Hydro to Organic How many switch over?

[xXRABBITXx]

How many have made the switch? Pros Cons? Learning curve? I have a soil friendly strain I want to run but I grow hydro. I was wondering if I should just bite the bullet and buy bulk nutes if a majority end up staying organic.

Thanks

 

[Gmix]

My learning curve was organic in soil.
It’s was easy for me and a lot less bothersome than measuring ec ppm and having to bother with ph.

Hydro ive only coir to go by and I found it to attention heavy and switched back to soil.

I have kinda bulk buyed my guano as if it stays dry it has no use by date. It took About 5 years till last lot degraded and that may of been a storage issue

 

[Bilber]

As much as I have read about organic growing, I've yet to attempt it......

The organic grow style that has me watching is with worms.......poor things would probably die if I went that route.....

I do love to experiment though......

 

[Natep]

I made the switch about a year ago. Organic is way easier way cheaper. I think it taste better. I can not find a con

 

[OhRose]

I made the switch about a year ago. Organic is way easier way cheaper. I think it taste better. I can not find a con

How does the growth rate compare?

 

[Natep]

How does the growth rate compare?

The growth rate is different. Things seem to get larger in organic. Because you are not using nutrients to force the flowers into ripping it tends to take a couple weeks longer. The flavors are way better. Plus no flushing needed. I keep using the same soil over and over so it’s way cheaper. For the life of me I can not find one reason not to grow organic.

 

[OhRose]

The growth rate is different. Things seem to get larger in organic. Because you are not using nutrients to force the flowers into ripping it tends to take a couple weeks longer. The flavors are way better. Plus no flushing needed. I keep using the same soil over and over so it’s way cheaper. For the life of me I can not find one reason not to grow organic.

Larger, huh? That's what I want to hear. I'm limited by plant count. These haze type plants, in coco grow like... weeds . For real though, After 6 weeks veg (and pruning then back hard twice) they are (each) about 2x2 and almost as tall. Honestly probably a little too big. I think they should (each) fill a 3x3 net, probably with less veg time.

That's the goal, 1 plant per 3x3 and start a new, rooted clone every 3 weeks. 28-35 days veg and 70-77 to bloom. Maybe I'll get lucky and get a pheno that will finish in 9(from clones anyway, nor likely from the seed plant...) It's looking like it will work effectively in coco. But I think these would be too high aspirations in organic soil? What do you think? How long would you veg a plant to fill that space?

Honestly, cost isn't much a concern here, jacks cost me 100 dollars for a few years worth. And even canna coco still works out to like 3 or 4 dollars per pot. It would be nice to be able to use blumats and just keep the bucket full.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

For the life of me I can not find one reason not to grow organic.

+1

 

[Natep]

These photos are 1 week apart. It is during the stretch but you can see the vigorous growth

 

[OhRose]

Well I've mixed up 4 cubic ft of soil. I put too much blood meal in, so I'm gonna have to turn it to 6. I'll get it watered to start cooking when I get more ingredients to finish mixing. I'm not sure what to do about a container. Plan is 1 pot, with one plant, with the goal of 1 pound in a 3x3 tent. The plant is a large, long-flowering, nearly pure sativa. She's up to the task if I can get her there. I wanted to put a bed in at 2x2x1 ft. That would give me 30 gallons, should be good? I can't really find anything though. At this point I'm thinking I'll get the 65 gallon smartpot, and roll it down to 12 inches. That would give me 40 gallons.

And, I realized as long as I've got the hydro going, I can mulch those plants in to feed the organic side. So that was cool. Can't be much better weed fertilizer than weed. Has everything weed needs.

Anyone have suggestions for soil containers?

 

[Natep]

Well I've mixed up 4 cubic ft of soil. I put too much blood meal in, so I'm gonna have to turn it to 6. I'll get it watered to start cooking when I get more ingredients to finish mixing. I'm not sure what to do about a container. Plan is 1 pot, with one plant, with the goal of 1 pound in a 3x3 tent. The plant is a large, long-flowering, nearly pure sativa. She's up to the task if I can get her there. I wanted to put a bed in at 2x2x1 ft. That would give me 30 gallons, should be good? I can't really find anything though. At this point I'm thinking I'll get the 65 gallon smartpot, and roll it down to 12 inches. That would give me 40 gallons.

