What is going on everyone? Welcome back to another episode of the Epic Gardening

podcast. This is your home for the coolest, the most interesting gardening

information on the internet, as is Epic Gardening.com, the site that I started a while back.

Today we're talking about NFT, also known as Nutrient Film technique.

It's one of the most popular types of hydroponic systems out there, and it's prized for how versatile and modular it is.

By adding more NFT channels, I'll cover what those are later in this podcast,

you can significantly increase your yield without a whole lot of extra

effort. The first thing we need to talk about is how the system works. Now it's very similar to the ebb and flow technique

for one simple reason,

and that reason is they both use water pumps

to deliver the nutrient solution to your plants.

In an NFT system, ultimately it's gravity that guides the water back to the main reservoir.

It's also a constantly flowing system as opposed to the flood and drain mechanics of an ebb and flow setup.

Nutrient film technique systems are considered active systems,

meaning they require moving parts to work.

Systems like a WIC setup or a Krat Key method setup are passive.

They are simpler to build and easier to run, but you might be sacrificing optimal growing conditions to get that passive benefit.

Now, the key element of a good NFT system is how the nutrient solution flows over the roots.

It has the word film in it for that reason.

Ideally, a very, very small amount of water flows through the NFT channels.

What this does is it allows your plants to get sufficient oxygen so that the roots don't drown

while still giving it access to the nutrients and the water that it needs to grow.

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