Custom NFT Rack "how-to" for Microgreens | Indoor farming | Indoor Gardening | Hydroponics
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- Опубликовано: 10 окт 2019
- Automated hydroponic growing systems, such as this NFT aka Nutrient Film Technique, are perfect for the indoor farmer who wants to expand their business into higher production, without the stress of watering all of the Microgreen Trays manually. The great thing is this type of system can easily be used for growing Baby greens, Mature Vegetables and even edible flowers with a few quick adjustments to shelf height.
In this video, CJ guides you through how to build a N.F.T. system for Microgreens from scratch. The estimated ➽ Build Cost for this system is about $1,537.50 for all components (not including tools) ➽ We also provided the Build Measurements via a screenshot of all the measurements at the end of the video so you can pause and grab that info! Below are also links to the supplies we used!
IN THIS VIDEO →
➽ Our Favorite Microgreen Seeds: onthegrow.tv/Microgreenseeds
➽ 120mm Fans: onthegrow.tv/Fans
➽ Build Supplies: www.amazon.com/shop/onthegrow...
➽ NFT Channels: can be purchased from CropKing or FarmTek!
➽ Maker Pipe Connectors: makerpipe.com/discount/OnTheGrow
➽ Fertilizer: onthegrow.tv/OS203
➽ Watering Tool: homedepot.sjv.io/Z9NQ0
➽ Free Seeding Guide: onthegrow.tv/OTGseedingguide
➽ 3/4" EMT CONDUIT FOR FRAME : can be purchased from most any hardware store in the electrical aisle. We got ours from Home Depot (www.homedepot.com/p/3-4-in-x-...) because they do not have a Prop 65 warning like the conduit from Lowes!
SUPPORT ON THE GROW
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➽ Etsy Shop: www.etsy.com/shop/OnTheGrowLLC
LEARN MORE
➽ All Our Links: linktr.ee/Onthegrow
➽ Blog: onthegrow.net/blogs/news
➽ Master Class in a book: onthegrow.tv/MicrogreenMaster...
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ON THE GROW VIDEO PLAYLISTS
➽ All How To Grow Microgreens: • How to Grow Microgreen...
➽ All Microgreen Experiments: • Experiments - Microgreens
➽ Microgreen DIY Builds: • DIY - How To Build's F...
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#Microgreens #UrbanFarming #Hydroponics 
Хобби
Parts needed for Frame:
¾” EMT Pipe for Main Frame:
14 - 24” - 336” Total
4 - 78” - 312” Total
4 - 61” - 244” Total
4 - 5.5” - 22” Total
¾” EMT Pipe for Fan Holder:
2 - 3.5” - 7” Total
1 - 64”
Maker Pip Connectors for Main Frame:
8 - 90 degree connector
8 - 45 degree connectors
20 - T Connector
Maker Pipe Connectors for Fan Holder/Cable Runner:
4 - T connector
Channels:
Parts from Cropking/Farmtek:
6 - 10” Wide Channels - 12’ long
Cut in half to make 12 - 6’ long channels
12 - 10” Plain End Cap
12 - 10” Spouted End Cap
Parts from Hardware Store/Online:
1 - Oatey Fusion Single Step - Clear
10 - 1” PVC “T”
6 - 1” 90 degree PVC elbow
2 - 5’ - 1” PVC Tubing
Estimated total:
Channels, endcaps & shipping = $583.50
Lights = $219
Fans = $78
9 pieces of EMT = $60
Maker pipe connectors = $142:
• 8 - 90 degree connector - $42
• 8 - 45 degree connectors - $34
• 24 - T Connector - $66
Timers - $15 & $16
Pump = $48
Extension cord = $22
3-prong adapter = $9
Air Pump = $29
Airstones = $9
20 gallon reservoir and lid = $82+$65 = $147
All plumbing/tubing = $160
$1,537.50 Total
Pinned for anyone who needs this!
You guys are so great thank you so much!! Are you currently marketing and selling are you just now instructional on RUclips?
What are the lights you used? Is there a 2 ft version of the lights?
This is an amazing video! Thank you so much for everything you produce :)
One question: those little feeder pipes into the channels seem a bit "over engineered" - doesn't it just add an extra element to get clogged / break?
