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[BubbleCat]

I want a sturdy and practical hydroponic system.

So here comes a new small project:

I do want to go aeroponic because complicated is BC and also an aeroponic system will work with less fluids in it and I am kinda paranoid of leackage ruining all the house.

So far I have acquired:

plastic box with lid
10 spray nozzles
2 pumps

The idea is to layout a pattern for pots / styrofoam holders, spray nozzles and pickup tubes  in the lid, cut that and reinforce the lid as the plants are supposed to grow heavy

The pickup and nozzles go through the lid because I want the actual box to remain intact, that way it stays universable usable and also I have less chance of leackage again as there will be no sealing holes and no structural weakening of the box. Also: Why fight gravity with the spray

I still need hosesof the right size and T / X pieces to connect several nozzles. I am not sure yet if I will use one or two pumps and how many nozzles I will use (a bit experimenting and calculating wont hurt here. Obviously the number of nozzles depends on the number of pumps and vice versa.

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[BubbleCat]

When I start thinking about nozzle placement:

a nozzle can always serve at least two plants, but I have to place nozzles around the circumfence too, where half of the spray cone is wasted (hits wall) but I cant actually have 50% of a root ball dry.

I will draft and see how many pots that means.

Look at this one:



IMO it is a bad design because: the two outer plants only get sprayed from one direction. I rather waste half a nozzle than half a plant

Check the attachement to see how I would intuitively layout pots and nozzles
its only 4 pots but they will get good spray. I will have one left over nozzle that maybe goes middle or for something else like automatic humidity lovers misting.

@#!$& !!! I messes the lid up. I was already thinking "this would feel way more comfortable if I drilled the holes" but I was unpatient so I tried to cut a hole with a knife. Lid wasnt actually as flexible as it seems and me trying to cut through resulted in a big long crack through half the lid. This isnt the structural integrity I was aiming for. I will have ro get a new lid soon and drill it.

[Roze]

Do you really need to mist?  That will make the system...hum... complex.

Why dont you use expanded clay pebbles?

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[BubbleCat]

because complex ?

[Roze]

because complex ?

German technology at its best!

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[BubbleCat]

All it took was a knife and some healthy impatience.

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[BubbleCat]

I actually enjoyed doing this, kinda reminded me of my process for designing turbular exhaust headers. But  even on 12 pots I never happened to run out of material... guess who bought too little hose and thus now cant fire it up right now

Well I dont have net pots / pool noodles yet anyways

[Ian Morris]

I have been playing with hydro/aquaponic set ups for years and I like your design but IME the dutch bucket systems grow the biggest plants and have the least issues.
http://www.hydroponics-simplified.com/hydroponic-drip-system.html
That being said, this setup would work great for compact plants like Lawrence Welk, so it really just depends on your needs.

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[BubbleCat]

I moved it to a bathroom to testfire, based on a few negative experiences I have made. Also I have moved the pump into a seperate compartment so in case the pump itself or one of its connections leaks all is safely contained. I hope I can sound deaden the pumps compartment. Also I moved all electronics outside the pumps compartment so they wont be affected in case of leakage. I finally tuned the pumps voltage to certain requirements: Avoid harmonics in the system, nice spray pattern, no risk of hoses exploding and connections undoing, the pickup (silicone) hose must not crush.

What shall I say: Merry success ! The spray pattern is neat and even, the whole box is filled with a fine mist. Nothing leaks or breaks. Its a bit loud tho

[BubbleCat]

Someone might be on something here. Waterproof electronics compartment. Just sound deaden with stabdard car material.

[BubbleCat]

4 holes needet ... mhmmm cut again and risk breaking or just go home and instruct a mill to do it with a rotary tool - decisions

[plantlight]

I have been playing with hydro/aquaponic set ups for years and I like your design but IME the dutch bucket systems grow the biggest plants and have the least issues.
http://www.hydroponics-simplified.com/hydroponic-drip-system.html
That being said, this setup would work great for compact plants like Lawrence Welk, so it really just depends on your needs.

I don't recall ever hearing that Aeroponics was better for compact plants before. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding. 

[plantlight]

4 holes needet ... mhmmm cut again and risk breaking or just go home and instruct a mill to do it with a rotary tool - decisions

Shouldn't break if you use a hole saw for hard plastic and with adequate support.  But isn't that the problem with DIY projects, more tool investments. 

BTW,  the system is looking great so far. 

[BubbleCat]

4 holes needet ... mhmmm cut again and risk breaking or just go home and instruct a mill to do it with a rotary tool - decisions

Shouldn't break if you use a hole saw for hard plastic and with adequate support.  But isn't that the problem with DIY projects, more tool investments. 

BTW,  the system is looking great so far. 

Aha I believe im not short of any tool you could put into action here in any imaginable way, and many more ^^

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[BubbleCat]

Since pro and con was discussed, my view:


As I see it, the aeroponic system (fogging) offers theese features:

Best oxygenation (largest surface area and faster cycling of the fluid)
Most responsive system (is good and bad, mostly bad as the plants doesnt worry much about getting its nutes adjusted a few minutes later but if the fogging fails for only a bit too long the plants die as there is nothing than the roots itself to hold at least some moisture, compared to utilizing some media like clay pellets or submerging the roots and only having the bubblers fail).
What else mhmmmm oh yeah it uses lowest fluid levels IMO, which means if it breaks the leackage will be smallest.

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