Fri, 2009/08/14 - 6:48am
heya! well i want to try aeroponics :D
but then when i looked at your things it's all the sprayer. well my question is, can i use fogger? because it seems to be easier and much cheaper.
the setup will be like the spray setup but then the fogger is used rather than spray. they said it will create 100% humidity
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=35215
is it also possible to just use natural sunlight?
im asking these things because i can't really have mistakes as my money is limited
thanks in advance :D
Fri, 2009/08/14 - 9:55am
#2
Hey, Kristian, welcome, good to see you!
I suspect Peat's sprayers would live longer, and possibly get better results. You'll notice the product page for the fogger mentioned lifespan would be affected by hardness of water. Well, adding nutrients is bound to make your water much harder. 
Natural sunlight is much better than any artificial light, if the light is reliable enough. Because you're in the UK and starting in August, I suspect you might find you need supplemental lights in the wet gloomy months. Depending on what you're growing.
What are you planning to grow? 
Fri, 2009/08/14 - 1:41pm
#3
I am fully familiar with fogging NOT for illicit purposes so feel free to contact me with any questions regarding it. The life span of a fogging unit is not what it seems. The only item on the unit that dies out is the little disc you see on the top of the unit. It is fully replaceable for about $7 US. They typically last for about a year.
Fri, 2009/08/14 - 3:12pm
#4
Welcome to green_engineer, too. I'd love to hear more on here about this fogging and how it works for y'all!
Fri, 2009/08/14 - 7:02pm
#5
heya you two :D
for water ill be using rain water
anyway, yes ive seen few of those disc for like £2. wouldnt a spray gona be noisy? but fogger would be quiet and portable? and not so heavy
id still would like to use fogger.
ive seen most of peat's things and bloody hell..... they are amazing...
wouldnt artificial light gona be expensive on electricity bill? please suggest on what nutes to put. i learned that new word :D nutes!!!
Fri, 2009/08/14 - 8:15pm
#6
My plants sure like the rainwater. Dunno about the noise level, but for sure, I'd want whichever's quieter. Peat hasn't dropped by lately, but I think he used a water pump to drive the sprayers, plus the plashing noise. Hm. Water pump sounds don't bother me much. Air pumps seem pretty loud. Possibly just a difference of pitch, though.
Lights - depends on the plant, and whether you're supplementing sunlight, or replacing it. Tomatoes need a lot of light. Lettuce gets along fine with pretty little. One 26W flourescent bulb, on for 14 hours a day, is around 11 kWh electricity. Probably need 3-4 times that if it's the only light for a tomato.Divide out by whatever a kWH costs in your neighborhood. I haven't tried the high-lumen high-efficiency HPS and MH lights, basically because I'm not willing to live with their brightness, and they're really expensive.
Most of us use the General Hydroponics 3-part nutes (Flora Micro, Flora Grow, Flora Bloom). That's what Peat's Guide to Hydroponics uses. Lately I've also been experimenting with FloraMato. I've yet to manage to grow a tomato indoors, though. 
Still seeking a mid-size variety that grows well in an Aerogarden...
Sat, 2009/08/15 - 6:27am
#7
i know this sounds out of the aerogarden topic but im currently growing tomato on purely just on perlite and just some moss at the bottom. it seems to be.......... alive
well i bought those pellet things and it seems to keep it alive. im also trying to grow some carnivorous plant :D
and got some veg on my back lot but bugs seems to eat them thats why im looking at aeroponics.
ive been to the garden centre yesterday and i found an elongated pot which has a water tray, and the tray fits the top snugly. i guess fogger plus net pots and rockwool will make it an aeroponics system!! lets say fogger £15, pot and lid £5, net pot(s) £5 rockwool £5. so £30!! WOO
im thinking. aeroponics is for growing plants till they are mature and probably for small vegies to grow. their not really "il use it as a pot and leave it there" are they? it's still better to grow them big and transfer right? so you can put other plants there.
anyway, how do you sow your seed? do you just put it on rock wool?
