how much does aeroponic gear cost, i used hydro gear but this seems like less work but can someone tell me what i need and how much it costs
Daftie420: no argument, the aero system in the photos is the most efficient going but are you knowledgeable enough to handle it? With hydro you only get one mistake but with aero it can only be a very little screw-up. HSA
I spent close to about $350 but that was ONLY because of thee lights. Take that out and it was about $250. and thats including the weed I bought that I got the seeds from.(got about 50 seeds) If your mechanically inclined I can give you a list of items and you can throw it together in no time. Took me longer to get all the items than it did to build.
Tuptup13: I copied and filed the DIY plans above and I may investigate Aeroponics in the future but right now I have reservations. My bubble tubs cost under $60 to build and they're very easy to use. They're an active hyroponic system by virtue of the pump in the reservoir but they're really nothing more than a modified DWC and they're very forgiving. From what I've learned about Aeroponics, it was invented by an Italian university and from there NASA ran with the ball. The documentary I saw on it was really interesting but obviously they had unlimited bucks to work with. Back to my tubs; they're a larger scale version of the Aerogarden, the patented complete growing system, with a pump moving nutes up to a drip irrigation distributor head with six ports. From there 1/4 inch drip irrigation lines pass the nutes to the six net baskets to irrigate the seedlings until their roots touch down in the reservoir. Last week I lost a nutes circulating pump. Since it doesn't make any noise I don't know exactly when it died. If I hadn't had to change the nutes I might never have found out since my roots have long ago reached the nutes reservoir level. Now if that happened in an Aeroponics system I would have lost my crop, right? If there were some kind of alarm to let you know when you lost a pump I think I would be a lot more enthusiastic. I've seen a combination of bubbling tubs that were both aeroponic and DWC. Have you considered this? Hank
It works great. Only issue is plant growth in relation to space. Should have gotten a bigger storage bin.
Thats what mine us like. From what I have heard/discussed I have a combo aero/dwc. instead of irrigation lines, my plants get nutes thru the spray misters. More the toyota are so long they hang in the water with nutes and an sure stone so even if my pumps go out or I loose power my plants wont die. Worst that will happen is early flowing lol.
Produktoftha202: The two things that worry me about true Aeroponics, where your roots are suspended only in air and sprayed with a nutrient mist are: one, if the pump fails and you're not lucky enough to catch it in time you lose your crop. If you have a combo system with the roots in the reservoir nutrient level that 's fine but if it happens before that your crop is dead again. That's almost as bad as that is when you spray nozzles get clogged, like they did with a friend's set up and you don't know it. Same result. Keep an eye out for a one hour documentary on the Discovery or Science channels. I saw it about two or three years ago and it was about the future of agriculture after we've ruined all the available land. They went through the history of Aeroponics and what NASA is doing with it and will likely do with in on long space voyages to produce both food and oxygen for the astronauts. It was really fascinating. Hank
I have an aerogarden currently but its not nearly big enough for more than one plant. :rollseyes: Do you know the name of the documentary? I would be interested in checking it out. Never knew the history of aero. What gph pumps do you use in your system? You bring up some good points but you should keep two pumps possibly running the nutes connect with some T connections and you're good. If one goes out you still have the other one. How bigs your tub? Thanks tup
Tuptup13: 1. You're absolutely right about the size limitations of the Aerogardens for growing Ganja but it's not really Aerogarden's fault. They weren't designed for that and most of our weed strains are just too big. Hell I'm finding that to be true in a 2' by 4' by 6' 6" tent. 2. I'm sorry I don't remember the name of the documentary. I've since programmed my Direct TV DVR to copy anything about hydroponics or Aeroponics and when they rerun it again I should be able to catch it. It was worth watching. I'll answer #3 below because I've made a change in the pumps. The ones from The Home Depot died and they cost more than the ones at the hydro store. My tubs are active hydroponics, not Aeroponic or a combo. If you go to stealthhydro.com and watch their video on their bubble tubs you'll see what I copied and so far it's working real well. I use a ten gallon Sterlite tubs from Wal-Mart. They're $5. Harbor Freight