Micro soil-free grow setups?

Hello all, I'm new here. Sorry for my first post being a thread, but I didn't see anything similar to what I'd like to do.

I'd like to create a system for carefully controlled soil free micro grows. One plant per setup. Sure I'd like some great bud, but I'm also looking to do some scientific type things with it too so being able to isolate and alter the conditions for each plant would be perfect. I've seen some interesting data on marijuana compared to other plants for aeroponics/soilless growing, and would like to look at a bit more in depth by myself. Unfortunately I can't necessarily go up to someone and ask them what they think, so I'll be doing my own studies.

Anyways though, I'm wondering how to simplify an aeroponics setup so it is small and cheap enough to be able to have up to a dozen with different sorts of plants (marijuana, wheat, tomatos, etc...), and have them contained enough that I can keep them close to each other without affecting any other setups. So individual temps, lights, nutrient mixtures, ventilation, humidity, and spray/mist timings and patterns. However, unlike many typical aeroponic setups, these need to be able to support a full plant to maturity and not just used for growing clones till they are sturdy enough to be transplanted.

My original idea is to use the square 5 gallon buckets such as those used for kitty litter, and fashion a clear plastic cover for them that extend the bucket several feet (using acrylic probably). Attached inside the bucket midway from the bottom of the bucket would be the holding plate (or mesh in the case of things like wheat) for the plant and the roots would extend downward from there. Attached to the side of the bucket would be the nutrient spray pump and filter, as well as a sealed opening for adding more liquid as necessary. In the clear cover would be holes covered by filters and ventilation pumps, with all controls for everything wired to a panel attached at a convenient height on the bucket. The light would be suspended from the inside of the clear cover with it's own ventilation system to prevent heat buildup, although I am concerned about the height. About 5 feet is probably the maximum height for these without them getting too awkward, so as a first time grower, I don't know if that is tall enough to grow a plant to maturation and still have enough room that the light doesn't burn the top of the plant. Lastly, attached to the top of the cover on the inside would be a thermometer and humidity monitor.

So does this setup seem feasible? Could it actually grow a plant? If so, what variety would provide a good smoke and have a max height of say 4 feet? What wattage of lamp would I need? Is there anything I haven't taken into consideration?

How do you envision setting this up, in terms of arranging the buckets? Long rows are not conducive to the light footprint of small HID lights. You might be better off with high output tubes, logistically speaking. Light distribution will be more even and controlled than with a small HID, where the difference of light intensity on the leaf surface may vary significantly enough even in a small setup to influence growth along with whatever factors you want to isolate and so degrade the reliability or accuracy of the measurements you want to make.

From reading your post i can tell that you are apparently doing this to study the plants with perhaps getting the bonus of getting to smoke a lil something in the end right? Where as most of the people on here grow for the sole purpose of smoking it. I believe that if you can envision it you can build it, and if you build it you can probably work the kinks out and make it work. That being said i think that from a cost standpoint your plan seems overly expensive and time consuming. If i understand it you envision a setup where each plant is essentially independent of each other, sounds great till i start to picture your shopping list, separate, fans, pumps, timers, etc. It adds up fast. And i can just imagine the fun of maintaining and changing out all those separate reservoirs. Bloody hell mate i hope you don't have to work for a living cause your setup will demand hours of your time each day. And i wouldn't call a five foot tall plant a "micro grow" it might piss off the pc case growers. And they tend to be an irritable bunch due to the fact that there little setups only seem to be able to get em high every 60+ days, lol, {sorry i'm just kidding, go smoke your 1/8.} It all depends on what your after, If you want science, then do it, If you want bud it's alot easier to copy something someone else has already worked all the kinks out of. I mean i completely get the desire to tinker, but make sure your doing it right. Good luck

Mac: For light I was thinking of homemade led setups. Rather pricy, but it would reduce power usage and remove any heat issues. Also, it would be easy to fit inside the covers.

