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Soil vs. Hydro
- Thread starter anonamauz
- Start date
CaptainTrips
Active member
herb weedmen said:thanks i am running dwc and i think your right i am over thinking this..i am using the tidycat liter buckets for my bubblers and have 2 plants in each bubbler..each bucket is 4 1/2 gals ..i think if i could just get my ph down i'd be fine..i have trouble finding chems needed to run my set up ...i am using a dry nute mix called maxi series..i am giving them 1/2 t spoon to 2 of the 4 gals..my ph is running at about 7.8 to 8.2.. i have 4 plants i am just about ready to flip my lite to 12/12 on and i no i'll have more trouble with this once i start the bloom nutes ...i am working on ordering ph down from harvest moon but its going to be a few days before i get that..
can anyone tell me if using ph down made for fish ponds will work..its 15% citric acid..says it wont hurt fish or plants.i used a little bit the other day but it went back up in about an hr afterwards..i did get it down to 6.8 using it.it says a capfull will lower the ph in 25 gals.not sure because of the nutes that it holds it down to that ph..my ph is staying hi and i just dont have access to ph down for hydro..theres no stores in my area that carrys it and i've been looking for phosphoric acid but no one carrys that around here eather it seems..i have one bucket i am trying to bring it down using pepsi..as it contains phosphoric acid ...hell i had even considerd using sulferic acid from drain opener to try and lower my ph..i have one plant thats on its way out and i have been doing all my testing on her ....
thanks
herb weedmen
Citric acid will work, but organic acids break down fast, so it won't last as long. Sulfuric acid is a better solution if you have it, and thats all thats in it.
Albert Hofmann
Member
we've got an argument going on over here that is perfect for this thread...I say "tastes great", but everyone else says "less filling"...how will we ever decide. The correct answer is both, plus aero, coco and any other method that brings good buds. A person who understands what they are doing will see nice harvests from any medium. I run moms in dirt, clones in aero, and flower mostly hydro with some dirt plants thrown in from time to time. Each method is the best for ME and my setup. So, stop askin questions with no answer and get growing 
albert
albert
herb weedmen
Member
thanks ,i was intrested in seeing everyones opinion on the hydro vs soil and i wasnt really looking for an argument . 
.i was trying toget my answers as well as start an open minded conversation on this topic...if i was looking to start an argument i would have asked hps vs mh.. 
i was thinking the fish store after leaving the walmart and all i saw there was tetra water treatment and it said it would take all the heavy metels out of the water..so i figured that wasnt the shit i needed..i have some ph down orderd but like my nutes i orderd 2 weeks earlyer and they took a week to send them..i no i fucked up when i orderd them ..my buddy is really the one who orderd them and he didnt even order the nutes i wanted..i was going to go with the gh 3 part serie...which are liquid's and he orderd powderd nutes ..but i cant complain because he orderd them on his card and i dont use plastic..so i eather sit and wait till my plants burn up run them in straight water with a hi ph anyways or i try and figure this out using the forum friends i have on here and the cc forum..i'll be heading to a couple fish stores this after noon...
yeah that citric acid i guess is not very stable i guess it would jump back up in no time..
i am not formilure with the hempy style of growing can you give us a little more info on this..thanks..
i have always grown in soil in the past but i figured i've always wanted to go hydro and see what the big deal is ..i no i have had weed you would have thought was grown in soil and it was hydro and vis versa..so i no that great product can be had with both methods ..i tend to be able to tell if some one is growing and not flushing or if they are using mg instead of good nutes ..but to tell if its dro or soil grown the test results are inconclusive..if done right..eather method can do the job ..i was looking for time tables, flavor,buzz any diffrents in these areas..as well as pro's and cons of both methods..
you are right there is no clear cut answers ,but opinions will do..
thanks everyone..
