Hydro vs soil

xX24nuggetsXx said:

Are you implying that you’re unsure of what your saying as well as you seemed to comment earlier though so it’s kinda contradicting of you to sit there and say that no one in here really knows what there saying but yet you had an input? I’m not mad or having a go at you I just don’t understand your point?

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Since I made the last post, it likely means he disagreed with something I said in my post but prefers to make a snarky comment, for whatever reason, rather than state his disagreement and open up dialog that may be beneficial to others. Welcome to the internet, lol.

Well, I grow in coco/perlite 50/50 with synthetic nutes and can tell you that this blind person doesn't have deficiencies or nute burn due to writing down all inputs and outputs each day and making very slight modifications based on this data before an imbalance has a chance to develop into an issue that can visually be seen on the plant.

When a plant visually shows a deficiency or a toxicity, you have to realize that this issue has been going on for some time and has progressed to the point of causing enough stress to affect the foliage. I also use VPD and PPFD throughout all stages of growth which some people don't like either. Perhaps he just didn't like that I made growing in coco sound like it's super easy for a beginner. All we have is speculation...

I noticed very slight increase in growth rate in Coco over Soil but have never successfully done DWC so can't comment. I imagine it as the plant is doing less work to float roots into water vs push roots through coco/dirt. There are much more complicated variables and conflictions though.

ec121 said:

You should be feeding daily at least once. High-frequency fertigation coco is nearly foolproof: water each day at lights on to 10-20% runoff, make sure you calibrate your pH pen each week, monitor your outflow EC, and use a microbial.

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Using Microbes is not necessary. I achieved the same results running sterile coco as with many other runs using Mammoth P, Tribus, etc.. They are supplements that "may help" they aren't guaranteed to get you better results and they certainly are not mandatory. Also they are expensive as fuck.

calvin.m16 said:

I noticed very slight increase in growth rate in Coco over Soil but have never successfully done DWC so can't comment. I imagine it as the plant is doing less work to float roots into water vs push roots through coco/dirt. There are much more complicated variables and conflictions though.

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yeah I’ve done 1 soil and 1 coco grow and honestly I could really tell the difference in growth rate at all. Me personally I just think it’s been easier to grow in the coco medium I think everything has been more consistent then the soil was but this is only my second grow so I might be wrong.

calvin.m16 said:

Using Microbes is not necessary. I achieved the same results running sterile coco as with many other runs using Mammoth P, Tribus, etc.. They are supplements that "may help" they aren't guaranteed to get you better results and they certainly are not mandatory. Also they are expensive as fuck.

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Absolutely, but you're running sterile. If you're doing DWC or keeping coco saturated to 90%+ at all times, then it's best to use something to prevent pythium, which could be H2O2 or a microbial. H2O2 is very easy to employ in hand watered high-frequency coco fertigation but a bit more tricky if running a reservoir due to its half-life. Food grade H2O2 which doesn't have stabilizers is about the same price as a basic concentrated microbial that is not one of the trendy ones, but yes I should have mentioned running sterile.

xX24nuggetsXx said:

yeah I’ve done 1 soil and 1 coco grow and honestly I could really tell the difference in growth rate at all. Me personally I just think it’s been easier to grow in the coco medium I think everything has been more consistent then the soil was but this is only my second grow so I might be wrong.

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I assume you meant to type couldn't? That is because you're doing a wet/dry cycle. To get the benefits of coco as hydro, you have to keep the substrate moist at all times. If the top dries any, you've let it go too long without feeding.

ec121 said:

I assume you meant to type couldn't? That is because you're doing a wet/dry cycle. To get the benefits of coco as hydro, you have to keep the substrate moist at all times. If the top dries any, you've let it go too long without feeding.

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yeah I meant to say couldn’t haha I’ll definitely make it so that I’m water daily when lights on for sure I’m current about to start week 5 of flower so hopefully it’s not to late to see some benefits of doing it