Why Hydro?

[wiggum]

I've been a soil grower and from what I can tell...I see no difference...especially in yield...between soil and hydro.
I know that hydro allows for less "maintenance", apparently...is this the reason? Please someone let me know.

[agg_town]

for water purposes
but i perfer earth grown mj

[jonster]

hydro is indoor, it's clean and there's immediate control of ph, nutrient lock, and fertilizers due to the easy accessible and interchangeable reservoir, therefore healthier growing environment.

soil is good for outdoors in sun which is the best lightsource but problems are more random, if kept healthy and fed good fertilizers then it is no different from hydro as far as healthier growing environment, the biggest difference is the sun granting higher quality/potent buds.

[fatbob166]

On the other hand if something happens to your hydro grow, water level too low, pump goes down, etc.......then your whole crop could go out the window. I definately believe that hydro is quicker, but soil is good for me right now. Search the grow logs for Mighty Budah's log. He has a hydro setup in the same room as his soil grow, and the hydro ones are way further along. It's actually quite remarkable.......

[Eckolaker]

In the past for quality, soil was the only way to go. I think now with some of the advanced nutrients out there, hydro grows can produce some of the best quality out there.

Now as far as overall control of your grow. You can't beat hydro setups. Very minimal upkeep is required and the amount of input at your control is almost unlimited.

As everyone would agree, one of the most important parts of a successful crop is what that crop eats.

[SmknVTEC]

Wrong, hydro requires more maintenance than soil not less. If you go out of town a lot hydro is not for you because like fatbob said, one dry out and you lose the crop, one power failure and you lose the crop. Additionally hydro requires precise control of nutrients, pH, water temperature etc. where you buy good soil one time and you never have to adjust pH, you water once and don't have to water for 3-4 days. So to answer your question, why hydro:

It grows plants faster
It grows plants bigger
It tastes better [arguable]
It allows for precise control of nutes

Why not hydro:

Must be constantly monitored
Can be complicated to a new grower
Requires expensive instrumentation such as pH and TDS Meters