Id love to see the details. Ive never heard of a a meniscus membrane flood and drain/nft.
More new ideas to play with!!
First time hydro, going to try Ebb/Flow - is this a reasonable plan?
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More new ideas to play with!!
Cold$moke
Well-Known Member
That ones not done yet lol
If you want to see a version of it look up
On you tube. Grow pot cheap flood and drain the easy way.
Ill be making something similar but with my own design tweaks
Basically you could use your set up as planed but without the bell syphon as cool as it is.
And you wouldnt use media
I guess meniscus membrane was invented in Australia to be able to grow in hot weather while using less water just from what i read
If you want to see a version of it look up
On you tube. Grow pot cheap flood and drain the easy way.
Ill be making something similar but with my own design tweaks
Basically you could use your set up as planed but without the bell syphon as cool as it is.
And you wouldnt use media
I guess meniscus membrane was invented in Australia to be able to grow in hot weather while using less water
just from what i readIve been googleing that meniscus membrane system and have found some info but no real details. I found a very fuzzy out of focus image, but its also missing details.
This looks like a very interesting option though. Looking forward to seeing what your plans are.
https://www.maximumyield.com/membrane-meniscus-method/2/1498
http://www.ipaustralia.com.au/applicant/parker-andrew-martin/patents/AU2011100391/
It looks like his book is no longer available anywhere, but Im still looking.
This looks like a very interesting option though. Looking forward to seeing what your plans are.
https://www.maximumyield.com/membrane-meniscus-method/2/1498
http://www.ipaustralia.com.au/applicant/parker-andrew-martin/patents/AU2011100391/
It looks like his book is no longer available anywhere, but Im still looking.
Budley Doright
Well-Known Member
Looks interesting, what are you using for mat material? I was using spun nylon mats when I first started to colonize the roots but got away from itThat ones not done yet lol
If you want to see a version of it look up
On you tube. Grow pot cheap flood and drain the easy way.
Ill be making something similar but with my own design tweaks
Basically you could use your set up as planed but without the bell syphon as cool as it is.
And you wouldnt use media
I guess meniscus membrane was invented in Australia to be able to grow in hot weather while using less water
Cold$moke
Well-Known Member
I have some polyester batting about 1/4 or less thick
Cold$moke
Well-Known Member
The membrane basically just helps channel the nutrients evenly but the roots will eventually devour it and it will have to be thrown away
I dunno i figure if the membrane doesnt work out i can just pot pots in it and make a flood and drain or drain to waste with the table
I dunno i figure if the membrane doesnt work out i can just pot pots in it and make a flood and drain or drain to waste with the table
I think I found the two videos you were talking about.
Looks to me like its not quite the same as the system originally designed by Andrew Parker. This setup has the mat for the nutes to flow through, but he isnt using a fabric membrane above it. So, this is more of an NFT with an added mat.
In the original meniscus membrane, the membrane is supposed to keep the roots OUT of the mat, so the water flow is never slowed or blocked. The roots are also in even less water. The only water getting to the roots is what is wicked up through the fabric/meniscus membrane.
One thing about that video is that Im not all that impressed with the volume of the roots he is getting. I think he would get more is he didnt have the plastic sides on the rockwool cubes, but Im not sure on that.
I cant find any pictures of the original meniscus membrane setups though or what size roots they had. From the descriptions, it sounded like they were getting huge root balls above the fabric membrane?
Need to do more searching I guess.
How were you going to modify the setup in the video?
Looks to me like its not quite the same as the system originally designed by Andrew Parker. This setup has the mat for the nutes to flow through, but he isnt using a fabric membrane above it. So, this is more of an NFT with an added mat.
In the original meniscus membrane, the membrane is supposed to keep the roots OUT of the mat, so the water flow is never slowed or blocked. The roots are also in even less water. The only water getting to the roots is what is wicked up through the fabric/meniscus membrane.
One thing about that video is that Im not all that impressed with the volume of the roots he is getting. I think he would get more is he didnt have the plastic sides on the rockwool cubes, but Im not sure on that.
I cant find any pictures of the original meniscus membrane setups though or what size roots they had. From the descriptions, it sounded like they were getting huge root balls above the fabric membrane?
Need to do more searching I guess.
How were you going to modify the setup in the video?
Cold$moke
Well-Known Member
Well to be honest i thought the fabric on top was a detriment.
Causing major loss of humidity from the top if i understood it right we probably read the same links since there is so few on the subject.
As to having some kinds of root suspension
I feel it is uneeded
I was quite impressed with the mat of roots the guy had in his system.
Did you watch the video where he shows the roots after harvest?
And i am going to use panda or a hard lid.
To keep it like a high moisture aero chamber without the spray,
a thought crossed my mind of adding a nebulizer to fog the roots but im not set on this yet .
Cause of problems with running nutes in the ultrasonic foggers
Im still in my design stages but so far im going to be using the batting like in the vid.