I was wondering whether it'd just be easier to drill the holes into the fatter pipe and place the holes directly over the side of the tray, rather than feeding through those tiny narrow pipes?
great simple system... Looking for those 10" wide channels. do you have a link that has them? I reached out to farmtek and cropking but haven't heard back.
Clear instructions allow us to not only replicate your design but innovate as you suggest... good job.
Hi fan of your channel! Most other channel video I'll just keep fast forward or get bored really quickly. But yours omg, I just keep playing back and watch again. Great content and really interesting!
Awesome build...love the rack you created. I am using a store built metal rack and yours is so much better. Thanks for the great video.
Thank you so much for sharing!! This is exactly what I needed. Going to ATTEMPT to build one for my home grow setup
Thank you so much for the support!! Cannot wait to see your build! If you have any questions, let us know!
Hey huge thank you to you both for being so willing to share information. I can see the CAD ability coming through
Thank you so much for the support!
Nice clean system build. Love it!
What a great video, thanks for all the useful info!
Your guys content is great. Keep up the good work really enjoying the videos!
Nicholas Draine Have you signed up for our Master Class yet? Please get ready to take advantage of all the information we've assembled for you!!! We really have enjoyed creating for y'all! 😊
Wow great video! I was looking for a shelving unit with out the shelves. Your setup looks perfect. Thank you! Right now we are doing two totes and some mason jars for lettuce , like to move over to the rail system.
Thank you for taking the time to educate newbies.
It's what we do :) Thanks for the support!
Once again, a class act. Excellent video. Thank you so much. I wish I had more than two thumbs
Thank you so much for the support!!! We wish we had more thumbs too :)
Thank y’all for this...watching now!
Thank you for the support! Hope this helps! Let us know if you have any questions and we will do our best to help!
This great info! You really cover the info so well and don't leave stuff out. Would really appreciate further videos walking through why you chose to do different things the way you did... like why this tray vs. the others you researched, why custom build for the racks instead of standard wire racks, why buy seeds from x, how you found sales channels and would really appreciate seeing more of how you manage your racks... best practices....etc. I very much look forward to seeing more awesome content!!
Thank you so much for the support!!! It really means a lot to us! We would love to make more videos on exactly what you are talking about!! Thank you again for the support!
Thanks for sharing with us your passion. Bless you.
Thank you for watching and supporting our passion 🥳
Wonderful! Thank you!
Thanks for posting this!
Thanks for the support!!
I'm really enjoying your vids, you guys are great!!!
Thank you so much for the support mephoria manson!! We are going to be making new content soon! 😄
What a concise brilliant video! Great videography and commentary!
Thank you so much for the support jack. cadman!! We are going to be making new content soon! 😄
Great instructional video. Cheers!
Your scoring tool is a tubing cutter. Always cut the long pieces first, often you can use the cut offs to make shorter pieces reducing waste. Nice and clean looking.
Thank you so much for the tip!
@ 3:27 yes always room for improvement but you did such great job that leave us with a tough one ) !! God bless you !! I did learn a lot.
Grateful for the support!! We really appreciate it! Happy growing!
Super Cool, Cool Dude. Awesome Stuff.
Super Excellent Video...Thank you for sharing. I encourage everyone to learn how to do this and share your knowledge with everyone. Teach everyone you can to grow micro and macro greens.
Thank you so much for the support!! That really means a lot to us!! YES!!! We love sharing our knowledge and encourage others to do the same! That is the fastest way that we can all have more access to amazingly healthy food and change the food system! We're going to be working on some systems for growing bigger greens as well and we will be sharing all of that! Thanks again for the support!
Wow cj awesome video, I would say best microgreen setup video :) love from 🇮🇳, keep making innovative setup videos, you help me learn something new in growing microgreens in every video ♥
That really means a lot to us, thank you!!! We love helping out the community as much as we can! Thank you again for the support!!
I will agree with my friend. I need to learn more of easier and better food to eat. Peace : )
Very interesting, thanks for sharing. I love build videos.
Thank you so much for the support! More builds coming soon!
