DWC growing vs soil growing: which do you prefer and why?

[CanadianJim]

I did a run of 12/12 from seed this winter, to test out the seeds from my outdoor plants last year. Neighbour on one side had a male, which is one reason I won't be putting any male plants outdoors.
And of course there are the volunteers...

 

[Herby Paisley]

LOL... You living beside me Canadian Jim? Sorry about that, I'll just put my males away inside haha... I guess I'm lucky to my knowledge none of my neighbors are growing outside yet. I can see how it could be an issue in your case with a neighbor growing so close .

 

[CanadianJim]

At least two of the three neighbours on the other side grow. Their outdoor plants got hit with pollen too. I traded some seeds with one of them.
The guy who had the male is stuck in Trinidad this year. He goes down there for the winter, and with the border closed this spring he wasn't able to come back. Given the fact that they have had 123 total cases and only 8 deaths he may not want to yet.

 

[Bush Doctor 77]

I start my seeds in rapid rooters on a dwc system surrounded by hydroton clay pellets in a basket, with those I usually keep for mothers for cloning on the system.. or I use my mini bubbler I built that fits just the rapid rooters and just use them with no need for hydroton or any other medium, and then once I find the plants are at the size I like, I take them out off that system and then put them in pots with organic mix soil in my garden or in 10 to 25 gallon pots so I can move them around my property if need be. I have never tried perlite in with my soil directly well maybe a little indirectly with the organic soil mixes, I guess with the rapid rooters being peat moss based I'm kinda growing like you without the perlite. lol .... Love your analogy mine has always been with growing either with dwc or soil or any other medium used... Its all like walking a tight rope with an egg on a spoon in your hand... your cautiously trying to make it in one piece to the other side( harvest), without dropping the egg(plant).. Lets just say sometimes I'm humpty dumpty and fall off the wall and sometimes I'm the egg man chill'in with the beatles! lol

I use peat/perlite hydro indoors. Outside it's Mother Earth, which is extremely forgiving. Sometime Mother Nature doesn't cooperate, like last year when we had a hard freeze first week of October.

 

[multiVortex]

Then again if Mrs cough was ever cool with it I'd put a huge rubbermaid trashcan in our spare bathtub in a heartbeat LOL

I know this was in jest, but those trashcans aren’t made to hold a ton of water. I know via the “hard way” to find out. Picked up a 55gal plastic drum for $50 from the local farm store and it’s perfect.

 

[Herby Paisley]

I know this was in jest, but those trashcans aren’t made to hold a ton of water. I know via the “hard way” to find out. Picked up a 55gal plastic drum for $50 from the local farm store and it’s perfect.

I use one of those 55 gallon drums to feed the regular plants in my garden, nice lil watering storage system those things.

 

[Herby Paisley]

I know this was in jest, but those trashcans aren’t made to hold a ton of water. I know via the “hard way” to find out. Picked up a 55gal plastic drum for $50 from the local farm store and it’s perfect.

I hear you on the freeze last October that was crazy, and that is another reason I also plant in pots as well as mother earth when outside growing, I was able to save my outdoor plants by bringing them into my shed.

 

[Herby Paisley]

I hear you on the freeze last October that was crazy, and that is another reason I also plant in pots as well as mother earth when outside growing, I was able to save my outdoor plants by bringing them into my shed.

opps that above reply was for Bush doctor 77 lol my bad!

 

[Bush Doctor 77]

I hear you on the freeze last October that was crazy, and that is another reason I also plant in pots as well as mother earth when outside growing, I was able to save my outdoor plants by bringing them into my shed.

I've got a greenhouse, but it didn't help. We got down to near zero for a couple of nights, and had near blizzard conditions.

 

[Herby Paisley]

I've got a greenhouse, but it didn't help. We got down to near zero for a couple of nights, and had near blizzard conditions.

