Talk:Aeroponics

message: This article does not mention consumer systems like the AeroGrow's AeroGarden.  Such units are inexpensive (~$180 US); how do they compare with the types of systems mentioned in the article?  Also, what about hobbyists and do-it-yourself designs?
69.181.149.54 22:31, 28 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Other products 

message: I think that the part about Oxygen needs to be reworded. All green plants do not use Oxygen to perform photosynthesis, they use Carbon Dioxide. The point of Aeroponics is to introduce air, not necessarily Oxygen.
A section has been added to cover the topic of the benefits CO2 in air. An air culture apparatus offers the ability for plants to have full access to all the available C02 in the air for photosynthesis.
--Agrihouse 03:52, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Factual Error 

message: I think this article really needs to be expanded upon.  The idea of growing large harvests in multistory buildings using aeroponics sounds like an exciting proposal to create self sustaining city blocks in a future of ultra-dense city. populations.  Imaging an entire city block with a 100 storey building devoted to crop growth using aeroponics.
Assuming one acre of physical space and by stacking aeroponic installations every 4 feet one could expect an effective 200 acres of crops to be grown in the building.  Of course the reality of market economics would dictate that probably only the basements of buildings would be used for aeroponic facilities because of their non existant commerical or residential value, however it is still in interesting prospect for self sustaining cities.
yes
Totally what I was thinking. Here's to a crunchier, greener future.
oh- but I think that people should manage the crops and harvesting, not machines/robots.
: You can collect CO2-rich exhaust and mix it with household gray water to grow food crops. If the crops become unedible, you use it to feed animals. -- Toytoy 06:39, 21 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I think the energy requirement of growing aeroponic crops in the basement of buildings would completely nullify any potential value.  Now, growing on the rooftop and perhaps the walls makes a lot more sense.  The main advantage I can see for roof top growing using aeroponics is the higher yield and lower pumping costs.  In practice it may not be so clear cut given the large embodied energy of the system compared to soil based crops. --Jaded-view (talk) 06:31, 27 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Expansion 

message: I agree the subject of Aeroponics needs to be edited. Some of the statements made are not correct a lead the reader to think aeroponics is like hydroponics. They are vastly different.
Suggested additions of new material:
Aeroponics is the process of growing plants in an air/mist environment without the use of soil or an aggregate media.
Aeroponic is derived from Latin meaning 'aero' (air) and 'ponic' (culture).  Thus aeroponic growth refers to growth achieved in an air culture.  “Aeroponics” refers the methods and apparatus used to cultivate, grow and sustain plant and crop growth in an air culture. To grow aeroponically refers to the processes necessary needed to achieve a sustainable aeroponic growth. 
Aeroponic systems are normally closed-looped systems providing macro and micro-environments suitable to sustain a reliable constant air culture. 
Brief History of Aeroponics
In 1944, L.J Klotz first discovered vapor misted plants facilitated research in his studies of diseases of citrus and avocado roots.  In 1952, G.F Trowel grew apple trees in a spray culture. It was F. W. Went in 1957 first termed the air-growing process “aeroponics” while growing coffee plants and tomatoes suspending the roots in air and applying a nutrient mist to the root section. 
Soon after its development, aeroponics took hold as a valuable research tool.  Aeroponics offered researchers a noninvasive way to examine roots under development.  This new technology also allowed researchers a larger number and a wider range of experimental parameters to use in their work.
Aeroponics is the ideal tool for the study of root morphology.  The absence of aggregates offers researchers easy access to the entire, intact root structure without the damage that can be caused by removal of roots from soils or aggregates.  It’s been noted that aeroponics produces more normal root systems than hydroponics.
Aeroponic growing is the process of growing plants in air. In the aeroponic system the plant is suspended into an enclosed air environment where the lower portion stem and roots protrude into the aeroponic chamber. The stem and root system is sprayed/misted for short durations with a hydro-atomized spray for a short duration.
In a true hydroponic apparatus the plant root system is totally submerged in water. Oxygen must be added to the water solution in a hydroponic system to prevent the root system from becoming waterlogged. Without oxygen a waterlogged plant cannot survive. Thus adding oxygen to water on an ongoing basis is necessary, one kg of water holds 8 mg of oxygen (max).  Oxygen is vital sustained growth in a hydroponic system.
In a true aeroponic apparatus the plant is suspend in totally in air. The plant will have access to 100% of the available oxygen in the air.  The increase level of oxygen surrounding the stem and root system accelerates root growth. The intermittent spraying/misting of the water-nutrient solution provides the necessary moisture and mineral uptake to sustain the developing plant.  Plants and crops grown in a true aeroponic environment can spend 99.9% of the time in air.
Numerous inventions have been developed to facilitate aeroponic spraying and misting.  The key to root development in an aeroponic environment is the size of the water droplet. In commercial applications a hydro-atomizing spray is employed to cover large areas of roots utilizing air pressure misting. 
Water droplet size is crucial.  To large of water droplet the less oxygen is available to the root system. Too fine of a water droplet such as those generated by the ultra-sonic mister produce excessive root hair without developing a lateral root system for sustained growth in an aeroponic system. Mineralization of the ultra-sonic traducers requires maintenance and potential for component failure. This also a shortcoming of metal spray jets and misters.
To date, NASA funded research has determined hydro-atomized mist of 5- 50 microns is necessary for long term aeroponic growing.  For long term growing the mist system must have enough pressure to force the mist into a dense root system(s). Repeatability is key to aeroponics and this includes the hydro-atomized droplet. Degradation of the spray due to mineralization of the mist head inhibits the delivery of the water nutrient solution. This leads to imbalance in the air culture environment. Special low-mass polymer materials are used to eliminate mineralization in next generation hydro-atomizing misting and spray jets.
Hybrid aeroponics include nutrient film technology (NFT) floods the root system with a nutrient solution and then allows the root to be exposed to air. Dry sections of the root system prevent adequate nutrient uptake.  Another types of hybrid aeroponic system is the combination of air culture and hydroponics. 
Sources: 
Florist Review Vol. 173 No. 4477 – September 22, 1983. Aeroponics Versus Bed and Hydroponic Propagation, by R. Stoner
J.M. Clawson, A. Hoehn, L.S. Stodieck and P. Todd, R.J. Stoner II, Re-examining Aeroponics for Spaceflight Plant Growth, Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc Oct 2000. 
--Agrihouse 21:06, 16 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Aeroponics - new material discussion 

