AeroVoir watering

[beasley]

I just bought a couple of these gallon watering aides to help out when on vacation. Right now, my tomatoes soaked up the whole gallon in 5 days when it says on their site that it can last 2 weeks! I am going to try to put both reservoirs in the garden and see if it will last the 10 days I am gone.

But anyways, does anyone know, can you add nutrients to the reservoir so the plants will not be without nutrients for the 10 days I am gone? The directions say no you cannot add the nutrient to the reservoir but then how does this help me? I would still have to have a friend come in just to add the nutrients. So, if I decide to try this, how much would I add?

[drbanks]

I've tried it, but it really accelerates algae growth.  Even if you're just putting water in the jug, you'll get some serious green buildup in the plumbing, and to fight that, you have to put some peroxide in the water.

My recommendation is if you want to try it, put a black, opaque hood over the jug.

And when tomato plants really get going, you might find yourself refilling it twice a week (or more).

[Shawn]

Hello and welcome beasley.

I do not own these but I can not see why you can't add nutrients to them.  Depending on how much water these hold and what unit and what you are growing in them will determine how much.


As for them lasting for two weeks.  I think that is a general statement.  Every plant has their own "thirstyness" level.  Some plants as they grow will suck up water while others sip it slowly. 


I know we have member with these units and I am sure they will chime in.

[mike]

I have four or five of these. I haven't used them for a long time because of the algae.

I am considering a vacation this summer to Alaska to go fishing. If I can arrange that, I will dig these out and replace all of the tubing with black tubing. I hadn't thought of putting a hood over the bottle, that's a great idea!

If you own these, I wouldn't even use the supplied tubing. Get black tubing to replace it. The supplied tubing gets nasty. I love that hood idea, Dawn. I'll have to find someone to make some of these out of black vinyl. Does anyone know how to sew vinyl? I'm willing to pay to have them made.

[Shawn]

I like the black tubing idea!  I need to tell Mark to get some for the Dehumidifier in the crawl space.  We replace that tubing yearly.

As for Alaska, that will be a wonderful trip for you Mike.  I hope you can make it work. 

[drbanks]

I've already retrofitted the black tubing to a few of mine.

[mike]

What size is the tubing, Dawn?

[drbanks]

I believe 3/8" OD, 1/4" ID, but this is what I've been using

[MaryL]

You guys always amaze me.

[fldave]

I thought that I would update this ancient thread with useful information relative to the new AeroVoir design.  The new design’s shape is covered perfectly by a 10Lx5Wx13H black paper bag.  I used this Black bag and cut off the handles. 

I have attached a photo of my garden utilizing the bags on 4 AeroVoirs.  I took the bag off of the fifth top front one to reveal the 7 inch (unstreatched) by 5/8 inch rubber band that I put on the top of each one to manage the end of the siphon tube when I remove it from it’s associated Bounty during maintenance.  I replaced the blue silicon tubes that needed to be lengthened for my setup, after removing the leaky squeeze bulbs, with black silicon air hose and will get to the rest before they start growing algae.  I covered my AeroVoir tanks because I use reverse-osmosis filtered water that still has 7ppm of Total Dissolved Solids after filtering and thought it might be enough to grow algae in the tank.

Another observation that I have made regarding the potential for algae to grow in the blue silicone siphon tube is that it does NOT only contain pure water from the AeroVoir tank.  When the Bounty’s circulation pump comes on, the water level in the Bounty’s basin drops slightly lower than the level in the AeroVoir basin as the grow deck fills with water, so the siphon tube pulls some water from the AeroVoir basin.  When the pump turns off, the water level drains from the grow deck so the Bounty basin’s water level raises slightly higher than the water level in the AeroVoir basin and the water levels will equalize by flowing nutrient infused water back through the siphon tube towards the AeroVoir basin.  The inner diameter of the blue silicone tube is small enough that the total volume of water that drains from the grow deck when the pump is turned off may fill most, if not all, of the silicone tube. If you observe the design of the AeroVoir base you will see that there is space there to accommodate this ebb and flow of the small amount of water that resides in the grow deck during these pump cycles.  Due to the “bubbler” method used to fill the AeroVoir basin with fresh water, there is no way for this water to flow up into the fresh water tank so it stays in the AeroVoir basin until pulled back out by dropping water levels in the Bounty basin.

