EXCELLENT GROW there Uncle! I have been using ultrasonic foggers for over three years and the results have been great. There are caveats. 1. Have spares as they do "burn out". This includes the transformer which I found to be under rated (I run my foggers24/7 throughout the entire grow). 2. They "boil off" the active molecule in the water and after awhile will not "fog". You can see this for yourself if you try to fog distilled or R/O water. You need to add some tap water in between soup changes to keep the fogger active (I have a DWC). 3. If you have an airstone in the tank you need to watch how much air is being pumped in as that displaces the fog and dries out the roots.
as far as #2 goes, I don't know anything about "boiling off" The reason foggers don't work in R/O water is because of their "auto off" safety feature. this helps them from prematurely failing due to operating when there is not a high enough water level. there is a sensor with a broken circuit, and as long as water is above the sensor, it will complete the circuit allowing it to run. contrary to popular beleif water is NOT electrically conductive...its the contaminantes or disolved solids in the water that make it conductive, so the higher the TDS, the higher the conductivity. because R/O water has on contaminants (TDS=0) it is not conductive. So its not that you can't fog R/O water, its just that the sensor for the "auto off" doesn't work in R/O water, if you could bypass that, the fogger would work just fine in R/O water. and besides, unless your talking about flushing the plants during last 2 weeks of flowering, you're always going to have a TDS > 0, so you shouldn't have this problem.
As to your reply about #2. If you put the fogger in "hard water" after some time it will decrease in the amount of fog generated and then stop fogging altogether. That is why they (manufactures) recommend adding an amount (cup usually) of "hard water" when the fogging decreases or stops. If you watch the fogger, the red light will go on in R/O or distilled water indicating the water sensor is working and the water will boil but you get no fogging action.
weird...what brand of foggers you got? either way though, you shouldn't run into this problem when using for growing (maybe only if using for cloner with pure R/O water) But even if you start out with R/O water, adding the nutrients to it, is essentially making it "hard" because your adding Dissolved Solids (raising TDS). and that is what "hard water" is, water with dissolved solids in it.
I use Aeromist, but all ultrasonic foggers are the same. I figured that it has to be a molecule that "binds" to the water molecule so that it can mist or fog. Your right that when you add nutes to R/O or distilled it will fog, but even the active ingredient in the nutes gets boiled off and after awhile the fogging decreases or can stop altogether. That is not the "problem" the high pressure misters exhibit, but I think they clog. Every method has it's pros and cons. I just have a lot of experience with foggers.
Yes clogging is something you have to whatch out for on a true aero grow. I can't speak from experience because i've never had a true aero rig set up yet, but i've heard that the good quality mister heads, will go for a whole grow without clogging, you just have to clean them really good inbetween grows. btw...have you attempted to do a whole grow from seed to harvest, using only foggers? if yes, how did it turn out?
You can search "fogponics" and there are pics of my rig and crop. I normally go from clone to grow to harvest, but have gone from seed to grow to harvest. I use the foggers 24/7 and have been getting 4 to 5 crops a year for the last three years. The yields have been very good, and the quality is better then anything I can buy. I still do things to "improve" the rig.
A word to the guys who have had nothing but bad luck using foggers. It is not the fogger, but the process as it depletes the nitrogen in the soup even faster. IMO I use a 21-0-0 fertilizer in addition to everything else (GH) to replace the "boiled off" nitrogen in the soup. It doesn't take very much to get the level back up, but I have found this really helps.
Re: NASA, yes...the people who went to the moon and built the space shuttle, has done research on aeroponics and suggests that in order to grow a plant all the way to harvest you need water droplets between the size of 5-50 microns. The bigger the plant gets, or more plants you have, the bigger the water "droplets" need to be... ______________________________________ I know this is a older post and I thank balla420 for posting it... Balla420, IF the NASA experiments were performed in space (assumes the goal is a long-term space food source), clearly the environment in space is very different than here on earth. To the point, is the water droplets standard of 5 to 50 microns in space still the same for us here on earth? Or is it fair to use the test results from space here on earth? Thanks again for a very interesting post! SOGLAD
I was looking for a way to producing clones so when I took the cutting I could count with out any doubt a rooting plant. With a 5 gallon bucket using a aquarium water pump, some pvc and these cool little sprays and some experimenting I finally got a consistent spray volume. On my first cuttings using this new method all the cuttings took root and I put them in earth. In a week they doubled in leaf mass and height. I have a page now if you would like one, I have the bucket on ebay and am working on a small book to some secrets I have found to be crucial growing a successful plant for max yield. I call it my Hydro Bucket! Has anyone else tried this yet?
