Low Pressure Aero build...it has begun!

[ASSOG]

Hey what's up diggs99. Glad to see someone trying LPA. I have been growing with LPA for the last six years and will never go back to anything else. As per my user name ASSOG. AreoSystemSeaOfGreen. I grow in the sea of green. When I first started i tried every tub or toot (whatever) out there. Except the black and yellow ones from H.D. And they all leaked. I tried everything and nothing would stop it. So i finally tried the black and yellow ones and they worked great. No leaks. But I painted the outside of the lid white. As for how tall, it doesn't matter. No matter what the roots are going to go to the bottom. You just have to make sure the roots don't block your drain hole, cause they will . Now for your net pots. I use 3 inch net pots with 3 inch neosprene incerts. Everything else will get meldew and mold or leak. With your manifold use 1/2 inch and set it about 3-4 inches from the bottom. This helps with leaks and it still covers the roots good. I use only 9 sprayers. You have to remember this is LPA not HPA. our droplet size is to big, so less is better. So this brings up pump run times. I started with 1 minute on every 5 minutes. I am now at 20 seconds on every hour. Remember this is LPA. less is better. What happens with longer run times is due to the droplet size being so big the weight of the solution ( droplets) weights down all the little root hairs into one big glob. Which im sure you know is not good. Also like some people were saying res. and solution temps. are very important. You can get away with 70 but 65 is better. Just make sure you use hydrogaurd or something. In 6 years i have never had root rot ( knock on wood). I'll tell you something this is the easiest and fastest way to grow. And once you get everything tuned in yeild is comparable with every other way you can grow ( per s/ ft) if not better ( per s/ ft). This is how i set mine up. Each areo has 23 grow sites,two areos 46 grow sites in a 3x3 area under one light. With one res. You may want to cut your four areos to one res. down, do to how many different strains you want to grow. Cause you know that they all won't finish at the same time. And it's a big pain in the butt, if you want to flush. Like i stated i grow in the SOG. I take 46 clones, in 5-7 days i have roots. In areo cloners. I wait 17 days then straight to 12/12. No veg. Depending on the strain I'm pulling anywhere from 17 gs to 35 gs per plant. Do the math, in 9 s/ ft that's pretty damn good. There's not to many people pulling that per s/ ft. Anyway sorry this took so long. And good luck. You won't be sorry for trying LPA. Later ASSOG...............

 

[ASSOG]

Oh I just saw your last post. What I did was. I bought 4, 100 watt solar panels and everything else that was needed. It cost me about 600 bucks. But it solved that.

 

[Airwalker16]

A good tip as well is to find a container that will hold close to the about the amount of water you want to use, in a taller style such as a garbage can. Head pressure of the water weighing down on the pump helps it start much easier.

 

[diggs99]

Hey what's up diggs99. Glad to see someone trying LPA. I have been growing with LPA for the last six years and will never go back to anything else. As per my user name ASSOG. AreoSystemSeaOfGreen. I grow in the sea of green. When I first started i tried every tub or toot (whatever) out there. Except the black and yellow ones from H.D. And they all leaked. I tried everything and nothing would stop it. So i finally tried the black and yellow ones and they worked great. No leaks. But I painted the outside of the lid white. As for how tall, it doesn't matter. No matter what the roots are going to go to the bottom. You just have to make sure the roots don't block your drain hole, cause they will . Now for your net pots. I use 3 inch net pots with 3 inch neosprene incerts. Everything else will get meldew and mold or leak. With your manifold use 1/2 inch and set it about 3-4 inches from the bottom. This helps with leaks and it still covers the roots good. I use only 9 sprayers. You have to remember this is LPA not HPA. our droplet size is to big, so less is better. So this brings up pump run times. I started with 1 minute on every 5 minutes. I am now at 20 seconds on every hour. Remember this is LPA. less is better. What happens with longer run times is due to the droplet size being so big the weight of the solution ( droplets) weights down all the little root hairs into one big glob. Which im sure you know is not good. Also like some people were saying res. and solution temps. are very important. You can get away with 70 but 65 is better. Just make sure you use hydrogaurd or something. In 6 years i have never had root rot ( knock on wood). I'll tell you something this is the easiest and fastest way to grow. And once you get everything tuned in yeild is comparable with every other way you can grow ( per s/ ft) if not better ( per s/ ft). This is how i set mine up. Each areo has 23 grow sites,two areos 46 grow sites in a 3x3 area under one light. With one res. You may want to cut your four areos to one res. down, do to how many different strains you want to grow. Cause you know that they all won't finish at the same time. And it's a big pain in the butt, if you want to flush. Like i stated i grow in the SOG. I take 46 clones, in 5-7 days i have roots. In areo cloners. I wait 17 days then straight to 12/12. No veg. Depending on the strain I'm pulling anywhere from 17 gs to 35 gs per plant. Do the math, in 9 s/ ft that's pretty damn good. There's not to many people pulling that per s/ ft. Anyway sorry this took so long. And good luck. You won't be sorry for trying LPA. Later ASSOG...............

