purplehaze

i am going to grow hydro after my first organic grow..
help would be appreciated from any UK growers with experience of using these and where to get them from in the UK or get the stuff to make one myself..
I have been looking at the nft tanks for about £60 but havent seen any ebb & flow in the UK..
. i would prefer to make one myself but havent got a clue where to get the supplies from
any ideas ?
cheers fellas
purple

HydroSan

Hi PurpleHaze,

I'll give you the pro's & cons, should help in your quest!

NFT, I find NFT suits my setup better as the nute tank is part of the setup, it only takes 8" of vertical space and it can be sort of self contained, the aquarium heater, airstone and nute pump all sit in the tank under the tray. my pump is on 24/7 I only adjust the flow through the grow. I have a comercial NFT unit from Nutriculture and would recomend useing them. I actually went to their premises near Preston, they have a greenhouse with all the various hydro setups working, learnt alot on the visit, they're very helpfull. They also hold the World/Uk record for the largest Tomato plant...30+foot!

E&F, the principle sounds better but the logistics (IMHO) make it harder, you have to make it yourself!

Imagine a tabletop with a 5" (waterproof) rail round the edge. the principle is to flood the table to the top of your Rockwool cubes, which drives out stale air and replaces nutes, then as it drains, through a hole in the rail, it draws fresh air into the cube for the roots. the problem is that you have to get the timming of the flood right and the size of the drain hole right, then you have to pipe the whole thing together with a nute tank (don't forget an overflow) and it all seems to get messy compared to a £60 ready made plastic kit (easy to steralise for your next grow)

The NFT kit comes with instructions for getting your nutes right, I never had to buy an EC meter (£130) or a Ph meter, i just use the Ph colour kit that came with it, simple.

Whether you make it yourself or buy one, I would still visit a hydro shop to get a better idea idea of what your aiming for. I guess you could make one out of MDF or plywood but you would have to waterproof it with Marine Varnish (5 or 6 coats but atleast 3) and you might chip the varnish off with use making it a nightmare to steralise it, suppose you could cover the thing in epoxy resin wich would be better.

I have used Holland Hydroponics in Manchester, details on the web or in the phonebook (they do mail order) I found them OK with some usefull sdvice on lighting.

www.nutriculture.com (better but don't do lights)

The only cavat i would put in, depends where you live/grow. The water in my area is not hard at all (no white stuff in your kettle) so keeping the PH right is easy for me, if you live in a hard water area I would ask another hydro grower with experiance of your water conditions, you may need to add acid (availible with the kit) which may need a bit of suck it & see.

Hope this helps
Regards
HydrSan

HydroSan

Oops, duff URL for Nutricultre (or the site is down) try this

http://www.martex.uk.com/hta/dir/01629.htm

that'll give you contact details

Regards
HydroSan

deviant

Welcome to H.C com HydroSan andPurple haze.It's nice to have some more U.K growers on the site.
I grow in N.F.T and I agree with HydroSan the reults are good,it's an easy way to get into hydro and it's less hassle than Ebb and Flow,but I'd have to admit that the results I've seen from Ebb and Flow are marginally better.
Also with regard to hard/soft water.Again Hydro Sans' right I've got hard water and it causes p.h fluctuations with the majority of fertilisers,however most grow shops will be able to supply you with a nutrient which is p.h stabilised in hard water.This is handy but not essential.Most decent quality ferts have chealated nutrients to ensure your plant can still take them up.
The only other thing I would say is IMHO it's worth investing in some P.H/E.C meters.£100 well spent I reckon when you take into account the potential loss if it all goes wrong.More importantly you'll learn much faster about the plant,and how to grow it for optimal results.
Good Luck whatever you decide,I hoped this helped.
dev
p.s:Nutriculture sounds well worth checking out

purplehaze

thanks fellas for the reply

i have been looking at the Nutriculture NFT 424 for around £70

my grow room is 900 X 1200 X 1200 high but with a little work i will get another 400 on the height

the NFT tank is 1110 X 50 so it will fit in my room a dream

(Bit of Background i find amusing)
i have been smoking for 10 years....recently went to dam and bought some seeds....I came home and nothing too seriously set 1 seed away in my window. It germinated so i then set myself up a little room with some flourosecent lights...grew the little fella all the way ...flowered and the bugger was male.. so i ditched it and made some nice oil that got me wasted

