Hi you all!
I have finished a fantastic hydro grow, it yielded so much that I have nothing to say against hydro (thanks to my mentors and teacher), but...suggested by some members I have kept my mothers in soil, and man, it has been so easy that I am questioning myself if hydro is the right method, or when and why should I use hydro or soil?
In your opinion, will hydro yield more than indoor soil, or viceversa?
I think this is a question most new growers ask themselves before starting to decide which way to go, so it would be nice if you help with your experiences
Peace to you all

Ha in my recent experiences i have found that i yield a lot more when growing in water [dwc]. I also tried keeping mothers in dirt but switched to 25 liter dwc's with 2 plants in each as mothers. I find that it is easier to take clones from hydro plants but this is just from my experiences. I take the clones from the dwc mothers and put them into a mini dwc/bubbler and i have roots in under 15 days with some exceptions depending on the breed.

I WILL NEVER GO BACK TO DIRT/HYDRO ALL THE WAY
HERE IS A PIC OF MY LATEST HARVEST.

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PEACE

I have recieved this answer from Zigzag (one of our gurus) and I think it could be appropiated to post it here:

We all agree about moms in dirt and even vegging in dirt is competitive with hydro 4ever. You just can't flower in dirt/soiless and expect the same results that Toke and Hatch get with hydro. Containers give the grower way more options and flexability but, it doesn't touch the brute flowering power of hydro, it's a trade off for sure...

To expound on the flexability of contaners vs hydro, you have to look at the options available to containers... You can move them, reorganize them, separate them, resize them, put'm back under the light and away you go. Then, since that light could be the sun, you moved from indoor to outdoor growing. You can go start to finish outdoors or any combination of indoor/outdoor, hydro doesn't offer that kind of flexibility. Hydro, you load it , grow it, harvest it and deviations to plan don't play well.

Even a rookie grower knows Toke and Hatch's results are awesome and they come from years of experience and this future grower aspires to achieve those types of results! My question is IF space and security issues are handled properly, would a new gardener want to try both - at the same time- or would this simply be too much of a learning curve / confusion to get the best of both worlds?

I still say going soil for a first grow is the way to go, then doing a combo on the second or third run. I just figure if something goes wrong in the Hydro, I still will have SOMETHING in the soil. I am keeping mom's in soil, and will be doing a few DWC's along with a few soil buckets in my next grow. Some strains are reported to simply taste better when grown in an organic soil grow vs. hydro. So for me.. a combo grow is how I plan on going at it with the moms in soil.

Id like to do a thread on a 1 for 1 comparison of the same strain/clone grown in soil and hydro at the same time. Maybe I will try that and report back.. Time to get the lab coat and goggles!

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GreenGoblin

My Current Grow:
http://www.greenpassion.org/f24/gree...ond-try-13179/
My mini veg box.
http://www.greenpassion.org/f39/gree...veg-box-14109/

I am a compulsive liar, and nothing I say should be taken seriously. All posts are strictly for entertainment purposes.

I have contacted Toke and Hatch, and asked them to comment on this. They will surely share their knowledge with us
Peace to you all

Hey All,I see what you are thinking PFCStone and yes what GreenGoblin said is right.Growing your first time they say to do it in soil.Why? well in soil the soil is a buffer and if you do or something go's wrong you will see it happening and fix it alot easyer than hydro.Soil you see how it grows and what to look for as it go's in it's cycles.Hydro it go's fast and if you are not on top of it you can kill them real fast.Yes hydro is faster and does give big yeilds.Soil can and dose the same but at a slower pace.The taste factor,well hydro it dose good and it's great for me.Soil will bring out all the favor the plant has to offer.But both will do a good job on taste.Doing soil first you will learn about light and air movement and not have to think about PH-ing the nutr and changing the res and when to do all this.Like GreenGoblin said mothers in soil and some strain do taste better in soil grows than they do in hydro.some strain are nutr sensitive and some are not.So in hydro you need to watch those closer and not over nutr them.This is one thing I do if I havent growen a strian before is to grow it one time in soil.As it growing sometimes I clone it and start it in hydro and sometimes I dont.So that's why we say grow in soil first so you know what it needs and when it needs it.In hydro if it doesnt get what it needs it go's south fast and you dont know what happen.Your first time hydro try DWC.For it's easyer than most to me.That's my take on it. Peace

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Anything I may say or do is stickly for entertainment only.This is all make believe and is not To believe by me or anyonehttp:\\www.greenpassion.org/f73/over-grow-government-ogg-2009-what-8722/

Man,,,,, Where Do I Start???,,,,Hold That Thought, I Have To Run At The Present Time, Sorry, But I Will Be Back, & Have A Word Or Two Too Add....

