Trick my Pod - The complete Aeroponics primer

[flgreyhound]

Thanks for answering whereisBrian...

Sure...sorry the focus isn't great, top to bottom. These are clones and that's about 3 weeks worth of root growth...from nothing....I aero-cloned them in this rig too!

Anyway, sorry they are not nice and white but AN's Humic Acid product just stains them to that dull brown. They are very healthy, though, other than the color.

My misters are running 30seconds on 3minutes off and they're the standard white (50micron) dripworks misters. Approx 75 psi.

 

[OsWiZzLe]

Shouldnt your Co2 PPM be around 1500?

 

[flgreyhound]

This is my first run using CO2, but I was told the rule of thumb was match your CO2 PPM to your Nute PPM....that of course if for people following the AN schedule as it peaks at around 1800ppms.

This is my first time using Iguana/organics so I'm still getting the feel of the PPM's with this stuff.

Regardless, I'm pretty sure the CO2 is not the issue here. Maybe it could be higher, but it's definitely not causing the problem.

Thanks, though!

 

[Deadic8d]

Air tight chamber

Air tight chamber

Pod, in all of my searching I've found a plastic gun carrier that is airtight with a neoprene gasket (so it can't leak) and it even has a air relief valve. Is this over the top or what? Am I making to big a thing out of the chamber or what ? here is a link tell me what you think. http://www.amazon.com/Contico-Silver-Wolf-Transport-Carrier/dp/B000DZGJCU and I can't seem to come up with the exact dimensions on it either , but free shipping lol still tryinging for the top of the line mobile unit possible.

 

[Deadic8d]

I don't know

I don't know

I really don't know cuz I've never grown like this before but from what I've been reading shouldn't the nutes be even lower than 500? If starting them at 150ppm to root and going up 100 to 150 ppm then they should be at 450 ppm at 2 weeks. Please correct me if I'm off on that cuz that is what my schedule plan is. Then I'll be stopping at about 850 to 1000 ppm's. Does that sound right. Also I believe Pod is out of town or somethin. Seems like I read he would be.

 

[whereisbrianV.]

Deadic8d- You are right 500 is high, I never go over 600. I would be willing to wager my left nut that you could do a whole run at below 400 and never have and issue (with foliar feeding).

The pod has to have some open air exchange, so those crafty gun carriers won't cut it. But most anything will do if you have a remote res. and just drain the mist to it. I built my last pod out of foam board and painters tarp, cost about $5 dollars to make and can be reused. I just throw the pod right on top of the res and I was off and growing. Best part about Aero is that you can run less than 5 gals of water for a whole table of plants. If something isn't right just drain that shit and refill and you don't have to add gallons of overpriced grow juices.

Hound- Hope everything is getting better with the ladies, I am going to track down pod for you guys.

 

[whycombinator]

Hey I have a question about res design, I'll probably be building mine tomorrow so I don't expect a response before I do it but I figure it would be good to know anyway. 'Hound was saying he read that it is best to have an inch or two of SWC at the bottom of the res that the plants are growing in, but pod's latest setup is a long slanting runoff to a separate res. Does the runoff provide enough water for the tap roots or is it better to have some standing water at the bottom? I am planning on building mine out of foam board as well so it would be nice if it didn't have to hold any water, but 15-20 gallons shouldn't be too difficult to hold in either.

 

[whereisbrianV.]

If you use foam board and line it with a painters tarp you will have pools of water at any crease and fold in the tarp that with the constant run-off should keep everything ivory. Those roots will find their way to the res I promise that. I the TT-TAG vertical grow I had roots that where over six feet long. The biggest advantage in having a standing pool of water for the roots is for a power outage. A simple solution to that is use a computers UPS on you pump and cycle timer so if the power does go you are good for at least an hour.

 

[whycombinator]

That's a good idea, my battery backup will be nearby so I can just plug them right in there. The shurflo I got says it needs 13.6VDC and a max current of 10 amps so it should only use about 136 watts max. With it on the timer and not running at full blast the whole time cause it's a smart pump it could probably last a day on my battery backup.

I'm planning on just keeping the bottom flat now so there should be about 2" of standing water. The sloping complicated the design quite a bit, maybe res v2 will have a sloped bottom.

