£20 buys me an NFT system, few Qs

[ganjagunman]

So ive gone from HPS/CFL soil grows, im now about to try LED SCROG starting as of this week and now ive just gone and purchased another ' toy ' good job im single or my girlfriend/Mrs would kill me !

I know of a guy I used to buy weed off, whos given it all up as his girlfriends up the poke, had a couple of bits off him but bought this NFT system for £20 gave me a brief explanation of how it worked though he never used it himself, the feed tube was missing off the pump but there on eBay for around a fiver. Got another RVK 5 inch fan for £30 too, used for one grow.

It ' seems ' simple enough. Rockwool cube starter cube, into bigger cube, let it root bound and she can go in the system. Thing that baffles me is the nutrients/water. Its got a 20 litre tank and he said its good for upto 4 plants ( theres 4 squares cut offset into the lid) Ill put a pic up later. I understand basically the system provides a constant? flow of water/nutes into that matting stuff, so the roots are getting a constant supply of feed and air? Now is the pump left on 24/7 or is it set on a timer? and with the water/nutes, do you just mix up 20l worth test it with PH/EC pen and its good to go? or does it need regular changes, or adjustments to the amount of nutes?

I had a quick browse through the newbie threads but nothing seemed to answer my questions. I won't use it just yet maybe come December when the auto grow is over, but then again i might let a friend use it whos about to start a grow. Apparently its one of the best systems and yields are really good if you get it right.

Cheers

[Jesse Pinkman]

Never used one personally mate but theres a good guide here:

https://www.thctalk.com/cannabis-foru...-set-up-thread

I believe its just like any hydro set up, fill with water and add nutes to desired EC then PH down as normal, keep checking throughout the week and adjust accordingly. U want to do a fresh res change every 7-10 days to keep things fresh

[ganjagunman]

Cheers, dont know how i missed that one lol

[ganjagunman]

Just a quick one on this, to save starting another thread.

Helped a friend setup this NFT system earlier and his tent, extraction etc hes only done basic soil grows like me. We filled it with plain water and tested it make sure it all works okay which it does, hes put some of my spare Strawberry Cheesecake seeds into rockwool starter cubes.

Questions -

Do you change the water/feed in the 20l container every week? That seems to be the preferred choice? Use a second pump to empty it into bucket?

Nutes - What are people using for NFT hydro? He was thinking of trying the canna a and b, pk13/14 etc?

EC Pen/PH meter - whats good and whats not with these? Seen the yellow ones on ebay for around a tenner, and he EC pens for a little more is there a set brand to go for and ones to avoid?

[B.A.BARACUS]

Nft are a doddle Gg.. With you saying 20l. It must be the 205 size which is good for 1 or 2 plants.. I have the 2x 40L Nft.. Canna Aqua + a pk 13/14 & a bottle of rhitzotonic is all you need along with a ph pen & ec meter.. Face & Murdock have over 20 years experience between them But both now swear by Coco... Just remember that you need to keep res temps as near too 19c as possible.. Lower temps will slow growth & higher temps 22/23c Can ruin your plants due to root rot..

[ganjagunman]

Cheers mate, I guess if temps are high to add some frozen icepacks or similar to it, and if too cool use one of the fish tank heater things? Hes going to grow under LED so won't have the issue of HPS boiling the tank. Whats the best brand for the EC and PH testers or will any do the job? Ill get him to sign up on here, im 3 weeks into my auto grow and just about to start a LED scrog soil so told him he can use it for one grow and il learn/pick up tips too. All good fun

[chufuginlookinat]

Cheers mate, I guess if temps are high to add some frozen icepacks or similar to it, and if too cool use one of the fish tank heater things? Hes going to grow under LED so won't have the issue of HPS boiling the tank. Whats the best brand for the EC and PH testers or will any do the job? Ill get him to sign up on here, im 3 weeks into my auto grow and just about to start a LED scrog soil so told him he can use it for one grow and il learn/pick up tips too. All good fun

Replace the nft lid with some insulation and put the netpots through that. Keeps the heat out and give you extra space for the roots.

[Vador]

Like BA said if it's 20L then it'll most likely be a 205, 2 plants is fine 3 if your willing to keep up with the daily maintenance but don't even try 4, it'll be too much work.
With 2 plants I'm putting in 4L of water every day, 3 plants would be about 6L, you don't want to be losing much more water than that. If your not careful and let the level drop too much you'll end up with nute burn

[chufuginlookinat]

Replace the nft lid with some insulation and put the netpots through that. Keeps the heat out and give you extra space for the roots.

Rockwool, duh!

[ganjagunman]

lol, thanks chaps, ive seen that silver backed insulation board used on some of the youtube vids ive watched. When his grow is finished and ive got it back once my grows are done id probably to a 600w HPS scrog with it once ive learnt how to do it in this other tent lol least by lending it him for free i can learn from his fuckups. he said he will sign up on here when he finishes work.