herb weedmen
.i was trying toget my answers as well as start an open minded conversation on this topic...if i was looking to start an argument i would have asked hps vs mh.. i was thinking the fish store after leaving the walmart and all i saw there was tetra water treatment and it said it would take all the heavy metels out of the water..so i figured that wasnt the shit i needed..i have some ph down orderd but like my nutes i orderd 2 weeks earlyer and they took a week to send them..i no i fucked up when i orderd them ..my buddy is really the one who orderd them and he didnt even order the nutes i wanted..i was going to go with the gh 3 part serie...which are liquid's and he orderd powderd nutes ..but i cant complain because he orderd them on his card and i dont use plastic..so i eather sit and wait till my plants burn up run them in straight water with a hi ph anyways or i try and figure this out using the forum friends i have on here and the cc forum..i'll be heading to a couple fish stores this after noon...
yeah that citric acid i guess is not very stable i guess it would jump back up in no time..
i am not formilure with the hempy style of growing can you give us a little more info on this..thanks..
i have always grown in soil in the past but i figured i've always wanted to go hydro and see what the big deal is ..i no i have had weed you would have thought was grown in soil and it was hydro and vis versa..so i no that great product can be had with both methods ..i tend to be able to tell if some one is growing and not flushing or if they are using mg instead of good nutes ..but to tell if its dro or soil grown the test results are inconclusive..if done right..eather method can do the job ..i was looking for time tables, flavor,buzz any diffrents in these areas..as well as pro's and cons of both methods..
you are right there is no clear cut answers ,but opinions will do..
thanks everyone..
herb weedmen
J. Greenstein
Member
Soil vs Hydro question....
Soil vs Hydro question....
All things being equal, is it fair to say that the yeilds will be similar? Just that it will be a few weeks quicker in hydro? And are some strains better suited to one medium over another?
Soil vs Hydro question....
All things being equal, is it fair to say that the yeilds will be similar? Just that it will be a few weeks quicker in hydro? And are some strains better suited to one medium over another?
C
confedrate69
was a hard core soiler there was no way possible that there was ever gonna be no darned complicated hydro shaninagins going on under my roof!!!!
that all has changed now hydro is the way!!
as far as all things being equal with same strain base, same room, same nutes the biggest differance i could notice was veg time in hydro can be a lot shorter. the buds were with in grams of each other on a plant per plant compairison but the soilers were in a top $ soil {spent $700 on soil last soil run} it was very close to a hand watered hydro but still dirt. hydro has not stained any carpets yet soil ruined 2 rooms worth of carpet.
in short if u want simplicity great results with little time and mess go hydro just put a pond liner on the floor so it will catch any thing spilt and hold it for clean up, it makes me sad to see a grow have to get ruined cause there was a leake and water dripped into the neighbors apt below!!! $0.89 a sq foot is super cheap insurance it comes in 5-10-15-20 foot widths and is 45 mil.
sorry if i got off topic there
thats what i pulled in hydro "ebb and flow fence post sys " the soil buds were almost identical on a plant per plant bases
train wreck x cascadia was my choice cause train wreck cannot even be killed by Southern belle "wifey" bug - rot - mold restant and a wow yeild
good luck on making the choice m8
pssssstt: go hydro check out the simple drip sys linked in my sig.
that all has changed now hydro is the way!!
as far as all things being equal with same strain base, same room, same nutes the biggest differance i could notice was veg time in hydro can be a lot shorter. the buds were with in grams of each other on a plant per plant compairison but the soilers were in a top $ soil {spent $700 on soil last soil run} it was very close to a hand watered hydro but still dirt. hydro has not stained any carpets yet soil ruined 2 rooms worth of carpet.
in short if u want simplicity great results with little time and mess go hydro just put a pond liner on the floor so it will catch any thing spilt and hold it for clean up, it makes me sad to see a grow have to get ruined cause there was a leake and water dripped into the neighbors apt below!!! $0.89 a sq foot is super cheap insurance it comes in 5-10-15-20 foot widths and is 45 mil.
sorry if i got off topic there
thats what i pulled in hydro "ebb and flow fence post sys " the soil buds were almost identical on a plant per plant bases
train wreck x cascadia was my choice cause train wreck cannot even be killed by Southern belle "wifey" bug - rot - mold restant and a wow yeild
good luck on making the choice m8
pssssstt: go hydro check out the simple drip sys linked in my sig.
There was an old comparison test on OG of hydro against a tested and proven soil mix, and if i remember rightly the main difference was in veg time.
