First attempt at Aeroponics. First grow in 2 years!

[BBAeroponics]

Damn really want to see more damn opiates

 

[BillyPilgram]

Would you please talk about the microcontroller set up? It looks like an arduino but I can't see the details in the photos. I am working on a raspberry pi using python language to control my room. Always want to hear more.

 

[Wastei]

Think I already mentioned it in previous post. It's just two arduinos running as simple delay timers. One for spray cycle (3 sec on/ 3 min off) and the other one for the return pump.

Hope that helps. Cheers!

Would you please talk about the microcontroller set up? It looks like an arduino but I can't see the details in the photos. I am working on a raspberry pi using python language to control my room. Always want to hear more.

 

[Stealthstyle]

any updates?

 

[Wastei]

any updates?

Got a new location! Just starting up again. Will most likely receive the Aero system this weekend aswell. Finally got hold of my friend's wife who's gonna bring everything to the new location.

Still haven't heard from the guy but I talked with the wife and she said that everything has been packed into boxes and is complete. Last time we spoke was early January. Only been growing Autos this summer.

Popped some new beans, just starting to sprout. HiFi 4G from Dutch Passion. I'm also gonna sprout some Kali Mist and AK47. Need new mom's and breeding stock.

I will do a Aero vs DWC grow journal in the future. Been long since last time running the old system.

 

[Wastei]

Started to rebuild the system a couple of weeks ago. Takes time to gather parts but it's coming along nicely so far.

Made some hose brackets for the spray nozzles out of a piece of aluminum bar. Machined, drilled and threaded.


Still need some stainless steel screws to mount the solenoid valves. Made some mounting brackets out of robalon high grade plastic.


Not much work left. Solenoid valve needs screws to mount them. Need to add two layers of foil tape on the lids. Then it's just to assembly the console again.., a yeah I forgot I need a new tank and some basic electric parts like braker and a coupling box. Getting there. Cheers!

 

[Wastei]

Starting to assemble the system. Made some stands for the plywood board. Installed all the electrical components. Still waiting for the reservoir to arrive.

Finished the first two lids for the root chambers/buckets. Now I'll have to wait for the last few parts. Maybe I'll do all the plumbing later today.
Testing the manual controls/brakers for the solenoid valves. Everything works so far! Getting there. Cheers!

 

[Wastei]

System is finally up an running again. Still just testing for a couple of hours. No leaks! Had to fix some connections by the breaker but other than that everything has been smooth sailing.

Gotta make some holes on the lid of the reservoir. It's a very closed system. Almost popped the lid off when I first pressurised it. Was swelling before I removed the steel ring/strap. Lol

Tonight we put first clones in! Wish me luck! Cheers!

Edit: Tested the UPS. My calculations was about 6h of redundancy. From my testing it looks more like a 7.5h window. That is awesome. System draws under 20w!

 

[Wastei]

StrawberryAK - Serious Seeds, nice lime green sativa. First spray with some TRIA, Kelp/Humic and aminos.

Roots! Cheers!

 

[Wastei]

Vegging along with 400w MH bulb. PH's been rock stable all week at 5.9 without any inputs. Just shock every third day at 2-0.5ppm. 5 days has passed and she's almost doubled in size. Looks like she's ready to take off! Cheers!

 

[Wastei]

Aminos . Day 12 of veg. She's well over the edge of the lid. Sprayed some TRIA, Kelp/Humic and Aminos.

Topped off the reservoir with some RO, bringing it back to 0.8 EC from 1.0. PH dropped from 5.91 to 5.84. Cheers!

 

[Wastei]

Peeking through the woobly tent window. Got a new clone in. Hifi 4G from Dutch Passion. She'll be moved to the other tent later on.

Hifi 4G is supposed to be a cross between Wifi OG x Glueberry OG. She has really kushy notes from twisting the stem in veg. Dark stout indica girl.

 

[eminiplayer]

@Wastei : Hey mate, thanks for sharing your grow, loving all the pics, looking forward to following along. Your aero system looks relatively simple compared to some I've seen (possibly something I could even build myself). Have you ever grown in coco/DTW? How would you compare the results in terms of yield to your current system? Also, for a height restricted grow, what would be the minimum height of the grow chamber (length and width aren't a concern) be, do you think? Could you get away with 200mm?

