Hydroponics Systems side-by-side – Aeroponics vs Drip, Kratky and DWC
Hydroponics Systems side-by-side – Aeroponics vs Drip, Kratky and DWC
Join Urban Leaf’s Dr. Rob for a review of 4 popular hydroponics systems side by side, and a discussion of the results and lessons learned along the way.
Learn more about Urban Leaf here: https://www.geturbanleaf.com/
To replicate this experiment, you will need:
~ Misc. Parts ~
– Plastic Totes: these are large volume / low weight. They’ll be much cheaper at Home Depot / Walmart than online.
– Net Cups: https://amzn.to/2FmbvQk
– Rockwool: https://amzn.to/2FlzhMm
– Clay Pebbles: https://amzn.to/2TcolDr
– Mechanical Timers: https://amzn.to/2OG5Qny
– Lighting Rack: https://amzn.to/2qLjRXK
~ Drip System ~
– Clay Pebbles: (the bag above is pretty small. Look for a bigger one if you want to do this setup as you’ll need a lot)
– Water Pump: https://amzn.to/2DDsrA7
– 3/4 Irrigation Hose: https://amzn.to/2DGGqFk
– 1/4 Dripper Hose: https://amzn.to/2FuH1eO
– Barbed Coupling: https://amzn.to/2RVAN9v
– Adjustable Dripper: https://amzn.to/2TbGhy4
~ DWC System ~
– Air pump: https://amzn.to/2Fuw3X4
– Air stone: https://amzn.to/2TcnIK5
– Air tube: https://amzn.to/2qJoTE3
~ Aeroponics / Fog System ~
– Ultrasonic mister: https://amzn.to/2RMU0tQ
~ Soil System ~
– Potting Mix: https://amzn.to/2RPQS0j
Got questions? Hit us up on social media (@GetUrbanLeaf) or email (help@geturbanleaf.com) and we’d be happy to help you out!
The amount of water used by the aeroponics is oddly high.
Maybe try again without so much human error.
If you’re not going to invest the time to do this experiment correctly why bother posting your findings, they’re skewed and totally inaccurate. You need to dedicate time and effort to ensure a fair comparison- you did not. Thumbs down from me.
Great Video!
How can you possibly say that you compare the deep water culture system to these other systems when you fail to maintain the deep water culture system to its necessary requirements you can do better I hope
This provided great insight into Hydroponics, especially for a beginner. Thanks for sharing Rob!
Tests deep water setup. Doesn’t add water. Thinking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlANYrr4g5Q
Just to consider, another reference video with OUTSTANDING results with AEROponics vs other methods.
did you run the fogger 24/7? or cycled?
Oh it is new for me. So aero system request only an ultrasonic mister?
You didn’t make comparison taste with mart one……
Unfortunately it sounds like a fogger is not really the way to go for aeroponics
Really great video on different forms of systems. Thanks
great video! i really enjoyed watching this i am new and got my first aerogarden but i want to make some other systems and this really helped me decide whats best for me! you forgot about that
I’m an analyst and I love the data
DWC without a doubt will grow your plants faster and give more for your return. The problem with DWC is maintenance. You need proper water PH specific to the plant you’re growing. It’s also important to properly balance the PH of what ever medium you use to hold your cuttings/seeds like soaking your hydroton blocks in ph balanced water for 24 hours before introducing a seedling. The temperature of the water could also be specific for certain plants so that’s also something to look out for.. There are different nutrients for different grow phases which means completely changing your water multiple times. You need way more oxygen (best to line the bottom with bubble stones) and light that will feed the plant the energy necessary to process perfect nutrient absorption . It’s best to use a combination of HPS and Metal Halide lights and stay FAR away from and low wattage low lumen lights, like LED or LCD. I use HPS for the grow phase and Add a metal Halide half way through the grow. It’s also important to add a water pump to the bottom of your reservoir to deliver nutrients to cuttings whose roots haven’t touched the water yet. If you do DWC right, it literally has no competition when it comes to yields, growth, and time. Nothing else touches it.
WHY do Americans not have any ready-made fogponics systems for sale? Everything has to be built, put together using plastic buckets and spare parts and made with drilling holes etc. Sheeeeesh!
1) I definitely appreciate the effort and the attempt.
2) The results are worthless and people trying to make decisions should disregard it entirely. Again, no shame — science is hard and you were trying, which is more than most people can say.
Thanks for taking the time for us. I have an aeroponics system, it grows well bit on a small size. I am all set up for the kratky but wasn’t sure if it would work. Now I know. Thanks
I am sorry, but you should have just thrown this entire experiment out. You need to plan it better. Spend more time planning and designing it. You must built it in a way that is easily replicated–and this is important–by AN IDIOT. So, this is how actual science experimentation is done. It is not that hard, it just takes a little time in the planning stage. Make everything as simple as possible and create proper controls. I know the excuse, that it is just for fun, but if you are going to present data as scientific, you should try harder to actually make it scientific, because otherwise people might not understand that the data you have here is pretty much meaningless.
