aero sprayers

I bought an aeroponic system off of eBay. It's similar in design to the Aerospring and FilthyFletch's design elsewhere on this forum, and seems like a good one. I've got a soil grow going on right now and want to clone and go aeroponic soon, but have a few newbie questions:

The sprayers on my system seem to each shoot about about 8 spray streams instead of a true mist... is this normal or should I change the nozzles to something else?

Also, when I run the system for 5 minutes the water it doesn't seem to hit all the pots consistently, it seem to spray below them, horizontally. Am wondering if I let it run longer if it will just mist up inside after a while and get into the medium more due to mist. I guess I could try it but it takes quite a bit of water to fill up the reservoir to cover the pump so I thought I'd just ask here and save the water for my plants.

And finally... when I go to clones can I immediately put the clones into rockwool and in my aeroponic system, turn it on and voila? As long as I put a humidity dome on it I mean. Or just use a dome for a while and then put them in the system later? Thanks, love the site.

Growver

fletch would be the one to bug about that...

seem like he's king of aero round these parts...lol

i envy that dude

Fletch where are you??? lol

Hi there, Growver!

You need not switch to misters. You probably are using 2" net pots? Simply fill your pot with whatever medium you use (I use Hydroton exp. clay pellets) and place your plug into the pebbles. Be sure to moniter your nutes with your TDS meter and follow the directions of whatever solution you are using. Once you dig in a little you will find out what works and what doesn't... pH should be 6.0 to 6.5...

I would recommend that you fill it with tap water
and let it run for a while.

This way you can make sure there is no small stuff
that might clog the sprayers.

Then drain the tap water,
and use ro.


This is the spray jet I use.


I have used these,
but if they get a clog,
they are impossible to clean.


These are easy to clean,
just use a bread tie with the plastic stripped off.

The green ones are best, about 35-75¢ ea.

Here is what the spray jet pattern looks like

earl, you have the sprayers at the top, is it ok to put them directly beneath? i've been looking at something like these, Aero Mist .012 Misting Nozzle (6 Pieces) - 52411 at The Home Depot would this be feasible you think? its supposed to be pretty fine mist, and that's what you're going for, right?

Earl, I've got the red-and-blue ones that you say are impossible to clean. I've got a few extra so I can replace clogged ones, but I think I'll order some different sprayers for future use... when too many get clogged. I'm using organic nutes (Botanicare), I hear these clog the sprayers more often.

Can I put clones (in rockwool) directly into my aero system? Before they are rooted, I mean... assuming I cover them with a humidity dome. Or should I still wait until they are rooted first?

I've got 3" netpots, 8 of them on this system.

Growver

denverm4x said:

earl, you have the sprayers at the top, is it ok to put them directly beneath? i've been looking at something like these, Aero Mist .012 Misting Nozzle (6 Pieces) - 52411 at The Home Depot would this be feasible you think? its supposed to be pretty fine mist, and that's what you're going for, right?

Click to expand...

Wow $15 each!!! vs 55¢ ea.

You know, I used to think that the fine mist was a good idea,
but after a lot of research,
and contact with others who have tried it,............It does not work.

There is no advantage to having the roots grow
those very fine, hairs.

The reason the plant grows those fine hairs,
is because it is starving for water,
and has to increase the surface area, to uptake enough h2o

Misters in the bottom would soon be covered by roots,
and the mist would just become drops,
same with sprayers.

The spray jets, like almost all growers use,
deliver super oxygenated solution to the roots,
and keeps the whole rez DO up.

If you use the misters, you will need a high pressure pump also.
(They are about 50% more expensive than a simple mag drive pump, and they are noisy).

Please remember, K.I.S.S.

Growver said:

Can I put clones (in rockwool) directly into my aero system? Before they are rooted, I mean... assuming I cover them with a humidity dome. Or should I still wait until they are rooted first?
Growver

Click to expand...

I have tried the aero cloner method
and did not have success,
but my cloning technique sucks,
and my survival rate is poor in every method I have tried.


I also found that if you leave the dome on too long
the plants will die pretty rapidly when the dome is removed.

i'm really sorry that I am not a good cloner and have no advice to give.

Here is some cloning tutorials,
Maybe it will help.
hydro clones for dumbies - Cannabis Culture Forums

hi there earl i grow aeroponics , and i built my own using AMAZON AEROPONICS - 8 Pot System , but i cant find a high pressure pump and timer and missting nozzels. i have tried using low pressure pumps like maxijet 1000 , what type of pump do you use and timer and missting nozzel..

best flo

I don't use a high pressure pump.

I have 5 of these Supreme, mag drive, saltwater aquarium pumps.
Two 350s, two 950s, and one 1250gph

They are very quiet
and designed to keep very expensive fish alive.

