3. Submersible pump and piping system for irrigation, with one way valve.
4. Growing Medium
Flood and Drain is a passive system as is NFT but there are differences in how the solution is delivered to the plants.The nutrient solution is mixed in a tank (A). As
we have seen above NFT provides a film of nutrients that passes over the roots to allow them to absorb the solution, with Flood & Drain the plants are set in the
chosen medium and then they sit in the tray or gulley without any solution, the nutrient is usually pumped up to the trays or gulleys from the tank using a
submersible pump, not all F&D systems use a pump some are gravity fed but either way the mechanics are the same.
The pump will allow the trays or gulleys to be flooded with a predetermined amount of solution through a one way valve(B) but unlike like NFT or other passive
systems the solution is held in the tray or gulley for a time to allow the medium to soak up the solution and feed the plants(C). The solution then drains slowly
back into the tank and the process starts again.
Dripper System
To set up a Dripper hydroponics system you will need:
1. Purpose built trays or gulleys to sit the plants on.
2. Reservoir or tank to house the solution
3. A timer controlled submersible pump and piping system for irrigation,.
4. Growing Medium
As with all the systems we have looked at so far the dripper system has a tank to store the ready made solution(A).The solution is pumped up to the growing area
using the submersible pump(B) but with this system the pump is timer controlled with flow controls added to the irrigation pipework(D) to allow a
predetermined amount of solution to be delivered to the plants(C), this time rather than run down the tray in a film or as a flood the solution is dripped directly
on top of the medium(in this case Rockwool is used) and over the roots of the plant, it then makes its way back to the nutrient tank and the whole process starts
again(E).
Deep Water Culture (floaters)
To set up a Deep Water Culture floater system you would need:
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