First AeroGarden Grow!

umm....chris

Active Member
yeah they are quad-band with 4 different light diaodes red blue orange and white
and when i get more money i will get more cfls from lowes and some other shit too
 

SMOKENBUDDHA

SWEET JANE
has anyone ever had a plant grow one pistil at the beginning of flowering but no where else? One of the plant hasn't shown any more pistils since the first one I recognized, while the plant next to it has 8-10 pistils throughout the plant, and it is the same strain.
 

umm....chris

Active Member
yeah i have an outdoor plant too she did that same thing she only had one pistil then one day i went out and there was like 10 of em
how many cfls are you gonna put in there?
im thinking of 2 100w equ. for the bottom and 2 150w equ. hanging from the top with the ag hood
 

SMOKENBUDDHA

SWEET JANE
Ok folks i did my custom light fixture I could only cram 6-23w 2700k cfls in there but its a total of 115w so i think ill be ok.. here they are.. the plants have skyrocketed.. i have a few burnt leaves from when the plant was still in the AG hood and i couldn't raise it anymore!
IMG_20100912_105242.jpgIMG_20100912_105229.jpg
IMG_20100912_105441.jpgIMG_20100912_105247.jpg
IMG_20100912_105448.jpg
 

Attachments

SMOKENBUDDHA

SWEET JANE
Dont worry about all the attachments... I was taking pictures of the pre flowers and accidently uploaded them too

I also plan on adjusting the hood to better cover the bulbs and focus the light on the plants more.. I just did not know the Y splitters were at that angle i figure it would be at wider angle.
 

umm....chris

Active Member
looking good man so far only one is a for sure female the topped one
the other one is starting to show pre-flowers cant tell what it is yet
ill update when i get my camera again

my nodes are a bit closer than yours only an inch or so apart
 

Right Back At IT!!!

Active Member
Hey Buddha,
I have been growing for about 5-10 years off and on but I went aero about 3-6 months ago and I can save you a bit of headache right away, Im sure you have some advice for me as well which is why I am here also, however, from what you have stated above here is my advice as I have already fought a couple of the battles you will see soon.....
Its like pulling teeth getting help around here so maybe I need to make some buds first LOL
1. Your temps are to high and will invite root rot and slime (I assume 78 is res temp) iF ROOM is 78 then temps in res should be about 79-80 at best but this is playing with fire (is pump in res- then temp is even higher - not sure of aerogarden set-up but pump in res isn't most effiecient
2. PH is way to high for aero (I assume aerogarden is an aero set-up) Ph for aero is generally 5.2-6.2 but many say 5.5-6.5 is a good range - shoot for 6 with a cheap meter or liquid
3. 18/6 is fine for veg but I generally do 24/0 until seeds sprout, then 20/4 for veg so roots get night time that they love so much
4. More importantly, why the hell are you using seeds (bad idea for aero in my opinion)
5. If you veg that long in a dialed in aero you will not get 2-4 small plants but 2-4 little monsters (aero stays much shorter with much larger buds - almost freakish the difference from soil or soiless)
6. Its much cheaper and a bit more convenient to build your own system - as most aero garderners want to expand (all "gardeners" right!!!)
Oh yeah, you should be able to check your PH meter by Phing some water - should be a neutral 7 (given your city has at least decent water -some use osmosis water). Not sure about "plant cycle", I would use live plant as many herbs (Rosemary, basil, thyme, etc. want a certain environment that you set-up may conform to.....
 

Right Back At IT!!!

Active Member
Also, a quick note:
Once an expert gower told me that if you are not
-getting your water temps to 65-72
-allowing roots to drain via a timer
then you should use another cheaper method as this is where your increase in productivity comes from.
He was employed by NASA as a financial analyst for a number of years and was a hobbist grower for many many years now.
The low water temp allows the water to hold 100% oxygen and the drain allows the roots to take in fresh air, (I have never personally did a study but it seems to hold water after endless internet searches.
 

SMOKENBUDDHA

SWEET JANE
Also, a quick note:
Once an expert gower told me that if you are not
-getting your water temps to 65-72
-allowing roots to drain via a timer
then you should use another cheaper method as this is where your increase in productivity comes from.
He was employed by NASA as a financial analyst for a number of years and was a hobbist grower for many many years now.
The low water temp allows the water to hold 100% oxygen and the drain allows the roots to take in fresh air, (I have never personally did a study but it seems to hold water after endless internet searches.
I usually allow the water resevoir to drain partially to help air the roots out. Would keeping my A/C set on 70 degrees instead of 78 help lower temps?

I have no real issues that i can see to my eye. Thanks for all the advice.
 

