Kushtie - ShortStuff Autos In NFT

Good to have you along brother :)

Am hoping these ones get to 1m or so tall and I've probably been averaging about 8oz per tank since I got a pH pen. No idea whether this grow will bring my average up or take it down but all being well it should bring up my average per tank and my average per plant up enough to convince me that in a tank this size (20L or about 4 gallons I think) that one plant per tank is enough.

Hmmm.....maybe I should have given these ones Forest Gump names lol ;)

There's some background reading about the nutes on the Growth Technology website for those interested; IONIC® Hydro - Growth Technology

•IONIC Hydro nutrients are formulated specifically for hydroponic cultivation. They are complete in every elemental detail and balanced for precise delivery of nutrients to the plant.
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Also, the hydroponic guide may also be of interest as an overview of some different hydro setups; What is Hydroponic growing? | Growth Technology

N.F.T System

The N.F.T system is at the forefront of people’s minds when hydroponics is mentioned. Nutrient Film Technique uses a constant flow of your Growth Technology nutrient solution (therefore no timer is required). The solution is pumped from a reservoir into the growing tray. The growing tray requires no growing medium. The roots draw up the nutrients from the flowing solution. The downward flow pours back into the reservoir to be recycled again. Pump and electric maintenance is essential to avoid system failures, where roots can dry out rapidly when the flow stops.
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MrMiracleGro said:
pretty babies
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Cheers bud :thumb:

Glasgrow said:
You gonna top any of these to see if it makes a difference in yeild or you just gonna leave it to nature?
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Nah mate, going to bend them all ways and see how much of a SCROG I can fill out before they stop growing.

I went down to the garden centre and got some green garden netting - enough to cover the floor space of my room several times over and it still only cost a couple of quid. Now I've found some hooks to hang it with I'll get my finger out and get it in there ;)
 
Hey kushtie just caught up with everything. And very interstellar to see this hydro NFT, auto scrog grow brother ! I have never heard of NFT so I am gonna have to read up on it. I want to try my hand at hydro one day but I was leaning more towards flood & drain/ebb&flow. But NFT seems interesting, is it just simply pumping your reservoir constantly thru a slanted tray that your plants a are sitting on? What is the whitish/clear mat in the tray ?
 
Camo420Grow said:
NFT seems interesting, is it just simply pumping your reservoir constantly thru a slanted tray that your plants a are sitting on?
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Yes. The rate the reservoir is pumped over the tray is called the flow rate and the pumps I use only draw 6W each. At the moment they are on a pretty low flow rate but I should be able to increase this as the plants get bigger.

Camo420Grow said:
What is the whitish/clear mat in the tray ?
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That's called spreader mat and my local store sell it for 7 quid for 100ft. It spreads the nutrient solution more evenly across the tray.

Good to have you Camo. :passitleft:
 
Day 18.

Raquel is doing away fine. Just been adding little splashes of water to res to keep it full and at pH 5.8. Plain sailing so far with this one :)

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Cassandra seems to be finally putting her issues to one side and is perking up. Have mostly just been adding water to this res too although when I checked this morning the pH had dropped to 5.6 even although the tank was still pretty full so I pumped out a couple of litres from the res so I could put in a couple of litres of fresh water to bring the pH back up a bit.

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Best hydro blog I've read so far. Before reading this I kept telling myself, don't bother with hydro. Too messy and I will surely burn all of my plants. You make it seem easy though. It seems right and it is probably what make you successful to keep such a close eye on the PH, instead of trying to calculate the perfect EC.
 
Thanks Orangehaze.

I still consider myself an inexperienced grower so I was hoping by documenting what I do it may give others the confidence to try.

I started with an EC of 1.0 (half strength) because it should be more than they need without causing too much of a headache with pH swings. If the pH is wrong is doesn't matter how much nutes are there as the plants can't access them......I think of pH a bit like the temperature of our food....if the food is too hot or too cold we can't eat it.
 
Dzordz said:
Nice work @Kushtie.

The plan is I assume to keep them in the tray until cutting time? Will be interesting to see the root mass at the end.
I did hydro lettuce before and worked out great. Will be following.
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Thanks D :thumb:

The root mass usually looks something like this at the end.....

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...that was from my last run of Violator Kush. That root mass produced about 10oz from 2 plants :)
 
My nft run didnt have that root mass at the end but it was fairly full. I had roots that ended up at the end of the tray and dangling in the reservoir, didnt seem to affect them much. Nft is a great way to grow if you get it right and it not that difficult to go wrong. Only problem is you go away for a few days and you have a problem with your pump (mine detached from the hose) then you come back to a wilted crop and have to hope that it will survive. Luckily mine did.
 
Depends on how much light you are using and how big the buds will be. More light = bigger buds. Longer veg time = bigger plants and more bud. Both the above will need support to stop branches falling over. The plants will tend not to fall over as the main stem does get pretty big and can support a lot of weight. I placed my cubes in the tray with the plastic cover just cut big enough for the cubes to sit in. The cubes should sit quite snug with the plastic covering so there is almost no room for movement. Also i kept an osciallating fan on 24/7 which will help strenthen the main stem. Once you start doing it it all becomes apparent in how it all works. Even if you go wrong there is always someone here to help out and point you in the right direction.
 
Camo420Grow said:
Holt shit! That is freaking awesome! Nice pic kushtie, thank you for that one ;)
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Cheers bud. That's about as big as they get in my trays before I have to cut the root mass to get it out through the slot at the end of the tray.

I guess all the roots that go off the end of the tray and grow in the res are effectively growing in DWC rather than NFT. I've considered adding a bubbler in my res but I'm not sure how necessary it is as all the water dripping off the end of the tray and the pump are oxygenating the water already. One of these days I might give it a try:)

Dzordz said:
Impressive Sir!

Do you have to tie the tree vertically so it doesn't keel over? Not sure how much support the roots in that NFT and growcubes give you?
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Thanks mate. :)

Aye, my plants will need supported......there will be at least one screen in there soon. I want to support as much of the plant's weight as possible as rockwool cubes do not make strong foundations and I've nowhere to put canes. If my plants get big enough it'll be up to the screen to support them.
 
Day 21:

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Cassandra (right of pic) is the taller one....

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Added more nutes in a top up the other day as I saw the EC drop by 0.1. Could really do with flushing both tanks but that's probably going to have to wait until tomorrow.

Other than that I've just been topping up with water as the pH drops. During a day it goes from about 5.8 to 5.6 as water continues to get used faster than nutes.

Also, didn't seem toastie enough in my growroom so I switched the extractor fan off. It's not been much above freezing outside during the day and my attic isn't heated so I'm trying to make the most of the heat the HPS produces.
 
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