Low quality airstones clogged in under 1 month.

[Ponky]

Well. Egg on my face. Bought cheap air stones. And most of them clogged off in just a few weeks. One plant paid a price. Thats what I get for not looking enough. Going to go no air stones. And run extra air lines. Can't clog a stone that isn't there.

 

[Lynch_Ironside]

Air stones don’t just clog for no reason bud. I’m running 8 air stones that I bought on Amazon 2 grows ago without issue. I think you might have something else going on. This place has a ton of experienced growers that are here to help out.
post some pics of what you got going on

 

[Ponky]

Air stones don’t just clog for no reason bud. I’m running 8 air stones that I bought on Amazon 2 grows ago without issue. I think you might have something else going on. This place has a ton of experienced growers that are here to help out.
post some pics of what you got going on

No. I'm good. The stone are in the garbage and the problem is gone.

 

[Cashmeh]

So without stones you risk agitating the roots. You don't want big bubbles rushing up and smacking the roots all over the place. Similar to low pump flow, you don't want 10000gpm lol.

I would say ur pump is shit lol.. No offense

 

[Ponky]

So without stones you risk agitating the roots. You don't want big bubbles rushing up and smacking the roots all over the place. Similar to low pump flow, you don't want 10000gpm lol.

I would say ur pump is shit lol.. No offense

Then you'd be wrong. It's a bank of 8 output ActiveAqua pumps. The reason the air stones had an issue is the gray ones are made wrong. Solve the problem by throwing away the low quality stones. No need to guess people. I've stated the issue.

 

[Cashmeh]

The one on the right is junk, the one on the left is legit. What is it like 400gph split 8 ways? I'm not really guessing lol.. Its a common problem.

I'm suggesting with enough force, they too will work just fine.

 

[Ponky]

The problem is the gray airstones. Not the pumps output. They clog with minerals and debris far sooner than one expects. Making them the problem. The airflow is not. The use of a louder pump isn't the issue. The low quality gray airstones are. Buy better stones. The chinese Amazon Champagne bubble gray 2" stones aren't fit for purpose. The blue ones are fine.

The reason each bucket had a blue and gray stones was to see if they would last the 3 months. The grey ones don't. The purpose of trying the products and then going without an airstone isn't to yield. It's to see how the products perform. To determine the daily task requirements for the workers if we adopt methods or product from the test area. Will workers check stones buried inside a tangle of roots? No. Most won't. So the product has to last. Do I want a different frequency of sound flowing from a pump through the walls where the smaller clone setups are? No. Do I want multiple redundant outputs? Yes.

Conclusion: buy premium stones you upkeep yourself. Or don't run stones. The workers probably won't catch it in time. If you want lots if air get a commercial system. Keep using cubes if the guy can keep them from being moldy. They're faster and easier to use. Bubble clones are better. Use those to make mothers.

For home growers recommend better stones aswell. Brand name. And a pump you can handle the sound of.

 

[Cashmeh]

Sounds like the noise is what's stopping you? I did the opposite of what you are doing. I had the exact same issue. The pump wasn't strong enough to stop the slime from building up inside. I had light leaks and root rot. Well when that junk goes through your pump then your airstones, it will clog. The nutrient mix alone shouldn't clog any air stone out there. I'm about to get some micro airstones That will require a really good pump so That the bubbles will be ultra fine. If my stones plug, the line will blow lol..

Anyways u can do it either way, yet the smaller the bubbles the less root agitation, which can only be achieved with a custom water pump/air ration system, or micro stones and a heavy duty air pump.

Its pretty easy to soundproof a pump too. You can't even hear my grow room unless your in it.

Like is this a large commercial system with workers or a small home system? If its small why mess with it, but if this is how your doing it on 20 different systems I would suggest not worrying about sound and more and root agitation and airration.

 

[badbluerubi]

I did away with air stones after my first run. Now I use 1/4" soaker hose with a few ss nuts to hold it to the bottom. $7 for 50' just toss and cut a new piece.

 

[Ponky]

Sounds like the noise is what's stopping you? I did the opposite of what you are doing. I had the exact same issue. The pump wasn't strong enough to stop the slime from building up inside. I had light leaks and root rot. Well when that junk goes through your pump then your airstones, it will clog. The nutrient mix alone shouldn't clog any air stone out there. I'm about to get some micro airstones That will require a really good pump so That the bubbles will be ultra fine. If my stones plug, the line will blow lol..

Anyways u can do it either way, yet the smaller the bubbles the less root agitation, which can only be achieved with a custom water pump/air ration system, or micro stones and a heavy duty air pump.

Its pretty easy to soundproof a pump too. You can't even hear my grow room unless your in it.

Like is this a large commercial system with workers or a small home system? If its small why mess with it, but if this is how your doing it on 20 different systems I would suggest not worrying about sound and more and root agitation and airration.

