Misting Nozzle Placement

I am having some trouble understanding where the mist nozzles should be placed in an HPA system. I will be using the 18 gal. Rubbermaid, but I will only be growing 4 plants, as that is the limit under Measure 91.

When looking for Rubbermaid build references, this is the typical setup I seem to come across. This looks like Low Pressure to me, and so not sure if it will work in a High Pressure with separate reservoir.


So many HPA systems seem to be done in PVC Pipe. My concern with doing PVC is that there won't be enough room for the roots, also it is more expensive.


So what I really want to do is replicate the HPA PVC System in a Rubbermaid grow chamber.
This is my planned nozzle placement, black are 3" net pots, red is nozzle.


Does this seem right? Is there a good guideline for how to determine this?

The nozzles need to be placed according to the mist pattern they produce. Rig up a test for a nozzle with the working system pressure (ie 100psi) and measure the shape of the mist pattern. Once you have the 3d image of the mist, its pretty easy to figure where best to place them and how many to use to get full coverage.

Atomizer said:

The nozzles need to be placed according to the mist pattern they produce. Rig up a test for a nozzle with the working system pressure (ie 100psi) and measure the shape of the mist pattern. Once you have the 3d image of the mist, its pretty easy to figure where best to place them and how many to use to get full coverage.

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Thanks, I suppose it will totally depend on the type of mister nozzle I end up using.

I've a feeling your Rubbermaid will leak on you. I use the RM tough tote on a low pressure setup and if a fondle the lid area too much I'll get a leak, I imagine it'll be wore with more power. If u do it in PVC pipe or better yet fence post(they make it in 6x6) it's plenty of space for the roots, and since you'll be using HPA you can always place the nozzles on top of the so it sprays down onto roots.

Also though I run a low pressure set up and it is cheap and effortless, you might be over thinking/complicating it. Plus I hear HPA is pricey. That being said I support and salute you!

A couple of seconds of hp mist equates to a few mls of nutes in the tote. A typical LPA using standard 1 minute spray timing is likely in the tens of gallons. Major leakage potential

joespit said:

I've a feeling your Rubbermaid will leak on you. I use the RM tough tote on a low pressure setup and if a fondle the lid area too much I'll get a leak, I imagine it'll be wore with more power. If u do it in PVC pipe or better yet fence post(they make it in 6x6) it's plenty of space for the roots, and since you'll be using HPA you can always place the nozzles on top of the so it sprays down onto roots.

Also though I run a low pressure set up and it is cheap and effortless, you might be over thinking/complicating it. Plus I hear HPA is pricey. That being said I support and salute you!

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thanks for the suggestions, I have been getting mixed reviews about using the Rubbermaid totes, and will likely upgrade to a proper botanical reservoir for the main reservoir and a food safe 5 gallon bucket for each plant.

Hopefully i can explain this clearly. If you take some black or B&W poly and cut strips about 6-8" wide, you can glue them to the inside of the rubbermaid lid..maybe 2-3" in from the lip so they hang down inside the tote along the sides. It will act as a curtain to keep any water from getting up to the lid seam. Also get some 1/8" thick rubber weatherstrip and line the edge of the tote. T his should stop most of the leaks from the tote itself.

First off, what are your goals? Are you trying to figure out a way to grow using high pressure aeroponics? Or...are you trying to grow bud.

Why high pressure? Do you think the roots are going to receive more oxygen that way vs. using low pressure? If you use a timer the roots will be sitting in air. As long at the roots are kept moist and feed they will be happy. Think about using a low pressure system instead.

Don't use the Rubbermade containers. Even if you seal it with rope calk it will still leak after awhile. Use a large cooler, it won't leak and keeps everything nice and cool. Only 2 plants per container. Even then they will crowd each other. You could easily just have one big plant.

High pressure water hitting the roots directly is not good. I've seen low pressure completely work over roots. Years ago I used to run my misters close to my plants. When I pulled the root ball out you could see where the water spray completely ate away the roots and there was a big bald spot. I call it spray pattern baldness! lol So now I put the sprayers about 5" away from the root ball. If you have the sprayers blasting the roots with high pressure water it's like hitting them with a pressure sprayer, you know, the kind you clean your sidewalk with.

PVC tubes are too expensive, not enough room for roots? Have you looked at PVC fence posts? PVC fence posts are $25 at the local HD. One of them cut in half will make a 4 foot long, dual rail, system.

What are you running for lights? CO2? You may find that you receive no added benefits from running Aeroponics without lots of light and CO2. I gotta go but I'm curious to see if you can make it work. Good luck bro!

StinkBud said:

Don't use the Rubbermade containers. Even if you seal it with rope calk it will still leak after awhile.

