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Growing Hydro
Nutrient Film Technique
Part 3 by Jason Mispagel , contributing writer
Jason Mispagel is the co-owner and operator of Year-Round Garden , a grower ’ s supply center serving both home and commercial customers since 2016 . His extensive growing experience in hydroponics and soil dates to the early days of legalization in Colorado , where he served as one of the state ’ s early caregivers . Year-Round Garden . 1225 W 103rd St , Kansas City , MO . 816.216.6917 – FB : yrroundgarden ● IG : @ yrroundgarden
For the third installment of our in-depth series on hydroponic growing methods , we ’ ll look at a system known as Nutrient Film Technique , or Continuous Flow . If you ’ d like to revisit previously discussed methods such as Deep Water Culture ( DWC ) or Ebb and Flow ( aka Fill / Flood and Drain ), they can be found online at www . TheEvolutionMag . com ; see the March and April 2022 editions .
As a quick refresher , hydroponics is simply growing plants using nutrient solutions without the benefit of the minerals and organic matter found in soil . Cannabis is particularly well-suited for hydroponics because of its physical structure and environmental needs .
While Nutrient Film Technique ( NFT ) may be the formal name for this style of growing , it ’ s often casually referred to as Continuous Flow because it requires a shallow stream of nutrient solution to be recirculated across the exposed roots of each plant — continuously . As with other hydroponic systems , you can easily spend a pretty penny on high-end NFT kits , but you can also build your own in a relatively affordable manner . The principles remain the same , regardless of how fancy your setup : Nutrient solution is stored in a reservoir beneath a horizontal channel or series of channels . A pump , running continuously , sends water up through one end of the channel , creating a small stream flowing downhill to the other end . A vertical tube placed at the low end of the channel allows the stream of nutrient solution to drain back down into the reservoir . Plant roots suspended along the channel grow into the shallow stream , providing them access to necessary nutrition .
Sounds simple , right ? Well , it is ! But when it comes to constructing your own NFT system , there are a few important choices you ’ ll need to make . For starters , select a medium to sprout your seeds or root your clones . Any starter pellet or cube will work . I prefer Rockwool or biodegradable foam Oasis cubes because they don ’ t create much mess , but peat pellets , coco coir bricks , or root riot starters would suffice .
Next , you ’ ll need to build your horizontal channels . You can actually use the same downspouts you ’ d install on your house to carry water away from the gutters . However , I ’ d recommend PVC pipe or similar material that offers a wide range of sizes and is slightly easier to cut , clean , and connect . Generally , pipe with a diameter anywhere from 3 to 6 inches will offer enough space for plant roots to thrive .
Example of PVC set up .
For this example , we will build a channel with a single , five-foot stretch of four-inch diameter PVC and room for two plants . More complex systems often contain multiple bends or zigzags of pipe to fit even more plants in a fairly compact environment — drill two-inch holes centered along the top of the pipe , 18 inches from each end . The result will be two