Are netpots completley necessary for aeroponics?

i only have a small aerocloner, but i just use the collar, no net pot.

 

all the reading ive done neoprene good for cloning but depends on how tall you plants are going to get the more mass equals more weight on base.. if they are tightly fitted and dont get that tall cant see a problem

 

I could maybe see this working, but not with the neoprenes, maybe using grodan to fit the whole better, get a little deeper, you need somethin' for them roots to kinda grab, and something thats gonna give when the stock grows, and neoprenes won't expand in that fashion from my experience with 'em, I never took 'em too far, but they aren't made to give like that.

 

Just get a 4x4 rockwool cube and cut it to fit in and just let that be your only base if anything.

 

Oh gods no!

Rockwool is a GREAT hydroponics media, don't get me wrong, but it is made of a type of fiberglass. They don't always, but they CAN start deteriorating, which will put fiberglass dust in your reservoir, which can clog your sprayers and give you no end of headaches.

Ask me how I know this. ~smiles~

You don't HAVE to use net pots, or plastic mesh pots, or any kind of pot, as long as you have a good, supporting collar. However, having the pot is handy when you are trying to move your plants around.

I put my plants in sure-to-grow cubes (Made of recycled plastics that have been melted and spun, kinda like cotton candy. Will not deteriorate or foul up sprayers), put the cubes in plastic mesh pots, and put neoprene collars around that to block light from the roots. This has served me well.

Peace,
Bak Alchisk

 

I have 22 bubbleicious going right now in areoponic/ntf system, I reccomend rockwool, than put in netpots, surrond with hydroton (or other medium) and place in your system. The roots will go crazy and the hydroton/rockwool will help give your plant the support it needs. Mine are over 12 inches tall and are nice and thick. For 24 plant set up it'l cost around $30 and you will great results.

 

wonder if stryofaom would work.. it could expand while the stalks grow.. but wonder if it has chemicals that would contaminated res. hmmm something to try

 

DO NOT USE STYROFOAM, if your roots dig into it, start eatin that shit, BAM dead, I learned this the hard way, put alot of clones in styrofoam cups, and suddenly outta nowhere, I got dead clones.

 

Ive got a homemade aero setup i use 3" net pots with neoprine inserts & half of the bottom of the netpots cut off. My clones hold fine in the neoprine inserts & allow the roots to dangle freely in the resivior until they are established. I then transfer them into 5" net pots with hydroton in a dwc setup. Works great

 

You don't HAVE to use any kind of medium if you are starting from clones. I have a bunch of clones dangling in air. Then again, these are my own clones, so they were treated lovingly from the start.

With seeds, well, you need a medium. In that, I prefer the Sure-to-Grow cubes for reasons already mentioned. They are also easy to sterilize and, as the plant grows, they compress in baskets, pushing more root into the mist.

If I have bought clones that are badly rooted (happens when I want to add a new strain), I will cut one side of the Sure-to-Grow cube, slather the inside of it with rooting gel, slather the clone with rooting gel, gently nudge it into the cube, and then to a basket with a collar. This has saved a lot of clones that, by all rights, should be dead....as they had had stems and leaves mutilated from following old wive's wisdom of cloning, and such wounds had allowed infection to enter.

~shrugs~ I don't use rockwool for aero. Well, first off, the technology is over a century old (tried and true, right?), but mostly, it has been shown that rockwool fibers break easily, and act as a carcinogen, similar to asbestos, when inhaled. Also, it has a natural Ph of 8.6, and for plant use, has to be chemically treated to bring that Ph down to neutral. (7.0, still to high for our darlings)

I'd rather use inert materials that require no chemical treatment and don't clog my fine misters.

Peace,
Bak Alchisk