Soil vs aeroponic.. which is better and why?

It's 5 o'clock somewhere

It's 5 o'clock somewhere

Well-Known Member
I've been struggling with this question and because I posted it in my grow journal it hasn't gotten much response, so I thought if I put it out there in the indoor growing section it might get more responses.

I have decided to try stink buds rotational cycle with soil using window boxes. They are 24"x 6"x8". They hold 11 quarts or almost 3 gallons. I have been following several grows that say with sog 1 gallon of soil is plenty as the plants have such a short life. I put 3 plants into each box, 2 boxes in a row, and have 2 rows with each cycle, or 12 plant harvest with 2 more rows 1/3 behind and another 2 1/3 behind that.

So far everything is almost the same except I'm using soil and he is using aeroponic. With the ease of soil growing I am wondering if it is even worth switching over to hydro. I don't want to have to worry about the ppm and the PH and the res temps all the time. I don't look forward to cleaning out the tubes and the res changes or the constant worry that a power outtage kills all my plants rather than hermies them.

So I ask which do you recomend and plaese elaborate on why... Thanks
 

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It's 5 o'clock somewhere

It's 5 o'clock somewhere

Well-Known Member
So basically you're saying the plants grow bigger. How much time do you spend taking care of the ppm, ph, and general care. Do you just set it and a week later come back to change the res water? What kinds of problems do you have with your system? I've seen some big ass plants in soil but I'm talking about sog only....
 
4personaluse

4personaluse

Well-Known Member
It's 5 o'clock somewhere said:
So basically you're saying the plants grow bigger. How much time do you spend taking care of the ppm, ph, and general care. Do you just set it and a week later come back to change the res water? What kinds of problems do you have with your system? I've seen some big ass plants in soil but I'm talking about sog only....
Click to expand...

I personally like soil I only grow for my head but before I got started I did alot of research on the subject Hydro-vs-Soil

and what I found was Hydro gave way better results from veg to Flower Harvest was always bigger and the plants always looked great! BUT thay info came from long time hydro growers who had this hydro growing down to an art.

The Difference is in Hydro you completely control the plants intake of nuets from start to finish therefore you can get the most out of the plant but on the other hand you just about have to be a scientist to figure out what to give at what times and how much. Sure most ferts have a schedule to follow but growing conditions change and they may need just a bit more of somthing and not knowing what that is or how much will cause you to loose your plants.

To me it was just alot more money,alot more maintance and alot more risk becuase I aint no scientist.

How ever when growing in Soil I feel you have more room for error therefore it is easier to correct a problem with soil so plant loss is minimal.


Hope this helps

4personaluse
 
It's 5 o'clock somewhere

It's 5 o'clock somewhere

Well-Known Member
I also do this for myself. i run my garden in the winter and work my ass off all summer. I feel like going aeroponic would give me greater results quicker amd if I was growing for profit I would be looking to turn over as much procuct as possible. I, however, don't need to turn over a pound every 3 weeks. In overall quality, I have read more people perfer the organic grown than the hydro. Has anyone else found this? I have only done soil so I can't compare.

In a hydro set up with 4' tubes set in a rack the plants don't move til they're cut. In 24" boxes I can pull the boxes and turn them around if the plant that is the furthest doesn't seem to be getting enough light, I can move it directly under the light without much trouble. If i had a hydro set up it would be stuck where it is and I either need to get a light mover or more light.

Maybe I should try this next winter and settle it for myself?
 
2

22urbo

Well-Known Member
i went from hydro to soil. I was running the drip system and didn't like it much. I had a 4x8 tray with batches of 20 plants per 600watt light. I hated it because i was running multiple batches of different strains and they are all flowering at different stages. I only had one res and it was a pain to take care of. I had humidity problems which led me to buying a dehumidifier. The humidity change caused my plants to get some powdery mildew which led me to buy a sulfur burner. its just money after money if you don't have it down. I see other people with 4 different trays, 4 different res' and 4 different pumps. I just see it as more power to use thats unnecessary in my eyes.

Now i'm running soil and i can individually apply the amount of nutrients that each and every individual plant needs. No more humidity problem so i got rid of the dehumidifier. No more sulfur burning and no more annoying pumps turning on every hour and no more having to worry about a pump failing, drippers getting clogged or having your res PH fluctuation change all of a sudden.

just my .02 cents
 
multisonic

multisonic

Well-Known Member
I started off soil and now I am running (3) homemade 6 plant aero setups, the aero 36 site and the ez clone 60. I havent gotten my SOG down to a science yet but the point is that I switched from soil to hydro. Why? Because soil is heavy for 1 and difficult to dispose of, and well, dirt is dirty! Those are pretty simple and non plant related reasons, so here are some more relevant ones which have probably already been stated: I can run MUCH higher ppm in hydro without negatively effecting the plant which translates to much more vigorous growth. Also contrary to what was stated earlier I can transplant and or move my plants (to a certain extent) When they are the right size in the veg room (about 1 foot tall) I remove them from the homemade 6 site units and place them into the aero 36 to begin flowering. I'm bored with typing now. K, bye.
 
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