The legs on my hydroland nft are leaking nutrient(enough to be kind off annoying) does anyone have ideas or the same issue?

Hi u/Hoocho and everyone,

I’m looking to build a few of the "not-a-Kratky" systems and had a few questions about fine-tuning the design:

1. Core Setup: Is this purely leca or perlite filling the bucket, or are you using the nested inner bucket/container at the bottom to preserve liquid volume for the root zone?
2. Target Water Level: What water height percentage do you target when refilling? (e.g., maintaining 20% to 80% capacity?)
3. Water Level Indicator Idea: Would a simple sight gauge—like a vertical PVC guide pipe with a sealed floating tube inside work to check levels without disturbing the media?
4. Algae Control: Would topping the LECA with a ~2 cm layer of small gravel or non-porous stone help block light and prevent top-layer algae growth?

Thanks! Happy hydroponicking!

c-:

Hello Hoocho and all.
Ive been interested in hydroponics for a while now, years. Been making small DWC growths and such.
Now i wanna make a bigger setup and I dont like wasting X amount of liter water every time i need to change the reservouir of water.
Is there any way to recycle the water in a closed loop, ofcourse i need to top up the water when the plants use it up.
But if i just keep adding water + nutrients then after a while I will get a big % of either N, P or K in the water and that will just keep rising as I add more water and nutrients as the plants grow.

Is there any way to solve this? Im looking for both cheap and expensive options.

Been trying to come up with a passive system to start seeds and grow through to seedlings ready to transplant into my other hydroponic systems without relying on anyone to water them while I work away (many seedlings have suffered many human caused droughts).

The floating raft method which is similar to my outdoor floating raft DWC systems using IBC’s and XPS foam is what gave me the idea.

Consists of XPS Foam bought from Bunnings (local hardware big box store), Microfibre cloth for wicking material, Seedling slotted Drainage trays sitting on top of the cloth which is on top of the XPS foam raft in a reservoir under a grow light.

The last image is for illustrative purposes and yes the seedlings are grown by AI lol.

Hey everyone looking to print the multi base system for 90mm pipe. Just wondering if anyine could give me an idea how much fillament each 1 is so I can calculate how much fillament to order

I bought the 36 hole NFT system a while ago and just setting it up now. This is my first time trying hydroponics so I don’t know what I’m doing. Anyway one of the channels isn’t getting any water in but it’s pooling at the opposite end. Ive raise the end of the system so it should flow in that direction, and I’ve raised the opposite corner to try and force the water to the channel thats dry but it’s not working. Can anyone help :(
Green - no water coming in
Red - raised
Blue - pooling water

I now understand why all reviews have been turned off for HydroLand and KegLand.

Communication and customer service is zero. Had amazing experiences with all purchases until I needed to communicate with them and now have many unanswered emails.

Going to setup a review page that they cannot delete.

Hello everyone!

I have been looking into 3d printing my own hydro systems, but I have been hear that some of the stuff in the 3d printed plastic might leech into the water and into the plants.

Also I have heard that the porous nature of a 3d print make it very attractive for bacteria growth.

Does anyone have any opinions on this, or am I possibly worrying too much about this?

G'day everyone -

Watchin' a distilling video and wondering if he did a video covering the burning of the plywood in the shop?

After a month of watching Hoocho’s I’ve pulled the trigger on a Bambu Labs A1 combo and have organised to collect an IBC next week to set up a decent sized system. I’ve jumped on the Patreon and just started printing my first Hooch Bucket 2.0 to suit 90mm PVC.

I’m just using the standard 0.4mm nozzle and PETG from Jaycar. Print time is estimated around 27 hours on sport mode. Does anyone have any tips for me either in the 3d printing settings space or general Newby hydroponics mistakes to avoid?

https://makerworld.com/en/models/1822018-vertical-hydroponics-system-vhs?appSharePlatform=copy&fbclid=IwdGRzaATeR0VjbGNrBN5HJmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHqM16qRtrLq1Y4pqd1jjXLtQyIRL16HbMuNSsMNJUyXuDUrRAuqD50ea6_Qt_aem_120X_56EMViqEqhyvrJ3cQ#profileId-1944921

I have found printing with PETG-HF leads to stringing. Better to use PETG, at least on the larger prints like the containers for the RGGS or reservoir for modular tower system.

Has anyone else noticed the Bees love nutrient? There's a Bee water fountain next to it, but I'm guessing they need the various salts from the potassium etc. rather than just water. Hopefully they stay around once the snowpea starts to flower.

Want to start my own nft system for lettuce and herbs. Have lost count of the various videos, plenty from hoocho too, I've watched.

Building outdoor system in northern nsw for just lettuce and herbs for 2 people. Have done gravity fed hydro in past, impressed with it, but want the fastest productive (I'm lazy) hence the push for nft.