Gees you sound like you live near me thats usually how fall comes in for us a few cold nights then boom snow starts flying

 

[Bush Doctor 77]

Gees you sound like you live near me thats usually how fall comes in for us a few cold nights then boom snow starts flying

I'm at 3700 feet near Billings, MT. About 45 degrees N.

 

[Herby Paisley]

Wow billings Montana Ok nope thats cow stomping patty wacky land! lol... That's
far from me but we probably share the same weather patterns I'm directly north from you in Canada.

 

[bluter]

growing hempy style.

wasn't my first choice. have done other hydro / fed soil. have odd growing circumstances, 2 spaces in differing places. hempy just suited best over all. it has it's drawbacks, been pondering other methods. really just need a more solid single space.

 

[Herby Paisley]

Actually after looking at a map I'm more to the side of you and north by the great lakes...Great fishing by the way!

 

[Herby Paisley]

growing hempy style.

wasn't my first choice. have done other hydro / fed soil. have odd growing circumstances, 2 spaces in differing places. hempy just suited best over all. it has it's drawbacks, been pondering other methods. really just need a more solid single space.

I think thats just it with most of us ... It all comes down to space, time and money in what direction we decide to grow in.. lol get it you go in... but grow in, oooh that works on so many levels ahaha

 

[Dr Krieger]

I prefer the control and growth speed DWC provides. I had done a few clones with soil and had a moderate success rate using just honey instead of rooting hormones. Every cutting I put into my hydro system rooted without anything added just PHed water dripping onto the cutting. My ideal setup would be one or two mother plants in soil with different strains grafted on to take cuttings from. The cuttings would then go into a drip hydro system to get the roots going then a RDWC system to flower. I don't want to put the mothers into hydro because as others stated problems with hydro can happen fast. I'd be afraid of a blackout with a hydro system. No airstones bubbling or water pumping and it could be a disaster, not to mention lights. Soil is definitely less prone to issues but I think the growth speed of hydro is worth the risks it poses especially if your mothers are in soil.

 

[Emilya Green]

I have a theory that the only reason hydro gets better growth rates is because the nutrients are in constant contact with the roots. I have also found, I think, that with the proper tricks in soil with amendments that bolster the cation holding ability as well as the exchange rate, similar growth patterns can be seen in soil as in hydro, as I proved in my last grow journal. I am not so sure after this last experiment that hydro necessarily has the edge as far as fast growing goes.

Someone also mentioned that they went hydro because of pests. A properly maintained soil is no more prone to pests than any hydro grow... you don't have to allow bad things to grow in your soil, and infestations are easily prevented. I remain, even after this excellent discussion, a soil grower, of many flavors. That being said, if I could legally grow 50 plants in a sea of green... hempy instead of soil would be my choice with its small containers and high yield. I guess for me, there is no one definitive answer to this question.

 

[Herby Paisley]

Hempy Buckets agian someone mentions that ... See this is why I ride the fence and love growing cannabis anyway I can and not just one way, be it in Soil, DWC, and far as I'm concerned the marriage of both... hempy buckets ... Love the read of all the views in this thread folks .. Aww the cannabis culture is like moths to a flame to us! haha

 

[Southerncough]

I'm a big fan of hempys and flood drain where you get the benefits of hydro and the buffer of soil.
I had a flood drain table going for a while but had to remove it because my plants got too tall and needed the extra 2' of space. Since then I have found that hand watering gives me extra data about the plants that I wouldn't otherwise know if auto watering. Like if I check on the garden to see if it needs watering and all the pots are lightweight and dry...but one...that tells me something is up with that plant. Is it sick? Not using up moisture and nutes because it's slowing down? Pest? Root Rot? etc. then I can work on diagnosing and treating or chopping the plant, etc. sometimes you get a little runty plant that's not doing well and then stops drinking...and a full veg room that I can replace it with a healthier plant.
Whereas if on auto watering system they'd all be heavy and damp and I would've missed an issue.

 

[Herby Paisley]

I like how you do your diagnosing of your plants with the weight of the pot have to remember that for my next grow with soil in pots or hempy style thanks!