Low Pressure Aero build...it has begun!

Sup everyone, welcome to thread that will contain the journey of this LPA build and setup and prob its inaugural run. Ive been wanting to try aero or rdwc for a bit, i figure a nice winter project isnt such a bad idea.


The plan:

i will run 4 totes(1 plant per) off a 40g res, feeding a manifold thats connected to all tote sprayers. Runoff will be drained out the bottom and back into the res.

Materials :

4 x 27gallon Rectangular totes, 29"x20"x15"
1 x 40 gallon low rise reservoir
1 x 800 gph pump
2 x 20` 3/4" pvc( 90s,ts and shutoffs for fittings)
ez cloner spray heads
3" net cups filled with hydroton
40` of 1/2" soft viny tubing for drain hose
Aquarium sealant


The idea : First off, huge thanks to anyone who offered advice or help , especially @thenasty1 , he was a real bro during my decision and planning process.

The idea is to build a table/platform roughly 18" from the floor for the totes(plants) to sit on. Beneath it will be the lowrise res(12" in height) The Pump will fill the manifold which feeds all 4 tote sprayers, after spraying, runoff will trickle back down the vinyl tubing and back into res.





Feel free to offer up any advice or tweaks you would make. Im always open to doing things a better way.

Subbed up! With LPA do you run the pump 24/7?

Axion42 said:

Subbed up! With LPA do you run the pump 24/7?

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Yes, you can run the pump 24/7 if you want with LPA, i still havent decided my pump schedule.
1/5
1/10
24/7
seem to be what ive seen most use. Not a ton of info out there on LPA tho, compared to DWC or RDWC or ebb and flo ect..

i wouldnt run your pump 24/7. unnecessary use of resources, unnecessary heating of the res. 1-1.5 on, 5-10 off is plenty

thenasty1 said:

i wouldnt run your pump 24/7. unnecessary use of resources, unnecessary heating of the res. 1-1.5 on, 5-10 off is plenty

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Yes it wouldnt be my first choice for scheduling. Keeping res cool would be a nightmare, alright for those running chillers maybe.

Ill probably go with 1/10 to start and let the plants and reservoir numbers help me dial it in. I assume it will need adjusting as root balls get bigger and require more water?

Build RDwC man, I'm tellin ya...

diggs99 said:

Yes it wouldnt be my first choice for scheduling. Keeping res cool would be a nightmare, alright for those running chillers maybe.

Ill probably go with 1/10 to start and let the plants and reservoir numbers help me dial it in. I assume it will need adjusting as root balls get bigger and require more water?

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If you do end up going this route though, I only do 1 min on every 29 mins.
You better get yourself a beastly lil pump to overcome the head pressure, too. A little giant or a 1600 gph.

Airwalker16 said:

Build RDwC man, I'm tellin ya...

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Lol it wasn't easy deciding, don't sway me back bro lol

So theres no watter in the totes?Just sprayers.Kinda like NFT?

myke said:

So theres no watter in the totes?Just sprayers.Kinda like NFT?

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Yes that's right. Water will all run back to reservoir below the table after each spraying, leaving none in the totes at all.

diggs99 said:

Yes that's right. Water will all run back to reservoir below the table after each spraying, leaving none in the totes at all.

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So why such big totes then?

myke said:

So why such big totes then?

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Hobestly it's mainly because I had spoken to a few growers who had done similar systems and each of them said to use as big of totes as i can fit in the space.

Secondary reason was in case I wanted to convert for bigger counts/sog I can easily do it with the bigger container.

So pending on how many plants in ea tote would determine how long the spraying is ? Height is what you after,roots hanging rather then piling up on the bottom?

myke said:

So pending on how many plants in ea tote would determine how long the spraying is ? Height is what you after,roots hanging rather then piling up on the bottom?

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Ya from what i have gathered in the researching ive done, spraying will be determined by root mass, so as they get bigger the times may have to be adjusted accordingly, Yes i wanted the totes to be as tall as possible, try to keep the roots hanging in air as long as i can. Its inevitable that they will reach the bottom and begin piling up at some point tho, i would assume.

This is all still extremely new to me, im learning as i go and i expect this first run to be somewhat of a gong show, but i can guarantee you this, ill make it entertaining lol

So only thing I recommend is bigger drain bulheads,so in the future you can go rdwc if ya wanted.

myke said:

So only thing I recommend is bigger drain bulheads,so in the future you can go rdwc if ya wanted.

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Ya I actually bought some 2" bulkheads in preparation of doing rdwc, decide to go aero but still got the stuff to go rdwc if aero isn't for me.

PhatNuggz said:

I've tried most hydro, but not RDWC. Just don't see the reason . It's seems very inefficient. Also, instead of DWC, I use SWC (s=shallow).

This grow (last 3 pics) to provide the ~ 2 gallons of nutes with plenty of DO, I am experimenting with a plastic bottle drilled with lots of holes: the bottle mouth/opening is connected directly to a 80 gph pump. Inside the bottle are platonic solids, which not only provides DO, but as the solution is forced over and around them, the nutrient solution is energized, similar to a waterfall over rocks. Still dialing it in, but currently pump runs 30 seconds on/60 minutes off.. To be safe I am supplementing with a 4 head bubbler but on low

A couple grows back I experimented combining LPA with High Pressure Mist heads (see pics). It has great promise on many levels. Alas, those awesome roots got rot because I sprayed too frequently and the spray was soaking the starter cubes. This method can be done with a shallow internal rez using bottom draw pump (which I used in the pictures), or external rez, which is ideal for dumping/changing nutes

hth

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Hey Phat, thanks for the info...got a few questions about your LPA/HPA setup if you dont mind.

What was your spraying intervals when you got the rot?
What size of system were you running and how big was your pump?
Did you use anything in your res? Southern Ag or h2o2 or poolshock

Thanks man

diggs99 said:

Hobestly it's mainly because I had spoken to a few growers who had done similar systems and each of them said to use as big of totes as i can fit in the space.

Secondary reason was in case I wanted to convert for bigger counts/sog I can easily do it with the bigger container.

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Big totes are for a large volume of water in a recirculating system. Keeps oh swings down and things stable. My aero totes are low profile and you can see how it works fine.

diggs99 said:

Ill probably go with 1/10 to start and let the plants and reservoir numbers help me dial it in. I assume it will need adjusting as root balls get bigger and require more water?

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i would think 1/10 is fine full cycle. i run 1/5 to root cuttings, and 1.5/8 for my small vegging. do play around with it though, adjust as necessary and figure out what works in your setup. the 1/29 that @Airwalker16 is talking about interests me, i might try that out when i have some bigger specimens in my totes

PhatNuggz said:

I've tried most hydro, but not RDWC. Just don't see the reason . It's seems very inefficient.

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when you dial it in its pretty efficient. aside from training and pruning mine need very little work, and ive ironed out the nute regimen to the point that i rarely need to fully dump a res
also i dig that bottle setup. excellent use of spare gaming dice