The aero-hydroponic method was developed in Israel in the early 1980’s. Dr. Hillel Soffer, senior researcher at the VoIcani Institute at Ein Gedi developed the aero-hydroponic method to overcome the challenges presented by the hot, arid conditions at Ein Gedi.
Aeroponic systems have been adapted by growers because they offer some down to earth advantages over other hydroponic growing systems. Those who use these methods claim they get earlier harvests and higher yields than other systems.
The real advantage of an aeroponic system is in cost savings. These systems use far less fertilizer than other growing systems. And they do not use media so there is a big savings to the grower there.
The biggest downside to aeroponics is that it is totally dependent on electricity to run and things can go down hill fast during an outage. So if you live in an area with frequent power outages this system is not for you.
HPA Vs LPA
Aeroponics systems have evolved into two basic types of systems and there seems to be a division of opinion over the two and many debates over which is the better of the two.
The first sometimes called TAG (True Aeroponic Growing) and the second referred to as FAG (False Aeroponic Growing.) You can read more about this here.
Personally I prefer the terms high pressure and low pressure aeroponics. Although high pressure enthusiasts claim their system is better and seem to demean low pressure aeroponics I have not seen any real side by side comparisons that prove this conclusively.
I would probably not recommend either method of aeroponic growing to any but experienced growers. That is because everything happens so much faster in aeroponics that a grower really needs at least a basic knowledge of plant growth to stay on top of things.
High Pressure Aeroponics
As the name implies this branch of “true” aeroponics uses high pressure pumps to break water droplets into a very fine mist or even a fog. The droplets are released inside a closed and watertight container. Excess nutrients are either drained to waste or recycled back to a reservoir.
With this system the roots hang straight down in open air where they are fogged or misted at intervals. These watering cycles may be as short as 30 to 60 seconds on and about 5 minutes off. Specialized aeroponics timers are needed for these cycles.
Because of the amount of oxygen present plants get an ideal mixture of nutrients and oxygen and grow faster. The roots of aeroponically grown plants look different from regular roots and resemble fish bones. No air stones are used or needed in an aeroponic system.
Because the roots need to hang straight down this can present problems for growing large plants. Growers get around this by growing in tall containers or stacking totes on top of each other.
Needless to say these short watering cycles can wear out a pump in a hurry. They are also expensive because a pump draws much more power starting than running.
High pressure growers usually get around this problem by using an accumulator tank. This tank holds nutrients under pressure and solenoids release nutes to the plants. When the pressure drops too low as the tank empties, they turn the pump on and then off, once full again.
These systems are complex and the more complicated a system is the more things that can go wrong. They require close monitoring by the grower on a daily basis. So they are really not for folks who plan on taking off for weekends or vacations. But if you like technical stuff and enjoy DIY and want a killer science project they may be the right thing for you.
The Ein Gedi System
This aeroponics system, developed in Israel is the forerunner of modern aeroponics. Ironically, it is a hybrid low pressure system.
The plants are grown in tall closed containers and while most of the roots hang in the air, the root bottoms sit in a nutrient solution similar to those in deep water culture.
What makes this system unique is how the roots are misted. The Ein Gedi System does not use high pressure pumps but instead has an internal pump that raises water from the reservoir and discharges it against a spinning disc. This creates optimum aeration and growth of the roots.
General Hydroponics grasped the awesome potential of this system and the RainForest series is almost an exact copy of the Ein Gedi System.
Low Pressure Aeroponics
Low pressure aeroponics systems are a bit simpler and more user friendly than high pressure aeroponics.
They are actually a hybrid of nutrient film technique (NFT) and aeroponics and many of the growing units resemble NFT units.
Perhaps I should coin a new acronym called HAG or hybrid aeroponic growing.
The difference between this and regular NFT systems is on the inside of the channels where water is delivered to the roots as a spray.
The biggest difference between the two aeroponic systems is the hybrid system generally uses larger droplets and the roots are allowed to sit in a small amount of water.
These systems may be built in a tote but often either square vinyl fence posts of large PVC pipe is used. Holes are drilled to allow a 2 inch net pot to be inserted. Generally no media is used but the plants are held in the net pot by a neoprene collar.
Sprayers inside the channels wet the roots and the run off is recycled through a reservoir. Timing is generally about one minute on and five off but some growers have tried everything from 15 on and 15 off to continuous. You will get better results using an aeroponics timer rather than the standard light timers that run on 15 minute cycles.
DIY Aeroponics Timer
But here is a video that will show you how to modify an $8 timer from Lowes. I haven’t tried this but the guy claims it works fine.
Because of the water in the channels these units are in much better shape to withstand a power outage.
However, they still have the problem of a pump continuously cycling on and off.
Generally low pressure pumps are used and they are fairly inexpensive. A wise grower will always have a spare pump on hand for emergencies.
DIY Aeroponics System
There is a very good thread on DIY Aeroponics here. This is a weed growing forum but the information will apply to growing killer tomatoes too. There are plans on this thread for a cloner, vegger and flowering aeroponic system as well and they all have been tested and work quite well.
If you want to try growing with an aeroponics system, and are fairly handy, I would definitely recommend starting out with a low cost DIY aeroponic system to test this technique out.
If you are convinced an aeroponics system is the way to go and are not that handy General Hydroponics makes the AeroFlo2 which is a 30 Site Aeroponics System and the RainForest a more compact single bucket aeroponic system.
Low pressure aeroponics systems are a bit simpler and more user friendly than high pressure aeroponics.
