# Does a plant in NFT hydro system stay there till the harvest?



## jaz1873 (Oct 19, 2006)

Hi

In a NFT hydroponic system do u keep the plant in there from clone until its ready? How does this system work? I thought u put your cutting in rock wool, then put it in bigger piece when the roots are coming through. Is this correct??

Cheers


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## Stoney Bud (Oct 19, 2006)

jaz1873 said:
			
		

> Hi
> 
> In a NFT hydroponic system do u keep the plant in there from clone until its ready? How does this system work? I thought u put your cutting in rock wool, then put it in bigger piece when the roots are coming through. Is this correct??
> 
> Cheers


 
You're on the right track man. You root the seedling in rockwool and then plant it into the NFT system with very low nutes. 1/8th strength nutes to start.

The plant will remain in the NFT system until you harvest it. The nutrients will be changed to a flowering nute as soon as you go into flower.


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## nozzleboy (Nov 2, 2006)

OK so Stoney after you put the clone into the rockwool and into the NFT system will it need to be placed into bigger rockwool or do you just let the roots grow out of the original peice of rockwool?  Also what a good way to get the clones started with out soil?


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## bombbudpuffa (Nov 3, 2006)

No bigger rockwool, what its rooted in should be fine. You can use a clone gel and rockwool for cloning too! Btw, as I understand it, the plant is clamped at the base of its stalk in a nft system.


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## jaz1873 (Nov 3, 2006)

nozzleboy said:
			
		

> OK so Stoney after you put the clone into the rockwool and into the NFT system will it need to be placed into bigger rockwool or do you just let the roots grow out of the original peice of rockwool? Also what a good way to get the clones started with out soil?


 
Im learning to mate but the impression i got was once u have your clone in the smaller rockwool and the roots are coming through it u then transplant it in to the bigger rockwool which there is a perfect space cut out of it .then thats there till harvest   then smokin ya go


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## Stoney Bud (Nov 3, 2006)

jaz1873 said:
			
		

> Im learning to mate but the impression i got was once u have your clone in the smaller rockwool and the roots are coming through it u then transplant it in to the bigger rockwool which there is a perfect space cut out of it .then thats there till harvest  then smokin ya go


Hey guys, here's the way that an NFT system is supposed to work.

For the NFT system, you've got either tubes or troughs for the nutrient water to flow through. Remember what NFT means. Nutrient Flow Technique. The Nutrient is pumped from the primary reservoir through tubes to the uphill side of the growing troughs. The nutrients then flow through the roots and media until reaching the point at which they fall back into the reservoir.

Some people use no media in the troughs, most use some type of media. Coconut shell, hydroton, gravel, rocks, and all sorts of stuff have been used. I prefer hydroton. It's fairly light and has great porosity. The nutrient solution passes easily through it.

The top of the NFT system should allow a net basket to rest in it and extend to the bottom or near bottom of the growing tube. This net basket should have the rockwool or peat pellet with roots growing out, at the bottom of the net basket and then the rest of the net basket is filled with hydroton or whatever. This provides a starter area for the root system to develop.

This net basket is placed into the growing tube within the media that fills the tube.

A NFT system runs continuously 24/7 with no stopping of the flow. This brings both nutrients and oxygen to the entire root system.

Now, here's the problem with a NFT system. Quite often, the root mass will fill the entire tube and actually block the flow of the nutrient solution. This happens when the flow is interrupted by "timing" the flow or someone is manually shutting the pump off and on. The plant will "sense" a lack of water and expand the root system in an attempt to find more.

This is a very common problem. THE PUMP HAS TO RUN 24/7, NON-STOP.

By running the pump continuously, the plant DOESN'T grow excessive roots and will allow the flow of the nutrient solution to pass through the media and roots to return to the reservoir.

The root system will grow through the media within the net basket, into the media within the grow tube. This is what stabilizes the plant and keeps it from falling over.

Systems that advise the use of NO media within the grow tube are not the proper method of NFT for use with Marijuana. Marijuana has much too much weight ABOVE the tube, and NEEDS the additional support that an intertwined root mass among media gives.

OK, what did I miss? Any questions so far?


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## Gumber (Nov 8, 2006)

Awsome, this is perfect.  I'm doing a first grow with NFT and you pretty much answered all of my annoying questions!  

THANK YOU STONEY


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## Ravishing_68 (Nov 8, 2006)

I have kept my plant in 3" net pot with rockwool cubes and it is doing great.  I wish the resevoir was deeper, if I had 4 plants in the system I think the roots might take over.  Here is a picture below.  When I clone I have these black stem holders that fit on my small net pots.  When it is time to take them from the clone box, I will just put the smaller pot in the larger net pot and add more rockwool to stabilize.  Hope that helps.  Of course, Stoney Bud is the expert, this is just what I am finding works for me at this time.


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## Stoney Bud (Nov 8, 2006)

Gumber said:
			
		

> Awsome, this is perfect. I'm doing a first grow with NFT and you pretty much answered all of my annoying questions!
> 
> THANK YOU STONEY


 
Hey, cool man. I'm glad I could shed some light for you. I'd sure love to see pics of your grow, when you get it goin.


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## Stoney Bud (Nov 8, 2006)

Ravishing_68 said:
			
		

> I have kept my plant in 3" net pot with rockwool cubes and it is doing great. I wish the resevoir was deeper, if I had 4 plants in the system I think the roots might take over. Here is a picture below. When I clone I have these black stem holders that fit on my small net pots. When it is time to take them from the clone box, I will just put the smaller pot in the larger net pot and add more rockwool to stabilize. Hope that helps. Of course, Stoney Bud is the expert, this is just what I am finding works for me at this time.


Hey Rav. Good to meetcha. 68 was a good year. 1868 for me. Hhaahaha.

It sounds like you've got a good idea of what you're doing. You'll run into a snag or two, but MJ is one tuff plant.

If you ever want to try an ebb and flow system, you let me know and I'll help you design one for your grow space. The DWC system you're using now is a high maintenance system. Ebb and flow is low maintenance, high yeild.

Hey, whatever method you choose, Hydro is the way to go.

The water people...

Clean nails.

Yo! Hick! I'm throwing bait atcha...


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## Delloman (Nov 10, 2006)

my first grow was eb and flow. the grow rooms i am working on now are SWC like DWC but in eb and flow tables running 24/7. the tables have airstones in them the plants are in 2 in net pots having the water run all the time dose keep the roots small and the plants grow as big as DWC with the low work of eb and flow


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## Stoney Bud (Nov 11, 2006)

Delloman said:
			
		

> my first grow was eb and flow. the grow rooms i am working on now are SWC like DWC but in eb and flow tables running 24/7. the tables have airstones in them the plants are in 2 in net pots having the water run all the time dose keep the roots small and the plants grow as big as DWC with the low work of eb and flow


 
Pics? I'd like to see that setup.


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