Well I'm gonna give this a go.. I've thought long and hard about doing this. I know I will probably be persecuted by some for what I'm about to say. the information I'm about to give is based on 2 things.. 1. My short time experience. What I've seen, gone through and learned. 2. Recurring questions that keep coming up quite often.

Q..I am a newbe and thinking I wanna do aero any ideas???

A.. First if that's your question get to readin'. Now, contrary to what many think. I believe there is a fairly big difference between hydro and aero. I was a newbe that jumped right the fuck into aero. If I had it to do all over again. I would do what I have recommended several times.. Hempy buckets first.. You can start on a shoestring budget of sorts and get the feel for nute mixing, meter reading. Just a real good feel for the hydro/aero technique.

Q..I would like to do aero but I heard it's a lot of work???

A.. False. It's all about set-up.. Granted you have to be willing to buy a pump or 2(hehe). I don't carry a single bucket for my aero. If needed I can dump a tank and refill with nutes in 20 minutes. Now it did take me a good while to figure out how to get things set up properly.

Q.. I'm gonna start building an aero machine.. I'm on a budget. Any ideas on how to do it real cheap.

A.. NO. It's not just the machine and some lights like many seem to think.. You had better be ready to open the ole wallet.. But, see above.. Hempy Bucket.

Q.. I wanna do aero. What are the cheapest nutes on the market??

A.. I honestly dont know. I cut my teeth on Dutch Masters Gold Line and a ton of additives. I have switched to Advanced Nutrients 3-part system. I have to say I love the 3 part for ease.. for additives just using Cal-Mag, Bud Candy, Big Bud, and Aquashield. don't think the Aquashield is needed. Just have a bunch I'm usin' up. You do not need to use the amount of nute's the vendor recommends.. I run way less than they say. I go mainly by a ppm target. And here we go.. I only dump my tank about once during flower if that. I mix the nutes in a side rez and pump em in as needed. No, I do not do the ro add back deal.

Q.. I have 3-4 strains. Can I grow em all in one machine???

A.. NO. Different strains like different things.. I even have what I call my experimental table. I grow new strains in 3 gallon grow bags with coco and perlite as a medium.. I get to learn about the strain. What it likes and doesn't like. PPM's things like that.

Q.. I'd like to try aero but I heard the weed taste like shit and smoking nutrients is harmful..

A.. BULLSHIT. Please. Please. Please. If you don't have the patience to flush properly. DO NOT grow aero or hydro for that matter. I flush for a full 2 weeks with nothing more than RO. If there is a problem and you need a lil faster flush. You can cut that time a lil bit by using Clearex the first 48 hours or so. It'll help leach the salts off the roots and outta the system. Then dump and fill with RO. But if you give your buds a good 2 week flush I promise you and or anyone else will NOT be disappointed.

Q.. Do I need a chiller and if so why??

A.. Hard to answer. But more than likely. This depends somewhat on locale and room size. I have heat issues period. But if you want to grow aero and don't want root rot to be an issue. I highly recommend you keep your rez no warmer than 70 degrees F. I prefer 68 or so.

Q.. So once I harvest I can just pull the roots and clean the rez and reload???

A.. NO. And this may be the most work for aero. Once your harvest is complete. Take your machine completely apart and clean everything.. Yes I have manufactured machines I bought for less than the parts would cost. The reason. Someone bought took em home and never gave em a thorough cleaning. Hence their grows turned to shit and there they sat in the hydro shop all sticky and nasty. When I get ready to clean my machines the next time I will do a short tutorial of how I go about cleaning it and some hints on some off the wall tools that help.

I am tired of typing but I will make a list of equipment that I believe is essential to an aero grow and a list of shit that is really nice to have.. Now look people. Once again this is mostly stuff that I learned the hard way, form reading till my head spun, and what Earl taught me.. Thanks again Earl.. Yeah I know he don't come around much. for now THE FUCK OUT...

But Really, What the hell do you know!

Should be stickied.

Nice read.

Vaper

This is already a VERY good thread... And your gonna add to it? I just might learn a thing or two. Keep the great info comin.

Done.

Thanks yawll and thanks for the sticky OG. I saw a couple of typos. It was late and I was smoked up and the cookie had kicked in. Answer for the 1st question I said fell twice. Insert feel.

