Does anyone grow using NFT tables anymore?

[limegreenlimey]

Does anyone grow using NFT tables anymore?

I used to, years ago, and found some advantages in them. Intrigued as to why them seem to have fallen out of fashion, and if anyone still uses them...

 

[Creeperpark]

Does anyone grow using NFT tables anymore?

I used to, years ago, and found some advantages in them. Intrigued as to why them seem to have fallen out of fashion, and if anyone still uses them...

They are ok however there are so many methods that prove to give better results. If I can grow more weed using different methods I will drop the lesser methods.

 

[Ca++]

I used nft for a few years, and saw it in a few a few forms as friends also ran it. For a while, perhaps everybody did. Though this is about 30 years ago now.

The list of issues, most revolve around root mass and water movement. It's a near impossible situation. The tables were improved by adding drip emitters to each plant. Then working on a flood drain principle of the root mass, by stopping the pump for a while, and restarting. It couldn't be for long though, with the roots so compact.

I'm not aware of anywhere using or selling NFT anymore. It's the least productive system I ever ran, for reasons that I really should of seen sooner. Cellers everywhere were littered with them plastic coffins for decades afterwards. I bet I can find some in someones garage, even now.

 

[limegreenlimey]

I used nft for a few years, and saw it in a few a few forms as friends also ran it. For a while, perhaps everybody did. Though this is about 30 years ago now.

The list of issues, most revolve around root mass and water movement. It's a near impossible situation. The tables were improved by adding drip emitters to each plant. Then working on a flood drain principle of the root mass, by stopping the pump for a while, and restarting. It couldn't be for long though, with the roots so compact.

I'm not aware of anywhere using or selling NFT anymore. It's the least productive system I ever ran, for reasons that I really should of seen sooner. Cellers everywhere were littered with them plastic coffins for decades afterwards. I bet I can find some in someones garage, even now.

Interesting. I ran it two ways. I had a couple of those coffins. The small ones. I settled on running one plant in each. Roots were always very healthy. Like you said, I'd have the pump 15mins on 15 mins off 24 hours a day. Had sone great harvests out of it. I liked it because it was clean and very low hassle. The main problem I had was stabilizing the plants, as they would topple over when they got big.

My main set up was troughs with Rockwool slabs and drippers)spikes for each plant. I think I over watered this way because those slabs could hold gallons. It was a good set up for the space I was growing in but more hassle to manage. The drippers would ping out and dribble water everywhere. The drains from the troughs could get blocked with roots. It was easy to manage the water pH, nutes and water level though. Could get big harvests but botrytis bud rot was an ever present risk.

As you suggest, this was mid 90s and I tried different methods since. Never found the perfect set up!

 

[Ca++]

I think they were better for single plants. Giving them room to spread the roots, and an easier target for getting the flow in the right place. Though I only really saw that where 3 shared a long one. Just before they probably fell out lol

I was in gutters mostly. Some made for the job, and others actual guttering. I stuck to 3" blocks, but the once I tried slabs, was a monumental fail. It all looked fine, but at the weigh in, it was like I had been robbed. After that, I had pots of coco in them, with drippers.

I reckon it was good for 14-16oz a meter. Straight to 18 in coco. 20-24 F&D. All in the same year. After maybe 10 wasting my time with what I knew (nft)

 

[limegreenlimey]

I think they were better for single plants. Giving them room to spread the roots, and an easier target for getting the flow in the right place. Though I only really saw that where 3 shared a long one. Just before they probably fell out lol

I was in gutters mostly. Some made for the job, and others actual guttering. I stuck to 3" blocks, but the once I tried slabs, was a monumental fail. It all looked fine, but at the weigh in, it was like I had been robbed. After that, I had pots of coco in them, with drippers.

I reckon it was good for 14-16oz a meter. Straight to 18 in coco. 20-24 F&D. All in the same year. After maybe 10 wasting my time with what I knew (nft)

10 sounds about right. I think I got it up to about 12 or 13.

I used one of these for a while. Poor mans f&d. Swopped out the air pump for a water pump on a timer, which worked much better. Fairly tidy and good yields but... Nightmare for managing pH etc because the reservoir is largely inaccessible.

Then I went to soil, which was great for quality but spider mites so often a problem.

Always wanted to run a proper f&d table with an independent, accessible reservoir underneath. One day!

 

[Ca++]

I like the systems with buckets linked by hose. It packs away very easily, and with my plant count, puts the canopy at a workable height. If I can, I keep the tank elsewhere, so it's cooler.

I just built a trays based system, but groups of smaller trays. I don't really like it tbh, as any tray/bed based system, needs a lot of water to fill it. That means quite a large amount of water as the minimum you can have in the tank. Which in turn, is what you chuck every tank change. Then if you use large flat tanks underneath, you can't pump out to the bottom, so it's further water in the system, as part of that minimum requirement.

There is going to be little separating the end products, but I'm much fonder of keeping pots on the ground. In fact, only if the rooms running hot, does having the tank outside of it, offer an advantage to the plants.

 

[limegreenlimey]

I like the systems with buckets linked by hose. It packs away very easily, and with my plant count, puts the canopy at a workable height. If I can, I keep the tank elsewhere, so it's cooler.

I just built a trays based system, but groups of smaller trays. I don't really like it tbh, as any tray/bed based system, needs a lot of water to fill it. That means quite a large amount of water as the minimum you can have in the tank. Which in turn, is what you chuck every tank change. Then if you use large flat tanks underneath, you can't pump out to the bottom, so it's further water in the system, as part of that minimum requirement.

There is going to be little separating the end products, but I'm much fonder of keeping pots on the ground. In fact, only if the rooms running hot, does having the tank outside of it, offer an advantage to the plants.

This is one reason I built my old trough system. The troughs were 120cm long and drained into/pumped out of a separate reservoir at the front. The reservoir was a plastic storage box about 25-30 liters. Easy to access and pull out to pour away when changing the water. Had to refill it often but that was no bad thing.

A proper f&d table system has the same advantage. The only problem with them is height and getting enough space between the canopy and the lamp...

 

[high monster]

About 10 years ago there were plans in a magazine where you'd take plastic 4x4 fence posts, cut holes down one side and drop net pots. Then run a PVC pipe with spray tips, from a pump in a reservoir, through the inside of the fence posts. They would spray inside of the fence posts and the water runs back to the reservoir. I remember going to ace hardware to get the PVC for the structure, they cut all the pieces to size for me. Really helped in making a "play set for my parrot" haha. Worked great but I only used it once.