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-Smokey-
16-04-12, 06:57 PM
Has anybody modded there NFT before I was reading through a thread earlier and I was think of installing some water stones in my tray until I read that is encourages pythuim. So I binned that idea and thought what about drilling holes in my tray, say about 3mm-5mm in diameter. From what I've read this would cause the tray to drip thus aerating the water and also when the plants were more established their roots would go through into the res. I can't see any bad points from doing this? CAN YOU? Let me know :D

-Smokey-
21-04-12, 11:52 AM
No-one? Come on......surely?

Murdock
21-04-12, 12:58 PM
i,m sure you could drill holes in but i,d rather work with a air stone and keep rez temps at 19 degrees then you,ll be fine for pythium , your roots will hit the res anyway at the end of the tray, i think drilling holes up top might encourage too many roots round the pump area , which could be a disaster

L
21-04-12, 01:14 PM
Check out the last couple of pictures in my diary and you will see the roots go mad anyway. But I do know a member on here called icon has done a wicked nft - dwc conversion.

Icon
21-04-12, 01:17 PM
Cheers L

Heres the link... https://www.thctalk.com/cannabis-forum/showthread.php?26389-Icons-NFT-to-DWC-conversion


If you were going to drill holes dont do it in the channels else the bottom of the tray would hardly receive any water.

L
21-04-12, 01:51 PM
Cheers L

Heres the link... https://www.thctalk.com/cannabis-forum/showthread.php?26389-Icons-NFT-to-DWC-conversion


If you were going to drill holes dont do it in the channels else the bottom of the tray would hardly receive any water.

Haha you were not meant to see me bigging you up lol. Were your results a lot better?

Icon
21-04-12, 02:17 PM
Well in all honesty they were not that much better but then I have grown NFT for years so any change takes a few grows to adapt to but I then changed and did quite a few different systems. Just out of boredom really.
Im not really one for striving to find the max yield im more into creating easy to mange systems because believe it or not you do get bored of growing after a while and it can become like a job.
So for example when I first started in '97 I was trying all sorts of things then got into NFT and never really changed for about 10 years I just used a NFT tray So I had that nailed. Its unfair to compare changing to RDWC and expect the same or better results if you follow me.
To me theres nothing that can replace experience in growing and that also includes experience with systems they all have there foibles and once you get the basics you can move through systems but they all still need 3 to 4 grows to really get to understand the best things to do for the plants. This can be as simple as miss judgeing veg times or the best time to add boosters or Bloom nutes.
I wouldnt like to say which the best system is because theres to many variable factors that can effect things.

The only thing I can say with reasonable confidence is that NFT is without doubt the best introduction system to hydro growing and of course ive shown how easy it is to develop it into a (R)DWC which will with practice improve the yields over and above the NFT.

ATB
Icon

L
21-04-12, 02:54 PM
Well in all honesty they were not that much better but then I have grown NFT for years so any change takes a few grows to adapt to but I then changed and did quite a few different systems. Just out of boredom really.
Im not really one for striving to find the max yield im more into creating easy to mange systems because believe it or not you do get bored of growing after a while and it can become like a job.
So for example when I first started in '97 I was trying all sorts of things then got into NFT and never really changed for about 10 years I just used a NFT tray So I had that nailed. Its unfair to compare changing to RDWC and expect the same or better results if you follow me.
To me theres nothing that can replace experience in growing and that also includes experience with systems they all have there foibles and once you get the basics you can move through systems but they all still need 3 to 4 grows to really get to understand the best things to do for the plants. This can be as simple as miss judgeing veg times or the best time to add boosters or Bloom nutes.
I wouldnt like to say which the best system is because theres to many variable factors that can effect things.

The only thing I can say with reasonable confidence is that NFT is without doubt the best introduction system to hydro growing and of course ive shown how easy it is to develop it into a (R)DWC which will with practice improve the yields over and above the NFT.

ATB
Icon

I get exactly what your saying it is just I am forever reading how dwc is the most prolific, would you in general agree with this statement? Up until the time I completed my first nft grow I thought that was the 1 and only form of hydro lol. Lets just say you had the exact same experience etc with both nft and dwc and did a side by side grow using the same space, light etc and the only difference being that one is nft and the other dwc do you think there would be a big difference?

Icon
21-04-12, 03:13 PM
I get what your saying and no i dont think there would be a big difference. A difference yes DWC is definitely better but if everything is right then theres not that much to choose between them.
You could land lucky with either system and get things spot on and one would maybe yield 25% more then the other but if all is equal then the DWC would yield maybe 20% more and also usually uses less nutes as well

TBH if your really wanting to play then your probably better looking into the URDWC if you get them right then they are better still.

I also did a setup that used 4M 6" gutter cut in half with a layer of spreader matting down and a res at the bottom a pump just pumped the water round and i put "White Out" sheet to cover the roots
Had great results with that and it cost a few quid to setup £15 quid for 90L res £26 for gutter £30 pump £5 for white out.

ATB
Icon

L
21-04-12, 03:26 PM
I get what your saying and no i dont think there would be a big difference. A difference yes DWC is definitely better but if everything is right then theres not that much to choose between them.
You could land lucky with either system and get things spot on and one would maybe yield 25% more then the other but if all is equal then the DWC would yield maybe 20% more and also usually uses less nutes as well

TBH if your really wanting to play then your probably better looking into the URDWC if you get them right then they are better still.

I also did a setup that used 4M 6" gutter cut in half with a layer of spreader matting down and a res at the bottom a pump just pumped the water round and i put "White Out" sheet to cover the roots
Had great results with that and it cost a few quid to setup £15 quid for 90L res £26 for gutter £30 pump £5 for white out.

ATB
Icon

I am not greedy or nothing but I have very limited room so would obviously like the most possible out of the space I have. Also it is a real pain in the ass having to top up my rez on a daily basis. Until I have my drobe completely dialled in then this is all hypothetical anyway, as I really need to sort out my intake so I do not get positive pressure at night. And really I would want to upgrade my light to a 600 but that would in turn mean upgrading my fans. To be fair I do not even no if it would be possible to run a 600 in my space......... Ok rant over lol

Icon
21-04-12, 03:44 PM
The reason I did the Gutters was to fit in a narrow space. I generally think theres always a way around things if you think about it.

You shouldnt need to top an nft tank up every day until the plants are well into flower.
If its awkward to empty it then get an MJ1000 pump and a hose pipe it makes it a lot easier and quicker.

If possible consider getting a bigger res or adding a res to the nft setup. This has two benifits namely a more stable nute solution and less time between checkups

ATB
Icon

L
23-04-12, 07:11 PM
The reason I did the Gutters was to fit in a narrow space. I generally think theres always a way around things if you think about it.

You shouldnt need to top an nft tank up every day until the plants are well into flower.
If its awkward to empty it then get an MJ1000 pump and a hose pipe it makes it a lot easier and quicker.

If possible consider getting a bigger res or adding a res to the nft setup. This has two benifits namely a more stable nute solution and less time between checkups

ATB
Icon

I will def look in to the pump, but as far as adding a bigger rez goes I don't really have the room for that or I don't see how I would make it work. The plants are drinking about 4l a day and the tank I have is meant to be 20l but if I fill it over 15l then it starts to flood the root tray.

Axeman
24-10-12, 01:14 PM
Make sure your NFT tank is sitting on a level surface. I get 18ltr in mine L

Toke on
Axe