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| NFT Pipe |
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| Cucumbers in hydroton |
Today I am attempting to set up seven PVC pipes that will be
connected in a NFT system. NFT stands for Nutrient Film Technique wherein large
diameter piping is angled at a specific slope and nutrient rich water is pumped
through these pipes. In my system I will be pumping water from my aquaponics
system to provide the plants nutrients. At a spacing of 14” to 18” modest holes
are cut into the pipe to provide a place for plants to be suspended above the water in net pots. The roots will sit
in the nutrient flow while the plants get lots of sunshine and fresh air.
I am currently in the construction phase of this process and
am finding it a bit challenging to get the angles right. I purchased a larger
water pump to feed these tubes, but it will only pump water at a maximum height
of 7.28 feet… This posed a problem since the height of my first PVC tube was at
8 feet. I had to lower the piping and then install more 90 degree bends. The
local hardware store is making a killing off me in PVC elbows.
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| Net Pot with tiny lettuce! |
If you were
wondering what the little clay balls were in the pictures, it’s called hydroton
and that’s what keeps my plants from falling over. It’s also very porous and allows
for lots of surface area for all the helpful nitrification bacteria. I need to get busy!
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