I'm in the process of designing my own aeroponic system and could use some help I have quite a few issues but my main doubt at the moment is regards to net pot size I'm using pvc piping like what's in the picture below. I'm using 110mm diameter piping. This would mean using 4inch net pots. I've not done anything aeroponic before so my main worry is would a 4inch net pot filled with clay pebbles be enough weight to hold the roots in place to stop a 2ft tall plant with multiple colas from tipping over? In total even with cheap supplies this setup is gonna break the bank at around 2500 pounds so I could really use people's advice. if there is anything else I can use instead of clay pebbles too that would keep them in place I'd love to hear people opinions Cheers
If the pots were wedged in tight then the plant will easily stand up because the pot and balls will be completely enveloped by the roots and they will also trail all the way down those pipes and congregate at the bottom. But, I can see other issues with that system that may be of a concern. First being the price. Oh my god, why on earth does it cost that much? It's just a few drain pipes. Secondly when the plant grows, the roots expand and they can often demolish the net pots. In this system I can see them easily splitting those pipes so be prepared to replace them pretty often. Thirdly, not necessarily a bad thing but that system isn't really aeroponic, it's more like NFT, and when the roots are massing at the bottom it will be more like DWC. I defiantly wouldn't recommend such an overly complicated system for a beginner. It's going to have a ton of issues that will need ironing out and you have enough to learn already. Even if you had the system for free I would still say try DWC first as it's far simpler and not much can go wrong. But if it's going to cost thousands? Jesus man, stay away from it. There is a reason why these vertical systems aren't popular. It's because the idea is sold to people who don't know any better and once they learn the hard way the system is shelved. Popular systems are popular for a reason Spend £400 and you can have a simple set up with quality equipment and get yourself more yield than this contraption will get you. You really don't need to spend any more than that. Remember the KISS rule
The main reason it will cost this much as drain pipes dont seem to be cheap here. I've looked all over and the cheapest pipe is 7 quid each. X 80 pots is around 560 quid then by the time you add fans ballasts reservoir etc it all adds up. I've done simple setups before I am aiming for more complicated now after not getting much out of the space I have. I have a large loft that's been converted specifically for this. How is the system not aeroponic if you don't mind me asking? The mister head will mist all of the roots down the pipe and then water will run back into the reservoir and repeat
Also if you don't mind me asking also I could use the opinion of others. I have to go vertical now due to the space issue. Would you recommend any ways of doing dwc with vertical? I havnt read much about dwc as I thought aeroponics would be best option. Would I get just as fast growth with dwc?
Look, unless you are an EXPERIENCED grower.....toss that crap and learn how to grow the plant in SOIL first. No system you create will produce bud if you don't know how to grow the plant. There is no reason that setup should cost you so much money my friend. You should be able to create a small grow setup and still have change left. Do LOTS more research before you end up with something you can't use. TWW
In all honesty it's a terrible design, classic stoner idea lol. If you aren't able to get a decent yield from a standard set up then you aren't going to stand a chance with this one. It's just not practical at all. Figure out what you have been doing wrong and fix it, these systems are uncommon for a very good reason. Aeroponic systems have the roots suspended in the air, this one will have a film of water constantly running over the roots, so imo it's a Nutrient Film Technique (NFT). But this is just semantics, it is what it is. I'm sure if you get everything right you could get a result, but with so many things to go wrong I don't see it as a sensible option. What yields were you getting before? And what was the set up? You could DWC vertical if you ScrOGed, but it's more hassle than its worth. There is no space saving with vertical, they take up the same space as a normal set up. You said you have done simpler set ups but not tried DWC? Then what set ups did you have? DWC is the simplest I have filled a 4' tent in 4 weeks from a 5" clone under a ScrOG screen in a DWC and gotten a pound from it, that was using a 600w HPS. Flowering time isn't effected though.
The quickest grow I've ever done was in my 4'x2.5' tent. 24 clones in 1 soil bed, vegged for a few days to settle them in and then flowered. 24 of these little beasts in just 10 square feet I think I had over a pound off that grow if I remember correctly
This is first attempt going hydro but I've been reading hours a day for months. I have a 3m x3m X 2m tent. Tbh I thought vertical would increase yield as If have plenty more canopy than if it was horizontal. Everywhere I have read says the same too. In this space I could have 24 2ft plants on the floor or 90 2ft plants vertical? So far I avg 2-3 oz a plant with soil based air pots. With this space what would you recommend to try for best yields? I feel fairly confident that I can iron out any issues with any grow system I'm just trying to figure out the best way to get highest yields. If I was to get 1.5 oz a plant on the vertical setup that's 135 oz a grow which seems possible as I've had 2 oz from horizontal growing without any hydroponics. Anyway I always appreciate advice so if you can recommend anything I should be looking into to increase yields I'd love to hear the advice Cheers
Oh also the reason id definitely want to go hydro is because my grow is in the loft. The loft was converted specifically for this so it's got air vents correct insulation everything. However trecking bags and bags of soil up and down the stairs I have a hose that I can easily take water up the stairs and down the stairs with. So easy refilling and emptying of res
If I also use a sprinkler system instead of the one in this image I could drill small holes in several places all over the drain pipes and insert small sprinkler heads at several locations to make it a true aero system that sprinkles fine mist across all the roots. Which is what I was thinking of doing as I figured nft from the top would mean the lower roots would recieve less due to being depleted before the solution gets that far down. Maybe my mind set is all wrong but I thought due to being able to have seriously more canopy coverage this way that it would mean more yield
If the roots at the bottom recieve unbalanced solution because the top roots are taking nutes out then you just need to pump it faster, but that really shouldn't be a worry. There's nothing wrong with NFT so keeping it as it is will be fine. You could have the pump coming on and off instead of constant flow to air more oxygen availability. You will need to pump air in to the tubes as the oxygen will quickly become used up.
