Hydro! Soil! What do you like and why?

[saner1r]

So I have a question for everyone growers smokers and yes you edible eater as well. So do you like hydro or soil? Tell me why!

 

[Mud Boy]

I switched to hydro because I travel alot and I'm not able to water on a regular
basis. With hydro, I can fill the rez to the top (I have waterfarms) and I'm good to go for as long as a week until I fill it up again. I also have never, ever had spider mites while running hydro.

 

[mellokitty]

both have such diverse merits. logistically, hydro is more convenient for the humans involved (although i've set up drip systems for dirt grows that were good to go for 10+ days) and is generally cleaner and less labour intensive, dirt tends to be more forgiving as far as unforeseens go, like human error or pests.
my preference is for dirt, probably always will be. right now we're experimenting with various shits.
it's my sincere belief that cannabis evolved to grow from the earth for a reason. there are many swamp plants, for example, that grow hydroponically naturally, cannabis isn't one except by accident. in its capacity as a medicine anyway, i believe that there could be many scientifically unquantifiable factors beyond simple chemical nutrition, and as a farmer of medicine, i can't turn my back on that belief, at least until (ironically enough) human technology advances enough to convince me otherwise.

good question +rep!

 

[shunt]

Soil.. Always done it that way and could never see myself changing.. I like playing in the dirt.

 

[half baked]

soil for me bro, its all about letting them grow as natural as possible imo, and the goods that come from it whoa! A+++, ive grown hydro and smoked it from countless times, just doesnt float my boat and tend to stay well clear, im not slagging hydro tho, for commercial its good and can roll a few more grows off in a yr but i grow for personal and hydro cant match organic IMO

peace hb

 

[OnlyKush]

You will never have better than than 100% pure organics. Won't have better lookig budz, taste, of quality of stone.

 

[CalcioErba2004]

I prefer soil in container with an automated drip to waste watering system...

 

[saner1r]

I agree brother I went organic a few years ago and it is bad ass!

 

[Snowblind]

Indoors im a firm, firm believer in a sterile hydro set-up. I did not understand plant nutrition and chemical salts in the past like I do now. You can grow buds that burn clean and taste amazing in hydro! You can control every aspect of the plants needs in hydro, indoors. You can not do this with soil. People say soil is more forgiving, but I disagree. Hydro is really easy. If you know what you are doing you will encounter very few issues.

I see a lot of problems with grows done in soil. Tons of lock out issues and nutrient issues.

The soil, sold as organic is not often and contains trace elements of some pretty harsh stuff.

Do you know how much shit lives in soil! Little bugs that crawl out and into your roots! No place for this is a sterile indoor grow.


Outdoors is very different. I grow organic with plants basking under the sun.

 

[lazarus718]

I see a lot of problems with grows done in soil. Tons of lock out issues and nutrient issues.

The soil, sold as organic is not often and contains trace elements of some pretty harsh stuff.

Do you know how much shit lives in soil! Little bugs that crawl out and into your roots! No place for this is a sterile indoor grow.


Outdoors is very different. I grow organic with plants basking under the sun.

Ok....
1) Most of the lockout issues you are going to find come from hydro set-ups not soil. If you have done even the most minute homework in either purchasing a solid base soil or building your own you are going to have quite some pH buffering capacity already built in to your soil medium. Those buffers will help you immensely in avoiding nute lock-outs even with HUGE mistakes and overfeeding. Not the case in hydro. I would say they each have equal instances of nutrient imbalances just from browsing the cannabis infirmary portion of this site.
2) Soil purchased commercially does not contain trace elements of "pretty harsh stuff", what "stuff" are you making a reference to? But yes, the majority of synthetic fertilizers on the market that are used by hydro growers do have some very concentrated forms of macronutrients from synthetic sources that are completely unnatural, all in an effort to mimic natural soil.
3) "Do you know how much shit lives in the soil!" Yes, we do. That is why we grow living shit from the soil. Most of that "shit" living in your soil is what makes plants grown from soil so damn healthy and good. Yes, insects live in soil and yes some insects are bad for your plants. The majority are not. Purchase good soil in the first place and if you are growing indoors you probably will never have an issue with insect problems if your grow is secure and you don't bring problems in from the outside. Same with hydro.
4) If you accept growing in soil outdoors, why not indoors? It is a 100 times more difficult to have a successful harvest outdoors in soil than it is to grow in soil indoors. This seems like a huge contradiction to me. You are worried about shit living in your soil indoors but not outdoors?

Soil IS much more forgiving to new growers than hydro. Your mistakes have built in corrections from nature, hydro farming requires you to be nature. I think both styles are equally valid and equally appealing. Like others I too have smoked buds from both types of grows and I prefer those grown in soil. There is something just missing from the raw taste when the product is grown in hydro. I don't miss that with soil.

 

[Snowblind]

Nice post lazarus! I just see a lot of issues with soil grow in terms of flies, gnats and root aphids is all. Seems like you would never really know where you are at, at the root zone with soil. Salts build up, so you need to flush even in soil. This is no big deal for many, but I do like the instant control of hydro. The soil is a buffer and some people enjoy the feeling of this safety net. This buffer can also harbor disease, salt build up and not provide the most ideal of growing conditions.

When I am feeding a hydro formula I am able to better understand the exact elemental breakdown and know the exact ppm of each element in the solution. Armed with this information I can then tailor a formula that the plants feed on in an ideal manner, as they want to feed. I like understanding and controlling all of these factors in an indoor setting. That's why I grow indoors. My plants feed exactly what they want, when they want it. This creates explosive, healthy growth.

When you grow indoors you are nature by default so I want to control every aspect of "nature" that I can. I can then monitor, record and analyze the results.


I agree with what you say about starting out with a good high quality soil. I just believe a true analysis of some soils and organic components would reveal some surprising results is all...

I like the beneficial critters in soil. I think this is a good thing. I do not mean to sum up everything living in soil as "shit".

I am not worried about things living in around or on my plants outdoors. I find that nature, fueled by the sun grows the most spiritual and satisfying of cannabis.


I agree that the best smoke will always be organic in terms of flavor with most strains. I have learned to grow amazing smoke with amazing flavor with hydro....that burns to a clean ash....flavor that many would believe is organic. I will always honor any comitment to growing that is 100% organic. This is a true art. Growing cannabis in fact can be very bad when nature is not considered in a hydro setting. The amount of water wasted/used, for example, is outstanding as is the run off from the nutes that you use.

The Chem family is said to taste different when grown hydro. Some people like that taste better.

 

[lazarus718]

Nice post lazarus! I just see a lot of issues with soil grow in terms of flies, gnats and root aphids is all. Seems like you would never really know where you are at, at the root zone with soil. Salts build up, so you need to flush even in soil. This is no big deal for many, but I do like the instant control of hydro.

That's exactly what I was getting at man, just different strokes for different folks. Soil is more of a challenge for me I guess, and I garden as a hobby so I always have something growing. I think your largest challenge in hydro is with the system design and implementation. Once your plants are dialed in you pretty much have all your work complete from then on. I already have all my soils, bags of poop, shovels, cultivators on hand and I enjoy physically working with my plants. I have entertained the thoughts recently of giving hydro a go but I'd rather go visit a buddy who has a set-up online already. For me, without my soil I feel more detached from my plants. But I do LOVE seeing those roots grow in some of all your set-ups!