Quote:
Originally Posted by GpsFrontier
Hello Freshwater,
Nice looking setups. What are the 2 small lines going into the end of the long tubes for? I assume they are water inlet lines, but I'm wondering why there are two of them, and/or what type of system it is (flood and drain, etc.). If they are lines for misters, doesn't that make maintenance difficult with the lines and misters inside the tube?
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Thanks NorEast / Hydro!
Hey GPSFrontier,
The tubes are my NFT setup. 3 tubes, 3 inches in diameter, by 10 feet long, w/ 2 inch holes for net cups. The pipes, or channel drops 2 inches in ten feet allowing my flow.
I run dual pumps for the NFT system. If one
pump where to go out, then the other one would (in theory) keep the root "wet", alive, and growing. Also helps if you get a line clog...which I have. Each pump runs one line for each tube.
This is actually my problematic system. I thought the
drip system in the Bato Buckets was going to be the one that gave me more trouble. I recently switched
nutrients for the NFT.
I started out using the "Super Natural Brand" "Gro Aqua" for everything. The drip system and the NFT system. Once my drip system plants vegged and began to flower, I switched the drip system over to "GH FloraMato" which I really like.
Just last month I cleared out the NFT, and did a full cleaning. I switched over to an organic
nutrient for several reasons. Number one is that my hydro shop and I are of the thinking that the "Gro Aqua" might be a bit too chemically hot for light root feeders like lettuce. I also did have a couple instances with clogged emitters, and i wanted to try something that was not salt based. Don't get me wrong, I had good results... not great.
I am now using "Botanicare" "Pure Blend" Organic Compost Solution (1.0-0.5-1.0) and back that up with a bit of liquid seaweed. I started out at 1/3 ratio of recommended nutrient mix. Now I am up to 2/3 strength mix, and next week I will most likely go full strength.
Both my systems reservoirs run on R.O. water, at a P.H. of approx. 6.0. I do a straight P.H. balanced R.O. water flush once every week or two on the drip system and once a month on the NFT. This is to keep emitters clear, and to help prevent nutrient lockout.
The only other thing on my list for the NFT, as of right now...I want to swap out the PVC pipe for real NFT channel. I was looking at the "SureGro" NFT channel that Crop King carries, but they can't ship 10 foot section cheaply. (something like 400 bucks shipping!) I might end up going with 8 footers and splicing in 2 extra feet on the end, but don't want to if I can help it.
Anyone know of a good commercial NFT channel they might recommend?
Oh, and the port in National City is just 12 min. south of me towards the boarder. I live right next to Sea World in Ocean Beach. Small world!
Todd