Wed, 2009/10/14 - 10:16am
HI GUYS! I just built my first ever aeroponics system! It "fogs" not spray 
scroll down and enjoy 
Let's see how much I've spent
Ultrasonic Fogger - £15
Flora Series (Micro, Grow, Bloom) 1 Litre - £21
100x5.5 Net Pots - £2
10 Litres Hydroton Balls (Clay Pebbles) - £5
EC Meter - £15
PH Strips - Free 
my mom gave it to me
10 Litres Rockwool Cubes - £5
Tub & Cover - £7
Transparent Cover - It's from ice cream drumstick which my mom bought so it's free!
£70!!! but that wasn't all that I've spent because I had some trial and error things lets say I've spent almost £100 
Anyway, they said Fogger requires LESS nutrients because the droplets are smaller therefore the plants absorbs the nutes better. I also don't need to worry about putting too much nutes!! I don't know what else to say! If you got question, just ask!
OH DON'T FORGET ABOUT MY TOMATOES!!!
I FORGOT TO SAY THANK YOU TO PEAT AND GISETTE!!!!
Wed, 2009/10/14 - 4:38pm
#2
Hello Peat!!! thank you for your guide!!! + Gisette's too! I'm trying to grow Pak Choi. My first try was to put it on rockwool cubes and let it grow for 2 weeks and then put it inside the machine and use neoprene collars to hold the sprout but it failed as the neoprene kind off squished them..... and they died.... So I ordered some hydroton balls and put some rockwool with seed inside, then cover it up with hydroton balls and I only did it yesterday so I'm just about to know what's gonna happen......
On my first try I had rockwool cubes on a tray inside a rubbermaid with the nutes. And they grew from seed to 1 inch seedling in 2 days! It was amazed because the packet said it should be seed to seedling to 9 days if grown in soil.
My timer is at 15 minutes on 45 off as they're only at seed state, I'll be changing it to 15 on 30 off when they're a bit bigger. They're supposed to be 5 minutes on 20 minutes off cycle but I need some fancy timer which cost £50 
The fogger is great! It covers the whole box in around 10-20 seconds!!!
Hope my mom doesn't find this thread because she will kill me if she see the price. But I said to my self... I've already bought all of the items and It's too late to stop. But I'm not gonna stop if she tells me to stop anyway 
Wed, 2009/10/14 - 4:51pm
#3
Peat I bought my stuff from Maplin .co.uk and Grotec.co.uk, thought you might want to know. And some items from ebay
The only thing I'd like to have is artificial light instead of just natural light. But they said no, and I can't do anything about that..... they pay the bills.
Wed, 2009/10/14 - 5:03pm
#4
I know what you mean by timers, the one I intend getting next is this one (www.3ch.co.uk/accessories/miscellaneous/intelligent-cycle-timer/prod_657.html).
The aero unit I built grew my lettuce and tomatoes at amazing speed, but the roots could have done with a drying out period as the sprayers ran 24/7 - my timers weren't up to the job of the 15 on, 15 off cycle I wanted.
Other good companies are Growell and Greens Horticulture.
Shame about the lights as they would benefit your plants.
Wed, 2009/10/14 - 5:22pm
#5
I forgot, the noise of the fogger is almost 0, it's actually quite hard to know if it's working or not. Maybe one day I'll just see my veg diying because the fogger broke down 
. I really am so happy about the outcome of the box, I really thought the fogger would made some World War II noise but it didn't.
Wish me luck!
Wed, 2009/10/14 - 9:19pm
#6
That system looks awesome, Kristian! 
Good luck!
FWIW, I've found green leafies and hydroton rocks have a bit of a problem together. The hydroton is fine down below where it's moist, but keep the rocks away from any leaves or they'll suck the life out of them.
A dozen pak choi! So very cool. And your tomatoes are gorgeous, too! 