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Okay, First I Have Nothing Against Soil, Way Back When I Grew Outside It Was Fine, But Indoors Is Another Story, You Have To Haul Bag's Of It All The Time, Then Get Rid Of It Afterwards.

As Far As A First Timer, If They Haven't Grown In Any Medium, Then What They Learn Weather It Be Soil Or Water Is What They Would Know. And I Feel Strongly In If Taught Right From The Beginning Hydro Can Be Just As Easy If Not Easier To Learn & Run And Have Great Success..

The Only Times I Have Lost Anything It Was My Fault, I Lost A Crop Ounce Way Back Of Some Beautiful 6 Week Old Buds, I Got In A Hurry When I Changed The Res. & I Didn't Make Sure The Pump Was Primed & Working Okay, The Pump Was Coming On But Had Back Pressure On It So It Wasn't Flowing, I Don't Check In The Chamber For About 24 Hours, Which Had A Light Session In That Time, When I Looked In There I Was Sick, They Were All So Wilted Droopy & The Roots Had Dried Out To Much & I Didn't Even Try To Revive Them, I Just Harvested & Started More Flowering, But Lesson Learned The Hard Way, I Never Did That Again & Haven't Lost Any Since From That, & I Check & Make Sure Every Pump Is Flowing Good After Every Res Change, Clean Filters, & I Check On All The Chamber's At Least Ounce During There Light Session.

About The Mom's, The Only Way I Have Lost A Mom Was From Root Rot, & They Were At Least Two Years Old, The Root Rot Was From Using Rapid Rooter Plugs, They Were Just Holding To Much Water, & In Time Caused The Root Rot, Since I Have Started Using Just A Neoprene Collar & Basket (2") I Haven't Had Any Problems Due To That, & Have Keep Mom's Over 4 Years In Aeroponic Pods & Aero-Bubbler-Ponic-DWC, & In This Time Having To Trim The Root Mass Several Times From Getting To Big, With No Set-Backs..

I Feel That If You Use Good Equipment, Keep Everything As Clean As Can Be, Check & Clean The Filter's Atleast Every 3rd Day, Change & Clean Your Res Atleast Every 10 To 14 Day's, PH'ing Is Easy & You Learn Your Water In Time & Know How Much To Add & When, Go Easy On The Nut's, Have Everything Avalable For Them In The Nut's & Supplement's At A Low Rate That They Can Use Up Fast. At Any Sign's Of Wilt???,,You Have Something Going On With A Mister Near By That Plant, But The Key On Keeping The Mister Running Good Is Cleaning & Staying On Top Of The Filter's, Don't Let The Water Get Bad In The Res By Not Changing On Time, Go Easy on The Nut's & Supplement's, You Won't Have To Mess With The Misters For Month's, & Inbetween Crops That Are Run In The Chamber's, Clean Everything Take The Mister Out & Clean Them, Flush The System Good, & Your Ready To Go Again.

About Changing The Res'zzz Use A Extra Pump Or The Res's Pump To Pump The Water To Where Ever Your Pumping It Out, You Can Use A Wet/Dry Shop Vac To Clean The Res Good, Use The Faucet To Re-Fill The Res'zz..

Well, That's My Side Of It On The Hydro, Hope This Might Help..

Check Ya'll Later,,Cheers`;`Hatch`;`

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WOW! What else can be said? LOL
Thanks to you all for the comments and teachings
Peace

Well, I Did Forget To Say Some Thing's, Taste , Smell & Then High.

First I Will Go With Smell, In My Aero Systems While Growing The Smell Of Skunk Is Really Strong, From Week 5 To 10 Extremely Strong, As Much Or More Them When I Used To Grow Outside, & You Could Smell The Garden Before You Ever See It.
Also After A Good Month Or Better Cure, Just A Small Pinch Of A Bud Will Bring Out A Amazing Aroma,,I Feel Hydro & Soil That Most Of The Bud Get's Smoked Before It Ever Gets A True Cure.

