Prior to legalization in my neck of the woods, I initially started with the super soil style of growing using Earth Juice nutrients. This was pre LED days so HID lighting was used. One of the major issues with soil was pests. I lost multiple mothers over years due to pests. I looked into soilless options, and, for ease chose aero.
I am in the middle of building a different hydro system and, I wanted to hear the experiences any of you may have had using aero.
I clone and veg mostly in aero. Like everything else I do, I keep it simple. I put my fresh cuttings into a 15 site 5 gallon bucket until they’re well rooted, then place them into a 50 gallon tote to veg. I use GH 3 Part Flora Series throughout. Since I use RO, I also supplement my water with Botanicare CalMag Plus.
@KillerKrickit Currently low pressure. I have seen high pressure systems and some of their issues. Clogging, noise, and, cost for parts are factors which made me choose low. Maybe I can do a comparison in the future.
HP aero gives slightly better results (not by much) and a better manageable fuzzier root ball compared to the run away roots on a LP system. In the end they both work better than the majority of systems out there, I would put NFT along side aero too.
Since you are running LP, I would think it would be an easier transition to DWC than if you were using HP. LP aero in my experience creates “water roots”, not the fuzzy air roots like @anon5325009 is saying. I don’t think air roots would fare well in the transition.
My cloning bucket is currently working. I have fresh cuttings in it that I’d have to remove, along with a lid that I have to stand on to ensure it’s sealed. So unfortunately, it’s not a simple task to take a photo of the inside. But the good news is that it’s SO DAMN BASIC, I can just show you a picture of the pump and manifold I’m using, and there’s almost nothing else to it!
It’s a Viagrow VCP160M.
If you want to copy my technique totally, here are the other details:
I dip my fresh cuttings into Clonex gel
I use R/O water
I add 1/4 tsp/gallon of GH 3-part Flora Series and Botanicare Cal-Mag Plus
I keep a dome on the clones until they’re rooted.
I literally have 100% success with this setup, so if you wan to solve your problem - copy it exactly.
Here is some aero root porn while I wait for some simple parts to start up a new system. This is one of our plants in veg. Can’t seem to keep the roots completely white in flower but, I am working on different things to keep them that way.
Imagine dropping this into a DWC bucket or some similar system.