From personal experience, hydro is bigger, more potent, but less tasty. And can go wrong so much quicker.
It's worth experimenting with if that's what you're thinking.
From personal experience, hydro is bigger, more potent, but less tasty. And can go wrong so much quicker.
It's worth experimenting with if that's what you're thinking.
J. Greenstein
Member
Thanks guys...my buddy is providing me clones so I don't have to worry about vegin...this will be my first grow so the more forgiving the better. The strains I think I'm getting are Connie Chung, Burmese Kush, and LA Confidential...probably I should stick with soil for my first grow.
Dee9
Member
I am a lousy indoor soil grower. My yield was crap - to say the least.
Outdoors my garden looks OK - actually quite nice - but indoors....no way. Maybe I just made silly decisions - like too much dolomite lime - causing lockouts.
So, I tried coco - and I am thrilled with the results. I even dropped my organic nutes in favor of inorganic fertilizers. The results surpassed my wildest expectations. Not that I am even close to some of the experienced growers out there, but still - from soil to coco - big difference in yield - no noticeable difference in taste.
I use straight coco - no additives. I have to pre-treat the coco with Calcium Nitrate to satisfy the cation exchange capacity of the coir.
Calcium is in direct competition with Potassium - Coco contains a lot of K. When pre-treating with Ca(NO3)2 - the calcium takes the place of the K. Now when you plant in the coco it will not withhold Ca from your plant to satisfy the coco's needs.
Nothing but straight coco... happy times...
Outdoors my garden looks OK - actually quite nice - but indoors....no way. Maybe I just made silly decisions - like too much dolomite lime - causing lockouts.
So, I tried coco - and I am thrilled with the results. I even dropped my organic nutes in favor of inorganic fertilizers. The results surpassed my wildest expectations. Not that I am even close to some of the experienced growers out there, but still - from soil to coco - big difference in yield - no noticeable difference in taste.
I use straight coco - no additives. I have to pre-treat the coco with Calcium Nitrate to satisfy the cation exchange capacity of the coir.
Calcium is in direct competition with Potassium - Coco contains a lot of K. When pre-treating with Ca(NO3)2 - the calcium takes the place of the K. Now when you plant in the coco it will not withhold Ca from your plant to satisfy the coco's needs.
Nothing but straight coco... happy times...
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Joe Hawkins
Active member
Indoors you want to maximise your space to wattage to yield ratio, ie getting more pot per grow = efficiency of use of wattage, In other words ditch the soil and stay hydro all the way for indoors.
Soil is great for outdoors as you're not paying for wattage (trillions of free watts from the sun, and ideal soil conditions and the plant will fully express its genetics) and dont have too much space considerations, only restrictions being genetics and aclimatization if the plants arent already.
Indoors is why hydro is utilized so you can max out your space in the smallest possible timeframe to [limited] wattage ratio. Indoors you are restricted to HPS or MH light spectrums and hydro substitutes the advantages of free outdoor soil and free light and nearly unlimited space, by providing a faster growing environment within a small floor space ratio.
by being able to manipulate light cycles indoors is another reason hydro grows so fast in that you can veg unlimited with lights on 24 hrs. As well as other beneficial factors such as instant nutrient availability rather than soil having to break them down for days first.
If you encounter problems with plants in hydro you can recover straight away, with soil you have to wait and wait.
Soils good, haha but my 1st grow was soil and grew 4 sets of leaves and didnt grow for another week so I smoked it, i was 14, good for a free smoke at that age,haha
Hydro , its so fuking easy, HYDRO IS IDIOT PROOF, well near idiot proof, at least me proof
Hydro is like Shake'n'Bake then three months later you're Pablo Escobar.
Soil is great for outdoors as you're not paying for wattage (trillions of free watts from the sun, and ideal soil conditions and the plant will fully express its genetics) and dont have too much space considerations, only restrictions being genetics and aclimatization if the plants arent already.