 

[Wastei]

@Wastei : Hey mate, thanks for sharing your grow, loving all the pics, looking forward to following along. Your aero system looks relatively simple compared to some I've seen (possibly something I could even build myself). Have you ever grown in coco/DTW? How would you compare the results in terms of yield to your current system? Also, for a height restricted grow, what would be the minimum height of the grow chamber (length and width aren't a concern) be, do you think? Could you get away with 200mm?

Thanks! I've had some experience growing in Coco. There's pros and cons with both systems. Some things are similar when it comes to to methodology and understanding how to dial in for optimal root environment.

You will use way less water and nutrient with Aeroponics. While in the same time Aeroponics has more components to failure and the installation time will take longer in Aero than Coco.

Coco is more failsafe, both method has a learning curve, ie you need to learn and understand how the system optimally operates.

You want to create and aim for a constant uniform root environment in both systems. It will take some time for you to calculate/dial in the optimal amount of watering volume per watering cycle and stage of growth. I would even say this is even more important in Coco than Aero. You can't really overwater in Aero, buts it's pretty easy to do so with Coco in the early stages of growth.

In Coco we have been using drip systems forever, later years I've seen manufacturers like Floraflex popping up and I've seen spectacular results in those if you looking for parts for a Coco build.

200mm is probably on the smaller side for Aero. It will grow plants, just very small ones.

There's a lot of guys running coir on this forum, follow someone with good results like @TintEastwood or @bk78. Cheers and happy growing!

 

[eminiplayer]

Thanks for taking the time to write such a thorough reply, gives me food for thought, much appreciated.

 

[Wastei]

Well fuck me! The 24V transformer died on me. I was lucky it happened while I was manually running the system so I had time to save the plants. Just plugged the bottomed holes and filled them up and put airstones in. They've been DWC ladies for 9 days.

Fucking Chinese peace of shit! It's leaking and the clips for the pressure switch is not in it's best condition. Hope she'll last til about 9-10 of January when I receive the first pump ordered.

This was the time consuming night when the transformer broke.

This is the shiny new one installed. 24V 5A, that's more than enough for 8 solenoid valves.


New clones in from the buckets. Think this is the very old Skunk #1. Other one is StrawberryAK. Planning on popping some new seeds, gonna try starting them directly in the system. But first I need to build more chamber! Got most of the parts. Also thinking about trying to build one with a 16 gallon root chambers instead of currently 10.5.

The clones had to stay 9 days longer than planned but they're doing fine. Glad everything's back to normal at my end. Ordered two new Aquatec 8852 pumps, accumulator tank and some bigger 10" 1 micron filter.

Don't know if it's really needed but I bet it will keep the system more clean and remove more biofilm, when you do replacements you should look for part to add or improve.

 

[harrythehat]

just a small thought will those alloy brackets you made react against the acids in the nutrient and start causing problems later?

 

[Wastei]

just a small thought will those alloy brackets you made react against the acids in the nutrient and start causing problems later?

No. They have no direct contact with the nutrient solution. This is HP Aeroponics, not DWC. I would not submerge aluminium in solution even though I don't think it would cause any problems.

Been running same recirculating rez for a month before rez change. Perfect, pristine growth without any signs of defects. So no it's not a problem. I run 0.8 EC max and this is lower than some tap water around, not enough acids to create a problem. Plants haven't used more than a couple of deciliter of water in four weeks and as a result the solution is rock stable, no pH adjustments for 4 weeks is pretty stable IMO @ pH 5.9.

I've also been using brass, screws and fittings for years without any problems. It's more a problem in theory which doesn't convert into reality IMO.

Of course you should not build your entire system in copper, brass or aluminum. But this is pretty self explanatory. Stainless steel wins the race but it's also very expensive.

 

[Wastei]

First day after being back on the mist. Soon she's covering 1/4 of the tent. Pump is leaking but holding pressure, fingers crossed. Cheers!

 

[Wastei]

Flipped the DWC bitches. Had to disassemble the old recirculating system because the sealant had gone bad. It started to release oil in the nutrient solution plugging the pores on the roots and causing a whole lot of problems.

They have since recovered, just running single buckets this last round of DWC. I'm going to expand the Aero system running one veg tent and two tents in flower going in tandem.