My $200.00 NFT Rain Gutter system

[Canappa]

I started growing the early 90's and was on a budget at that time with no money to work with my and a friend thought of an ideal for growing in the gutters. I had read about it somewhere but did not know how to go about it. This is what I came up with. I just built this set up for about $200 Bucks and I already ran it for many years and got great results about 10 years ago we where getting 5-6lbs in a 10X10 room every 3 months, with 4 1000's two MH and two HPS bulbs. I grew for a year and learned a lot during that time. But me and my girlfriend had troubles and had to shut it down asap if you know what I mean.

I am new to this Forum and did not see any gutter systems like mine. I use 3" Rockwool cubes that fit great in the gutters. I am able to fit about 8 plants in each and row about 24" apart. The Nutrients flow 24/7 through the gutters which are always monitored for proper PH, PPM and temp.the one problem I had when growing this was was the roots will fill the gutters and to the top and had minor leaks that where taken care of.

My NFT is running just fine no problem at all no water chiller being used and no Co2, just keeping it simple and on a budget. Growing for medical use for a friend and I only, not to worried about not using them. Iam sure it would help though. I do have fresh outside air going in at out 24/7 which helps.

The set up is very simple, I dont like running a bunch of nutes "keeping it simple is my way of thinking". I just added a few girls to the room, started them on a Ionic Hydro Grow, Nitrozime and FossilFuel. The room stay at a content 74-77degree lights on 68 light off and 55-60 humidity. Root temp at 72 I covered the gutters in white plastic to make sure the roots get no light. Cool system but not for everone...

 

[MysteryChild]

Very cool system and looks quite efficient
Are all the stands the same height?

 

[Canappa]

Very cool system and looks quite efficient
Are all the stands the same height?

Thanks, efficient yes that was my goal, and it runs its self , with good nutes I never worry about Ph readings. I have about 4 different strains in this run, they where just starting their stretch in the pic but in the end some where twice the size of the others. I had yet to put up the net in this pic it help also.

 

[masshole61]

Any stink buddies out there?

 

[Canappa]

Any stink buddies out there?

Stink buddies ? you got me ?

 

[Gamrstwin36]

I started growing the early 90's and was on a budget at that time with no money to work with my and a friend thought of an ideal for growing in the gutters. I had read about it somewhere but did not know how to go about it. This is what I came up with. I just built this set up for about $200 Bucks and I already ran it for many years and got great results about 10 years ago we where getting 5-6lbs in a 10X10 room every 3 months, with 4 1000's two MH and two HPS bulbs. I grew for a year and learned a lot during that time. But me and my girlfriend had troubles and had to shut it down asap if you know what I mean.

I am new to this Forum and did not see any gutter systems like mine. I use 3" Rockwool cubes that fit great in the gutters. I am able to fit about 8 plants in each and row about 24" apart. The Nutrients flow 24/7 through the gutters which are always monitored for proper PH, PPM and temp.the one problem I had when growing this was was the roots will fill the gutters and to the top and had minor leaks that where taken care of.

My NFT is running just fine no problem at all no water chiller being used and no Co2, just keeping it simple and on a budget. Growing for medical use for a friend and I only, not to worried about not using them. Iam sure it would help though. I do have fresh outside air going in at out 24/7 which helps.

The set up is very simple, I dont like running a bunch of nutes "keeping it simple is my way of thinking". I just added a few girls to the room, started them on a Ionic Hydro Grow, Nitrozime and FossilFuel. The room stay at a content 74-77degree lights on 68 light off and 55-60 humidity. Root temp at 72 I covered the gutters in white plastic to make sure the roots get no light. Cool system but not for everone...

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Very Intriguing. Love the simplicity. .So how Tall of a plant does this system support?? Very Smooth looking. .Im Awakening tonight. .Cool system. . Could you run this Vertically? ?

 

[Canappa]

Very Intriguing. Love the simplicity. .So how Tall of a plant does this system support?? Very Smooth looking. .Im Awakening tonight. .Cool system. . Could you run this Vertically? ?

Vertically is a good question and yes it can be done, cant see why it wont work other than the plants getting in to big? pulled this pic from the web . The height of my plants can be up to 4-5 ft tall depending on how high the ceiling is is the question? The most plants I ran was 32, using 10ft gutters. I have 8ft running in the pics above now, the bottom can support a lot of weight... The system runs its self once a wk I change the rez water, and shes good to go on her own till the next wk.

 

[Gamrstwin36]

Vertically is a good question and yes it can be done, cant see why it wont work other than the plants getting in to big? pulled this pic from the web View attachment 361009 . The height of my plants can be up to 4-5 ft tall depending on how high the ceiling is is the question? The most plants I ran was 32, using 10ft gutters. I have 8ft running in the pics above now, the bottom can support a lot of weight... The system runs its self once a wk I change the rez water, and shes good to go on her own till the next wk.

Really cool .Thanks for waking me up on nft. I gotta do more research i like vertical bare bulb . Something like that pic i could put netting on the sides to control the plants, sorta growing sideways but ona vertical base ..The possibilities are Vast!! eager to watch your grow bro...Thanks for the info ..

