So I’m thinking about HPA

[NeoScott]

I remember reading about Aeroponics when I first started growing 8 years ago and never had the money to invest in it. Well times change and I’m looking to upgrade my 2 by 4.

Beside a host of other upgrades (temp/rh controller fans etc) I want to increase my plant count by 1 and I started out by wanting a control bucket. On my mission to upgrade to RDWC I found my self looking at Aeroponics information with more questions then answers. Links advice etc as always is welcome

The plan : 3 plant sites 1 control bucket.

The questions:

So my plan is to have a 100psi high pressure water pump (has built in pressure switch) feed into the high pressure accumulator(750ml) then feed to a Solenoid then my pipes feed to a mister. Do I have that right?

The buckets holding the plants will sit higher than the control bucket so they can drain threw the bottom, or do I want a little bit of sitting water?

Misting heads. I got no clue what I need. A cone type I think? I don’t know how big.


I know this isn’t the most popular type of hydroponics so any and all help is appreciated.

 

[No Pain]

I hope the info I provided in the pm was helpful . I totally understand the quest for knowledge as when I set out and built my Hp Areo system I spent countless hours searching for information with very little luck . That's why I did the Diy write up here . During my venture I had had a member on another site tell me that I was destined for failure because he was taught by people who where pioneering this before me and he didn't have success and as you can see by my grow journal with my system that I did everything but fail.

Now let me talk about Hp Aero for a moment . The systems are neat and very efficient in regards to nutrient usage . The nozzles that I used worked excellent I might have had one our two clogs during my Grows ( I only documented the first) . The downfalls of the system is that there are many parts and in the event that you loose electricity or that the pump fails your plants could die . To overcome this My last design was what I would call a hybrid unit it was a combination of rdwc/Hp aero . I took 5 gallon buckets and molded them to totes and had the nutrients recirculating through the totes , they also acted as a reservoir total being 15 gallons. so the roots would grow down into the totes and the upper (in the buckets ) would get misted by the hp aero misters (2 per bucket) and what was below that would stay submerged in the totes I had one airstone in the tote with the small recirculating pump ( pump was in a cold brew bag 100 or 200 micron I cant recall) the intake for the hp aero system was in the last tote with a 100 micron filter on the intake. I fastened plastic window screen as netting to keep the roots away from the pump and hp intake as well as the plumbing connecting all the buckets . Secondly I made a root trellis to disperse the root as much as possible taking up the circumference of the bucket the reason for doing that was for better feeding as if you look through my grow journal you will see that in that grow there was nothing and the roots where a solid mass from the net cup to the bottom of the bucket and if memory serves me right I talked about designing something for that . I used inserts for a food dehydrator they work perfect as they where already round and needed little work for a tight custom fit . This final design of mine worked flawlessly and gave excellent results as you will see in the picture with my then Burple light . lol

Now going through all my mods and designing a modular system ( I wanted to market it , that's how into it I was) and looking at a bigger picture for large grows it wasn't a cost effective way to go and through more research in wanting to make it cost effecting is when I came across the system I use now which is current culture rdwc . Its simple effective less things that can go wrong with close to equivalent growth/production rates which I have improved by applying what I learning during my venture with minimal expense personal tweaks . My last grow in my current system had super fine root growth almost giving the appearance of HUGE dreadlocks . lol

well if you have anymore questions @NeoScott you know how to reach me . Here is a pic of my last HP Aero Hybrid design . I will also throw in a pic of the root system early on in my last grow in my current system .

 

[NeoScott]

Hello again. your post have been very helpful. Thank you for your help. I to had an idea I want to take to market. But it’s for home users. And not Aeroponics.

Here are my scribbles so far

For some numbers I picked out a 160 psi 80gpm high pressure pump but comes set by the manufacturer for 125 psi

A 750ml accumulator tank. My lines are not very long long and don’t want my water sitting inside the tank to long.

I decided to run 3 Separate solenoids on the 1/4 line that runs to each bucket.

Water chiller and an aquarium heater with controllers.

Ph controller because I ducking hate checking ph.


I also am grabbing other things not related to the system such as humidifier and dehumidifier also ac heat upgrades all in controllers. New lights. Going with a veg and a flower light instead of a hole grow light. I like to play with toys okay.

 

[No Pain]

If you are getting/going to be using a pump like the one I used there is no need for an accumulator tank . The pumps do come preset at 120 and are adjustable by turning an Allan screw on the head of the pump . In regards to a chiller and a heater . You really won't / shouldn't need one if you aren't going to make it a hybrid system . See you need to think of the temp of the roots and they are going to be very close to ambient temperature of the room since they are just hanging inside the chambers and if you spray them with solution that is colder / or hotter you will be shocking them every time you feed/mist. You also wouldn't need any solinoids just have the pump line running directly to the misters and you can run them in series , series parallel or parallel and just have the time hooked to the pump it will have enough pressure to mist them properly .

Now im not telling you how to design your hp areo system . I am describing what I did and the most simple form of creating a system as with anything, the more parts and trinkets that are evolved the more that can wrong as well as things that may need trouble shooting in dialing in the system . I would also recommend especially with and HP aero system on having backups for key components that are vital to your plants survival in the event of failure . I had a back up pump , timer and misters just like I have a back up air pump and recirculating pump for my rdwc now . You don't want to wait days to replace something that has failed as its easier to replace a back up part than it is to replace a crop that you have invested 12 weeks in .

 

[NeoScott]

Failures are what I want to be prepared for. the drawing are early stage. the page has already changed. Accumulator tank is to reduce the stress on the pump. I could run a second line without the accumulator as my back up but I do have plans to keep spares around. I’ve also though of just running a single line with all my back up built in as my line is the least like part to fail. Simply have 2 pumps with a control valve and run 2 heads on each but have one head turned off/empty unless I need it.

I want control over all aspects of my grow. Eventually I would like to have the solenoids all running separately. I may even end up making a grow controller before I hit buy on this.


I do like the cost savings of not having the tank and solenoids.

 

[No Pain]

if you are using the same type of pump and misters that is did you do not have to worry about the pump doing extra work . Just so you know when I first started down this road I thought that I would also need an accumulator .