Indoors is why hydro is utilized so you can max out your space in the smallest possible timeframe to [limited] wattage ratio. Indoors you are restricted to HPS or MH light spectrums and hydro substitutes the advantages of free outdoor soil and free light and nearly unlimited space, by providing a faster growing environment within a small floor space ratio.
by being able to manipulate light cycles indoors is another reason hydro grows so fast in that you can veg unlimited with lights on 24 hrs. As well as other beneficial factors such as instant nutrient availability rather than soil having to break them down for days first.
If you encounter problems with plants in hydro you can recover straight away, with soil you have to wait and wait.
Soils good, haha but my 1st grow was soil and grew 4 sets of leaves and didnt grow for another week so I smoked it, i was 14, good for a free smoke at that age,haha
Hydro , its so fuking easy, HYDRO IS IDIOT PROOF, well near idiot proof, at least me proof
Hydro is like Shake'n'Bake then three months later you're Pablo Escobar.
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Murphy said:
Agreed!! Hydro isnt really that expensive, i only add nutes when i flush. once a week maybe. N it dosnt take much looking after.. Hell it evan water's itself!! Just check nutes once a day, maybe add a little water.. done... 5 mins at most.
N people definatly overthink stuff, its really simple in reality. Have a problem, just flush, its easy..
Pharma Geddon
Member
I think hydro v soil is the wrong question, drain to waste versus recirculating is more like it imo.
Drain to waste includes soil, hempy buckets, bato buckets and many forms of passive hydro media eg. coco, perlite or fast becoming my favourite, Fytocell.
I got the ec and pH correct for passive hydro almost a year ago, haven't checked them since, no need, the plants grow healthy so what's to check? If nothing needs to be forgiven, you don't need a forgiving system.
Drain to waste includes soil, hempy buckets, bato buckets and many forms of passive hydro media eg. coco, perlite or fast becoming my favourite, Fytocell.
I got the ec and pH correct for passive hydro almost a year ago, haven't checked them since, no need, the plants grow healthy so what's to check? If nothing needs to be forgiven, you don't need a forgiving system.
, im surprised your girls are still alive. You must be having some crazy nutrient lockout. I had my ph at 5.9-6.0 and I saw calcium deficiencies in 2 days. Run to your local pet store and get some ph down asap, hoping you make a great recovery!
J. Greenstein
Member
How much more faster is hydro? Say something that flowered 8 weeks hydro would that take 12 weeks in soil?
I'm sorry to hear you're having troubles. Since I've been there myself I can give you a little picture of what I've gone through. Perhaps it will help.
First of all I'm not nearly as good at growing as I'd like to be. I have difficulty following my own advice.
Recently I've finally begun a grow journal to keep track of everything I've been "Winging". (It's helped immensely so far)
After many trials with soil and different types of hydro I'm finding easy, repeatable results with my mums using Lucas Formula in soil. It's simple and the plants are very healthy. Store brand "Topsoil" is fine. Perlite is a must. (stay away from miracle grow perlite) and coco/peat is nice.
Mix something like 50% topsoil, 30% perlite and 20% peat/coco. That's not a rigid ratio as you're looking for a mix that drains well and also remains loose, fluffy and moist. Get your hands dirty, it's a must
Should you want to go Hydro, the Lucas Formula is the easiest I've come across as well. I use the GH Flora 3-part for soil and am considering the FloraNova Bloom for the hydro portion.
Right now I'm running the LF with GH 3-part and no pH up or down. Don't even have any way to check it. I've been letting the water drop or overfilling it according to how the plants look and using only RO water.
I SERIOUSLY don't recommend this but I was out of cheap options at the time. The yield won't be significant due to a bit of nute lockout (res temps too cold. Not running without a thermometer in the res either. BIG nono.) but it's going to be nice nonetheless.
Either way I heartily recommend the Lucas Formula. Feed full str in soil and then water with RO then next two waterings. Plants dig it.
The FloraNova Bloom keeps everything in one container and simplifies everything. Just mix 8ml per gallon of RO water.
Cheers!
***EDIT*** p.s. Add more nutes to your water. It will drive your pH down. You're feeding toooo light. ***EDIT***
First of all I'm not nearly as good at growing as I'd like to be. I have difficulty following my own advice.
