I just love these antiques! I have modded my units considerably as parts are unavailable.
I have designed a version made for growing our favorite plant instead of lettuce in space! (If you didn’t know, Gen Hydro snagged their design from 70’s NASA tech).
Hopefully I get to build it next year. The spray lines are the hard part, but with modern low batch manufacturing it shouldn’t be that difficult.
So cool to find another Flo-head!
Send me some pix!
Thanks.
-al
Bloom Haus Update
The Aero Room is just about to finish its first rotation. Unit 4 is coming down shortly. I plan on sneaking another unit into the room to create a continuous production schedule where we plant a unit and cut a unit every other week.
With the additional head space I have started planting larger plants and keeping more branches. We should easily hit our 2 lb target.
Dirt Room – Day 49 Bloom
We have reached peak feed schedule with the plants eating every other day on our organic teas. Foliar sprays of the lower leaves are now done as I am concerned with triggering any bud rot on these beauties.
These are my Christmas trees this year!
Here’s a video update that features a walk UNDER the canopy and sweeping views of this cathedral of buds!
Dec 19 Pheonix Project Update - YouTube
I’m finally able to resurrect my Sherb Cream Pie experiment.
This is the sorry state of our girls 6 months after being rescued. These get to the cloner in the first update here:
Pheno Hunt - 7 Crosses of Sherb Cream Pie - Overgrow.com
Happy Holidaze Everyone!
As always, your comments and questions are welcome.
-al
Yeah it sucks they don’t really make parts for it anymore.
If you hit up some of the older hydroponics shops in your area you might be able to find some old parts in stock. That’s what I did. The one shop had like 15 of the 6ft. spray lines left in stock and I made him an offer on the whole lot.
I actually don’t have my Aeroflo up and running, so no pics. Right now I am mostly in soil, with some coco and then I’m running just a small aero/DWC setup under 1 light (the GH rainforest with vortex sprayer).
I had my aero setup running at a friends house and when Covid hit we took a break and he’s kind of ghosted me ever since. I’ve called & text him a number of times now but no return call or text. He’s got a ton of my stuff. My 2 aeroflo’s, all of my 1000w digital ballast, all of my air-cooled dominator xxl hoods (they were expensive!), my aeroponics clone machines, 2 water chillers, and a bunch more random stuff.
I’ve kind of written it off at this point. I do wish I could at least get the gallon jugs he has of my Dutch Masters ‘Zone’. I stocked up when it was discontinued. I still haven’t found a replacement that works as well as Zone did. The aeroflo’s at his house had some issues with the “slime” (i believe it’s a Cyanobacteria). Sterilizing with Physan 20 then running Dutch masters zone was the only thing I found that kept it at bay.
That’s why I figure I’ll just build my own aeroflo. I have no interest in fighting that slime again. I have the manifold assembled so far but that’s about it. I still need to figure out exactly what size seals I need.
Hey, speaking of… could you possible do me a favor when you get a chance? No rush since I’m not planning to finish the build any time soon.
Could you just measure what size the inner and outer diameter of the seals where the spray lines insert?
I know the drain tube seals are 2 inch, but I’m not sure on the spray line seals.
I bought all the parts I could find on this side of the state. The spray lines are the hard part for sure.
I have the answer for the ‘slime’ and get rid of the Zone - go biotic. I was also able to quit using all the drop in chillers. Aero Tea lets you use beneficials without clogged spray lines and operate at higher temps.
I too am designing an updated version of the Aeroflo. I plan on converting the Dirt Room to a second Aero Room in a couple cycles.
I’ll take a pic of the seal with measurements tonight.
So cool to run into another Flohead!
-al
Jan 3 update
The Aero Room continues to churn with unit 4 getting wacked and replaced.
The real story is in the Dirt Room as its now day 64 of bloom. The views are amazing!
The 10 foot palm tree effect is the result of flowering old mom plants. The next round of dirt plants will be shorter and branchier for better production.
Here’s a walk though with epic views!
The Sherb Cream Pie crosses are coming along:
You can catch up on that project here:
Pheno Hunt - 7 Crosses of Sherb Cream Pie - Overgrow.com
Next week will be super busy with Unit 5 going live and the Dirt Room coming down.
As always, your questions and comments are welcome.
-al
Thanks!
And the plants look great BTW!
I did used to run a love reservoir but then just stuck with the Zone because it worked so well. Never had an issue when I saw using that stuff.
