Build a Dry Mist "Fog" Hydroponic System for $20

Hi again,
This is a new project from my website alternative-innovation.com. Check HERE for a complete hydroponic guide and more free hydroponic system plans. Also more free plans and an awesome MMJ hydroponic growers guide can be found HERE

The idea for this hydroponic system came to me while I was hunting for useful stuff at our local thrift store. I noticed there was a huge supply of dry mist humidifiers. Apparently these things aren't very healthy to use in your home because unlike steam and evaporation humidifiers, these things actually create a nasty fog of bacteria and fungus that is easily inhaled. Not that this really matters so much, they generally just suck as humidifiers, usually soaking every horizontal surface in your room. So everyone is throwing these things out and, one mans trash is my new thing to toy around with. I bought 3 of them for a $1 a piece and headed to the hardware store.

Fog Hydroponics is not by any means a new concept, I call this system experimental due to the fact I have no idea, as of right now, whether this thing will work. In a normal Hydroponic Fogger System a submersible micro-sonic transducer that has been manufactured to produce a 3-5 micron mist is used. Needless to say, they aren't too cheap but they are pretty cool. I couldn't find any manufacturers specs on the humidifiers' model that states the output . Odd right? like anyone would ever want to know that ...Weirdos O_0...Spose if you were crafty enough you could pipe some pretty funky fog into someones life.

I should add a note of caution, If you plan on building this bad boy Keep in mind, this thing wasn't manufactured to do what I did. Electrocution, Death, Fire, A small chance of the death fog (you may have heard about this on the news...)Very Scary! and tragic very,very, tragic ....

OK The thing is a easy build and in theory, should work pretty well. I'm currently rooting some rubber plants (Ficus elastica) and some Pothos (Epipremnum aureum) cuttings and things look good so far. I added an aquarium pump to the fog chamber for extra O2 and circulation. The humidifier has a built in heater and keeps the root zone at optimal temp. I covered the clones with a dome and left one of the plant sites covered but with a small hole to keep the humidity high. I will update on progress as soon as I can. I designed the system with an over flo that allows about an inch of nutrient to always remain in the bottom of the fog chamber. This is a fail safe ,should the power or humidifier happen to fail. The system does recycle the nutrient as well and so far everything has been working fine.

Don't forget to check out my website http://www.alternative-innovation.com for more info and lots more free hydroponic system plans

Step 1: Gather Material

Everything should cost you about $20 [edit $21-$22 max]

$5 Fog Chamber, Rubbermaid tote

The "Fog Chamber" can be any food grade, dark colored, water tight, and seal able large container. You want it to be dark to keep out light ,so nasty stuff wont grow and choke you every time you open it. A bucket could be used as well, just paint it black. Black buckets are cool, If you really like buckets. Bucket people, you're cool too.

$1 Dry Mist Humidifier

I got my death fog humidifier at a thrift store for a dollar, check at flea markets and garage sales Ect. dark alleys seem to be a good source of death and sometimes fog.

$5 PVC Parts for adapter

The parts for the "adapter" are 1 1/2" PVC. Home Depot usually sells the pipe by the foot so you don't have to buy a full 10 foot piece for five hundred thousand dollars.

$5 PVC Parts for stand.

Shouldn't even cost you $5 I always buy the contractor bags to save $$. I used 3/4" ,4 Tees and 4 Elbows and about 6 feet of pipe. You can use whatever you want. Old text books, Cinder blocks , wrapping paper rolls... Get creative if you have to ,Its just a stand.

$2 1 7/8" ID Rubber Gasket

What the? 2 freaking dollars for 2 freaking cents worth of rubber? Ok, maybe a dollar or two over budget

$3 Foam Gasket Tape

You can find this in the insulation or weather proofing aisle. Used to seal the lid ,comes in handy for...hmmm...for...uhmm...well nothing much else, just sealing odd spaces and parallel weirdness.


Oh snap, I forgot the Neoprene Inserts.

What? you don't have any extras just sitting around? hmmmm.....
These are actually pretty important. You can make your own out of any thick foam. Cut a 2" Diameter circle and Just drill a hole in the center and cut a slit from the hole to the edge to slip the plant through

Well I give up F the budget

Comments

[CrystalStranger]

Hi I'm playing around with different types of hydroponics for a windowside veggie garden and aeroponics like this would be great to try out! I have a humidifier laying around that would work good for this but I have a couple questions- Do you run the humidifier constantly or is cycling better? How does the water that condenses in the bucket flow back into the humidifier? Does it drain ok or does the water build up on the bottom of the container? If the water is flowing back in how do you check ph levels and flush out the system without having to stress the plants by moving them? Thanks, Crystal

[NaTeB1]

Well the "thing" worked but there are much better options lol Main probs Because it is dry mist it doesnt stop putting moisture in the air no matter how saturated the air is. I started getting droplets forming on my ceiling after a couple days Results weren't really that impressive, although I did manage to get some amazing air roots Stuff like Ive never seen before I didnt have a free timer but if you are actually thinking about building one I would definitely recommend cycling The overflow worked perfectly, I wanted it raised as a fail safe should the humidifier fail there would be a couple inches of nutrient in the chamber Heh well in order to access anything, for filling or testing You have to remove the entire chamber and you want to have a bucket nearby cuz its a gigantic mess... Over all, a rather embarrassing failure and I wouldn't recommend even thinking about building one

[CrystalStranger]

Well thanks for the honest feedback- do you have any pictures of your amazing air roots? I'm still thinking of how I could expand on this idea to make something useful, sounds like it could be used as a cool mist pump for a much larger system. I like the idea of aeroponics because it cuts down on substrate cost and disease problems, and is a real cheap and reliable pump system if it could be made useful. I'll let you know if I figure something out and actually mock up any prototypes.

