Hydroponic System: Nutrient Film Technique (N.F.T)
In N.F.T hydroponic system, plants are grown in a tray separate from the nutrient reservoir. The growing tray is set up in such a way that one end is lower than the other end to aid the flow of water and nutrient.
Plants grown with N.F.T hydroponic system are supplied with constant flow of nutrient solution to the higher end of the growing tray. Therefore timer is not required to schedule for the supply of nutrient solution. The nutrient solution at the higher end of the tray will flow through the root zone of the plants and the excess of hydroponic nutrients will then be drained back to the reservoir.
The Drip Hydroponic Growing System
Drip hydroponic system is widely used in commercial growing for crops like tomatoes and peppers. In a Drip system, plants are grown in a growing tray separate from the nutrient reservoir. A pump is submerged in the nutrient reservoir to push the nutrient solution to feed the plants via small tubes from the top. Nutrient solution that is dripped onto the base of each plant will slowly seep through the growing medium and then reach to the root zone. A timer is used to control the pump for the watering cycles.
In a Recovery Drip System, overflow of the nutrients will be collected back into the reservoir for reuse. The Non-Recovery Drip System does not collect the excess of nutrient solution. Therefore it is crucial to use a more precise timer to control the watering cycles to minimize the waste of runoff while nourish the plants with adequate hydroponic nutrients.
The Wick Hydroponic System
The Wick system is by far the easiest type of hydroponic systems available. In Wick hydroponic system, plants are placed in separate container from the nutrient reservoir. A wick is used to draw nutrient solution from the reservoir to feed the roots.
Usually pieces of porous material with high absorbent power like nylon ropes are used as wicks. One end of the wick is placed at the bottom of the growing container, and the other end is left hanging down the nutrient solution. The wick draws the water and nutrients from the reservoir up into the growing medium in the container.
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