Thu, 2009/10/15 - 4:41pm
#7
It's actually 14 pak choi 
. Thanks for the info hehehe. My tomato plant just boomed so I tried to cut down some leaves and I noticed it has about 7 cute tomatoes and around 20 flowers! PLUS the caulis are having small caulis in them!!! I thought all these days they're just gona be insect food. My cukes have some thing too! I'll try to post them later.
I just updated my profile and put my picture... my face is huge
Mon, 2009/10/19 - 12:23pm
#8
After around 2-4 days here they are!!! 
Mon, 2009/10/19 - 10:10pm
#9
Cute! Pretty good germination time.
Wed, 2009/10/28 - 7:35am
#10
I NEED HELP!!! my babies got 3 leaves now!!! and the first two leaves got spots as if it's drying
I don't know what i did wrong..... cleaned it and change water and put the new solution last friday. should i change the timer? 15 on 30 off instead of 45 off?
Wed, 2009/10/28 - 11:27am
#11
Try moving the hydroton rocks away from the stem/leaves. They suck moisture from everything.
Wed, 2009/10/28 - 1:33pm
#12
When things don't look right, you need to check your system :-
pH levels - what's the reading here? Should be 5.5 to 6.5
Water Temperature - what's the reading? It should be between 18 to 25 degrees C, is the fogger heating up the water if it's too high?
EC levels - do you know what you are feeding the plants?
Once the roots in your system hit the water, they will be wanting an oxygen rich environment - I was wondering if you have an air stone in there to oxygenate the water? The roots above the water line will be fine due to your fog, the fog won't oxygenate the water though - unless the fogger makes enough water disturbance to negate the air stone?
Sun, 2009/11/01 - 4:39am
#13
erm I noticed the ec level is at 1.08 and on your instruction it's 1.60-3.00
I guess I have to put a bit more. Is british water hard?
Sun, 2009/11/01 - 11:49am
#14
Could you post a picture of the problem plants, Kristian?
Sun, 2009/11/01 - 1:47pm
#15
I'm not sure where you got the levels of 1.6-3.0 in my instructions? I would never advocate growing anything at an EC of 3.0, have a read through them again as there seems to be some mix-up.
Is British water hard? Depends where you live, some areas it's hard, some areas it's soft - in general, it probably tends to be on the harder side.
Did you manage to check the water temperature? It's just that I've heard that the foggers generate heat - I can't confirm this as I've never used a fogger.
What about the pH levels?
If you want your plants to grow well with your liquids, you need to check these things from my other post. You can probably try and get by without, but, if you have any problems then there's not much we can do for you. Growing plants in poor conditions will lead to all manner of different issues; which are many and varied...
Sun, 2009/11/01 - 7:11pm
#16
"In general, growing plants like an EC of 1.6-3.0" thats whats on your Guide Part 2
The fogger doesn't generate heat at all, maybe the big ones. I just changed the water and it's now at EC of 1.69 instead of 1.08, I can't really tell you the specific ph but the strip is at 5.
I'd say the fogger oxygenate the water because when it's on, it makes a bubbly water with fog. Quite hard to explain... It's now at 15 on, 30 off
The water temp would probably be house temperature or a bit colder but I don't think the fog will be affected
Gissete, I'll post some pictures by tomorrow
Mon, 2009/11/02 - 12:03pm
#17
Hi Kristian, yes, that paragraph is for general use which is all encompassing i.e. for growing lettuce to tomatoes at a high EC, but, you still need to match the EC to your plant type (Part 2, Page 3 instructions). If you look at Page 7 it gives you different EC's for each plant, pak choi is not listed but I've looked this up and come across this website, they are going for a pH of 7.0 and an EC of 1.5 to 2.0
If possible, you want to try and get this figure - your pH at 5 is rather low if that's what they are recommending.
Different plants want different mixtures, lettuce requires little while tomatoes require a much higher EC which also differs in it's composition. Match the EC and pH to your plant and things should go well, barring bugs and plant diseases...
