Soilless grow nutrients: Organic vs. Chemical vs. Soilless with nutes in it?

It has been awhile since I grew any weed (25 years or so and obviously things have advanced a bit, and I was wondering what people thought would be best to use as a nutrient for the grow.

Should I use an organic such as Earth Juice or should I go with an easy to use chemical that is ph balanced etc. like Advanced Nutrients PH Perfect line, or should I go with a soilless medium that has the nutrients already in it, such as the M3 Medical Marihuana mix?

I'd either go 100% organic with worm casting, blood and bone meal, bat guano, etc. etc. or I'd just go chemical but imo advanced nutrients are way over priced and are no better then any other nute brands.

also if your going chemical pro-mix/ sunshine mix are great unless you want to do hydro.

welcome back

I have just been in your shoes, so to speak, grew a lot of weed outdoors in my early years and have been smoking ever since (+20 years) but just began to grow agin (indoors) last spring

must admit a lot have happen to the plant since I grew "5% THC" pot in my back yard, now its really possible to grow some really good strong weed with little effort, another thing that happen since then is this ! the inter net, really helpful compared to back then when all we had was the Hamp growers hand book to go after

I am now on my 4th grow indoors and I personally stick to the organic soil in pots, I also tried a soilless medium (coco/perlite) but now back to mixing my own soil with most of the nutrient in it (blood/bone/kelp/mearl meal, Bat guano, Lime, worm casting aso.) and soil is also much more forgiven then soilless grows to the new grower that maybe not have it all dialed in and have all the stuff needed (PH/Ecc meters aso)

I started out with the 3 part nute line from GH (flora duo + micro) in a standard soil with good results, then had a full organic grow with my own soil mix (best quality so fare) then a not so great grow with coco, and now Im back in the organic soil so to speak, guess its also a matter of temperament and how you like your grow/smoke aso but I like the fact that most of what the plant will need you already provided in the soil and all you really have to do is get a water schedule on track and your golden (also much cheaper then buying expensive products that often promise more then they can live up to)

but agin a matter of taste IMO, and it is also a question of your goal, do you need a hugh yield from a small place to sell you might want to go with hydro, want clean good tasting Buds for your own personal smoke and is in no hurry a organic soil might be the way for you, but no matter what keep it simple and start with a basic set up and learn as you go along, do some reading/research and keep asking questions and be careful, growing it is almost as addictive as smoking it

Slipon said:

and be careful, growing it is almost as addictive as smoking it

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too me smoking weed is not addictive but growing it is highly addictive you just keep wanting more and more/ better and better. then you want the best of the best

Depends what you're going for. I've used Earth Juice Original (Grow\Bloom\Catalyst\Micro) for quite a few years, in soil and soilless. Soil or soil-less organics can be as easy as you want it to be. If you go for organics make sure you understand what that entails; an organic soil or soil-less mix contains a wide variety of microbes that assist the plant. Among other things microbes are responsible for mineralizing nutrients (making them plant available), providing nutrients to root cells directly and immobilizing minerals temporarily (keeping them in the rhizosphere, preventing them from leaching). Ideally you want to avoid chlorinated tap water, pH Up (liquid) and any chemicals that could hinder soil biota.

You can always use a rich soil\soil-less mix along with liquid organics such as Earth Juice. You might not need any at first, and just apply lightly or later on. EJ works just fine, the key is to make sure you add dolomite limestone (or garden lime) to the mix at 1-2 tbsp per gallon, depending on the TDS of your water source. If you use RO, bottled, distilled or rain water which typically is very low in total dissolved solids you should use closer to 2 tbsp. The dolomite lime has calcium and magnesium which are important plant nutrients. Lime will neutralize acidity in the medium over time as it supplies Ca and Mg.

With Earth Juice and some other liquid organics, after mixing the solution will be quite acidic, but does not require any pH Up (that is what the additional lime is for). Some people opt to aerate the solution (with an aquarium air-pump\stone) for a day before using, which will allow the microbes to proliferate and cause the pH to rise (bacteria produce alkaline bio-slime).