Hey bud, thanks for sharing all that valuable info with me, its greatly appreciated.

Do you have a thread or journal or any pics posted anywhere to have a look at your setup?

You bring up very good points about LPA and water droplet sizes and using timers and pumps accordingly. Makes sense.

Im still in the process of building my system and my plants are currently in COCO, im gonna take clones off one of them and they will take the first voyage in the aero setup. Within 2-3 weeks hopefully.

 

[diggs99]

A good tip as well is to find a container that will hold close to the about the amount of water you want to use, in a taller style such as a garbage can. Head pressure of the water weighing down on the pump helps it start much easier.

Hey AW,
How would i figure out how much water i want to use? Not sure im understanding what you mean, sorry.

I was planning on using a 40g res , with runoff draining back into the res after each spray. I have a tote that i was planning to use, are you saying it would be better if i had a taller garbage can like container instead?

 

[Airwalker16]

Hey AW,
How would i figure out how much water i want to use? Not sure im understanding what you mean, sorry.

I was planning on using a 40g res , with runoff draining back into the res after each spray. I have a tote that i was planning to use, are you saying it would be better if i had a taller garbage can like container instead?

Your res can only be as tall as the bottom of your totes are high. A taller and skinny res will keep more water pressure above the pump. it just helps it start easier to combat the head pressure. You won't need probably.

 

[diggs99]

Your res can only be as tall as the bottom of your totes are high. A taller and skinny res will keep more water pressure above the pump. it just helps it start easier to combat the head pressure. You won't need probably.

Ok that makes sense

Im still having a very difficult time finding anything to use in a sterile res, nothing local at all and trying to get anything shipped is a nightmare, you would swear the shit was illegal.

 

[Mak'er Grow]

Im still having a very difficult time finding anything to use in a sterile res, nothing local at all and trying to get anything shipped is a nightmare, you would swear the shit was illegal.

I had same problems finding good bins/totes...and a lot are just too cheaply made to even consider.
Thats why I incorporated everything into the bin(s) (large "under the bed" bins) and far less worries about leaks when there are no holes.

 

[ASSOG]

Hey diggs99. I don't have time to do a journal. I would throw up some pictures for you, but my PC crashed last week and i haven't had time to screw with it. I'm on my phone right now. As for your res. i don't know what size i use, but this might help. When I first start a grow it only takes me 7 gals. And then every 2 days i have to add 2 gals. I keep the solution level right at the very top of the pump. And I don't let the level go below the intake of the pump. I could probably go 3-4 days before adding more solution, but it effects the temp. of the res. As for what Airwalker was stating, was that the more solution you have above your pump the better start up pressure you will have. This really doesn't pertain to much in a LPA system. Due to our droplet size. In a HPA it's very very important. Also you can use any tub for your res. Also why do you want to go sterile ? As long as you keep your res. and solution around 65 and have NO light leaks in your areo just run some hydrogaurd or some other bennys. Just a thought. Shit I'm late, later.....

 

[diggs99]

Hey diggs99. I don't have time to do a journal. I would throw up some pictures for you, but my PC crashed last week and i haven't had time to screw with it. I'm on my phone right now. As for your res. i don't know what size i use, but this might help. When I first start a grow it only takes me 7 gals. And then every 2 days i have to add 2 gals. I keep the solution level right at the very top of the pump. And I don't let the level go below the intake of the pump. I could probably go 3-4 days before adding more solution, but it effects the temp. of the res. As for what Airwalker was stating, was that the more solution you have above your pump the better start up pressure you will have. This really doesn't pertain to much in a LPA system. Due to our droplet size. In a HPA it's very very important. Also you can use any tub for your res. Also why do you want to go sterile ? As long as you keep your res. and solution around 65 and have NO light leaks in your areo just run some hydrogaurd or some other bennys. Just a thought. Shit I'm late, later.....

Hey bud, thanks for getting back to me.