[NaTeB1]

I actually don't, I know I said I would update but I was kind of getting tired of the thing and one day I had a cup of coffee sitting on it and the whole freakin thing tipped over. It was mess! Needless to say I was irate and decided that the thing had to go SO I tore it down and used the parts for something else...

[sttt]

Damn sorry to read that ... 5 mins after my previous comment.. :(

[DIY-Guy]

If access and mess is the problem, try putting the fog outlet in the vertical side of the chamber. And place a small drain line at the bottom of the chamber. Then pinch the line before accessing your fogger; use a clothespin or other clamp like a bulldog clip from an office supply store.

[AKbound]

I'm "hooked on ponics" too but I've been using an NFT system that I built several years ago. I've made cloners and veg units with misters, even one with a humidifier and another with one of the expensive fog units but the plants have never liked it. I'm just wondering, before I jump on another one of these, did this project actually work in practice? I have a friend that uses high pressure "true" aero and grows amazing plants.

[sttt]

I heard that high-frequency humidifiers don`t work well in hydroponics because they tend to malfunction because of the high EC in the nutrient solution (the high levels of minerals and microscopic elements that is). I think 1-2-3 months is what i have been told as working period for these HF parts. What is your experience with them. That was the thing that stopped me from even trying...
However what is the average size of the water drops in the fog? Do you have any info on that? thanks. nice instructable. :)

[NaTeB1]

Sorry for such a ridiculously late response but it may be helpful to answer for other viewers who might have these Qs in mind.

Deposits do develop on the plates but its easy enough to clean them off when you add more nutrient or do a nutrient change. So to say they wont last is not something I would agree with. I the model I used was and very well made. It would be important to not use a really cheap model.

I could not find the droplet size anywhere.

[sttt]

And I reply with not less ridiculously late response. Not intended, sorry but maybe it`s for better.
Do you keep using this system?
BTW about the droplet size I think they must be small (less than 200 microns maybe (rolleyes)) for the fog to look more like smoke than actual droplets (at least what i have seen). Which I think is pretty good - not the "ideal" 50 but.. close enough.
And do you have any observations about the deposits of crystals - have you tried to calculate what % of the nutrients is left over the HF part. If you haven't I can try, if you don't have time or just don't care. :) Reply me please.
Have you observed some nutrient deficit in the plants. Did you have to increase/decrease some of the nutrients, or the EC.
Sorry but I can't hold my self. I really want to try this but now I don't have the time nor the money. :( So could you feed the home-scientist-buddy with some statistics :D

[Jell0Man187]

Just passing by and I had to give you a HI5 for this. Good Job!

[negu74]

legionnaires disease, here we come!

actually, if you put a small amount, maybe 1% - 2% by mass of food grade peroxide to your water (food grade, 30% titrated to 1%), then you'd probably be ok and it wouldn't hurt the plants either.

this method is used for mushroom spawn innoculation as the modern, preferred way of preparing the spawn versus autoclaving.

it's also used in keeping bacteria, yeasts and molds from ruining edible sprouts.

[odvratno.zgodan]

Hi, I have a humidifier at home, but my works by heating the water(at least the mist is hot). Could the temerature damage the roots? The steam generated is around 75°C.

[roman111]

Hello. I like the idea of the set up however in some instances compactability is a better choice. I was curious if any of you have a simpler version say using an aquarium pump?

[NaTeB1]

Check out
http://alternative-innovation.com
Lots of simple (and not so simple) DIY system plans

[elainek]

1) someone smarter than me could add a solar charger for the humidifier, which would go dormant during the night - if they have sunlight 2) clear plastic covering it would prevent room misting, like a greenhouse effect 3) the humidifier could be side-lined as long as it was at a low point of the tub (gravity would take care of it) - less height needed, less apt to spill coffee -- and coffee is like critical life-support for me 4) foil could be used to increase light, if desired 5) or I may be wrong on all of this! :) ...but I may have a strange-looking contraption on my roof once spring gets here proper

[elainek]

This was awesome! Creating from scratch always has those extra interesting quirks, and glad you shared! Many ways to modify this, but you did a great job on rethinking 'junk'... which i happen to have. :)

[wiccanman82]

I have a little stand up water fogger, it dosnt make heat or anything and i have no idea how it works, i broke the glass bowl that the water and led fogger goes in and i was wondering if i could use that, just submerge it into water with miricle grow or something

[NaTeB1]

You could but the transducer you have may not be calibrated to output the correct droplet size. It doesn't need to be heated as long as you keep your space heated to the right temp for whatever you grow. Im sure it would work but you will have to watch out for mineral buildup on the plate. One last thing MIracle Grow does not contain micro nutrients Miracle Grow and other soil fertilizers are manufactured for use in soil, soil already contains micro nutrients. You would want to use a good hydroponic formula otherwise results would be minimal which defeats the purpose

[wiccanman82]

Great thank you, could I just use a good container with water and hydro nutrients with a lid suspending the plants?

[Fasteners]

LOL@Step8