Jebban's DIY aeroponic grow (Strains: WhiteW, Strawberry Cough, Buddha, Northern L)

J

Jebban

Active Member
Hey all

This is my first time growing aeroponically and second time growing MJ. Please check this thread frequently for updates on my my grow

lighting equip:

HTGsupply.com T5 4 bulb (2 grow 2 bloom) Fluorescent system (total lumens 20,000)

HTGsupply.com 400 watt High Pressure Sodium Grow Light


aeroponics set up:


DIY aeroponic rez with 12 3" net pots and neoprene inserts

325 GPH sunleaves water pump

EZ clone sprayers

1/2" pvc piping



CAP ART-DNe adjustable recycle timer w/day-night function (Excellent timer, but costly)




Nutes:

Fox Farm 3 pack




Seeds:

2 White widow
3 Strawberry Cough (<-- Excited about this strain)
2 Northern Lights
2 Buddha
3 Mazar X Skunk?
1 Unknown


Week 1
Ph: ~6.0-6.5
EC: 1.2-1.4
ppm: 600-700

I started the seeds in soil because I don't have access to rockwool, and then moved them into the system 3 days later in a 9 gallon 1/4 nutes solution following the instructions that came with foxfarm nutes. (the biggest plant is the unknown strain which I had in the system 2 weeks prior to putting my ordered seeds in. So far only the two ww, two nl, two sc and 1 mazar has sprouted)



So far they have been in the system for 4 days and I'm not seeing much progress in terms of growth, but the plants are growing new roots everyday. I have the seedlings situated 18 inches from light on an 18/6 cycle. Room temps are around 79-86 degrees which varies according to day and night. I live in a hot area and my rez temps are generally in the 78-82 degree F temp range which I am trying to cool down with forzen gatorade bottles. I don't have an electonic pH meter so at this stage I'm constantly having to guestimate what the pH range is, but so far it has remained steady in the 6.0-6.5 levels. I have my timer set for 1 mintue on, 5 minutes off.

Gripes:

Why aren't my plants growing faster? In soil they would be making a lot more progress at this point I think. are the neoprene collars squeezing them contributing to their lack of upward growth? Below is a roots shot of the plants:



What do you all think so far? Check back soon for updates...
 
mrduke

mrduke

Well-Known Member
looks good my cloner set up the same way took like 8 days to root then BAM roots got like 6" long and thick in another 4 days. keep us posted
 
J

Jebban

Active Member
Week 2 :leaf:
Ph: ~5.5-6.5
EC: 1.2-1.4
ppm: 600-700


​

This week I didn't see much growth at all with the plants. The unknown strain is doing pretty good and is already showing it's second set of fan leaves (but that is expected given its the oldest, see below).


​

I went and bought an external thermometer reader and after monitoring it for the last two days I've noticed my rez temps are peaking at 83F during the days. Which is not good...I've been adding frozen water bottles in the rez and they have been dropping the temps into the mid seventies...the only problem is that it is a pain in the ass switching out the bottles because it has to be done frequently.


​

Another gripe I had is that my pump is faulty! the damn thing only works 50% of the time the way its supposed to, otherwise it just dribbles. It has nothing to do with the amount of sprayers on my manifold because I cut them down to only 6 sprayers and the same thing is happening. (Here's a video: http://s162.photobucket.com/albums/t272/Jebbas/?action=view&current=MVI_1558.flv)

Another peeve I've had is that my rez is constantly leaking, despite the weather stripping I had along the edges. I ended up sealing the plastic to the weather stripping with some marine silicone and so far the leaking is stopped. I'm seriously contemplating going out and buying a rubbermaid toughneck because I hear they are pretty leak resistant from other forum posts.

I also added a standing fan to the grow closet to circulate more air into the space, which will hopefully be good for dropping the heat in the closet and strengthening the plant's stalks.

