Hydro vs soil

Mojuan, I'm new to growing. I started indoors and in a tent last winter, and I started with full DWC. I did a lot of research about the different ways to grow weed before choosing how I wanted to try it. In the end, I chose DWC because of my situation (not much yard space, no privacy in yard, limited space in the house, etc.) From what I've learned following this site, you should do whatever best fits your situation and your preferences. Outdoor growing was not an option for me so for indoor growing, I picked DWC mostly due to the desire not to have to deal with soil (dirt) in the house AND not to have to deal with soil at all! It just appealed to me, growing with nothing but water and nutrients.

It works!

I know soil works too, but I feel like I'm doing a lot less guessing with hydro. There are some things you need to stay on top of but you can easily do it, if you are committed.

That's the key: commitment. Maintaining a hydro set-up can seem time-consuming, but there is little guess-work. In my opinion the mere fact that you don't have to fret over when and how much to water your plants tops the list.

Good luck to you!
 
Haha that's how to reply like a boss Mr soul. Totally agree with you. What you said about adding more nutes instead of ph'ing is what I do. Once you learn to get the ppm spot on so it doesn't rise and barely falls you just top up with the same batch and it keeps everything in range no worries. No mental ph shifts and no unbalanced reservoirs.
Do you know if there's any difference to how ph behaves from a sterile res to a res with beneficial bacteria?
I've just realised that's something that could potentially change things a bit. I've always ran sterile so no idea if the bacteria cause any issues?
Any thoughts on that buddy?
 
No experience with microbial life in a hydroponics setup (other than killing it :laughtwo:). I'm a big fan of oxygenating one's reservoir until it'd take a mouse a half-hour to drown in it - and adding hydrogen peroxide on top of that - so I doubt it would work for me. If I'm not mistaken, that level of DO can cause (aerobic) microbial life to go nuts.

I also feed the plants directly instead of feeding the microbes and having them crap out plant food, lol.

However, I'd guess that one's microherd can and does affect pH, because it's got to eat something, and disappearing nutrients would, I assume, cause a gradual shift. But, again, I have no personal experience and, therefore, could be wrong.
 
No experience with microbial life in a hydroponics setup (other than killing it :laughtwo:). I'm a big fan of oxygenating one's reservoir until it'd take a mouse a half-hour to drown in it - and adding hydrogen peroxide on top of that - so I doubt it would work for me. If I'm not mistaken, that level of DO can cause (aerobic) microbial life to go nuts.

I also feed the plants directly instead of feeding the microbes and having them crap out plant food, lol.

However, I'd guess that one's microherd can and does affect pH, because it's got to eat something, and disappearing nutrients would, I assume, cause a gradual shift. But, again, I have no personal experience and, therefore, could be wrong.
Hmm..that's something I'm gonna have to look into then. Just to save arguments with people down the line lol. Only ever done sterile too. I use nft so the roots actually grow in the air. Doubt adding an air stone would make any difference for me. Can't really get more airy than air lol.
 
