Which is easier, soil or hydro?

hydro. but there is a higher price with that.

Growing is simple no matter what medium you use.

Evil

 

Well, here's my two cents worth. I started with hydro... had one successful harvest. I used buckets and airstones. Then I lost my next 3 harvests to water temp issues. I had it! My neighbor was using soil so I switched and have been very pleased with how easy it is and how little I have to mess with it compared to hydro.

I've been growing one year... my first soil harvest with GH nutes and Sunshine #4 soil gave me 12 ounces from 4 plants. NYCD, WW, TW and Banana Kush.

I'm now switching over to the organic line of nutes from GH... as with any growing process that involves adding salt based nutes is tricky... so I decided to give organic a try... wish me luck! And Good luck on your choices.

One more thing... growing is not easy... not by any stretch of the imagination. If you really want to learn about the plant, the soil, water, nutes, sicknesses, insects... you have to put in the time on forums. You will lose some plants in the process... it's all about learning. Give it a try. Realize one thing that whatever method you choose... learn it! Learn everything there is to know about it...

The best advice I can give...

1) don't panic when something looks weird... most conditions come and go within a few days to a week. Get on the forums, ask questions, find answers... but don't panic.
2) They are weeds... they WANT to grow and produce more than you want them to
3) DON"T tend to your garden stoned... EVER
4) Old leaves are old news... new growth is where the plant talks to you.
5) Be prepared mentally to lose every plant you have... just don't get so fucking freaky about plants not looking good... they won't all the time. Slow down, relax and realize that your plant is telling you something... learn it's language - help it out with the right fixes and relax ( I was a major spaz during my first 6 months gowing... too much drama!... I was convinced they were all dying every time something happened)

So other than that, enjoy... looks like you've got it going well... ALLL OF MY PLANTS have had leaves that look like that and went on to produce some awesome smoke.

You're good.

Thats all I can say... dirt rocks dude... but that's just MHO.

Good luck
Bakersfield

 

Learn with soil, if you keep mothers you will keep them in soil and
soil is more foregiving than hydro, I haven't done hydro yet but it seems
the potential to loose all your plants in a day is a possibliltie due to nute issues
& possible power & mechanical issues.
Do one year or at least one grow in soil, most of the consumables are used in
both, fert's, cal/mag, superthrive & digital PH meter you'll need a PPM meter also
with hydro
Typically hydro give better yields, I'm about to start messing with hydro, I want to do my 1st hydro grow this summer, just need to get the stuff & set it up.
I can't decide between bubble or DWC, what are you considering?

S.S.

 

the main difference in soil vs hydro is that things happen quickly in a hydro grow. if you're not experienced/prepared to respond, you could easily lose your entire crop. soil gives you an opportunity to resolve the problem, w/o suffering the heartbreak of killing all your girls, lol. i prefer hydro for that very reason, things happen quickly! if you get one soil grow under your belt, and pay attention, your second grow could easily be a successful hydro grow. after you get the experience of both, i think you'll agree that hydro is easier, after you get to know the ropes....

 

there is no set it and forget it when growing anything, especially indoors.

You are creating an artificial environment. You must keep it controlled and within acceptable ranges of all important factors.

soil forgives, hydro pushes plants to their max.

 

#3-thats my #1 rule

 

I'm a soil man, and speaking of growing medium only...I'd say soil is easier. Other variables like lighting and ventilation can be an issue with both soil and hydro, but would be separate to which grow style you choose. I would say soil is much easier for the BEGINNER. It is much more forgiving than hydro, and even though yield potential is less, so is the potential for dead crops (for the newbie).

 

growing in coco is as easy, if not easier then soil...
also if u know how to set up a good flood and drain trey, or DWC system with drain lines, then there easy too.
u can fix deficiencies faster with hydroponics,
soil can and will bring pest into ur garden if not sterilized, and inoculated.
plants get root bound faster in soil, because they need to go searching for food, so ur always having to trans plant.
in hydro systems roots dont have to search for food, food comes to the roots. so u can grow bigger plants with less medium.
there are many ways to go hydro, soil is just one
hydroponics is less mess to dispose of after flowering!!!
many people get busted when cops fly over and see a pile of soil and peirlite.
hyro is easy to learn, and u can flush faster and cleaner then soil.

hydro wins, and when people claim soil is better... they just dont know how to grow hydroponically

 

For me, i just add water and nutes once a week and thats it. its as simple as hitting the go button.

With soil grow, you have to water every 3ish days, and there is always a chance of over watering.

but both soil and hydro are very easy for the most part.

Evil

 

soil hands down..ignore anyone that tells you diff. especially if its your first time having the soil as a barrier to your inevitable fuckups is essential.

 

Honestly, I cannot see how hydro would be easier for a complete beginner. Janemba, I think we're talking indoor, so an aircraft seeing soil and perlite does not take part in this argument. When I think easy, I think of something that is quick to learn, easy to maintain, and difficult to mess up. Soil is all of the above. I think there is no way to argue hydro is easier for a BEGINNER.

 

"Easier" is a relative concept. Both soil and hydro are easy once you get the hang of them, and both have a learning curve. So whatever a given grower has become comfortable with is "easier".

It probably can be said, though, that growing in soil is more intuitive for most of us -- we all planted some flower seeds in kindergarten and such, we have some innate understanding that plants grow in soil even if we never thought about exactly how that happens. With hydro the learning curve starts further back, you have to get your mind around the concept first.

In general hydro should grow a little quicker/bigger. On the down side, hydro is less forgiving -- pH has to be almost exactly right, you have to hit your ppm's just right when you feed, and so forth. Once you get it dialed in then a hydro grow can click along, but getting there can be challenging. Soil, on the other hand, has wider tolerances. Didn't water them today? No worries, they will perk up when you water them tomorrow. PH off by 0.4? That's probably OK. And so on.

Hydro also is usually more expensive because of the pumps, reservoir, etc, and also noisier.

Both approaches work well.

 

I can admit im not the smartest dude (girlfriend called me border line retarded lol) but I started out with hydro using 5gal dwc buckets with great success. You will do fine whatever root you choose to take

 

See if you can get the nutes in powder form. I think all the manufacturer does is add their own water so you have to pay for water weight during transportation.

 

I agree with this.

I started off using dwc buckets from a tutorial from here. I had no problems learning hydro off the bat, my first grow with it was a success, got a 1/4lb dry from two plants with no training. I'm the type of person though that when I get into things...I REALLY get into it and I like learning things so, figuring out how hydro worked really wasn't much of a learning curve for me. I felt more like all I did was fill the buckets up with water dump repeat for 3 months.

Soil seems really confusing to me at times and less...accurate I guess. But I'd probably be saying the same thing about hydro had I learned soil first. It's not a big deal and I will try a soil grow at some point to understand it better. So easy is relative, which ever way you wanna go, you'll figure it out. Or you won't.