I would say its best to start with soil as its more forgiving but best do lots of research and decide what will work best for you
One would determine the best way by researching the over all cost, advantages, and disadvantages of each method and ask themselves which seems better for their situation and ability. With some research and a basic understanding of science you can be successful no matter which method you choose.
I have grown lots of various kinds of plants before in soil and basic hydro, and yes I've been pouring myself into researching to the point I am even dreaming about it when I go to bed. But what I keep trying to learn and am having issues with is the basics of which type of growing is good for what environment or strains? We know that soil is really forgiving, so better for those who don't know about N-P-K, room temps, soil temps, etc... because there is so many variables that they really just need all the help they can get... Wick system- when would that be a good choice? Flood & Drain systems- I'm guessing a good choice when you are growing a lot of plants and want to save tons of time, but what other conditions make this a good choice when? Drip Systems- When would this be a good choice? I use it for my trees outside so I can water the roots and perennial plants on a soaker hose I have buried under the surface of the soil to save me time on watering areas of the yard. DeeP Water Cultures- are primary used when going short term plants like lettuce, because you can grow useable lettuce in a week, and that is the only crop ever mentioned for this and nobody ever says anything more about it. NTF Systems- The books bring out this is how a lot of commercial vegetables are now being grown, and then that's it! Aeroponics- Everyone uses this type of a system for cloning and yet only those really serious into growing BIG plants get into this, why? I've bought and read a lot of books that promise to outline the pro's and con's of the different methods, and then they turn out to skip over the dirty details of the pro's and con's, and sum it all up in a line or two... and I really am trying to dig into when and why is each system a good choice for what, and when? I can find lots of information on how to set up each system, but that is like listing the parts to build a dragster, who cares how to do it if you are in need of a car to get around town. Its frustrating because its like listing every type of transportation to get around and then not telling a person the pro's and con's of each, so you can make the decision you need to make on the system you need or want based off your needs. I mean why buy a compact car if you need a truck to haul materials... and so that is the problem in the basics of the systems without anyone really saying what the pro's and con's are to each system and why or when you'd need it. It's like telling someone to learn to cry a car (soil) before a semi-truck (hydro system), sure makes total sense, but not telling them when they would need to learn to drive the semi-truck. Sorry I just don't know a better way to compare and explain my frustration of what I'm trying to learn.
well I wrote out a long reply about each system, but evidently the wonderful forum software gc switched to deleted my post. What a pos. I will try to write it out agian alter.
Everyone going to give a different opinion. There's no 1 way better then others. There's just 1 way that's better for each growers situation
Jay 719... I had wrote out a long post when I tried to first post this and it deleted it... so I just posted a short version out of frustration.
they all have their advantages. For anyone starting out I would recommend they forget about aero. It's a complicated system and learning about marijuana plants is enough work without trying to make an aero system to work at the same time. If growing outdoors then in almost all scenarios soil wins every time. If you already have experience in growing plants in general I'd recommend soil as you will have less to learn to get a result. If you have no experience with plants and struggle with simple things like watering times and nutrient concentrations then I recommend hydro because if set up correctly you can't over water and you use a digital meter to make sure you have the nutrients spot on. If you need a low maintenance system that you can leave for several days and not have to worry about the soil drying out then hydro is the way to go
I'd hazard to guess from a pro/con standpoint, [member='goldgrower'] has the best answer. As far as pro/con in YOUR situation, no one is going to know your experience level but you. The easiest choice, since they all work, would be one you're familiar with NOT a solution that promises "pounds" with no experience. The plant grows on it's own, given enough light/air/water/nutrition. It's up to the grower to give it the best conditions, no matter the medium.