Barney, Barney, Barney. Forget it for a week??? LOL. If I had followed that advice on my hydro grows, I would have come back to a dead tent many times. Hydro is what I do. It is what I have always done. But I'm not trying to sell anyone on it; I just want to say it requires diligence. I check my tents when they "wake up" in the morning, and once more before they go to lights out. I measure my ph and keep it in the zone. I don't freak when it goes above 3.95, but I add ph down when it goes over 6. For example. Water level alone in a week's time would not be good. My babies drink a gallon a day, and it is a 10-gallon reservoir.
To address hydroponics as a method, a grower should consider the following:
  1. The cost of the equipment and the nutrients. This can be staggering unless you are a savvy Do it Yourself type. Many on these forums fit that description, but I do not. LOL. I spent well over a thousand altogether, getting started. Now I have two tents and grow perpetual, and the cost is ongoing. Not as bad as the initial investment, but equipment wears out; lights, fans, filters, timers, etc.
  2. The transport ease of bringing water to the grow and taking it out again. For me, a breeze. For others, maybe not. I have access to outdoors from my grow, so i can string a hose up to hook the pump to and empty the tank. After cleaning, which is a big deal and takes an hour or more weekly for each tent, I fill it up with gallons of water I have stored. The work is intensely physical in this sense; I'm 68, and have had two back surgeries. I can do it, but later I have to take pain killer in intense quantities.
  3. You will need a good knowledge base. Congratulations! You are in one of the best bases of knowledge on the Internet. Get to know it and any other forum about hydro. Growing in a controlled environment, such as a tent or grow room, is different from growing in a window or the yard. Contamination in a grow tent will have little, if any defenders keeping it in check. And hydro has all the stuff a pest loves: water, air, light and food. So it is important that you know infection control techniques and prevent transporting or fostering mold, bacteria, insects and anything else you don't want growing there.
So I'm not trying to turn you off of hydro. I love it. The plants flourish and grow quickly. Because I have one grow ready to take over the flowering tent following harvest, I am able to harvest every three months. It's enough for my personal use only, but that is OK. I've been able to play around a little with different techniques. I've had some failures. But I have persevered! LOL. After three years of experience, I finally feel (almost) comfortable enough with the grow to leave it for a day now and then. But never more than overnight.
Yes I meant 5. 95 ph. Sorry.
 
Meanwhile while all of you hydro growers are mixing this and that, adjusting pH, making sure you are spoon feeding the exact nutrients the plant needs, keeping mung from forming, and on and on.
I just add pure water most of the time which is basically like adding oil to a machine.
The water is what keeps all the billions of microbes and bacteria and fungus and worms alive and doing their thing.
They all work symbiotically like they have for millions of years to feed the plants and the plants feed them.
All I do is lubricate the biological machine with water, and every couple weeks sprinkle some amendments on top kinda like feeding fish in a fish tank, and water it in with a sprouted seed tea for enzymes.
The soil does all the rest for me.
It keeps the pH right where it needs to be, it breaks down the amendments rather quickly and makes them bioavailable for the plant and the plant takes exactly what it needs to flourish.
I do raise my dissolved oxygen in my water as high as I can get it with 02 emitters which helps the whole biological machine to breathe .

I never get deficiencies or toxicities.
All I do is add a little biological fuel to the machine in the form of amendments, in my case I use Craftblend which has 15 different amendments in it, just sprinkle a 1/4 cup evenly over the top, add a couple tablespoons of Gro-kashi and water in with an enzyme rich sprouted seed tea every 2 weeks and that's it.
Growing literally can not get any easier than that.
I simply grow soil, the soil does everything else.

Iam also fairly certain that in the past decade or more that the majority of cannabis cup winners world wide are the organic soil growers, and virtually all of the ones with the highest scores in taste/flavor and terpene profile have been the Organic/Veganic probiotic soil growers.
But it's a little hard to get that info, as the synthetic growers don't want to divulge what they use while all the organic growers proudly tell you exactly what they did.
But there are some winners using hydro so that proves its possible to produce top quality bud with hydro.

It appears as though either method works as good as the person behind it that believes in it.
 
I will weigh in on the soil side of things here too. I literally can walk away from my grow for a week if I am in large enough container. I find organic soil to be so much easier than any other method I have ever tried because all I have to do is pay attention to the building of the container, give it clean water and it does its thing. Today, with microbe superpacks available there is not even a need to run compost teas if you don't want to deal with that hassle, just mix in some store bought microbes and supercharge your grow. I no longer have to worry about pH, nutrient mixes or flushing. The real beauty however is that a good well made soil can be used over and over again. The original components that I bought to build my soil will last for many years, and without any additional cost I can keep this soil going grow after grow. I am not buying nutrients, I am not hauling huge amounts of water and I never have to bother with a ppm meter. Sure, a good hydro synthetic growing system might be able to pump out more quantity than I can in a given time, but I can be sure that the quality of what I grow will be superior to any synthetically grown pot.
Yes, soil is dirty, by definition. In contrast, hydro is wet. I see no advantages either way due to those properties. In hydro, if things go sideways they go that way fast... in soil you generally have some time to figure out and adjust to any problems. In soil I don't stress over pumps and timers and algae and root slime... I don't have to buy additives to keep my water clear and keep down microbe growth. I am not overly worried about temperature and I don't have to change out reservoirs and keep feed lines clear. I have very little maintenance actually, soil just does its thing. Because I can reuse everything and am not buying a lot of extra equipment and supplies, my cost per run now that I have established my soil is super low, and now with my super efficient COB lights, I can easily produce an ounce of pot for less than $10. Hydro cost of production could never get that low.
 
