Home-made Nft

[psycho]

lo all,

i'm planning to build an nft set-up out of piping and/or guttering. I'm thinking that it's a suitable material, just a question of cutting all the holes. I'm planning on growing 12 plants in a 6'x4' space, three lines and four plants per line. If I understand correctly, i leave the water pump on full time during daylight hours, and i'm wondering what volume of water I should expect to be able to drain away.. also what the most appropriate width pipes are, wondering if anybody has tried making anything similar and has any experience to share...

what I was thinking was using 110mm soil pipes (like the sort you have on the side of your house), which should be able to drain about 12 litres per second at a 1:350 incline, to house the plants (~6ft lengths) and run these into a 160mm pipe that drains into the res. if the pipes with the plants in should flood, then i need a bigger pipe to drain those four into.. mmmmmm.

of course I could go for 160mm piping for the whole shooting match, and here's where i really don't have a clue. the inside of the pipe should be dark and sealed from light. using bigger piping would create a larger volume for the roots to grow into, , but will they? I guess what i'm asking is, is that extra volume useful?

with respect to the system, i see little exchange being possible, prolly quite easy for humidity to build up in there, especially under the heat of the lights (planning on 3x400w HPS). i grow other things as well, and when i think about the likely conditions inside the tubes i reckon that it's pretty much ideal conditoins for all sorts of moulds and fungi to start growing...

thoughts?

[NiceBuds!]

I have experimented with using gutters as a cheap hydro system... my only advice is dont bother...

It all seems fine for the first few weeks, but once they have been bloomin for a few weeks the roots get really big and they fill the gutters, pushing the water over the sides, or back it up over the top(unless you have good end caps.

Have a look at my home made nft plans, it seems to work better and should be a bit cheaper... using a seed tray gives the water and roots more room to move (the plants will be more stable too)

Oh, and if you use clear tubing, there will be a lot of algae forming on the inside, I would wrap it in duct tape if yo ucant get black pipe easily.

Good luck with your new crop

[cf]

yup i agree with nice buds,wide channels are the way to go ,better for o2 around the root zone have a look at my link below.

i think a fall of 1:25 would be more in line with currnt thinking .1:350 might be alright if your trying to connect your soil pipe to an existing inspection chamber on site ,but this is nft and there will be a root mat in the bottom of your channel restricting the flow

[Nitramkram]

HI psycho - JUST WAS EXPERIMENTING WITH PIPE SET UP MYSELF.

YOUR ANALYSIS IS PRETTY GOOD BUT I CAN SAY THE PIPE SETUP WITH 4" PVC (10") & WORKS OUT CHEAPAND AVILILE FROM YOUR LOCAL HARDWARE SHOP.

I HAD TO DO A LITTLE CONSTRUCRION WORK AND PLANNED TO HAVE A MINIMUM 8 - 10 PLANTS UNDER 400W FLOOLD & DRAIN USING 'HYDROTORN' AS A MEDIUM & USING CANNA A & B NUTES

THE ADVANTAFE OF USING HYDRITRON WAS THAT MOISTURE & NUES R SORED IN HYDROTRON WITH UP TO 300% HOLDING CAPACITY. SO YOU HAVE TO WTCH YOUR NUE LEVELS CLOSLY AND PH LEVELS.

AS WITH THE POSSIBLE PROBLEM OF ROOTS BIULDING UP AND BLOCKING FLOW TROUGH SYSTEM I FOUND MIMIMAL PROBLEMS IN 4" PIPES. i FOUND HYDROTRON SUITABLE TO MINTAIN ph & ec/cf /ppm LEVEL OF NUTES.

i USE A 50 lt RES TANK TO SUPPLY NY PLANTS ET UP FOR scrog GROW

COU;LLE PF PIC'S FROM BIULDING PHASE TO CURRNEN AS OF 2 WEEKS GO

PIC # 1 BIULD PHSE

[Nitramkram]

STAGE - VEG AT 10 " ABOVRE PIPES

[Nitramkram]

uNDERSIDE PRUNED OFF

[Nitramkram]

fLOWERING OUT WELL

[Nitramkram]

SOME REWWARDS

[irish]

very well made tube system nitram... well thought out...

if you are running it NFT style, i am assuming the plants just sit at the bottom of the tubes... do you have any overwatering or damping off problems?

or is that why the plants have that wrap around their trunks where they are placed into the holes?

how deep is the water in the tubes and how is the depth controlled?

also what strain is that?

what nutrients do you run?

at what dilution and pH?

sorry for all the questions just trying to get a feel for the system as i am a big fan of pipe systems, but have rarely run a true nft.

[Nitramkram]

irish

Hi M8 the setup is my first and have lean't lot on UK240.

I have a res tank which is pumped by a water pump that circulates the nutes around in 4" PVC pipes. I use canna Veg and Flores changing the water every 12-14 days. I flood & drain by tuerning the pump off & on using a timer (20 Mins on 3 hrs off. 1 x 400w HSP SROG using 1" rectangle (1.2m x .900mm) as netting 12 " above pipes.

Strain - I know these to be of Stav. variety & have long Veg (10 Weeks) & long Flowerng (20 Weeks) times. You mignt get 3 crops a year ! So it's ewhat I'm going to change next grow in January.

This pic taken when flushing day 2 - like a carpet or, c of green