You can get these on ebay for $80-90 for the 950gph brand new.
This is the pump I recommend, it can do as few as 4 jets, up to 80.

Used supremes are a good bargain
and they can be rebuilt for $15.

Do a google searchand make sure
you can get the part for the model of pump,
before you buy a used pump.

Parts are plentiful on the internet.

The part is just an impeller,
and they can wear or break,
but the rest of the pump has no other moving parts.
(i've never broken one yet)



I use these low pressure spray jets.

The green one is the correct one,
from 35¢-70¢
depending where
and how many you buy.

The grommet holds the tubing securely in the hole
and allows you to pull the jet out for inspection.


I use the vynal tubing and the 6mm gromett.

This is the 1250gph with 6 jets
You can't tell the pump is under water in this pic.
The 3gl shoebox tubs have holes in the bottom so the spray can recirc.

You can mount these pumps externally
with some 3/4 inch pvc plumbing
and a bulkhead fitting on your rez.

Earl said:

You can get these on ebay for $80-90 for the 950gph brand new.
This is the pump I recommend, it can do as few as 4 jets, up to 80.

Click to expand...

I'm not calling you a liar.. but 80 jets? You gotta be shitting me. Thats a lot of jets.. I would like to hear of anyone using more than 25.

I say 25 only because thats my number of jets..and I use 1200GPH but have never tried to max it out. My cost was $80 for the pump at Homless Depot on sale... I would very much like to push 2 systems with one pump to total 50 heads. Every try and figure your PSI at the head?

Now I want one of these pumps..lol But first would try my existing and see if it could push them. The plumbing will have a lot to do with the number it can run... my foggy wheels are turning.
Thanks for the info

Ok from what I read it seems you have those red and blue cylinder head misters that are 360 spray in a circle.And like stated those almost always seem to clog and to clean them you have to yank them out and use a fine wire and blow them clean and its a pain especially in bigger units.I'll add a link to get the kind I use.In my units I build and sell for like a 6 to 8 site unit I use a 175-200 gph pump just fine.In these setups you want to make sure the mist is splashing up on the netpots so you may wanna just fill it with tap water and give it a few minutes to make sure its misting high enough.In these I get my clones rooted in rockwool til the roots break out the bottom of the cube. I add a layer of rockwool to the netpot should be at least a 3 inch netpot then the clone in its cube then more hydroton clay pebbles to fil the basket in. You may need to hand water for the first couple days if the misters arent getting the net pots wet enough to keep the rockwool cube and hydroton mosit til the roots hang through the netpots. You will also need a filter bag for your pump so that it doesnt get gunk in it or your misters and to stop roots from getting sucked into the pump.I build aero cloner buckets but I still prefer rockwool cubes and a humidity dome.In my larger 32 site setups or biger I use an 850 gph submersible pump.I got mine new on ebay for about $45 shipped.You can buy true ultra fine misters that atomize the water but those cost about $35 each and need special piping which is $10 a foot all similar to the grocery store produce sprayers but its not needed.You can also add an ultra sonic fogger inside the res for a fine fog mist.Just keep it clean as foggers can clog easy. Make sure you dont use organic nutes in the aero setup or any dry powders as they will clog the mister heads.These mister heads are easy to replace they just twist or screw in to a hole and come out by pulling and unscrewing them.Heres 2 links one to find mister heads and 1 to a diy post I posted on building a basic aero setup similar to what Im offering for sale.
https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/22362-30-minute-6-plant-aero.html
Alternative Garden Supply - Hydroponics & Indoor Gardening Super Store

80 jets isnt that many.Figure it has you water lines and manifold with be 1/2 inch material most likely pvc so you can take trhe actual mister heads individual gph and multiple it by the number of heads so say 5 gph mister heads and you have 80 heads that needs a 400gph pump to make them start to mist. Now you have to look at the pumps rise and distance chart to see how much pressure and gph per foot is lost from getting the water from the pump to the line level and deduct the total power lose which might be for ever foot of rise you loose 100 gph flow so that mean if you have a 2 foot rise then add 200 gph to the pump which is 600 gph now and then I add a little extra for more consisitant pressure so an 850 or bigger pump will run 80 misters without fail.

i will see. the thing you didnt mention was the psi req of the nozzle..but i feel your right..lol..shit no, i hope your right.
I got a wicked idea brewing, its another twin system or I may just have a go at fogging...

If you have 80 jets
you cannot have much lift,
and you must use an inch and a quarter (1 1/4") manifold.

But yes the 1200gph pump could easily do 80

The spray jets are 7-10gph at 25psi

80x10=800gph with a 1200gph pump.. ..no problem.

All my piping and manifolds are 1/2 inch in size no bigger is needed to supply the low pressure mister heads. I have to order those brass home depot misters and will report back on usage when they arrive.Most worried about thread size and thier height.