Soil growing vs. hydroponics
- Thread starter kylen
- Start date
homebrewer
Well-Known Member
I've found hydro to yield about 15-20% more than dirt. That's not to say dirt doesn't yield. Often times 3oz per dirt plant with 4 weeks of veg is not uncommon (600watt hps, 6-9 plants per light). I think hydro is easier but dirt can be more forgiving. Dirt is cheap as.....well, dirt 
TCurtiss
Well-Known Member
Soil is more forgiving
Hydro I have not done but from what i understand you can make a mistake and go the wrong way quickly
Do some reading and find out what works for your budget.
I myself have grown in soil from the start and if you want tasty quality bud use soil and NOT MIRACLE GROW!!!!
Good luck
Hydro I have not done but from what i understand you can make a mistake and go the wrong way quickly
Do some reading and find out what works for your budget.
I myself have grown in soil from the start and if you want tasty quality bud use soil and NOT MIRACLE GROW!!!!
Good luck
i grow in 3 gallon buckets full of perlite. get a plastic mop bucket or waste bucket ,can't be clear,.(walmart has 2 and 3 gallon ones for $2) put a 7/16 hole(about the size of a pencil) in it 2 inches from the bottom , fill the bucket with perlite (walmart bag fills a 3 gallon bucket perfect $7)
put your seedling or clone right into it and water it.you can just bury the rockwool starter or peat puck in the perlite(walmart has a humidity dome with 72 peat pucks for $6 it says jiffy on it)..
this is mimicing your roots hitting ground water,its like a soil hydro mix kind of..it so easy to grow this way i will never do soil ever again..
i ph my water to 5.8 but 5.6-6 is good i use low nutes for veg like 200ppm every other water or 2.for flowering 600-800ppm every water..
at first add a cup or 2 of water every day (keeps the top wetter until the roots grow to the bottom) then you can top it off until you get water at the hole 2 inches from the bottom,you can water every day or once a week just don't let the bottom get too dry,its that easy if you want you can easily set this up to feed on a timer from a res.
if you add too much nutes and start seeing nute burn just add a gallon of nuteless water and its fixed..anything else just pm me
put your seedling or clone right into it and water it.you can just bury the rockwool starter or peat puck in the perlite(walmart has a humidity dome with 72 peat pucks for $6 it says jiffy on it)..
this is mimicing your roots hitting ground water,its like a soil hydro mix kind of..it so easy to grow this way i will never do soil ever again..
i ph my water to 5.8 but 5.6-6 is good i use low nutes for veg like 200ppm every other water or 2.for flowering 600-800ppm every water..
at first add a cup or 2 of water every day (keeps the top wetter until the roots grow to the bottom) then you can top it off until you get water at the hole 2 inches from the bottom,you can water every day or once a week just don't let the bottom get too dry,its that easy if you want you can easily set this up to feed on a timer from a res.
if you add too much nutes and start seeing nute burn just add a gallon of nuteless water and its fixed..anything else just pm me
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mconn333
Well-Known Member
Growing in soil is way cheaper and easier. You just get a bag of decent soil, miracle grow moisture control is a good soil to start with. Just so udnt gotta mix soil 4 ur 1st grow. Add nutriant after 1 month. this method mixed with cfl's, best bang 4 ur buck. review other threads 4 exact info.
kylen
Active Member
This is my first grow and by the sound of it dirt is cheaper and easier, so I will start off with that, and as i get more experienced try the hydro way.
smallclosetgrowr
Well-Known Member
i have found my plants grow almost twice as fast in hydro compared to my soil plants , soil is allways best for your first harvest just to get a feel of it all
Mylar
Well-Known Member
easier = soil. yield = hydro./experience Genetics and lighting aslo play a huge roll in yield. I wanted to start growing asap and decided on hydro. If I where to do it again I would go soil. Takes a bit longer too/though. I know I am not going to yield that much being my first grow with indoor hydro
. I have started outdoor plants indoors before, and at day 9 I can tell you I expected bigger. Had a nute def early using DI water. Then almost cooked them with there first feed at day 7. They are okay now. But just not fun. Gotta learn sometime though. It is the way to go, ultimately. Prepare for "Growing Pains". Good luck no matter what you decide to do. Dont let anxiety get ya. Its got me by the balls 
. I am a newb. Have fun and remember one thing. Its just a plant. Have fun.
. I have started outdoor plants indoors before, and at day 9 I can tell you I expected bigger. Had a nute def early using DI water. Then almost cooked them with there first feed at day 7. They are okay now. But just not fun. Gotta learn sometime though. It is the way to go, ultimately. Prepare for "Growing Pains". Good luck no matter what you decide to do. Dont let anxiety get ya. Its got me by the balls . I am a newb. Have fun and remember one thing. Its just a plant. Have fun.
gcvt420
Well-Known Member
Yes! I wouldn't even consider hydro for your first grow...or perhaps even your fourth. Get plenty of experience under your belt and try hydro later down the line. It costs more, requires more of your time, etc. Sure, the yields are better but you need to do a few soil grows first. While you're doing your soil grows, read as much as you possibly can about the different types of hydro setups.
tightpockt
Well-Known Member
IMO soil is cheaper and way less complicated. I'm not saying hydro is bad it's just real easy to fuck everything up. I tried a dwc and it was a mess...my plants barely grew, I couldn't keep my PH under control, it would rise every 12 hours and that was a huge pain in the balls having to check that all the time. I'm cheap and didn't want to spend the money on digital meters so I had the PH tester with the drops..that was annoying. My air pump was louder than I thought it was going to be. So I scrubbed all of that..I got a bag of seed starter mix, filled a pot, put a germed seed in and watered every 2 days, after 10 days or so added some jacks classic (again, cause i'm cheap and i'm not buying into all the 'nute hype) and it grew like crazy. I think a real light soil less mix or hempy style is the way to go. Nute real light, if the plants ask for it give 'em a little more if they start actin' funny back off and that's about it. I'm a super newb though so everything I just wrote might be completely wrong.
