garden shop.

The hydrogaurd did not work at all for me (maybe not the right microbe? It also just expired ).

The H2O2 however did worked, but the entire bottle was finished in 2 weeks lol. H2O2 also does not have a long shelf life. Once it finished the root rot started again. Very expensive preventive management protocol for me.

54% Calcium Hypoclorite costs less than $8 for 16oz and should last for few years and has a much longer shelf life than H2O2 when stored correctly. You can also get higher concentrations around 68% which costs double the price but it has a much higher stable chlorine oxidation during storage.

You can also fully automate H2O2 dosing using an ORP sensor. The great thing about atlas scientific ORP kits is that they have an excellent manual and provides excellent example codes for ardunio and raspberry pi.

I have not tried the Calcium Hypoclorite method, but it is sworn by the low pressure aero growers.
Same goes for the beneficial Mycorrhizal and Trichoderma fungi.
From my research Trichoderma is very powerful and proven fungi. Its so good that it's literally classified as a bio-agent fungicide. Helps with seed germination too, know as "seed priming or bio-priming".

I bought 54% Calcium Hypoclorite, Mycorrhizal and Trichoderma fungi about a week ago and will try HPA aeroponics once again soon, hope it goes smooth like your grow.

Also you can get a fungi sample of the Mycorrhizal and Trichoderma and inoculate it in a Potato Dextrose Agar plates and never ever have to buy it again. You can easily make PDA plates at home. Similar to mushroom tissue harvesting and multiplying. I'll experiment with this.