Fri, 2012/01/27 - 7:47pm
Here she is.. I still have to do some finishing to it.. mostly cosmetic work. And theres some calibrating and timing I need to work out.
I think I was just fixing all the "flaws" I thought the aerogarden had.. Lack of volume, CFL's with low lumens, expensive replacement costs, no way to check PPM/PH or water temp or even ambient temps.
Its the aerogarden to the right.
Specs
Light: 100W MH, estimated 8500 lumens, 4500Kelvin. timed externally.
Hydroponic system. Recirculating Deep Water culture, fed with 330GPH pump from a 20 liter bucket, to 3.5 liter bowl, water injected to top of bowl into adjustable 5 to 50 gph sprayer, this refills and aerates the solution. original aerogarden pump to sponge was kept. Overflow water is returned to the bucket and recirculated back to the top bowl.
Metering Hanna constant PPM/PH monitor, and water temp, ambient temps and RH viewed with other meter.
Constructive critique welcome.. and encouraged.
Fri, 2012/01/27 - 9:11pm
#2
Yowza, Squerl! Aerogarden on steroids!
Now, is the last picture the drain back down to the bucket? Not sure what I'm seeing there.
You sure believe in treating your herbs right! 
Fri, 2012/01/27 - 11:32pm
#3
Yes it is.. the overflow drain nipple back to the bucket.
Lol.. gotta take care of my happy spot... and I had these spare parts lying around so...
Sat, 2012/01/28 - 12:12am
#4
You have expensive spare parts. 
I'm in awe.
Sat, 2012/01/28 - 12:35am
#5
ebay, walmart, craigslist... old projects.. stuff piles up..
The hanna meter has issues... I believe the PH probe needs to be replaced.. Thats why I got it for cheap. I got the pump from my friend that used to have a turtle pond.. The bucket was something the resturant was going to throw away.. light was sourced from an old fixture.. lol.. my ballast enclosure is a metal card index box..
Look good eh?.. looks like I spend some serious money on it.. its all the digital stuff right?
Sat, 2012/02/04 - 4:27pm
#6
Been really busy the last few days.. AG maintence/modding kinda just running in the background but thats good.
Heres the current direction of the aerogardens..
1) Training not pruning. When you grow with lights on a single horizontal plane like the aerogarden, you create plants that have apical traits, if I simply bend the tops allowing light to penetrate the canopy, I will promote lower canopy growth, this so far has led to a bushy look. This is soo much better for the plant, usually the lower leaves will die off, so far the plant looks more uniform. Also the adjacent HID light helps too.
The basil is well established, I need to refill it with at least a liter of water everyday. Mebby its time for another batch of pesto.
2)Improving my HID light selection. As much as I like 4000K light I think it might be a little bit too blue.. So with that said, I'm looking at a 2800K light, this is closer to sunlight. Still researching..
3)Going to increase the HID light hours, and pump on hours. I've had zero heat problems with the HID light. No signs of melting or distortion, the only problem I saw was the sticker on the hood was comming off. No big deal.
So far the mods seems to be working well, no leaks, no clogs.. running smoothly as planned. PH/PPM meter looks like functioning correctly I might go and recalibrate PH probe.. when I have time.. but just correlating the reading from my pen meter leads me to believe that the PH/PPM monitor is working fine.
4) Tarragon/Chives running in the aerogarden I think the PPM is a little hot @1030PPM and 5.8PH, the seem to show a little bit of tip burn. I'll keep running it for now.. just kinda watch things.
Thats all for now..
Recently installed extended aerogarden arm.. picts to be posted soon.
Sat, 2012/02/04 - 4:57pm
#7
Awesome, Squerl!
With my new plant setups, I'm going to try for more side light and scatter, less from-above. I'm convinced that's kinda crucial with tomatoes and peppers. And probably even more so with cucumbers. Otherwise, it's like the plant acts near-dead metabolically anywhere more than 6" from the lights.
Very cool! I will be watching this one!