This is the coolest experiment ever, you should redo it and fix the issues you had because I’m very interested. It would be cool if you used aeroponic sprayers that release the correct micron size droplets. Also if you made or bought the best soil you can because soil can be amazing as well
This is like masker science, well it "works" but 1/2 died because of me, so dont do that method. Insane
Yeah mate, we are all human thanks for putting in the effort. Try doing it again. I’m really interested how it pans out with the DWC. It uses that much water for a reason. Keep up the good work!
My dude you look like ur reading of something are you
very interesting, i’d hope you run this again with more details
Thanks for sharing this..
This will be of a great use indeed!💚👏
Great video, good anylitics, dont forget to have some fun.
Unless they were all clones there could be a large difference from plant to plant. Daily ec / ph need to be probed daily and adjusted. Different systems will eat more daily. Human inconstancy seems like the biggest factor here.
Excellent Experiment Idea, executuin unfortunately extremely flawed. Thus the results are meaningless.
How is this a good test when the dwc died and the soil was not watered enough. Without each growing style maintained correctly it’s flawed from the start.
Hey guy, can I Contact you somewhere?
Great content
Your aeroponic. system is a hybrid of Dwc guarantee the roots were in the water so it wouldn’t be as good also no water temperature control so none of the systems expect for the drip were running at optimal conditions which is crucial in dwc as water temps dictate the amount of dissolved oxygen where as the drip doesn’t rely on the water to get it’s air if your gonna do a test do it properly otherwise it’s not a fair test
If your going to do a experiment you have to do it right!! This is just a video of how not to do an experiment and shows nothing!!! Fail!!! And you didn’t do a aeroponic grow you did a fogphonic grow completely different grow
Aeroponics is not a fogger . It’s micro misters . . And kratky sucks
Very nice video! Appreciated.
The 40 watts and replacement discs used by the little fogger are more relevant than the few cups of water used when calculating the running costs,
wow dude your water temps in the aero system are astronomical !
not really aero though it’s fogponic
i am experimenting right now with a home made 6 site fog cloner i made with a cheap Chinese $3 fogger from ebay , a small tote from dollar tree and 6 2" net pots and 6 2" neoprene collars
i am using an arduino pro mini and a relay to cycle the fogger , i have it set to 1 min on and 3 min off currently
so did you use a cycle timer for your aero setup and are cool temps as important for growing with aero as they are for cloning?
you go that high of a yield with the water temps that high?
i read of cloning (cannabis cuttings) that water temps should not exceed 80 degrees F
when i had the fogger on 24/7 my water temps were way too high ,i had it set to 30 sec off and 3 min on at first and the water was too hot
so now i set it to 1 min on and 3 min off and i set the tote on cryo paks and i got it down to around mid 60’s F
looks like your temps were running around 100 F or over at some point and average about 86 F is that right?
and you got those results with that high of a water temp?
also did you measure the temp of the solution or the temps of the air fog? where was your temp probe actually placed?
if you used a timer what was the interval set to?
i also had an idea to use a peltier to chill the water , i think it could work for such a small tote i am using for the 6 site cloner
not sure what the best was is to set t up to chill the water though
Why do an experiment but then only do it half assed? So effectively you have’nt done an experiment, you’ve made a half assed attempt to grow hyroponically but failed.
At least you were honest and divulged early so i could stop watching the video and move on to another video.
Don’t get butt hurt i have no interest in this channel now but if you want to compare systems how are you going to do it if you’re only half involved, do it properly or don’t bother.
Maybe title it different now, somthing along the lines of “trying to grow with different hydro methods” you have’nt compared shit
Not too surprising considering that the Aero an Kratky were positioned to get much more light, which would easily be the limiting factor in this particular setup.
sounds like a failed experiment. the drip would likely have gotten 2nd place if went to harvest and the DWC would have likely been in 3rd place if it didn’t run out of water. A DWC is pretty much a kratky that uses air. which would help the plants grow faster. Other than this coco coir would most likely be the closest thing you’d get to aeroponics, that’s if you do it right. aeroponics and coco coir are the hardest to master but if done right can produce 3 times the amount of soil.
Lovely experiment
in the nicest wat possible this was generally a bit of a fail. the fact you didn’t water the control meant you had nothing to compare it to and letting the dwc run out of water just threw off the whole test. you really should have started again from scratch. nevertheless you gave it a shot. so well done on trying.
this is totally wrong 😀 pump up your drip system timer to run once or twice per hour and than we can talk about yield and simplicity 😀 if you can feed the plants constantly why not do that? if you watering just a few minutes a day just do a drip with coco or soil no pebbles …
You are amazing. Tks from Brazil
This is one of the best comparisons videos for the reason that because it factored in human error. We are all humans and need a realistic view of what we may face. Great job!
The video is good, BUT! the metod with the tomatoes NOT being pruned might have change the result significally. Isnt the commersial tomatos growing with that system, because of the result?
i know i am 3 years too late, but better late than never, or so iv´e heard xD
The dwc plants would’ve been the biggest if they didn’t run out of water!!
Dum experiment
what variety of tomatoes were you using?