hi there all, i have been growing indoor with RDWC using rockwool slabs in my top containers. i am at a new place now and am thinking of changing to soil for ease of use. in hydro i use clones and usually veg for 4 weeks, then flower for 8 weeks. my Q is, the same plants in soil would take how long to veg to be of the same size that hydro was, i know soil is slower, just how much slower in veg and flowering i would like to know? thanks for your time and any input. oz
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soil V hydro?
- Thread starter w2008
- Start date
consider coco.
well with my experience your rate of growth can depend on a lot of different variables such as strain, lights, nutes, air delivered to the roots ect. So the only way that you'll be able to know how fast your plants are growing you just have to plug and play my friend.
-- lotsa factors, treat the new medium like you treat hydro when you first started... patience, observation, record, mesaure, improve.
B
Black_Horse
Consider this, soil makes a huge mess.
In fact, it makes such a mess i might switch to something else.
I hope you enjoy spending time with your broom and vacuum cleaner cause that's what it's all about.
I can't complain about the quality and simplicity tho.
In fact, it makes such a mess i might switch to something else.
I hope you enjoy spending time with your broom and vacuum cleaner cause that's what it's all about.
I can't complain about the quality and simplicity tho.
Green_science
Active member
w2008, I am from a hydro background, somewhat recently a genetic I was running called for soil as she was not a big fan of "my style of hydro", also "I" can't be around to do maintenance at some places so I had been thinking about setting up some soil anyway and using a 1 part base to make things simple for others.
I grow SOG/SCROG hybrid style from clones(relatively high number of, smaller, plants), and for me I see very little, IF ANY, difference in rate of growth, things to consider here are that
1. I grow smaller plants, I am sure if you are growing 5ft+ trees then you may notice the accelerated growth >5 weeks in to veg, as for flower
again I notice very little difference, at least in my experience, yield I notice no difference at all, again this is probably because my style of growing.
2. I mainly use NFT which always takes a couple of weeks with newly transplanted clones to really stretch some roots and get moving, this coupled with the fact that I finish plants under say 2-2.5 ft, and do not veg for months, is probably the reason why I have not seen much difference in the rate of growth. (if we were talking aeroponics vs soil you would notice the difference from the get go)
3. Being the hydro guy I am I perhaps do not use dirt as you're average user would, I add lots of perlite 30%+, and even add a few clay pebbles at the bottom of the buckets for drainage, I also have automated feeding via, "top spin" drippers.
I use BioBizz AllMix dirt, tap water, Canna Terra 1 part base, House and Garden Roots Excelurator, Drip Clean, and a touch of PK in flower when it's needed, I do not adjust the PH of my tap water AT ALL, which is around 7.0 and 0.4EC, I use 6 plants per 600w light in 11 litre pots
The downside of dirt is of coarse, mess, potting up, and disposal, I personally enjoy potting up, and as for mess I just use a large piece of tarpaulin etc to pot up on, so there really is not much, disposal is the only down side to me.
Dirt continues to impress me and I am happy I decided/needed to give it a go, I am switching some of my places over to dirt now, this is not however because I struggle with hydro, on the contrary I love hydro, it is because the strain I am running prefers dirt, and MOSTLY BECAUSE I can get other people to fill tanks etc without worrying about what they've have messed up.
Take for example when I go to a hydro spot, the tanks maybe 30% full and I may have 4 tanks equalling 600 litres plumbed together, because of experience I know how much PH and nutrients to add in this scenario, depending on what stage plants are at, but it's not like I can just tell them add 70% of 600 litres worth of nutrient label direction because early on they need less and latter they need more, and then they have to PH the tanks, also their estimation of 30% full could be way off I may not even be around to tell them what to do etc etc, now, with a 1 part base in the dirt setups that problem doesn't exist, I can confidently leave it to someone else to do knowing all they have to do is fill the tank up to the top, regardless how much is left, and keep adding 1 bottle of feed untill the EC meter says * then no adjusting PH
YMMV but in a few situations for me, dirt and all that comes with it is PREFERABLE
I grow SOG/SCROG hybrid style from clones(relatively high number of, smaller, plants), and for me I see very little, IF ANY, difference in rate of growth, things to consider here are that
1. I grow smaller plants, I am sure if you are growing 5ft+ trees then you may notice the accelerated growth >5 weeks in to veg, as for flower
again I notice very little difference, at least in my experience, yield I notice no difference at all, again this is probably because my style of growing.
2. I mainly use NFT which always takes a couple of weeks with newly transplanted clones to really stretch some roots and get moving, this coupled with the fact that I finish plants under say 2-2.5 ft, and do not veg for months, is probably the reason why I have not seen much difference in the rate of growth. (if we were talking aeroponics vs soil you would notice the difference from the get go)
3. Being the hydro guy I am I perhaps do not use dirt as you're average user would, I add lots of perlite 30%+, and even add a few clay pebbles at the bottom of the buckets for drainage, I also have automated feeding via, "top spin" drippers.
I use BioBizz AllMix dirt, tap water, Canna Terra 1 part base, House and Garden Roots Excelurator, Drip Clean, and a touch of PK in flower when it's needed, I do not adjust the PH of my tap water AT ALL, which is around 7.0 and 0.4EC, I use 6 plants per 600w light in 11 litre pots
The downside of dirt is of coarse, mess, potting up, and disposal, I personally enjoy potting up, and as for mess I just use a large piece of tarpaulin etc to pot up on, so there really is not much, disposal is the only down side to me.
Dirt continues to impress me and I am happy I decided/needed to give it a go, I am switching some of my places over to dirt now, this is not however because I struggle with hydro, on the contrary I love hydro, it is because the strain I am running prefers dirt, and MOSTLY BECAUSE I can get other people to fill tanks etc without worrying about what they've have messed up.
Take for example when I go to a hydro spot, the tanks maybe 30% full and I may have 4 tanks equalling 600 litres plumbed together, because of experience I know how much PH and nutrients to add in this scenario, depending on what stage plants are at, but it's not like I can just tell them add 70% of 600 litres worth of nutrient label direction because early on they need less and latter they need more, and then they have to PH the tanks, also their estimation of 30% full could be way off I may not even be around to tell them what to do etc etc, now, with a 1 part base in the dirt setups that problem doesn't exist, I can confidently leave it to someone else to do knowing all they have to do is fill the tank up to the top, regardless how much is left, and keep adding 1 bottle of feed untill the EC meter says * then no adjusting PH
YMMV but in a few situations for me, dirt and all that comes with it is PREFERABLE
Green_science
Active member
w2008 what PH value and EC is you're tap water?
hydro, soil it really doesn't matter, either way you choose its all about dialing it in and understanding the monster that you choose to deal with.
outside of dialing things in, imo the time difference between them is about about 2wks to a months time, any other factors come from dialing things in
outside of dialing things in, imo the time difference between them is about about 2wks to a months time, any other factors come from dialing things in
thanks for the detailed reply g/s, my tap water is 7.2ph, but if left to sit for 24hrs, it drops to 6.2, with an ec of .2, thanks
Green_science
Active member
No problem, I would like to recommend you give my feeding schedule a shot if you do try dirt out.
