AeroGrow questions

just built a DYI aero set up and have a few questions. First though i should explain a little about my set up.

what i have done (cant post pictures my camera is broke but if i et camera up and going i will post some pics) is built a 2x2 frame that measures out at 18"w x 24"L x 78"H. in this rack i have a 25 gal res. and 4 aero grow chambers.

everything is ran off of a Becket 650 pond pump. Comming off of the beckett i have a 3/4 inch pvc manifold running about 5 feet high with 4 1/2 inch pvc tee's.

off of each tee i have a 1/2 inch gate valve with a hose barb leading to a piece of 1/2 inch clear vinyl hose. The hose goes into a 30"L x 15"W x 6"H totes that i am using as a grow chamber .

once inside the grow chamber i currently have a tee with 1 90 elbow on each end then connecting to 2 straight 18" runs of 1/2 " pvc capped on the end (basiclly making a U shape). i have drilled 7 holes in each straight run of pvc (2 straight runs per grow chamber so a total of 14 nozels) and inserted my spray nozels (i ended up with the crappy nozzles with the little dommed top and the little holes in the side).

my net pots are 2 rows of 4 2" pots

Sorry for the lengthly description but w/o pictures it is really hard to describe.

but enough babble ... on to my questions

1. Do i have to surround my pots with sprayers or can i just wet the mass from one end?

2. how many sprayers do you guys recomend for each pot?

3. What kind of on off cycle should i have on my pump?

4. were can i find a timer that will allow me to cycle my pumps for example 10 minutes on 30 minutes off?

bumpage can someone please advise....filthy or earl maybe

I`m building one of these too. Not nearly as nice as yours but functional I hope. Just a big bucket with a small pond pump, 1/8 " vinyl tubing wiretied into place and discharging on the base of the stem where the roots start. Qnd a plexi window to see WTH is going on in there.
Ive built an NFT,a TAG, and this in the past weeek of so. I pretty well convince that keeping the poots wet with oxygenated water with nutes is all that ya gotta do- and anything else might produce a little better results. But probably isnt worth the trouble. Delinitely in the land of diminishing returns.So thata my .02 on the subject.
If ya wanna have any real control of the pump and/or lights yourre gonna have to spend somebucks on a programmable timer or learn how to use microcontrollers.

Zkt thank you for the reply i really appreciate the input. this would only be my second aero grow as well and i am not sure that the first one counts cause it was grown in an aerogarden i have gotten as a gift. I pretty much mimiced teknique40's aerogarden lowryder grow.( https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/56837-aerogarden-round-3-lowryder-2-a.html ) As far as my set up being nice i would change alot of things if i could do it again. first off i would have rather had done a more horizontal layout for my grow chambers instead of vertical simply because the pump struggles a little against gravity trying to push liquid upwards (or a gutter (NFT?) grow) or went with smaller tubing teed right off the pump (like the example in earls shuttle grow https://www.rollitup.org/hydroponics-aeroponics/38569-aeroponic-space-shuttle.html) instead of a vertical larger manifold.

zkt said:

Qnd a plexi window to see WTH is going on in there.

Click to expand...

is your whole unit gonna be completly enclosed so you are using the plexi to view the plants? or are you putting in the plexiglass in the res chamber?

You may already know but from everything i have gathered from this board in the last couple months says light in the res chamber is very bad isnt it?

zkt said:

If ya wanna have any real control of the pump and/or lights yourre gonna have to spend somebucks on a programmable timer or learn how to use microcontrollers.

Click to expand...

OK i found a timer for my pump its kinda cool and very simple in design. All this timmer consists of is a surge strip style plug in that you can set the timer on 15 minute intervales 15 minutes is not perfect i know but the timer was only 19.00$ at the local super mart vs the 200.00 or more for a reapatble cycle timer at a gardening shop. the timer is really simple it is like the cheap pinless style just with more tabs closer together. I just hope 15 minute intervales is acceptable. I was thinking maybe 15 minutes on 30 off or even 45 off. I have a fealing that going 45 off may be to long though.

anyhow i have a new camera so hopefully i can get some pics up of this system i built and maybe get some additional critism before i load it up with babies and loose the lot of them to some silly noob error