This test is designed around workers. How will the stones last surrounded by roots and not being checked on. Used once. If they didn't last long enough with the pumps provided they didn't make sense to buy.
I wouldn't recommend cheating out. Most people at home want a simple pump. These pumps are in use for this setup to test whether or not they're suitable for the medium hobby sized grow. Easy to put in a spare. Cheap. Not too loud. As in the frequency of the sound isn't annoying. For larger scale I would not use air stones and pumps like this. My goal was to find out if cheap Chinese stones and modest pumps could be relied on. It's not a money crop. It's for making mistakes in on purpose. The blue stones are fine. But not worth the price.

For that pump and 4 buckets I would say is fine for the legal 4 set up. Next test is no stones and some different tube setups. For a large set up I would use aeration in a man vessel and flow from there. I'm trying to learn how to help people grow at home for personal. Because the grow scene changed here. I'll kill plants on purpose to test a food.

 

[Lynch_Ironside]

These are the stones I’ve used for 4 grows with this air pump. I do clean my stones after every grow. Like I said before I think you might have other issues there. Just like @Cashmeh I had light leaks which caused a bloom of algae or bacteria. If I had been using some Mickey Mouse pump I think I would’ve seen some problems.
also why would you need to kill plants to test out nutrients??? Not sure I or anyone else for that matter understands that logic. Please enlighten us grand master chronic. Lmfao

 

[Cashmeh]

I did away with air stones after my first run. Now I use 1/4" soaker hose with a few ss nuts to hold it to the bottom. $7 for 50' just toss and cut a new piece.

I have to ask, that Pic of omg buds. . What in the hell.. They massive. Is this the soaker hose method u mentioned? Got any pics of roots????

 

[Ponky]

These are the stones I’ve used for 4 grows with this air pump. I do clean my stones after every grow. Like I said before I think you might have other issues there. Just like @Cashmeh I had light leaks which caused a bloom of algae or bacteria. If I had been using some Mickey Mouse pump I think I would’ve seen some problems.
also why would you need to kill plants to test out nutrients??? Not sure I or anyone else for that matter understands that logic. Please enlighten us grand master chronic. Lmfao

You don't understand why someone would run a cheap stone to see if they work? Then don't comment. You don't understand testing nutirents? Don't comment. You don't know how to setup shows? Don't comment. You don't understand the concept of testing processes? Don't comment. You don't understand and you can't contribute in a meaningful way. Dismissed.

 

[Lynch_Ironside]

lol what do your nutrient tests entail, besides killing plants? What air stones did you “test” ?
you seem hostile, you should read through some posts on here to help you out with your “grow” … also there’s good news for you, all the tests have been done, you’re not jack london exploring Borneo. Go buy some weed if you have to while you get your “tests” under control and chill out baby bird.

 

[Ponky]

lol what do your nutrient tests entail, besides killing plants? What air stones did you “test” ?
you seem hostile, you should read through some posts on here to help you out with your “grow” … also there’s good news for you, all the tests have been done, you’re not jack london exploring Borneo. Go buy some weed if you have to while you get your “tests” under control and chill out baby bird.

Clearly you're some kind of idiot. So let me explain. Once again. Workers get hired. Workers always end up getting lazier and lazier. They water less and less. They need products and foods that work. If you want cases of airstones you want to know they will last for months. 3 or more. If you buy air pumps you want them all the same. If you want you buy bulk food you have to see how it will grow a crop. Why?
Your idiot worker doesn't care about the yield. He just wants to be paid. Odds are they won't adapt the feed program. And finding someone who will is hard. So the food needs to work. As directed. No complicated formulas. A monkey needs to come in and do it. That monkey always makes mistakes.

So what do you give the monkey.
Genetics resistant to pests and fungus.
Foods that are forgiving.
If you're using hydroponic stuff you need to know how well everything works. And how long things last.

If you don't get that: go waste someone else's time.

Now. Go be stupid somewhere else.

This test: can you just use cheap stones and throw them away? Knowing the worker will not be looking at them. The answer is no.

If you can't do anything with that I don't care. If you're about to buy cases of cheap Chinese stones for your warehouse grow. Don't.

Come on back for several rounds of insults if you want.

 

[Lynch_Ironside]

Oh pardon me my lord, I had no idea you were Mickey Pearson from The Gentleman. Please forgive me. Lmao let’s see your grow though, really interested in how an expert like you grows.

 

[Ponky]

Oh pardon me my lord, I had no idea you were Mickey Pearson from The Gentleman. Please forgive me. Lmao let’s see your grow though, really interested in how an expert like you grows.

Go fuck yourself. How about that. Come on back when you need a reminder.

 

[karolanne]

 

[badbluerubi]

I have to ask, that Pic of omg buds. . What in the hell.. They massive. Is this the soaker hose method u mentioned? Got any pics of
roots????

Here are the roots
The plant just days from harvest
the soaker hose
and the hose in action

 

[Cashmeh]

Here are the roots
The plant just days from harvest
the soaker hose
and the hose in action
View attachment 1154410View attachment 1154411View attachment 1154412View attachment 1154414

Ok so I didn't notice all the stress training going on under them. Makes more sense now.

I also had no idea what a soaker hose was until now. I was thinking it was open ended.

It looks like an interesting technique yet the degrading properties would worry me. I will say I'm intrigued lol..