Chuck, your stuff is awesome. You need to write a book.

That's pretty considerate of you mane!! Nice idea keep up the goodwork

Looks like a great system, keep us updated how it goes. Or rather how it GROWS. Hehe.

Well, the trough has been flowing right along. I think it is too hot here for spinach this time of year. However, I planted some beans and so far they are doing fine. I also have some basil and some squash in the trough. I am posting some new pictures tonight. chuck

Here is a link that might be useful: trough system pictures

After looking at grizzmans nice pictures of the tomatoes, I had to try the html for adding a picture. All I have to offer is a small bean plant. I hope it works. chuck

From the looks of it your float and slope system used something similar to this - a bunch of 2x4's with a tarp draped between them to make several channels.

I was figuring if I wanted to do something like this, the multiple-channel version would probably be a better use of space and materials, but I was considering possible ways to put the space underneath to work.

Any thoughts on what would grow nicely in the shade?

Garysgarden. The floatnslope was a fun project. Yes, the troughs were made by draping a blue tarp over slopeing 2X4s. It didn't occure to me at first that eventualy the weave of the blue tarp would expand. When it started leaking, I had to put a clear plastic diaper under the tarp to catch the nutrient leakage so it wouldn't be lost. If I ever build another like it, I will put a plastic liner inside the troughs before I add the baked clay material. About growing in the shade, here in Florida, growing areas in the shade do pretty well for some plants. I have several pepper plants that seem to prefere shade, but as you might expect, they produce slower than some that are in the sun more. I am thinking about trying some mushroom cultivation. While on the island of Guam, I took an extention course where old rolled up newspapers were used as a growing medium for mushrooms. Too bad all the newspaper compainies are shutting down. Old newspapers are going to be hard to find in large quantities soon. Maybe some kind of wood chip mulch underneath the troughs would make a nice environment for some kind of mushrooms. With the present trough project, I am limited by the height of the nutrient tank on the lower end. I can raise the upper trough up a bit perhaps and get a second trough below. I am still trying out a 24/7 flow of the nutrients through the gravel to date, cucumbers seem to be adapting to the constant flow pretty well, but the green beans didn't do so well. I have aa timer that I could use, but I want to take this opportunity to expiriment with the gravel using a constant flow for now. chuck

My cousin's back yard slopes away from his house downward at probably the perfect angle for NFT. He's not interested in hydroponics, but it got me to thinking.

That'd be an easy way to set up a lot of NFT, wouldn't it?

I'm imagining that what would work best would be plastic sheeting over furrows dug into the ground, filled with gravel. Bury reservoirs at the downhill end that pump back to the top.

Anyone foresee any problems, improvements, etc?

Well, at this point in the expirement. I am going 24/7 with the pump, and the results were not too good for the beans, but the squash and the Thai basil and cucumber seem to like it pretty well so far and are healthy. If you were going to use earth troughs with the natural slope of the land, you might consider using bags made by lining the troughs with plastic wide enough to fold over the top of the troughs and taped closed. That is what I plan to do next on this project. If you used black plastic, it might reduce the growth of algea. I am starting to see some in my trough already. It might also reduce excessive evaporation. I just came across some very interesting vertical garden designs recently. I am still very excited about vertical growing. Troughs are nice, but take up a lot of space when compared to vertical systems. chuck

Great ideas. I'm thinking of going with troughs mainly for the tall or vining crops. Tomatoes, corn, cucumbers, etc. For those a vertical grower doesn't help as much. For salad stuff, strawberries and just about any low level crop a vertical system would definitely make better use of space.