not sure where i fit into this conversation but i wanted to share and have been searching for aero threads to join. I am certainly not trying to hijack op's thread.
i have only grown soil or soilless (potting mix) and have for a couple of years been trying to go hydro. found aero and it looks and functionally is easier than any method, dirt, water, or anything in between. my research has shown that when done right it outperforms every single grow method combined by an order of magnitude.
these little sprayers are so easy to make. i need to spreadsheet the cost of one and compare retail prices. i ain't interested in fogger ponics. these little sprayers i make are way too easy and i hope cheap. they certainly have coverage enough to really water some roots.
i started my real world trials last summer when i finished my first bucket. I cloned spearmint easily. never got a tomato cutting to root, not sure why. i ain't that smart.
I have only built three sprayers, and it is still an ongoing experiment to get the numbers, pressures, and spray heads right etc.
I have gotten three things started already at this moment. I started with KC brains TNR, all four sprouted in a paper towel overnight, transplanted to rockwool which i want to get away from and use only pucks, and are doing ok. they are at about week one since sprouting and i have started an extrememly light (like 1/3 recommended strength). I next started with some cucumber and tomato at the same time. the cucumber sprouted in about exactly 48 hours. some move to rockwool and a couple put directly into pucks to see if they could handle it. I had four tomato seeds sprout at almost exactly 72 hours. I was not expecting to sprout any tomato, i have had VERY bad luck with tomato from seed. I still have dozens of tomatoes left to sprout. Not sure what i will do with them if they do.
I used res clear and clone tek from the start for cleanliness and very light nute content. Just now about to get to the point where i am going to start at full seedling strength. right now i am under six 100w eq floros and will be upping that continually as i get my shed built. I think i am going to go all t5s and other various supplemental floros.
it's an outside shed and i have no way to cool it without adding a window unit and i don't think that will fly with the owner.
if you look extremely closely at the towel you can see four little tomato roots and that is a very first for me. I have always had to buy started flats retail. last year i even had an extremely hard time getting pot kernels to pop. much better success with scarification.
I can digress all day long. I feel good about this start. very low nute strength, prolly about a 1/4 of the seedling recipe on the bottle. using an jungle juice btw. and yeah i know you all hate it, but i don't make a dime doing what i do and only put money into it being disabled and completely unable to earn money in any way whatsoever and have zero resources aside from a friend letting me live with him rather than be homeless.
when is a plant's birthday? do i start seedling strength nute regimen seven days after the root appears? do i count it's birthday as when it pops out and cotyledons and true leaves show?
they are about a week old and i don't want to burn these little babies, but i don't want to starve them either. they look green, dark, healthy. no curvy odd shaped crap yet.
can't wait to see what the cucumbers look like. never grown them before.
I am very proud of my aero sprayers, i hope you guys like the looks of them. the one oddball was definitely an out there moment (i don't smoke pot, or do pot in any way). that's a bunch of 22.5 degree elbows. looks cool, the pump is prolly too small and it fits the bucket and under the plants etc but i have no idea how it performs.
i think it looks really neat, but the others are easier to build, cheaper to build, seem more functional, and all around just a way better design.
these are soooooooo easy to make, almost ten minutes each, a killer. and that's with glue.
I wish i could afford the pumps, i would sit around building these things constantly. I can't wait to see some root balls assuming i can dial in my methods and nutes and calculations, pHs, temps. PPMs etc.
please, chime in. i am bored of hearing my own voice and there is just simply not enough aeroponic threads out there. why doesn't anyone believe in this method?
