[lancenti (OP)]

Hello everyone!

Recently I've been trying to make a little Aeroponics setup to grow lettuce and possibly other products in the future. Now the idea is to keep spraying water or some kind of nutrient solution onto the roots of the plant so that it continues to grow, as opposed to a hydroponics setup which keeps the roots immersed in water.

My question is, do any of you know how to make a nutrient solution for this? Thus far I have come up with the following possibilities:

Urine, Mineral Water, Tap Water and Distilled Water (Control)

I figured that they'd have a different assortment of minerals and so would affect growth differently.

[Chemistry4me]

I am sure that you are aware, you will need magnesium (don't know how you're going to get it though), Phosphorus, some calcium, sulphur, just to name a few....
How about adding some Epson salt to the water? Do you keep fish as pets? The used fish tank water is full of nitrogen and other nutrients that plants need to thrive.

[Chemistry4me]

Or you can buy this []

[dentstudent]

A good source of this may be the liquid that can be collected from the bottom of rotting vegetation. If you collect your domestic waste veg peelings etc and put them in a bio-bag, you will see this solution building up quite quickly. I believe (in the sense of "I am told") that this is a good fertilizer.

[BenV]

I once dissolved some multivitamin tablets in water to feed my tomatoes (the leaves were going yellow, and I thought it was worth a try).  It worked a treat.

[lancenti (OP)]

Chem4Me:

Yep, I've some fish around. I think I can go take some from the tank without anyone noticing.

DentStudent:

Hmm, that sounds interesting but does it have to be sealed or open? I figure that the bacteria would act differently depending on whether they respire aerobically or anaerobically.

BenV:

Sounds good. I've a lot of old pills I don't want to just throw away. Hopefully they haven't completely oxidized into a useless form.

[dentstudent]

Have a look here for other liquid fertilizer ideas, especially "liquid manures".

[Chemistry4me]

How are you meant to spray that stuff? (liquid manures)

[dentstudent]

Some sort of atomiser, I suppose.

[BenV]

How are you meant to spray that stuff? (liquid manures)

With great care.