Aeroponics?

Anyone here into aeroponics? No, I’m going to be growing fruit, vegetables and herbs - not what most people think…

Going to try germinating some seeds I have, although they are quite old. Parsley, thyme, cilantro, basil, spinach, romaine, & Brandywine tomatoes. I bought rosemary and thyme plants for outdooors the other day as I needed them for some lamb and a pot of coq au vin, but I always wanted to get into aeroponics. I lost interest when I met my last girlfriend in 2016, and we built, planted and cultivated a huge vegetable garden in her new house. I plan to buy at least one tomato plant when they come in season, but this will let me have fresh home-grown veggies and herbs year-round, indoors.

I already have PH & TDS meters, associated chemicals, liquid nutrients and fertilizers, commercial sanitation solutions, rockwool, lava rock, netpots, germination stations including temperature-controlled warming mat, grown tent, two powerful full-spectrum lights, appropriate shelving, my old 4" inline duct fan, ducting, and a carbon filter,

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I don’t, but will be really interesting to hear how yours goes. Please keep us updated.

They just germinated a 32,000 year old seed, so you’re probably going to have at least some success!

No clue on aeroponics though. I know @geek2nurse is doing hydro - maybe there’s some crossover?

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If I’m not mistaken, they nurtured those seeds somehow with nutrients for a period of time before attempting germination. Seeds are the only shot the plant has at propagating itself, and are remarkably resilient.
I would germinate the seeds in a mild fertilizer solution just to give them every chance.

I had a friend that had some good success with aeroponics. Nutrient solution clogging the fogging nozzles was the biggest challenge I think. The rootmass of the plants was unbelievable.

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Dang. Now I have to go down another rabbit hole :rofl:

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I did a lot of reading, cleaned up my equipment, compiled a spreadsheet with an inventory of everything I have and added brief instructions for each product. Got my pH and TDS meters working (new LR44 batteries) and calibrated. Made up germination solution, rinsed rockwool and have some lava rock soaking to get rid of the dust. Put 8 different types of herbs and veggie seeds in to germinate and marked them using stakes made on the GF while it still running (down to 130spd/FULL on my Pro for PG Acrylic now.)

Now the waiting begins…

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I bought all new seed as nothing from 2016 looks viable, although my ex may have killed them while I was in hospital as the germination container I had her take to her house and keep an eye on had water in it. The medium needs to just be kept ever-so-slightly damp. I also added a bunch of vegetables. I’m putting everything together for my first round of growing, but seeds take a while to germinate and I’ve got some time while that happens. I do need to label the seed, so I know what works and what doesn’t, although with all new seed there is no reason to think any will fail. I will also try the old stuff just to see if any are viable at some point.

Anyhoo, here are the additional stakes I needed for the stuff I didn’t have previously. I will seed more than one of each, but the way my germination tray is laid out, I only need one stake for each plant type. Once they start sprouting and I move them over to the grow tent, I won’t need stakes/labels as I know what the various plants are by their leaves.

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I have a tabletop AeroGarden that I think is great. Set-and-forget more or less. Add water and plant food, clean it monthly, and you’re good to go.

Integrated grow light with a timer, warning light when water or food gets low.

There are other brands (clones) that are cheaper, but AG is pretty nice.

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Getting serious now.


Seeds in grow cubes. Two of each, 3-5 seeds in every cube. Big ones for heavier plants that will be raised vertically, small (lighter) ones for the tower.

Two of the ones my ex took home while I was in hospital have sprouted and look healthy. Those are also in the dome with the seeds that need germinating (although not in this pic). Not sure how I will proceed with them, but I will do what I can to get them growing. I am also not sure what they are as I had pulled the stakes for the fresh stuff, but one is almost certainly tomato.

It’s not worth rushing to get my full system completed, or even running a grow light, for two plants, so those might require some manual TLC until they get established and join the rest when they sprout. For now, they are on a window ledge that gets some sun, and I am monitoring them regularly.

Meanwhile, I’ve amassed a couple of additional gadgets, some materials for testing spray patterns and such, assembled a grow tower, and a MASSIVE amount of info that I am reading thru then compiling the essential data from. I’ve also renewed a couple of old UPS systems (backup for computers) that can keep the grow system running in the event of a power outage - it doesn’t take a lot. I am a man of many of many interests, and when I “get into” something, I love learning about it.

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