And, I realized as long as I've got the hydro going, I can mulch those plants in to feed the organic side. So that was cool. Can't be much better weed fertilizer than weed. Has everything weed needs.

Anyone have suggestions for soil containers?

Look at the grass roots pots. Make sure to build your horizons. A horizon should be about 2” of rock at the bottom filled with sand. Water it in so it’s packed solid. The e horizon should be 4” think 2 parts top soil 1/2 clay 1/2 silts. I harvested mine from my local hills. The o horizon should be 8” thick and all top soil. Plant a good cover crop gets the soil going.

 

[cannafarmer420]

The growth rate is different. Things seem to get larger in organic. Because you are not using nutrients to force the flowers into ripping it tends to take a couple weeks longer. The flavors are way better. Plus no flushing needed. I keep using the same soil over and over so it’s way cheaper. For the life of me I can not find one reason not to grow organic.

Depends on your microbial population but hydro will grow faster, I haven't found a negative yet really. I love it I would never go back, once you understand it's way easier. You can also manipulate the nutrients via microbes just like feeding to push different ones at different stages. Then compost teas, ferments, you can go pretty deep. Also your good bugs eat the bad bugs usually. So Ipm isn't as big if a deal. Endless learning if you want, it's great. ✌

 

[OhRose]

Look at the grass roots pots. Make sure to build your horizons. A horizon should be about 2” of rock at the bottom filled with sand. Water it in so it’s packed solid. The e horizon should be 4” think 2 parts top soil 1/2 clay 1/2 silts. I harvested mine from my local hills. The o horizon should be 8” thick and all top soil. Plant a good cover crop gets the soil going.

I don't understand about the horizons? Do you mean like layering the pot? I've never heard that term.

I have mixed up a promix hp based living soil recipe I intend to utilize. I'm not digging in the hills. Especially not in winter.

Yeah grass roots pots. That's what I meant, sorry. Um I've been so busy the last few days I can't even gather my thoughts properly.

 

[residentshaman]

Im just now making the switch to hydro from organic few things I noticed about organic soil grows

- fabric pots dry out fast (you'll be watering a lot)
- plastic pots hold water better (you'll water less!)
- can reuse soil over and over and amend the soil after each grow to add more nutrients
- slow to grow
- ease of use, I simply used canna bio vega for veg and canna bio terra + boost for flower
- still needed to do ph'ing even though some people say it'll balance itself out
- more soil = more roots = more fruits
- powders won't help your plant as quick as liquid nutrients

But at the end of the day these organic nutrients break down into the same chemical structure as hydro nutrients, so the whole organic vs non-organic is a bit of a meme. DWC will grow much faster and much larger than organic ever will.

 

[OhRose]

Im just now making the switch to hydro from organic few things I noticed about organic soil grows

- fabric pots dry out fast (you'll be watering a lot)
- plastic pots hold water better (you'll water less!)
- can reuse soil over and over and amend the soil after each grow to add more nutrients
- slow to grow
- ease of use, I simply used canna bio vega for veg and canna bio terra + boost for flower
- still needed to do ph'ing even though some people say it'll balance itself out
- more soil = more roots = more fruits

But at the end of the day these organic nutrients break down into the same chemical structure as hydro nutrients, so the whole organic vs non-organic is a bit of a meme. DWC will grow much faster and much larger than organic ever will.

Hi. Thanks for your input.

I can't say I have any significant experience growing organically in containers.

I do have some experience growing in coco, watering every day and mixing barrels of solution every week, measuring ph, etc. It's amazing how fast they grow with this treatment. It's also a pain in my ass. I mostly want away from that. Quality or not, a large pot of soil with a reservoir will be much easier than an active hydro system or hand watered coco.

And as far as organic tasting better, I can't say I have any clue. Isn't Colorado weed organic? It tasted better than the crap we get here. But that could just be because it was in Colorado and not here.

Organic vegetables taste better though. And have been tested to have significantly (in since cases several times) higher nutrient levels. It's true that the plant only absorbs nutrients in an inorganic form, but something seems to be getting lost with that missing link. I don't know, but I guess I'm about to find out.

