My 2nd "Aeroponic" Hybrid Setup

[GpsFrontier]

Right now I'm simply using the Technaflora nutrients and have been following their "recipie for success" (though I've cut back on the strength of their printed recipe as discussed in a different thread). Their literature that came with the nutrients doesn't specifically mention anything about continuously fruiting plants.

All I have used is General Hydroponics Flora series nutrients, so that's all I am really familiar with. Although I can tell from the statements in the recipe for success chart that the recipes given are NOT meant for continuously fruiting plants.

"apply the following VEGETATIVE formula each week consistently throughout the vegetative cycle until plants reach your desired height."
This simply says to use the vegetative formula until the plants are done growing and ready to put that energy into fruiting. That refers to plants that fruit near the end of there life cycle after they have reached full grown size.

"Once sufficient vegetative growth has been achieved, induce reproductive growth"
What they mean here is to start using the bloom formula once the plants have become full grown and it's time for them to start flowering and fruiting. Continuously fruiting plants start fruiting well before they become full grown. Continuously fruiting plants still need the nutrients for healthy vegetative growth because they are still growing.

vegetative growth
B.C Boost – 15 ml (3 tsp)
B.C Grow – 7.5 ml (1½ tsp)
Thrive Alive B-1 Red – 2.5 ml (½ tsp)
MagiCal – 2.5 ml (½ tsp)
SugarDaddy – 10 ml (2 tsp)

Flowering Stage
B.C Boost – 15 ml (3 tsp)
B.C Bloom – 15 ml (3 tsp)
Awesome Blossoms – 2.5 ml (½ tsp)
Thrive Alive B-1 Red – 2.5 ml (½ tsp)
MagiCal – 2.5 ml (½ tsp)
SugarDaddy – 12.5 ml (2½ tsp)

Unfortunately I am not familiar with these nutrients. It looks like it's a 5/6 part nutrient system and looks like the difference is B.C Grow – 7.5 ml (1½ tsp) is replaced with B.C Bloom – 15 ml (3 tsp), and SugarDaddy is increased from 10 ml (2 tsp) to 12.5 ml (2½ tsp). Also the addition of the Awesome Blossoms – 2.5 ml (½ tsp). I personally might try using the flowering stage formula as it is posted, but just add the missing B.C Grow – 7.5 ml (1½ tsp) from the vegetative stage because the plants are still growing. But you should really contact the manufacturer to get there recommendations.

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[andreamore]

Thanks, when I saw your aeroponic design with the pipes inside the container, it helped me with my design for my hydroponic setup.

[txice]

Glad it was of use to you . The system has certainly worked quite well for me. I got the building part down....now if I can just get a little more green in my thumb....

[hammerpamf]

Hey txice,

It's been awhile since this thread was active, but I was wondering if you are still using this aeroponic manifold?

I noticed the way you capped the legs that rested on the base of the reservoir, so I'm assuming that some water gets trapped there. Does that lead to any problems?

[txice]

Yes, both totes are still sitting up in my grow room and work just as good as the day I first built them. For a self contained unit, I can't palce too many faults on it. If I had it to do all over again, the only change I'd really look into would be making the nute resivior seperate. I did that on my other build and it really makes nute changes much easier.

The legs are capped, but they aren't glued in. When I do a full nute change and resivior cleaning I run a very mild bleach solution through the pipes and then rinse them out. I can run a tube brush through them if needed as well. I've never had any issues with them at all.

[GpsFrontier]

How are the plants doing txice, any new pictures of them?

[txice]

Actually, the pepper plants that I started in this system and documented throughout my previous posts in this thread ended up all dying; a result of a combination of cheap hardware and complacency. I had gotten to the point in my grow where I was confident enough that I would not check on the plants on a daily basis (and usually multiple times a day in the beginning). I ended up having a timer that was built into a cheap powerstrip fail and, in the couple of days it took me to notice my systems were not turning on, the plants had all wilted and dropped the vast majority of their leaves. They were essentially beyond salvage. I was really bummed; I had some really good pepper producing plants too.

I ended up taking a break from the hobby for a while, and am just starting back up with a new build. I have a new set of seedlings in my cloner now and am nearing completion of the construction of a new system. I currently have a mixture of mini sweet bell, scotch bonnett, pepperoncini, sweet banana, and red cayenne seedlings that are a couple weeks old. I had also ordered tepin seeds but none of them sprouted.

I've not done any extensive picutre documentation of the new system to speak of, but it's a design fairly common to the people on the forums I think. I'm going with a "rail" system using the 5x5 square vinyl fence posts. I'm still not confident that I won't have a root mass problem in the rails as the plants eventually reach maturity, but after a long deliberation of what system I wanted to start back up with I ended deciding on this style. I've taken various ideas from several sources across the web and hope I'll have a pretty successful system. I have the rails mostly constructed and am currently awaiting delivery of the new pump I'm going to use on this build. Once I get the pump and complete the rest of the plumbing, I'm sure I'll have to tweak a few things here and there, but hope I've got a pretty solid design so hopefully nothing major will come up. It's going to be a 5 rail system with 4 sites per rail. The seedlings are doing well in the cloner and should be ready to transplant into the new system in the next few weeks. The cloner has just been running RO water up until yesterday when I introduced the seedlings to a 1/4 strength nute mixture. I'm expecting they'll be taking off here soon and really start to grow rapidly. I'm looking forward to be getting back into a new grow.