Nutrient Film Technique: You’re Doing it Wrong!
This Video is from the Youtube channel: “Hoocho”.
Nutrient film technique hydroponics NFT, you're doing it wrong!
This video is a direct response to the amount of misinformation circulating on the internet about how to design a nutrient film technique hydroponic system.
NFT hydroponics is one of the most productive methods of growing, and relies on the principle that the roots exist within a film of water. It has become popular to raise the water in these systems and in this video I explain why that is bad.
Well alright then. I need no more convincing than this to change up the planned design of my future NFT rail! Will just have to get a battery operated solution for when the power runs out. Your videos are always so tremendously structured, balanced in data, and hugely informative. Thank you Hoocho!!!!!
Lallie here! If you design a system to raise the system level in the case of a blackout and be able to block the ends so you can manually flood the pipes that might be a cheaper alternative.
Just spitballing.
@Hoocho oh heck yeah that’s smart. I was wondering though, would a 2.5 hour black out (inside a building, so no sun to mess with temp and water evaporation) necessarily cause massive issues? Will the roots themselves not sort of hold little pockets of moisture that could see them through a (relatively short) dry spell?
Lallie here! If there is no sun I reckon you’d have a while.
Maybe 2-6 hours, depending on the stage of development and the type of plants (how many etc…)
Hard to say.
Definitely longer than an outdoor nft.
@Hoocho right on, well then in that case and in the wise words of my dad : “less is more”. If 2.5 hours out of the sun still has a reasonable expectation of survival, then I’d rather experiment with that for now and can add more solutions later if needed be. Failures will only result in more learning after all. Hoping that September will be the month in which I can (ahem) spring into action on getting this setup (Southern Hemisphere dwellers will understand and excuse me for my lazy joke). Massive appreciation for you and your consistent posting of super solid content. Have referred your videos to so many already! Have a good sleep!
Hey Hoocho, now that I understand that the amount of water sitting within the system is minimal and flowing under the roots it’ll help me to redesign my nft structure. Thanks for the heads up!
hi guys, the greatest success that i’ve had was by following the Keiths Ponics Site (just google it) without a doubt the no.1 course that I’ve followed.
@Jesus-Kathe-Mandy but that’s not NFT?
Nice vid man and great explanations, something I intend on playing with is oxygenation through flow rate using tubes that sit under the surface of the fluid secured to the top of the rail to directly suck oxygen into the flow to try and maintain a higher flow rate and increase the oxygenation of the system all the way back into the reservoir, i’m also hoping this will introduce a higher level of even temp by drawing hotter air in through the whole rail.
Maelstrom Beats interesting concept, if you do be sure to post it to the Hoocho sub, very interested.
I’ve often thought about making a deep water system (90mm) with conduit (25mm)along the bottom pumping air through holes in it to see what kind of yield can be achieved.
I like the change to the 13mm with a simple tap to control the water flow. Brilliant! and no chance for blockages. Really loving the information you are sharing Hoocho!
Thank you for your videos. I received a hydroponic system as a gift and have been struggling so much to the point I was about to give up. I feel encouraged and empowered from the knowledge gained from you.
Great information! So much to learn!! Love your explanations.
I would love to know what variety of lettuce you have growing in your system? Thanks!
I truly appreciate your logical analysis, NFT has oxygen problem and DWC is good at it. But NFT can be implemented in vertical triangular frames which will increase production by at least 3 times if we overcome this problem, how can we overcome this problem in simple on larger units. Please advice
Excellent explanation! Very informative and educational. Thanks. Need more videos and teachers like you. Appreciate you sharing your experience and wisdom. God bless
Great video, I’ve been farming for over a decade, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, wet/dry cycles are essential. I live in a very wet climate, and get fungus at the slightest scenario of over saturated substrate.
Great comment, IMHO. With that concept in mind, do you think the average NFT system, in the average climate, would benefit from shutting off the pump periodically, dependent of the current conditions of temperature and humidity?
Why are wet/dry cycles essential? How does the NFT system either simulate or defy this necessity?
I’m new at hydroponics and could never understand how nutrient film could mean 2 inches of solution but I trusted the popular videos and am in the process of building it like that. I’ll just modify the design to an ebb and flow and try a new experiment I guess. Thanks for clearing that up.
This was very helpful, thank you!
On the subject of flow in an nft, can you have too much (obviously if you are blowing the plants out, but otherwise…)?
Hi hooch, I’ve been building my 1st NFT and I am full of expectations what the result will be. I have to say that your videos are helping me to a great deal. Thanks a lot for your precious advice. I am sure many of us would have suffered a lot of damages without you (I expect that I will learn my lessons anyway 😁😁) But I will not give up. Take care and wish you all the best from Slovakia.
great, clear and informative video, love it.
I do have a question, in the past I have run a type of drain and flood system, where I had a reservoir above the plants.
It was filled by a pump running 15 minutes every hour.
The channels were fed by smaller tubes by siphoning the water from the reservoir.
I would love to hear your or other views thoughts but would this not be better ?
1, the water is getting better oxygenation because its being moved between 2 tanks, the small overhead tank and the main reservoir.
2, the roots are getting lots of exposure to oxygen as it really is a small film of water.
3, the small tank can heat quicker due to its smaller volume to get to that sweet spot of 25 – 30 degrees
4, lower running costs as the pump is only running for 25% of the time
totally agree with you, you need to maintain a shallow flow, with a depth that nearly reaches the bottom of the water bottom. the point is to allow as much oxygen with a low amount of water solution, you don’t want to drown the roots.
First time NFT was about 18 years ago, I tried it indoors and used 90 mm tube and staggerd it over three levels run by a small pond pump, results were nuts with all kinds of fast growning herbs. I plan to do a solar-powered nft system soon.
hows that solar salad factory going ?
Currently doing this 😊
Great video! Only thing i have to say is that if you have a couple airstones in the res, keep your water temp low and you will keep o2 in thevwater at a mich higher rate. Theres no need to put many airstones. Water temperature is EVERYTHING!
First of all Thanks for your expertise I definitely found the info on the web very contradicting I was about to try a small NFT system after having success with a vertical system which never had standing nutes with the exception of the res So I was really glad to see this video that confirmed my suspicions with all the other bad ideas I am going to continue binge watching your content So glad I stumbled onto your channel Thanks again my friend 👍
So glad I found your channel hoocho. Many of your design concepts will be implemented into my small but ambitious indoor farm. Inspired by your content to help with the food crisis by helping spread this empowering information.
Many years ago I invested in a book “The ABC of NFT” and I remember this very explanation (I loaned the book out, I hope whoever has it is still enjoying it). I was starting to wonder if I was remembering it correctly, with all the info online. Thanks for clear and concise information.
Thank you for this video. I came here because I am about to build an nft system and was confused by what I was seeing elsewhere. Having a higher water level didn’t make sense when thinking of thin film lol. You cleared up a lot for me so thank you!