Undercurrent/Aeroponics Super System Advanced LED 800W Scrog - HGK - Chemdawg

[ronnie6690]

This is the most rewarding part of this hobby for me. It doesn't matter how good you are, or how much money you throw at em, you can't make them go faster. And then 8 weeks later you have monsters on your hands.

I can't wait to see these go too. I stopped doing aero when I got pythium a long time ago, but I've been so tempted to try it again.

One question for you, is there a yt video or diagram of how the vortex works? I've been unable to find anything that shows what it looks like.

basicly its a dc motor , on the shaft is attached a tube with a disc at the top. the tube goes from smaller at the bottom to larger at the top where it connects to the disc. at the top where the disc is , there are holes. so when it spins it sucks the water up the tube to the disc where its atomized when it comes out the holes and hits the disc, which creates a fine mist in the area above the water level. the thing i like most about it is there is no spray nozzle to get clogged like other aero systems. i'll post a couple pics for you.

 

[ronnie6690]

hope this helps


filled the system with ro water last night added 40 ml Heavy 16 roots and 85 ml of DM zone. going to run water temps about 77f in the begining to encourage fast roots growth. sprayers will run one hour on and one hour off till roots come out of net cups. then i bring down the water temps and the sprayer will be on except for a few hours at night.

 

[TheCapn]

Thanks for the pictures. Very cool. It doesn't look very easy to copy that and "DIY". Does it fill the entire chamber with mist? Or is the mist blocked by netpots and such? I guess what I'm saying is, once you have two plants in there with roots, are there any dry spots? Or does this vortex do a good job of getting the mist everywhere? The problem I have with sprayers is the spray is blocked by roots.

>>>DM zone

Do you always run zone? I run beneficial bacteria and it seems to give me great growth, but I have never done a comparison with zone.

 

[ronnie6690]

Thanks for the pictures. Very cool. It doesn't look very easy to copy that and "DIY". Does it fill the entire chamber with mist? Or is the mist blocked by netpots and such? I guess what I'm saying is, once you have two plants in there with roots, are there any dry spots? Or does this vortex do a good job of getting the mist everywhere? The problem I have with sprayers is the spray is blocked by roots.

>>>DM zone

Do you always run zone? I run beneficial bacteria and it seems to give me great growth, but I have never done a comparison with zone.

the vortex sprayer completely saturates the area between the water level and the top of the unit. if you remove a slot you can see mist bellowing out of the unit. this action of atomizing the water super oxygenates the solution. that with running water temps at 66-68f will induce rapid growth and enable you to use lighter strength nutes.

i used to use beneficals too , but the problem is with a super oxygenated water culture such as this microbe populations can explode and cause things like rapid ph swings , bio film, and will compete with the roots for oxygen.
running sterile with products such as zone keeps ph levels stable and system running clean. and there is nothing competing for the oxygen with the plants.

last grow i started with microbes and switched to zone before flowering. this time its sterile from the gate.

hope this helps you

 

[Hiker]

Ugg. Carpet.

That room is looking awesome Ronnie.

I'm a gear geek, so I love your journal.

Sorry I missed the last few pages though. Looks like things are moving along nicely! I'm excited to see this thing full of buds!

tank heater

heater t-stat

What tank heater is that? I don't need one right now, but in the Winter I have to run them.

I'm really excited about this one , this is the first undercurrent / aeroponics hybrid system i've ever seen and i love breaking new ground

I didn't catch the aeroponics aspect last time I checked out this grow. Cool!

Looking sick. Looks like there will be a lot of light dissipation without some walls to contain it though.. but I'm also an HPS grower. Id venture to guess that with those tight beam diodes it's likely a non-issue ?

i did think about that, led's are more focused. jon's last grow did great and his plants where away from the walls so i think i should be ok.

I've always thought that was part of the advantage of LED. They are more efficient partially due to focusing the light better.

Thanks for all your info on LEDs. I'm still undecided how I will gear up flower room 2. The original plan was LEDs, but then I started seeing some mixed results. I'm also interested in the induction light McLoadie is using, so I'm watching his current comparison with HPS very closely.

After I get the mini split in, I can run all HPS if I want. I already ran dedicated 20A 240V circuits for each flowering room. It would be nice to lower the electric bill a couple hundred bucks a month though.

basicly its a dc motor , on the shaft is attached a tube with a disc at the top. the tube goes from smaller at the bottom to larger at the top where it connects to the disc. at the top where the disc is , there are holes. so when it spins it sucks the water up the tube to the disc where its atomized when it comes out the holes and hits the disc, which creates a fine mist in the area about the water level. the thing i like most about it is there is no spray nozzle to get clogged like other aero systems. i'll post a couple pics for you.

