SOIL vs HYDRO

Japanfreak said:

In what way is it more forgiving?


If people really want to talk about soil being better than they've got to break down even further. Seems to me that a lot of people who use soil are killing their soil with chemicals and just growing hydro anyway. A decade ago I don't think that hydro had a chance in hell to approach the aroma of cannabis grown well organically, but the shit they have these days. Much more expensive and a pain in the ass compared to organics but then making teas doesn't seem to fun to me either.

Click to expand...

The medium of soil tempers everything you put into it.
A little too much of one thing... No problem
Not enough of something else... Don't worry about it
You can always leach everything out with water and let the medium dry out and all is forgiven. Try that with a hydro setup. Too much N and you burn those delicate root hairs. That translates to lost time as plants need to recoup .
I'd recommend to anyone first starting out:
A nice peat/lite mix and plenty of organic peat compost, composted manure, bat guano or worm droppings will get plants off to a great start
Soil also tempers the ph. So you won't have that to worry about. Oh and put a handful of Epsom salts in the mix. It's great for root development

soil is the way to go. unless you want to do 100's of plants. then its easier to water with a pump on a timer and its easier to get rid of water than dirt. soil is best for some one new to gardening

I have done Soil, Flood and Drain, DWC, Areo.... And by far I like the CANNA COCO in 2 gallon grow bags with a couple of drippers per bag, and then drain to waste. It has all the benifits of Soil with the ease of Hydro. Over watering is about impossible. Coco is almost fool proof.
These plants I used what I call Lolly-Popping technic. They stay about 18"-24" tall and have multi cola's. If you look at the base of the left plant you will see the bags and the coco, and there is the rez with the riser and the drip tubes. This photo is from a journal of mine from about 3 years back, and I am still growing this way. But not always with the Lolly-Pop technic.

dannyboy602 said:

The medium of soil tempers everything you put into it.
A little too much of one thing... No problem
Not enough of something else... Don't worry about it
You can always leach everything out with water and let the medium dry out and all is forgiven. Try that with a hydro setup. Too much N and you burn those delicate root hairs. That translates to lost time as plants need to recoup .
I'd recommend to anyone first starting out:
A nice peat/lite mix and plenty of organic peat compost, composted manure, bat guano or worm droppings will get plants off to a great start
Soil also tempers the ph. So you won't have that to worry about. Oh and put a handful of Epsom salts in the mix. It's great for root development

Click to expand...

Basically all hydro can be reduced to mix some bottles together and give it to the plants. There are a lot of ways to screw that up apparently but that's basically it. Both seem pretty easy and forgiving to me if you keep it kiss.

Lord Dangly Bits said:

drain to waste

Click to expand...

Drain to waste ftw

It's my first grow. Wats a good watering schedule for my hydro drip system? Or do I just leave it running constantly?

COCO COIR!!! Run it on 6.8 ph as well as all other hydro yet there it is easier and less dangerous as aero or hydroton.

So jealous of you guys who get to throw shit out. I got to blend it up and be stealthy and shit about it.

Well, do you live in an apt.?. this is my 1st real soil grow but i can just go out back and dump.

Yeah man apartment growing with something like 30 million people around. So hard to find a place to piss walking home drunk that a lot of people just give up and pee anywhere. They have these trees in pots like at every hotel calling to you, give me nitrogen. I want to get one of those blenders in that series "Will it blend" Put the whole damn thing in there and down the toilet. Worth the $1000 it costs if it's for real.

haha. yes i can imagine how it could be a problem. maybe invest in one of them indoor compost compactors, make your own FERT out of your garbage and plants!

Soil can be recycled indefinitely, and even coco coir could be re-used a few times.

dnkfrmthasoilz7 said:

COCO COIR!!! Run it on 6.8 ph as well as all other hydro yet there it is easier and less dangerous as aero or hydroton.

Click to expand...

Do you really run Hydro at 6.8 PH or was that a typo and you really ment 5.6 PH? If so I have been doing this wrong for years. Canna Coco Nutrients say to run it at 5.2-6.2 PH. I shoot for 5.8 PH myself.

