Easiest medium for new grower

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BCmadman

Member
I'll start off by saying NFT hydro interests me. I like the idea of faster growth from what I've read and bigger buds? Another hydro system I briefly looked over was the hempy style

I'm wanting to do a Scrog setup with 4 plants goal is weight and good quality.

Can someone convince me this is the right way to go or should I stay clear and start in soil?

Also curious about water chillers and sizing I dont imagine you'd need a big chiller for the requirements of 4 plants i would think the res for them would only need to hold around 40 liters?
 
BCmadman said:
I'll start off by saying NFT hydro interests me. I like the idea of faster growth from what I've read and bigger buds? Another hydro system I briefly looked over was the hempy style

I'm wanting to do a Scrog setup with 4 plants goal is weight and good quality.

Can someone convince me this is the right way to go or should I stay clear and start in soil?

Also curious about water chillers and sizing I dont imagine you'd need a big chiller for the requirements of 4 plants i would think the res for them would only need to hold around 40 liters?
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Soil
 
hotrodharley said:
You bet. Will this be before he’s on here asking if he really needs a chiller and a good EC meter etc?
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Im always puzzled as to why you would need a chiller? Ec meter even in soil you would need one. If you have proper ventilation you would never need a chiller.
 
hellmutt bones said:
Im always puzzled as to why you would need a chiller? Ec meter even in soil you would need one. If you have proper ventilation you would never need a chiller.
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Why a chiller? Res temperatures. That’s why. I have definitely grown hydro. Huge plants fast. Easy until it’s not. I’m puzzled by people saying soil is the hardest. If 3 pot seeds fall into mud, coco and water which of the 3 would everyone expect to grow all by itself?
 
Ive done soil, dwc, and coir/perlite. 75% coir and 25% perlite mixed with either Gaia green or Dr. Earth organic fertilizer is the easiest by far in my opinion. Check into Mr. Canuck on youtube for more info.

Pros= Impossible to over feed or under feed, impossible to over water if you mix in perlite with coir, impossible to burn, Very large harvest, You dont have to worry about root pest such as fungus gnats since you are starting with sterile mediums. You also do not have to worry about your ph level in the medium since coir/perlite and organic nutes listed are stable.




Instructions

For a fresh start add one cup of organic fertilizer listed below per five gallon bucket of coir and mix in well, every three weeks top dress with half a cup and water in. If you are afraid of over watering add 25% perlite to the bucket and mix with the organic ferts.

Just ph the water "6.5-6.8" and water. Every three weeks after that top dress with half a cup of organic nutes and you're good to go.

For grow= https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079ZPDKP...olid=1QOFUN5UI013L&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

For flower= https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079ZN7CN...olid=1QOFUN5UI013L&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
 
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Something for you to consider with the people mentioning soil.

If the soil recipe is peat based then you need to be certain you are on top of proper watering practices. Peat is hydrophobic, so once it starts to dry up it'll create dry spots that can cause problems at worst and reduce yields at best.

For this reason I actually recommend a coco based "soil" mix to people just starting off. Coco is like a sponge, cannot be overwatered so you can be certain your plants always have the right amount of water. Once you get a grow or two under your belt and have experience, then you can move onto peat moss based soils. Not many people have everything dialed in even after a couple of grows, and going with coco means you'll have one less thing to troubleshoot. Once you're familiar with how the strains you pick grow, and your grow room has a properly maintained temp/humidity to it, and proper ventilation then you can start worrying about tweaking your soil mix once everything else is figured out.

Trust me, speaking from experience here. I LOVE peat moss and only use peat now.. but damn, took me a couple of cycles to get used to watering it properly whereas coco is literally idiot proof.

The reason people use peat over coco is because peat has nearly double the CEC (Cation Exchange Capacity) of coco coir, meaning more things going on in your soil mix due to the doubled rate of cations/anions being exchanged. However, if you're like me and most people that used peat for the first time you need to be cautious you don't ever let the pots dry out! Peat moss that is improperly watered will have worse results than coco, despite peat having double the CEC.