Tools has an 18 piece hole saw set that goes from 3/4" up to 5". With that I cut six neat clean 3 1/2" holes in the tub lids that accommodate 3 3/4" net pots. Originally, in the reservoir I had The Home Depot's next to the smallest fountain pump, about $20. I think it was about 160 GPH. They didn't last so I opted for the Ebb & Gro 340 GPH pump from Discount Hydroponics. The volume is adjustable both at the pump inlet and at the distributor head before the nutes go to the net pots. From the distributor it goes by 1/4 clear air tubing to the net pots. I burn a tight hole in the pots to fit the hoses snug. I haven't used the new 340 GPH Ebb and Grow pumps yet but that should keep the nutes moving. I'm going to put them in a nylon stocking like women wear with flat shoes. I learned that trick from my Aerogardens. The tubes going to the net pots will irrigate the seedling's roots until they grow down to the nutrient level in the reservoir. The six port distributor head is about $6 The ones without adjustment valves are a little cheaper at The Home Depot and you need a 1/2" plastic adapter that is pipe thread on one end to a barbed fitting on the other to connect the pump and the distributor head. That connects the pump to the distributor head by a section of 1/2 plastic drip irrigation hose. Mine's only about 6" long. At first I used "stainless steel" hose clamps but later I went the non-reactive plastic "squeeze clamps" available at the hydro stores. Those are about 50 cents each and they're more compact and neater. I went through a couple of generation changes with how I introduced the incoming airlines and the pump electrical cord. At first I drilled holes in the top of the lid and on another version near the top of the tub. I used black plastic drip irrigation hose for the air lines between the pump and the tub and sealed them with rubber grommets to keep the light out. I did the same thing with the power cord. In the last version I found they fit okay under the lid without pinching off the air lines or damaging the cord. Just don't use the clear plastic aquarium air line. It kinks and pinches off too easy between the lic and the tub. Literally every thing is available at The Home Depot and Wal-Mart. With Aeroponics you're going to have an issue with higher water pressure and spray getting out of the tub. Some people go to The Pep Boys, Manny Moe and Jack for auto after market weather stripping but most of them that I've seen still have leaks. Have you watched the You-tube how to videos on aeroponics? They're pretty informative but a friend of mine still had leak problems and went back to the bubble tub. I hope this helps. Hank
i built a "true" aeroponics set for <$300 via ebay. and the economies of scale are unmatched. once you get over your fixed costs, your variable costs go way way down and the system pays for itself after just one successful harvest. all the parts are rated for industrial processes, standards much much higher than the junk you buy at the hydro store at ridiculous mark up. a lot of people talk about pumps breaking down. the pumps i used are rated for continuous use for 3 years with warranty. I have a pump with a manufacture date of 10/03. still going strong with no noticeable wear other than some light rusting on the body from being in an humid environment for years. and i run an accumulator tank set up. the pump runs for roughly 2 minutes 6 times a day. it gets less use in a week than most people's pump get in a single day. and in the case of a power outage, the lights are off meaning my plants only need to be fed 1 second every hour. the storage capacity of my tank allows me to feed them in this state for well over a day. i've never had any problems with equipment failure in all the years of running aero. every single time, it was operator error whether it was letting my water run out, filters go bad, forgetting to turn something back on, etc. the biggest investment if you plan on going aero is the time and effort you're going to have sink into learning the in's and out's of your system, not unlike every other method of growing. not just building it, but maintaining it. although, it certainly doesn't hurt if you're a geek/borderline ocd. :]
Dunny: my compliments sir or madam. You have obviously done your homework and paid your dues. All I know about Aeroponics is what a I saw in that documentary and what I've been told by one of my hydro instructors. He agreed it was a great way to grow but he went out of his way to discourage us from getting involved. Most of his arguments seemed reasonable enough: the cost, the head ache of clogged sprayers, leakage due to higher operating pressures and the labor intensity of it. You have obviously taken the time to perfect your system.You might want to do a tutorial on yours and get into the specifics. I'm sure I'm not the only one who would be interested in learning more. Thanks for your feedback. Hank