My Homemade Aerogrow Aeroponic System February 13, 2008
Pulling apart my Aerogarden, was quite surprised how simple it is… nothing more but a submersible water pump, same thing as my kitty water fountain.
After researching for a more advanced aeroponic (vegetation grows in 100% humidity air) system, was quite put off by all the high price tags, I decided to construct one from scratch. This is what I came up with:
*Growing Chamber (a black file tote from Staples for 13.99)
*FLOATING FOGGER (19.99 on eBay)
provides the humidity in the growing chamber
*AIRSTONE, AIR PUMP, & AIRLINE TUBING (2.99 + 9.99 + 1.99 from 3rd party seller on Amazon)
provides more oxygen to the roots for faster growth
*DIGITAL POWER CENTER WITH TIMER (24.99 from 3rd party seller on Amazon)
*HYDROTON & 3″ GROW BASKETS (9.95 on eBay)
HYDROTON®Growing MediaHydroton is the “expanded clay,” a lightweight gravel which is manufactured specifically for hydroponic cultivation. This media is the first choice for many commercial Dutch growers specializing in flower and vegetable cultivation. Not to be confused with many other kinds of expanded clay which look similar but which are often toxic, Hydroton is pH stabilized and releases practically no minerals into the nutrient stream; in other words Hydroton is almost completely inert - except for offering excellent moisture and oxygen capacity to stimulate healthy root development.
*GROW LIGHT
I got a high output 400w grow light system that uses both METAL HALIDE (blue light for seeding and cutting) and HIGH PRESSURE SODIUM (orange light for flowering and fruiting) light bulbs. There are lots of much cheaper lighting systems out there, Aerogarden uses only 32w fluorescent light bulbs, and things grow just fine. But I really want my vegetables to grow faster, I decided to invest on a good light.
update: These Metal Halide lights are really much better than the fluorescent lights, the plants don’t strech their neck toward the light like they do in Aerogarden — in Aerogarden, even when the lights are set very very close to the plants, they still move toward the light bulb itself, quite an unhappy sight…
These are all the parts you need!
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NOW, COMES TO CONSTRUCTING THE AEROPONIC SYSTEM:
1. draw six, 2.8 inch circles on the cover of the file tote, cut them out with a box cutter (the only hard part… needs some elbow grease 
)
2. cut a little gap on the side of the file tote to allow airline and wire of the fogger to go through.
3. fill the grow chamber with 3 gallon of filtered water.
4. close the the chamber with lid, fit the baskets in the circles, fill in the hydroton with seed filled foam in the center. Plug everything, and grow away
I use General Hydroponic Maxi Series and FloraMato (Dry Concentrated Nutrient) for plant food.
My seeds from Burpee will arrive tomorrow, will keep you updated on the growth of my vegetables
my students are working on a NASA experiment, they have to design a aeroponic system to be used in space.
I like the idea of the fogger, I’ll pass that on to them for their design. They have some cinnamon basil seeds that were in the space station and are conducting an experiment to see if the seeds from space grow any different then the earth bound seeds. I love your blog, I’m very interested in sprouts also, nice sprouter. Thanks for the great ideas.
Hi. Your homemade aeroponics system looks great. I was interested in the aerogarden, but it didn’t seem like much of a value for what’s essentially a bucket, lights, timer, and pump. A home made system might be just the thing for me. Can I ask, did you follow a design you found elsewhere or was it something you assembled all on your own? Your design looks like it’s using both a fogger and a airstone bubbler which I haven’t seen elsewhere so far.
I’ll probably end up doing something on the Aerogarden scale, with the CFL bulbs, but with a true aeroponics mister/fogger instead of the drip system.
One thing about your fogger though. Do the LED lights in that picture turn off? From what I’ve read it’s better not to have any light. With all the water and nutrients already in place, a little light in the root area and you have an algae farm instead, which isn’t good.
hello. just was reading your site and doing research. a version of your design can be bought at:
www.StealthHydroponics.com
i too would rather build it for a custom fit.
how much water do you put in the container? Do the plants actually touch the water initially? or is the water just deep enough to float the fogger?
I finished building my aeroponic system this past weekend. I hope you don’t mind all these questions. Do you keep your fogger running 24/7? I was just wondering since you have a timer on the surge protector, do you give it a rest every so often? Your plants are looking great! Thanks for all the great info.
Steve
You’re a genius! I can’t wait to make my own.
hey jung,
I think this is a great aeroponics system!!!! I cant wait to try it for my shelf!!! I want to build one but to leave outside, that why i wont have to buy light. What you think about that, do you think it will work? I do have a question, does it mater if you use a floater fogger vers an ordinary mister fogger.