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Wait what? When did you start advocating against the rubbermaid totes? Is that only for single systems, or for all res's? I bought 10 RM totes to build your clone/veg/flower systems. I was going to start building them in the next few days..should i return them and get something else? I'm going to check out the Harvest a lb thread..see if i missed something..

WeedFreak78 said:

Wait what? When did you start advocating against the rubbermaid totes? Is that only for single systems, or for all res's? I bought 10 RM totes to build your clone/veg/flower systems. I was going to start building them in the next few days..should i return them and get something else? I'm going to check out the Harvest a lb thread..see if i missed something..

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I switched over the 27 Gallon strong boxes a couple of years ago. They work great for the rail systems but the cloner tends to leak if you don't put rope calk all around the edges. It's not a big deal really.

I made my current veg unit out of 2- 27 gallon strong boxes. The bottom tote holds the water and the top tote holds the plants. The roots just hang in air. Just like my first veg unit. My new Oregon Special system uses the Husky 20 gallon tote. It's buff as hell and doesn't let any light in. It's also smaller so it tucks in under the rails. The new system's footprint is only 50"X30". I'll be posting the plans as soon as I get everything dialed in. I need to tweak a couple of things but I think this next unit will be perfect. At least I sure in the fuck hope so!

So go ahead and use the RubberMaid container if you can't get the 27 gallon strong boxes. A cooler works awesome for the cloner. The lid is designed to keep ice water inside even during a rough car ride to the beach. The fact that's it's insulated just helps keep things cool. Drawbacks to the cooler? The top lid is actually double layered so you have to cut through both layers. The water ends up going in between the layers of plastic. I was worried that it may stagnate so I drilled holes all along the lowest edge. What little water does collect now just drains out the holes. The other drawback is coolers are spendy as fuck! You are going to pay 2-3x as much but I look at like a lifetime investment. Really, it will last forever...

ok, Thanks. I'll run what i got see how it goes. I planned ahead and put a somewhat sealed floor in my room, with a drain going to the sump pump, so spills aren't that big of a deal, i figured out i could dump all my res's and still contain the spill within the room and it should drain itself.

StinkBud said:

The new system's footprint is only 50"X30". I'll be posting the plans as soon as I get everything dialed in. I need to tweak a couple of things but I think this next unit will be perfect. At least I sure in the fuck hope so!

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Wow, thats a small footprint, My modified 4 rail system,6per rail, is going to end up around 55ish x 45ish and i thought that was packed in pretty tight..I was trying to make it fit into a 4x4, but I didn't want to lose one plant spot on each rail. I figure 4 more plants is well worth the extra 8-10" of length.

StinkBud said:

First off, what are your goals? Are you trying to figure out a way to grow using high pressure aeroponics? Or...are you trying to grow bud.

Why high pressure? Do you think the roots are going to receive more oxygen that way vs. using low pressure? If you use a timer the roots will be sitting in air. As long at the roots are kept moist and feed they will be happy. Think about using a low pressure system instead.

Don't use the Rubbermade containers. Even if you seal it with rope calk it will still leak after awhile. Use a large cooler, it won't leak and keeps everything nice and cool. Only 2 plants per container. Even then they will crowd each other. You could easily just have one big plant.

High pressure water hitting the roots directly is not good. I've seen low pressure completely work over roots. Years ago I used to run my misters close to my plants. When I pulled the root ball out you could see where the water spray completely ate away the roots and there was a big bald spot. I call it spray pattern baldness! lol So now I put the sprayers about 5" away from the root ball. If you have the sprayers blasting the roots with high pressure water it's like hitting them with a pressure sprayer, you know, the kind you clean your sidewalk with.

PVC tubes are too expensive, not enough room for roots? Have you looked at PVC fence posts? PVC fence posts are $25 at the local HD. One of them cut in half will make a 4 foot long, dual rail, system.

What are you running for lights? CO2? You may find that you receive no added benefits from running Aeroponics without lots of light and CO2. I gotta go but I'm curious to see if you can make it work. Good luck bro!

Click to expand...

Thanks for all the great info! I am personally interested in Aeroponics, and realize it isn't the easiest way. Since I am only going to have 4 plants, a long fence post or pvc pipe isn't really needed I think.I'v decided on using a 5 gallon food safe bucket for each plant. Then I can root trellis and give the plant plenty of room to grow, plus I can shift them around.
I will make sure to keep the sprayers a safe distance from the root, thanks for the heads up on that.
The plan as of right now is to run 2 400W lights, I could fit 600W but it leaves almost no headroom on the circuit I will use (20A Bathroom circuit).