Sunday, November 23, 2014

N.F.T. (Nutrient Film Technique)

N.F.T. (Nutrient Film Technique) - Hydroponics

NFT is another form of Hydroponics. This form is quite popular in the commercial Hydroponics industry. NFT is simply a gravity fed nutrient solution system. You setup rails with holes in the top for the plants, that is at a slight grade. Then you will want to have a very shallow nutrient solution moving down across all of the roots of the plants. This is simple, and requires very little to get started. You will only need minimal pumps for a system such as this since it is gravity fed from the top, to the bottom of the rail. The water runs down the slope across all of the root systems.

NFT Advantages:

  • This system is relatively cheap to make. Made from readily available supplies from any hardware store. You can use gutters for rails, or outdoor railing. 
  • No stagnant water. 
  • Easy to clean. 
  • Easily expanded. 
  • You can use any grow media, or combinations of media. 
  • Reusing the nutrient solution

NFT Disadvantages: 
  • Pump failures kill the plants very quickly 
  • You may need a chiller for your nutrient solution.
  • You will need plants with long enough roots for the system, so you will want to use clones, or plants that already have a good set of roots since they have to touch the bottom of the rails to get the nutrients. 
  • If plants get any diseases, especially the closer to the top, the rest of the plants will get that disease as well. 

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