NFT flow rate. Question

N

New2Growing91

New Member
Hey everyone. I'm going to be starting my NFT Grow soon and had a question. I'm using 4" PVC with 3 plants to a tube(4 tubes) and was wondering How many GPH should be running threw each tube.

I have a little 260 GPH pump and figured out I'm getting around 50 GPH threw each tube. Is that enough or should I get 1 more 260 GPH pump?

Thanks
 
New2,
I am running an NFT system on my current grow. I think a 260gph pump should be sufficient for your grow, the important thing is aeration and water flow. Are you running 4 separate tubes or 2 tubes in a U-shape? I have 18 plants in a U-shaped tube with a 260GPH pump and am doing very good with it. Take a look at my current grow.
 
I'm running 2 feed tubes from the pump to the end of the plant tubes, then there both tee'ed off and I run 1 to each plant tube.

My pump says that it loses 15 GPH/foot. I'm thinking that it will be fine till the tubes get full of roots then it might start to be a problem.

I read your Grow journal, turnin out nice. I took a cupple ideas from your system and used them in mine.

Let me kno what you think about the flow rate.
Thanks
 
My flow hasn't slowed down at all and they are getting pretty bushy. Although I am only running a single tube. I am going to upgrade to a higher flow pump on the next grow, and I will put an in-line valve to control the flow. I am thinking that what I have now is good, but it would be good to have the option to increase flow inf needed.

I'm not sure about the loss of 15 GPH?foot. Is that on vertical rise (head) or through 1/2 pipe to the system? A 4 inch pipe should drop very little in flow rate since it will be a non-pressurized system. I would have to see the details on the pump, but I am thinking that is drop in flow rate through a 1/2 in ID pipe. Once it's out of the pipe it should be a constant flow rate for the rest of the system.

When you get yours up and runnign shoot me a pic.

Best of luck
Steve
 
Air is just as important as water. You don't need tons moving through. You can flood and let set for best results. Flood every 15 mins if fine. I've found they grow faster with less water - which means more air to the root system withOUT letting them/it dry.

Somewhere on this site I have a Solar Powered Hydro grow I did last summer outside. massive plants. 3 plant were 12 feet long, 6 feet wide and 6 feet high. All done via 15 min on and 30 min off- outdoors.
See if you can find the old journal. look up Solar and you should see them.
 
I found it. Justin's outdoor hydro hybrid I think it was called. Love the idea, but the was more e&f not so much NFT.

Now you have me wanting to go buy a solar panel and give that a try. Thanks for the idea.
 
Yes... it's hard to do an NFT when the wind blows where and how it wants to. An E & F is not much different than NFT from the plants perspective. It's more like a flood and drain system as the water coming into each grow chamber is more than what drains out so... the roots get a full flood bath and then the water drains out providing the roots air. They loved it.

As for the Solar part... all I did was use it to power the air and water pumps. If you are not using air stones in your res- you should start; even if it's a pure NFT system. Air is a trip when it comes to roots and overall plant health.
 
Do me a favor... send me a link to my own thread. I just don't have the time to find it. (This time I'll bookmark it.) LOL!
 
I was thinking more along the lines of walking into the forest farther then anyone would think of going. Dig a hole for my res and like 5 or 6 more holes for some 5 gallon pales. Drill some holes in the bottom of the buckets and put some gravel in the bottom of the holes. Then run drip lines to each plant. All powered by my solar panel.

All theoretical. Maybe some day.
 
New2Growing91 said:
I was thinking more along the lines of walking into the forest farther then anyone would think of going. Dig a hole for my res and like 5 or 6 more holes for some 5 gallon pales. Drill some holes in the bottom of the buckets and put some gravel in the bottom of the holes. Then run drip lines to each plant. All powered by my solar panel.

All theoretical. Maybe some day.
Click to expand...

The best thing to do is grow in an array of grow chambers that fill only 3 to four inches. Each chamber is connected to all the other chambers. How you monitor your internal water height is simple: the drain back to res line is set at the level you want. If the drain line is 3 inches above "0" then you will always have 3 inches of water in each vessel.

Run your pump at 45 min off/15 min on and you will do fine. (Keep the drain line above the res water level at all times to avoid natural siphoning. ) Let your Air pump run 24/7. Have the entire array below ground- including the res which should always be lower than the entire array.

And that's how you are able to do a soil/hydro hybrid grow outdoor with total control over your water usage and nute levels.

No matter what- have fun.
 

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