Cant choose a medium...

hello everyone! i am having trouble choosing a grow medium. i've done some soil and hydro growing but i am really trying to find the style of growing that will work best for me. right now i am about to do a scrog grow with 6 plants under 1000w's. i love soil growing but it takes to long to dry out. i water once a week in flower and my girls suffer from it because they dont get proper aeration to the roots and they dont get to use the nutrients effieciently like that. so now i want some sort of mix that will allow me to water every other day in flower. i also dont want to waste a ridiculous amount of nutes. i looked in to coco and it has to be watered everyday( <-- wont work for me) and it needs about 30% runoff every watering. i dont want to mix like 40 gallons worth of nutes a week. i wouldnt mind soil-less at all if it weren't for those two things. i need a mix that will require 20 gallons a week or less(i will be using 5 gallon containers most likely). i will only be doing hand watering as well.
i have a crop ready to transplant already and some prior planning failed so i havent been able to do all the research before hand like i prefer, so thank you all for your input!

use some roots organic soil ,, the nutes are in the soil , just add water

Coco (coir) does not need to be watered every day. Its structure allows a good amount of air to remain in the soil, but it holds moisture very well. I use it not only for growing but in 4 terrariums for pets (snakes, tarantulas, lizards) its great for holding humidity without drying out every day. Also from what I've read, it holds the nutes well, even if there is run off the nuts can be absorbed into the coco, working somewhat as a filter that can slowly release into your plants. Its mold resistant, and cannot be overwatered.

So obviously I'm a fan of it, but dont just take some random opinion off the internet, try it on at least one plant on your next grow and judge for yourself. you can pick it up at any petstore or most garden centers.

well im not necessarily looking for easy. i dont care about nutrients in the soil even. the less the better to me because then i can start them on their specific regiments sooner with no outside nutrient interference.
if i use coco i will probably need to do a coco mix. possibly just coco and perlite if anyone has any feedback for that. everywhere i read everyone says they have to water every day in flower with just coco. the way i see it is that even if i use a gallon a day on 6 plants, that is still 42 gallons of water a week. i know for a fact that i dont need to waste that much nutrition everyday to get nice buds.

thanks everyone!

I use a coco/perlite mix. I usually water every other day. My system is simple and works great for me

I feed 1/2 strength nutes every watering during the week, straight water on weekends. The only time I water heavy enough for runoff is when I use plain water on weekends

I use GH Flora series, GH Cal Mag+ and Bud Candy.

I get growth rates like in hydro but never have to worry about pumps and all the other hydro stuff. Plus you get control over nutes like you do in hydro but can't with soil

My friend grows using coco hempy buckets. He waters every day in veg and every 3 or 4 days in flower. You should look at hempy buckets

What are hempy buckets?

ink the world said:

I use a coco/perlite mix. I usually water every other day. My system is simple and works great for me

I feed 1/2 strength nutes every watering during the week, straight water on weekends. The only time I water heavy enough for runoff is when I use plain water on weekends

I use GH Flora series, GH Cal Mag+ and Bud Candy.

I get growth rates like in hydro but never have to worry about pumps and all the other hydro stuff. Plus you get control over nutes like you do in hydro but can't with soil

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thanks! you hit the nail on the head with what im looking for. What mix of perlite do you use? and how much water do you flush through how much media on the weekend? do you just run it until your ppm's are low on the runoff? also, why do run half strength nutes? im guessing it's to lower the salt build up? how do they respond to that as opposed to full strength? any tips with this style or anything to look out for?

Taf said:

My friend grows using coco hempy buckets. He waters every day in veg and every 3 or 4 days in flower. You should look at hempy buckets

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i just did a bunch of reading and hempy buckets intrigue me. i think this may actually be the option i use.

i use a low nutrient mic 1 bag root organic to half a bale of peat moss i mix in vermiculite, perlite dolomite lime and small amount of bone meal. with co2 and a low humidity i might water every day but i usualy water 2-3 a week and feed every other week. its all organic and i use compost tea and i would say the speed at which my plants grow is on par w/ hydroponics(considering both where in a co2 environment) the only synthetic fertilizer i use is ionic as a foliar spray.

go with coco

i got all my girls switched to 5 gal hempy's. so far so good. i used a 3:1 verm/perlite mix. i was transplanting from dwc buckets with 6" net pots so i just cut the net pots from the lid and transplanted the whole thing net pot and all. with the massive root balls i had i didnt have a choice. they all look happy. i expect to see some new growth starting soon. i'm hitting them with 500ppm's right now at 6.2.

biobizz all mix. best stuff ever!