Aeroponic Bucket System Build

Building an Aeroponic bucket system for growing vegetables at home. I used food grade square buckets, irrigation tubing, a small hydroponic pump and some misting emitters.
Find the full part list at:
smallscalegardener.com/aeropo...

[@atomizer2665]

I would make the drain at least 3/4", tom roots will find and block a 1/4" drain pretty fast. Your sprayers will work fine. If you used mist you`d need bigger buckets to accommodate the roots. Your roots will tend to follow the water down to the bottom of the bucket, spread out and then start climbing back up the walls. Mist creates a different kind of root structure that takes up more space.

[@smallscalegardener]

Thanks for the suggestions

[@atomizer2665]

@@smallscalegardener No worries, if you plan to fit larger drains i`d do it before the roots get too huge :)

[@Mu-min786]

ty atom

[@antoniodelrey164]

Nice job!

[@tinchorton]

Omg how i did not think on that solution. Setting tees on the outlets.

[@cindycollinsworth4905]

Thanks for this! I have been looking for quite a while for a multi-bucket aeroponics system. I'm mainly concerned with tomato taste. I've heard some of the other hydroponic systems produce tasteless, watery tomatoes. Did you find your tomatoes taste to be as good as that of tomatoes grown in soil? I have seen suggestions that stressing the tomatoes during the ripening stage will produce much better-tasting tomatoes. What is the maximum number of buckets you suggest for your recommended pumps? Can that number be increased by using a more powerful pump, or is that not a good idea? Thanks again! 😀

[@patrickwilson9783]

An easier way would be to use a modified dutch bucket system replace the drips with misters the buckets can easily be swapped out

[@MattGarver]

Clever, have you used this system yet? How did it perform, and would you make any changes?

[@smallscalegardener]

The system performed really well, especially for the tomatoes! They quickly outgrew my grow room lol. Making the drain larger in the plant buckets and adding some screen over it to prevent the roots from clogging could help though I didn't run into any problems with the current setup. I'm creating a couple new custom setups that I'll be sharing soon as well.

[@SmokeGSU]

@@smallscalegardener This comment is a year later, so you may have already found a solution to the drain issue. I've seen several youtubers use 5-gallon paint strainers that you can get from Home Depot for such a purpose. I'm not sure if the roots would be fine enough to work their way through the fabric material but others don't seem to have that issue. You'd basically put the strainer inside the bucket and lip the top of the strainer bag around the top of your bucket so that your root system would be contained within the strainer and couldn't (supposedly) get access to the drain itself.

[@akris7752]

How often should you change the fertilizer in a bucket of 20L ?

[@smallscalegardener]

When I see that the level of the reservoir is low I add nutrient solution to the reservoir at the ratio recommended on the product. Checking the PH and EC levels every 4-5 days is a good idea if you don’t have a lot of plants consuming the solution. Generally a ph 5.5-6.5 is good and an EC 1.5-2.5 is good but these numbers vary slightly depending on what you’re growing. I have to add solution every 3-4 days in my tomato system once the plants matured.

[@ericbhattarai2231]

Can you post the parts and links where to buy these items if someone wants to build your system? Thanks.

[@smallscalegardener]

I'll put a list together in the next few days. thanks for watching and reaching out

[@smallscalegardener]

I added the a link to the parts into the description, thanks for the suggestion. here is the link smallscalegardener.com/aeroponic-bucket-system-build/

[@ter6501]

Why did you use 1/2" tubing instead of 1/4" tubing for everything?

[@S43MY]

What pump are you using? Can a 800 or 1600 gph submersible pump do?

[@smallscalegardener]

I used a 450

[@Francois_Dupont]

why have a double stack of bucket? why not have the bottom drain in the single bucket instead?

[@smallscalegardener]

I was using the bottom buckets as extra capacity reservoir. There was a few litres in each bottom bucket at all times. Larger plants drink a lot and I didn’t want to be filling a smaller reservoir daily.

[@codysterling7695]

I can't see setting up the reservoir like that working very well or your dosing tank looks like that would just get to be very high solution content an prolly not move...

[@smallscalegardener]

Maybe not ideal but the tomato plants grow wild. I couldn’t find a single reservoir alternative with a shape that would work well in the space.

[@Nathan-ot9eu]

you need to get some Marijuana in that tent 😂your wife will love it. she will be in the kitchen baking all sorts of 💩😁

[@brokens1097]

Not exactly areo, way short on pressure for one. Be far better off turning that into dwc if you don't have the time/money to set it up properly.

[@smallscalegardener]

Agreed it’s not perfect. The droplets did come out quite fine and I set the watering cycle very short to stop the droplets from getting too large and dripping off. It was a fun project and I had good growing results.

[@mikezisman3682]

In your video you use a female t and in your parts you listed a male t piece with couplings. Inaccurate info man . Cost me many trips to the store

[@smallscalegardener]

My apologies, I feel ya:( I spent too much time at the hardware stores for this build lol. Hope your grow goes well 🤙

[@mikezisman3682]

@@smallscalegardener I used everything on your list and I can't seem to get rid of the leaks at the bucket . What should I do

[@smallscalegardener]

@@mikezisman3682 if the leak is around the threads add more Teflon tape. If it is leaking around the grommets make sure you have one on each side of the bucket wall. The torque on the grommet can be a little tricky, sometimes making it too tight can cause leaks. Play with the torque a bit and see if it helps. You can also add a little bit of Vaseline on the outer grommet to help it seal against the bucket and shoulder of the fitting. I’d avoid adding Vaseline to the inner grommet.

[@seandaugherty2033]

Grow weed

[@ter6501]

This is actually the best way to grow cannabis aeroponically because you need space between each plant and a lot of people use storage totes which isn't enough room.