SMOKENBUDDHA

SWEET JANE
Hey Buddha,
I have been growing for about 5-10 years off and on but I went aero about 3-6 months ago and I can save you a bit of headache right away, Im sure you have some advice for me as well which is why I am here also, however, from what you have stated above here is my advice as I have already fought a couple of the battles you will see soon.....
Its like pulling teeth getting help around here so maybe I need to make some buds first LOL
1. Your temps are to high and will invite root rot and slime (I assume 78 is res temp) iF ROOM is 78 then temps in res should be about 79-80 at best but this is playing with fire (is pump in res- then temp is even higher - not sure of aerogarden set-up but pump in res isn't most effiecient
2. PH is way to high for aero (I assume aerogarden is an aero set-up) Ph for aero is generally 5.2-6.2 but many say 5.5-6.5 is a good range - shoot for 6 with a cheap meter or liquid
3. 18/6 is fine for veg but I generally do 24/0 until seeds sprout, then 20/4 for veg so roots get night time that they love so much
4. More importantly, why the hell are you using seeds (bad idea for aero in my opinion)
5. If you veg that long in a dialed in aero you will not get 2-4 small plants but 2-4 little monsters (aero stays much shorter with much larger buds - almost freakish the difference from soil or soiless)
6. Its much cheaper and a bit more convenient to build your own system - as most aero garderners want to expand (all "gardeners" right!!!)
Oh yeah, you should be able to check your PH meter by Phing some water - should be a neutral 7 (given your city has at least decent water -some use osmosis water). Not sure about "plant cycle", I would use live plant as many herbs (Rosemary, basil, thyme, etc. want a certain environment that you set-up may conform to.....
I am using seeds because I had no clones, I also have no issues with root rot or slime. The humidity is lower now that I have more FAE. I really appreciate all the info.
 

SMOKENBUDDHA

SWEET JANE
My water temp is about 78 degrees, the enclosure shows 79-80 degrees while lights are on, and 85-86 degrees near the light fixture. I just lined the enclosure with plastic so I will need to take temps tonight when the lights are off.
 

Right Back At IT!!!

Active Member
My water temp is about 78 degrees, the enclosure shows 79-80 degrees while lights are on, and 85-86 degrees near the light fixture. I just lined the enclosure with plastic so I will need to take temps tonight when the lights are off.
Buddha,
I may be jumping the gun a little bit because after I posted I noticed that you are using LEDs....Plants and roots look absolutely beautiful though man, I can tell you that you are not having any water temp probs right now because your roots would show you long before your plants and they look just perfect from the pics... Still you would get more oxygen to your roots if you pull water temp down. Honestly, if I could get my res temps to 78 with out a cooler I probaly wouldn't have bought a chiller but... I am running 1X1000 watt High output HPS and 1 X 400 Watt MH in a 25sqft area, of course with AC but still with that kinda light you have to cool res, lights are both aircooled as well. About moving your AC to 70, I wouldn't because you have to think about the temp on the top of the plant as well as the res and seems like you have a good medium... Always keep in mind that plant growth is a recylcing bin : the more light, the more nutes, the more temp needed, and then you go CO2 which will want a little bit more heat.... However, if you get HID lights bring the PPM up on the plants and the light will give you the additional heat. Did you get your PH down, if PH is high the plants require a higher PPM to take up nutes which is uneffiecient..... Keep PH 5.5-6.5 (preferably on the lower side) and PPM based on what plants want under current light and you are starting to dial in...... Not an expert but have screwed up just about everyway possible....
 

Right Back At IT!!!

Active Member
I usually allow the water resevoir to drain partially to help air the roots out. Would keeping my A/C set on 70 degrees instead of 78 help lower temps?

I have no real issues that i can see to my eye. Thanks for all the advice.
No worries man, your doing great for your first Aero. I have my aero on 15 minutes on and 15 minutes off but really I need a 1 minute on and 1 minute off timer which I have been to cheap to buy, little bugger are expensive for a timer to get 1 minute increments... However, I will post a pic of my set-up and while I am learning my set-up isn't considered "True Aeroponics" buy some "professional" growers but my roots are never submerged in water except for about 1 inch during the on time, I just want the small water droplets to hit them for a minute and dry again for 5, but the more air you can get to them the better, I would go 15 minutes on and 30 minutes off but Im afraid that will be to long...You cant do everything at once, just keep dialing in more and more because it is very expensive to set-up aeroponics in one swoop... I have about 2,000 invested (Including filters, fans, water coolers, pvc, tanks, whole saws, drills, misters, pumps, for a max 75 plant site, only use like 20-40 at any given time though and could spend about 50-100 to make a 150 plant site but in aero you don't need that many. I grow for anxiety issues mostly!!
 
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