 

[whycombinator]

Hey I have a pretty simple plumbing question, how do you connect all the pvc together? Do you have to solvent weld it or is there some way to attach the pieces that you can take them apart later?

 

[whereisbrianV.]

whycombinator- PVC glue and UNIONS lots of unions, buy more that you need that way you can change something and just use half a new on to connect to the old. I like to put my pump, res and filter all on their own unioned section. I have been able to build two different rigs with the same piping because of those sweet ass unions.


PS. Quick connects are sweet to but you have to get a hose pipe fitting adapter.

 

[whycombinator]

I ended up getting flexible tubing to connect to the pump because that's what it recommended in the pump manual, so the flexible tubing will be able to disconnect and the threaded fitting on the output side of the filter will disconnect as well. If/when I build a new one I'll definitely use more unions like you suggested cause they would be much easier to reuse. Do you just use teflon tape to seal the unions? It seems like they'd be likely to leak.

 

[whereisbrianV.]

They have a rubber o-ring inside of them so no tape is needed. I have never had one leak on me, now the quick connects are a different story.

 

[whycombinator]

I checked out the unions at lowe's the other day and they look pretty useful for making a modular system. I didn't use them for building my cloner since it isn't even welded together but I think I may buy some for my pod.

 

[whereisbrianV.]

Where is Pod??????

 

[BlindDate]

Where is Pod??????

This thread will end up like all of his threads. He has probably killed his plants by now and cannot continue to post the virtues of the "system" out of shame.

The guy is no grower, and worse, he won't take advice. Once the "Pod" flips to flower, it's all over.

Sad...so sad.

 

[Pod Racer]

Yeah Dead and buried

Yeah Dead and buried

Three Weeks into flower, my poor old air pruned dead plants look like shit don't they?

BD, too bad the shit that pours out your mouth doesn't grow anything but embarrassment for you.

They are 3 feet tall and well set with lovely white tricks galore. Guess we know who the real 'growers' are and the real 'show-ers' too.

PS The Soil Plants you see in the bottom are twice as old.

Remember this?



Well its now this



So suck it BD. Face it, You are the weakest link!

 

[whycombinator]

Ohhhhh snap.

I have a quick carpentry question, I've never attempted any in my life so I'm a total newb when it comes to constructing a frame for my pod. I've got that blue insulation stuff that PR is using and some wood, and I know what I want the frame to look like, but I'm not sure what the best way to connect all the wood together is. I could just use nails but it would be nice if it was easy to dissassemble so I've been thinking screws or bolts but I'm not sure what would work best. I was planning on getting some metal brackets for the corners to sink the screws or bolts or whatever into, but lowe's had an awful selection. Is there a simple solution I'm missing here, or should I look around a bit more for the size of brackets I'd need?

 

[pumpkin2006]

Not that I'm looking for whats wrong here, but a little critique: you seem to be using your light very inefficiently. Isn't the whole point of an aeroponic setup to have fast, vigorous growth? A plant can only grow as fast as its limiting factor, your limit is your lighting & possibly Co2 (I don't know if you are or not). I think we would see very similar, if not the same growth patterns in any other well working hydroponic system. Its really a shame, because you have such an awesome system... your just not using it well.

 

[Pod Racer]

Thanks whycombinatior.

I just use wood screws and hot glue mostly. Build the frame, insulate it with foam board, hot glue the liner in place and assemble the fog lines however you decide. There are endless possibilities which is what makes Pod Racing so much fun.

Not sure how I'm using my light ineffectively, its a 600 watt HPS traveling on a Light Rail approximately 3 feet from either white wall. In a week I'll be using a 1K, I'm getting readings of 68,000 lumen at the canopy back so I'm pretty sure I'm getting the max out of that 600 watt HPS. The greatest intensity is in a halo around the bulb, not under it (there is a dead spot there). So my 'donut' of maximum lumen is always in the green so to speak.

Using a hood and reflector wouldn't increase the lumen or penetration, and as far as Co2, I honestly don't believe it is as helpful as everyone makes it out to be. My room temps aren't above 76°F during the day and increased CO2 would cause the stoma production to go down reducing surface respiration. The room is a huge light box with a vent at the end that draws constant air from the house outside through the canopy.

I really couldn't fit anything more than I have in there right now, at this it will be a freakin' jungle in about 4 weeks.