First time aero grow have a few questions

This is my first grow and a have a few questions. I have 400w mh/hps lighting and a homemade aeroponics system. I have done some reading most of my questions but see alot of diff answers. First of all I was wondering how often I should run my sprayers 24/7, 15min on 15min off... Ive read about 20 diff ways so i was wondering what is the best also do i spray them when the light is off. Second should i worry about root rot if so how can i avoid it? Third i thought of topping is it worth the try or not? do harvest more with topping? I have 2 of my plant that are at 2.5 weeks and 5 plants at 1.5 weeks of veg and i just started running nutrients. Here are some pics so far.

71 views no replies! The help would be great.

I am just starting my own aeroponics grow, curious to the timing
local grow shop told me run 24/7, so i would NOT do that... i think many people run 1on 3off on a recycling timer
something like this....
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250660236531&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

I do not like to top, some people do, i have tried and never yielded what i wouldve while growing a main cola

plants look great for their age though, i just switched to aero and wish i did earlier, way faster growth than with my DWC setup i previously had

If you are using a low pressure sump pump, then traditional areo misting times do not apply. You can cycle your pump 288 times per day if you want, but I hope you like replacing pumps. 15 on 15 off is a good middle ground for your setup. Or 24/0. Probably not going to notice much of a dif. I don't mean to sound like a dick, but there seems to be a post every day or two asking the same question. As far as topping... Two sides of the fence on this topic. Which usually means that there's not going to be much of a difference. If one was clearly better than the other, everyone would be doing it.

Thank guys for the help. I have decieded to run 15 on 15 off. It seems to work out pretty good.
As far as the toping I know exactly what you mean when it comes to if its a good idea or not and decide to not screw with it this time but other then that plants look great so far still.

Why Aero? As a first time grower you are going to have to deal with many variables (some it appears you have not considered). You are already bubbling the rez and as your roots reach for the water it will then be a DWC. Take the sprayers out and do DWC from the get go.

As far as the timing of the sprayers keep in mind id you use a submersiable pump, it will heat the water doing 24/0.

400w HID putsd out alot of heat, how you going to handle it?

He said it was his first Aero grow, not his first grow. As for the reason for choosing Aero, probably the same as other who have done it, it's different. I currently have DWC, Drip, Aeroponics, fogoponics and soil going on. My clones go from fog to aero for vegetation. Then I use RDWC for flowering, mainly so I have a good solid support for the plant.

Your plants look good man. Whatever you're doing, you're doing right. Those things are filling out pretty quick. You may wanna consider building another tub soon.

Mike Young said:

Your plants look good man. Whatever you're doing, you're doing right. Those things are filling out pretty quick. You may wanna consider building another tub soon.

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Yeah tell me about it:

Bonzi Lighthouse said:

Why Aero? As a first time grower you are going to have to deal with many variables (some it appears you have not considered). You are already bubbling the rez and as your roots reach for the water it will then be a DWC. Take the sprayers out and do DWC from the get go.

As far as the timing of the sprayers keep in mind id you use a submersiable pump, it will heat the water doing 24/0.

400w HID putsd out alot of heat, how you going to handle it?

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I am handling the heat with fans and a homemade carbon filter setup venting though my floor.

The water temp has not been a issue so far and once I change my light cycle it should help keep the temp down.

Was going to suggest you read a few aero-hydro grows, but your doing awesome. I too grow aero-hydro, diy, but I use large wattage CFLs, check my journal if u can, I'd be honored.....

Btw I run my sprayers/rez pump 1 minute for every 10 min, every hour, 24hrs/day

Just switched to 12/12. They seem to be doing great.

nice, how did you set the 12/12 cycle on the aerogarden?

i changed the light timer to 12/12.. the water still sprays nonstop

what setting sets it to 12/12? i have it on tomatoes right now but need to go into flowering soon

@justin 12/12 means the light is on for 12hours and then off for 12 hours. u can accomplish this with a timer. you probably can use a cheap mechanical one, and u probably need a 3 prong depending on your light.

These are 14 days in to flowing now seem to be growing great.
Just got some ak48 and blackjack seeds in from nirvana, cant wait to start the next grow.

Wow! Impressive grow! They are looking great.

Hey Greennn,

I was in the same shoes you were trying to figure out what timers to use.

I tried 15/15 for a while because thats the only timer I had, then I got a timer on ebay that has been modded and each pin is a 50 second increment.

I quickly found that I did NOT like this method because the 15/15 cycle was keeping my rez temps around 75 and that is too high for hydro. You really want it to be 65 degrees rez temp.

I do 100 seconds on and 300 seconds off. So like 1 1/2 minutes on and 5 minutes off.

Let me know and I'll show you the timer I use. It works great and is $25 free shipping on ebay