Well while I disagree with most of what the soil growers say there is one thing I'll admit.
Organic weed is better than hydro.
Soil with bottled nutes isn't but there's really no competing with a nice but of organic ganja. Completely different flavour and smoothness altogether.

In terms of yield though Hydro wins hands down.
Untill someone starts dropping 600-800g autos indoors there's no arguing the yield really.

And in terms of simplicity were all wrong.
Easiest way i know to grow weed indoors is with coco, biotabs and autopots.
No soil problems of over watering etc.
No hydro problems of having to adjust nutes.
Fill a res with tap water and leave them to it.
No nutes or ph'ing/checking anything.
No soil building other than putting a few organic pucs in while you fill the pot with coco.

Cant get any easier than that indoors to the best of my knowledge.
Just need to know where to put the organic pucs and you're golden :)
 
thanks to everyone that has responded, i can get water to my shed via a RO system i installed BUT i have a wood deck flooring and no water can touch the floor or has to be cleaned immediately, im set up for soil and dont mind the dirt, (was in the sanitation and sewer dept for years) but I'm getting older and like somebody said earlier, when it comes to the grunt work you're looking at him. just finishing up my last auto's and have 2 pheno's going but. I'm not poor but i
I'm not rich either. some of the light structures in a room have been over the top, they look like a rock and roll light set up waiting on the band lol, I would like a setup that's not labor intense, even with the 5 gallon buckets, 5 x 8.34 = 41.7 lbs and i just wont be able to do much heavy lifting anymore. I have a 4x8x8 tent i think could handle 8 plants and a 4x4x8 that could handle 4 plants. I'm allowed 24 plants, 6 babies and 6 mature for me and the same for my kid, but i don't have that much room unless i use the whole room and ditch the tents. i have a lot of $$$ invested already but to switch over to hydro wouldn't be too expensive. I've tried soil and my harvests have been minimal to say the least but not because of the plants but because of my ignorance in growing. I'm going to ponder this topic for a bit and make a decision later, there are very good points here too, i don't think any have been over the top because there are a million ways to do it , its what suits you best, there is no right way or wrong way.
:passitleft:
 
Well while I disagree with most of what the soil growers say there is one thing I'll admit.
Organic weed is better than hydro.
Soil with bottled nutes isn't but there's really no competing with a nice but of organic ganja. Completely different flavour and smoothness altogether.

In terms of yield though Hydro wins hands down.
Untill someone starts dropping 600-800g autos indoors there's no arguing the yield really.

And in terms of simplicity were all wrong.
Easiest way i know to grow weed indoors is with coco, biotabs and autopots.
No soil problems of over watering etc.
No hydro problems of having to adjust nutes.
Fill a res with tap water and leave them to it.
No nutes or ph'ing/checking anything.
No soil building other than putting a few organic pucs in while you fill the pot with coco.

Cant get any easier than that indoors to the best of my knowledge.
Just need to know where to put the organic pucs and you're golden :)

So true, Barney. Whatever works for an individual. This "hobby" has to be tailored to what a person wants to do and can afford to do. I'm not going to argue about the difference between organic pot and "synthetic" pot. All I know is, I grow the best stuff I've ever smoked, and I've smoked organic and dispensary pot and I know mine is better. From using. I'm sure that there are some benefits to all methods. Now that I have it all down, so to speak, to a schedule, it is easy.
The labor is not an issue for me. I enjoy all of it, even the trimming of the harvest. I also grow other plants in the house, such as African violets, anthurium, and Norfolk pines. It's all fun for me. When I have to be gone for a few days, one of my family members will check on the grow, using the schedule I use. I have it all on a calendar. So it is all good.
 