Hydro has several advantages and I prefer hydro myself. It seems you're pretty set on this design and have probably invested a lot of time thinking about it. It has tons of potential problems and won't yield you any more than what your lights allow compared to other set ups, but I don't want to steer you to a different set up and you regret it because you want to try this one
You can get a pound of bud from a 600w HPS with a metre square space. If you have a vertical system with 2 bulbs you're looking at about 2 pounds, but in a 3x3m space and standard set up you could fit 4 bulbs and get 4 pounds The amount of canopy doesn't really make much difference if you're using the same amount of watts Remember with a standard set up the bulb is horizontal with a reflector above it directing all the light in one direction. In your vertical design there is no reflector so the amount of light shining per area is much more spread out so growth won't be as good. If you were able to handle the heat you could have a 600w over every square metre giving you about 9 pounds, but that would be a crazy amount of heat If I had 9 square metres I would probably have 4x 600w HPS and a 4 site RDWC system with a control reservoir. Each of the 4 sites have a ScrOG screen. 4 pounds wouldn't be hard from that, most likely get more If you do the vertical set up please keep us updated as I'd love to see how well it does. Everyone who has done these on here has gone quiet part way through, never to be heard from again. If you google for these set ups you will find a ton of designs and even a lot of built set ups, but much fewer pictures of pre-harvest. They are just so risky, so many things can go wrong. With that many joints, you're almost guaranteed to get a leak. If your pump fails then the plants are dead within hours
I have another 4 weeks until My loft conversion is completely finished and ready to start building a setup. I will research a lot more. If I was to go horizontal I would do Rdwc but I have a lot more reading to do about that. I also need to read a lot about the heat. I have tile vents on the conversion so I could pump air from outside through all of the huds then outside outside temp here would always be below 15 c at night below 0 in winter so heat might be ok to deal with I'll keep posting my ideas and updates on my thoughts of best ways to produce most yield I appreciate your input
If I go with Rdwc I will need to find a way to build my own so I'll have to start reading all over again as I've only been reading about vertical aero so far. If you can point me in the right direction of any diy guides that would be great I'm only aiming for a pound per square meter if I can achieve that then I'm happy
If I understand you correctly you say if u had 3x3m you'd have a 4 site dwc? Is that 4 site per m2 or just one plant per meter? I could really use an experienced growers advice. I don't see the point in me making all the beginner mistakes if someone else already has. I'm prepared to read and get advice as much as I need to before I invent in this. Do you really think larger plants = more yield over sog? Thanks
Ideally I'd like to pull atleast 9lb every 4-5 months from this space as I'm growing not just for myself but family too. The loft is being specifically converted for this, 2-4 inch gap between rafters with a fake wall and insulation, eave vents blowing cold air from outside behind this wall and out other side so to FLIR the roof is cold. I have two intake tile vents taking in air from outside. One will be used to cool the lights and one for general intake. Two large exhausts pushing all the air out of the loft into the chimney. If anyone could recommend any additional features that would be good with this conversion that would be great. I'm going to have to build my own custom grow tent due to sloped roof but peak is 9ft then down to 5ft. I'm struggling to decide if two plants per 1000w light per meter is best or more plants in a sog. If I have one light per square meter tho I may have to limit myself to 600w as I'm not even sure if the mains electricity of my house can output 9000w
I havnt bought the lights for this new grow yet so I'm open to suggestions. I was planning on doing 2-3 X 1000w for vertical but if you think I can go horizontal I'd love your input. I've got nothing to lose trying horizontal first as it will be substantially cheaper to setup.
I would have a 4 site RDWC. I would use 5x 145 litre reservoirs linked with a hose and a pump circulating the NS. (4x plant reservoirs and 1x control reservoir. Each plant reservoir would have one plant in it as I prefer fewer plants, but you could have as many plants as you wanted. Each of the 4x reservoirs and 4x lights would cover 1.5mx1.5m each. Actually, now I'm saying the numbers out loud, I'd have to go with 4x 1Kw HPS lights instead of 4x 600w HPS lights. If you do well, you can get 2lbs from each light, but nothing is guaranteed Many smaller plants or fewer larger plants will give you around the same yield if you have the same lights over the same area. The big difference is that fewer plants is easier to look after but smaller plants take less time to veg.