i am curentely growing my first grow in hydro, & want to start my next grow in soil. do most of the soil growers out there hand water their beauties & if not what other methods does anyone suggest ? I already have pumps,hoses,res.,timers ect. Can you set up a drip style system? Also does soil consume or waste more nutrients due to less runoff, where hydro recirculates unused h2o?
I wouldn't recommend an automated system for soil. Some plants use more nutes/water than others, and some pots of soil will have better drainage than others. Its best to let the soil dry out a bit on top (not to the stage where the soil becomes water repelliant). Plants will show signs when they need watering/feeding, but i'd say with your first soil grow, you'd be better to go by the weight of the pot, by lifting it. When i'm about to do a feeding, i mix up a batch of nutrient solution in a plastic bin, pH it, keep it in the bin for around an hour giving it the odd stir, then pH adjust it again if needs be, then i use a submersible 1000lph pump to pump the nutrients solution throw a hose and out throw a lance.
Hey thanx for the reply. It seems that a lot of people are using soil. I see a lot on youtube.com like urban grower,& the weed guy and they seem to have great harvests, so i thought i would give it a try. I like fox farm nutes. & was thinking of using their soil mix, what do you suggest?