Hydroponic NFT DRIP SYSTEM

Has anyone built a hybrid nft drip system or has experience of whether it can work by combining a nutrient film technique with a drip system to water the plants from above or does that fall more into the drip system category? I’m still thinking about which irrigation system I should use and I’m toying with the idea of ​​making a hybrid like this. I will fertilize with canna

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Building a system DIY i would say a driper would be a great option. As far as film×dripper I would think that’s just a driper if its going in the top :man_shrugging:

But if I was just looking for a very easy, effective, and efficient system. It be autopots and coco-coir/ perlite 50/50. They are the ultimate grow hack but kinda pricey compared to many DIY hydro options.
Theres no way with my work i could grow more then a couple plants without them and I got 18 plants going now with very minimal effort in maintaining them.
I like dripper system and love to dyi stuff. If i had time I’d do it, but i don’t and autopots work well at what they do.

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Here’s one I built yesterday


Hydroton clay pebbles on bottom

Rockwool chunks on top

Add plants in rockwool

Cover with panda to keep down the algea…Happy Growing

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@MachWas wated to tag you on that

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I’m still working on it, but I am putting together an NFT bed / rack which can be used as a standard NFT or the top replaced with perforated aluminum to allow grow bags to sit over the bottom / waste water collection. The pump in the reservoir can be switch to NFT or drain to a collection tote which can be used all around our farm.

I’m making the rack with the trellis vertical support built in. It will fit in a 5x5 but will only provide a 4x4 surface. (this will let the branches fill out the 5x5 while the bags stay on the 4x4.)

I’m in no hurry and due to other things with farm life I won’t start my grow until late Feb at the earliest. So pics may not be available until closer till then.

My goal is to be able to use the tent for multiple grows. Meaning right now the woman has lettuce in there, and in the future we will be trying out a variety of greens and any other edibles with fast harvest times. Some of our lettuce is 30 days. As long as I don’t “screw the pooch” on my grows, she should be able to provide us something for when we get the munchies too.

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Ive never seen a trough like im running…we will see how it works…I’m discovering its quite handy…can be just a drip or flood to drain…almost built an aeroponic system instead…last indoor was RDWC…they got hugemungus but I could only fit 6. …so far this has been fun as anything…what is meant by NFT ? I am stoned and been working for 25hrs. Split and delivered a cord of wood early today…smoking Bruce Banner gives me crazy energy and drive to make it happen…whatever “it” is…
.lol…
Happy Growing :blush:

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Nutrient Film Technique

Basically your nutrient solution is introduced to the high side of a track and the film of water spreads out on the bottom like a film and flows to the low end. The roots just take what the need out of the film. A pump in the reservoir keeps the film running continuously.

What I plan to do is use the same reservoir and pump for NFT to collect the waste water from when I run an auto waterer. I still haven’t decided which style emitter I want to use. One rack lid will have cut outs to receive net cups, and the second cover will just be perforated aluminum.

Yeah, when I saw the trough flood and drain jumped out at me. Looks like you have quite the set up!

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Man I’ve got my fingers crossed…so I got those girls in there yesterday or the day before…hmmm…its a bit of a blur…at any rate they’ve already grown a couple inches , had to raise the lights so…they aren’t hating it…15 minutes per hour fertigate…I will monitor the progress…as long as they take it I will give it…thats why I didn’t know NFT…never heard of it before now…you can get a phd on this forum…Happy Growing

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That must have been a lot of work but it looks cool. I’m also the type of person who likes to do crafts and especially with this topic, trying out new things or putting a plan/idea into action is something really cool :smiley:

I think I will resort to a recirculating NFT drip system where I water the plants from above and the nutrient solution then flows from the bottom of the pots down the channel bottom into the nutrient tank.
This is how I imagined it, an NFT drip system should be hybrid, but I don’t yet know how I should / have to adjust the pump
I’m thinking about 3-4 times a day for about 15 minutes in the vegetative phase (every 4.5 hours when the light is on)
and 5-6 times a day for 15 minutes in the flowering phase.
(every 2 hours when the light is on)
I don’t know exactly how to set the timer for optimal watering. Maybe you have tips or advice on how to water your systems.

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Well…more frequent and short duration is the way to go…I’m looking for timers that have minute increments . most are 15min which imo is 3 times what you really want…3 minutes every hour in my systems would be optimal…I am needing to find out about during lights off it shouldnt go 6 hours without a drink I don’t believe…more research into this subject is required. I like rockwool for the reason that you can water alot , pumping a balanced nutrition almost constantly…Happy Growing

Yes, I have to do some research on the subject of water, I still have something to read and research.
I don’t assume that the plants can survive without water at night, but that’s what I thought I read.
A colleague had a perfect irrigation system, everything was set up perfectly, but unfortunately there was no contact with it anymore.

I have another question, I have a 90 liter tank for 3-6 plants, I think the tank will be too big, am I correct?
Or 90 liters fit 3-6 plants

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I was all good til you said ‘litre’…lol…there are so many variables…I like to be able to go 2 days without having to add back…but…right now I am topping up 5 gallons a day…I have been waiting to increase resevoir size until needed…its almost time. I will go up to a 20gal. For each table (of 7 plants)and that should give me 3 days, at this point, eventually with size it should be back to top up daily. My girls are setting their feet quite well. I see a large job of defoliating coming up real soon. And then the nets. Don’t know how long I’ll have to grow these, time will tell.


Happy Growing :blush:

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Back in the 70’s i use a drip method that i cut the top off of 2 liter pop bottles i also used the plastic cases to put the in. I ran pvc with holes drilled in it to fit air line tubing and a pond pump in my reservoir my timer was set for every half hour. My media then was aquarium gravel. I had 50 plants one for each state lol. I used 1000w metal halides and high pressure sodium bulbs. They stayed on 24 hrs during veg. 12 bloom. It was a nice set up. All pre led light and electronic device’s like today. I ordered my nutrients in bags from an ad in the back of High Times magazine from Amsterdam. Good times in the 70’s for sure!

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