you seem like you know what your doing, and quite the grower.. ive got some questions. im trying to grow some high quality medical bud, but am also trying to get the highest yield from each plant. im not sure what method i should use either.. from what ive been reading hydroponics seems pretty good and easy.. i guess i jus need some1 with experience, to answer these questions i got. ive got a pretty big unfinished basement that im planning to turn into a grow op. the sea of green sounds good too but i was wondering if you could do that with hydroponics? do you know much about aeroponics? like i said im lookin to grow some dank quality, and quantity.. could you help me out?
first welcome to RIU.. glad to have you on board...
now i will try to answer your question as best i can without going to in depth since your still trying to decide which way to go...
there are some pros and cons with whatever you choose.. ill try to cover both for both ways (hydro/soil)
hydroponics, at least for this, will cover anything but soil growing.. the nice thing about hydro growing is that both growth rate and yield are typically higher than that of soil.. this is because the availability of the nutes.. since you add the nutes to the water, everytime the roots get hit with the water/nute solution they are getting readily absorbable nutes... basically they get as much water and nutes as they can use... this means faster growth and larger yields in the end...
there are also a lot of hydro growing mediums that can be re-used... so you only need to purchase them once... and replace when/if needed...
there are a couple "down sides" to hydro.... first is cost.. it does cost more to get a good hydro system up and going... you'll spend more on the system than you would if you were getting dirt and pots....
second is the little room for error... hydro is great once you get things down, but it is very much less forgiving than soil.. and there is more to take into account.. your biggest concerns are going to be the EC/PPM of the nute solution and water you are using, the PH of the solution, how much/often your plants need sprayed/flooded, res temp, and where you are going to get the water and how to dispose of it...
ec = electrical conductivity ppm = parts per million... both tell you the strength of the solution.. which is vital.. to strong and your plants die from burn, which sits on MUCH faster in hydro... to weak and your plants grow slow from lack of nutes... so you'll want an ec/ppm meter
you also have to look at the water you are using.. the ppm of it needs to be low so you know that the content of the solution is what you add in it.. and not what the water company does.. this could mean you might need a water filtration system..
the ph, whether in soil or hydro, is important because if its too high or too low different nutes can/will get lock out and become unavailable to your plants.. this means you'll need a PPM meter and some sort of ph up/ph down to keep a steady PH...
if your res temps get to high it can cook the roots, cause root rot, and kill your plants.. you may need an aqua chiller to keep your res temps low enough (high 60's to low 70's) if your basement wont keep it cool enough..
and lastly is just how you are going to replace water in your res.. it can be a pain trying to lug water around, so having a readily available water source is great.. not to mention a place to dump waste water when its done..
now for soil...
soil is my favorite... it definatly gives the buds more depth to their flavor... its more forgiving when it comes to nute burn and such... since the nutes have to be broke down in the soil before they become available to the plant grow can be/is slower, but that gives you a buffer zone incase you over feed.. once you know what you are looking for when it comes to nute burn or deficiencies you will have more time to fix the problem with soil than you will with hydro... plus the pots are moveable where ever you want.. although some hydro systems, like mine, have sites you can setup where you want, they still have to be attached to the main res (unless its individual DWC setups.. thats another story tho) to work.. this means once they are placed, its usually permanent home.. with soil you dont have those limitations...
the problem with soil growing is its messy and inconvienent most of the time.. making soil mixes and filling up pots is messy... the run off from the pots is messy... and besides the mess, when you are done you still need a place to dump the dirt... this can cause a problem after a while... and even tho growth is slower, i dont consider that a problem.. but it is a down side...
now as i said, soil is my favorite.. but as you can see i switched to hydro.. and honestly, if i would have known how well it would have turned out, i would have started with it.. the initial cost is more.. and the learning curve is much higher.. i mean you REALLY need to do some homework so you know what your doing going into it to be successful.. but if you can manage to get it together and make it work the results are much much more satisfying than soil.. as far as speed and yield.. potentcy of the buds will be what they are no matter what.. but you can get more and get there faster with hydro..
aeroponics are good, but are a little harder than ebb and flow setups to learn.. with aero growing the roots are suspended and get sprayed with the nute solution by sprayers... this means you have to adjust the sprayer strength so the roots dont get overly sprayed, but not under sprayed too.. too much spraying and its like over watering in soil.. under spraying and the roots dry out.. this can be a problem for new growers, but it isnt impossible to do.. just takes some time and patience.. i think thats the key to hydro growing all together.. its all about the little minor tweaks and details... once you get them locked in tho your results will speak for themselves...
as far as sea of green it is very possible to use a hydro system to do it... aero gardens like this one
http://www.wormsway.com/detail.aspx?t=prod&sku=ASQ200K&AC=1 are perfect for that style of grow.. they fit many plants into a single setup.. which is what you want for SOG growing.. but its really up to what you want to do... remember the smaller the plants the smaller the final buds will be.. and the more plants you have the more trimming you will have to do.. its easier to trim large buds than small ones.. or at least i personally like trimming larger ones than smaller ones...
in closing ill say this... soil is easier to learn but has a longer cycle.. hydro, although takes more time and money to get running perfect, once it does, is amazing to see... just depends on the depth of your wallet and amount of time you want to put in it... this is just a generalzation tho..
i hope this helped.. anything you want further clarification on feel free to ask..
in about 25 mim... oh and besides that im exited like a kid in the candy store.... some of the stuff i orderdfor hunting might be here 2day...the trail camera,and my thinsalate hunting boots....