 

[Tank333]

Dude, I love the setup! This is the style of grow I want to use for strawberries this summer... lots of growing space and not much square footage used up.

What do you use on top of the gutter to keep the light from hitting the wafter?

 

[Canappa]

Dude, I love the setup! This is the style of grow I want to use for strawberries this summer... lots of growing space and not much square footage used up.

What do you use on top of the gutter to keep the light from hitting the wafter?

Thanks , To top the gutters I used Panda film and now I am trying Mylar, I my opinion the Panda film is easier to use and cheaper...Just use duck tape to hold it over the gutters.

 

[Theoneandonly Z]

Dude, I love the setup! This is the style of grow I want to use for strawberries this summer... lots of growing space and not much square footage used up.

What do you use on top of the gutter to keep the light from hitting the wafter?

i rocked a sick nft strawberry garden a couple summers ago! used 3" pvc though. worked great, i really want to utilize my fence space and mount a system to it this spring. guess we will see

 

[Tank333]

Thanks , To top the gutters I used Panda film and now I am trying Mylar, I my opinion the Panda film is easier to use and cheaper...Just use duck tape to hold it over the gutters.

Okay... how well does the panda hold up? Does it keep nice and tight? I'm thinking I would want to cover it with wood and seal it so I can run sprayers along the length of it...

i rocked a sick nft strawberry garden a couple summers ago! used 3" pvc though. worked great, i really want to utilize my fence space and mount a system to it this spring. guess we will see

Nice man. I've got like 1000 sq/ft of soil garden space, and I'm gonna use every inch of it! Lol. I'm also gonna set upsome sort of a hydro system on the dead lawn, too... Hopefully get a decent aquaponics setup going, too... Gonna run those under the house in the unfinished half of the half-basement so they don't get any sunlight. Gotta keep that algae away, plus it keeps em happier to be in the dark!

 

[Canappa]

Okay... how well does the panda hold up? Does it keep nice and tight? I'm thinking I would want to cover it with wood and seal it so I can run sprayers along the length of it...


The only concern I would have with wood is mold, anything would work that is mold resistant. Sprayers along the side hmm sounds like a great ideal. I thought about it but never knew how to go about it?

 

[Theoneandonly Z]

shit i realized i stopped by and didnt give a shout out to @Canappa for sharing - nice garden set up man! clean and simple. Im diggin how you used an old CD! thanks for sharing. ive never had the chance of running an NFT system while growing mmj, but u got my curiosity going again :cigar:

 

[Canappa]

shit i realized i stopped by and didnt give a shout out to @Canappa for sharing - nice garden set up man! clean and simple. Im diggin how you used an old CD! thanks for sharing. ive never had the chance of running an NFT system while growing mmj, but u got my curiosity going again :cigar:

Thanks Bro, For the props Its all good...

 

[Tank333]

The only concern I would have with wood is mold, anything would work that is mold resistant. Sprayers along the side hmm sounds like a great ideal. I thought about it but never knew how to go about it?

I would probably wrap the wood in plastic, and use caulk to seal the edges. I would cut it to fit just inside, and maybe make a few small supports for it along the length of it. I would put net pots every 8" or so...

To put sprayers, just take a length of 1/2" pipe, use a drill with an 11/62 size drill bit (HAS to be this size), and some of the little red 360 sprayers (one every 6"). Don't forget an end-cap on each one. It wouldn't require much to change your current set-up to have sprayers, but you use rockwool cubes that fill the whole tray, don't you?

 

[Canappa]

I would probably wrap the wood in plastic, and use caulk to seal the edges. I would cut it to fit just inside, and maybe make a few small supports for it along the length of it. I would put net pots every 8" or so...

To put sprayers, just take a length of 1/2" pipe, use a drill with an 11/62 size drill bit (HAS to be this size), and some of the little red 360 sprayers (one every 6"). Don't forget an end-cap on each one. It wouldn't require much to change your current set-up to have sprayers, but you use rockwool cubes that fill the whole tray, don't you?

The cubes are 3" cubes spaced 12" apart and root fill the space in between, there is no way to fill whole tray with rock wool I tried it didnt work out for me but that was many years ago. The water flows down the gutters 24/7 and exit put the end into the rez to get an ideal of what I have. Plus it benefits me to have the space for the roots. Thanks for the tip on the spray nozzles, I will be looking more into it.

 

[Chronic Monster]

awesome grow man

 

[Tank333]

The cubes are 3" cubes spaced 12" apart and root fill the space in between, there is no way to fill whole tray with rock wool I tried it didnt work out for me but that was many years ago. The water flows down the gutters 24/7 and exit put the end into the rez to get an ideal of what I have. Plus it benefits me to have the space for the roots. Thanks for the tip on the spray nozzles, I will be looking more into it.

Yea, those rockwool cubes make me nervous.. lots of potential for problems. See, I just try to stay away with rockwool... that's why aero appeals to me so much. No medium needed!

 

[Tank333]

Maybe I could put a bead of silicone along each edge and press panda film into that to make it seal tight? Then I could just use net pots with a CD with a hole drilled in it to hold it up...