Hydroponics vs. Soil

PhazeDaze

PhazeDaze

Active Member
Well, i know this has been probably been a long debate.
I'm possibly starting a grow soon. Most likely a closet around 4x3.
Now at first i was dead set on hydro, it just seemed to be a
better route due to size, and it seemed more professional.

But as I've studied a lot of grow journals and such, I've seen
extremely nice results from just soil. And now looking at soil,
it seems so much more simple. No constant checking PH,
ppm's, and water level, no washing out the tubs and making a mess,
it just seems like a lot less work.

So could someone please give me the pro's/con's of hydro in more detail?
I'm starting to not understand why hydro would be more useful then soil?

And also, if possible, the pro's/con's of using soil as well?

Thanks in advance,
much love,
.Phaze:leaf:
 
smppro

smppro

Well-Known Member
I started off hydro then went to soil, now im on my way back to hydro. Soil is a mess, you have to dispose of it, and its slower. My hydro turned out to be less maintenance and much cleaner. It all depends on you
 
Xare

Xare

Well-Known Member
What light is best suited for your 3 x 4 area

400 or 600 watt ?


If you go hydro you can find a 3 x 4 tray if you look around but most places sell 3 x 3 or 4 x 4
 
lilmafia513

lilmafia513

Well-Known Member
soil is a mess, you have to still check PH of everything regularly, but having to go the storoe every two months to buy a bulk bag of soil? Looks funny!
I do sil now, but am thinking of going hydro soon!
Also soil grows also take up more room with bulky pots sitting around.
 
BigBudBalls

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
Chevy vs Ford?
Mets vs Yankees?
Atheists vs Religion?

Both have their pros and cons. But its up to *you* to decide.

Hydro:
Faster growth
scientific and precise. (if ya dig the total control aspect)
more bug free (NOT resistant, just no soil borne bugs)
A bit cleaner
A bit messier

Soil:
More forgiving to mistakes then Hydro
(but takes longer to recover from them)
A bit cleaner
A bit messier
natural (if ya dig that aspect)
Can go organic *easier* (yes, you can do fully organic hydro too)

Hydro also takes a lot more supplies that need to be replenished more often.

With soil, you can compost your old soil and reuse. So you really only need to get a years worth of soil.

(I'm a tech-head and love control and automation. I grow in soil. Just playing now with hydro with some peppers, lettuce and tomatoes. But plan on sticking with soil.)
 
tkufoS

tkufoS

Well-Known Member
hydro gardens need to be tended to DAILY , no skipping. < pro or con ? just depends on you , I love to be in my garden daily (i use soil). I like having the nute buffer (soil). but i do intend to experiment w hydro just because of the grow time diff. hydro is faster than soil hands down.
 
PhazeDaze

PhazeDaze

Active Member
Well guys, thanks for all the advice,
and defiantly to BigBud, your post was awesome,
just the way i like it, organized.

I pretty sure I'm going for Hydro,
bubbleponic specifically. :]

Thanks again,
ill post a journal when everything is set up.

.Phaze:weed:
 
BigBudBalls

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
tkufoS said:
hydro gardens need to be tended to DAILY , no skipping. < pro or con ? just depends on you , I love to be in my garden daily (i use soil). I like having the nute buffer (soil). but i do intend to experiment w hydro just because of the grow time diff. hydro is faster than soil hands down.
Click to expand...
I dunno. For the last 2 months. I've only been home very other weekend. just to do a res change over) The hydro is doing fine (pH slips, but it a first round. ppm is fairly stable, so got that # right.) Hydro needs attention a lot at the get-go. But same can be said for soil. My soil runs are down. 2 liter tap water, cap full of this, cap full of that a drop or two of the other and done; go water. (no need to really check pH or ppm/EC) Don't see why hydro can't be the same.

Hydro nutes are buffered for the 5.5. As long as you have decent water, you should be ok.
 
mixin

mixin

Well-Known Member
without a doubt i would go with a organic soil grow and i bet you will love it (especially when you actually smoke what you have grown)

soil is super easy, don't have to worry about fluctuations in ph as much. soil grows are just as fast as hydro if you ask me, and i think they can yield the same if you get things dialed in.
 
B

Bangers999

New Member
BigBudBalls said:
Chevy vs Ford?
Mets vs Yankees?
Atheists vs Religion?

Both have their pros and cons. But its up to *you* to decide.

Hydro:
Faster growth
scientific and precise. (if ya dig the total control aspect)
more bug free (NOT resistant, just no soil borne bugs)
A bit cleaner
A bit messier

Soil:
More forgiving to mistakes then Hydro
(but takes longer to recover from them)
A bit cleaner
A bit messier
natural (if ya dig that aspect)
Can go organic *easier* (yes, you can do fully organic hydro too)

Hydro also takes a lot more supplies that need to be replenished more often.

With soil, you can compost your old soil and reuse. So you really only need to get a years worth of soil.

(I'm a tech-head and love control and automation. I grow in soil. Just playing now with hydro with some peppers, lettuce and tomatoes. But plan on sticking with soil.)
Click to expand...
VERY well put, good info on both sides.
 
mixin

mixin

Well-Known Member
what sucks about hydro is that if you have system that feeds all of your plants the exactly the same nutrients you can't customize your feeding schedule to your individual plants imagine growing a hydro ebb and flow or whatever system and realize that you have 4 different phenos of the same exact plant. say one pheno finishes on day 50 and another pheno may finish on day 70. with hydro you would want to flush the earlier finishing pheno while the longer would still be wanting full nutes... that is the thing i did not like with hydro

if you have your individual plants separated like in soil or single waterfarm dwc system

soil is just easier to give individual attention to your plants. i am only using hydro now for cloning. it is super easy because all your clones from whatever plants are basically needing the exact same thing while trying to root

good luck
 
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