In NFT plants and placed in the grow system without any extra growing media – say goodbye to lugging bags of soil and coco around!
Nutrient solution is constantly pumped over bare roots and the run-off flows back into the reservoir.
Growth is fast and healthy because there’s no soil to restrict root access to the constantly available water, nutrients and oxygen.
To transfer plants into the Gro-Tank just tip the plant out of its pot and place it straight into the Gro-Tank tray without adding any extra media.
If you’ve started in rockwool just place the rockwool block directly onto the Gro-Tank tray when you’re ready to transplant.
Switch to NFT and you’ll never switch back!
HINTS AND TIPS
Ensure plants are well-rooted before they go into the system. The starter media should be covered in white roots.
Spacing – as a rule of thumb 1 plant per square foot. This can be increased or decreased depending on plant variety.
Leave the pump running constantly.
Start plants in either 3” or 4” rockwool cubes, 3” / 4” pots filled with soil or coco or 3” net pots filled with clay.
If using rockwool cubes completely remove plastic wrapping from the cubes.
If moving from pots to the Gro-Tank remove the plants from the pots so the roots can access more oxygen.
All but the smallest of plants will need additional support, i.e. yoyo’s or pea netting.
Set the flow rate on the pump so that the nutrient solution moves over the spreader mat constantly, but not so much that the roots are submerged.
Cut lengths of spreader mat long enough to allow an overhang of a few inches from the tray into the tank.
Plants under lights will take up water at a faster rate than they take up nutrient which means the EC will rise over time.
Top up the tank with half strength nutrient solution, check EC and add extra nutrient if required.
Then adjust pH level and perform a solution change every 2-3 weeks to keep the pH and EC balanced.
Managing nutrients is easy in a Gro-Tank. Check out our guide here.
Check out our guide on setting up and planting out in a Gro-Tank.
For more information on getting the most from your NFT system check out our definitive guide to growing using NFT.