Dont waste one seconds time fukin around with soil,hydro is way easier than dirt & from my experience hydro is more forgiving than soil,forget the whole "power outage" aspect of the debate as we are all up a shit creek should power go down,dragging an assload of plants out of the house to get sunlight in the event of a power outage is far harder that hand watering, not to mention the nosy neighbor aspect.

Soil is not easier to learn compared to hydro,if you can follow a simple feeding chart & read a ph meter than hydro is way easier than soil,if soil plants develop a problem its a new growers worst nightmare because it takes weeks to know weather the corrective action taken has had any effect,plants that have been unhealthy & unhappy for extended periods produce less every time,on a hydro grow the grower knows within 12 hours weather the corrective action solved the problem or if further action is needed.

This is what I do



I grow monster plants using rock wool and a simple drip system. I've grown in soil but prefer rock wool it's really forgiving and sterile

panhead said:

Dont waste one seconds time fukin around with soil,hydro is way easier than dirt & from my experience hydro is more forgiving than soil,forget the whole "power outage" aspect of the debate as we are all up a shit creek should power go down,dragging an assload of plants out of the house to get sunlight in the event of a power outage is far harder that hand watering, not to mention the nosy neighbor aspect.

Soil is not easier to learn compared to hydro,if you can follow a simple feeding chart & read a ph meter than hydro is way easier than soil,if soil plants develop a problem its a new growers worst nightmare because it takes weeks to know weather the corrective action taken has had any effect,plants that have been unhealthy & unhappy for extended periods produce less every time,on a hydro grow the grower knows within 12 hours weather the corrective action solved the problem or if further action is needed.

Click to expand...

you say its easy to follow the chart??? how bout this a monkey could plant a plant in soil and put it under a light and water every now and then... if you get a raw ass soil/soil mix you shouldnt even need to add any nutes....

ive got to get down on this for a min.I have nothing personal againts hydro but my soil grown weed will smoke it however this is a great debate hydro vs soil,just ask your self this what does this plant grow in,in its natural state;soil, i prefer soil and for a new grower unless you have been trained in hydroponics i wouldnt touch it.Soil is more forgiving and easier to correct imbalences and disorders,it also taiste better.In order to grow good hydro you need good hydroponic equipment thats gonna cost you,trust me you are not gonna get triple a grade with a 5 gallon bucket drip system in your closet,get some dirt grow some dank,dont waist a bunch of money on hydro equipment,and the 2 most important things to remember:don,t over fertilize and make sure your ph stays under 7

Lord Dangly Bits said:

Do you really run Hydro at 6.8 PH or was that a typo and you really ment 5.6 PH? If so I have been doing this wrong for years. Canna Coco Nutrients say to run it at 5.2-6.2 PH. I shoot for 5.8 PH myself.

Click to expand...

5.9 is my personal sweet spot for my ebb and flow system.

My first grow was hydro and i didnt do anything to it but add water when it started getting low....and it turned out really good. I have sence been educating myself and have a few grows under my belt. My mother plants are in soil so that is pretty much the extent of my soil experience but i like hydro better. It does grow faster, i have done side by side comparasins and know for a fact it does. not sure about the taste tho...i have never really noticed a difference, and i have had to complaints on taste.

hydro can be cool sure and your ph is sound i just prefer soil,but tell me this,what do you think about 2lbs per light with soil that is 3 yrs old,can you do that with hydro,how about this 18 foot tall plants producing 8 lbs per plant with stalks 9 inches in diamiter,wheres your hydro in this mix,marijuana is a plant that grows in soil and soil is the best medium in my oppinion,and no matter what you have heard or what you might think a lot can go wrong with a hydro set up,as far as the grade goes,the best weed ive ever smoked was grown outdoors in cali by an 70 yr old grower.If you want to grow soil then it all comes down to your soil composition,make sure you have both macro and micro nuets in there proper proportion,make sure the soil aireation is good,be sure that you follow the instuctions on your nuets,you can correct under feeding by giving the plant more nuets,over feeding requires more measures,last but not least keep your ph between 6.2 and 7.If you do this you will grow really dank bud.Ask your self this;of all the cannibis cup winners how many where soil and how many where hydro.try about 95% soil winners.That should tell you somthing right there.