About NFT Hydroponic System

Nutrient Film Technique, abbreviated as NFT. A simple energy-saving soilless cultivation technique. Cultivate the crop roots in a thin layer of nutrient solution. By using a water pump to continuously or intermittently circulate the nutrient solution from the storage tank to the crop roots planted on the cultivation bed, a portion of the roots are immersed in the nutrient solution while the remaining roots are exposed to the air. This effectively solves the contradiction between root water absorption and oxygen absorption. Compared to other hydroponic methods, it is more energy-efficient, material efficient, and cost-effective. Widely used in soilless cultivation of leafy vegetables.

Facility structure:

The facilities of NFT mainly consist of three parts: planting tanks, storage tanks, and nutrient solution circulation flow devices. In addition, other auxiliary facilities such as concentrated nutrient solution storage tanks and automatic dispensing devices, nutrient solution heating and cooling devices, etc. can be selected and configured according to the actual production and financial possibilities.

Advantage：

1. Less investment in facilities, easy and convenient construction. The NFT planting tank is made of lightweight plastic film or spliced with corrugated tiles, with a lightweight and simple facility structure, easy installation, easy disassembly, and low investment cost.

2. The liquid layer is shallow and flowing. The nutrient solution layer is relatively shallow, with crop roots partially immersed in the shallow nutrient solution and partially exposed to moisture in the planting trough. The shallow nutrient solution circulates and flows, which can effectively meet the oxygen demand of root respiration.

3. Easy to achieve automated management of the production process.

Disadvantage:

1.Although NFT facilities require less investment and are easy to construct, their durability is poor, resulting in frequent subsequent investment and maintenance work.

2.NFT has a shallow liquid layer and intermittent liquid supply, which effectively solves the problem of root oxygen demand. However, the stability of the rhizosphere environment is poor, which requires high technical level of management personnel and equipment performance.

3.To make management work both refined and not burdensome, it is necessary to use automatic control devices, which requires increased equipment and investment, and limits the promotion scope.

4.NFT is a closed loop system, and once root diseases occur, they are more likely to spread and spread throughout the entire system. Therefore, there is a high requirement for cleaning and disinfecting the facilities before use.