I dont think you are a dickhead.
That's the nicest thing anyone has said to me all day ; ) I'm glad you understood where I was coming from.
Soil has a larger buffer for error.
100% agreed. I think that is part of what makes it tricky though. Sometimes it takes a couple days for a problem to show up, then by the time it does, you don't have the same level of clarity as to what caused it.
Also, to fix it, is going to be another couple days.
But the people who grow really well in soil, grow really good product. As do the people who grow well in hydro.
You know what it comes down to I think Jay? And this just came to me, so, feel free to vet it. There is a learning curve, no matter which style you do. But one way isn't necessarily harder/better than the other. Having learned both, I find hydro to actually be the easier way. And I have always offered anyone a recipe that will grow photo worthy plants, with almost no thought at all. Different strains can be tweaked, but almost any cannabis plant will thrive in it.
With soil, that buffer that saves a lot of people, is also leading to a bit of confusion because of the response time. After I started hydro, where changes can be seen in a couple hours, soil becomes a lot less mystifying. That "save your ass buffer" that soil gives, also leads to a longer learning curve imo.
Hydro has tighter tolerances. Less room to screw up your recipe, but I can give people one that they just mix and pour and you tweak from there. But the benefit, is that I know exactly what my plants are taking in at all times, down to the ppm. Measuring your levels in soil is much harder, and less accurate.
I think everyone should try both at some point in their lives. The way it started with me was a single DWC, and I never looked back. I find the precision makes my life easier. I know my N P K levels at all times, I know my water temps, I know my ph. It leads to a more precise understanding of what the plant wants. Where as the "buffer," you don't know what's going on.
A lot of people think that "hydro" guys, are the gurus. The ones who really know their stuff. And any particular hydro grower, might truly know their stuff. But on average....
imo, it's harder to grow a perfect plant in soil, than in hydro. I consider the people who kill it in soil, especially all organic, to be the real gurus. To "kill it" growing that way, is very, very, difficult. Imo, hydro is easy. If you can measure in ml, and mix with water, you can kill it in hydro.