Aeroponic System Without Nozzles?
Your Aeroponic System #1 functions without spray nozzles. I've read that aeroponics requires nozzles in order to generate the appropriate size oxygen rich mist - does a simple 1/16 inch size hole completely compensate for a spray nozzle? Also, will the hole clog?
I'm interested in perhaps building your Aeroponic System #1 exactly as you've described it, but wanted to address the above concerns. Have you tried this exact system in one of your gardens? If so, how did it workout? I really like your website, keep up the good work. Thanks!
Answer: In the particular aeroponic system you describe, which (for the other visitors) can be found here, the 1/16th inch holes in the 1/2 inch PVC line do compensate for more traditional spray nozzles in nearly every way- as long as you run the system at the proper psi. It is the pressure of the water pressing itself through the tiny 1/16th inch holes that causes it to fan out in a spray pattern, very much like traditional spray heads and spray nozzles. The only difference is that the water droplets may be slightly larger than droplets produced by spray heads with a much smaller aperture.
Looking at the bigger picture, this fact makes little difference in the performance of the system when compared to the performance of other (store bought) aeroponic systems. For one thing, much of the presence of oxygen comes from the simple fact that the roots of the plants are hanging in nothing but air. This fact is the same in both my homemade system as well as store bought systems.
Secondly, whenever you separate a mass of water into droplets, you vastly increase the surface area of the water exposed to oxygen. The difference in the "performance" of a 200 micron droplet of water compared to a 60 micron droplet of water is negligible, especially when you take into account the fact that the water only travels about 6 inches (in either system) from the spray nozzle till the point where it comes in contact with the roots. Once the droplets come in contact with the roots, droplet size becomes a moot point- in both systems, the oxygen benefit from that point forward is derived from the fact that you've got a thin layer of nutrient solution covering the roots and completely surrounded by oxygen.
No matter what type of aeroponic system you decide to go with, the system should ALWAYS be run with a filter AND a pre-filter before the water pump. This is because small particulate matter, once clogging any part of the system, will quickly burn out your expensive high pressure water pump. A good friend of mine found this out the hard way- he made a dandy homemade system but did not clean out all of the little PVC shavings from the manufacturing process very well. Unfortunately, he also was not using a filter in-line with his pump. $200.00 mistake!
As long as you are using a filter to protect your pump, any store bought aeroponic system will clog up long before your homemade system will- just look at how big the hole is in the spray emitter compared to a store bought system!
I admit I have not tried the system personally, but the pictures on that particular page are from my friends house (yes, the very same one who made that $200.00 mistake). I was there for it's construction, I was there when we had to make adjustments to the system after our expensive lesson, and I was there to see the very awesome results after the completion of his first crop.
If you follow the directions carefully to avoid making the same mistakes we made (and you provide correct lighting, maintain the nutrients properly, etc.), this aero system is capable of producing the very same results as any store bought aeroponic system. I hope this helps, and Happy Growing!
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AffordableGarden Design&Setup
Hi everyone, Jason from Jason's Indoor Guide here. When I got started with hydroponic gardening more than 24 years ago, my first garden used rockwool cubes and B.C. Nutrients....and I remember thinking to myself yeah, sure, there may be a lot of advantages to gardening with hydroponics, for example there are very few pest problems, therefore very little pest control, no weeding, no plowing or tilling the soil, no soil testing or having to add things into the garden soil, no watering the garden....but for someone who just wants to grow their own vegetables and have more control over their food supply and the quality of the food that they eat, the cost of constantly having to buy grow media and hydroponic nutrients makes this an expensive hobby for most people...
Epic Nutrient Change
I suppose when you take into consideration how much money you save NOT
having to buy food at the grocery store, it is surely cheaper to grow
your own food hydroponically even with the cost of high quality
nutrients. Nevertheless, I didn't have a whole lot of money to work with
and I needed to make my efforts as affordable and effective as
possible....and in the last 24 years I HAVE learned a thing or two!
As you browse through Jason's Indoor Guide, you will notice all of the
systems that I use personally are homemade systems. As I got 3 or 4
years of experience under my belt, I quickly adopted a preference to
standing water systems and systems that use expanded clay pellets or
lava rock, because the media is re-usable and it eliminates a huge
operating expense. So once a hydroponic system is built, garden
maintenance is minimal- check and adjust the nutrient solution daily,
and to change it completely every 2 weeks....and the biggest operating
cost is the hydroponic nutrients. (and the electric bill, lol)...
Homemade Cloner
And, regarding the cost of the nutrients....I experimented for about 3 years with making different compost teas and nutrient teas, but there is still a lot of expense $$$ associated with making high quality nutrient teas....like kelp meal, liquid seaweed, rock dust, bat guano, un-Sulfured molasses, worm castings. You can eliminate a lot of this expense by becoming an expert at making high-quality colloidal humus compost, and use your properly made compost as the basis of your hydroponic nutrient solution.
Unfortunately, I have been gardening for over 24 years and I have only
just recently mastered this difficult skill....and even then, only
because I happened to find a very easy to follow, high quality technique
and decided to follow the instructions to the letter. I produced more
high quality compost in just one week than I was able to use in a whole
year! If you can master the technique, I highly recommend it. It is one of the top 3 things you can do to
increase the productivity of your food production efforts, while at the
same time decreasing the amount of effort required to grow all of your
own food, and decreasing the total cost of operating your food
production system.
And when I say decrease operating costs, I mean decrease them to almost
ZERO, especially if you are producing your own nutrients...
High Efficiency
Hydroponics
The ultimate solution to eliminate the cost of your hydroponic nutrients: Imagine a hydroponic system that does not require you to buy any nutrients, does not require you to make your own compost, and does not require you to brew your own nutrient tea. Seriously! No cost and no effort as far as providing nutrients to your plants! Plus, at the end of the gardening cycle you harvest all of your garden vegetables, PLUS YOU HARVEST FISH from the system--->
Aquaponics
This solution is aquaponics. If you are serious about producing all of your own food and being self-sufficient, this is the ultimate solution for reducing expenses (as much as possible), reducing the total amount of work required, and maximizing the productivity of your gardening efforts. I have been gardening for over 24 years, and it is the perfect food production solution in my opinion.
Besides mastering how to make high quality compost, learning aquaponics is one of the top 3 things you can do to increase your garden productivity, reduce your total costs, and reduce your total work. The product that I learned from is called Aquaponics4you. With all of my hydroponic gardening experience, the first time I came across the Aquaponics4you product I knew immediately that it was something very special! Place an aquaponics system outdoors and use the sun instead of grow lights, and you have reduced every garden expense to nearly ZERO!
The Same System/ 10 Weeks Later!