I think you did a fantastic job on explaining how you did it very thorough precise I like it I like it
Appreciate the kind feedback! Thank you for watching!
Thank you so much for passing on your knowledge to the community! I love your channel and the fact you guys put so much in to testing out all of these different systems and items to see what will give people the 'best bang for their buck'.
I hope to see you two creating more videos in the future, even if you've moved on from microgreens for the time being. Your energy and support for the viewers, as well as your love for what you do, shines through in each video and its contagious in the best way. Fantastic work guys! 😄
Thank you so much for the support!! Believe it or not, we may start making videos again soon! Been almost a 2 year break, which was needed! Happy growing, -Mandi & CJ
Great content!
Wow....thats a great tutorial!!!!!
Thanks much
Thank you for the support!
great work
The only real difference I made was to place union Ts so I could disassemble without worry of leaks. Probably not needed but it does make it nice to be worry free with leaks on drainage. Great video! My wife and I are really enjoying our new hobby :)
Thank you this was very informative
thank you so much for sharing with us..
😀 Faidzal Rahman Again...we really benefit from your support and nice compliments!!! Have you visited our newest website...
www.onthegrow.net ...we are so proud of the help it provides!!!😊 😉Faidzal Rahman Would you Be~Leaf we're actively working on tasty recipes that will highlight the various flavors of your favorite microgreens in surprising ways...Not just a garnish...yum!!
Thank you one of your best videos
Thank you so much, that really means a lot!! This was a lot of editing and filming so we're glad that it was well received!!
NOW THAT VIDEO IS INSPIRING ME TO CREATE SOME IDEAS :)
A THUMB-UP ABOUT THE VIDEO :)
THANK YOU FROM ISRAEL :)
That is an amazing setup, It looks like $1500. I just started microgreens, built a frame out of 3 5/8" steel studs, used a 4x8 sheet of sanitary plastic paneling to make four trays for $5 each, total cost if I didnt reuse all my steel, would be about $92, around $150 with lights and pump, 1/10 of your cost, but defiantly not as sharp looking, but defiantly sharp in terms of steel edges :D
Sounds like a nice DIY system! Just be careful about using plastic that you are unsure of the source... Is it PP or HDPE or LDPE Plastic? Or is it a Vinyl? Also, is it food-grade? If you built the system to grow and sell produce, you need to make sure it is safe for your customers at the very least. It's good to save money, but be mindful you are also playing with others health.
Super cool mate.
Thank you so much! We've got more custom builds coming soon!
Thank you very Much! Very clear and precise instructions on the Build and Shared!
🙂Thank you so much for the Feedback Paul Wong! We appreciate your support! Hopefully you will setup and get growing soon...right?😉
Learning more from All the Video Posts in RUclips everyday! Thanks !
😉Paul Wong Would you Be~Leaf we're actively working on tasty recipes that will highlight the various flavors of your favorite microgreens in surprising ways...Not just a garnish...come learn how...yum!!
Really great video, I'm looking forward to building some shelving systems myself now.
Just a thought, I apologise if its been suggested and discussed already, what if you placed your trays in opposite diagonals, so that you only pump water into the top tray, and each tray drains into the next? It would simplify the plumbing setup. If you didn't want to water one tray for any reason, you move the contents to the top tray and simply lower the outlet pipe from the pump into the first tray you want to water?
Great suggestion and yeah, that would totally work! The only concern would be that the first tray that gets the water would get the most nutrients and the last tray in the setup would get the least nutrients... If you had enough water flow, it wouldn’t matter but you could also potentially overwater... Just something to be aware of!
@@OnTheGrow that's a really good thought, I think maybe it's something that I could play with and see what happens? When I've tried it out, I'll let you know 😊👍
Great job!!
Thank you!!
I'm sure this system works great, I love it. You can improve aeration by configuring your nutrient pump outside the reservoir. Those pumps get warm and over time will slowly warm the water in the tank. Cooler water, around 67/69 deg F will hold way more O2. Also placing the nutrient pump on the opposite side of the tank away from the return/drain will increase water/nutrient/O2 mixture. Great work, keep it up and best of luck from N.C.
It’s a flood and drain system that pump isn’t going to be on long.