One last thing: I decided to add some orchid pellets to the net pots as support for the plants roots. Before I had them just hanging with no substance to cling to (I don't have access to rockwool), so I figure the addition of the pellets will retain moisture and also give the plants the opportunity to 'latch' on the pellets. The pellets covered all the roots, so no root porn this week...:(


​


Stay tuned....:bigjoint:
 
morrisgreenberg

morrisgreenberg

Well-Known Member
you need to get hygrozyme in that rez immediatly if you want to grow, plain and simple...over 75F will get you root rot, i personally almost trashed the aero method cus of this, i had to run an a/c duct to the rez
 
Demosthenese

Demosthenese

Well-Known Member
you really do need to get the temp down. you have a 35 litre res, so how much actual water is in there? Just covering the pump, like 20l? I have a diy aero system that has heat issues too. I keep it between 62-72 F even when the ambient temp is up to 86 in the day. I use refelctix attic insulation to cover the top of the res, 95% energy reflection. A dark lid combined with all those little black neoprene things is sure to heat up the water that is being sprayed on it from beneath, same way towles dry in the sun, so keeping that energy from getting to your water is key. I use 2L frozen ice bottles swapped every 12 hours to keep my res in the 62-72 window. A 2l bottle will lower a 20L res between 6-10F in my experience, but the res will heat back up as fast as you let it. Ice bottles don't solve your problem; you need to find a way to keep less heat from entering the res. Reflectix is a cheap HD solution imho.

I personally dealt with my leaky res by wrapping the top in a double layer of plastic sheeting. Large rectagles over the lid and then tucked in on each side under the lid to hang in the res. It makes it leak proof, but also oven-like. I had to get a tiny comp fan and wire it to a spare adapter i had so that i could install it in one of the holes a netpot would go. It now just pulls the hot humid air out of the res at all times, it has helped stabilize my temps alot, probably 3-5 F less in rise/day.

I also highly reccomend hydrogen peroxide. Looks like you have access to a hydro store so go get some 30%, start adding it at 1.7ml/L every change with 1ml/L every 2-3 days depending on your heat. Hygrozyme will eat anything that is not suppose to be in your res, and is essentially better because it gets rid of unwanted roots and organics, but H202 is MUCH cheaper and highly effective in it's own right. Once you add it, you have to keep adding it because any beneficial bacteria are killed, paving the way for pythum to have no competition if you let the temps go back up and stoped sterlizing. You can also add both and see increased benefits. If you see any slime at all on your roots, you have a problem. They should be bone white at this stage.

I know my pump is 400 GPH and can run at least 10-15 misters, so i would have thougt yours would work fine. Try taking it apart and see if it's at all gunky on the inside, because i would guess it's probably pretty clogged up. You probably don't need that many misters though, as long as they are preasurized more can't hurt, but i would just have guessed you wouldn't need that many. If it didn't work with even less misters like 6, then you certainly have a different problem because that pump would definetly run 6 misters if working correctly.
 
J

Jebban

Active Member
Demosthenese said:
you really do need to get the temp down. you have a 35 litre res, so how much actual water is in there? Just covering the pump, like 20l? I have a diy aero system that has heat issues too. I keep it between 62-72 F even when the ambient temp is up to 86 in the day. I use refelctix attic insulation to cover the top of the res, 95% energy reflection. A dark lid combined with all those little black neoprene things is sure to heat up the water that is being sprayed on it from beneath, same way towles dry in the sun, so keeping that energy from getting to your water is key. I use 2L frozen ice bottles swapped every 12 hours to keep my res in the 62-72 window. A 2l bottle will lower a 20L res between 6-10F in my experience, but the res will heat back up as fast as you let it. Ice bottles don't solve your problem; you need to find a way to keep less heat from entering the res. Reflectix is a cheap HD solution imho.

I personally dealt with my leaky res by wrapping the top in a double layer of plastic sheeting. Large rectagles over the lid and then tucked in on each side under the lid to hang in the res. It makes it leak proof, but also oven-like. I had to get a tiny comp fan and wire it to a spare adapter i had so that i could install it in one of the holes a netpot would go. It now just pulls the hot humid air out of the res at all times, it has helped stabilize my temps alot, probably 3-5 F less in rise/day.

