https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/336728-396-gph-air-pump-two.html). From what I can gather from the DWC users on here aeroponics is just an added unnecessary step. Just get ya a good sized pump like above, and use 3 or 4 airstones off of that one pump (http://www.aerogarden.com/airstones-5-pack.html). Use the clay pellets http://www.horticulturesource.com/product_info.php?products_id=1313, w/ netpots( http://www.amazon.com/Round-Pots-3-75-inch-Heavy/dp/B001RUL5GU), and your golden!
Yea, I was thinking of doing a hybrid as you mentioned. Does this work well though? Do the plants end up drowning from the sprayers spraying water on them, and eventually from the roots going down into the water at the bottom? Also, another question I have is how long do you set the sprayers up to spray for. I keep seeing that you have them run for 1 minute then off for 4 minutes. But can you have them run for 15 minutes straight and then off for 15 minutes? It's kind of difficult for me to find a timer that can be set up to run for just 1 minute on and a few minutes off and do it on a constant basis, unless I want to pay 75 for a cycle timer.
When you said you ran the water pump from start to finish are you talking about you ran it 24 hrs a day all the way until harvest? And I was wondering about the water leakage from the lid with having sprayers. I thought about getting some of that rubber/foam weather seal and putting it around the rim of the tote and then putting the lid on it, maybe that will help seal it up some so it doesn't leak. Also, what size pump were you using with the sprayers? Do you have to get one that puts out 250+ gallons per hour for an 18 gallon tote?