Sat, 2009/08/15 - 11:56am
#8
This site isn't limited to aerogardens. I hope to see a picture of your system once it's going!
Aeroponics is for growing the plant to harvest. If you grow a plant hydroponically or aeroponically until it's big, its root system is unsuited to transfer to soil. It might survive, but it would be a big setback.
I haven't grown in rockwool myself.
Sat, 2009/08/15 - 1:02pm
#9
Hello Kristian. Sounds like you should check out several grow logs here so you'll understand aeroponics and hydroponics. You could also google each word and research on the net. Plants grown this way are NOT grown to be transferred. They are grown from seed to harvest in one container, (not a "pot") with lots of light.
As for rockwool, yes, you can start and grow your seed in it.
I STRONGLY suggest that you do more research before you try it. We have a lot of fun with our plants, but there's a lot to it. There's the careful application of nutrients, testing EC levels, testing PH levels, and keeping everything in balance.
I too will be watching to see pictures of your setup.
Enjoy the whole process! It's fun!
Sat, 2009/08/15 - 5:50pm
#10
whats EC xD and PH is how hard the water is right? ill be using rain water so i dont really know whats the PH on that. how do i test them anyway? this website seems to be good so id probably finish what ive started. id probably show pictures on how to make my system! hopefully it's going to be good.
i ment moving the old plants to the pot so i can put new one, like tomatoes? when it's superbly huge!
i got some perlite that i use for carnivorous plant, can i use that instead of the rockwool? i was thinking of using hydroton but il be using the 2 inch net pots. I WANNA GROW MANY THINGS!!!
ive been youtubing and i saw this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omwxLUtET8Q and wow it's noisy.... i did put me off a bit. id probably will do more research though... i saw a video saying you have to time your system to be on for 5 seconds every 20 minutes.
how do i time it like that?
Sat, 2009/08/15 - 7:04pm
#11
EC = electrical conductivity, a way of measuring concentration of nutrients in solution. There are rather expensive meters to test this. Essentially, how you measure how strong your nutes are.
pH = measure of acidity / alkalinity. You can buy pH test and control kits from General Hydroponics. (Control means, solutions to correct pH up or down if it's outside proper groove.)
The pH of rain water should be pretty close to 7.0 (neutral), with an EC of zero. But then you add nutrients, which drag the pH down and EC up.
There are lots of timer devices you can buy. This story - 5 seconds per 20 minutes - sounds suspicious. It would also require a rather fancy timer. The 1-time-off, 1-time-on per day type timers are a cheap hardware store item.
I don't see why you couldn't use perlite or hydroton instead of rockwool, if you prefer. You might have to start the plants in rockwool and them nestle them in the rocks, though. Maybe not, with perlite.
Sun, 2009/08/16 - 1:06pm
#12
here is the video that says 5 sec every 20 minutes. probably on fogger id need 20 seconds for the rubbermaid to be completely fogged. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6o5LTl6GJw
i dont know what the hell to do with the timer :( how do you do yours? maybe atleast 1 minute every 30 minutes? or 1 minute per 15 minutes. tommorow ill be looking at the shops to buy the things i need. the only thing that id be buying in the net is
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/100X-5-5CM-NET-PLASTIC-PLANT-POTS-NEW_W0QQitemZ130...
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=35215
do you think the vibration would have an affect to the plant? was planning to show my pictures but dont know if this site got an attach image thing or i still have to make a link from website.
Sun, 2009/08/16 - 1:42pm
#13
This site has a number of image things. Attaching an image is one of them. Link from website is the preferred method. (Judith and I put our pictures on Google Picasa - it's free.)
The only timers I personally have are:
a. part of Aerogardens, and
b. a cheap on/off light timer with a power strip plugged into it, to turn a fluorescent light fixture on and off. But they only go on and off once a day. Could probably add more little plastic bits to it to have it turn on and off several times a day - but not at the fine level of detail you describe.
