Is hydro really that much better than soil?

[MidwesternGro]

I am a soil grower. I like the fact that I only need to water twice a week and feed once a week. I have heard claims that hydro grows are faster and heavier yielding than soil grows. For those of you who have gone from soil to hydro, are those claims true? Is it harder to keep your roots cool? Would you say that it is worth the investment to go to hydro from a soil grow? Any tips if I do decide to go to a hydro setup? Thank you.

 

[EverythingsHazy]

Pretty sure you are gonna find a solid split between supporters of both. As you know, both have their advantages. I think soil growing is easier because it is more of a time release for everything from nutes to water, but hydro is just so accurate if done correctly that it can give nearly ideal conditions and produce better. The downside is you have to have and buy a hydro setup and some people just rather soil.

 

[spartacus420]

I've grown in soil before.. Now doing hydro...

I have a lot of time to spend on my grow so hydro is best suited for me.. And yes with the proper conditions and knowledge you can get a much better yield IMO..

As far as should you switch to hydro.. it doesnt cost a lot to run hydro depending on what your doing

 

[Brotherdoses]

I have done A LOT of both but mostly organic soil. When I do hydro I LOVE NFT. I can feed once a week and top off my res during that time with ph-corrected water and it is much more maintenance free for me. I have soil dialed in but nothing really matches the explosive growth of hydro. The nutes have a higher level of bio-availability.

Wow! I was about to type your screen name but it seems easier to type this instead. LOL. Hey qpwoeirutyalskdjfhgzmxncb. Why no V. Thats not to bad when you figure out what it is. My question for you is. What do you think about the flavor difference of your hydro vs organic soil?

 

[blacksun]

I think soil growing is easier because it is more of a time release for everything from nutes to water The downside is you have to have and buy a hydro setup and some people just rather soil.

Just depends which version of hydro you are doing.

Passive hempys are just as easy to maintain and water as soil, usually once every three days. No additional cost to setup over a soil rig either...

 

[Barrazaburnz]

YES if your holding your mouth right hydro is better. It is way, way easier to mess up everything, alot more complicated, more work and there are more supplies involved.

 

[DeeTee]

Been doing hydro for years, in fact I started with hydro, never soil, no pumps or reservoirs, just 6 inch pots filled with rockwool grow cubes I mix my nutes in two gal jugs and water twice a day just like house plants, they sit in a trough and drain into a 5 gal bucket, I re-use the solution after phing for two to three runs then discard and mix new nutes, easy as pie and have good yields, to me you don't need any expensive hydro set ups just lights, nutes, fans and TLC. I don't understand why some people say hydro is too complicated, as long as you keep track of your ph, to me no big deal, but that's just me I guess.

 

[DeeTee]

Added notes: i believe plants grow faster in hydro and you have more control as far as deficiencies or what not's, that is to say to me soil takes too long to see the results of say adding nitrogen or fixing a dficiency whereas in hydro it's almost over night, at least it seems like it.

 

[Shivaskunk]

Hydro drastically reduces vegetative time..I'm not too sure yields are much higher. I've grown in soil, NFT, DWC, ebb and flow, and now humpy buckets.

Hempy like Blacksun said is a very very easy and cost effective way to switch over to hydro to see if it's something that you're interested in. Click the link below my post and read a bit.\|/

 

[Xrangex]

Wow! I was about to type your screen name but it seems easier to type this instead. LOL. Hey qpwoeirutyalskdjfhgzmxncb. Why no V. Thats not to bad when you figure out what it is. My question for you is. What do you think about the flavor difference of your hydro vs organic soil?

Flavors all about genetics, letting it mature all the way, and how you dry/cure. The only dif between hydro and soil is growth

 

[clydefrog]

the yield from properly done soil will be about the same as any type of hydro, light is more restrictive on growth than nutrients or root 02 imo... if youre growing for your own use, youre not gonna see that much of a difference. the main advantages of hydro for me are a slightly shorter flowering time, less plant maintenance and not having to lug bales of promix up flights of stairs anymore.

 

[ghb]

isn't promix soilless?

to the original poster i say try coco, it's a good medium between soil and hydro.

i did it for my first ever grow and had success, three years down the line i still use it and i'm very happy with my results.

i have only grown one soil plant but i have seen many side by side grows and coco outgrows soil by some way.

 

[qwizoking]

.......I was actually just wondering about the v as well, sorry

 

[PetFlora]

The beauty of hydro is it allows the grower to feed more often ihan soil/less does.

I cut Sunleaves Starter cubes in half for seeds. As soon as roots start exiting the bottom I move them into net pots and cover the roots with ornamental rock, which is fast draining. Below he net pot is a 4 liter Air Pot filled with lava rock, fast draining, BUT, holds some nutes in nooks and crannies that root hairs attach to like cob webs and feed upon between feed cycles.

My first grow using Hydro Halo Drip Rings, BUT, raised them up to spray on the surface. I experimented with feed time beginning with ~ 20 seconds on and 30 minutes off... finally getting outstanding results using 9 seconds on and 3 minutes off during flower. On time is a factor of pump size, priming quickness and cycle timer. Plants were getting ~ 6 seconds of full nutes every 3 minutes, which allowed for near continuous feasting

My new grow will be HH 2.0, starting out with all the lessons learned from HH 1.0

 

[Sativied]

This is what happened my first hydro run (after switching from soil, done with mineral nutes and organic) because I underestimated the veg power people were talking about. I thought they were being a little eager (read: exaggerating) but it turned out to be true



I've had big stems before but...


I'm on my second hydro run, day 15 12/12:


I merely add some water now and then (apart from a refresh of the rez once every 7-10 days). I go slightly higher than the sweetspot (of nutes and water usage being equal), which causes the PH to drop slowly, allowing me to top off with just plain tapwater and occasionally a few drops of ph-.

 

[Metalmatt408]

BETTER is in the eyes of the beholder. It's all going to depend on your application, personal needs/ wants, what you're comfortable with, and what you really want in the end. But this is like the "who's better Tony Hawk or Daewon Song?" It's difficult to compare because they both are doing the same thing but essentially in very completely different ways, if you will. (All my skaters will understand this lol)

 

[MidwesternGro]

Thank you for the input, everybody. It appears that hydro can be even lower maintenance than soil and that it is stronger in veg. Being able to more quickly address deficiencies is also a strong point. I might go the hempy route after a few more soil grows.

 

[StinkBud]

I've used both for years. Hydro grows faster, soil tastes better.

 

[Sativied]

soil tastes better.

I've been smoking mj for 22 years, daily, and the claim that soil grown tastes better than hydro is simply not true. It's a myth based on what people want to believe, not on facts. Both soil and hydro can result in quality tasting and smelling buds, which depends largely on strain, nutes, drying, and especially curing methods, and 'not' as much the medium.

Being able to more quickly address deficiencies is also a strong point.

If you put it like that yes, but there's a flip side: you 'need' to address problems more quickly because they get out of hand faster.

 

[twistedwords]

I've used both for years. Hydro grows faster, soil tastes better.

BS....There is no difference with taste....That is the biggest myth...


Soil is forgiving (less yield) and Hydro requires attention(more yield). That is all.

Don't fool yourselves if you did a hydro in the outdoors you would see yields that dwarfed soil like I have.