And I said this about flush.

But if you give your buds a good 2 week flush I promise you and or anyone else will be disappointed.

Obviously I meant. "will not be disappointed".

I did forget an important question also. hehe and I had it on my notes. It's not a question I see a lot but....

Fixed everything

what a nice moderator you are OG!

I was only running about 360ppm in the aero/nft with c99. My tap water itself is 900+ppm. RO water flush, the leaves would be yellow within 5 days, or sooner. Contrast that with the 1000+ppm for other hydro methods, and flush times as long as 2 weeks, aero/nft is probably the lowest nutrient requiring, most efficient method. My nute costs probably tripled since going to dwc.



I would say absolutely, unless you have a lot of surface area of your system on a cold basement floor when it's below 0 out. I targeted 62F with my old setup in the summer.



With my low tds and thin layer whole house style prefilter on the output of the pump, shit never really built up anywhere. I did change the filter once a month, but the filters are only a few bucks at wal mart. When I removed all the plants, there would be pieces of roots left behind in the tubes, I just cycled the system on to flush the pieces out into the res, emptied and refilled that, and it was good to go again. I'd say properly executed, aero/nft is very commercially viable, and totally scalable.

For one. I think the yellowing of the leaves is somewhat strain dependent. Herijuana the leaves stay green a long time compared to Purple Kush. I start em in flower at 500 end up at 900 ppm.



I totally agree in the need for a chiller would never consider not havin one... Early on I cooked the roots on 60 plants.. Ain't worth a shit to eat.. But I run a 35 gallon rez.. Now for someone with a small rez and the right conditions you spoke of.. They COULD freeze plastic bottles and throw in there. But what a pain in the ass..



Sorry, Harvey. And I'm glad that worked for you. I could never tell a new grower to reload without a thourough cleaning. Maybe I'm goofy, but for the hour it takes me to bust down a machine and make it look like brand new is worth it imho. the reason I bought a $1500 machine for $300 is due to the previous owner not cleaning it properly. Just a difference of opinion.

same resson i got my aero60 as the guy never cleaned it so i got that and a euro grower for 700. and for cleaning it if you don't you are only asking for it. as in fugus mould you name it so clean your systems guys

I don't think you're saying or doing anything that's goofy, I'm just saying that if it is a goal is to achieve acceptable cleanliness with a minimum of labor, I would say that it is possible to achieve that with an aero/nft sytem in a way most people would be very pleased with.

There wasn't much I could take apart on my old system, and even if I did, I still had no access to the inside of almost all of the key parts. I'd say if you want to really clean everything, you could do what in the food industry is known as a "cip", or clean in place. They run acid, then caustic, then water through everything, to get a surface clean enough to eat off of.

However, I do not think that is necessary, if the setup isn't allowed to sit and stagnate, and if the nutrients don't build up a gross layer on everything. I always cut and swapped the same day, never turned the chiller off. I could see how if shit started to rot inside anything, that could attack the new plants, but I don't see how a little old nutrient residue would hurt anything, it never did with me.

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this. Btw, nice score, buying a $1500 machine for $300!

I totally agree with you Harv. And I understand that if there isn't much to take apart there isn't much left to do. As a matter of fact as soon as I pull the roots I fill the rez with warm water and prolly 5% bleach and let it run through the whole system chiller and all.. But these GH Aero tear completely down.. right down to being able to pull the feeder lines. I'm not enamored with everything about em, but there are some well thought out things about the design. I'm gonna keep this thread going for a while Harv so if I'm missin' something help me out.. I just want ppl who want to do aero to be successful. And those that think they wanna try, to realize what the start up costs are. I know damn well you are an expert grower. Thanks for the input. And I am goofy btw..
No sense in doing something if you can't do it right.

1. Aero system. I run this system. http://compare.ebay.com/like/300463584413?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar
Yes I know you can build one cheaper. And if you decide to do so I have a recommendation. Use an external pump. Look into the rubber grommets that GH uses on these machines. It will help you tear down for clean-up. Otherwise just think it through.

2. R.O. Filter. http://www.purewaterclub.com/ Good equipment and I cannot find a better price anywhere. The only I would consider is an ro that filters the waste water a second time and uses less water.

