Types Of Hydroponic Garden System
There are several types of hydroponic garden system, which apply nutrients to the plants' roots in different ways. This film wil show you the differences between these systems.
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Step 1:
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The Nutrient Film Technique
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The Nutrient Film Technique, or NFT, system is one of the oldest and most popular types of hydroponic system. It works by constantly pumping a thin film of nutrient solution directly to the roots of the plants. The system consists of a nutrient tank containing the solution of water and nutrients. A flow pump then pumps the solution into a top tray above the tank. The plants sit on a spreader mat in the is top tray, so their roots are in contact with a thin film of water and nutrients at all times. The top tray is on a slight incline, so that gravity causes the water to fall back into the tank, creating a constant cycle of nutrient solution. The whole top tray is then covered by a Correx lid, to keep the plants' roots in darkness. Here's an example of a larger NFT system, know as a Multi-Duct system.
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Step 2:
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The Flood And Drain System
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This is also know as the Ebb And Flow System. With this system, the tray or pot containing the plants' roots is periodically flooded with water and nutrients, and then drained again, instead of being exposed to a constant film of nutrients like in the NFT system.
In a tray-based Flood And Drain system, the top tray sits above the nutrient tank, and a pump attached to a timer floods the top tray with nutrient solution several times a day. The water then drains back into the tank below. The plants are in plastic buckets containing a growing medium of clay pebbles, which protect the roots from light. The roots extend out the bottom of the buckets into another layer of clay pebbles below.
A modular Flood And Drain system works on the same principle, except that the nutrient solution is pumped several times day out of a large nutrient reservoir into a smaller control tank. When the level in the control tank reaches the float switch inside, the pump stops, and the solution drains out of the control tank through these pipes into the growing pots. The growing pots are flooded from the bottom, and then drain back out again.
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Step 3:
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The Aeroponics System
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Aeroponics is when plants' roots are exposed to air, as well as nutrient solution in a mist or spray. The plants, in baskets of growing medium, are set in holes in the top of an aeroponics chamber. Their roots hang down into the chamber. Soem systems use rotating sprinkler heads continuously spray nutrient solution onto the roots of the plants.
In a system that uses mist, an air compressor pumps air and nutrient solution through an atomiser to create a fine mist. The system is on a timer, so the mist is pumped into the aeroponics chamber at regular intervals. The plants absorb nutrients directly from this mist.
