Ross

Hey Everyone, I'm new here and this is my first post. I have a hydroponic garden going right now (it's actually an aeroponic set-up for those who are interested) and in case you're not familiar, hydroponics is a way to grow plants without soil. I'm using expanded clay pellets to house my plants' roots, and using a pump connected to misters to continuously spray the roots directly with a nutrient solution. It makes for a much more efficient and effective way to grow plants- they grow bigger, faster, and with a fraction of the water used in conventional farming. Anyways, I'm having a big problem with random particles clogging up my spray yets, and was thinking about setting up a filtration system for the water before it is recycled to my water pump. The question I have is, if I used a standard Brita water filter, would this be taking out the essential nutrients and trace elements out of my nutrient solution? I'm using Canna Aqua Vega nutrient solutions, but it basically contains small amounts of potassium, nitrogen, and phosphorous. The question is, will a water filter take up these essential nutrients and leave me with only water? Also, does anyone have any advice on using some sort of filter or semi-permeable membrane that will work for this application? I've been using leg stockings as a very crude filter so far, but it hasn't worked perfectly. Thanks in advance for any advice!