Help deciding which way to go forward, Hydro or Aero LP

I been researching a lot lately as I am not really active in the grow community, unfortunately I cannot find the information I am looking for so I hope my questions find an answer from someone more knowledgeable.

My question stems from my experience using a ebb & flow system (flood/drain table system). I am in a situation where I have to replace a bunch of my equipment and I ponder if I should stick with what I know or "upgrade" to something new. I have always had a fascination with aeroponics but I hear the high pressure systems are much expensive and take much more maintenance. But I got the idea of a low pressure system. But what is the benefit? Does a low pressure system add any advantages over the system I already have experience with and have had great results? Or is it going to be much more headache for next to little gains...

Also my idea that may not work at all but would like to ask you as I feel awkward asking my local hydro store:
I have a 5x5x6.5 tent so I thought of a PVC tube 4 inch diameter, that will have 2 pod sites for my plants and then run in parallel. The PVC will drain immediately back into my res and will run a line spraying directly at the roots from the pump. Do I need a nozzle of some sort for the roots? Or can I just run water like a open hose right at the net pot?

With ebb and flow I usually yield about 0.72 grams per watt

Any insight or knowledge would be helpful

Thank you for reading

I run currently AA aero and love it. Ive also done HPA, LPA, F/D, NFT, and Membrane Meniscus, and Hempy buckets. Pretty much every hydro technique except DWC in its various forms.

I love AA aero, but its not for everyone. HPA is a close second but it is also not for the faint of heart. I have a thread discussing some of the considerations surrounding advanced aero techniques that you may find interesting.


The short version is that LPA is the least expensive, simplest, easiest aero option by far. HPA and AA are both a lot more money to get started, but should save you money on nutes.

You can potentially see slight improvements over your current technique if you run LPA, and somewhat better improvements with HPA and AA - BUT - only if you do it correctly.

Once setup and dialed in, there is little to no extra maintenance with any of the aero techniques over other forms of hydro. Its the 'getting dialed in' part that gets most people.

Larry3215 said:

Once setup and dialed in, there is little to no extra maintenance with any of the aero techniques over other forms of hydro. Its the 'getting dialed in' part that gets most people.

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Thank you so much. Your reply makes the most sense to me as I felt lost before your reply. Exactly what I was looking for, from someone who has been through these setups before. I am new to this forum I wish I knew how to like your post. Have a nice day.

Actually after reading your post in that link. I have decided to run a 4x4 F/D and then run a single 4 inch PVC to an LPS Aero to toy with to the side. Guess I need another pump but oh well, at least I could use the same res right? Seems to me like a good way to dial it in and guarantee a yield while I experiment. Might take me longer as I seen you are a mass murderer of seedlings lol. But at least it would seem I could evolve into a better system without taking much risk (all just a theory of course) even if it takes longer. Guy you got my head turning, thanks again.

Im not sure how you would use a 4" PVC pipe to do LPA. I was going to ask some questions about that but didnt have time before, so fill me in on the details as you have it pictured.

Normally you would see people using smaller PVC pipes to do NFT, although its usually 6" at a minimum. Ive seen people using 16" to 24" pipes to do large scale HPA, but never LPA.

Yes, you will want to use sprayer heads/nozzles unless your going to try NFT. You for sure dont want to garden hose the roots

Oh - down in the bottom right of each post you should see a 'like' button next to a 'reply' button. If you click the reply button it will quote the post. For the like button, if you hover the mouse cursor over it, you will see there are several options including ones for when you dont like the post

Please excuse the crude drawing and thank you for taking the time to understand my little experiment. I originally drew this to picture this as a 4 plant system. But after researching your post and your responses to me this will be one 4 inch diameter (I guess 6 if that's what you suggest)pipe to house 2 plants.

I'll get back to you later with a longer reply, but that isnt a large enough space for the roots.

You veg faster using aero but things can go badly real fast. Just hope you don’t get a power outage.

Larry3215 said:

I'll get back to you later with a longer reply, but that isnt a large enough space for the roots.

