What are the Differences Between Aeroponic Misting and Fogging?

Smokin Moose

Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex Moderator
Fog
Any water droplet smaller than 50 microns is considered fog. There is 'wet' fog and 'dry' fog. Wet fog has a particle size in the range of 10-50 microns. Dry fog is produced by ultrasonic systems and has particles in the range of 2-10 microns.

Dry fogging systems use very little water, but they do require a high quality supply (ie. R.O. or distilled), as they are prone to clogging.


The disadvantage of dry fogging systems is that they are no good for cooling, since the quantity of water available for evaporation is small. Wet fogging systems can be run to excess during summer and the surplus fog can be vented.

Fogging systems require additional watering of the cuttings, unlike conventional misting systems.


Misting systems are the cheapest to set up and run, but fogging systems may give better results with some plant species, for example some Verticordias, Brachycome, lavenders, and many species with hairy or finely divided leaves.



Misting
Misting maintains a fully saturated atmosphere around the cuttings, whereas fogging aims to keep the leaves cool. Reducing leaf temperature reduces the water vapor pressure within the leaf and less water escapes. However, a fully saturated atmosphere will not entirely prevent transpiration water loss from cuttings. If the leaf temperature exceeds the air temperature, then the internal vapor pressure will be greater than the surrounding air, and there will be evaporation from the leaf. To avoid this, shading is necessary to prevent high leaf temperatures.

(Nigel_Samhain) The foggers usually use a diffuser, although they call it a ceramic disc coated with what appears to be brass. These foggers produce vapors in the 2-15 micron range. When applied to the root system, it is comparable to growing your plants within a cloud.


Foggers experience calcification:
Usually it can be cleaned off with a dilute solution of White vinegar. When the EC of the solution is high, the calcification occurs at a much greater rate.

It is recommended that the fog be dispersed in increments, rather than remain constant, to cut back on diffuser wear. This also tends to make the roots strive for faster growth.
 
Excellent!

I've been playing with fog not aeroponics which is actually misting or spraying so to speak. I'm a serious DIY'r and will design/build just about anything vs buying it. Without days of details here I'll just say that at the the moment I'm running 4 simple water fountain foggers in pairs of 2 on and 2 off. They alternate every 5 minutes just to give them a break. The foggers are contained in a 5 gal bucket with a float switch to maintain the nutes level. The fog is pushed by small dc or ac fan then supplied via 1" pvc or flex hose to the chamber.
I've never seen such hairy, fine, white roots! :thedoubletake:

Anyway I'll get lost here in thought but one more thing, I don't have an air stone in the chamber but since I did put two airline size drain holes, the longer roots are much happier. This is an ongoing experiment but I have rooted clones of the girls and other flowers along with tom plants. I've raised thumper and white star from seed that once germinated went right into the fogger version one.
I've yet to bloom anything in the fogger untill I get other things back on track.

I'll post some pics one of these days if anyone has any interest.

Thanks SM, ya made that search really easy :cheesygrinsmiley:
 
A cheap way to make a good aeroponic system, is to use a fast dremel, 30,000rpm or greater. You can buy them from prices of $40 and up. You use a grinding stone on the end, or try a few end types. Then you use the ecoplus small pump, like 50gph. They are super cheap. $12. You place the dremel inside pvc pipe. Be sure to let the motor hang out the end, to get air. Cap off the pvc, and drill a hole for the drip tube and the end of the dremel. The tube drips water onto the stone, and this creates a very fine mist/fog.

It is true aeroponics. It is cheap.
 
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