Aeroponic Spray Timing and Ppm Survey

You can use any method as long as it meets all the necessary criteria, unfortunately, the methods that provide the best fit are also the most expensive.

Well, since adjusting my spray timing to 45s on 4 min off a few days ago, growth has absolutely exploded
I'm not going above 380-400ppm because this seems to be the "sweet spot." Plants are drinking a ton also, probable because the humidity is low.
I am vegging for much to long on this one but maybe I'll try to do some LST or SCROG to try to make up for it.
Now if I could only defeat these damn spider mites, everything would be a-ok

Here's a study done in roses. They found that spray intervals of 3min on every 15min resulted in roses with improved growth: length and
thickness of flowering stems, length and thickness of flower buds and total leaf
number were enhanced. This was compared to intervals of 3min on every 30min. So in this case more frequent sprayings were better.

EFFECTS OF AMMONIUM RATIO AND
NUTRIENT DELIVERY INTERVAL ON ROSES
GROWING IN AEROPONICS
Authors: A. Jowkar, M. Kafi, M. Babalar, R. Naderi
Keywords:
Rosa L., soilless culture, mist chamber, pressurized air
Abstract:
Roses have been grown for centuries because of their aesthetic value in
landscapes, pots or vases as well as their nutritional and therapeutic
significance. This has led growers to search for means of improving its
production by changing the mode of cultivation and the fertilization regime. The
development of a new aeroponic system is reported here. Stentings of Rosa ×
hybrida ‘Prestige’ were placed on top of separate mist chambers and nutrient
solutions were sprayed on their bare roots by means of pressurized air.
Aeroponically-grown roses were treated with four NH4
+/total N ratios (0.14,
0.03, 0.02 and 0.00 of a complete nutrient solution and two spray intervals
(3/15 min and 3/30 min on/off). Subsequent growth of plants was measured by
number of flowers, length and thickness of flowering stems, length and
thickness of flower buds, leaf and total dry weight and total leaf number. The
middle range proportions of ammonium-N in the nutrient solutions (0.03 and
0.02) improved the growth characteristics of plants including number of flowers,
leaf and total dry weight, and length and thickness of flower buds. The shorter
spray interval (3/15 min) resulted in roses with improved growth: length and
thickness of flowering stems, length and thickness of flower buds and total leaf
number were enhanced.

Interesting find dr.kfed. I wonder if the rose schedule would translate to other plants? I'm not running a HPA system like they were in the study but maybe I'll try a few days of 3 min on 15 off. It's an interesting experiment to try.

you should be using seconds (or fractions of seconds) for misting.. not minutes

I've got my aero unit inspired by high times. I'm running 400gph pump per pipe. each pipe is 5' long and 6" wide (inside). I have 5 sites per pipe with 1 sprayer per site and 1 extra emergency sprayer in the very back The sprayers I'm using are the same red sprayers used for the ez cloner. The timer is set for about 60 seconds on and 5 min off. I have 3 pipes per res. Each res holds 40 gal. I'm running botanicare products with bud candy (so no sweet) and I used to run +1000ppm. Thats way too high!! (at least for me). Now I usually run 400-600ppm and even begin the flowering at a 200-300ppm. During the peak of flowering week 5 and/or six (depending on strain) I may run as high as 600-750ppm but never higher than 800ppm. I cut out everything except for a flushing solution and run for a day. Then I fill with fresh ph'd h2o, let it run for 1-3days and then flush with only ph'd h20 for the remainder of the flush. (Sometimes 3 Weeks)

I will say I have never seen such growth or Yields!!!

wonin said:

im new to aeroponics have been doing flood and drain for about 2years and im just about ready to start my aeroponics into flowering, they were cuttings so have been veggin for about 7 weeks now.

I am using the amazon 32 site which is basically 2 of these costing me 300pounds or about $480;
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/16-Plant-Amazon-Aeroponic-System-/400199749640?pt=UK_HomeGarden_Garden_PlantsSeedsBulbs_JN&hash=item5d2dc39008

My timer/sprayers were just constantly on 24/7 for first 3/4 weeks then they developed what looked like magnesium defficiency so took all the water out and just fed magnesium for 2weeks but turned off sprayers completely while light is off (currently 6 hours out of 24) and they seem to be doing alot better.

Now what i was adviced was to leave sprinklers on constantly while light is on but some of you are talking about plants getting stressed or even dying if they dont get water for 30mins but the problem i have is i live in UK and cant get those 1min timers anywhere, best i can get is 15min timers

................so what i was wondering is what cycle should i have sprinklers on?? I was thinking 15min on and 30min off and completely off while lights are off would this be ok? Flood and drain are fine to get no water while lights are off for 12hours but im worried about so long in aeroponics. Im using a maxijet1000 pump and 360degrees spinning sprinklers.

anyone that can help or give advice would be great cuz im fuckin freakin out incase plants die as the magnesium problem nearly wiped them out completely n took 3 weeks to look healthy again. ill try n get pics 2more

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You can modify 15 min. segment timers to me 50 seconds per segment; This video on utube shows you how http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGfV9IUcFxE

google " inkbird twin timer " 25 dollars on amazon and flea bay poor instructions but super easy to figure out and has hundredths of a second timing capable through 99 hours work great if you cant program micro controllers and embedded systems , i just started developing a new aeroponics timer with the new atmel chip with multitasking its going to control the whole garden and i got it setup with a twin lcd display 4 channels i program it with a Chinese ir car audio remote and led ir remote sensor to control on and off times on the independent channels for each solenoid works great it graduates the cycle time 100 miliseconds with each up or down button push its really lazy and awesome i can turn on each sprayer with the remote momentarily with the number pad got to finish the lcd display code and ethernet module hookup so i can control it with my phone it has a dht22 humidity and temp sensor as well i'll have to show some pics when i get it in the electronics waterproof enclosure right now its very prototype looking i am using dc solid state relays to control the solenoids and a 10 amp 12vdc regulated power supply the solid state relays are in place till i finish the 4 channel ir44 mosfet control board with leds got to solder the components and i been very busy should have a chance to finish it soon if anyone is interested i am in the market to make and sell these controllers down the road for a lot less then 300 if you add a milwuakee instruments ph controller mc122 with a dosing pump it controls your ph for 24 hour a day 7 day a week optimum feeding with an alarm when it runs out of ph solution slap a gallon jug of ph down on it and adjust to your preference i'm getting one as soon as i can best 180 dollars spent perfect feeding no nute lockout = efficiency!

Atomizer said:

$300? ouch, my timers will do 0.1sec (or less) and cost me $5 to make, i refuse to spend hard earned cash on stuff i can make myself

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This method?
http://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/need-a-circuit-to-pulse-a-relay-on-and-off.11112/

Pretty sure you can pick up solid state cycle timers off eBay for $10-15 and just need power supply and relays, both cheap as chips. As for timings I honestly think that HPA and LPA are two seperate beasts when timing is involved but really only dabbled in LPA and have not installed my booster pump and bladder tank, doubt I will after returning to flood and drain. I had huge issues with root health until I chilled the water and my root chamber was getting way to hot. When I start seedlings in the trays I would only spray every 3 hours or more depending on RW saturation. After roots were established I would shorten that to 1 hour then slowly reduce to 15 on 15 off. Honestly I never notice much of a difference with timing and even a continuos on cycle didn't change plant growth for my setup. I believe that when using HPA spray times become more critical but this is only from lots of reading and no hands on.

Hi Atomizer,

It looks like you have a lot of experience with HPA. Is there any way I could contact you and ask for some information? I have a finished system that should be able to run HPA without any problems, but I have a few uncertainties.