My brother came and i showed him my setup (very amateur) was instantly hooked (he loves gardening) so he asked me for a couple of seeds...he took them away and germinated one...he got a female..he is now flowering it after he took some clones for me .
his is looking nice but he is using 4 Flouros so its not awsome

the best part of this is that he is 33 and has NEVER been stoned in his life....he said the first time he gets stoned will be with grass he has grown from seed himself....I find that way cool...

anyway i got some of his clones and bought myself a 400w HPS growlux...we are doing a bit of an experiment him growing with flouro and me with HPS clones from the same plant started at the same time....keep you informed...


back to the plot

i am going to take clones from my 3 to fill the NFT tank so it will be in the new year when i get a system....
i have friends in liverpool so i will call in to see Nutriculture when i am passing

i only want to grow 6 - 8 plants for myself so it looks like the 424 for me....
what do you fellas think....

purple

HydroSan

The 424, my first grow, <sniff>

I ScroG 8 girls with a 400w Son-T+ (same as a MH NAV-T with some red in the spectrum, great if your on a budget and can only afford 1 bulb, u can use a HPS in the same ballast when u can afford it, just swap bulbs)

best ever crop = 27oz bugfree, usually 20-25
last crop = 15oz ......bugs got some, but left plenty for me

I agree with Deviant, an EC meter would be worth the outlay but with a 50L tank it's not essential, £130 was the only one I could find and it's a big outlay on top of tank & lights. if you think you've mucked up the nutes or they look poorly after you've changed anything just change water again & follow the nute guide.

I'm not sure how high 1200 is (old school) but if you divide it by a shilling and add a threpenny bit, I've found that a 5' hight is a minimum for the 424 using a Scrog mesh at 18" above the NFT tray with the 400w above(on chains), i got some fans off an old high powered sunbed, 1 in 1 out on a central heating thermostat with vents at the bottom of the cupboard is just enough in summer to keep the temp down. My recent research leads me to want to put the fans on a timer aswell so there's some fresh air during lights out too.

I wish I'd waited and got my first stoner off my homegrown, Cool. I would make sure he doesn't get too much on his first hit, I have a friend who had been smoking street weed for years, he had some of my first Kick Ass homegrown, a real cerable high, 2 hours later we had him in casualty with a suspected heart attack! it was only the weed though so a cautionary tale for the greedy buggers out there

Deviant...
If you think E&F has the edge on NFT try turning your pump down, I think you will be impressed, it took me over 6 months to find that u only need a dribble, watch the difference in the root mat, it thickens up a treat

Are there many UK growers around here? I've only just discovered HC, it'll take me a while to sort out who's who I will be staying around though, best site by far!

Regards
HydroSan

deviant

HydroSan,
I'm not sure how many growers' are from the U.k,but it does seem to be mainly American,with a few Aussies chucked in.You've got me thinking though,so I'll start a thread in the Tiki Lounge and try to find out.Hopefully I'll see you and Purple over there.
With regard to the pump volume,I'll definitely give it a go in a grow or twos' time.Thanks' for the tip.
Purple Haze,
I think you'll enjoy your choice,but I definitely wouldn't have any more than 6.You don't say what strain your growing but given your space I'd probably just do 4 and (presuming their indicas)flower at around 10 inches.They should finish at 2-2.5 foot,but that's just me you know your grow so you know what you want
Knowledge is power an all that.
Incidentally.Nice one,your brother will be wasted.
dev

purplehaze

seen a lot about these bubblers and they loook good...
is it possible to make a bubbler that will take a plant to full maturity from a cloneor is it best to have a clone bubbler until they are established...
what size bucket (ie.gallons) and air pump(ie ltr/hr) would i need for 8 plants...this looks like it would be the cheapest option but is it easy enough????

HydroSan

Hi Purplehaze,

I don't think you would need a bubbler for the cloning stage. I clone into 1" rockwool cubes in a dome and water by hand with a misting spray until they put down a tap root, then put them into 3" rockwool cubes and keep them under flouros until the main flowering box is ready for them.

I've never needed a bubbler with this NFT setup, but it is a small grow.

Regards
San