Recently I've finally begun a grow journal to keep track of everything I've been "Winging". (It's helped immensely so far)After many trials with soil and different types of hydro I'm finding easy, repeatable results with my mums using Lucas Formula in soil. It's simple and the plants are very healthy. Store brand "Topsoil" is fine. Perlite is a must. (stay away from miracle grow perlite) and coco/peat is nice.
Mix something like 50% topsoil, 30% perlite and 20% peat/coco. That's not a rigid ratio as you're looking for a mix that drains well and also remains loose, fluffy and moist. Get your hands dirty, it's a must
Should you want to go Hydro, the Lucas Formula is the easiest I've come across as well. I use the GH Flora 3-part for soil and am considering the FloraNova Bloom for the hydro portion.
Right now I'm running the LF with GH 3-part and no pH up or down. Don't even have any way to check it. I've been letting the water drop or overfilling it according to how the plants look and using only RO water.
I SERIOUSLY don't recommend this but I was out of cheap options at the time. The yield won't be significant due to a bit of nute lockout (res temps too cold. Not running without a thermometer in the res either. BIG nono.) but it's going to be nice nonetheless.
Either way I heartily recommend the Lucas Formula. Feed full str in soil and then water with RO then next two waterings. Plants dig it.
The FloraNova Bloom keeps everything in one container and simplifies everything. Just mix 8ml per gallon of RO water.
Cheers!
***EDIT*** p.s. Add more nutes to your water. It will drive your pH down. You're feeding toooo light.
***EDIT***
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herb weedmen
Member
i am doing much better now that i've smoked them ..haha..
i am into my second grow in doors and dwc is the method i am using ..i no things can change very fast when things go bad ..i find it funny tho that when we adjust our ph that it can takes days sometimes to get it in the right range and like i said when things go bad in hydro its very fast ..but after my first grow indoors i was a little reluctent to continue using the hydro method but ya just cant beat the turn around time ..i finish in a 8 to 10 weekgrow using hydro and it would take alot longer in soil ..not sure the taste is better threw a hydro ..but given the same strains grown side by side in both mediums i think it depends on the strain grown as far as taste go's .my indoor taste the same as my out door grow ...also the ph is hotter in soil grown in most cases ..i think most trouble with early hydro growers is that we start up a grow before we have all the things we need on hand ..and most of the time its those little things that most new hydro growers forget ..things like lowering the ph at a slow pace and not doing what i did in droping it from 7.8 to 5.5 in one adjustment ..patients is a vertue when growing weed ..but once things start to go down hill in hydro it dosnt take long to loose everything ..i think this is the reason most try diffrent methods of growing before settling on hydro ..it is a bit scarry at first but once you get a few grows done you find it runs second hand ..or atleast thats the way i am seeing it ..ask me again in a few grows and i may change my mind ..so for my indoor theres no other way then hydro and my outdoor mother earth craddles my babys ...both are great methods and turn out some great weed ...so i guess its what ever you prefer..
i hear ya i started a grow log in my first grow and didnt at first for my second grow and things are much easyer to manage with those notes being kept..i am running 6 buckets with 2 plants in each ..i am finding there is always one plant that dose better then the one in the same bucket ...i no i should have just run one per bucket but i guess i was a little worried i wouldnt yeild what i wanted ..i also tend to over grow my space too..i tend to start to many plants for the area i have ..so now i am putting in a veg room which i wasnt running before ..but i have some seed plants in 2l pop bottles that arnt ready for the lites to flip while my clones in hydro are ready to flip ..i have 4 strains running amazon swamp plants ,early wonder skunk,w-widow, and some blueberry ...all running in the same room ..about 22 plants and this is all in an under the stairs closet ..so my room is running short ..i think its from growing outdoors that i get this thought about loosing a bunch to animals ,males that would be pulled..but i think its that mind set thats messed me up to in the hydro grows ..
wow sorry i get talking and i just cant shut up ..its the islandmadness i am smoking this morning ..shit just gets ya going ..