Your tip is only beneficial if you’re running an aeroponic system with the pump running 24/7 spraying water directly on roots.
Great Video ! I will do mine and I ‘ll post a picture asap
Thank you so much for the support! Cannot wait to see how yours comes out!!!
thanks for taking the time to make such an informative video! For me, one very important question still remains.. and I realize that there's no perfect answer. But, which combination of substrate and trays have you found to be the all-rounder for this setup? Thanks in advance and looking forward to your reply!
The mini fans are really cool!
I know right? They work surprisingly well too! 🤗
Fantastic!
Thank you so much!! Happy New Year!
Excelente vídeo amigo.. A ayudado bastante ahora sólo queda buscar principalmente las canaletas, ya que no a encontrado por acá... Mil gracias por compartir sus conocimientos
¡Estamos buscando formas de crear sus propios canales y le informaremos cuando descubramos algo! Muchas gracias por el apoyo!
Thanks for the build breakdown! I originally clicked on your vids because I was trying to find a way to rig computer fans for each level of my rack system. Your setup is very similar to mine except I used 2x4x7 wire rack shelving as my base and used a modified garden tray as my channels.
Very cool! Yeah, I was originally going to use a wire rack as well with these channels. Smart to use garden trays and modify them! Thank you so much for the support!
How did you modify your garden tray? Cut off ends and join end to end?
CJ, for a suggestion use one air line from your aerator for this build you did and put the other line into the reservoir from the other NFT system. if one aerator goes out you still have air from the other one. if you want more redundancy use the other 2 connections to do the same to expand. Put each NFT system on its own circuit breaker. If the circuit breaker goes out on only one NFT, it doesn't effect any of the others.
Nice Project. One Comment that comes from experience with hydroponic grows and NFT. If any light is permitted to be exposed to the nutrient water you will get algae growing in your tank. This may not end up being an issue because your grow cycle is measured in days, not weeks - but it would prevent you from potentially using the same nutrient solution for more than one grow. I mention this because it appears that there are gaps between your trays and there may be gaps between your trays and the sides of the NFT tray. Keep up the good work.
What would be a solution for this?
@@michaelwright9083 Do what you can to keep light away from any exposed nutrient water (light + nutrient water = algae growth)
Well Done
Thank you 😀
Thanks so much. God bless.
Thank you for the support!!
Thanks for sharing, I’m inspired to build this. Are the trays you used in the NFT Channel the mesh bottom type? Also did you use a grow mat in the tray and if so which medium wicks better in this system? Being a craftsman myself I’m also interested in seeing your future builds, keep up the good work!
thanks for this!!!
tip: on the drain plumbing, don't use 1" PVC tubing. It makes you have to be too perfect to make sure the channels are seated correctly. Use 3/4" PVC tubing with 1" connectors w/ 3/4" reducer. so it's channel cap > 1" elbow > 1"x3/4" reducer > 3/4" tube > 1" Tee > 1"x3/4" reducer...etc
this way the 3/4" tube from the above rack loosely drops into the 1" tee below it. and you no longer need to be precise
hope this tip is understandable
Great suggestion!! I will have to try this if/when we rebuild or upgrade our system! Thanks for sharing!
Hi, your videos are beyond impressive. I went from having seen one of your videos to relying on them for one of my top sources for microgreens growing. I’m just a novice growing for family nutrition. I notice on your amazon shop that you have 2 different types of single 4ft LED lights. Is there one you prefer over the other? I also bought a double 4 foot LED shop light from a home improvement store with two 6500 K bulbs. Do you think that two is too many in one fixture? By the looks of it, most professional setups, including yours, would require one bulb for that same amount of coverage. I am using a much narrower rack and my trays are small (10”x20”) that run parallel to the light fixture. I noticed you guys only have one going across for that same amount of space despite having deeper racks and storing them perpendicular to the light fixtures. Thanks and please let me know if you need me to clarify that question!