[Sher]

Thanks, fldave. Your explanation of how the AeroVoir works is much appreciated.

I doubt algae would grow in RO water, but the black bags are a brilliant preventive measure.

[Shawn]

Nice set up fldave.  A good use of the black bags. 

DO you play guitar?  If so what type of guitar do you have?  My husband plays and collects.

[maskedsonnet]

Know this is a bit of an older thread, but thought I'd add: If you want something with more capacity you can make your own version of the AeroVoir! I keep mine covered with a towel to keep the light out so that I don't get algae in there, but I like the idea of a custom-made hood. Didn't think to use black tubing, I'm going to have to buy some and replace mine, since I've had trouble with algae in the tubes!! Here's the two I made after I first got them set up, used a 5-gallon bottle to feed both sides of the farm (top) and a 3-gallon bottle to feed my sprout and harvest 360 when I had lettuce in them (bottom):

[fldave]

Hey, that is cool!  I have been looking for a way to do a higher capacity system but never saw a plastic dispenser like the ones you show.  Where do you get them?  Amazon has that type in porcelain and stainless steel but not an easy-to-drill plastic version.

Also, in addition to black tubing, I covered the rigid end of the tube with 1/4 inch heat-shrink tubing (but didn’t shrink it) but not the part that goes below the hole in the AeroGarden.  It keeps algae from growing in that part as well.  I still lift my AeroVoirs a foot or so above normal for about 10 to 20 seconds before I refill them to flush out the lines because crud still grows inside from the backwashing of nutrients into the tubing.  Some of mine are quite long (6+ feet).

[maskedsonnet]

I found the dispenser on Amazon!
www.amazon.com/FREE-Water-Dispenser-Base-Spigot/dp/B07ZQNC2XC/ref=sxts_sxwds-bia-wc-nc-drs1_0?crid=296769JBQVY0W&cv_ct_cx=water+dispenser&dchild=1&keywords=water+dispenser&pd_rd_i=B07ZQNC2XC&pd_rd_r=564a03cf-e102-4362-aa9e-1f4c11fd6ceb&pd_rd_w=qr7wb&pd_rd_wg=QJKGh&pf_rd_p=84ce0865-d9ca-42e3-87ed-168be8f93162&pf_rd_r=H6XPFJSGXADSD9KPATC7&psc=1&qid=1607380309&sprefix=water+%2Caps%2C228&sr=1-1-88388c6d-14b8-4f70-90f6-05ac39e80cc0 

The jugs I had sitting around the house, left over from when I had a water cooler. The dang thing kept tripping my breaker so I got rid of it but kept the jugs in case I needed them for a project later. Glad I did!

[fldave]

Thanks maskedsonnet!  I just finished ordering one.

[lynnee]

This old thread has a lot of good information in it, so it seemed like a good place to post a question.

Has anyone else experienced water leakage under the siphon bulb on the new, slender Aerovoir?

My leak is quite slow, and it's more than contained by a washrag placed underneath the bulb. However, I'd like to stop it by wrapping the bulb/tubing connections with something. Would duct tape work?

[campingcorgis]

Feb 1, 2022 14:30:13 GMT -5 lynnee said:

This old thread has a lot of good information in it, so it seemed like a good place to post a question.

Has anyone else experienced water leakage under the siphon bulb on the new, slender Aerovoir?

My leak is quite slow, and it's more than contained by a washrag placed underneath the bulb. However, I'd like to stop it by wrapping the bulb/tubing connections with something. Would duct tape work?

I had that happen and kept an eye on it...and then it stopped.  I have no idea why it started or stopped.  

[sidd]

Yes!  I fixed it by lightly wrapping the o-ring connections with plumbers tape: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QF62KXF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Sher]

sidd, that is a must-have. I keep it in my toolbox because you never know when it will save the day.

BTW, Welcome to Aerogarden Addicts!