I also highly reccomend hydrogen peroxide. Looks like you have access to a hydro store so go get some 30%, start adding it at 1.7ml/L every change with 1ml/L every 2-3 days depending on your heat. Hygrozyme will eat anything that is not suppose to be in your res, and is essentially better because it gets rid of unwanted roots and organics, but H202 is MUCH cheaper and highly effective in it's own right. Once you add it, you have to keep adding it because any beneficial bacteria are killed, paving the way for pythum to have no competition if you let the temps go back up and stoped sterlizing. You can also add both and see increased benefits. If you see any slime at all on your roots, you have a problem. They should be bone white at this stage.

I know my pump is 400 GPH and can run at least 10-15 misters, so i would have thougt yours would work fine. Try taking it apart and see if it's at all gunky on the inside, because i would guess it's probably pretty clogged up. You probably don't need that many misters though, as long as they are preasurized more can't hurt, but i would just have guessed you wouldn't need that many. If it didn't work with even less misters like 6, then you certainly have a different problem because that pump would definetly run 6 misters if working correctly.
Click to expand...

Thanks guys for replying you've been really helpful. Right now I have 8 gallons of nutrient solution in the rez, covering the top of the pump by about 3-4 inches. I don't exactly have access to a hydro store, I have to order all of my supplies online and it takes about 2 weeks to get to me, so that sucks. I will be ordering the Hygrozyme online tonight though. I read some where than H202 doesn't work with organic nutes?

I took the pump apart and its pretty clean...so I'm guessing its some kind of electrical problem...I'll plug the pump in on and off and sometimes the sprayers kick in just fine but other times its the dribble bs. I'm also gonna order a new pump.

I put 2L of ice bottles in the rez this morning and left for the today...when I got back my rez temps are pushing 86F can you believe it? I'm really worried about this setup in my climate, especially during the day because I leave the A/C off. Bills are so expensive these days so I'm reluctant to have the A/C running 24/7. I'll try the reflective material tomorrow...One Q Demosthenese: Does your computer fan get sprayed? I'm afraid if I throw one of those in there I'll get a short.

Thanks again for the info..:bigjoint:
 
Demosthenese

Demosthenese

Well-Known Member
well mine is in the very corner of the res and it doesn't seem to have any problems. i just have the sprayers aimed away from it. I didn't know if it would work either, but it hasn't shorted yet so i think it will be ok longterm. Covering my res with reflectix made the biggest difference for me though.
h202 does not work with organic nutes, good call.
yeah 86 is pretty much not viable :(. There must be a way!
 
S

Slim821

Well-Known Member
Demosthenese said:
well mine is in the very corner of the res and it doesn't seem to have any problems. i just have the sprayers aimed away from it. I didn't know if it would work either, but it hasn't shorted yet so i think it will be ok longterm. Covering my res with reflectix made the biggest difference for me though.
h202 does not work with organic nutes, good call.
yeah 86 is pretty much not viable :(. There must be a way!
Click to expand...
I've been using the identical setup, times 3.
I have three of those on 3 week cycle, I have the same issues with res temps, and I'm running the same nutes as you.

When I was speaking to the people at the store about this issue (organics and h2o2) they said only "grow big" uses fully organic nutes, that tiger bloom or big bloom are not. and once you get into flowering and you're running your tiger bloom and big bloom it is OK to use the h2o2 as these two nutes only carry some small microcosms that are organic. I ran Dutch Masters "Zone" with my FF nutes during flower and had no nutrient diffencies. I did get root rot and had to get rid of it. so be cautious.

And get your res off the ground let it get some airflow below it. That helped me a few degrees.

Soo all in all get some zone from DM use it in very small dosages whenever your flowering. Or your roots will turn to moosh. And they're going to be brown because big bloom is milky like chocolate milk. clean your pump filter thoroughly when you flush your res.

Hope this helps, ha sorry I'm a bit baked.
 
J

Jebban

Active Member
Slim821 said:
I've been using the identical setup, times 3.
I have three of those on 3 week cycle, I have the same issues with res temps, and I'm running the same nutes as you.

When I was speaking to the people at the store about this issue (organics and h2o2) they said only "grow big" uses fully organic nutes, that tiger bloom or big bloom are not. and once you get into flowering and you're running your tiger bloom and big bloom it is OK to use the h2o2 as these two nutes only carry some small microcosms that are organic. I ran Dutch Masters "Zone" with my FF nutes during flower and had no nutrient diffencies. I did get root rot and had to get rid of it. so be cautious.