Hey CJ, I love your vids! I am currently a soil grower and am doing about 70 flats per week but am definitely interested in trying out your setup. Can you comment about cleaning/sterilizing frequencies. Should we be looking forward to a video about maintaining a system like yours? Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much for the support! We can totally do a video on sterilization and cleaning practices for the system! It really isn't too bad at all... Basically every three weeks we do a complete system clean-out and run a hydrogen peroxide solution through all the plumbing... We wipe down all the channels with the same solution in a spray bottle and then it is good to go again! We will make a video on it next time it is cleaned (about three weeks from now). It goes pretty quick too! Maybe 20-40 minutes to deep clean each system. Thanks again for the support!
What’s are your recommendations for lighting and watering cycle for the system? We just finished building it! It is amazing and you guy walked up through it perfectly! Thank so much!! amazing work!
What a great video. Super informative and I would love to try my hand at it. Is it possible for a to buy the 3D model for the light piece that you made?
Nice intro...Halloween..? Great video. : )
Thank you for watching Francis Lambert!!! 😄 Glad you enjoyed it!
lol that intro music; I keep expecting Eddy Munster or Boris Carlisle to pop up every time I hear it! 101
Question to On The Grow or anyone: Why do you like operating a microgreen set up in an active NFT mode vs a static set up? I've grown microgreens (very very small scale) for fairly long time.. and always used a static/Kratky.. method - no pumps..I get pretty good results. What is it about the active/NFT that improves the outcome for microgreens. Thank you again for your outstanding work and sharing your knowledge with everyone. You guys rock.
Whoops, thought we replied to this! Static is great because you can give each individual crop the attention it needs to grow perfectly with watering, nutrients, etc.... The main reason for NFT is so that we can start a bunch of greens and walk away from the business for a few days and then come back to top off the reservoir or harvest the micros! Since everything is automated in the NFT with watering and lights, it saves a lot of labor in watering throughout the week... If we were going to try and produce a ton of micros with very minimal labor, we would grow exclusively with NFT or Flood and Drain systems. Since we like to do a lot of experiments, we still keep static setups in our grow space! Thank you so much for the support and let us know if you have any other questions!
Nice work! If you ran the line straight to the top and then snaked in S turns all the way down would it lose too much pressure? Seems you'd be able to cut down on connectors if that works.
This is great! I am just curious if you used it for more than one cycle of micros? I feel like having the two channels run horizontally and so close together would mean the back tray would get neglected.
I was looking around and could not find a 20 inch wide nft channel so the trays could be more oriented to how you grow on shelves. Makes me think about how you could fabricate one and line it with plastic.
Wow... And that's another great video
Thank you.
I know you grow indoor but I have question for outdoor microgreens (in shade house) how many hours sunlight or light microgreens require after germination (or after blackout)?
Thank you so much for the support!! I've seen a lot of people who use indirect light from outdoors and still get really amazing growth. I think that there is some info about it in this video: ruclips.net/video/OcoJ_k2BdJY/видео.html
Hope that helps!
Great setup - can you let me know what kind of lights were these - WATTS / LUMENS / K - are these specific grow lights or regular shop lights ? thanks
Awesome Videos Cj ! I know the materials list is shown at various stages in the video. Wondering if you would be able to post the whole list here in the comments section? Thanks
Sorry it took so long! It's pinned now to the top of the comments section! Thank you for the support!
Hi CJ Love all of your videos. Very well done and I use them frequently for reference. Building this system currently only 12' long and two racks. Would you still use these lights? ie were you happy with the production you got out of them? Putting them in my amazon cart now and just wanted to ask before I pull the trigger. Thanks!
Hey man! Thanks for the support, that means a lot!
I only got to trial them for a month before pulling the system down for more experiment space... but, they gave us really solid growth for as long as we used them!
I can’t speak for their longevity, but I’d recommend them from what I’ve had experience with.
@@OnTheGrow You are welcome! Keep it up!
Ok, thanks for the reply on the lights. Looks like all will be ordered today and begin building. Thanks for the help!
Hi ...awesome video...im looking to flood and drain a 4 level setup...exactly the build your doing now....but this looks like not a flood and drain...what in thinking is start flooding bottom tray water will never get to level 4 cause of pressure...so as it's pumping it will have less and less psi going up...would mind is you send me some of your idea..thanks
How do you ensure NFT watering can be absorb by the grow media and thus the microgreen?