All the previous advice is bang on and worth taking note mojuan, just my 2p worth is (i`m sure many know whats coming already lol) Autopots... seems like you are looking to find a way to make the job easier, you can grow soil or hydro in them, i have done both, and go away for a week if needed ;)

 
Hang on a second mate...
You actually enjoy trimming?
Reading that statement just gave me like 3 months worth of nightmares.
I swear I get stoned from trimming every time. Like a really heavy, skullfucked stoned where my brain turns to mush and loses all communication with the rest of my body.
I only ever smoke at most 2 joint per session. 6 hours tops and I'm always fuckin ruined by the half way point.
Every time. It's fuckin awful :(
 
All the previous advice is bang on and worth taking note mojuan, just my 2p worth is (i`m sure many know whats coming already lol) Autopots... seems like you are looking to find a way to make the job easier, you can grow soil or hydro in them, i have done both, and go away for a week if needed ;)

I've not tried them yet but I've seen and spoken to plenty guys with similar set ups go toe to toe with the best of the hydro growers with coco autopots.
800g autos in 15L pots... crazy good way to do things.
 
Hang on a second mate...
You actually enjoy trimming?
Reading that statement just gave me like 3 months worth of nightmares.
I swear I get stoned from trimming every time. Like a really heavy, skullfucked stoned where my brain turns to mush and loses all communication with the rest of my body.
I only ever smoke at most 2 joint per session. 6 hours tops and I'm always fuckin ruined by the half way point.
Every time. It's fuckin awful :(
Wow! Sounds like fun. Invite friends!
 
GREAT DISCUSSION! I grow in soil because I can, but take no sides on soil v. hydro as cognitive dissonance may power the most heated discussants. It seems to also involve whatever floats one's boat. As an old commune person who spent many happy and often naked hours in the organic garden, the soil was the only way to go. The look of the small grove of trees out back in August and September warms my heart as much as the harvest itself. My neighbor Gary, a wonderful gardener, electrical engineer and Ham radio guy, if he were to grow cannabis, I don't doubt he would go hydro for the technical challenge. Pax.
 
Hang on a second mate...
You actually enjoy trimming?
Reading that statement just gave me like 3 months worth of nightmares.
I swear I get stoned from trimming every time. Like a really heavy, skullfucked stoned where my brain turns to mush and loses all communication with the rest of my body.
I only ever smoke at most 2 joint per session. 6 hours tops and I'm always fuckin ruined by the half way point.
Every time. It's fuckin awful :(

Are you stating that you receive some kind of detectable effect from handling the plants (which might make you a unique individual), or that you shouldn't be smoking two joints in six hours? I'm a little confused as to what point you were making.
 
Are you stating that you receive some kind of detectable effect from handling the plants (which might make you a unique individual), or that you shouldn't be smoking two joints in six hours? I'm a little confused as to what point you were making.
Yeah I'm almost convinced mate. Happens every time. I know it sounds ridiculous but i honestly feel like it does effect me. I'm not a heavy stoner mind so there's really not a lot in those 2 joints and every time I trim I end up fuckin melted.
It's maybe just that I hate doing it that much I end up mentally exhausted from the tedious, mind numbing depression of knowing I've got 3 days of staring at my fingers ahead.
Come to think of it I probably use my teeth to get the hash off those fingers before I roll those 2 joints. Haha wonder if that's why? 20 fingers worth of handball hash during the process.
Never thought of that before. Hmm....
 
If you can stand to have them on that long, you can try wearing disposable gloves. Chuck them into the freezer when you're finished (or you feel the need to switch to a clean pair) and it makes it easier to remove the goodness from them.
 
If you can stand to have them on that long, you can try wearing disposable gloves. Chuck them into the freezer when you're finished (or you feel the need to switch to a clean pair) and it makes it easier to remove the goodness from them.
I bet that is it like, it must be. I used gloves the first time but drove me mad so didn't again. Suppose it would be a fair amount to be chewing on. I've smoked handball hash and it is pretty lethal. Haha can't believe I've never realised this before. Always thought I was getting stoned from touching it :) what a mong
 
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