My first Aerogarden minis had internal timers that turned their air pumps on for 20 seconds, off for 40 seconds. This ambient noise inspired me to rip their internal air pumps out by the roots and kill them. AeroGrow also learned their lesson, and Aerogarden 3's now run all the time, not cycling the air pump.
Sun, 2009/08/16 - 2:35pm
#14
im having doubts now... im trying to contact maplins about the fogger's warranty like last week and i still dont have any answer. i dont really want to buy it and then after 1 month it's gona go boom :(
im now looking at pumps just for emergency.
will you please point me on the right one
http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9956450&...
http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9218515&...
http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?action=detail&fh_secondid=9218509&...
im actually trying to design my rubbermaid :P
but now that im looking at pumps instead of fogger, things will change. it's as if im back to college xD
Sun, 2009/08/16 - 4:06pm
#15
Ditto everything Gissette said. She's very knowledgeable, listen to her.
My 2 cents: I don't know how a fogger would work, so I can't actually help you.
Whatever you do, enjoy the process!
Sun, 2009/08/16 - 7:04pm
#16
jude you keep putting me down :( first you said do more research, this is my research. as ive told things around the net is how to grow weed... and you're (all) expirience and you'd (all) be a great source of info. i ment that in a good way :P
and gisette somehow is trying to support me. i think so :D
i guess id be the first one to have an expirience about the fogger. anyway, they say fogger system makes the plant to create more spread out roots instead of just the long one.
if i dont get any reply from maplins id most probably do spray, atleast they got 1 year warranty and the pump got 3
Sun, 2009/08/16 - 9:03pm
#17
jude you keep putting me down I guess you didn't actually read what I wrote. What I said was that I couldn't help you at all!
Please re-read what I wrote before you accuse me of something I didn't do!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mon, 2009/08/17 - 12:25am
#18
Well, it's true - neither Judith nor I has ever used a fogger, nor anyone else on this site except green_engineer, he said. Peat's used sprayers, but he's not around at the moment.
Keep up the good work researching, Kristian. We look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Mon, 2009/08/17 - 8:50am
#19
sorry but "Ditto everything Gissette said. She's very knowledgeable, listen to her." sounded "dont do that listen to her." but then i tried to reconfigure the negative way of saying it and made it possitive lol.
i was hoping as an aeroponic site, someone must have done this. i mean the fogger system. well i got many things to do because i dont have room for error. if something goes wrong ill be put on stop and out of money for some system that doesnt work..
i did mail green_engineer but he doesnt seems to reply.
is there such veg that doesnt need any nutes? just sunlight and water?
Mon, 2009/08/17 - 12:08pm
#20
Dunno of any vegetable that doesn't need nutrients. Lettuce needs very little, but it will be very weak with none.
Tue, 2009/08/18 - 5:51am
#21
this is my patio tomato
this is my other tomatoes outside :P
these are my cukes? they are huge! i probably need to replant them now
this is my caulis and they are the reason why i wanna do aeroponics :(
WOHO i might go for spray system now.... fogger cant be trusted maplins too....
Tue, 2009/08/18 - 4:11pm
#22
just received an email from maplins and they said there is 1 year warranty included but i'm worried that it might stop working and id have to return it and it would probably take days to return it. My best option would be sprayer because a diy shop i just near.
how often does your sprayer gets clogged? is there a way of preventing the clog? still got too many question in my head :(
i want to use the mist nozzle and it would probably clog. please help out
Tue, 2009/08/18 - 5:02pm
#23
RULE OF THUMB:The finer the water particle, the less nutrient you need and the more delicate your roots are, as they don't have to be "soil penetrating" course to seek out the needed elements. hope this helps
understand the point of the fogger in some way.