My next hydro/aero run is going to be with a live reservoir though.
Do you use any products in particular to make the tea?
I know of that Heisenberg live tea recipe for the slime but haven’t tried it.
I want to try that Aouthern AG bio friendly fungicide. Apparently it’s a much stronger version of hydroguard. I’ve seen people only running that alone with good results.
One thing I used to like to do in the aero when I ran live reservoir:
I’d take some of those peat pellets (that expand in water) and put them inside a couple nylon stockings or even socks, and I’d hang that in the reservoir. I always felt like it enhanced the taste (but that may have just been in my head. lol) and gave the microbes a place to hang out (though I never checked with a microscope so I have no clue if they actually did). I always ended up adding more microbes to the water after a reservoir change but was always curious if the peat pellet bag could re-inoculate the res.
After my first aero grows got pithium bad, I moved to sterile, using Zone and drop in chillers. After a few years I encountered the Pink Slime that no amount of Physan 20 and Zone could touch. Tried some living recipes for other mediums but these all led to clogged lines.
Many experiments resulted in this:
Tea Recipe 2: als Awesome Aero Tea
Into a 5 gallon bucket of reverse osmosis water, with a large vigorous airstone add:
1 tspn Great White
1 tblspn Ancient Forest
4 tblspn Worm Castings
4 tspn Molasses
Brew for 24 hours.
Dose: 2 Cups in 40 gallons.
more info here:
4 Crosses of Slapz - All al’s Tech Here - Overgrow.com
The short version is that it provides beneficials and organic nutrients making crops far healthier and higher quality that sterile crops. It also reduces costs since it makes aero more heat resistant and the drop in chillers are no longer needed.
Never tried the peat pellets, have no info.
Here’s a spray line pic:
I’m looking for ways to get these made in small batches. The grommet is 1 inch for the GH lines.
Thanx for your interest.
-al
68 Days Bloom in the Dirt Room
These are getting chopped shortly. Here are some final bloom shots for this run:
I’m pretty proud of these. We started with some tired mom plants that survived the fire. Fed them 100% Organic teas at every level of development. They were carefully pruned and attended to every day. (A big thanks to my helpers who made this possible!)
And look we what ended up with!
Here’s a short day 68 video with amazing views of this grow:
My focus now turns to getting all this on to hangers. We also are starting Unit 5 in the Aero Room shortly.
As always, your comments and questions are welcome.
-al
I’m drawn to your processes lol
This thread is a hidden gem. Absolutely beautiful work @als_weed Putting this one on watch 
All the best mate
2/3/24 Update
The Aero Room is now fully operational with 5 units all running. This allows us to harvest and plant every other week.
With this spacing, you can see all the stages of growth with one look around the room. Here’s some pics from Unit 2, which is just days away from the chop.
The riot of colors just makes me smile. In this shot, Black Rock Lava Cake reaches for the light with its dark purple leaves:
White Angel beginning to finish, showing its florescent colors:
The spectacular Black Rock Lava Cake:
Unit 3 is beginning to plump at 42 days:
The Dirt Room Round 1 plants have been processed. I’m so proud of these plants. 100% organic teas and just outrageous. Check out the walk through videos from the last update to see how crazy that grow was. Everyone has given us rave reviews on this vintage!
Here’s some nug shots:
The next round of dirt plants are in veg now. I plan on uppotting to 7 gallons of media in a couple weeks.
The Rescue Ranch is busy and exciting!
Here’s the Stork Machine in action:
The exciting part is that the Sherb Cream Pie plants saved from the fire are now in the on deck circle. It’s taken a solid 6 months of work to create the infrastructure needed to get here. I am so grateful to all my friends who helped me!
As always, your comments and questions are welcome.
-al
I love your grow and style of grow! Impressive! Out of likes 
2/23/24 Update
The Aeroponics Room is rocking with all 5 units in operation. We have done a good job in keeping up with the calendar and have them staggered by 2 weeks, so we pull and plant every 2 weeks.
Aero Room:
Unit 3 is finishing out with a riot of colors:
Unit 1 with some happy 16 days bloom plants:
I’m so excited for what we have in Unit 2. Here are the Sherb Cream Pie crosses that survived the fire! It’s taken 7 months of building infrastructure and a lot of help from my friends to pull this off.