I'll Follow That Up With Taste, Man, Just Don't Have The Words To Relate, But Sweet & Smooth.

Another Thing I Would Like To Add, Is Ya, In The Past Way Back When, I Have Ran Across People's Hydro That Looked & Smelled Good But Just Didn't Have A Good & Heavy High, Or Have A Chemical Taste, I Can't Speak For Them & Don't Really Know Where They Went Wrong???
But I Can Say I Like Organic Nut's & Supplement's, Then A Flush Of Molasses & Water For The Last Week To Two, Then I Give It A Good Dry, Then The Cure For At Least A Month, Or More & From There It Just Get's Better With Age, & The High, Ya'll I Have Been Smoking Since The Age Of Thirteen & Have A High Tolerance, If This Smoke Get's Me High, I Mean Really High, Stare Off?? What The Hell Was I Thinking Of Thirty Minute's Later & Why Aim I This Holding This Empty Bong???,,Did I Do A Bong-Hit Or Did It Fall Out????,,MMMMMMM??????What I'm Tring To Tell Ya Is Ya, The Kick Is There, Did I Mention The Full Body High??,,,That's What I Like, Do A Bong-Hit See A Few Star's, Black In & Out A Bit Feel It Creep From The Top Of Your Head Go Down Your Back All The Way Down To Your Toe's, That's What Kinda High I Like!!!!EH!!!

But Keys, Good Nut- Suppl Plain, Don't Harvest Tell Its Time, Good Manicure, Drying & Curing For At Least A Month, & I Would Feel Very Confident To Match Any Soil Grow For Smell, Taste, & High Any Day..

Would Love To Hear From The Soil Side Why They Would Rather Do Soil Then Hydro..

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Thanks Hatch, Toke, Zigzag, Chunk, PFC, Green and all of you who have shared here your knowledge. I will call the attention of JustAnotherBozo and (why not?) Jangel and Jonny as they are all very experienced in soil and ask them to share some knowledge with us, more experienced inputs mean more knowledge for us to learn
Peace, and once again
Thanks

Alright well I dont have as much experience with hydro at the moment. but i still think its a good idea for someone to start with soil. as everyone said you learn the basics with the buffer of the soil that wont go bad on you that quick. even with soil i messed up things. i did a horrible soil mix (mostly worm castings and perlite....which didnt go well in flower....), had to learn to deal with heat in small space, and of course all the newbie things like pH-ing before putting in nutes and not making sure the pH/PPM pen is calibrated.

my last grow i starting going into hydro, with a 5gal bucket, pump/drip ring, hydroton, and GH nutes. some minor newbie stuff happened, like making sure the pump/tube was clean and was actually dripping on my plant (caught it early luckily). but i was amazed at the growth. i liked that i could tune in the right nutrient amount, the plant looked amazing. unfortunately, it turned out to be a guy :-(. it was sad because i didnt have time to put another clone in hydro since i was moving soon. soon i will be starting up a new micro grow. since it will only be a couple plants, i think i will keep mother(s) in soil, and have several DWC or DWC/Drip combo like waterfarms for flowering. i like the yield potential i have seen and i like the control you have on the nutrient/pH. it may be a little more work and a little more risk for something messing up, but i think it is worth it for the yield and speed (especially in small grows where size of pot/plant is limited). what i really want eventually is a larger aeroponics system like several of the hydro gurus have here...but i think ill learn a little with dwc/drip first.

wow that turned out to be long. this ramble brought to you by Diablo Kush. :-)

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This is a great thread! Being a newbie and all I really appreciate everyones input! I haven't partaken of the herb since 11/26/94 and I cannot wait any longer! I cannot (from no experience growing) dispute or argue one way or another. However, I have been reading everything I can get my hands on for nearly a year and I'm moving soon and then my plan is to put some of my dreams in action!!! The majority of experienced growers state go in soil for a few grows. Hatch says it can be taught. Am I just so hard headed and stubborn that I still wanna go AERO with all the guidance of a GP Aero Guru? Or must I be proven wrong? I really don't know. I'll probably try both simultaneously for a first time! I'm gonna go for it and I will document everything and post progress. Thanks GP family!

