High pressure hydroponics?

David Music

Active Member
So im thinking im a little to stoned and thats not what its called lol but i want to setup a mister for my f&d system. And what i needed to know is where can i find a good pump and mister heads i can easily put into a diy system
 

JohnDee

Well-Known Member
Yes you can find misters all over the place...what sort of pressures are you talking about? And what's F&D? Just curious...
JD
 

David Music

Active Member
Yes you can find misters all over the place...what sort of pressures are you talking about? And what's F&D? Just curious...
JD
Flood and drain and im not sure what pressures probably 100 psi from what i read thats optimal correct?
 

JohnDee

Well-Known Member
Flood and drain...that's same as ebb and flow. Fill up tray from res below it. I'm confused. why do you need a mister with this system?

But pumps for high pressure aeroponics generally run in the 100psi range.
JD
 

David Music

Active Member
Flood and drain...that's same as ebb and flow. Fill up tray from res below it. I'm confused. why do you need a mister with this system?

But pumps for high pressure aeroponics generally run in the 100psi range.
JD
i dont use a tray just 5 gal buckets i will take some pics when lights are on that will further explain what i mean but currently the roots pool up in the bottom due to the way the water flows. Im hoping a different way of delivering nutrient will make the roots take up more of the top half of the buckets as ive seen a few hpa systems with roots systems much better than mine.
 

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
Water stays inside the buckets as long as lids on. It's fine. Don't sweat it. Putting a pump and misters in every bucket won't do anything.
 

Keesje

Well-Known Member
Whatever you call a system, doesn't matter.
There are also cross-over systems.

As long as roots get nutes, water and oxygen, it's ok.
You can run HPA or LPA in a system that is designed for F&D.
But when the rootball is becoming bigger and bigger, it can give problems with getting enough water and nutes to every single roothair.

The advantage of HPA is that the droplets are extremely small and the roothairs take up the water with nutes more easily.
This only works if your pump runs for 1, 2 or just a few seconds.
Because if you run the pump for 30 seconds, the droplets become bigger drops, and that you have the same result as LPA.
 

JohnDee

Well-Known Member
Thanks David,
So it actually does look like a hybrid system. Whatever works. Years ago when I was first considering hydro...I recall reading that hydro doesn't need massive root structures because the nutrients are delivered to the roots, rather then the roots having to grow out to "find" the nutrients. So I never worry about rootmass. If the plant looks and grows good...then I figure the roots are doing their job.

I did ebb and flow on 3x3 trays with 24 small pots. At harvest they would be 12" to 15" tall with mostly one big cola but I didn't trim into lollypop mode. Plants did great with rootmass about the size of my fist.
JD
 

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
There is not the roots simply hang in the air. And get water pumped over them every hour in short bursts
Ah so its not a flood and drain system then. Normally there is something for the roots to grow around/into on flood and drain.
Is it a DIY build or premade fixture and if premade do you have a link?

I don't see how roots wouldn't be at the bottom if there isn't something to support them.
 

JohnDee

Well-Known Member
So David...your plans are to add misters to existing system to be sure roots don't dry? Or are you going to stop flooding and replace with misters?
JD
 

David Music

Active Member
Ah so its not a flood and drain system then. Normally there is something for the roots to grow around/into on flood and drain.
Is it a DIY build or premade fixture and if premade do you have a link?

I don't see how roots wouldn't be at the bottom if there isn't something to support them.
Sadly it was diy just buckets and fittings from local hardware store.
 

David Music

Active Member
So David...your plans are to add misters to existing system to be sure roots don't dry? Or are you going to stop flooding and replace with misters?
JD
Well see being that its homemade the system doesnt fully flood and drain but rather just pumps the water over the roots every hour. And the idea i have with the misters is that i will be able to get more surface area wet when the pump turns on thus more are will be able to be taken up by roots and finally hopefully uptake more nutrients baecause more surface area of roots will be in the solution.
 

JohnDee

Well-Known Member
OK...so basically converting it to aeroponics. Maybe go over to that section of RUI and see what they're doing. Timing with misting is different. Like a short mist every 5 minutes or so. Your kind of breaking new ground...
JD
 

David Music

Active Member
Ah so its not a flood and drain system then. Normally there is something for the roots to grow around/into on flood and drain.
Is it a DIY build or premade fixture and if premade do you have a link?

I don't see how roots wouldn't be at the bottom if there isn't something to support them.
The roots will go straight down still but im hoping to achieve more roots dangling from the netpot. Because the current path the water takes only allows for a few roots off the netpot and a bunch piling up in the bottom. Im hoping that the misters will allow more roots coming off my netpot.
 
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