The water seems so shallow. And with NFT or bottom watering, do you still need to spray water on top to keep the microgreen moisture?
Thank you for the vid! Quick question: Do you guys find this hydroponic method “better” and more efficient than soil? I see your latest vids are basically showing soil trays instead of this method. I’m starting a new microgreen business but I’m trying to research the best before starting and you guys are amazing!
🙂I would guess we do 99% of our growing in soil based growing methods. Great for flavor and texture... we're actively working on tasty recipes that will highlight the various flavors of your favorite microgreens in surprising ways...Not just a garnish...yum!!
What do you recommend for lights? I am trying to set up a small NFT rail system by dream joy(just a cheap setup to start) for growing leafy greens and maybe strawberries. However, they don't seem to make allowance for lights. I am a little bit nervous about LED T5 strips because the LED's that i have lighting my home don't seem to last very long. Are the grow lights better quality?
I just ordered my first rack
🙂Janie Goodman if can help with any details get signed up for our Master Class? Please get ready to take advantage of all the information we've assembled for you!!!
Beautiful! So organized! How come you didn't keep that rack build specifically? :)
We loved these racks! We took them down because we couldn’t experiment with them. They’re great for production, but we do so many experiments that they held us back in that regard.
Excellent build, but one question, don't you guys get algal growth in this? Since your NFT channels are top open so water comes in contact with light and by chance even if one small crop area starts to rot I'm thinking that it might create trigger algea. Love from India🙏
The link given for lights shows soft white shop lights and they do not mention full-spectrum or growing. Do you actually use those with good results?
How do you clean your pipes and channels? I’m looking to build but afraid of taking apart for cleaning.
Great video, great instruction, thinking about starting a grow here in Oklahoma for some extra income, might want some of your 3D printed parts if your selling them?
Thank you so much! I can send you some! Just pay for the cost to make them (super cheap) and shipping and I can send some to you! Go to our website and give me your contact information so I can send some to you. www.onthegrow.net
Excellent video! I am looking at both the white and pink Barrina lights in your amazon kit and I'm wondering about the difference, pros/cons. Have you used both? Any eye strain? Thanks for your insight!
So we literally just got those in and setup on a rack, we have not used them yet. But we will be starting the experiments with them very soon and there will be a video on it where we will go in depth about them. The pink lights are pretty bright and I wouldn't suggest looking at them lol. Thank you for your feedback and for watching! 🥳
This really a great video, very well done. The problem is this, After careful consideration in comparison I was ready to pull the trigger on a completely assembled unit from Bootstrap Farmer when I ran into your video. I can get a 5 shelf chrome rack completely assembled for approximately $2300.00. Have you looked at the Bootstrap Farmer Unit? I am planning on doing this on a commercial level very soon.
Just one more well done on all of your Videos!!
Yeah, I actually helped them design their system :)
It’s a great complete system!!
Check out our custom flood and drain build, which is more similar to their complete system... it would be a system like theirs for a fraction of the cost. I just like to give people options!
ruclips.net/video/K4rb5pGYQdU/видео.html
Thank you for the support! 🤗🌱🌱
what are you using for the channels?
thank you
Sue
Hello, thank you for the video, the information is extremely useful. I'm going through a design myself. Just wanted to double check how you introduced the slight slope. Were the bars, supporting the NFT channels, at the right hand side of the rack, installed lower down? The corner lengths were all the same length?
Exactly!
I would only use food grade silicone on gluing anything in a grow room....other than that good to go....looking good.....
In hind-sight, I totally agree. They suggested using this glue and it took so much of it that I would've preferred to use a food grade silicone. The glue we used was NSF certified for contact with food, but I still think silicone would be best. Thanks for sharing and the support!
What size reservoir did you use for this build? That is the last piece I need to get this thing running!
Hi ! Are you still using this system ?
As I can see in your last videos make from 2 or 3 months ago we can’t see this system.
I really really love your vids and tips C&J
Get rid of the elbows on your pump line for more volume/flow
Love your channel
Thank you for the support Christopher! We didn't have any issues with the flow and all of them seemed equal. We ended up finding the best watering schedule to be 1 minute a day of watering and that was plenty.
