Sorry buddy,
I've never grown in soil and I just couldn't handle having that much dirt in my house.
Then disposing of it and bringing in more, no thanks.
I get my growing medium out of a hose, and when I'm done with it,
I pump it down the drain.
Plus I can get 3 crops a year, to a dirt farmers 2, and I like to grow 3 different varieties in a year.
If you are committed to growing for a while, then you can invest in a hydro system that will be pretty easy to operate.
I have a float valve that keeps the rez full of RO,
My trimeter lets me see what is going on at a glance, and my chiller keeps the rez temps perfect.
I watch the pH closely, because I'm OCD, and I have to keep it perfect at 5.6
I have the feeding down to a flush every 10-20days,
and with my pump out system,
it takes 5 minutes to drain, and 4 minutes to fill.
Now that i'm set up like this, I think hydro is very simple,
If I tried to grow in soil,
I would probably drown my plants,
or over feed them.
The way I grow, I just follow the DM online nute calculator,
and keep the pH within range,
and they grow like crazy.