herb weedmen
i am into my second grow in doors and dwc is the method i am using ..i no things can change very fast when things go bad ..i find it funny tho that when we adjust our ph that it can takes days sometimes to get it in the right range and like i said when things go bad in hydro its very fast ..but after my first grow indoors i was a little reluctent to continue using the hydro method but ya just cant beat the turn around time ..i finish in a 8 to 10 weekgrow using hydro and it would take alot longer in soil ..not sure the taste is better threw a hydro ..but given the same strains grown side by side in both mediums i think it depends on the strain grown as far as taste go's .my indoor taste the same as my out door grow ...also the ph is hotter in soil grown in most cases ..i think most trouble with early hydro growers is that we start up a grow before we have all the things we need on hand ..and most of the time its those little things that most new hydro growers forget ..things like lowering the ph at a slow pace and not doing what i did in droping it from 7.8 to 5.5 in one adjustment ..patients is a vertue when growing weed ..but once things start to go down hill in hydro it dosnt take long to loose everything ..i think this is the reason most try diffrent methods of growing before settling on hydro ..it is a bit scarry at first but once you get a few grows done you find it runs second hand ..or atleast thats the way i am seeing it ..ask me again in a few grows and i may change my mind ..so for my indoor theres no other way then hydro and my outdoor mother earth craddles my babys ...both are great methods and turn out some great weed ...so i guess its what ever you prefer..
i hear ya i started a grow log in my first grow and didnt at first for my second grow and things are much easyer to manage with those notes being kept..i am running 6 buckets with 2 plants in each ..i am finding there is always one plant that dose better then the one in the same bucket ...i no i should have just run one per bucket but i guess i was a little worried i wouldnt yeild what i wanted ..i also tend to over grow my space too..i tend to start to many plants for the area i have ..so now i am putting in a veg room which i wasnt running before ..but i have some seed plants in 2l pop bottles that arnt ready for the lites to flip while my clones in hydro are ready to flip ..i have 4 strains running amazon swamp plants ,early wonder skunk,w-widow, and some blueberry ...all running in the same room ..about 22 plants and this is all in an under the stairs closet ..so my room is running short ..i think its from growing outdoors that i get this thought about loosing a bunch to animals ,males that would be pulled..but i think its that mind set thats messed me up to in the hydro grows ..
wow sorry i get talking and i just cant shut up ..its the islandmadness i am smoking this morning ..shit just gets ya going ..
herb weedmen
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hydro vs soil
hydro vs soil
Ok. Iv'e always been an old school soil guy. Iv'e always thought about going to an aeroponics setup. Iv'e heard alot of talk about the bigger yields. Just curious as to how much more I can expect. Right now I'm averaging about an oz a plant. I had a strain I grew for years! It always did about 1.5 -2 oz a plant. Till this day, I still don't know what happened to it, but, it would not clone anymore after having near 100% success rate for over 5 years. Iv'e taken quite a loss in yield with this new strain (bc ice). It is some killer stuff though and people go nuts over it! Bottom line is.. I need bigger yields! I wouldn't mind hearing some stories from people about the difference in yields between hydro and soil. The pros/cons, what kind of setup has worked best for you, etc. I would like to make my own and keep most of my materials simple enough that I can buy them at the local hardware store. I know there will be things I'll have to go to the "special" store for. But, for the most part, would like to keep it simple as possible. Any ideas, thoughts, good success stories to share?
hydro vs soil
Ok. Iv'e always been an old school soil guy. Iv'e always thought about going to an aeroponics setup. Iv'e heard alot of talk about the bigger yields. Just curious as to how much more I can expect. Right now I'm averaging about an oz a plant. I had a strain I grew for years! It always did about 1.5 -2 oz a plant. Till this day, I still don't know what happened to it, but, it would not clone anymore after having near 100% success rate for over 5 years. Iv'e taken quite a loss in yield with this new strain (bc ice). It is some killer stuff though and people go nuts over it! Bottom line is.. I need bigger yields! I wouldn't mind hearing some stories from people about the difference in yields between hydro and soil. The pros/cons, what kind of setup has worked best for you, etc. I would like to make my own and keep most of my materials simple enough that I can buy them at the local hardware store. I know there will be things I'll have to go to the "special" store for. But, for the most part, would like to keep it simple as possible. Any ideas, thoughts, good success stories to share?