message: I believe that Aeroponic and Aeroponics cover the same topic and should be merged. Uiew 21:00, 18 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Merge 

message: maybe cleanup, condense or split into multiple articles for better readability perhaps --Emesee (talk) 03:30, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  maybe cleanup, condense or split into multiple articles. 

message: i found this project, perhaps someone can integrate them into the appropriate section of the existing page ? 
In Peru, the International Potato Centre (CIP) is introducing the technique of aeroponics, which requires only air, water and a nutrient spray, to grow potato seeds.
(...)
CIP is using aeroponics to improve the production of healthy seed potatoes, and to reduce their cost. The centre has set up experimental stations in La Molina, on the coast of Peru and in Huancayo, located over 3000 metres above sea level in the Andes, to test seed tubers grown in mid air.
The results, says Rosario Falcon from CIP's Germplasm Enhancement and Crop Improvement Division, are amazing. "For example, we obtained an average of 70 seed tubers in 180 days from one plant. Using soil in the greenhouse, we only obtain five to six tubers per plant in 90 days."
In fact, the mid air method has been up to ten times more successful than conventional techniques such as tissue culture, which take longer and are also more labour intensive. In addition, the aeroponically produced seeds can be harvested at any time and size that the grower requires, from five to 30 grams.
162.23.5.64 (talk) 15:04, 20 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  how to integrate these potato minituber research projects ? 

message: 162.23.5.64 (talk) 08:29, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  5.3ha aeroponics farm in singapore producing vegetable for market 

message: This is an interesting article, and has a massive load of interesting information. Possibly too much, however, for a single article on Wikipedia.
The cap seems to fall somewhere around 32KB, with the current article past 40KB. This, in and of itself, doesn't constitute a split, but this article has a lot of sections and this makes it very hard to sort through for someone who isn't doing in-depth research on the subject.
I'm also a little concerned by the amount of information and time spent on this page by a commercial entity, the glamous image portrayed (it seems to be portrayed as the perfect solution to growing, and in this entire article, there doesn't seem to be a single drawback section -- cost, for example, is one I can throw out just off-hand, for equipment and the like). 
For now, though, the length presents the biggest structural challenge to this article. We need to find a better way to organize it, one that fits more into the style of Wikipedia, and where the subject can be assessed in a shorter amount of time. If possible, I would also love to see some contributions outside of a single commercial source, differing opinions, etc.
Once this article is organized better, the attention of an expert tag should most likely be posted.
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Article_size
Carson (talk)  —Preceding undated comment was added at 22:59, 12 September 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I was thinking the same thing. Smartse (talk) 18:15, 25 March 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree, the article is too long, but I think the bigger problem is it doesn't seem to be organized very well.  It comes off as rambling and incoherent, and seems to repeat itself in places.  TastyCakes (talk) 20:03, 5 May 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: The article is sloppy at the moment. It repeats itself, cites sources inconsistently (including text-dumps of abstracts), seems to include big tracts of company (GTi)-specific history, and is very vague in places. I would also add that the article's neutrality is disputed. Wellspring (talk) 20:50, 28 July 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Article Too Long 

