S1E2 New Hydroponics NFT System Tour - Revisited
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- Опубликовано: 28 авг 2024
- This is a quick Hydroponics NFT System tour for our new hydroponics system at C&L Farms.
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Shop for Permaculture books on Amazon: amzn.to/2BK5vMW
Soil Mix:
Vermiculite - amzn.to/3wGJMCt
Perlite - amzn.to/39PXB8H
Coco Coir 10lb Brick - amzn.to/3wNR9qL
Soak Coco Coir block in 1 gallon of water in a large plastic bin or wheelbarrow. Break up the coco coir as it hydrates with the water until it is light and fluffy. Add 2 quarts of Vermiculite and 2 quarts of Perlite to the Coco Coir. Be careful that you do not breathe in the perlite dust. Lightly dampen the Perlite and Vermiculite with some water and then mix into the coco coir until fully mixed. Use as a potting mix for fruit trees, berry bushes, flowers, herbs and vegetables. Can also be used for propagation. Add water to the mix if it dries out in between uses. Do not store it in a sealed container though when wet or you will get mold and mildew.
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Your setup is quite inspiring. Great video, thank you!!
Thanks for watching!
speechless !
👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you.
Hi , i wanted to know what kind of hydroponic system is good for strawberry , so that we can grow more number of plant in the same area .
What is the fitting you used to go from pvc to the 1/4 inch supply tubing? Where did you buy.
Great setup and design you got there. I have learned at lot watching your channel. I was thinking of going vertical as well. Since I'm growing only herbs, I was wondering if I could increase the number of troughs per stand by bringing them closer to each other?
George P. I wouldn’t go too close with the troughs because this will reduce airflow for the plants. You may run into issues with pests or reduced growth. I have seen issues with the lower leaves rotting due to the reduced airflow
Are the troughs level or should there be a slight downward angle for better water flow?
Hi! New to your channel, I’m a hobby hydroponics farmer trying to grow as many of my vegetables as possible indoors in a relatively small space. I’ve had sooo much success with sweet peppers but one of the plants that is suppose to be the easiest to grow various kinds of lettuce seem to elude me. I can never seem to get them from seedlings to continue to grow to a large size, I’ve tried the kratky method with very little success I have a romaine lettuce that seems to put on three good size leaves but before it can begin to get any larger the outer leaves become dotted with yellow spots I’m not sure what it’s from but it’s definitely not from any pests or bugs if anything it’s to do with lack of nutrients although I don’t understand why? Especially when they get to be full size and then sort of stop growing. This one little plant has been the biggest success to date. Any of my other seedlings I’ve tried to put into a DWC with an airstone but they just don’t grow I will continue to try I’m also trying not to use rockwool or hemp fibre or coco coir because none of them can be recycled at least not easily so I’m trying to use hydroton pebbles because they can be washed and sterilized and reused which I think is the best type for sustainability. I’m looking at an NFT system but at the moment I have to order some sort of stand for mine because the stand was too flimsy to support the number of rails per shelf that I was trying to use. Mine are all white pvc and I’m thinking if I wrap them in black tape that won’t allow light to penetrate if it may help with algae. I’m wondering if algae has been a problem and do you have a way to stop it’s growth? I thoroughly enjoyed your video! I find hydroponics is a lot of trial and error and I’m starting to wonder if it’s realistically a system that can be sustainable? Surely to goodness it must be?
Thanks for commenting Leanne! Coco coir can be added back to your outdoor garden as it will add organic matter to the soil. It will eventually breakdown in the soil because the mycelium (fungi or mushrooms) will adapt to how it needs to be broken down just like it does with tree fibers. I can say why your lettuces don’t do well as I haven’t had that type of issue in my system. It could actually be nutrients or temperature or even lack of air flow. What is the humidity level in your space? My lettuces do best when the humidity is >50%. I use the oasis horticubes for my lettuce in the NFT troughs as well as in the net pots in my dwc. The foam tends to disintegrate over time and is captured by the filtration system. I hope you continue to grow and learn how your system works. I always ask people “what do you get when you fail?” Experience! Keep growing!!!
