I'm not in any way a professional grower, nor do I claim to be. I've made a simple DIY "Aero-Veg" Tub that I will use for my clone / veg room. This tub will hold 20 plants through their veg phase. These instructions are pretty simple and can be found in many other places on the net. Materials 20' 1/2" PVC Pipe - Can be obtained at The Home Depot for about $4.00. They can cut it into 5' pieces so it will fit into your car. 20 EZ-Clone Sprayers EcoPlus 633 GPH Submersible Pump 31 Gallon Rubbermaid Roughneck Tub (4) 1/2" PVC Elbows (3) 1/2" PVC Tee's (1) 1/2" Threaded PVC Connector 20 3" Net Pots 20 3" Neoprene Collars Tools Power Drill 11/64 Drill Bit Hacksaw 3" Hole Saw Sandpaper Instructions Step 1: Cut 4 6" pieces of PVC Pipe. Step 2: Cut 2 21" pieces of PVC Pipe. Step 3: Cut 2 10" pieces of PVC Pipe. Step 4: Cut (1) 2 1/4" piece of PVC Pipe. Step 5: Connect the 4 PVC Elbows to the 21" PVC cuts. Step 6: Connect the 4 6" pieces to the elbows. Step 7: Connect a PVC Tee to the 10" pieces. Step 8: Connect the other 2 PVC Tee's to create a manifold like so. Drill 20 holes around the top of the manifold with the above mentioned drill bit. Screw the EZ-Clone Sprayers tightly into place. Step 9: Connect the 2 1/4" piece to the PVC Connector. Step 10: Screw the threaded end into the EcoPlus 633 GPH Submersible Pump. Step 11: Connect the manifold to the pump. Step 12: Fill the 31 Rubbermaid Roughneck Tub until the pump is fully submersed and turn her on! As you can see the manifold we created covers 100% of the area with a fine spray. Coverage Shots: Lid Instructions With the manifold done, all you have to do now is drill the desired amount of 3" holes into the lid with your 3" hole saw, smooth out the edges with sandpaper and place the net pots into the holes. Add neoprene collars and cuttings and off you go!
Awesome I've been looking for guide like this for a little while except I was gunna tweak it a little to be used for just a cloning chamber I wouldn't have to spray three times a day myself. Mad props buddy. But do you have any pictures of the sprayers you used?
Yeah I needed something to go from clone through veg... thats why I used the 31 Gallon, but you could probably do it with a smaller tub and pump for just clones. I got the EZ-Clone Sprayers from here, they are fairly cheap.
Great design! my crappy aeroponics design recently failed I have the same pump and I didn't think that it would be be able to run those many misters using a tube that thick I guess I was wrong going to home depot tomorrow using your design
yeah, what they all said! I got an 800 GPH pump that might go into an aero system eventually, looks like it'll work just fine! wasnt sure it would be enough, but your rig runs well with less output, good to see
That 800GPH should be fine depending on how many misters you have, I'm only running 20 of the 25 I originally ordered, figured it'd be better safe than sorry. THANKS to everyone one else who provided some feedback for this DIY, glad to know I could help some fellow growers!
This is a great design. Very good picture tutorial and easy to follow instructions. This is perfect to help me (well, my mind anyhow) build one of these for myself. When I get into my new place I will definitely be building one of these. I can't wait I already have just about everything you listed off. +rep
No, since I have another complete aeroponics system in my flowering room, this only needs to hold them for a few weeks. If your going to use this tube to go all the way through to harvest, I suggest only doing a 6-10 plant top (meaning only drill enough 6-10 3" holes for your netpots, not 20). Use the same size reservoir and the tub should be good all the way to harvest.
herbal great setup props to you! 2 things 1. would you mind filling me in on that one step with the sprayers? Also what happens when they are done vegging do you have an identical setup for flower or are there mods ?
Basically what your going to do is: Once you've made the manifold out of the PVC pipe, you'll drill into the pipe itself and screw the sprayers in place so it looks like this: Those little red things are the sprayers, don't drill all the way through the pipe or you'll be starting over. When they are done their veg phase, I have an AeroFlo system that uses 3" net pots as well, so I just take them out of the tub and put them into the AeroFlo for flowering.
Thank you. Ok i got the whoe setup so the pvc is going to be at a higher elevation than the pump and where should the water level be? Does the pump run 24/7 or do you have to control it's use somehow. I'm sorry but i'm growing my first time in soil right now and I'd love to switch to a hydro system of somesort and this looks very managable. I appreciate your help and direction!
Since my manifold sits directly on top of my pump, I filled it just enough so the pump is completely submerged. If you elevate the manifold, raise the water level accordingly, just make sure the manifold isn't submersed. I keep my pump running 24/7
Great stuff man. I'm going to build one of these for my next grow. I'll start my seeds or cuttings in rockwool and grown them until they have a strong root system before moving them to the DIY Tub. I have a few questions... 1. With your current design and manifold height how often do you have to top off the resevoir running the pump 24x7? 2. What are those rocks you covered the rockwool with in the baskets? 3. How much can I get away with elevating the manifold to raise it up higher from the pump to get more water in the resevoir? I plan on growing 6 or 9 plants all the way from start to harvest in a single DIY Tub. 4. Do you start out by watering from the top until the roots are below the basket or does the spray reach the bottom of the rockwool? 5. How often to you drain and fill the resevoir (or do you just keep topping it off when the water level gets too low)? Thanks.