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.

Most of the times, growing medium is not required in Nutrient Film Technique systems. Plants are placed in growing baskets or nursery nets with the roots hanging down into the nutrient solution. Thus, the plants must have a root system that is large enough to dangle down into the flowing solution. Usually the bottom of the growing tray is laid with a layer of absorbent material to assist for the even flow of nutrients and water.

N.F.T systems are very vulnerable to pump failures and power outages. The roots will get dry out very quickly if there is any interruption to the flow of nutrient solution.

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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.

Though nutrient solution is utilized more efficiently in the Recovery Drip System, more maintenance tasks are required. When nutrient solution is recycled back into the reservoir, it will have significant change in pH and the strength. Therefore, constant checking and adjusting of the nutrient solution is essential.

Since Non-Recovery Drip system does not collect the excess of nutrients, it basically requires little to no maintenance. After you have set up the system with pH-adjusted nutrients, you can basically leave it to operate by itself until the time to refill with more nutrient solution.

Common growing medium used for Drip systems are rockwool, clay pellets and lava chips. Growing medium plays an important role in Drip system to determine the type of emitters used for dripping purpose. Generally, a fast draining medium (such as clay pellets) will require faster dripping emitters. On the other hand, slower dripping emitters are best used alongside with slow draining medium like rockwool.

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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.

While you can basically use any types of growing medium in the Wick hydroponic system, it is recommended to use growing mediums that can retain more water and nutrients for example, perlite, vermiculite, and / or coconut fiber. A mixture of perlite / vermiculite in the ratio of 1:1 works great in the Wick system, though the combination of perlite and coconut fiber is common too.

As the Wick system does not have proper aeration for the roots, it is usually wise to install an external air pump to supply oxygen into the nutrient reservoir. Run an airline from the air pump into the reservoir with the other end attached to an air stone. This will slowly oxygenate the nutrient solution in the reservoir. When nutrient solution is supplied to the root zone, it allows the roots to breathe.

There are few issues you need to consider when using the Wick system:

1. It is hard to achieve the correct moisture level for the plants as the wick used might not be able to pull sufficient water and nutrients to nourish the roots. You need to constantly experiment with different types of wick and growing medium in order to get the right growing environment.

2. The plants may use up the nutrient solution faster than the wicks can provide if the plants are big or if they take up large quantity of water.

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On the other hand, I found growing herbs is relatively easy with hydroponic gardening. The use of hydroponics system makes growing herbs possible without much hassle. You adjust the setting to proper suit the type of herbs that you are growing, determine how much water and how frequent is it to water the plants, the type of nutrient solutions to use and the appropriate pH of  the hydroponic nutrients. With hydroponics system, you can control everything from the quantity of water, nutrients intake, up to the amount of lights for your herbs to grow healthily.

The best part of using hydroponic system is that you can grow several types of herbs in a single hydroponic system. This is possible because these hydroponic systems utilize a very wide pH range. By using hydroponic gardening techniques, you can grow herbs right from the seeds or may transfer your nursery into a hydroponic garden to yield more results.

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