P@ass: That's pretty much my idea. I was definitely off when I said 5 feet, but as a first time grower, I don't know. Perhaps 3.5' is more realistic. I'm going to start off with just one to see how well it works, and probably implement a scrog system into the lid also. As for components, I'd guess about $100 per planter, plus $60 per light, pricy, but not bad for such a self contained and small setup. I was thinking of using multiple 120mm computer fans and aquarium pump and filter items to cut down on cost, noise and size. For a single plant, even those items could almost be overkill. I was hoping to get maybe 2oz of bud per plant using the scrog system. That doesn't seem like too excessive a goal, but as it's my first grow, things could go wrong and I'd have to start all over again. Anyways though, sounds like it can't be any worse than planting it in a bucket of dirt, so when I've got the spare cash, I'm going to do it.

Thanks for the tips so far.

Introducing LED light into the setup is going to make your data hard to compare to anything else out there. And have a look at the LED grow journals--most people are using supplementary light at some point.

I'd consider a four foot, four tube Tek Lite T5-HO. At around $350 - $380 that's in the neighborhood of what you said you expected to spend on five sites w/LED, and you should be able to fit five buckets side to side under a four foot fixture (assuming the buckets are about 10" across each.) The Tek Lites are known to give good results.

Too many experimental factors make for a mess.

What you say is true, but I was concerned about heat in the small enclosure. Are there any small lights that are sufficient for approximately 1ft^2/the area of a 5 gallon bucket? Single plant lights.

Many smaller bulbs are always going to produce more heat.

You seem to be rejecting the idea of high end fluoro tubes w/o any apparent reason. Where is the requirement for individual lights for each plant coming from? All you need for experimental purposes is the same light input per plant.

I'd like to be able to alter the light length per plant, along with individual heights (smaller sized plants). I'm not working just with marijuana here. To simplify things, perhaps I should focus my first container on just pot?

Ah, gotcha. Well....if you want individual plant lighting, maybe a handful of CFLs per plant? Easy enough to do with clamp lights or gooseneck lamps and Y-adapters. Fairly heat friendly.

Growing one thing is always easier, but that's totally up to you.

Hmm, I'll look into the CFLs. I thought they'd produce too much heat, but then again, I'm a noob. That would definitely be easier to put together for me. I'll read up on small scale CFL setups.

people have had minimal success with leds in terms or watt to yield ratio. cfls when set up can creat a good balance of adjustablitly and yield. they make dimmer cfls so you could change the intensity of the light. are you looking purely for expiermental data or are you concerned with yeild on ur tomato and weed plants. i don't know what validity the wheat will prodvide in ur expierment because it grows on a different cycle than that of weed or tomato. i like what ur doing here and applaud you for trying something outside the box.

Well, with more research I have decided upon a small dwc system with cfl's. Should be easy and cheap to put together, and simple to individualize when I need that.

I have a question about dwc. I've read about water levels, but can't find anything about minimum water in the reservoir. Is one or two gallons per plant ok as long as I check it frequently and properly adjust for growth?

Hopefully a grower experienced with DWC will get back to you on this. Depending on how large your plants get, the root mass might displace too much water in a container that size.

Makes sense, how large can root masses get? Also, one or two gallons doesn't neccesarily mean all the space per plant, just the amount of liquid.

The "Hempy Bucket" method requires 1.5 - 5 gallon bucket per plant. Holds its own reservoir. You only have to check the plant within 2-3 days. Depending upon speed of intake/drying. Never tried it. Do a search. Supposedly, the plants end with great yields.

DWC may be the way for you to go. Why not? You can even go to an industrial supply store for the tubs w/inserts. Cut air paths for the air stone and air/water flow, to pass the time. Get some cheap hard plastic sieve type piece to cover the air stone, to help discourage entanglement, maybe, but there will still be some sort of "touching" going on. Besides, the whole point is for the roots to be a bit free flowing. Get good lights. You'll only hate yourself for wasting your time/money with anything else. Besides, how could you properly gauge your results if you don't have that previously tested, mostly stable, control. Lower variables.

Hempy bucket sounds interesting. I'm turning my attention now to obtaining clones or seeds. I don't know any growers, so I'm thinking clones are out of the question, so are there any good noob cerebral type high seeds from places like nirvana? I did the online seed selector and was told California Orange Bud was right for me. Unfortunately, all the reviews are in languages I don't know at the moment.

how about drchronics com? I've only heard great reviews about them, from several diff sites. They ship to the US within 7 days. Take CCards. And have seed/strains from just about every well known bank. I'm ordering mine from there this week.

Get the Dutch-Passion Orange Bud (original, not Cali.), it has a higher THC rating. Why waste your time?