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Aeroponic Khat/P. Viridis

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Fatcat

Fatcat

Rising Star
Does anyone have any experience with Aeroponic plant growing? I have recently built a rather large indoor aeroponic garden for straw berries, blue berries, peppers, T. Peruvious and marijuana at my mates house. we have quite a few open spaces, and I was wondering if anyone has any experience with growing Khat/P. Viridis in general, mainly the type of nutrients they need, I'm having trouble finding a reliable source on how to grow either of them. I know P. Viridis needs a more acidic soil and Khat needs dry soil. Im curious if it is possible to grow a desert tree in a hydroponic medium. Also if anyone has any recommendations on things I should grow there, I have ample room and am always looking for things to put down there. Thanks.
 
I've lately become quite interested in aeroponics, and am trying to learn more. Have you rigged up your own aeration-type nozzle/watering system?

For those not acquainted with aeroponics, some people seem to confuse hydroponics and aeroponics. What makes aeroponics unique is that the plant roots are actually suspended in AIR, and receive only an extremely fine mist of a water-nutrient--so fine that the roots, ideally, don't even get WET: they absorb the moisture and nutrients without the water forming even droplets on the root tissue. The total exposure to air/oxygen in the roots has the effect of strongly promoting growth while at the same time keeping the roots free of diseases.
 
yes that is what we have, I used 4" PVC pipes with 2" holes on one side for netted pots. Inside the 4" PVC is a .5" PVC with a spraying nozzle for each plant. I need to get a stronger pump so i can get a finer mist, but it is essentially what you just described. The roots on the marijuana and strawberry cuttings are growing 1.5" a day, it is insane. I have a root ball on almost every plant after 2 weeks. I used to have an ebb and flow system, and it didn't work nearly as well. I highly recommend aeroponics, it is much more simple and so far is getting great results.
 
Fatcat said:
yes that is what we have, I used 4" PVC pipes with 2" holes on one side for netted pots. Inside the 4" PVC is a .5" PVC with a spraying nozzle for each plant. I need to get a stronger pump so i can get a finer mist, but it is essentially what you just described. The roots on the marijuana and strawberry cuttings are growing 1.5" a day, it is insane. I have a root ball on almost every plant after 2 weeks. I used to have an ebb and flow system, and it didn't work nearly as well. I highly recommend aeroponics, it is much more simple and so far is getting great results.
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Oh yeah, I agree, it's ultracool. The tricky part IS the issue of the fine mist, though.

The one frustrating part is having structures to hold the stems, to hold the plants up.

There are commercial solutions to the misting and stem suspension problems--although they're somewhat costly.
 
I use standard hydroponic netted pots, and neoprene inserts, which are just foam circles. They hold the cutting in place, with the lower half exposed to the sprayers. and the sprayers are capable of making a fog with a strong enough pump, I have a smaller testing unit with the correct strength pump and its like a humidifier almost. I would never buy one of these pre-made, it is so simple to make, it costs under $50 with out the lights (4 150 watt CFL, 1 1000 watt HPS and 1 400 watt HPS) and the nutrients (foxfarm). I could elaborate on the plans if you are interested.
 
Any elaboration is welcome. I'm personally VERY interested in this topic--and I hope others are as well. This is the WAY OF THE FUTURE. One important fact: FAR less water is used in this sort of agriculture than in any other! Supposedly, the produce even tastes significantly better than that grown in any other way. Also, since it can be locally grown, buyers of this kind of produce will have much fresher foods, as well. Another benefit: it's not necessary to wash the produce before eating, either.

I think the day will come when most homes will have a room devoted to aeroponics!
 
This thread made me do some googling... I never knew you could do this... needless to say, I'm fascinated.

This is the future.

Is there any downside to this method?
 
soulfood said:
...Is there any downside to this method?
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The main "downsides" are (as far as I've researched it, I am NOT an expert):

1) Different plants may require different (and carefully researched) nutrient solutions to be used.
2) The issue of method for holding the stems has been a little tricky, IMO.

Otherwise aeroponics are GREAT!

It was invented by NASA, btw, in its efforts to research methods for food cultivation on long spaceflights.
 
I have 3 reservoirs for different nute regiments. I would take pictures of it, but its currently full of marijuana, and I don't really like taking pictures of my bitches, even though I have my medicinal license I am still a little paranoid. I have 6 rows of 8 plants, in the first currently all the reservoirs' nutes are adjusted to Ice by Nirvana seeds (a very indica dominant strain of pot) but when I am done I will have one set up for desert plants and succulents, one for rain forest plants, and one for everything in between.

If anyone is interested in indoor gardening aeroponics has to be the simplest way to do it. I have noticed that I can have a much higher ppm (parts per million) of nutes as compaired to my old ebb and flow system. and the plants are growing much faster. Ill try to explain how it works with out pictures, but it might be a little confusing

I have a 3 33 gallon reservoirs, each with a 1500 GPH pump (any less and its more of a spraying, rather than a misting) the pump sends the water through a .5" PVC pipe that splits into 6 tubes. Each tube goes into their own 4" PVC pipes. Each 4" pipe has 8 2" holes cut in them. Each 2" hole has a plastic netted hydroponic pot, with a mister beneath it on the .5" pipe. the water that has already been misted, but not absorbed, travels down the 4" pot into their respective reservoir and starts the cycle again. The 2" netted pots have neoprene cut outs in them to hold the plants in place above the mister. I take 4-6" cuttings from any plant I can find and they will root with in 2 weeks. I find that the bigger cutting I take, the faster it roots, but If they are over 6" I need to add some rooting hormone to the solution.

this system could be adapted to any size grow. I am currently building a 12 plant set up for another medicinal grower, so if any of you are interested in building one of these, I would love to help.
 
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