If you keep on top of it, I am sure you can succeed with the Aero, but having one or two in soil will certainly hedge your bets. Is there any reason not to?

__________________
GreenGoblin

My Current Grow:
http://www.greenpassion.org/f24/gree...ond-try-13179/
My mini veg box.
http://www.greenpassion.org/f39/gree...veg-box-14109/

I am a compulsive liar, and nothing I say should be taken seriously. All posts are strictly for entertainment purposes.

i always recommend noob's start out learning in dirt, not because hydro is
inherently hard, just that you have to pay attention all the time or you can
lose an entire crop.

as an example, i recently moved into a new apartment so all my moms
were stuffed into cardboard boxes, taped up and transported to the new
place where the boxes got put into my new bedroom closet and left for
4 full days before i got around to opening the boxes and reviving them.

out of 24 plants, i lost 3 and if i'd been growing in hydro i just wouldn't
have been able to move them at all, i'd have had to take cuttings, and
i'd then have had to root them and make new mothers (which i ended
up doing anyway, lol).

don't get me wrong, i like hydro, the growth rate is phenomenal, i just
think it's easier to learn something about the plants and how to read
them, before you complicate things.

kinda like learning how to drive an automatic and getting some driving
experience before trying to learn how to deal with a shifter and a clutch.

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The Complete guide to Sick Plants,pH, and Pest troubles! MynameStitch

Hmmmm...in all honesty I prefer growing in soil as it is much easier and less labor-intensive.

As Toke said, anything goes wrong in a hydro grow and you need to be on top of it, fast...or chance losing the whole plant (or crop).

Soil has its issues as well, but overall the plants are more portable (can be moved for feeding, etc.) and can be much more easily managed.

Yield is higher (generally) on a hydro plant due to the constant availability of nutrients and water. OTOH, the best quality smoke I ever grew came from soil.

Now that I'm legal again I can do another grow...most likely soil, going for quality of bud over qty. Not near as much fun as hydro, but, serves my needs well.

ISO

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I don't think I'm typical, but the first thing I tried was growing in soil. Fail. Big time. I followed advice on these forums, made sure I had plenty of perlite mixed in for aeration, and kept a watchful eye on them all to no avail. So I switched to an ebb&flow system w/ hydroton, pH and ppm meters, nutes, and watched my first successful crop come in with wonderful results. Now I've started some killer Mom's in a DWC box that are thriving and lush, virtually no problems to speak of. And they seem to be doing even better than my initial attempts w flood and drain tech. So, if you have something that works and you are dependent upon getting some production, and can't afford a setup for experimental purpose, my advice would be to stick with what works. Only an opinion, though. Look forward to seeing your successes!

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- The Immortal Hunter S. Thompson

I grew in soil only for better than 15 years.

3 years ago I set up a DWC bucket and SCROGGED a strain I'd been growing in soil for years. On these soil grows I was averaging about 3 ounces per plant.

The single DWC plant yielded 11.25 ounces with only 2 weeks longer "veg" time!

After that...I ditched the many, many containers i'd amassed over the years and ended my love affiar with soil. I still do a few in soil at another location because I only go there once a week/every 10 days and soil and polymers will give me that longer window without care whereas hydro won't allow such negligence.

I see a lot of soil folks here tracking and adjusting pH and ppm's as if they ARE hydro growers. To me..it's crazy to go through the same steps and the same amount of time to perform the ops that you'd take to grow hydro and end up in soil with 20% of the yield you could have had. Soil is supposedly easy because you just water and forget it....til it needs water again. Yet...to track pH and pppms and runoff...well...jeez...just grow HYDRO!

FWIW...i grew 15 years+ in soil and never owned a pH pen or ppm meter. With a proper soil mix you don't need one! IMO...*IF* folks have problems they should be looking at WHY they have pH drift and WHAT they can add to their next soil mix to correct it rather than using chems to adjust pH in a mix that is obviously not 'balanced"!

Again...yer doing all the sae steps you'd carry out in a hydro grow...so why are you still in soil claiming that hydro is harder or things will go southon ya?? Geez..yer all anal!!! moreso than most of us with webbed feet!

Bottom line??

no matter what medium you grow in...if yer growin' cannabis you just can't lose.

smoke em kids!

ww