Hello, how often do you empty and change the water of the tank?
I just found yours, I’ll keep watching your interesting videos. I wonder the fans you setup is it must be running 24/7? My second question is how many liters reservoir tank you use? Thank you for responding I’m going to make it in Japan
The fans run 24/7 because we've found it beneficial to always have airflow moving between the plants. It helps in their transpiration and moves the hot air/cold air more effectively around the space. We were using a 40 gallon reservoir (151liters), but found it to be too little water and we had to top it off weekly. I would suggest getting a larger reservoir unless you want to be adding water every week.
@@OnTheGrow thank you for kindly sharing
Nice set up! Anyone have any idea where you can find these PVC channels in Europe? Thanks!
What is the best light for growing seedlings.
what is the purpose of the cooler fan? Awesome video btw!
Thank you so much! The fans help to circulate the air on each shelf so that we can avoid issues like mold.
Have you had any trouble getting consistent flow to the top with not having some kind of valving? I would thing that the bottom would be getting more pressure and flow then the top.
We have not had any issues with the flow... The pump was oversized on purpose so that all trays could get consistent flow to all channels.
Hi Mandy & CJ, I'm curious to hear about the experience you had with your DIY rack system? Also, what do you think are the pros and cons for this compared to growing crops in trays on shelves?
💚 Dwasho we currently work with our normal 1020 trays and metro shelves...we hope to convert an area to further this system!!
hi, where can i get the boancas trays? I'm in Mexico and I can't get them :( Thank you very much for your videos.
Awesome tutorial. I did have a couple questions.
Link for the 6' bulbs? I saw 2' bulbs listed in the Amazon store.
What media are you using in your trays that sit in the channel?
Is it some sort of mat that doesn't break down so as to not have clogging issues?
What are the pH and ppm of your nutrient solution?
Is the solution used from day 1 when the system fires up and do you do any flushing/plain water to finish?
What is your preferred method for cleaning between rounds?
Lastly (for now..lol) do you see any time savings or increase in harvest weight or increase in quality of your final product using the NFT system?
I am really enjoying your vids and learning a ton! Thank you for sharing and building the community!!
Thank you for the support! Vendors will sometimes swap thier products, so that likely explains the 2ft lights. I'd suggest just searching a 6ft light and find something that falls in what we suggest. As for medium, a hydroponic medium works best but you can use soil, or anything really if you have a good strainer to catch debris before the reservoir. 5.5ph ppm varies. No flushing, we would wipe sanitize and fully sanitize between cleanings.
Many of your questions can easily be answered in our eBook Becoming a Microgreen Master. Sorry, but we have a lot of people to respond to!
Hope that helps,
-CJ
Is it really less expensive to do this DIY EMT pipe shelving build than to use premanufactured racks?
Hi, how long do you leave the pump on? Thanks!!
Not seeing parts for the channel and endcaps. Discontinued item?
HI, cool video.
just interesting, is PVC pipes and trays are safe for the plants?
Yes they are as long as they are not subject to extreme heat or extreme UV rays... So if we used this system out in our Texas heat in the summer sun and didn’t have climate control, there would be a concern of the plastic leeching into the water. Since this is being used in a climate controlled space with lots of airflow, the chance of it degrading from heat/UV and leeching is very low.
We prefer HDPE or PP but since there is nothing on the market for channels with it, we are limited to food-grade PVC.
Can you incorporate heat pads into this system for the germination phase or do you use separate racks for germination?
Hello! You'd have to use a separate rack to incorporate the heat pads for this system.
Great tutorial video bro.... What kind a ligth (size,fluorescent) use?
Thank you so much Carlos! For this system we used 6ft long LED's that are 56W, 6000K, Daylight White 5600lm. Here is a link to the lights: www.amazon.com/dp/B07SPZ77X1/?tag=aiponsite-20&linkCode=ic5&ascsubtag=amzn1.idea.300RR4HQRM5I9&creativeASIN=B07SPZ77X1&ref=exp_onthegrowfarms_dp_vv_d
Perfect. Thank you so much, your setup it's amazing, Godbless you guys.
@@CJLastra No problem, Thank you!