nft help

hi im new to all of this and am doing my 1st grow in soil. can anyone out there advise me about nft systems are they a. reliable? b. easy to mantain. and c. are the results any better than soil. please note anyone that answers this will probably have hundreds more questions fired at em lol thanks in advance

Hey Sean, in answer to all your questions.. yes yes and yes they couldnt be simpler and you will get great results as long as you use a decent hps and good nutes. I would go canna all the way ie vega a&b + flora a&b + boost + Pk 13/14 and a bloom or bud booster also a good air pump. Hope this helps

hi and thanks i already have purchased a good air pump but wanted to go with a 1 step food not a mix dont think im confident enough yet to mix even an a+b lol any suggestions on an alternative ?
dont know if it helps at all but ive got 1 of them 180watt ufos for vegging and got a 600 for flowering i have also got 60watts of cfls in my veg area for heat.
by decent hps errrrrrrr what makes em decent? i have a growmaster 600 dual spec bulb and maxigrow compact ballast are they any good? thanks in advance.

My suggestions for NFT systems.

1. Do it right and do not skimp.
2. Purchase a high quality pH, EC/PPM constant monitor. Get the kind that can dose with pH solution automatically to keep the pH constant.
3. Use Technaflora Nitric Acid pH down.
4. Purchase extra water pumps, air pumps, air stones, tubing, and emitters. Losing any one of these components for even a short time can destroy a crop.
5. Ensure you have access to clean or filtered water. Purchase an RO system if need be.
6. Make sure you have a spare reservoir.

NFT is a fantastic Hydroponic method that has been around since the very beginning of Hydro. More than 60 years of documentation on the method for you to learn from, so go find it on your own and stop asking for hand outs.

You need to take some time and employ a search engine to get the information you need. We're not here to spoon feed you.

hi im not out to be spoon fed just was asking advice sorry if that caused offence i have been researching for over 3 weeks now . i will definetly not skimp and i have just bought a ph meter and wand. it was more to lead into building my own custom system than purchase a pre made 1 as i do have limits for space and i read on 1 of the many forums ive been to that transplanting from veg to flower can be tricky. was after advice more so on how many plants can be put in say the gt205 ect as each hydro shop ive called gives varying numbers from 2-3 to 2-6 and i want to do a 6 plant cycle in 3 areas . but hey snow crash if my being a novice and coming to a forum for advice has offended you im sorry but surely we all start somewhere.

Hey Sean, sounds like your pretty well covered m8, I use a gt205. I have no issues at all. I tried 6 plants on a scrog, yeild was ok but not enough to justify cost etc. I now only have 3 plants in the tank in a V shape. this doubled yeild as twice the space was available. Dont forget if plants are to close they will vie for light and stretch which in turn means less light to lower areas. I always thin out low lvl anything that is not getting the light i hack off its brutal and i cringe foing it but it just makes sense. I am now on my 4th grow with this nft system and just starting to get optimum yeilds. The only thing i would suggest is covering your rock wool cubes and tapeing down to lid (just stops green algae and gives more support to plants) for the sake of £20 i would go for a grow lux bulb and change every 2-3 grows. Feeds I have tried a few all in one feeds and to be honest canna blows them all away i would never go back. Its no more complicated just takes 5 mins longer, Using big bud and canna boost this time round comming up to 2weeks in flower and the boost seems to be making a difference ..nice thick stems . I am about to buy a secret jardin mtr square tent so i can have 2 nft and grow 6 plants. If you need any help pm me. You might know everything i have to offer we all started once i was helped out on thcchat by a great guy his help was solid gold.

hey sean im on my first grow using nft in grow tent had a few temp and humidity problems would suggest getting air cooled reflector and hygrometer on the grow side as long as you stay within temp humidity ph and ec levels should be all good oh and keep everything clean

I have no issue with reasonable questions. But your questions are not reasonable.

A. Is it reliable?
Please define "reliable." The system itself is just pieces of plastic. It's reliable in the sense that it's not going to cheat on you, or lie to you... Are air pumps and water pumps reliable? Is that the question? Because they are as reliable as the manufacturer and there are many. Is Ford reliable? Chevy? Toyota? Depends on who you ask and what bad press they've been getting. This isn't a question that helps get you anywhere.

B. Easy to maintain?
Define "easy" for us. Soil is easy. You just add water. Is hydro something a child could do? Sure, but they need the knowledge and the instructions. Building circuit boards is easy for people who are educated on how to do it. For Jim-Joe Backwater... not so much. As difficulty goes NFT is no more difficult than any other hydro system, but that isn't to say someone with no knowledge could succeed easily.

C. Are the results any better than soil?
Define "results" and "better." Are you talking yield? Are you talking quality? I mean, there is a reason why it's a popular method with botanists. If it can be dialed in perfectly it really does provide vigorous growth and heavy yields. But is it better than say the same genetics grown in perfectly dialed organics??? Maybe not in flavor... Hydro or Organic or Hydro Organic, they're all methods and they are all up to personal preference.

I was a noob at one time too, but these questions are... I dunno. You need to be able to get to "D" without having to ask A, B, and C (as my old philo prof. would say).

I'm not trying to nit pick but it takes time out of peoples day to try and answer a bunch of useless questions that could be answered via google so that eventually we could get to the meat of the conversation. Maybe asking the questions:

"Do you like your NFT setup?"
"Why?"
"What advantages and disadvantages do you see in your own gardens?"
"Can you give advice to someone looking to start with hydro?"

Take a look at the views versus replies and you'll see why it's important to phrase your ?'s intelligently to get people to "bite" and give you the information you're really after. You know, getting to D without having to go through A,B, and C.

thanks tompar you have realised my worst fears with your answer as my veg room cant take the bigger model shame cos 2 424,s would have gone ideal in my flower room and i was planning to rig up some sort of adjustable base to do my 6 plant rotation in the same flower area i might now have to go back to the drawing board lol.
thanks for the pm offer and i will take you up on that i still have a ss haze and a big bud flowering now and 6 babies on the way 3 blue cheese and 3 northern lights all still in soil the plan was to start going nft with my cuttings from these .

sshazy said:

hey sean im on my first grow using nft in grow tent had a few temp and humidity problems would suggest getting air cooled reflector and hygrometer on the grow side as long as you stay within temp humidity ph and ec levels should be all good oh and keep everything clean

Click to expand...

have no probs with temps at the moment as running some pretty serious extraction with both inlet and outlet fans as well as circulation fans but thanks for the heads up. and my 3 dogs are also banned from this room to try and help with the cleanliness.
thanks for your advice and any further problems or soloutions you come across feel free to pm me and discuss i love a good problem or tip thanks once again.

easy answer snow crash, dont answer, i wouldnt wanna waste your obviously valuable time with my purile questions easy solution dont you think?

LMAO...

You're welcome for the advice. I did line up a good 5 points to help guide you in the right direction. Far be it from me to help someone help themselves.

Good luck dude. You need it.

And you can be sure I won't be responding. You're going on ignore.

i noted your 5 points but maybe the way you answered was how can i put it ........... i dunno aloof. in case you didnt know these places are where people come for advice not a browbeating maybe a bit of tact with your answers is needed and people respond better ignore if ya will its your choice as i said i wouldnt wanna waste your time but once again thanks it helps weed out the chaff.

Hey peops a quick pic update ill post more in a bit. Having probs with this batch lots of sativa in them, streching like fuck!! Now bending like there is no tomorrow.

wow looking good i posted the updated pics in my album . sorry to hear bout your stretching my ssh is now 6ft outta the pot had to bend her over oooerrrrrr lol