We’ve gone over in detail how aeroponics works above, but now we must take a look at the components involved. So just how do you design an aeroponics system? There are several main components to any aeroponics setup, which include:
- A building (such as a greenhouse) to grow plants in, if necessary
- Reservoir tank
- Pump or pressurized tank
- Misters
- Pipes and tubing
- Pots or trays
- Towers or racks
- A timer
Greenhouse
Greenhouses are not a necessary component of aeroponics. They are, however, important if you’re looking to set up a commercial operation that produces large amounts of food on an ongoing basis.
However, if your goal is to feed yourself, your family, a small organization, or some such, then you will not need a greenhouse. As long as plant roots are protected from light and disease, your aeroponic growing structure will work just fine.
Assuming you are looking to start a commercial endeavor, however, a greenhouse is likely a must. These give you the space for vertical farming along with the right conditions for growing and harvesting healthy crops. That means choosing greenhouse covers that keep the cold and wind out, but let UV rays through all day long.
That’s not to say you must have some sort of enclosed structure for your plants. In warm, plant-friendly climates – such as the tropics or the desert – you can definitely grow aeroponic plants outdoors. You’ll just need to take a more careful approach to sanitation and pest control than you would indoors.
Reservoir Tank
Though it isn’t hydroponics – plants don’t need their roots submerged in liquid in order to thrive – successful aeroponics still requires a reservoir of water. Because plants need frequent misting with nutrient solutions, not to mention the need to avoid letting their roots dry out, water represents a primary concern of every aeroponics grower.
The bulk of your water will live in a reservoir, lined with an impermeable liner that keeps water in and Bad Stuff out. Some aeroponics systems have it right in the grow room, though that’s not usually a good idea. The high temperatures that plants need to grow are often too high for the nutrient solution, which is likelier to breed pathogens (e.g. root rot) at those temperatures. It’s often easier to have the reservoir in a safe external location, protected from heat and light to reduce the incidence of pathogens.
However, if you take the right care with cleaning, maintenance, and temperature control, then you may not need to do this.
Whatever you do, your reservoir should be thick, lightproof, and made of certain materials that suit it to water containment for in-ground or above-ground systems. To wit:
- DO use reservoir liners made of reinforced polyethylene (RPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE), or ethylene propylene diene terpolymer (EPDM). These are
- DO NOT use reservoir liners made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or natural products, as these do not perform at the same levels as the above materials.
The gold-standard materials for reservoir liners will ensure you protect your water supply, eliminate pathogens (along with good sanitary protocols), and create an endlessly looping system that maintains high efficiency and reduces resource use considerably.
There are many ways to provide your system with a reservoir. You may choose to use liners appropriate for ponds, those made of rubber (EDPM), or ones specifically formulated to work with chemical solutions. Make sure your liners are fabricated to the right specifications and able to withstand the pressures you’ll need to maintain in your aeroponics system.
No matter what, it’s important to work with a top-shelf supplier of materials. Not only does that mean you’ll get the best products, but you’ll also benefit from the expertise of the customer service and sales professionals at the company.
Pump or Air Compressor
Next up: your pump. You need a way to move water through the closed loop that is your aeroponics system, keeping the water flowing and providing the pressure needed to mist or spray plants. As we talked about above, your pump needs will be different depending on if you’re using an LPA or HPA system.
Low-Pressure Systems
Low-pressure aeroponics systems are easy to set up, because you can use a basic pump for a fountain or backyard pond. These are inexpensive and easy to use, so there’s not much thought needed when purchasing them.
However, this type of pump does create downstream problems (if you’ll pardon the pun). Because the pressure provided is neither high nor exact, you can’t know how much each sprinkler head you add will lower the pressure. This can lead to a system that doesn’t produce enough pressurized spray to soak plant roots. For that reason, it’s critical to minimize the number of sprinkler heads you use.
For this reason, some growers choose to install heads above the roots to drip down onto them. That does increase the chances of soggy roots, which can lead to root rot, but also ensures that plant roots stay evenly moist over time.
Also, this type of pump does not provide enough pressure to create a true mist. Spraying water and nutrient solution onto plant roots is certainly helpful and many will thrive within such a system. However, lacking the true mist that a high-pressure system creates, plants may not end up as healthy or nutritious.