Interesting. Did this come as part of that system you modified?
I'd still think those little holes could clog like an emitter, no? Isn't it basically the same thing, ie a small hole with a little bit of pressure behind it?

>>>DM zone

Do you always run zone? I run beneficial bacteria and it seems to give me great growth, but I have never done a comparison with zone.

First, love the avatar. Just started watching that show on Netflix.

I use DM's Zone too, but I run a sterile res. I briefly tried the bennie tea route, but went back to sterile, and added Zone and Hygrozyme. I just don't think I need the live bacteria to make the nutrients available to the plants in a hydro system. That's the whole point of what the nutrient manufacturers are doing, right? They are providing the nutrients in a readily absorbed solution. Hopefully Ronnie doesn't mind my jumping in on that one. I'm sure he will provide his thoughts on Zone as well. I love the stuff, so couldn't help myself jumping in and wholeheartedly endorsing it.

If the bennie tea is working for you, what's your interest in changing? Just curiosity?

 

[Hiker]

i used to use beneficals too , but the problem is with a super oxygenated water culture such as this microbe populations can explode and cause things like rapid ph swings , bio film, and will compete with the roots for oxygen.
running sterile with products such as zone keeps ph levels stable and system running clean. and there is nothing competing for the oxygen with the plants.

last grow i started with microbes and switched to zone before flowering. this time its sterile from the gate.

What he said!

Had not considered the part about competing for O2! Thanks! rep if it let's me, but I think I already got ya for some of the pics

 

[ronnie6690]

What he said!

Had not considered the part about competing for O2! Thanks! rep if it let's me, but I think I already got ya for some of the pics

thanks Hiker, i've been waiting for you to get to see the finish build pics

got the first res in the system and i'm getting it ph adjusted and ready for the girls. just waiting on the seeds to do their thing.

appreciate you stopping by bro.

 

[cannasensei]

Stoked on this grow

 

[Ash2man]

 

[s1ingblade]

the mist sounds awesome cant wait to see how it works and instead of asking questions about your delivery method I will go back in time and try to figure it out myself, if not I'll ask then lol

 

[Hiker]

I know you talked about part of this before, but I can't recall the specifics. You built this from 2 pre-built aerponics and/or DWC types systems, right? And this motor driven aero/mist system came as part of that system, right also?

Your system really interests me because it uses all of the technology alternatives to what I use.
While we're both hydro, I'm flood & drain, you're RWDC and areoponics. I have HPS, you have LED. You have real AC, I have this #$%*&#ing portable

I've always been a flood & drain guy. All the growers I knew in SD would f&d trays of rock. In my last grow in SD, a buddy and I got together and tried a bucket system. It was love at first sight, but some of you guys here have me interested in trying other methods. While growing in SD, back in the 90's mind you, I did help a couple other buddies setup an NFT system using big PVC pipe. It never did well, so it sorta soured me on leaving roots in water. It was probably a combination of several other factors as well, but I always blamed that hydro system they built.

I have always liked the misting idea though. You're implementation of it overcomes one of my other concerns about DWC, it keeps the roots above the water moist. Then the undercurrent keeps refreshing the solution being used to make the mist. I really like your setup!

I'm with Ash...

 

[ronnie6690]

Ugg. Carpet.

That room is looking awesome Ronnie.

I'm a gear geek, so I love your journal.

Sorry I missed the last few pages though. Looks like things are moving along nicely! I'm excited to see this thing full of buds!



What tank heater is that? I don't need one right now, but in the Winter I have to run them.

sunleaves digital 200w works for up to 80 gallons. $37

I didn't catch the aeroponics aspect last time I checked out this grow. Cool!

the rainforest is genhydro's dwc/aero unit. nice unit that they market mostly as an aero cloner. i basicly run 10 gals in each unit so two plants per unit should be enough space (comparable to 5 gallon bucket system) but making two of the units into an undercurrent system should improve performance.



I've always thought that was part of the advantage of LED. They are more efficient partially due to focusing the light better.

Thanks for all your info on LEDs. I'm still undecided how I will gear up flower room 2. The original plan was LEDs, but then I started seeing some mixed results. I'm also interested in the induction light McLoadie is using, so I'm watching his current comparison with HPS very closely.

After I get the mini split in, I can run all HPS if I want. I already ran dedicated 20A 240V circuits for each flowering room. It would be nice to lower the electric bill a couple hundred bucks a month though.

i've only used Led lighting, so i've nothing to compare to. but i'm happy with my results

Interesting. Did this come as part of that system you modified?
I'd still think those little holes could clog like an emitter, no? Isn't it basically the same thing, ie a small hole with a little bit of pressure behind it?

the vortex sprayer does come with the rainforest, the holes in the disc that the water flows through isnt small. its the raised edge on the spinning disc that atomized the water creating the mist.

