The roots started to brown after about 3-4 weeks flowering then i noticed that the pump was getting blocked with broken root which had started to rot it was then that i realised that filling the tray with a hosepipe was NOT a very good idea when it's got a massive amount of root growing into it also the 3 plants outgrew the tray 3 x 5'+ plants in a 205 is far from ideal lol the trunks were easily as thick as my small spacecase and had to be propped up by wedging pieces of wood against them and the wall and yoyos fucking everywhere on top even though they didn't grow much for the last 4-5 weeks the end result was still banging.
you have to tie nft plants up m8 in 2-3 places to keep them upright thats just the way it is .. if you can keep them about 1.5ft high they might stay upright on thier own, any bigger and they will topple
you could use little pots with clay pebbles instead of rockwool blocks to make them more sturdy
but i think thats just more work, i just use regular garden wire to tie them in place its cheaper than yo,yos
a 205 tank is ok for 2-3 plants if they have space around them you can pull them into the space .. a gt205 can yield 20 + oz if you have the space around it for the plants to spread out into
if it was like a 205 in a wardrobe or tent or something with no space around it, it should yield about 5-8 oz
i just fill mine up with a watering can, its just as quick really as using a hosepipe
if you use spreader matt dont use too much of it, just a little square under each block is enough
spreader matt causes the water to stay deeper in the top plate, if the water looks deep just sit the tank on a small piece of wood of something
to keep the flow shallow ... the pumps used with nft are shit m8, they are just the same as £9 pumps you can by from pets at home lol
you have to be vigilant and make sure they stay pumping , if you live in a hard water area they will most likely get blocked at some stage and stop working , i normally buy 2-3 pumps every few months, i spend more on rockwool and food overall
you can build a filter for the pump, or use better quality pumps lots of options
i don't expect overly pretty roots the roots will be slightly straw like in places and bleach white in others
i really pay little attention to the roots now, i just make sure the pumps are working and the flow is kept shallow . when the rootmat is big
it will absorb more of the solution
thats a good time to raise the tanks by putting them on a small piece of wood or whatever just raising them by half an inch at the pump end will keep the flow shallow enough to stop puddles
the roots will grow into the tanks below don't worry about that
its not helpful to put bubblers / air pumps into the NFT rez either, the motion of the water moving is enough to give plenty of oxygen to the solution
one thing i have found with nft is it is very hard to judge a plants size and yield by the root system it makes, small plants can make huge rootmatts like a telephone directory lol, while other large plants can make much smaller rootsystems and be huge yielders this is one of the reasons i pay little attention to what goes on with the rootsystem and just concentrate on the plant itsself , the roots will look after themselves so to speak
peace