dude i did a transplant from dirt to hydro and my plant doubled in size within 4 days. went from 12inches to 24. i was amazed so i bought some nutes and started using them then through it into 12/12 and it grew another 12 inches during flowering. i never ph tested my water or nothing just used filtered sink water and it was just fine. so hydro is the way to go if you want big huge plants. if not then stick to dirt and grow tiny little plants. well unless you do outdoor grow in the ground.