3. Meters. ph and ppm meters. I know many will say that they use pens and they work just fine. I have a couple for back up and hate em.. ph reading bounces all over the place. Do whatever you like.. This is what I use. http://compare.ebay.com/like/260997847132?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar It's a damn good meter and it should be.. It has one helluva warranty and they do honor it. This I know.

4. Some good measuring devices, eye droppers. Get some different size flask like measuring devices. I prefer ones that show mls, tsps, tbls, ounces and such. Maybe something like this. http://homeharvest.com/hydroponicmeasuringcups.htm

5. Five gallon buckets. No explanation needed.

6. Most will need a chiller and a pump to circulate. I will get some pics of how I have mine set up.

7. Scrub brushes, old towels and rags.. Obvious I hope.. See thread cleanin your aero in this forum.

That's a good start and I'm sure I will think of other things in the future.

Now for some stuff that sure is nice to have.

1. A R.O. barrel. You can catch the ro in buckets. I have a 55 gal plastic barrel with a float valve and a hose fitting spigot on the bottom. Once again I'll put some pics up.

2. Pumps. I love me some pumps. I watch for used pumps on ebay all the time. The main reason I like em is. I'm fuckn' LAZY. A pump here and there and a garden hose and bada bing no carryin' water and nutes around.

3. Plumbing parts and hardware. hooks, spare parts for your system, not's and bolts. I have a lil mini hardware store down there.

4. A mop. Keep your room clean and with aero there will be a water mess from time to time.

5. Floor Squeegy. See above. I bought a cheap one first and it didn't last. This time I have a good one with a telescoping handle. I love it..

6. Extra garden hose and garden hose fittings. Both male and female. Oh, and I prefer the plastic ones with the bulky clamp that has 2 phillips screws over the brass ones with the metal hose clamps. If your hand slips those fuckin' clamps will cut ya.

Been workin on this list for a while and I know damn well I have forgotten some things. Guess I'll just have to post em as they come to me.. Old and stoned=a bit forgetful..

WOW.. Thanks Earl. Now that's a total compliment from the person that helped me soooooo much. Hope things are well for you!!!!

Started kidney dailysy last week
Pretty bummed out
Weed works great after hemodialysis
Get really high on just a couple of hits
Thanks for keeping the forum straight

Damn Earl. I'm sorry to hear that. That would be a total bummer. this old man has been pretty healthy.. *knocks on wood*.

I don't know how straight I been keeping things around here. I only answer the questions I'm sure I know the answer to and that's not all that many. HA. Most of which I learned from you btw.

I sure hope everything works out for ya. If you need anything pm me. I still got 2 kidneys that seem to be workin ok. Maybe one would fit ya!!!

Earl,
ther is a poster towards teh end of your posts thast has a web site { http://www.overgrow.com}that has been conficated by the Canidian Police.
I do NOT know how to report it.
it is titled:
Re: Building your own aero pipe dreams
Anonymous
Unregistered


it's me yell.. i had to change names due to forum problems..with luck i'll have my old name back soon as a mod or add get's to it.. i found this page at growFAQ about aeroponic.. it uses 4" pipe.. take a look and let me know what you think taz>>> http://www.overgrow.com
i know i asked about the 4" vs the 6" & 8" pipes.. i still would go by a true user vs just pictures.

I am hoping you can get it deleted.when the RCMP banner/ site waring comes up . I freaked!!
Slag

BTW: I built a 18 hole 5" aeroponics rail system DIY , that ROCKS! Highly recomend it!! and do keep the pump exterior.

great read ..

nice to hear from earl also ..hope all is well and you no we are all pulling for ya buddy ..you have always been the hydro guy here ..many new growers have you to thank for the guidance you gave ..thank you ..

my AF60 is in an upstairs bedroom, i drilled a 1 1/4 hole in the floor and ran a 1" pipe thru a P trap to the roof runoff system outside the garage(right behind the gas meter, hiden well and insulated like a sprinkler feed line).

across the landing is the laundry room, i split the cold feed to the washer and hung a 25' hose , no buckets , no bullshit. i have >100ppm water so i run it straight.


set up is Key KUDOS NUTOGROW