The Reason im looking into going with a sterile res is im trying to avoid buying a chiller and without it i cant guarentee what my temps will be. The grow room is in the basement on concrete floor but the res will be in the room and my room temps are usually mid 80s. So i was told to look into sterile res for this reason.

You say you start with 7g of water and continue to monitor and top off above pump, is there any benefit to just using a bigger res ? i was under the impression it would allow for more stable ph and less top offs. Is there a reason to not do it this way?

Appreciate you taking the time to offer some help bro, thanks

 

[Airwalker16]

Hey bud, thanks for getting back to me.

The Reason im looking into going with a sterile res is im trying to avoid buying a chiller and without it i cant guarentee what my temps will be. The grow room is in the basement on concrete floor but the res will be in the room and my room temps are usually mid 80s. So i was told to look into sterile res for this reason.

You say you start with 7g of water and continue to monitor and top off above pump, is there any benefit to just using a bigger res ? i was under the impression it would allow for more stable ph and less top offs. Is there a reason to not do it this way?

Appreciate you taking the time to offer some help bro, thanks

You got it twisted.
Sterile is for a chiller.
Beneficial bacteria is for without.

 

[diggs99]

You got it twisted.
Sterile is for a chiller.
Beneficial bacteria is for without.

So it would be better for me to use Tribus or Hydroguard correct? Im using 45-60ppm tap water, ive seen it mentioned to not use Bennies in tap, but my tap water is clean and i dont feel the need to buy an ro system just for growing.

Ive researched this shit so much its all starting to roll into one big pile of gibberish in my head lol

Thanks

 

[Airwalker16]

So it would be better for me to use Tribus or Hydroguard correct? Im using 45-60ppm tap water, ive seen it mentioned to not use Bennies in tap, but my tap water is clean and i dont feel the need to buy an ro system just for growing.

Ive researched this shit so much its all starting to roll into one big pile of gibberish in my head lol

Thanks

The problem with tap isn't PPMs. It's the Chlorine and Choloromine that treatment plants often use to clean water supply for their areas.
That's what messed with Bennie's.

 

[Airwalker16]

So it would be better for me to use Tribus or Hydroguard correct? Im using 45-60ppm tap water, ive seen it mentioned to not use Bennies in tap, but my tap water is clean and i dont feel the need to buy an ro system just for growing.

Ive researched this shit so much its all starting to roll into one big pile of gibberish in my head lol

Thanks

I don't fuck with Bennie's. People always trying to justify not using a chiller. I just do it. Ro and three part with calmag. Never once gotten rot. Colder temps further increase do levels for waterfall systems, and it's only running for a total of maybe 4 hours a day. A good brand 1/10HP can easily cool 60-70gallons. Most home growers aren't gonna have too much more water than that. And even if they do, a 1/4 can do 140-150gals.

 

[diggs99]

I'm not trying to justify not using a chiller, i just don't want to buy one, so trying to take whatever precautions I can to avoid rot because of this. Maybe after a run or two once I know I like and want to keep growing this way I will look into buying one, but.l not right now if possible.

if I sat my res on cold basement floor and insulated sides and top from as much heat as possible, I can prob keep temps down in 65-70 range, or maybe not, not sure how much the warm room will increase water temps . Assog is only running pump 20sec of every hour so I wouldn't expect the pump to be warming too much.

Gonna be a bunch of trial and error I would imagine.

 

[Airwalker16]

Ya you should be fine. I'm talking rdwc

 

[OldGrower]

I have been growing in my lpa system since @StinkBud started his thread in 08. Never used a chiller, no insulation, res sits on concrete floor. I run a sterile res and use to water (poor well water here) and use Dutch Master Zone 1ml per gal. Never a rot problem. KISS. Use hgv nutrients a touch of cal mag if needed usually not and some floralicious bloom during flower. Gl OG

 

[OldGrower]

Ps your tap water is fine my well is 600 PM hence why I use ro

 

[diggs99]

I have been growing in my lpa system since @StinkBud started his thread in 08. Never used a chiller, no insulation, res sits on concrete floor. I run a sterile res and use to water (poor well water here) and use Dutch Master Zone 1ml per gal. Never a rot problem. KISS. Use hgv nutrients a touch of cal mag if needed usually not and some floralicious bloom during flower. Gl OG

Good info, thanks for sharing.

What are you using for sterile res?

 

[OldGrower]

Diggs, do you have a local farm store like Tractor Supply or Rural King, etc you will be a surprised what they have you can use for a res