HelpfulGardener.com

Hello!

I recently decided to give Hydroponic NFT a try in a greenhouse. I'm growing tomatoes, cucumber, and other various vegetables. So when I set up the NFT, I used 4" PVC pipes. I then cut holes in the PVC for a 2" basket (containing the plant and clay pebbles) to rest on the top of the pipe. The roots from my plants dangle down and touch the water, however, there is about a 2" gap between the water and the bottom of the plastic pot. I thought the Gap would be not be that much. Is it better to place the plastic mesh basket on the bottom of the PVC pipe? Or, as long as the roots are touching the water will it be fine? Also, I have the pump on a timer 1 minute on, 4 minutes off.

Thanks!

The gap is usually about an inch but as long as the roots touch the water it should be fine. The roots that are outside of the water are important air roots, the water roots are the ones that will grow in the water.

I have only grown tomatoes in dutch buckets not on rafts or rails. They require trellising and pruning. and you need to space them more. Thebuckets are filled with cinders or hydroton and we use oasis to grow the seedlings. Water is piped in and flows into the pots through holes drilled in the pvc. and the tray under the pots collects the water and returns it back to the fish tank. We use 15 gallon pots. tomatoes have a larg root system they still come out of the pots and clog the tray and we have to clear them. In a closed system you will have to have a way to clean it out in case it gets clogged with roots. On rails and rafts we planted short term crops like lettuce, arugula, and chard. their roots systems aren't as big so they don't clog the rails. We still have to clean the rails periodically because of algae growth and if bugs get in the greenhouse there isn't much we can do about it except sanitize the house.