High-Pressure Systems
For this reason, many commercial growers and serious hobbyists choose to go the extra mile and install a high-pressure system. This allows you to deliver water and nutrients in a true mist form, which is more effective for plant use and will likely lead to a better yield.
In high-pressure systems, you use a pressurized tank rather than a pump. An air compressor pressurizes your lined reservoir, so that when you open the tank’s valve, the water that pushes out and into the mister lines is at a controlled pressure level at all times. It is high enough to provide the mist that plants prefer, and you can control the environment more effectively using a timer system.
In both of these systems, the unused water that drips off plants is collected, returned to the reservoir, and used the next time around. Except for evaporation, there is no wasted water, and it can be reused again and again with minimal replacement.
Misters or Sprinklers
While they might sound the same, misters are different from sprinklers. Sprinklers create large droplets that land heavily where they’re applied … think of the ones used in a lawn.
Misters, on the other hand, use very fine holes to create a very fine spray. This results in a much more even distribution of the moisture and nutrients plants need to grow. It also means the mist can reach into dense root tangles to nourish plants, whereas a spray might not make it into all the nooks and crannies.
Misters are finicky, however. They tend to clog as nutrients move through them, requiring frequent cleanings and maintenance. This has made them less successful in large growing operations. While it has not necessarily hampered the development of aeroponics, it is a problem on which many bright minds are working today.
One possible solution is ultrasonic aeroponics. Rather than using misters to deliver a spray of water, ultrasonic technology shakes water using high-frequency sound waves. This causes the water to vibrate and produce droplets small enough to become mist or fog, which then disperses to plant roots. It also reduces the amount of hose and piping needed, which can help keep operations cleaner.
However, ultrasonic foggers have a downside: where and how thoroughly atomized water and nutrients get suspended is always chancy, so plant roots might not get the thorough soaking they need to grow large and healthy. As with any other part of your operation, you’ll need to experiment with what works best for you.
Pipes and Tubing
Water moves from the reservoir tank to mister or sprinkler heads through pipes and tubing. This is not noteworthy except for the fact that you’ll need to watch to make sure your pipes and tubing always stay clean. Otherwise, you risk contamination or disease in your setup, which is never good.
Pots or Trays
We all need a home, and plants are no exception. Aeroponics plants need two things when it comes to a home:
- Open space for their leaves – as well as fruit, vegetables, bean pods, etc.
- Enclosed, dark, contained space for their roots
Some plants grow in individual pots, while others grow next to one another in long trays suspended over the grow chamber, where the nutrient solution drips down into. Whatever approach you take, just be sure to meet the individual needs of the above and below structures of the plant. That requires foam collars or other structures that gently hold plants in place, blocking off the space below and holding plants firm, while still allowing them room to grow.
Towers or Racks
In addition to needing room to grow and having their roots protected, plants also need access to their nutrient-rich water. Because the timer turns off and on so frequently, they need that access all the time, which means plants must live in close proximity to a reservoir feeding water onto plants, which then drips down into the grow chamber.
Once sprinklers or misters deliver the nutrient solution, the system catches it below and returns it to the reservoir or tank. These catch basins also need liners to keep light and pathogens out and protect the health of the plants.
There are a number of systems that can help accomplish this. Plants may live in long rows above narrow catch basins that flow beneath, stacked atop one another in large grow operations. They may grow in trays suspended above wider reservoirs below, looking like more standard nursery setups inside greenhouses or out of doors. Or they can live in towers, where the inside of the tower provides and catches the water, and plants grow out of the tower into the open air.
Timer
It would be impossible for a human to monitor the needs of an aeroponics system throughout the day and apply the right amount of water. All aeroponics systems use timers, regulating how much nutrient mist plant roots get throughout the day. A standard cycle is 1 minute on, 4 minutes off, though different growers may choose different regimens.
Either way, you’ll need a timer. In the LPA system, the timer controls when sprinkler heads turn on and off. In an HPA setting, it controls when the valve opens from the pressurized tank. In between waterings, the tank repressurizes to the correct level, ready for the next go.
Putting these pieces together might feel challenging at first, but over time, you’ll get your system dialed in so that it can produce the type of food you’re looking for with the least amount of time, resources, water, and energy from you. And one of the most important things to dial in is maintenance.