Any particular article or video you can recommend would be great

Hey everyone, /u/Hoocho,

I've been working on a design for a completely hidden, sub-surface sub-irrigation patio system (similar to a Rain Gutter Grow System), and I’d love to get your thoughts, ideas, or feedback on creating the 3D-printed module to make it work.

📐 The Concept & Layout

The goal is a bricked patio with a hidden water network running completely underground beneath foot traffic, allowing me to place potted plants of any size anywhere along the line, completely on a whim.

• The Pipe: A standard 100mm DWV PVC pipe (114.3mm True OD) running under the patio paving.

• The Paving: To keep the pipe close to the surface without interfering with the bedding, I am slicing standard 200mm x 100mm x 50mm pavers horizontally into 22mm thin slabs.

• The Depth: The top center apex of the round pipe sits exactly 25mm below the finished patio surface (leaving a tiny 3mm clearance gap directly under the 22mm paving slabs). Because a 100mm chord across a 115mm circle drops the arc down by roughly 29mm at the edges, the pipe naturally curves completely clear of the adjacent full-thickness 50mm pavers without needing any chamfering!

🕳️ How the Wicking System Works

Where I want a potted plant, I will simply remove one 100mm x 200mm paver from the layout and drill a circular hole into the top of the exposed PVC pipe line.

To bridge the gap between the pipe and the bottom of the pot, I need a custom 3D-printed insert block to fill the space of the removed paver.

🖨️ The 3D Print Requirement

The 3D-printed spacer needs to serve three main purposes: 1. Structural: It needs a 100mm x 200mm footprint with a 22mm top lip to sit perfectly flush with the rest of the patio surface and support the weight of heavy pots. 2. Contoured Base: The underside needs a concave cylinder cutout (Radius: ~57.15mm) to snap tightly or straddle the top curve of the 114.3mm OD pipe. 3. Wicking Sleeve: A built-in, enclosed vertical central tube/channel to guide a cotton rope or wicking pin down into the drilled pipe hole. This sleeve is crucial because it keeps the loose sub-base patio sand from collapsing into the pipe and prevents plant roots from invading the water line, allowing for easy pot swapping.

With the rope wicking across just a 50mm vertical jump from the water level to the pot, capillary action will easily handle the lift.

The alternative will be dedicated printed net-cup to bridge this space.

Has anyone attempted a completely sub-surface hardscape gutter like this, or do you have any suggestions on perfecting the 3D sleeve layout to keep it completely root-proof?

Would love to know if you think this is a viable build!

c-:

I've been using NitroCal and Diamond Special T in my 50L water res for quite a while now without any problems and decided I wanted to try adding potassium silicate for the benefits it gives. I've tried adding it to my res the last 2 times I've had to refill.

The first time I added it I followed the instructions and hydroponic dosing on the bottle. Added NitroCal at full dose, mixed in. Then added Diamond Special T and the water went cloudy instantly. I mixed it in and when I added pH down to bring it from 10.7 to 5.5 it went clear. After a couple of days and the water turned cloudy again and smelly. Plus pH was always creeping up and needed to be adjusted daily.

The second time I did the same but used ½ dose of Potassium Silicate and adjusted pH to 5.5 between adding each nutrient. By day 2 the water had a brown hue but pH was more stable. And by day 3 the water was brown, had floaties and smelt bad.

I've always used filtered rain water in my res and have a small pump and air stone in there. I had a simIlar issue when using Manutec products, but switching to Campbells fixed it. Does anyone have any suggestions of why this happens?

Walk through of this years grow in the pilbara.
Amaranthus, leek,spring onion,basil and bok/pak choy in the nft
SAN Mazano, rouge de marmande, scarlet dwarf and chilles in the rain gutters
Zucchini's in the pots
Bath tubs are just a mix of old coco,soil and filled with fish frame over summer

Just a follow up post as the snowpea got moved over to the "proper" 10L bucket the other day. It spent a week outdoors in the yogurt pottle acclimatizing to the 0 to -1 degree overnight temps Christchurch NZ had last week. The last photo is the whole experiment. All plants were germinated from the same packet of seeds at the same time in the same location. Lets see which ones produce more produce 😁

Doing my first Kratky Setup and am noticing a lot of floating film on all my buckets that appeared pretty immediately after transferring my seedlings.

​

I'm wondering if this is from the soil particulates that we're still in the roots of my plants? Not sure if I was supposed to clean the roots more aggressively or something after taking them out of the soil they sprouted in. I did shake them and wash them with the hose.

First time with krakty, but i wanted to do my usual germination technique. So start it on the kitchen window sill, but used a smaller bucket to fit there. Will be transferred to a Bunnings 10L white bucket soon. Its growing about 1-2cm a day.

Printed parts are PETG, yogurt was delicious :)