I've read a lot of misinformed bullshit on this site over the years, but this thread takes the cake, from start to finish nothing but stupid. If you dont have anything to add to a thread please dont post. Your allowed to have an opinion, But when its like this... Keep it to yourself..Please Slinger
There is no doubt that air and water do the trick. I have added a water heater to the bucket to get a nominal temp of 75 degrees. I add a little Epson salt to the water to keep bacteria and fungus down. It is amazing to see a fresh cutting grow as it is taking root. To me this is the way to clone. Still takes time, I have heard of rooting happening in 7 days but I have never seen that kind of results. Two weeks is about it as far as i can tell. I do plan on using the bucket to grow a plant w/o soil for the very first time and will be using a kelp fertilizer that is pH balanced. This is all new to me and I have to agree that this post/thread is the best.
That would be a bucket cloner.... Rumple has a guide here somewhere on how to build it... i use a bubble cloner and see roots 7-12 days... Link in my sig, easy to make and works great.... Keep in mind to guys... the ph in a cloner means absolutly nothing... use distelled water with a touch of superthrive... Ph only comes into the game when you are giving the nutrients.. so if there are no nutrients...dont worry about ph hope this helps guys..
Firstly, your right, secondly your wrong. I have totally heard more misinformation on this sight, there's some weird shit out there like alien rape, seriously look it up. Any way back to the misinformation, atomizing doesn't do anything, period. At least no more than a sprayer or mister does. The REAL!!!! reason for aeroponics working so well is that it eliminates the need for the plant to fight for nutrients, water, and ding ding ding (super emphasis) "Oxygen". Roots need oxygen, plain and simple, roots need water and nutrients, however, soil is just a stable platform to stand on. Aeroponics works real well as long as water and oxygen are met. Nutrients are not easier to uptake becuase of an atomizer, there are no little mouths going "feed me smaller chunks". It only cares whether or not its nitrate etc. In the words of Penn Gillete and the dude above me, True aeroponics, is bullshit.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn920j2VIrg]YouTube - REAL AEROPONICS!!![/ame] <object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Yn920j2VIrg?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Yn920j2VIrg?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>
I understand most of the points here, like not having any substrate and using neoprene lined holes, and not having some reservoir using some cheap sprinklers dosing it with water etc. But what then separates a aeroponics from fogoponics? Or is fogoponics just some new buzz-term? I have a good hydro store in my area that sells both. Not that I would buy one, I much prefer DIY. Just curious because these guys are helpful and legit and I wouldn't think they would sell a buzz-system just for an extra buck.
All very good questions. Now however much I would like to say it doesn't make a difference between "fake" aeroponics and "true" aeroponics.(I've done over eight different methods of hydroponics not necessarily pot, many more if you count combining methods). I would like to say fogoponics is just a different method of aeroponics. The main difference between fogoponics and atomizing is particle size. Now the reason that there's no difference is that both the neccesary levels of water, nutrients, and oxygen should be met, dubbed the hydro tripod. Meaning that the plants don't have to fight for anything. The cheap sprinklers work also and in my opinion are better, becuase they are cheap and still maximize the hydro tripod, knock any of those out and you lose maximized potential. The reason your boys sell all that crap is cause people want it, not becuase it's buzz. The easiest thing to do is up to you and your abilitys. God speed and good luck.
I am on my 3rd TRUE aero grow. To differentiate from other aeroponic methods, I call it High Pressure Aero (HPA). It has taken several grows to put all the hardware together and get a feel for it. I have one completed journal on another site and one in progress on yet another. Most of my DIY parts (pump. mist heads, tubing) came from Reptile Basics. My deep cycle timer is a Sentinel. My pods are Rubbermaid. Some of the things I have learned: Each plant needs ample room around the root system. Put them too close (or in a confined space like NFT) and you will soon have a root hammock, which changes the root zone dynamic. When the girls turn to budding an entire new root system develops that looks like pompoms. These roots feed the bud sites. Crowding effects size and yield. Root Zone temperature is critical, especially when plants are young. I just lost 5 one month old plants due to a few days of high 30 degree weather. Have a heater ready, especially if your lights don't generate heat (ie LEDs). D2W (Drain to Waste) during flower is critical as the runoff during this time is pretty toxic. If reused you will see issues late in bloom that are mistaken for nute deficiencies. And since HPA uses so little nutrients, D2W during bloom is not expensive. HTH