Yes they are better for the plant, the plant does however become more delicate, the thinner roots are more prone to suffer dry rot from a power outage or hardware failure.
thats what they said
Tue, 2009/08/18 - 7:55pm
#24
Kristian - Judith and I don't have sprayers or foggers, and no one else is talking on this thread.
Wed, 2009/08/19 - 3:20pm
#25
so how does your aerogarden work? isnt peat's one spray?
Wed, 2009/08/19 - 3:49pm
#26
Peat built a full-custom spray system - one in an Aerogarden and one in a big rubber tub. I think he found the AG was too small. Two of my Aerogardens use the water pumps they came with, and two were designed for an internal air pump+airstone aeration system. I simply replaced the internal with external air pump. So they're essentially all tub-of-aerated-water systems.
Wed, 2009/08/19 - 5:42pm
#27
oh! okay :D
looks like i dont have i choice... B&Q is the only DIY place i know.... and their online shop shows what's available but not in stock. their retail shop got no stock too, they cant deliver it because they got no stock on the items that i want. if i order it on other shop the returning would be a problem. im pretty much doomed. It's as if the world keeps telling me HEY USE FOGGER O_O
guess fogger it is. my 5.5 net pots arrived today. 100x 5.5mm for £4 i would say it's cheap :D
plus i also sold my item on ebay giving me more money !! so yeah :P anyway........ yeah FOGGER IT IS!!
I REPEAT FOGGER IT IS!!!
hope more people could reply so i dont completely waste my energy, but seeing you reply is good enough to get me going :P
Wed, 2009/08/19 - 10:27pm
#28
As Judith always says - Enjoy!
Thu, 2009/08/20 - 6:09pm
#29
heya! il be growing some cherry tomatos, spring onion and pak choi. and i have a tomato food concentrate and a miracle gro all purpose plant food
do you think i can mix both? and do you think it will be okay for the veg that ill be growing? they said i dont need alot of nute on fogger system so id probably put half instead of the whole instructed measurement.
any suggestion of what I should do? hope more people could comment :(
Thu, 2009/08/20 - 11:54pm
#30
I think... spring onions, if they're like what we call green onions, don't really need aeroponics. A little miracle gro in water (kept dark to keep down algae, so not a glass of water) should grow them, ish. So long as all you want to eat are snips of the green tops. I think you don't even need the Miracle Gro.
Miracle Gro in general doesn't have all the minerals needed for hydroponic growing. (Has macronutrients, but not micronutrients.) But it might be enough for pak choi... might not. I have no idea what's in your "tomato food concentrate". But no, you wouldn't mix them. The tomato stuff would tend to encourage flowering/fruiting. Which you don't want your greens to do.
Fri, 2009/08/21 - 2:57pm
#31
what nutes do you think i should buy? im also planning to buy a water butt, im going to put the algae treatment. do you think the treatment will be okay for the veg?
i just had a look at my tomatoes outside and they're bloody big...
right now all i need is hole saw, nutes and little effort! i really hope more people will see what im doing, and i wish more people could comment on this topic.
Fri, 2009/08/21 - 3:08pm
#32
The only nutes I've used that are apparently available to you in UK are General Hydroponics Flora Gro/Micro/Bloom series. They work.
No idea what you mean by algae treatment.
Fri, 2009/08/21 - 5:39pm
#33
it's something like this http://www.wyevale.co.uk/Biotal-Refresh-rainwater-water-butt-treatment-+...
it's annoying here.... i cant seems to find what i want. the flora things that you said is not within reach. i can buy it on ebay but with double the price because of delivery. i wish im in US
Sat, 2009/08/22 - 6:37pm
#34
i bought a 24 hours segment timer which gives 15 minutes minimum run time but i was planning to put two and have 1 on delay so when the one infront is one it will have less time. it should work :D
gisette can you explain something about the difference between the flora's nute?
Sat, 2009/08/22 - 9:44pm
#35
Sorry, Kristian, not sure I understand the question:
gisette can you explain something about the difference between the flora's nute?
