Extra air to roots idea.. please critique

[marx2k]

Alright, before you laugh your ass off at me, hear me out. (Then proceed to laughing)

I've been considering an extra way of getting oxygen to the roots of a soil plant and was also thinking about hydro, so I guess my puny brain came up with this hybrid. Two ways of doing it.

1) Make sure the soil that you are planting into is fairly loose/airy. Lot's of perlite, lot's of peat moss/coir. Take one air pump and split the air hose into 4 to 6 lines (I dont think this would need to be very strong air pressure, so one 5-10 gallon air pump feeding 6 lines SHOULD be fine). Perforate them through and through at the end a little less than your pot height. (A bubble wand would work best, actually). Now, when you are potting your plant, stick this end down into the soil. Basically, you are creating forced aeration in the soil. But this REALLY should work best AS you are watering since you will be creating millions of tiny bubbles that should go all throughout your soil and reach the roots.

2) Same idea, but instead of using air lines/bubble wands, you can use a bubble disc...

http://www.petdiscounters.com/c64/Bubble-Disk-p1410.html

...Place this in the bottom of your pot when you are putting in a new plant. You can either run the air line down from the top of the pot through the soil or you can drill a small hole by the bottom of the pot and just slide the air line through to connect to the bottom of the disc.

This seems like an idea to get extra oxygen to the roots.

Now, go ahead and

 

[Maj.PotHead]

dont see why that wouldnt work personally i just evenly space holes in hard containers or slits in grow bags



prop the bottom off ground 1/2 inch and ya have almost perfect oxygen exchange with in the soil. also allows for soil to dry faster i was addn 50-60% perlite to my FFOF soil but now right outta the bag now extra perlite and this method works great for me. holes i the sides of container are like that all way around 3/8 th in size.


no laughing here i think some 1 here or over at overgrow done something simular

 

[marx2k]

Well, I'm glad my idea isn't completely retarded.

Hey, 2 questions... what are you using for a pot, there? A trashcan? Also, are you worried about light penetrating the outside layer of soil/roots?

Oh, I guess 3 questions... what are you doing with those Mountain Dew bottles??

 

[jojajico]

lol u stole my idea. ive been working on a system for the past month. extra O2 to the roots is one of the reasons hydro can produce better results than soil. there was actually a thread a couple weeks back where we were discussing it. you want to make sure that the air simply leaks out not a jet stream of air cause the root hairs are very sensitive and you dont want to disturb them. also someone had mentioned someone had done an experiment with this over on OG and they saw explosive hydro type growth in soil.

 

[marx2k]

Yeah I figured we wanted a weaker stream of air, which is why I suggested 6 hoses from one 5/10 gal. air pump.

I'm thinking this will do as well if not better than normal soil grow. Does anyone have any proven results regarding this? (As in, side by side or at least grow diary style?)

 

[Maj.PotHead]

Well, I'm glad my idea isn't completely retarded.

Hey, 2 questions... what are you using for a pot, there? A trashcan? Also, are you worried about light penetrating the outside layer of soil/roots?

Oh, I guess 3 questions... what are you doing with those Mountain Dew bottles??

yes 12 quart plastic square trash can i have 4 setup just like this no problems with roots and lighting sometimes the can is just a stage in veg other times i flower in them. the Dew bottels he he 2nd stage in veg or i could flower in them also like im doing 1 now in a dew bottle lol. it was shaded by this plant most of its flowering

grape krush but the dew bottle should still yield 10-14 grams dry that grape krush in the pic spent 3wks in the trash can before 5gal grow bag w/slits in the sides to flower in no harm them 3 wks. this schroom plant spent the whole flower and some veg in the cans also

 

[Guest]

Yes this has been done. and is a good treatment for root rot.

 

[marx2k]

This is great! I'm excited! This should be a very fun project to work with. I will do a few side by side comparisons and report back once they're showing some results!

Major Pothead, those are some nice plants, but I'm equally as intrigued by the Maiden barstool and the SNES in the pics!

 

[jojajico]

make sure to use clones in the same conditions so results arent skewed.

 

[jojajico]

how goes the experiment marx?

 

[Space Ghost]

wouldn't roots clog the holes pretty fast? Also hydro growth rates and yields are the result of a far greater root mass, but maybe more dissolved oxygen plays a role too.

 

[jojajico]

root mass is smaller in hydro not greater.

 

[Guest]

this same exact idea has been bumping around in my head since i started my first grow in early dec. i thought, ok hydro is using air pumps to get oxygen to the roots to promote vigorous root growth, and when you add the right conditions above soil you get exposive growth.
then i thought of the hybrid with the "more forgiving" soil

Yeah i think it would work man.
i would think the best thing to do would be to use a bunch of tubes per pot and also, use those longer 6"-8" air rods that they sell at aquarium storesHERE , would probably be best to put them in veritcally around the center of the pot every, say 62/70 degrees halfway between the ring of the pot and the stem. (pentagon/hexagon)

one other thing is as you start to water, the soil settles down putting strain on the airstones. I think with an increased % of perlite to soil it will become a true soil/hydro hybrid.

i can almost gaurantee that i will do that next time in my rubbermaid and i can compare my results!

 

[jojajico]

im thinking a soil mix with a large percentage of coco coir to create a true soil hydro hybrid. benefits of both worlds weaknesses of neither. am i just high off my ass or does that sound like the shit lol.

 

[jojajico]

i think we may have just created a new means to growing weed....

 

[Guest]

i really want to try it.

 

[Guest]

well....Ive read that air stones in soil leave dry pockets and other problems, I dont remember what forum I read this in ,but t was about 500 posts long,I think.

I use air stones in my buckets of stored water, to maximize the oxegen content.I think adding hydrogen peroxide helps boost oxegen levels, but it can kill benificail bacteria.

Now am stating this on low powered brain cells but i believe hydrgen peroxide has a extra oxogen moulicule attached to it, it is useful to use for rot root I think.

when you water a plant , the water does cause a sucking action ,pulling air into the soil as the water flows downward.

 

[Lofty]

Hey guys i've been using bottom airation for years, i thought every one did anyway? i'm growing in bat special using 20 litre pots.

i put 1" of soil in the bottom and pach it tight, i then add mor soil and scrape it up the sides (to create a bowl shape), i then spread a thin layer of perlite in the bottom of the bowl, i put an air line thro 1 of the holes in the bottom of the pot and set it in the middle of the perlite, put bit mor perlite on top then put soil on top and plant as normal.

if anyone is interested in mor details i'll post pics while i'm doing it.

i always top feed andu can c the air bubbling up thro the top of the soil wen u water.

 

[mrgrowmez]

have you noticed a big benefit lofty?

 

[fjällhöga]

I think this idea could be beneficial ... , this is what i have observed ... a soil mix which contains ~ 20% perlite yields more than the same soil mix just with 5 % perlite ... , more than 25% and the mix looses its ability to hold water until the next day