Vertical aeroponic growing apparatus

1. A vertical aeroponic growing apparatus, comprising:

a) a hollow structure having a top wall, a sidewall, and a bottom wall, said top wall having a centrally located opening and two additional large openings formed therethrough, said two large openings being spaced 180° apart and each has a diameter of at least 4 inches for allowing a person's hand, forearm and upper arm to be easily inserted therethrough, said sidewall having a plurality of openings formed therethrough, and said bottom wall having an opening formed therethrough;

b) a reservoir which can hold a quantity of nutrient laden water, said reservoir being spaced apart from said hollow structure;

c) an outlet tube connecting said nutrient laden water housed in said reservoir to a filtration manifold located outside of said reservoir;

d) a pump located downstream of said filtration manifold, said pump connected by a hollow tube to said filtration manifold;

e) an irrigation tube connecting said pump to said centrally located opening formed in said top wall, said irrigation tube routing high pressure nutrient water from said pump to said hollow structure;

f) a hollow wand positioned within said hollow structure and connected to said centrally located opening, said hollow wand having a nozzle attached to an end thereof for delivering a fine mist of nutrient laden water;

g) a thermal, light refractive cover wrapped around said sidewall, said cover contains at least four layers and a plurality of openings are formed through said at least four layers, said thermal, light refractive cover having a first layer, a second layer, a third layer and a fourth layer, said first layer is both an anti-condensate and an infrared layer, said second layer is a thermal bubble layer, said third layer is a light refractive layer, and said fourth layer is an inflation layer positioned between said second layer and said third layer, and said plurality of openings formed in said cover corresponding in arrangement to said plurality of openings formed in said sidewall;

h) a fitting positioned in each of said plurality of openings in which a plant will be supported, each fitting permits roots of an individual plant to extend into said hollow structure, and said roots receive said fine mist of nutrient laden water;

i) a cap closing off any of said plurality of openings formed in said sidewall which are not needed to support said fitting;

j) a drain pipe secured to said opening formed in said bottom wall for allowing excess nutrient laden water to be removed from said hollow structure; and

k) a mechanical mechanism secured to said hollow structure for rotating said hollow structure.

2. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 1 wherein said hollow structure is a cylindrical barrel formed from polypropylene, said top wall contains two smaller openings, each of which allows a piece of equipment to be connected to said hollow structure, said plurality of openings formed in said sidewall including from 40 to 50 openings each having a diameter of 0.5 inches or greater, each of said plurality of openings is surrounded by a food grade rubber grommet, each fitting frictionally engages into one of said grommets, said thermal, light refractive cover contains at least five layers, and said nutrient laden water has an oxygen content which ranges from between 30% to 75%.

3. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 2 wherein said hollow structure can be rotated in at least one direction and oscillated by a mechanical mechanism, and said thermal, light refractive cover has an outside layer which is a light refractive layer, said sidewall has a surface area of 15 square feet, and said thermal, light reflective cover covers at least 98% of said sidewall.

4. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 3 wherein said plurality of openings formed in said plurality of openings include an upper row of openings having two or more openings, and a trellis is secured to at least two of said openings in said upper row of openings, and said trellis extends at least 5 feet above said top wall of said hollow structure.

5. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 2 wherein said thermal, light refractive cover is a multilayer laminate, said mechanical mechanism is spaced a short distance away from said bottom wall of said hollow structure, and said drain pipe passes through said mechanical mechanism.

6. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 5 wherein said at least five layers of said multilayer laminate further include said first layer is positioned adjacent to said sidewall of said hollow structure and a fifth layer of said at least five layers, wherein the fifth layer is a thin steel material capable of reflecting light and adding strength to said thermal, light refractive cover, and said thermal, light refractive cover can refract from 80% to 98% of the light which contacts it.

7. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 1 wherein said vertical aeroponic growing apparatus is mounted on a mechanical mechanism which will rotate said hollow structure both clockwise or counterclockwise, said nutrient laden water has an oxygen content which ranges from between 30% to 75%, and a surface area of said sidewall of said hollow structure is 30 square feet.

8. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 1 wherein said plurality of openings formed in said sidewall range from 40 to 50 openings, each of said fittings includes a hollow member bent at an angle of from between 90° to 135°, each fitting has a diameter of at least 1.6 inches, and said sidewall has a surface area of 15 square feet, and said thermal, light refractive cover covers 90% of said sidewall.

9. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 1 wherein wherein each diameter of said two large openings formed in said top wall ranges from 4 inches to 6 inches.

10. A vertical aeroponic growing apparatus, comprising:

a) a hollow structure having a top wall, a sidewall, and a bottom wall, said top wall having a centrally located opening and two additional large openings formed therethrough, said two large openings being spaced 180° apart and each has a diameter ranging from 4 inches to 6 inches for allowing a person's hand, forearm and upper arm to be easily inserted therethrough, said sidewall having a plurality of openings formed therethrough, and said bottom wall having an opening formed therethrough;

b) a reservoir which can hold at least 5 gallons of nutrient laden water, said reservoir being spaced apart from said hollow structure;

c) an outlet tube connecting said nutrient laden water housed in said reservoir to a filtration manifold located outside of said reservoir;

d) a pump located downstream of said filtration manifold, said pump connected by a hollow tube to said filtration manifold;

e) an irrigation tube connecting said pump to said centrally located opening formed in said top wall, said irrigation tube routing high pressure nutrient laden water from said pump to said hollow structure, and said irrigation tube is wrapped in a reflective tape;

f) a hollow wand positioned within said hollow structure and connected to said centrally located opening, said hollow wand branching sideways into two hollow tubes, and each of said two hollow tubes having an end, and a nozzle attached to each of said ends for delivering a fine mist of nutrient laden water;

g) a thermal, light refractive cover wrapped around said sidewall, said covering having a plurality of openings formed therethrough which correspond to said plurality of openings formed in said sidewall, said thermal, light refractive cover having a first layer, a second layer and a third layer, said first layer is both an anti-condensate and an infrared layer, said second layer is a thermal bubble layer, and said third layer is a light refractive layer;

h) a fitting positioned in each of said plurality of openings in which a plant will be supported, each fitting permits roots of an individual plant to extend into said hollow structure and receive said fine mist of nutrient laden water,

i) a cap closing off any of said plurality of openings formed in said sidewall which are not needed to support said fitting;

j) a drain pipe secured to said opening formed in said bottom wall for allowing excess water to be removed from said hollow structure; and

k) a mechanical mechanism secured to said hollow structure for rotating and oscillating said hollow structure.

11. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 10 wherein said thermal, light refractive cover include a fourth layer which is an inflation layer positioned between said second layer and said third layer, said nutrient laden water contains from between 200 ppm to 1,500 ppm of a nutrient, said thermal, light refractive cover has a surface area of 20 square feet and said thermal, light refractive cover covers 95% of said sidewall, said top wall of said hollow structure is formed from a different material than said sidewall of said hollow structure, said hollow structure is a 55 gallon drum formed from fiberglass, and said nutrient laden water has an oxygen content which ranges from between 30% to 75%.

12. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 10 wherein said thermal, light refractive cover include a fifth layer which is a fabric layer, said high pressure nutrient laden water is at a pressure from between 50 psi to 200 psi said thermal, light refractive cover has a surface area of 25 square feet and said thermal, light refractive cover covers 95% of said sidewall, said top wall of said hollow structure is formed from the same material as said sidewall of said hollow structure, and said hollow structure is formed from plastic.

13. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 10 wherein said wherein each diameter of said two large openings formed in said top wall ranges from 4 inches to 8 inches, said top wall contains two smaller openings each of which allow a piece of equipment to be connected to said hollow structure, and said two smaller openings each have a diameter ranging from between 0.5 inches to 3 inches.

14. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 13 wherein said sidewall has between 40 to 50 openings formed therein, each of said openings has a diameter of greater than 1 inch, and said openings are arranged in a predetermined pattern which includes a top row having two or more openings, and each of said two or more openings in said top row receiving a fastener for securing a trellis to said hollow structure, said trellis extending upward from said hollow structure at least 6 feet.

15. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 10 wherein a first surveillance camera is positioned within said hollow structure and a second surveillance camera is positioned outside of said hollow structure, and said vertical aeroponic growing apparatus is monitored by a sensor system which monitors air temperature, water temperature, the level of dissolved oxygen, water level, pH level, nutrient levels and biological activity within said hollow structure.

16. A vertical aeroponic growing apparatus, comprising:

a) a hollow structure having a top wall, a sidewall, and a bottom wall, said top wall having a centrally located opening, two additional large openings and two smaller openings formed therethrough, said two large openings being spaced 180° apart and each has a diameter of from 4 inches to 8 inches for allowing a person's hand, forearm and upper arm to be easily inserted therethrough, said two smaller openings allowing a piece of equipment to be connected to said hollow structure, said sidewall having a plurality of openings formed therethrough, and said bottom wall having an opening formed therethrough;

b) a reservoir which can hold from between 5 gallons to 1.000 gallons of nutrient laden water, said reservoir being spaced apart from said hollow structure;

c) an outlet tube connecting said nutrient laden water housed in said reservoir to a filtration manifold located outside of said reservoir;

d) a pump located downstream of said filtration manifold, said pump connected by a hollow tube to said filtration manifold;

e) an irrigation tube connecting said pump to said centrally located opening formed in said top wall, said irrigation tube routing high pressure nutrient laden water from said pump to said hollow structure;

f) a hollow wand positioned within said hollow structure and connected to said centrally located opening, said hollow wand branching sideways into two hollow tubes, and each of said two hollow tubes having an end with a nozzle attached thereto for delivering a fine mist of nutrient laden water;

g) a thermal, light refractive cover wrapped around said sidewall, said covering having a plurality of openings formed therethrough which correspond to said plurality of openings formed in said sidewall, said thermal, light refractive cover having a first layer, a second layer, a third layer and a fourth layer, said first layer is both an anti-condensate and an infrared layer, said second layer is a thermal bubble layer, said third layer is a light refractive layer, and said fourth layer is an inflation layer positioned between said second layer and said third layer;

h) a fitting positioned in each of said plurality of openings in which a plant will be supported, each fitting permits roots of an individual plant to extend into said hollow structure, and said roots receive said fine mist of nutrient laden water;

i) a cap closing off any of said plurality of openings formed in said sidewall which are not needed to support said fitting;

j) a drain pipe secured to said opening formed in said bottom wall for allowing excess water to be removed from said hollow structure; and

k) a mechanical mechanism secured to said hollow structure for rotating said hollow structure.

17. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 16 wherein said mechanical mechanism is spaced a short distance away from said bottom wall of said hollow structure, said drain pipe passes through said mechanical mechanism, each of said two smaller openings of said top wall allows a piece of equipment to be connected to said hollow structure, and said two smaller openings each have a diameter ranging from between 0.5 inches to 3 inches.

18. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 16 wherein said mechanical mechanism is secured to said bottom wall of said hollow structure, and said nutrient laden water has an oxygen content which ranges from between 30% to 75%.

19. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 16 wherein said sidewall has a surface area of 15 square feet, and said thermal, light reflective cover covers at least 98% of said sidewall.

20. The vertical aeroponic growing apparatus of claim 16 wherein said plurality of openings formed in said sidewall of said hollow structure number from 40 to 50 openings and each opening has a diameter ranging from 0.7 inches to 3 inches, said plurality of openings include an upper row of openings having two or more openings, and a trellis is secured to two openings in said upper row of openings, and said trellis extends at least 5 feet above said top wall of said hollow structure.