@@HonestSawdust isnt that the truth! I don’t have an outdoor garden so that’s why coco coir is not reusable by me. Wow greater then 50% humidity for your lettuce to do well, well my humidity varies but is usually around the 38% so that might just be the lacking element. We have good air flow. Like I’ve told others, people that are at the top of their field only made it there because they were willing to fail the most and when they experienced it they gained knowledge and tried a different method. That’s how to become successful to experience failure and to recover from it. What truly separates the achievers from the non-achievers is the achievers keep trying different methods until they get it right, they won’t let anything stop them from continuing.
@@leannekenyoung also keep an eye out for pythium or root rot in a system with low oxygen levels at the root zone. It’s a fungus that will cause the roots to turn dark brown to black and the plant will wilt and die. Leaves will turn yellow and you could see spots on them. I use an organic anti fungal solution that I dip all new plants going into the system.
@@HonestSawdust ohhh that is something I’ve not heard of before and is not something that’s presented in any of the videos I’ve watched to date(and I’ve watched a lot amazing ones and not so great...lol!) I always wondered about the organic solutions and how the micro-level organisms in and around the plants roots might play in to it. I know most people boost the roots being a lovely white color and I often wondered why they would keep showing the root systems. That’s really interesting and I am going to toss my own lettuce that has been struggling sooo much to grow in a kratky method because although it’s been trying to grow and it comes up beautifully green in the Center by the time the leaves are large on the outer rim they get these spots that are almost gold color and are not insects but it’s something on the leaves themselves. We’ve not eaten any of them because I’ve not been able to identify what it is. I suspect it may be coming from the roots. I’ll pull it out today and see what the roots look like. It should prove an interesting learning experience. I wonder if hydrogen peroxide added to the plant water would help prevent this fungus?
Can you help me please? I am curious of how you pump the water into a tube and it branches out. What kind of pump and can I get it up to 10 feet. I want to stack these in platforms up to 10 feet. Same type of system though.
If you mean vertically then you will need a very powerful pump to reach a head height of 10’. I used a 2000gph pump to reach the almost 6’ in height for my trough system but I also had to pump water that high across each of the 8 A frame racks. The water pressure was not very high by the time it got to the last frame. Plus, the smaller the diameter of pipe (I used 1” pvc), the higher the pressure so this allowed me to do it. Just be sure to have a ball valve to help regulate the flow on the first few frames because you will have much higher pressure at the start than end.
hello sir, great design, but could u pls tell me why u use vertical design and not just flat?
does it reduce cost or for growing more plants per square.
Vertical allows more troughs in the same area which gives you more holes for plants. We have since switched to a DWC “deep water culture” setup which corrects some of the issues with the NFT troughs we experienced in our context
Very informative video,What kind of pcv channel is that?
The NFT troughs are from Cropking.com
Hi, If you see this could you please tell me where to get the little black fittings in the feeder pipe that the spaghetti tubes are connected to?
I would not use the 5/3 Rubber Grommets (www.cropking.com/catalog/tubing-irrigation/53-rubber-grommet) from cropking.com along with the spaghetti tubing they also have for irrigation UNLESS your water supply is very very very clean. This tubing and grommet setup for the NFT troughs I was using caused me a lot of issues because the tubing and grommets are too small. I would look for rubber grommets that are at least 1/2" and the appropriate tubing if you want to use tubing. Otherwise, I would suggest using 1/2" ball valves for the NFT trough system. Look for a video soon on this change to my NFT setup.
Hey Grif
Love your videos
What’s the name of your grow channels
Where do you source them
John
I truly apologize for not replying to your comment. The NFT channels are from cropking.com. I actually replaced the NFT system last year with DWC tanks and stock tanks for lava rock media. I also switched to an aquaponics system instead of hydroponics. I still have the channels that I would be happy to sell to anyone interested in them. I believe I have around 85 of them with the lids.
Based on more recent videos it appears you no longer use this a-frame setup, but are back to the single plane setup. What was the reasoning behind the change back?