First, love the avatar. Just started watching that show on Netflix. love that show tooI use DM's Zone too, but I run a sterile res. I briefly tried the bennie tea route, but went back to sterile, and added Zone and Hygrozyme. I just don't think I need the live bacteria to make the nutrients available to the plants in a hydro system. That's the whole point of what the nutrient manufacturers are doing, right? They are providing the nutrients in a readily absorbed solution. Hopefully Ronnie doesn't mind my jumping in on that one. I'm sure he will provide his thoughts on Zone as well. I love the stuff, so couldn't help myself jumping in and wholeheartedly endorsing it.

If the bennie tea is working for you, what's your interest in changing? Just curiosity?

thanks Hiker for the great questions and comments. always a pleasure to have you following along

 

[ronnie6690]

the mist sounds awesome cant wait to see how it works and instead of asking questions about your delivery method I will go back in time and try to figure it out myself, if not I'll ask then lol

hey s1ing, feel free to ask any questions. i consider this forum a two way learning tool. i'm here to learn , but i'm also willing to share any knowledge i can.

i'm truly impressed with the vortex sprayers

 

[TheCapn]

the vortex sprayer completely saturates the area between the water level and the top of the unit. if you remove a slot you can see mist bellowing out of the unit. this action of atomizing the water super oxygenates the solution. that with running water temps at 66-68f will induce rapid growth and enable you to use lighter strength nutes.

i used to use beneficals too , but the problem is with a super oxygenated water culture such as this microbe populations can explode and cause things like rapid ph swings , bio film, and will compete with the roots for oxygen.
running sterile with products such as zone keeps ph levels stable and system running clean. and there is nothing competing for the oxygen with the plants.

last grow i started with microbes and switched to zone before flowering. this time its sterile from the gate.

hope this helps you

Thanks for the well worded response. This is making me want to try something like this, just for the fun of it, and to compare to my flood and drain method. I'm really excited to see this go. That vortex mister is really neat; I'm going to read up on it.

 

[TheCapn]

From HIker:
>>>If the bennie tea is working for you, what's your interest in changing? Just curiosity?

When I was battling root rot, I saw how much the tea sparked crazy root growth, while ZONE did absolutely nothing to combat the pythium.

However like you guys were saying, it is good for PREVENTING root disease, and the beneficial bacteria shouldn't be necessary. It is not too much trouble to brew the tea, but ZONE would be even easier. I think I'll give it a try soon. Thanks for the advice.

 

[jon705]

reps reps and more reps Ronnie! that is one badass looking system, I cant wait to see this grow bro! one question though, thats a window shaker I see right?Is that how your going to cool the room? your going to go through ALOT of co2 that way bro, but im sure you know this. Im just wondering why you went that rout?

 

[ronnie6690]

reps reps and more reps Ronnie! that is one badass looking system, I cant wait to see this grow bro! one question though, thats a window shaker I see right?Is that how your going to cool the room? your going to go through ALOT of co2 that way bro, but im sure you know this. Im just wondering why you went that rout?

thats the same a/c i've used before. the window unit is sealed , with the vent shut i've no issuses with venting co2. i did a real good job with sealing around the unit. thanks for the reps bro

 

[jon705]

cool I didnt know they could be sealed

 

[ronnie6690]

cool I didnt know they could be sealed

window units (except for the vent function which opens a small flap allowing some air to go outside) only circulate air inside, exactly like a mini split. outside air is drawn through the sides of the part of the unit that sticks outside and through condenser coil. now there are a couple small insulated slots that allows condesate to flow to back of unit. i havent noticed co2 levels dropping rapidly when its running so i doubt much air flow is lost through those.

 

[Hiker]

window units (except for the vent function which opens a small flap allowing some air to go outside) only circulate air inside, exactly like a mini split. outside air is drawn through the sides of the part of the unit that sticks outside and through condenser coil. now there are a couple small insulated slots that allows condesate to flow to back of unit. i havent noticed co2 levels dropping rapidly when its running so i doubt much air flow is lost through those.

hmmm... I've been assuming that it's that little slot for the condensation that makes mine "leak". I never did get that intake fan added to try and create a little positive pressure, but I do know I'm still leaking out CO2 pretty quick. I've pretty much given up sealing it any better until I can get a mini split.

I think I get how that mister works. Neat idea. I bet it will actually work better with your system since the water level will stay constant. In the little DWC style, you would have to add back often I imagine, or that mister would end up hanging above the water.

You're definitely one of my favorite posters. I really appreciate how much thought goes into your responses. Plus, you're always full of useful information.