36 Cup NFT Hydroponic Kit

It is a nutrient film technique system with 36 planting sites, where a shallow stream of nutrient solution runs through closed channels past the plant roots and drains back to a tank. There is no soil. The frame is slanted rather than stacked, so it stands against a wall or beside a window.

The gullies, the connectors that join them, 36 grow pots and a water pump. That is the system itself. You supply the reservoir tank, the nutrient solution, the growing medium and the seeds.

Because most people already have something suitable, and because tank size is a preference rather than a fixed part of the kit. Anything from 15 to 20 litres works. Use an opaque tank with a lid: a clear one lets light in and light on nutrient water grows algae.

About an hour. The gullies push into the connectors and the pump drops into your reservoir. It is designed to go together without a specialist doing it.

Leafy crops do best: lettuce, celery, beetroot, bell pepper, garlic seedlings, rocket, herbs and similar. NFT suits plants that stay light enough to be held by a grow pot. Heavy fruiting crops and root vegetables are not what this system is for.

Thirty days from planting to a first cut is realistic for salad leaves. It depends on the crop, how much light the plants get and how well the nutrient solution is kept up, so treat it as a guide rather than a promise.

It works either way. Indoors it needs a light source, which is why people pair it with grow lights. Outdoors or on a balcony it can use daylight, and the slant is designed so it still catches full sun against a wall.

A thin film of nutrient solution flows continuously along the bottom of a closed channel. The roots sit in that film and in the humid air above it, so they get water, nutrients and oxygen at the same time. The solution runs back to the tank and is pumped round again.

The gullies carry an inner blocking design that makes the stream turn rather than run straight down the kit. Without it the water takes the shortest path to the end and the sites along the way get less of it.

To keep sunlight off the roots and off the nutrient solution. Light on nutrient water grows algae, and algae is the most common reason a first hydroponic system stops working well.

Less than growing the same plants in soil, because the solution recirculates rather than draining away. You top it up as the plants drink it and as some evaporates, rather than watering daily.

Only if the kit is somewhere without enough daylight. A bright windowsill or a balcony may be enough in summer. Indoors, in winter, or in a room without a good window, you will need a light. We sell LED grow light strips separately.

A general hydroponic nutrient made for leafy greens. It is not included with the kit, so buy it alongside. Follow the dilution on the bottle rather than guessing, because too strong is more damaging than too weak.

Most growers replace it every two to three weeks and top up with plain water in between as the level drops. If the plants look pale or growth stalls, a full change is usually the first thing to try.

It helps. Most leafy crops do best somewhere around 5.5 to 6.5. A cheap pH pen and a bottle of pH down are the two things that turn an occasionally frustrating system into a reliable one.

For a few days, yes, if the reservoir is full. The pump runs continuously and the tank is the limit. For longer than that, ask someone to top it up, because a pump running dry is how pumps die.

The flow stops and the roots keep whatever moisture is in the channel and the grow pot. A short outage is not a problem. A long one in warm weather is, so if your supply is unreliable it is worth knowing that NFT depends on the pump in a way that deep water culture does not.

Drain it, take the gullies apart at the connectors and rinse them out with clean water and a soft brush. Detergent is not needed and any residue left in the channel ends up in the next batch of nutrient solution.

Keep light off the water. The channels are already closed, so the weak point is the reservoir: use an opaque tank with a lid rather than a clear bucket. If algae does appear, a full clean and a fresh solution clears it.

Yes. It arrives as parts that go together one way, and NFT is a forgiving method once the pump is running. The two things worth learning early are how to mix the solution and how to check pH.

The kit is 98 cm wide, 108 cm deep and 52 cm high, so allow a little more than a metre square of floor and room to reach the back row. The reservoir sits beside or under it.

Food grade PVC. That is the same class of plastic used for drinking water pipework, which is what you want around a solution your food is growing in.

No. NFT is defined by the moving film of solution. Without the pump the channels drain and the roots dry out. If you want a system that keeps working when the power does not, deep water culture is the one to look at.

It is a small submersible pump sitting in water, so it is quiet. Most of the sound people notice is water returning to the tank, which you can soften by having the return run down the side of the reservoir rather than dropping into it.

Not by bolting more onto this frame. If you want more sites, the 108 cup system is the larger version and is arranged in three tiers, which also lets you stagger growth cycles.

The 11 cup system is deep water culture: the roots sit in an aerated tank and there is no flow. It is smaller, simpler and cheaper. This kit is NFT, is roughly three times the planting capacity, and is the step up when a single tub is no longer enough.

Yes, and it is one of the better places for it. You get daylight without needing lights, and the slanted frame is designed to sit against a wall. Keep the reservoir out of direct sun and secure the frame if the balcony is exposed to wind.

We do not have that confirmed for the European market. The supplier's own listing describes a plug type for another country, and rather than guess we would rather say so. Ask us before ordering if it matters and we will confirm it with the supplier.

Across Europe in 5 to 7 days, after a 24 to 48 hour handling time. Delivery is free on orders over EUR 50, otherwise EUR 22. Express delivery is available at checkout if you need it sooner.

Tell us and we will sort it out. Check the parts against the list when it arrives rather than at planting time, because a missing connector is easier to replace before you have mixed 20 litres of solution.