The a-frame setup has some pros and cons. In my context, I should have spaced out the racks further to allow for more room to work between rows. The frames were too high for easy harvesting of the top two rows. I used 1x3 boards which were much too short to properly hold up the weight of a full trough. The spaghetti tubing I was using was much too small in hindsight and constantly clogged so many rafts didn’t have any water for hours. The weight of the romaine lettuce also caused the troughs to tip off of the stand because they became top heavy. At this time I have converted the space to four 4’x10’x11” DWC rafts beds and one 4’x12’x11” DWC raft bed. In less space I have room for the same number of holes as the 96 troughs I was using in more space. Never have to worry about the beds having enough water. Never worry about anything tipping over. The beds are also 4’ high so no bending or reaching to harvest. I still have room to expand if I choose. As a side note, I am currently working on an aquaponics system design that includes the a-frame and my troughs for Waypoint Ranch (www.waypointranch.org) and I have modified the design of the a-frames to only be 6’ tall (instead of 8’) and the stands will hold two troughs per row so I can still get 12 troughs per stand. There are only three rows and nothing is higher than 4.5’ so anyone can harvest. I am also spending extra money and using ball valves for each trough so I can ensure there will always be water in the trough. I am also installing a Hudson valve to ensure water is always in the tanks and sump so the plants always have water and the fish are happy. I will post a tour of the system at the ranch once done and will also post a new tour of my farm. I haven’t had any time to create content on the farm. Thanks for the questions
Do the nft lettuce consumes alot of water ?
Every 4 days i add 50 litres for about 100 lettuce or less. Is that normal ?
The warmer it is in my greenhouse, the more water I have to add. The plants transpire regardless of temperature but more so if very warm. To reduce evaporation, be sure to cover the water tank and watch for leaks. During the summer, I would add around 10 gallons per day but I also had a number of small leaks to deal with so I was not surprised
Do you prefer hydroponics? Or Aquaponics?
Both have their benefits. It’s all about the context and what your goals are for a system. Hydroponics is cleaner as long as you filter the water but Aquaponics uses less inputs but still provides nutrients for the plants. Aquaponics is a little dirtier in regards to the water quality and sediments so more cleaning is needed to keep small pipes or tubing cleaner and clog free. I like both
What size pump do you use. Do you have only one pump for the all greenhouse? Thanks.
I use the Laguna Max-Flo 2000 Electronic Waterfall and Filter Pump for Ponds Up to 4000-Gallon
(amzn.to/2IaDsep) from Amazon in order to provide enough pressure at the top of the greenhouse 60' away at a head height of 4'. The spaghetti tubing is up to 3' higher for the top troughs. I did have a bypass when the troughs were all at the same height but with the stands I have to close off the bypass completely to have enough pressure. There is only one pump used.
What are the stats for the crop?Could you get enough profit when it comes to your hand at the end?
We do well with profit but I’m not able to provide numbers. We get around 7 pounds of lettuce per trough per harvest. We can get two to three harvests before replacing the plants.
Thank you. Informative
What are the rails you are using?As in the kind and where to buy them?
Cropking.com is where we purchased the troughs for the NFT system
Are those common LED work shop lights you use for your sprouting table?
Yes
You don’t need led. 6500k daylight fluorescent lights work very well, it is what I use for micro greens and my hydro setup.
Hello sir my name is rajineesh I'm from India I would like to start hydroponic business with leaf vegetables could you please tell me the names of those varities names which you are producing and I'm very thankful to you your videos are excellent and very helpfull to me
Thank you
Muir, salanova, Cherokee, magenta are the varieties. Good luck
What is the name of the plant media? Is that rockwool.
oasis horticubes (276 count 3/4" from Oasis). I buy from cropking.com.
What model is the Hanna monitor? Thanks
hydrobuilder.com/hanna-instruments-continuous-ph-tds-temp-monitor-hi9815047.html?dzid=strands_HI9815047 This is the link to the monitor that I have in the hydroponics system
C & L Farms Grows I have the same unit but older and misplaced the power supply. Would you happen to know what the wattage and ohms are for your unit? I’m trying to find a replacement. Also what size feed tube are you using in your CropKing channel? I’ve got the same channels that hopefully I’ll get up and running today. I’m subscriber #25 😉