Unsupervised Aeroponics

Hey guys I have a bit of a problem and I was hoping some people could toss around some ideas to help me out.

I have a 15 gallon tub growing a single plant of Barney's Farm L.S.D. aeroponic style. All is well except for the troubling fact that Christmas break will force me to leave my plant for 31 days. At the time I must depart, the plant will be about three and half months old. Basically the question is, how do I return to a living plant?

I fully understand that 4 weeks without changing the reservoir will destroy pH levels and make nutrient uptake for the plant very difficult as salt levels build so I'm willing to accept that my plant might die. It is only one plant after all and the main purpose was to become familiar with aeroponics so that purpose has already been fulfilled. Nevertheless, I would appreciate any help.

start 12/12 now

ive had to do the same. put a canister of water near the plant, keep humidity level.
take a 2 liter bottle, cut a hole in the cap and place a straw or pen(pen is better) into the cap, so that little water drips out.
fill the 2 liter and it will slowly drip into your plants. place the pen part down into the soil a good amount make sure it doesnt penetrate your roots tho.
your plants will be fine, make a friend come and check on them like once a week.
for a lighting issue:
id just switch to 12:12 the day you leave. youll come back with a suprise, and your plants will be fine, three and a half months is fine for a plant to enter flower.

sgt.stiffy said:

ive had to do the same. put a canister of water near the plant, keep humidity level.
take a 2 liter bottle, cut a hole in the cap and place a straw or pen(pen is better) into the cap, so that little water drips out.
fill the 2 liter and it will slowly drip into your plants. place the pen part down into the soil a good amount make sure it doesnt penetrate your roots tho.
your plants will be fine, make a friend come and check on them like once a week.
for a lighting issue:
id just switch to 12:12 the day you leave. youll come back with a suprise, and your plants will be fine, three and a half months is fine for a plant to enter flower.

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Well one problem with that is that aero has no soil

But I guess I could make some sort of drip system into my res to at least dilute salt buildup.

sgt.stiffy said:

ive had to do the same. put a canister of water near the plant, keep humidity level.
take a 2 liter bottle, cut a hole in the cap and place a straw or pen(pen is better) into the cap, so that little water drips out.
fill the 2 liter and it will slowly drip into your plants. place the pen part down into the soil a good amount make sure it doesnt penetrate your roots tho.
your plants will be fine, make a friend come and check on them like once a week.
for a lighting issue:
id just switch to 12:12 the day you leave. youll come back with a suprise, and your plants will be fine, three and a half months is fine for a plant to enter flower.

Click to expand...

hes not doing soil

That 5hit said:

start 12/12 now

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She's so young now! And it would only give me 8 weeks flowering when she needs nine. I would only get a few grams of bud. It seems worth the risk of losing her to give her so much more veg time.

do you really need to go home for 31 days?? lol! Stay where you are, and take care of your woman!

BizarroOH! said:

do you really need to go home for 31 days?? lol! Stay where you are, and take care of your woman!

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I'll be taking care of my other woman during that time

ok...since all you want to do is make sure the plant is alive...i would get a digital timer, about $20 at home depot... a dripper, about $5-7 dollars at home depot.. and fill a seperate containter, about 20 gal or so with just water. you can set the digital timer to come on once a week for about2-3 min. you can connect the dripper to the current pump you have for the aero setup.connect the pump to the timer .. this will give the plan enough water once a week...so it doesn't die. the plant is not gonna grow or flower... but it should be alive when you get back ... also make sure you leave the light on for it. you can get clones from it when you get back.

klepto said:

ok...since all you want to do is make sure the plant is alive...i would get a digital timer, about $20 at home depot... a dripper, about $5-7 dollars at home depot.. and fill a seperate containter, about 20 gal or so with just water. you can set the digital timer to come on once a week for about2-3 min. you can connect the dripper to the current pump you have for the aero setup.connect the pump to the timer .. this will give the plan enough water once a week...so it doesn't die. the plant is not gonna grow or flower... but it should be alive when you get back ... also make sure you leave the light on for it. you can get clones from it when you get back.

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Don't you think having the roots sit in stagnant water for that long would carry a big risk of root rot?

dude, just get a large bottle or even several, fill with water, put a pipe at the bottom (or top and invert) and then put the other end of the pipe in your res facing downwards at the level that you want the water at. The water will only flow when the water level drops below that point cos no air can go up the pipe. that will keep your water levels constant for however long you need. would recommend flowering after you get back rather as plants need a lot more nutes while flowering and you will get better yield.

if you just put it in a large enough or tall enough, which ever you have room for tub or reservoir. then there is no reason it wouldn't last,make sure the tub is sealed so you don't get leaks, and if you can get a 30 gal tub from lowes, you can run that plant for 30 days with out attention. heck try it now, big reservoir, set your nutes and let it run.

Since you only have 1 plant I would switch it to soil. I have never done this but switching it to soil and adding a timed drip system may be the way to go. But like I said im not sure if its possible.

pndit5040 said:

Don't you think having the roots sit in stagnant water for that long would carry a big risk of root rot?

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Howdy, As long as you are adding fresh water at least daily with the timer set-up, and add an air-stone and air pump to oxygenate the water and help mix it up, you should be fine using Klepto's suggestion. Your water won't be stagnant, as long as you just add a little fresh H2O and bubble it up.
Aero-ponics yields good, but I do have to monitor my PH and PPM daily with my aero-ponic grow. I don't know how your plant will handle 31 days of not checking PH and PPM nute levels, so perhaps you can get a friend to at least check it weekly? Maybe you could bribe them with the promise of sharing the wealth at harvest!