Unit 2 at 2 days bloom:
Here’s a link if you are interested in checking out this project:
Pheno Hunt - 7 Crosses of Sherb Cream Pie - Overgrow.com
Unit 3 Purpin Out:
White Angel in final finish:
Black Rock Lava Cake:
White Angel Rocks!
The Dirt Room plants just got topped. I expect to start pruning soon to get them in shape for transplant to 10 gallon containers.
Dirt Girls:
Here’s a video walk through with more commentary:
(3) 2/22 Garden Update - YouTube
Now that I have nearly completed a full cycle at capacity, we can start optimizing with the data collected. Plant size, branch count, strain selection, diet, and timing have been pretty much sussed out.
Once again, I thank my crew for making this all possible. Listening to the old dude and doing things like they never have before in their experience. It takes courage - - - and some crazy weed!
As always, your comments and questions are welcome.
-al
Thank you! Yes, the grommet is what I was curious on. Appreciate it!
What are you using for an ancient forest replacement in your live tea now that it was also discontinued (afaik)?
Everything looks great btw! You really have your aero’s dialed in. It puts a big smile on my face to see that room of Aeroflo 36’s! I always wanted to do that - get a bunch of 36’s and set them up so I could harvest every 2 weeks like what you’re doing.
Curious what your nutrient recipe is for the aero, if you’re willing to share. edit - nevermind, I found it in one of your threads. Good info in that thread!
I tried a bunch of different nutrient lines over the years.
The last one I was using was emerald harvest 2 part bloom. I really liked the emerald harvest 2 part base. Only need 5ml / gallon and it always produced very frosty plants (similar to canna aqua flores but with better bud structure/growth). I was using floralicious plus and liquid kool bloom, plus a few other things here and there.
Btw, here’s the last of my replacement line stockpile and my DIY manifold for whenever I get around to building my own Aeroflo. I haven’t glued it together yet in case I need to change the length/design.
The threaded inserts had to be sourced online. No place had them locally. 3/4” MPT to 3/4” slip.
They all look amazing!
The Sherb Cream Pie pheno hunt has dropped a second unit into the bloom room.
Catch the update here:
Pheno Hunt - 7 Crosses of Sherb Cream Pie - Overgrow.com
Here’s a short walk through of the garden:
4 - 4 Garden Update. Aeroponics plus Dirt’s Last Hurrah! - YouTube
As always, your questions and comments are welcome.
-al
Looking great as always! You let those soil plants get huge!
I have to say, I’m jealous of the ceiling heights you have to work with. in my dreams… lol
I think the highest ceilings I’ve had were 8ft.
Most of my “career” has been with 7ft ceilings. It can be a PITA, especially when things get too big on me (waiting for space to open up, like now). Ive always dreamed of having a place with high ceilings like you have. Probably adds to heating/cooling costs though, huh?
How do you find the taste profiles compare between the Aeroflo and soil?
4/13 Update
The first batch of the Sherb Cream Pie crosses is starting to finish, while the second batch is just 2 weeks into bloom. I’ll be spending a lot of time on these with a pile of data to share.
The Aero Room continues to roll along with alternating pick and plant weeks. You will see more of this room in the Cream Pie updates.
The Dirt Room is really what this update is all about. Since this is going to be my last run of big dirt girls, I’m goin out with a bang!
al’s Organic BOOM Bloom Tea
Into a 5 gallon bucket of RO water with a vigorous airstone add:
Our Beastie Collection:
1 tspn Great White
30 ml Micro Hydroponics Fruit & Vegetable Yield Enhancer
30 ml Micro Hydroponics Photosynthesis Plus
30 ml Micro Hydroponics Vitamins & Amino Acids
Shit From Around the World:
2 Tblspn Worm Castings
2 Tblspn Peruvian Seabird Guano
2 Tblspn Fox Farms Happy Frog
2 Tblspn Pappa’s Perfect Poop
Other Stuff:
4 Tblspn Epson Salts
4 tspn Organic Molasses
1 inch cube of compressed alfalfa*
*(forgot to mention this in the video)
After brewing for 24-48 hours, mix vigorously and dilute with RO water to a ratio of about one third tea to water. Leave all the particulates in suspension as you water. These solids will help revitalize the dirt.
So shake your can!
Here’s a video as the Dirt Room gets flipped and I go through making tea and how it works:
Organic Boom Bloom Tea + Dirt Room Update - YouTube
As always, your questions and comments are welcome.
-al
