In a bit of a bind, advice?

[secks]

Hey everyone,

I co-own a small grow in WA state. We brought a grow guy on board a few months ago who was really impressed with the UC system demos he had seen and decided it was the route we should take. Well, he recently had to back out of the business for personal reasons. Now I'm left with a partial build out that assumes the use of an UC system and no grower familiar with the system. So I've been reaching out to other grow guys (and gals) I know and to my surprise, very few of them recommend hydro, especially for newbie growers. Lots of horror stories (none specific to UC, just in general regarding hydroponics) .. according to them, increased yields at the price of more stress, maintenance, disease, etc. They all grow in soil or coco, without exception. Damn.

I only know the basics of growing, but am technically competent otherwise. If you were in my shoes, rewinding your knowledge of grow to basically zero, would you stick with UC or go the soil/coco route? I've been reading up on UC here (really impressed so far), but am still a bit hesitant to jump in head first with this system just based on what I read on forums. Things like this always seem to appear very simple in principle but quite an endeavor in practice. Anyway, I'm looking at outfitting a 12x25 veg room and either one or two 12x25 flower rooms with 12 site systems. Any advice? Feel free to PM me if you'd like. Thanks.

 

[Texas Kid]

I learned in hydro and killed it day in day out so I wouldn't be to worried about that part. As far as UC go, I found it to be a very easy system to learn and maintain and have been growing with them in one form or another for years..in all fairness though, right now I grow in coco feed to waste and that is the best method for me all around in my space, size, plant count, and output requirements. I am about to play with a UC pro setup and see what I can do with it so we shall see

 

[booboo111]

I went from a first time closet micro grow to a uc.....someone said on this forum maybe I took on too much with such a high end system.....NOT !!! I read a lot, used cultured solutions for simplicity and my 1st grow (scrog)did well, my only regret was not knowing which were really good strains and so didn't get the potency....my 2nd grow got wiped from the cruel winter we had on east coast and now I had to move so no more for now. I am planning on moving to nw wash when my ship comes in......the sad news is I threw out my whole system, only a 4x4 tent and a uc4xl and tons of equipment.........what was the line in one of those adam sandler movies with rob scneider "you can do it !
I will say keep track of the roots growing down the manifolds, the nutrient flow gets slow
And the texas kid and so many others here gave me quite an education...go for it

 

[secks]

Thanks for the advice, guys!

 

[Owlfarm]

I learned in soil, then switched to hydro. From your post you sound like an intelligent person that is open to suggestion and learning. There is a wealth of knowledge online on these systems so if you are willing to spend time with research you'll be fine. I didn't have anyone to show me hydro hands on, I just read books and online articles, and followed tons of online forums. Remember it's just growing plants, many growers think it's incredibly difficult work, but it's not rocket science. I always advise people to start in soil, less start up costs, easier learning curve, but if you're really into it there's no reason you can't go hydro. My main advise to new people interested in this game would be only do it if it truly interests you and you've got some passion for it.
If you do pull the trigger on undercurrents make sure you can keep your water cool, avoid organics, and have lots of fun!