Are you happy that you are feeding them correctly i.e. the Flora mixture is in the correct ratio for the plants. Remember, don't ever progress to the 'bloom stage' of feeding, this is not for your plant. Stay on the seedling/mild growth/growth mixtures only - apologies if you know all this. 
Mon, 2009/11/02 - 5:55pm
#18
well good thing my EC is at 1.69 right now. I really am happy about the feeding. At first I thought I'll be needing to buy new bottle every week but it looks like 1 bottle will last me a good year! Does it expire? Gisette told me about the ratio.
I got 4 leaves on my plant now!!!!
Anyway, I'm just wondering if I did it right or maybe there is a better way of doing it. I put the seeds on a rockwool seed mixture then wait for 2 day then when there is a seedling I put it on the net pot and cover it with hydroton balls then I put them In my box. So I guess the rockwool will be there till I harvest them right?
Mon, 2009/11/02 - 9:42pm
#19
Yes, the rockwool stays forever (it isn't reusable, with the roots shot through). I wouldn't put hydroton on top of the rockwool, though - only around the sides.
Tue, 2009/11/03 - 6:25am
#20
"I wouldn't put hydroton on top of the rockwool, though - only around the sides."
ahhhh, I'll do that next time!
yesterday I took of my tomatoes because they were dying. collected around 15 tomatoes...................... but they arent even red, I guess thats 0 harvest
Anyway... I just had an awesome expirience! Peat said to change the ph to around 7 so I tried and I put too much... then I panicked! put lots of water and then I cant see any changes so I gave up and try to put the EC to 2.00 because It went down to 1.44. So I did it went to 2.01 then I looked at the ph and it turned 7!!!
now the ph is 7 and ec at 2.00 
My Pak Choi!
My Cauli! damn insects..... Eating him alive... I'm wondering where I could buy BT spray
What can I do to kill all those insects?
This is what the dying leaves look like, are they supposed to die? The 2 big leaves arent dying.
Tue, 2009/11/03 - 10:33am
#21
The first picture of your pak choi looks good. 
The second one looks a little nutrient burnt - possibly. Your plant is still very small and, as such, it's not going to require the full feed at EC 2.0 I would be keeping it down at 1.5 for now until it gets much bigger, giving the plant too high a strength feed will cause you problems.
The first two leaves on a plant, called the cotyledons, will eventually die off as your plant matures.
Don't cover the rockwool completely initially, but do so once the plant gets bigger - purely to stop the formation of algae on the rockwool surface. The hydroton will stop most of the light reaching the surface which prevents this green growth from forming (light + nutrients = algae).
Have a look here for how I grew my lettuce in the little system I built - you can see the stages of planting the rockwool and seedling into the net baskets. You have two ways of doing this:
1. Grow the seedling in the rockwool so the roots show, then transplant into your baskets - as the above link.
2. Put the seed in the rockwool, surround with hydroton (but leave a little space for the seedling to emerge) and put the whole lot in your system - see here for how I did this.
Tue, 2009/11/03 - 11:04am
#22
Cute little pak choi!
Are you ripening the tomatoes in a brown paper bag? I just cooked the last of my summer tomatoes from their brown bag this weekend.
What Peat said. 2.0 EC is definitely too high for baby brassicas. I wouldn't allow the EC above 1.7 ever for greens, and possibly only 0.8 for another week yet.
Are there caterpillars on your cauliflower somehow? Or the "little white bugs"? The damage looks a lot like caterpillars. But it doesn't greatly matter if there are holes in the leaves, so long as the head is still OK. In this picture, it looks it.
Tue, 2009/11/03 - 5:11pm
#23
Brown paper?
Yes they are caterpillars and they are annoying...... Comes and go. I kill them tomorrow there is more...
Tue, 2009/11/03 - 6:22pm
#24
Yeah, if I have to pick tomatoes not-ripe, I put them in a brown paper bag to ripen. Preferably with a not-ripe banana to speed things up. Our supermarkets have brown paper bags, though most people choose plastic bags these days.