Use coco so you don't have to worry about your soil mix being good. Mix equal parts coco, perlite, and compost. Something like 5cuft coco, 5cuft perlite, 5 cuft quality worm castings/compost. Then amend that with kelp, crab, and neem meal.. 1/2 cup of each per cuft of soil, so 7.5 cups of each for a 15cuft soil mix. Finally you'll need minerals, 4 cups per cuft. I use a mix of basalt and glacial rock dust, but basalt has been tough to source for me lately. Azomite can work in a pinch, but it isn't as good as basalt or GRD.
 
The easiest is drain to waste with pro-mix with your choice of nutrients. Pro-mix is easier than coco for medium because you don't need to water/feed as much. And drain to waste with hydro nutrients gives you the same yield but without the points of failure that other hydro styles are prone for.
 
Been away for awhile.

Soil will give you the best chance of success.

Fox Farm Ocean Forest front to back will give you good results with no nutrients (you can still follow nute regimen if you want but not necessary).

Just ran an experiment though:

1/4 Miracle Grow Moisture Control
1/4 Perlite
1/2 Fox Farms Ocean Forest

I have wild branches and buds on a 2 and 1/2 gallon pot vegged for 3 weeks.

I blew half a board on my Best VA 300 so was at about 65 watts for 2 weeks on one plant (board shipped in 10 biz days, kudos to Best VA).

2nd plant under Mars 300 is looking good.

Plants look noice considering.

An easy mix I might consider going forward.

I put the seedlings in a handful of compost from earlier grows. Don't want to start them in anything hot. So I scooped out a hand full of dirt, replaced with earlier grow compost and let the seed germ like that.

Plug and play and I might say comparable or better results than FFOF alone with no nutes which was my go to.

I would PH up 3 drops from the blue bottle per gallon of water with this mix (or some lime).

open
IMG_20190716_180942472_HDR.jpg

*very simple grow, 2 weeks to go, don't laugh at my non fimmed plants!*
 
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Psyphish said:
DWC and hand watered coco coir are the easiest grow methods I've tried. Soil is the most difficult.
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I think that it really comes down to what the grower finds challenging, and how much the grower wants to be involved with his plants. Some in soil can go days without even seeing their plants, because their plants for the most part have what they need. Then you have methods like DWC where the plant is 100% entirely dependant on the grower and what he/she provides it. For me, I find soil to be more challenging than DWC. But that's just ME. I have a lot of time on my hands, so tending to plants daily is no issue for me.

hellmutt bones said:
Im always puzzled as to why you would need a chiller? Ec meter even in soil you would need one. If you have proper ventilation you would never need a chiller.
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It all comes down to your res temps. If you can keep your water temp below 72F on a daily basis using the factors you mentioned above, then no you don't need a chiller. But often times, particularly in hot climates and in situations where AC isn't always affordable or practical, a chiller may be neccessary. I don't use a chiller but that is because I grow on concrete floors. That, combined with beneficial bacterias, combat the bad bacteria that arise in the rare instance that water temps rises a bit too high in my grow. If either of those factors were removed, I would need a chiller to do hydro. But unless you routinely keep your grow space's ambient temps below 70-72F, all the ventilation in the world isn't going to stop your water temps from rising equal to or greater than the ambient air temp combined with the added heat of an airpump and/or water pump in a RDWC setup. That is, unless you use a waterfall setup, which removes the heat of an airpump.
 
Logan Burke said:
I think that it really comes down to what the grower finds challenging, and how much the grower wants to be involved with his plants. Some in soil can go days without even seeing their plants, because their plants for the most part have what they need.
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I grow from seed I crossed Nirvana AK48 and Master Kush, love the combo but have hundreds of reg seeds.

I'm obviously not that serious. I do however travel for 2 to 3 weeks at a time.

There are 2 time frames in my grow where I can leave for 2 or 3 weeks.

2 weeks away or about 18 days tops after flip but before males burst sacs. (full 18 days I go 13/11 on off to slow process a bit)

*or*

3 weeks away after pulling males before harvest.

I use 20 oz plastic coke bottles and hook screws thru the caps for drip system. (small gauge hook screws give a good drip) Just a small nail first then a hook screw in and out and they drip out as the soil dries. I completely saturate the plants before leaving then place three 20 oz aforementioned coke bottles in the soil tightly.

23 days is the most I've done unattended right before harvest.

Soil allows for this!

bottle drip.jpg
 
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Wow, lots of options. Guess soil is easiest for me. I use NFTG #4, and away they go. A little nutes occasionally and I do well every time.
 
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