And also consider that the intensity of the light without enough nute compounded the problem. Hey, it's better than the dreaded lock-out I guess.
With hydro, you go by the numeric readouts on metering instruments to tell how much your plants are feeding, making it much more precise than soil. You also know exactly what the ph is at all times, again, unlike soil.
Soil doesn't suck. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that it can actually be harder than hydro in certain ways contrary to the popular notion. If you don't have a perfect custom mix of organic soil that you have personally created through years of trial and error, then you're just playing guessing games as a beginner. There is far less guessing with hydro, as it literally is growing by the numbers. In that sense, a much clearer objective for the newbie.
Edit:
I don't mean to hammer on you. I hope you don't take it like that. But you have gone to the trouble of putting that great room together... why not go all the way, friend? How would you like plants that make you worry only because they're growing too fast and big? I think that's what you had in mind when you bought all that stuff and assembled such a room, am I right?
I agree.........
You nailed it, EXACTLY the way I think about hydro vs. "soil". The only grows that I ever had that went 100% as perfect as I could imagine were on flood/drain tables.
Green till the end, GIANT colas, and large "quantities" with hydro.
Nearly all soil/soil-less grows I have done, including my current coco grow are fraught with deficiencies, burns, lockout, stunting.......in some form or another.
The work involved in mixing, then pouring copious amounts of water/food, nevermind breaking apart, mixing soil-less mediums, breathing in dust..............aching fucking back.
"Soil" based grows are ten times the work, for less results.......at least in my experience.....though my current coco grow is yielding positive results, but is a deficiency nightmare.
As far as taste of final smoke..................I have smoked sweet tasting hydro and shitty tasting organic bud. IME, the biggest factor in taste is how well it is dried/cured. All I know is my Juicy Fruit harvests tasted very good, and no one ever complained.
As far as soil being more forgiving.................I don't see it that way. The only thing I can say is..........it can be so much more forgiving when driving on ice if you slow down half the speed. But hydro is like putting on tire chains and grabbing 3 more gears, hearing the turbo wind out. Sorry for the trucker analogy............I've put over 15000 km this month LOL
All in all, I would give ANYTHING to be able to get my old flood/drain setup back.