I'm not planning on using any bottled nutrients. Might as well just keep using Jack's for pennies a gallon if that's the case. I'm hoping to build a strong, large, fertile soil and keep it fertile via top dressings. Put some worms in there. Then keep the worms fed and the plants can much on the worm poop. Something along those lines.

Good luck with the hydro. It's cool, and I'll definitely keep at it for a while. But it's a lot of attention. I grew up uh...rural. You just buried a seed and kept the weeds back until its established, and it handled the rest itself. That's what I want to recreate.

 

[ccoki]

Coco and bottle with dyscalculia? I have no idea why I did that besides somebody told me I'd kill my plants trying to grow them any other way lol. 5gals.

Year old rols in a big bucket I amend, here is info.

You can see the same plant from first picture being grown here in rols. And that bloom pic is a 1gal rols plant with wheatgrass as live mulch so there is even something else taking up rootspace in there...and yet I am finding I can get sizes similar to what I was getting out of coco 5gal in a 1 gallon rols.
Big +1 for ditching bottles, hybrid hydro coco for soil.

 

[OhRose]

Coco and bottle with dyscalculia? I have no idea why I did that besides somebody told me I'd kill my plants trying to grow them any other way lol. 5gals.
View attachment 2106606

Year old rols in a big bucket I amend, here is info.
View attachment 2106615
View attachment 2106610
You can see the same plant from first picture being grown here in rols. And that bloom pic is a 1gal rols plant with wheatgrass as live mulch so there is even something else taking up rootspace in there...and yet I am finding I can get sizes similar to what I was getting out of coco 5gal in a 1 gallon rols.
Big +1 for ditching bottles, hybrid hydro coco for soil.

Why so small? My coco plants. About 8 weeks from sprout, 1 from flip in 2 gallons. Despite 2 heavy prunings they are back to over 2 feet tall and wide. I had to get another tent and split them.

I guess, honestly though it doesn't matter how fast they grow. I mean I like numbers, and statistics and planning. But I understand I'm just making estimates, and honestly a pound will last me like 6 weeks. If I can't cycle through 5 plants every 6 weeks and get to that within the year, I'm just going to burn the whole thing in the middle of the street because I don't deserve it.

 

[Natep]

Im just now making the switch to hydro from organic few things I noticed about organic soil grows

- fabric pots dry out fast (you'll be watering a lot)
- plastic pots hold water better (you'll water less!)
- can reuse soil over and over and amend the soil after each grow to add more nutrients
- slow to grow
- ease of use, I simply used canna bio vega for veg and canna bio terra + boost for flower
- still needed to do ph'ing even though some people say it'll balance itself out
- more soil = more roots = more fruits
- powders won't help your plant as quick as liquid nutrients

But at the end of the day these organic nutrients break down into the same chemical structure as hydro nutrients, so the whole organic vs non-organic is a bit of a meme. DWC will grow much faster and much larger than organic ever will.

The grass roots pots have plastic liners in fabric pots. Helps with the drying out.

 

[Natep]

Well I've mixed up 4 cubic ft of soil. I put too much blood meal in, so I'm gonna have to turn it to 6. I'll get it watered to start cooking when I get more ingredients to finish mixing. I'm not sure what to do about a container. Plan is 1 pot, with one plant, with the goal of 1 pound in a 3x3 tent. The plant is a large, long-flowering, nearly pure sativa. She's up to the task if I can get her there. I wanted to put a bed in at 2x2x1 ft. That would give me 30 gallons, should be good? I can't really find anything though. At this point I'm thinking I'll get the 65 gallon smartpot, and roll it down to 12 inches. That would give me 40 gallons.

And, I realized as long as I've got the hydro going, I can mulch those plants in to feed the organic side. So that was cool. Can't be much better weed fertilizer than weed. Has everything weed needs.

Anyone have suggestions for soil containers?

Earth box city picker or grass roots pot.

 

[OhRose]

Ok. Follow up time. The whole thing got out of hand. I initially intended to do up a 15-20 gallon pot to make it through a run water only. Now I have 2 65 gallon grass roots pots cooking with a coots style soil. I think I just have a spending problem. Hopefully, such a mass of soil should make nutrient issues a non-issue, at least.

I want to add that I mixed the soil, very thoroughly, in my living room, in storage totes. I'm sure it would have been much, much easier if I could have done it outside.