The caterpillars are probably hatching on the cauliflower. They ate my last pak choi and mustard greens crop. 
Wed, 2009/11/04 - 9:07am
#25
I think "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" could be applied to this problem. I don't think they are hatching in the caulis, I think they only eat the leaves 
BUT STILL!! I hate them. I will keep this thread updated
see you in few days, or hours if something goes wrong...
Sat, 2009/11/07 - 8:38am
#26
Me being me, I didn't listen to what you said about the EC being high. Well thats me....
I noticed good change! the plants actually can stand strongly and the leaves are bigger and there is now a fifth leaf!!!! I'm so happy!!
and there was this one pak choi that seems to be dying but now it's alive
Sat, 2009/11/07 - 1:44pm
#27
Yeah... nutes too high does way more damage than nutes too low. Best to err on the low side.
Glad your plants are doing better!
Tue, 2009/11/10 - 7:20pm
#28
I did tell you about the fifth leaf right? THERE IS ANOTHER ONE!!!! SIXTH 
AM SO HAPPY!
Tue, 2009/11/10 - 7:35pm
#29
LOL, Kristian! Can a 7th and 8th be far behind? Congratulations!
Mon, 2009/11/16 - 6:40pm
#30
Wed, 2009/11/11 - 10:20am
#31
Hey Kristian,
I was wondering have you had any problems with heat from your fogger. I have put a 5 disk version in my unit and the nutrient temp has jumped quite abit .
Cheers,
Rob
Thu, 2009/11/12 - 1:54pm
#32
never noticed any heat. I only have the 1 fogger version. It covers the box in 5 seconds.
Sun, 2009/11/15 - 7:09pm
#33
it looks like you have a winner.
could you send me the directions to build it
thanks
Sun, 2009/11/15 - 7:56pm
#34
I'd love to see directions on how to build it posted here.
Mon, 2009/11/16 - 6:42pm
#35
oh 
well i can make some drawings as I don't have any pictures of doing it. I'm pretty good at drawing i think....I'll also update this! wait for the pictures tomorrow, it's the first thing that I will do!!!
Gisette there is now 7th and 8th leaf!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i will give it a good look
Mon, 2009/11/16 - 10:25pm
#36
Congratulations, Kristian!
I wonder how many more leaves there will be, actually. My toy choi didn't seem to have terribly many...
Looking forward to pix!
Tue, 2009/11/17 - 9:28am
#37
I can't post any picture today because my brother borrowed my camera :( I dont want to use camera phone because the quality will be bad
Tue, 2009/11/17 - 8:00pm
#38
erm do I change the hydroton balls everyweek? or clean them?
am I also doing something wrong? I started to grow my pak choi around 10/14/2009 it's now 11/18/2009 and they still dont seem to be big. How long is the growing time? I think everything would be different if I have a fluorescent light.
Gisette you said "Toy choi (dwarf pak choi) and mustard greens grow to harvest size in 30 days" well I guess it's because my one isn't toy choi.
Tue, 2009/11/17 - 9:34pm
#39
Yeah, I think normal pak choi is a couple months, maybe 70 days. Depends on the variety - the seed packet should say. And yes, they'll grow slower without enough light. How big are they?
The kind of fluorescent lights Beth and I use (48" two-tube fixtures) aren't very expensive. With tubes and fixture, maybe $20. How to hang them is a separate problem... But also, plain old compact fluorescent bulbs should be enough for greens. Have a lamp with a CFL you could add to the job? Or... the nutes could be too strong or too weak. You've got the first fogger system I've heard about, and I haven't seen recent pictures of your babies. 
No, you don't clean or change the hydroton until prepping them for another crop, thank God... They're a nuisance to wash.
Nice work Kristian, it looks really well built and I can't wait to see the outcome of your grows.
Have you got anything planted in it yet or are you just testing it out?