But i still dont have all the details worked out as i have 8 to 10 weeks till i get some room
I want this systems to be reliable and simple with reduced root pathogen risks (i have theories )
And easy to clean and maintain and leak free (sometimes uniseals weep for a few days til salts build up and block it off if using a round container )
Also im going to plumbbit so it can drain to waste or recirculating that way i can make flushes easy without emptying the res
And this setup should be much quieter than my rdwc even though thats not my main concern as i love to hear the falls
Causing major loss of humidity from the top if i understood it right we probably read the same links since there is so few on the subject.
As to having some kinds of root suspension
I feel it is uneeded
I was quite impressed with the mat of roots the guy had in his system.
Did you watch the video where he shows the roots after harvest?
And i am going to use panda or a hard lid.
To keep it like a high moisture aero chamber without the spray,
a thought crossed my mind of adding a nebulizer to fog the roots but im not set on this yet .
Cause of problems with running nutes in the ultrasonic foggers
Im still in my design stages but so far im going to be using the batting like in the vid.
But i still dont have all the details worked out as i have 8 to 10 weeks till i get some room
I want this systems to be reliable and simple with reduced root pathogen risks (i have theories )
And easy to clean and maintain and leak free (sometimes uniseals weep for a few days til salts build up and block it off if using a round container )
Also im going to plumbbit so it can drain to waste or recirculating that way i can make flushes easy without emptying the res
And this setup should be much quieter than my rdwc even though thats not my main concern as i love to hear the falls
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Cold$moke
Well-Known Member
I agree he probably could have had some more lateral roots if he pulled the covers off as well
But i was impressed with his end root mat
Just because i think it has all the o2 it can get
Thats the only reason i can think of for suspending the roots system.
Cold$moke
Well-Known Member
I think it will still work very similar he just down sized the thickness of the capillary mat
At least to me
Edit to add although after considering it mabey it keeps the upper layet a little drier?
Mabey experiment with diffent thicknesses of capilary mat basically find the max wicking hieght
Which i figure is close to 4 inches tops
At least to me
Edit to add although after considering it mabey it keeps the upper layet a little drier?
Mabey experiment with diffent thicknesses of capilary mat basically find the max wicking hieght
Which i figure is close to 4 inches tops
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This is the only one I can find, and yeah, its really hard to read.
http://www.ipaustralia.com.au/applicant/parker-andrew-martin/patents/AU2011100391/
http://www.ipaustralia.com.au/applicant/parker-andrew-martin/patents/AU2011100391/
The way I read it, the idea is for the roots to stay out of the mat where the water/nutes flow. Thats what the fabric membrane does. That fabric wicks water up to the roots.
I think the roots are supposed to fill up all the space where he has it labeled as "root zone". Basically fill up all the space between the rock wool cubes. Now that would be some serious root mass.
I think the roots are supposed to fill up all the space where he has it labeled as "root zone". Basically fill up all the space between the rock wool cubes. Now that would be some serious root mass.
Cold$moke
Well-Known Member
I think it would be hard not to grow into the mat
The reason i say that is it says the mat is optional
Then it would be.in direct contact with the capillary mat .
I think the mat is probably disposable as well but if not id like to know what they used exactly.
But since ill be running a pump rather then gravity i think a thinnet.mat will work better with higher flow of nutrients .? Dunno lol
I think #3 says "Thickness exaggerated for clarity".
Im not sure what the "disposable material" is supposed to do. Its not mentioned any where I have seen other than in that pic. The article that does the best job of describing the system is here:
https://www.maximumyield.com/membrane-meniscus-method/2/1498
So it looks to me like the guy in the YouTube video is only using part of the system (no membrane) and getting much smaller root mas than what is claimed if you use the membrane to separate the water flow area from the roots.
I sure would like to find some examples of the original idea with some real world pics.
Im not sure what the "disposable material" is supposed to do. Its not mentioned any where I have seen other than in that pic. The article that does the best job of describing the system is here:
https://www.maximumyield.com/membrane-meniscus-method/2/1498
So it looks to me like the guy in the YouTube video is only using part of the system (no membrane) and getting much smaller root mas than what is claimed if you use the membrane to separate the water flow area from the roots.
I sure would like to find some examples of the original idea with some real world pics.
Thats what the fabric "membrane" is for. Im picturing it like a smart pot fabric. It lets water wick up through from the mat below, but stops the roots from getting down to the mat.
Actually, either system looks promising to me, but I would be happier if the roots filled up all that empty space.
I think if I did this I would not use rockwool cubes. They dont look like they would provide much stability for the plants when they got large, plus there is no way to tie down branches for LST. Im thinking I would go with smallish pots filled with hydroton or even some rocks mixed in to give them some weight.
I think if I did this I would not use rockwool cubes. They dont look like they would provide much stability for the plants when they got large, plus there is no way to tie down branches for LST. Im thinking I would go with smallish pots filled with hydroton or even some rocks mixed in to give them some weight.