Hydroponic vs Soil

tpsmc

Well-Known Member
The biggest problem with soil is getting rid of it when its been used. Running a 8 week strain with 4 plants every 2 months in 5 gal pots = 120 gallons (thats 4 full trash bags) of dirt you need to dispose of in a year, for an urban indoor farmer that's a LOT of waste to discreetly dispose of. With a hydro system you can reuse the ECM so only thing you need to dispose of are roots stems and trimmings.
 

JustCoasting

Well-Known Member
I have to disagree. If you go with a deep water system (DWS) you can walk away for a week, if you skimped, like I did. 20 Litre bed with about 16 plants in the water. Healthy roots, lots of veg.

I've done both and hydro wins with me. So many advantages and few drawbacks.
 

missnu

Well-Known Member
Hmm...well I just can't get hydro right, so I get alot more with soil, and my plants look better but with a DWC you can leave it and go on vacation and it be alright...soil on the other hand kinda means no vacation for me...which I am ok with..leave me home with my plants...My beautiful not dead soil growing plants. I have seen some people get great results with hydro, and I started there and now I am in soil and I think I will stay there. I like the fact that it is more hands on...I can touch the dirt and move them around and I have to water them and pay them attention. They make me happy and with soil I see them more.
 

GunRunner

Active Member
Ok so here is my breakdown of what I thinka about the topic, I generally disagree that using a hydro system will give you a better yield then using a soil system. I will agree that there a hydroponics system has a faster growth rate but is the yield any better ? Just because something grows faster does not mean it grows bigger, ecspecially in with the same amount of light and space. If you factor in time over a couple grows then hydroponics systems will have a small edge in yield. However if you have a seperate vegitation room, then the timing is not the issue.

If you have great aromatics, this is a only an opinion and is only relevant to your growing skills and the methods you use. If done properly, soil will give you buds that will smell as strong as those that are done in a hydropics setup.

I tried a hydro setup and the reason I switched back to soil is my time factor, hydro will eat your life away :) hydropics systems are expensive to setup and they alot of monitoring so your whole crop does not get fried. Using a soil system I can water on friday and go away for the weekend and my marijuana plants will be fine. If you were to leave a hydro setup and something were to go wrong you could wipe out your whole crop. Granted something could go wrong with a soil setup however if you loose 1 or 2 I would not be to worried.

There you have it... my thought on soild vs hydroponics, hydroponics will give you a better growth rate but I do not believe it will give you better yields.
Soil gives you more time to react, it acts as a buffer.
 

skunkd0c

Well-Known Member
hydro is simple and yields very well with less problems than soil
plants grow faster and get larger and produce more

this plant grew in a very simple NFT system that cost around £40 with only 20 liters of reservoir capacity
the dry yield was 21.5 oz

it is difficult to produce that sort of yield and a plant of this size in soil .. with such a small compacted root space
20 liters of soil space would not grow this plant to this size or yield




peace
 

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pg1210

Member
Ok I need some help decideing what to use here. I've been reading for the last week and still can't decide so I'm asking for the opinion of the masses. I have two metal cabinets that I made one for veg and one for flower. Bothe are 4x2x6. I am going to scrog grow and on When one cab is ready to flower take clones and veg the other and continue that cycle. I was really leaning toward soil but now I'm on the fence with Dwc and aero but havnt ruled out soil yet. Anyone have any advice on my problem or experience with scrog grows with aero,Dwc, or soil. Thanks.
 

tpsmc

Well-Known Member
hydro is simple and yields very well with less problems than soil
plants grow faster and get larger and produce more

this plant grew in a very simple NFT system that cost around £40 with only 20 liters of reservoir capacity
the dry yield was 21.5 oz

it is difficult to produce that sort of yield and a plant of this size in soil .. with such a small compacted root space
20 liters of soil space would not grow this plant to this size or yield




peace
I agree hydro is better than soil but that plant doesn't look anywhere near 21oz dry maybe 6 dry ...maybe.
 
This may be random but i met up with some of the owners of healthy plant organic fertilizer and they are having a free giveaway to the first 50 people to email them. The email [email protected] so shoot them an email for some free fertilizer.
 

REALSTYLES

Well-Known Member
the true test comes in the finished product. i think a hydro grower already said soil has better flavor when smoked. i could care less how it's grown but i want smooth, sweet, pleasant smoke. i find soil offers more of this.
I don't think so. the taste is all about how you flush and cure. I've done both and soil is great for outdoors period. Indoors I use rockwool in leach trays or buckets depending on how big I want to grow my plants. As for soil being forgiving, yeah right. If ph off in rock wool just flush several times with the proper ph water. Soil if you just watered you won't be able to that you'll make the soil so soggy the plant will be over watered. Soil sometimes has bugs in it when you first buy it. I've had it happen to me before. What real funny is I grew 1 blue which I grow really big in rock wool thought I'd see the difference in growth in soil and it was a major let down the Abusive Og in rock wool did 4oz the blue dream 1.5oz the Las Vegas purple in rock wool 5.5oz dry weight. But outdoor I love making my own mix. This year gonna try Geo pots (a better made Smart pot) outdoors.
 

Glider

Member
I have been growing Northern Lights both ways side by side. One plant in rock wool with a top flood irrigation and the other in Fox Farm dirt. The two plants were growing at pretty much the same rate until the pH in the rock wool started go up. It like the rock wool better because I can react to problem fast. This happened when I started have problems with too low a nute concentration. Then rock wool plant responded to the change in concentration with in a day. The dirt took three days.

That all being said I am now having a problem with the pH going down in the rock wool. I can not keep up with it. A little advise here would be helpful.
 

shotrocker

Active Member
I just got started growing last winter, and really enjoy the learning process though it seems I have to make every rookie mistake at least once to learn each lesson. My 2nd & 3rd grows are presently flowering and with each grow I learn a good deal more as well as start to develop instincts. I started with soil because it seemed like the simplest way to go. I do something new with each grow, LST on the 2nd, plus I FIMmed the plants on the 3rd. I've stuck with the GO program of nutrients at 50% and Ocean Forest soil so as not to have too many variables going at once. My point to this thread is that I feel like a freshman at Grow U., learning the fundamentals. When I get into my 'sophomore year', I will then checkout hydro growing. So far, I've been having a lot of fun in learning and watching the results. For someone like myself to NOT try both methods for myself sounds less interesting.
 
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