And get your res off the ground let it get some airflow below it. That helped me a few degrees.

Soo all in all get some zone from DM use it in very small dosages whenever your flowering. Or your roots will turn to moosh. And they're going to be brown because big bloom is milky like chocolate milk. clean your pump filter thoroughly when you flush your res.

Hope this helps, ha sorry I'm a bit baked.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the tips. I have my rez elevated off the ground. I don't have any reflective material so I covered the top of the rez with some aluminum foil. Is this effective? Not sure of the reflective capabilities of aluminium foil. Still have to make some cut out to cover the neophrene as well...



Also Demosthenese: do you know any good tutorials on converting a computer fan to a standard outlet? I have one lying around but I don;t have any idea how to wire it up..:neutral:
 
J

Jebban

Active Member
Well guys I'm pretty discouraged...even the frozen water bottles are only dropping the temps to the low 80's. Are there any alternatives out there? Can hygrozyme take care of root rot before its onset? I'm contemplating buying a chiller ...I don't really want to considering it costs an arm and a leg :cry: 278! http://www.thegardendepotinc.com/7637.html

What do you think?
 
Demosthenese

Demosthenese

Well-Known Member
ok, so you can probably find a tutorial by putting that question into google, but you can also wire it up to any standard d/c adapter. I took an old cellphone adapter i had, probably ANY such adapter that charges a small device should work, and i just cut the cable. Two cables inside, white and black. Took my comp fan and twisted it's red and black with the adapter red and black and then used those electric wiring caps and electrical tape to make it all safe. just never fuck around with anything electric while it's live.

as i said, this will probably gain you a couple degrees, and the aluminum foil might gain you one or two. I really think you need to insulate your res with thermal insulation, ie something that has an air pocket. Reflectix is cheap and availiable at home depot, but any reflective attic insulation would do. In a pinch, get some bubble rap and layer it with tinfoil top and bottom and put that over the top. I really think you'll find that insulating the lid from the light and the air directly heated by the light will gain you 5-10 degrees at least, and will be the most signifigant difference you could make. I have a 2x3x5 space and i actually use a large rectangle of reflectix to comepletely block all light from passing. When the doors of my cab are closed the top layer of reflectix is large enough to be touching all the walls, blocking all light from reaching the sides of the res as well as insulating the lid. You have a small enough space that i would seriously consider doing something like this since it would be super cheap and in my experience it was super effective.

I'm actually having temp issues as well, although my issues are ambient temps of +30C not res temps. Today i rearranged my fans and light hopefully for the last time. I also cut an extra intake vent in the back of my cab and added risers so my res doesn't sit on the shelf anymore. I'm seeing a little bit of leaf curl on the plants closest to the light, clearly from heat stress. At least those are the tall enough plants and heat stress mostly effects new growth. Still, don't want that shit during flowering.

Hate to see you discouraged. Even a chiller is a diy option, you can grab a dorm fridge and pump the water through there or you can take a small water cooler (75$ walmart) and pull it's guts and use to chill the water. Hygrozyme will help, but not at 80 plus. At 70-75 i'd be saying eep sketchy, but maybe all right. But seriously, try some reflectix, my res was at 90 before i did it.
 
J

Jebban

Active Member
Demosthenese said:
ok, so you can probably find a tutorial by putting that question into google, but you can also wire it up to any standard d/c adapter. I took an old cellphone adapter i had, probably ANY such adapter that charges a small device should work, and i just cut the cable. Two cables inside, white and black. Took my comp fan and twisted it's red and black with the adapter red and black and then used those electric wiring caps and electrical tape to make it all safe. just never fuck around with anything electric while it's live.

as i said, this will probably gain you a couple degrees, and the aluminum foil might gain you one or two. I really think you need to insulate your res with thermal insulation, ie something that has an air pocket. Reflectix is cheap and availiable at home depot, but any reflective attic insulation would do. In a pinch, get some bubble rap and layer it with tinfoil top and bottom and put that over the top. I really think you'll find that insulating the lid from the light and the air directly heated by the light will gain you 5-10 degrees at least, and will be the most signifigant difference you could make. I have a 2x3x5 space and i actually use a large rectangle of reflectix to comepletely block all light from passing. When the doors of my cab are closed the top layer of reflectix is large enough to be touching all the walls, blocking all light from reaching the sides of the res as well as insulating the lid. You have a small enough space that i would seriously consider doing something like this since it would be super cheap and in my experience it was super effective.

