Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) for Hydroponics System

The nutrient film technique or NFT is a tried and tested hydroponics system. Though old, this method is still very popular for indoor horticulturists. The reason for its popularity is that the method is relatively inexpensive and very easy to set up. NFTs are very popular amongst the lettuce farmers of New Zealand and Australia. This system is well suited for tomatoes and herbs.

Plants are grown above a nutrient tank reservoir. This system works by having a nutrient solution being constantly pumped using a submersible pump from the tank to the plant.. The nutrients flow via a tube or tray over the roots of the plant, what ever is not absorbed is then returned to the tank. There is no additional growing medium apart from the basic medium that is used to grow the plant from its seed. The two most common mediums are blocks of rock wool and pots of perlite. The flow of nutrients is usually a very slow stream that trickles through the medium and the roots of the plant is only submerged in one to three millimeter of solution. It is the slow flow of nutrients combined with the depth that ensure that no damage occurs to the fragile root systems. The advantage of using a NFT system is that it has a low start up cost and is very easy to use. Since no additional growing medium is required, the cost of constant replacement is non existent. However the plant is dependant on the functioning of the pump and will dry up easily if the pump fails to pump its nutrients. Care should be taken to ensure that there are no blockages.

by Diana