hydroponics vs traditional soil...

[smellsfresh!]

hi all. in august when i get my own place i am planning to grow some herbs. not a lot, maybe around 4 plants. i was wondering which method i should use since it will be indoors. can anyone tell me if there is a difference in using hydroponics vs soil etc? i am looking to use hydro more likely because i think it would be cleaner? but one question that i need answered is that do these 2 methods vary in yield / quality of the plant? im pretty sure it does, which leads me to this question --> can all "indoor" types of plants be grown via hydro?

sorry for bombarding with questions,really noob here!

[chimera]

Originally Posted by smellsfresh!

hi all. in august when i get my own place i am planning to grow some herbs. not a lot, maybe around 4 plants. i was wondering which method i should use since it will be indoors. can anyone tell me if there is a difference in using hydroponics vs soil etc? i am looking to use hydro more likely because i think it would be cleaner? but one question that i need answered is that do these 2 methods vary in yield / quality of the plant? im pretty sure it does, which leads me to this question --> can all "indoor" types of plants be grown via hydro?

sorry for bombarding with questions,really noob here!

Any strain can be grown indoors, it just takes training. In hydro your yield will be higher and your time to yield will be shorter. The real diference is in the cost to set-up and monitor them, it is essential to have both a pH meter and a TDS/EC meter(you can get control wizard meters for around 0-90 bucks). Depending on the type of hydro you will also need air or water pumps and you need hydroponic ferts.

[toastybiz]

Chimera is correct. Also consider that hydro typically is more expensive to set up and gives the grower less margin for error -- for examle, if your pH is off 0.5 with soil that may not be a big deal, but with hydro that could kill your plants quickly.

It would not be fair to say that soil is "easier", accomplished hydro growers think hydro is easy, but it is true that soil is more intuitive for most of us -- we've all planted some seeds in first grade and watched them grow so we have some basic understanding of the principles but hydro is totally foreign to those without any past exposure to it.

So basically hydro is easier to screw up but rewards you with more yield if you can get it right.



P.S. That's not to say you can't kill plants in soil, you definitely can do that too!