I'm actually having temp issues as well, although my issues are ambient temps of +30C not res temps. Today i rearranged my fans and light hopefully for the last time. I also cut an extra intake vent in the back of my cab and added risers so my res doesn't sit on the shelf anymore. I'm seeing a little bit of leaf curl on the plants closest to the light, clearly from heat stress. At least those are the tall enough plants and heat stress mostly effects new growth. Still, don't want that shit during flowering.

Hate to see you discouraged. Even a chiller is a diy option, you can grab a dorm fridge and pump the water through there or you can take a small water cooler (75$ walmart) and pull it's guts and use to chill the water. Hygrozyme will help, but not at 80 plus. At 70-75 i'd be saying eep sketchy, but maybe all right. But seriously, try some reflectix, my res was at 90 before i did it.
Click to expand...
Update:



Thanks Demosthenese...I'm checking around where I live for the reflectix but so far no luck. I'm probably going to do what you said with the bubble wrap and aluminium foil...So I went ahead an made my own computer fan hookup (see pic below) I used a DC adapter with an output of 9W which seems tro be powering a DC 12V computer fan just fine...is this a fire hazard ?? LOL.

Q: Which direction should the fan be blowing? Currently I have it blowing air INTO the rez. Is that cool? The opposite way doesn't seem to "suck" air that well so I made it face the latter.



OK so I was happy I got my little fan working, but the thing nicked my finger and I accidently dropped it on one of my strawberry cough seedlings!! FUC*!!! Is the little guy gonna survive?



One other thing I noticed is that my plants leaves have little orange speacks on almost all the leaves...Whats up with that?



Right now these are my rez and ambient temps (nighttime)



Keep posted for more updates....
 
stumps

stumps

Well-Known Member
If you have a cement floor you can put the rez directly on the concert and it will help bring temps down.
 
Demosthenese

Demosthenese

Well-Known Member
those look like water heat stress spots, i got em on clones that warmed to much once. i use the fan to pull air out, which results in air being drawn in through the holes for the netpots but my res is wrapped in plastic to prevent leaks so it would get super hot otherwise, like a pot with a lid. I would pull air out, but try both, see if either is effective. when i smell the air being sucked out it is humid and warm so i know my fan is helping the res stay cooler.

good luck with teh temps
 
morrisgreenberg

morrisgreenberg

Well-Known Member
those spots either look like calcium or PH, either way i am not sure those nutes are suitable for aero/hydro i didnt see the lable saying so, from here it looks like you have the FF for soil...that stuff is pretty thick...if you can control the rez temps then u can go hydro, personally i am lucky to have an a/c ducting to my rez unless i would bein soil....you can get a small water chiller from ebay for around 200$ that is your only real choice here
 
J

Jebban

Active Member
morrisgreenberg said:
those spots either look like calcium or PH, either way i am not sure those nutes are suitable for aero/hydro i didnt see the lable saying so, from here it looks like you have the FF for soil...that stuff is pretty thick...if you can control the rez temps then u can go hydro, personally i am lucky to have an a/c ducting to my rez unless i would bein soil....you can get a small water chiller from ebay for around 200$ that is your only real choice here
Click to expand...
thanks demo and morris you guys are awesome. I'm looking into buying a chiller tonight...do you think a bigger rez would drop temps?
 
Demosthenese

Demosthenese

Well-Known Member
well it would keep it colder longer but no, your temps are so high unfortunately that i don't think it would help enough. A chiller off ebay is an option, you can also diy one if you feel up to it from either a dorm fridge or from a small water cooler, both for 100 bucks or under usually.
 
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