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Cool, take your time. I am just stoked you replying to my thread. You already have taught me a few things with that link you left

Mr_X said:

You veg faster using aero but things can go badly real fast. Just hope you don’t get a power outage.

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Hence the hydro F/D table right next to it. Since I have 3 years experience in that table, I can learn about the aero and not worry about my whole crop dying (my theory anyways). I just want to evolve is all.

You get more oxygen to the roots using aero vs dwc

WannabeWizard2003 said:

Please excuse the crude drawing and thank you for taking the time to understand my little experiment.

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Roots can grow fast and will take up as much space as you give them. I wouldnt go less than a 5 gallon container unless your growing autos that tend to stay pretty small.

On the other hand, I have filled my 55 gallon AA root chamber well over half full with roots from 3 large autos, so it can vary a lot. I have three small autos growing now, and Id say the chamber is maybe 1/4-1/3 full and I still have about 3-4 weeks to go.

Mr_X said:

You get more oxygen to the roots using aero vs dwc

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Yes - thats the key. But if you dont do the timing correctly, and over water or over flood, you wont do any better than DWC. No matter how much you aerate your rez, too much water on the roots will lower the amount of O2 the plant gets.

What makes any kind of aero work better is if you can keep the layer of water on the roots at the absolute minimum at all times.

What makes your flood/drain table work better is the drain half of the cycle. The longer you flood, the less O2 your plants get. Most folks flood waay too long. To be fair, the design of flood tables makes it hard to have really short flood times.

NFT is the same way. Its called nutrient FILM technique because the water needs to be a thin film, not a flood. Running hi flow rates in an NFT setup is no better than DWC.

The same can be true of LPA, HPA and even AA. Most folks have an ON time that is waaaaay too long. In LPA, all you want to do is barely wet the roots. Thats it. Any longer than that is actually depriving the plant of O2 it could be getting. A few seconds is all you need even for a large root mass.

Larry Thank you so much. Guess I am going back to the drawing board. I am glad you said the 5 gallon thing and ensuring I am educated before I move forward. This was extremely helpful.

Mr X thank you for your input

P.S. I read that I can't like things because I am brand new, otherwise I would be exercising that right lol

Have a good night!

I built my first aero/nft systems based on modified designs from this thread and they worked well. Good luck! Peace!

Tracker said:

I built my first aero/nft systems based on modified designs from this thread and they worked well. Good luck! Peace!

Harvest a Pound Every Three Weeks!

Outdoor growers are heading inside now so I thought if might be a good time to start a thread on how you can harvest a pound every three weeks from a 7x8' closet. I'll take you through my process from start to harvest. What is different about my system vs. others? 1) 3 separate Aero/NFT...

www.rollitup.org

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Awww thanks I will check it out

I didn't read all the replies, but from my personal experience, if you're trying to decide between dwc and aero, you should probably start with dwc. Its much easier, and much more forgiving, especially with power outages and clogged emitters, both of which can be the death of a plant in very little time.

You can also have much more water, in the same space, because the containers with the plants adds to the total gallons. More water means more stable Temps and pH.

One other thing you might experience with aero is dripping from the lids of the containers. Water is spraying everywhere, and those tiny droplets can find their way through places not water tight.

my reply may not make sense. Thought you were asking between dwc and aero. "Hydroponics" refers to any method of growing without soil. So asking "hydro or aero", you're basically asking about the same thing.

Regardless, dwc is an awesome way to grow! Spectacular results with just about the least amount of effort. Even easier than soil, IMHO.

JSB99 said:

my reply may not make sense. Thought you were asking between dwc and aero. "Hydroponics" refers to any method of growing without soil. So asking "hydro or aero", you're basically asking about the same thing.

Regardless, dwc is an awesome way to grow! Spectacular results with just about the least amount of effort. Even easier than soil, IMHO.

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No I understand you. Thanks DWC just aint my thing. I have a few years experience with F/D so I would probably go that way. Although I may just experiment with a few things off to the side