message: The page keeps talking about "nutrients", but what nutrients, specifically?  You need to provide everything the soil would normally provide, which means.... what exactly?  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.167.58.63 (talk) 16:38, 12 October 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Nutrients" 

message: we need some patents for his new spinning sprinkler, because it is new and never been done before,  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.47.245.101 (talk) 04:04, 14 November 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Stoner Patents 

message: Any existing research on nutritional value and taste?  I suspect there would be differences versus in-earth growing.  How safe would it be to consume only aeroponics grown crops in the long term?  Would that result in the underconsumption of some minerals and vitamins and the overconsumption of some others (of course, that's also possible with earth-grown crops and an imbalanced diet, though). 66.11.179.30 (talk) 01:16, 7 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Nutritional value and taste 

message: Please add http://aeroponichowto.com  to the external links section.
The link is full of articles and images on aeroponic subject. Great resource on aeroponics.
Dragonlildragon (talk) 20:40, 19 September 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: No. It is an ad-driven site...the IP hopping and sock/meatpuppetry won't help you.⋙–Berean–Hunter—► 01:48, 20 September 2011 (UTC)

text: Wikipedia is not the place to promote your personal website.  The link fails our inclusion criterias at WP:ELNO as well as WP:NOT#REPOSITORY. Additionally, the site fails WP:RS and should therefore also not be used as a reference. --- Barek (talk • contribs) - 16:01, 20 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  new external links 

message: The issues people complained about 3-7 years ago still abound. Are there any editors with knowledge of aeroponics that could be brought in?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.18.238.40 (talk) 19:43, 4 February 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  this page hasn't been worked on for a while 

message: :NASA planning scenarios also reveal the Mars surface crew will spend 60% of their time on Mars farming to sustain themselves.
That sounds like a statistic from a 1970s workshop.  Given the state of automation in 2015, I suspect the time is closer to 15%. Viriditas (talk) 06:47, 1 October 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Automation takes size, weight, and power that may not be affordable on a mission to Mars. --Izno (talk) 13:22, 1 October 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Additive manufacturing processes using in-situ processing of Martian regolith reduces all of those things.  Mars colonists will be working with fully automated farms run by robots.  They will not be spending 60% of their time growing crops.  It's time to remove that nonsense. Viriditas (talk) 04:50, 2 October 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: As it's probably not  verifiable, I'm not disagreeable to removal. I  making the more general comment that without some (likely trivial) research, you can't make a claim about whether it's "a statistic from a 1970s workshop" or that "the state of automation in 2015" is sufficient for a human mission to Mars. --Izno (talk) 13:57, 6 October 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: If the answer isn't clear, that seems to prove that the claim is not well substantiated. I am not an space agriculture expert, but as far as automation goes, it seems silly to think that lots of operational labor would be required. Silly enough in fact to remove it, unless it is clearly established in the sources. Which isn't the case.76.105.216.34 (talk) 08:47, 29 November 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Farming on Mars 

message: In the "Benefits and drawbacks" section, it is not apparent to me that there are any drawbacks, except possibly the expense of setting up a system, which is only implied. Are there any others? Peter Chastain [¡habla!] 19:20, 22 August 2016 (UTC)
replies: text: Good question! perusing the earlier discussions, it seems there may be reliability/maintenance issues in addition to overhead costs, but it's hard to tell whether those are significant or not. the article still reads like a promotional piece, which presents aeroponics as an overall superior method. if there are drawbacks, these should be documented for the sake of neutrality and balance. Xcalibur (talk) 16:10, 12 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Benefits and drawbacks 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified  on Aeroponics. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20160109205215/http://aeroponx.com/ to https://aeroponx.com/
When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at ).
Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 01:22, 5 October 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Specific concerns have to be pointed out so that they can be solved. I see inline tags peppered around that are a little more helpful, but they're mostly concerned with sourcing or attribution. WP Ludicer (talk) 21:08, 1 June 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Neutrality disputed and advertisement tags need to be explained, not just slapped on the page to be left indefinitely 

message: please give conclusion on aeroponic culture 59.95.13.202 (talk) 14:54, 14 April 2024 (UTC)
thread_title:  Aeroponic culture