first time diy nft from scratch

well i have grown in soil a few times and heard such good things about nft, so decided to build a little set before i try manage a bigger one.

so will be looking for all help and ideas from anyone willing to help!

i have just taking the clones yesterday so have till they root to get the system built....

i plan on growing 4 plants in my 3x3ft closet with over 2 meters in height i have a 6 inch extraction and need to get a 400w ballast and light

so heres a few pics of what i have so far

45ltr res

4" pipe 3 lengths 50cm 2 corners and 2 end caps

my maxi jet pump and sum tubing just incase i wana water through and end cap or above where i sit each net pot
the air pump which sites 4 air stones
also im going to take out the shelf i using for floor and make so i can fit res underneath to help keep cooler
and last my 6 dog cuts im gona pick 4 of to learn this system




any help and ideas for me to start building this system would be great thanks also any bad things about the stuff i plan on using

thanks will be back once i start setting the extraction and that up

Hey budolski,

Nice to see you're taking the plunge. Soon you'll be leaving the dirt (and pests) outside where they belong.

Couple of tips in addition to what I posted in my thread:
- Insulate/cover up those black corner pieces. Especially when the canopy is not filled/closed it will cause the light to heat up the tube. Black gets quit a bit hotter.
- Make sure the rez is fully dark. If that's not the case in the double floor get one of those heat reflecting car window thingies and wrap+tape that around it or something similar.
- The rez also needs a lid, else the nute solution will evap much faster, especially with air pump in the rez
- Place the tubes in it's eventual position and then mark the spots where you want the plants to be before you actually drill the holes. I made the holes up front based on measuring and ended up changing things slightly later causing the holes to be in non-optimal positions.

What type of aqua pump do you have? The air pump isn't really needed in this setup (I have a couple of air stone in my rez too though, but just for backup/extra). You need to pump the nutrient solution through the tubes (24/7). Through sprayers (like in my setup, see pics in last post of my thread) and/or simply by pumping in the nutrient solution on one end of the tube.

No light should ever be allowed to penetrate the res.

I was gona take out my raised floor that's sitting on couple pallets and fix wood to wall to fix floor back to so I can put the rez underneath that, also if I got receipt still for black corners I could swap for white or iv seen a set with just 4 end caps and 2 pipes,


The highest end being 16" off floor where nute comes in and runs down that pipe to 15" where he has a it capped off and A hosepipe coming out cap and going back into another stop cap and pipe set at 14" off floor and run along side other tube back to res where that end pipe sits at 13".....

I noticed using the end caps he can turn them upwards to control how much water he keeps through the tubes

Also the pump is a maxi jet 500,

Next couple days I will be hands down into it getting my extraction set up then the floor and rez sorted ready to start the system then hang light and should be good to go

I have chose to change them black corner pieces and use 4 stop caps and use a hose to control the flow and water level in pipes,

Also just set the 6" extraction up and found a 49ltr black res to use

Here's the fan rigged up and blowing out the front wall
I just need sum fittings to drill into.stop caps for hose to and pump to circulate the water

budolskie said:

I have chose to change them black corner pieces and use 4 stop caps and use a hose to control the flow and water level in pipes,

Click to expand...

Make sure those return hoses are wide enough, I do get some roots in my return pipes (which are 40mm diameter). Not till a point it clogs it but it's something you will want easy access to incase you need to clean it out. Less of an issue for me with clones than from seed (long tap root of plants at end of tubes grow all the way back in rez).

budolskie said:

I found a 49ltr black res to use

Click to expand...

Nice!

ok i still need to get the parts to connect hose to, so each pipe is connected to one another and the water will flow through and back to res

quick question.... as il will be adding sprayers along side where the net pots sit should i still be entering a hose at highest point of pvc.....

another question could i make the return pipe bigger then the pipe entering just incase the roots get that far

budolskie said:

quick question.... as il will be adding sprayers along side where the net pots sit should i still be entering a hose at highest point of pvc.....

Click to expand...

I've been asking myself that question for over a year now. I haven't yet but I'm considering replacing the sprayers and use only 1 entry point per tube. Or, I might use my chiller pump for that (which now pumps out and in the rez skipping the tubes).

budolskie said:

another question could i make the return pipe bigger then the pipe entering just incase the roots get that far

Click to expand...

Sure, especially if you can still control the flow level/height of the tubes itself. It's also why I got those corner piece in the first place, to give it more space at the end.

Ive seen a couple with 1 entry point then exits that tube and enters another then out 2nd tube and back to rez,
ive got few soil clones I need to take out and pot up get them in there home so I can learn nft, once they out al do my new floor and see what ive got to work with probs 4 plant scrog Im thinking

budolskie said:

Ive seen a couple with 1 entry point then exits that tube and enters another then out 2nd tube and back to rez,

Click to expand...

That'll work too. It's doesn't matter that much how you do it exactly as long as the flow is strong enough to refresh the tube contents. Google for 'Heath Robinsons vertical flooded tubes' and check images results (pics on rollitup are missing because of missing albums).

Although I never lift my pots out of the tubes once they settled and got their roots tangled with others, a scrog makes it hard to lift the pots and check the roots if needed.

will these fittings do to connect my channels m8, 2 elbow shaped for in and out the channels to and from res and 2 straights for connecting channels together

http://www.plumbase.com/tprod109623/section2502/john-guest-speedfit-elbow-stem-10mm-x-15mm.html

It would work for the 'in' but tricky for interconnecting the tubes and for return to res. I'd be worried they would clog with roots. I would use at least 2x but better 3x that diameter for between the tubes and as return end.

Although it's doable to interconnect the tubes res->tube->tube->rez I think it's better to have 2x rez->tube->rez. Then you get two return waterfalls which helps aeration. And then if the return/out of tube1 gets clogged it won't affect tube2 that has it's own in and out. If you really want to connect the tubes, how about using another 4inch piece to connect them so instead of LJ you get U shape?

Well I have got my new res and sum new tubes and elbows from a m8, because my end caps didn't fit so it's saved me a few quid taking the one I payed for back......

so will be getting started on the floor the next few days raising it a bit and getting the res to fit under neath with easy access to it

Well here's my little plan I have drawn out with few sizes any questions and thoughts whit what I can do please ask as I need to learn as much as I can

i was planning on making the lowest point 20cm and highest 23cm off where my new floor will be and placing a funnel under the 2 exit points, where the diameter is same size as my tubes but runs into about an inch dia.... i was gona drill the inch hole in new floor and let that run back into rez.... i have left enough space to get into my rez underneath the floor.... there will also be another tube coming through the floor which will be connected to the pump and to a splitter with 8 sites where i can put 2 misters near each plant (1 either side)

Here's the funnel and 8 way and the tube that connects to 8 way and pump

budolskie said:

which will be connected to the pump and to a splitter with 8 sites where i can put 2 misters near each plant (1 either side)

Click to expand...

Getting a proper splitter/manifold was a problem for me at the start, especially one that spread the pressure equally. An effective way to do that is to create a loop. Pump--->T-connector--->loop--->spaghetti lines -->sprayers. See first pic at the top of page 4:
https://www.rollitup.org/t/sativieds-picture-journal.831229/page-4

Also keep in mind that the higher you pump upwards the less pressure it will have so try to keep the connection from pump to splitter as short as possible.

I'm not familiar with those sprayers, seen them before but what's the pattern of the spray? Are they 360?

That the old fitting that was on tube m8 I havnt got to the misters yet, I've just got the bits wood for new floor, soon as that's in il no sum sizes of my tubes and more into the best way to add the water.. I'm also thinking of a better water pump for more pressure and say about 60cm from pump to highest water entry point