soil/hydro pros and cons

[sneakatoke]

hello all, im new to the site, as well as to growing

for a beginner, would it be better to start off doing a hydro grow, or a soil grow? what are the pros and cons of growing in soil vs hydro?

I am a complete noobie so i hold no bias towards either method. Just wanting to further educate myself about growing. any advice or reasons to why you guys prefer either method would be greatly appreciated. thanks!

 

[scrapiron]

For a beginner, soil would be the way to go. Get a few grows under your belt, and go from there. The majority of the hydro growers are out for weight. It is the fastest. It is also the most expensive and requires the most knowledge. Soil is alot easier, cheaper, and more forgiving after mistakes.

 

[danko]

soil is a piece of cake bro! thats really the only thing i dont like about it. i feel like i have nothing to do in my grow room! lol. i used to do hydro and was always hauling water, adjusting nutes, or ph or something....not so much with soil. i water like once a week and let it do its thing!

 

[Smokin]

Soil easiest to start with by far. Danko nailed it... HYDRO far more WORK and is comparatively EXPENSIVE.

 

[bicycle racer]

true hydro takes knowledge and growing properly in soil takes even more precision. a great medium for beginner and advanced alike is the hempy style method of growing which is kind of a soil hydro hybrid it involves perlite and vermiculite it works very well and is very simple for anybody.

 

[GroHi]

BR~ right on brother. Soil/TLO doesn't equate to easy by any means...

Just for example, most have a difficult time starting starting small plants in soil & running them during early veg... (ph low & soil hot)

 

[danko]

using ffof ive never had a problem with ph or hottness. i just germed,planted and let em go for about 3 weeks. then start feeding slowly and flushen every 4 feeds. pretty eazy bro. i started with hydro and succeeded, but this soil grow is just cake man!

 

[danko]

i said i never but this is my first soil so i mean i havent....

 

[Kushtard]

I stated in hydro then moved to organic soil and learned a lot and now I am still in the soil with a road runner tho in five gallon dwc. I love the dwc! The growth is awesome and so easy. Fun too. I recntly lost my job so I got way to much time on my hands so I converting some things to hydro for fun. Hydro is so clean and easy, but then again I am impatient man and depressed because for the first time I somehow killed some frickin soil plants! Overwater I think, root rot, is so depressijg in soil. Alas, I need to learn patience still.

 

[sneakatoke]

hey, thanks for all the great responses. to my understanding growing hydro employs some methods that are very beneficial to plant growth, such as supplying more oxygen to roots and what not. this is what made hydro particularly appealing to me. does anyone know of a good soil mixture that promotes good aeration and isnt very hard to maintain? thanks all!

 

[mountaindank]

Coco coir is a great medium that can either be used in a soil mix to aerate it and help drainage, or on its own as somewhat of a hybrid soil/hydro mixture. It is completely non-nutritive. It is able to hold water, so you water it periodically like soil, making it possible to water it by hand if you want. However it is light and fluffy, providing oxygen to the roots, and it provides something solid for the roots to hold on to. You can use regular hydro nutes, but some companies make lines of nutes just for coir. I've never used it for this purpose though.

You can also use it as a soil additive, in place of or in addition to perlite. I use it in all of my organic soil mixtures. I do equal parts coir, horse poo compost, and worm castings. Then I add a bit of hydrated lime. I use this mixture plain for seedlings and rooting clones, or add a bunch of different stuff for veg or flower or moms.

 

[bdawgburner]

I would say soil produces better taste and more fragrance than hydro, but the mess is ridiculous. For me switching to hydro was the best decision I ever made with my grow and I'm not looking back. I still run soil moms, but the mess in the flowering side is virtually gone. You dont have to constantly be working on hydro, if anything hydro has cut down on the amount of time I have to spend on grow room chores. My timer feeds them when they need feeding and I check ph daily but only need to adjust it every 3-4 days. It produces more weight in a shorter period than soil and I've gotten a lot nicer looking buds. Dont get me wrong, I do love me some nice organic soil buds, but for me hydro is the only way to go now.