As I mentioned before, hydroponic nutrients contain micronutrients (calcium, copper, etc) in addition to NPK, the biggies we add to soil-grown crops.
Mon, 2009/08/24 - 6:47am
#36
The pH of rain water should be pretty close to 7.0 (neutral), with an EC of zero. But then you add nutrients, which drag the pH down and EC up
does that mean i only need ph up? on the nutes so is it going to be 3 parts? gro mircro and bloom mixed together?
they said fogger system only need half of the nutes because of how big the droplet is.
im planning to buy it here www.grotec.co.uk
they have free delivery :D
Mon, 2009/08/24 - 11:14am
#37
You'll probably only need pH Up, yes, but might as well get the kit that includes pH tester and pH Down. Yes, the 3 nutes mixed together (in unequal proportions).
Mon, 2009/08/24 - 3:57pm
#38
i wouldnt have much to buy such kit :( i would probably just put half half of everything
i wish i was born rich, but not really :D
Mon, 2009/08/24 - 4:08pm
#39
well i just ordered the 3 floras and stacks of rock wool and ph up. good luck to me :D
Mon, 2009/08/24 - 7:15pm
#40
Good luck!!!
Tue, 2009/08/25 - 6:56am
#41
hey do you think i can recycle the rockwool?
Tue, 2009/08/25 - 7:20am
#42
i double post :(
Tue, 2009/08/25 - 10:54am
#43
Probably not.
Tue, 2009/09/01 - 3:26pm
#44
hiya ! havent been here for a few days..
anyway, i received my floras but there isnt any instruction on how to use it. my mom also bought some ph strip. now all i need is some nice size rubbermaid i also put some WD40 on the disk of the fogger.
can i also use flouricent bulbs? is it going to be good enough?
:D
Tue, 2009/09/01 - 10:03pm
#45
Hey, Kristian!
There are instructions on the bottle for Flora Micro/Gro/Bloom. Or Peat's Guide to Hydroponics. Just remember to add the Micro to the water first. Otherwise, the nutes have a cross-reaction that makes them unavailable to the plants for use. And use at most 1/4 strength for seeds.
Plants grow under fluorescent bulbs, yes. Good enough depends on how much light, and what you're growing. Note that light falls off very quickly with distance, so keep the plants as close as possible to the lights without burning. See here for my seed-starting lights. They worked fine for seedlings. Growing cucumbers, they weren't quite enough - maybe twice as many fluorescent tubes would have done the trick. I think. Didn't try it.
Wed, 2009/09/02 - 5:57am
#46
thanks!
this might sound stupid but im just starting to grow things so please understand :D
does tomato and cukes grow and die?
do you also think i can use sponge instead of neoprene collars to hold the stem?
Wed, 2009/09/02 - 11:46am
#47
Tomatoes and cukes grow and die, yes. They're annual plants, pretty much.
The stem pretty much holds itself. The roots need substrate. The collars are to keep light off the substrate (sponge, rockwool, whatever) to prevent algae growing on it. Tomatoes especially react badly to algae.
Mon, 2009/09/07 - 7:33am
#48
im about to start putting my things together. do you think i could put the fogger for 15 minutes on and 45 off?
45 minutes off sounds a lot and 15 minutes sounds too long for the fogger but it's the minimum that i can get. maybe i should do it 15 on 30 off? if this become successful maybe you could also do my setup :D
Mon, 2009/09/07 - 9:29am
#49
peats guide on the floras is 2.1ml do you think i can lower it down to 1 or 1.5 because im using fogger? do i really have to clean the box every week?
Mon, 2009/09/07 - 10:40am
#50
Don't know, Kristian, you'll have to research.
2.1 EC, btw, not ml.
it was quite hard for me to start because 80% of how to make the aeroponics on youtube and website is how to grow weed. it's very annoying :(