Randomestguy
Well-Known Member
I'm about to start my first hydro run, this will be a RDWC tote, it's already built.
While building, it occurred to me that it doesn't have a large surface area i.e. multiple tubs for a larger tent, and can be loud/costly with air pumps running constantly. I made this recirculating for the seedling stage, yet that's the only time it provides benefit(for dwc).
So I had the idea of making a hybrid NFT drip irrigation system, it would primarily be the typical NFT pipe style, but instead of being gravity fed at the top of one pipe, the water pump would be hooked to an irrigation manifold dispersing a feed tube to each planter site.
I believe this takes care of not needing an air pump (maybe to oxygenate the reservoir, if kept sterile or using beneficial bacteria I would think the air pump wouldn't be necessary.
Some people say nutrients get distributed badly in NFT because of the series design (plants at the end lack) as well as root problems from raising water levels for seedlings and getting root rot from the plug being soaked etc.
I would imagine SOG would be the best fit to this system as it has a better surface area than DWC which might be more SCRog oriented having a deeper reservoir.
I'm just starting in hydro so I don't know the quirks of each system, but if anyone sees any issues or improvements please throw in.
I'm doing a 4x4 scrog tent and started thinking about the simplicity of running many clones of 1 plant to keep nutrient and flowering times in synch so it's relatively set and forget because little to no plant training, just reservoir upkeep.
While building, it occurred to me that it doesn't have a large surface area i.e. multiple tubs for a larger tent, and can be loud/costly with air pumps running constantly. I made this recirculating for the seedling stage, yet that's the only time it provides benefit(for dwc).
So I had the idea of making a hybrid NFT drip irrigation system, it would primarily be the typical NFT pipe style, but instead of being gravity fed at the top of one pipe, the water pump would be hooked to an irrigation manifold dispersing a feed tube to each planter site.
I believe this takes care of not needing an air pump (maybe to oxygenate the reservoir, if kept sterile or using beneficial bacteria I would think the air pump wouldn't be necessary.
Some people say nutrients get distributed badly in NFT because of the series design (plants at the end lack) as well as root problems from raising water levels for seedlings and getting root rot from the plug being soaked etc.
I would imagine SOG would be the best fit to this system as it has a better surface area than DWC which might be more SCRog oriented having a deeper reservoir.
I'm just starting in hydro so I don't know the quirks of each system, but if anyone sees any issues or improvements please throw in.
I'm doing a 4x4 scrog tent and started thinking about the simplicity of running many clones of 1 plant to keep nutrient and flowering times in synch so it's relatively set and forget because little to no plant training, just reservoir upkeep.
