whats best for beginners soil or hydroponics?

[doug13318]

whats best for beginners soil or hydroponics
if soil how many times u feed it a week and which is the best soil

 

[Dirtyboy]

soil. buy some foxfarm soil. read the faqs

 

[SmokeyMcChokey]

i started with ebb and flow and it was awesome. simple set it and forget it style. Sometimes i wouldnt check them for a week or so. But its all about what you feel comfortable with also you gotta think you will have a higher starup cost with hydroponics than you would with soil. This go around im testing out some happy frog soil and a bubbleponic bucket for a bit of comparison

 

[Mr.nice*Guy]

i normally grow outdoors but for indoors i use a mixture of random potting soil with miracle grow potting soil or what ever brand name potting soil i can find at local hardware stores. ive found soil is very forgiving and if your using fertilizers, it is not the biggest concern. happy growings

 

[jakethetank]

I would say start with soil, it is the easiest method and requires the least amount of time. Get a feel for it before you switch over to hydro. For best results, use HPS for lighting as well.

 

[DannyGreenEyes]

That's kind of an opinion type question, everyone is gonna have a different oppinion based on their experiences.

I'd say, if taste is more important to you than a little more yeild, then soil.
If yeild is more important than taste, then Hydro.

Hope that helps.

 

[smallclosetgrowr]

i say go hydro get a simple DWC its pretty much just a bucket with an airpump +noobs tend to have ph problems with soil and with hydro its so much easy to maintain

 

[ChemisTree]

Most people will say soil. But then people like me come around and say either would be fine. I started with hydroponics because I'm a chemist and I like to keep on eye on the numbers (pH, EC)- and hydroponics offers a much greater degree of control. Additionally, there is less of a chance of pests with hydroponics, and of course you get the added benefit of a faster growth rate.

But alas, soil is pretty damn easy so I hear.

 

[reggaerican]

do what i did start with the absolute hardest system out there and work backwards, nft hybrid system haha j/k dont do that man i had so many damm problems i cried daily buy i feel like a pro now. dirt is the easiest but ebb and flow on the hydro side is pretty easy also good luck man and have fun

 

[reggaerican]

i say go hydro get a simple DWC its pretty much just a bucket with an airpump +noobs tend to have ph problems with soil and with hydro its so much easy to maintain

your kidding right dirt is so much more forgiving than hydro all u have to do is water and depending on where u live u dont even need to ph your water. where as with hydro if your ph is of u got problems not enough nutes to much, pump failure, cloggs in your jets, your woman yelling at you cause you spent to much money the list is endless dirt bro if your new unless your adveturous

 

[DannyGreenEyes]

i say go hydro get a simple DWC its pretty much just a bucket with an airpump +noobs tend to have ph problems with soil and with hydro its so much easy to maintain

For soil pH all you have to do is get Fox Farm Ocean Forrest. It's set at a pH of 7 and doesn't need to be adjusted.

 

[strain stalker]

...watch this video link below, it's titled, "Ready Set Grow", from High Times.... exactly 4 minutes into it explains alot...however, you probably will,or should watch all 7 parts of the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN8uB4xjvro&feature=related

 

[strain stalker]

...if you go soil, you probably should use organic fertlizers to avoid alot of pH balance issures. Growing organic you'll not need to worrie about salt build-ups that occur when we use synthetic fertlizers. When you use synthetic fertlizers, we must flush the soil or soilless medimums to avoid salt build up from occuring and locking out the fertlizers (killing plants)

...organic with soil, that's my opinion (we all have one )

 

[DontDoDrugs]

soil if you are a total noob.. everybody knows how to keep a plant alive in soil.. but its going to take some maintenance even in soil to produce some quality herb. If you spent some time reading the threads you will eventually learn from other peoples mistakes and successes along their grows.

I will tell you that all i encountered with soil were problems. ph is hard to keep track of, nutrient concentration in the soil as well, salt build ups.. calcium build ups.. thrips in the soil! AGH! all i know is hydro if you have the money for a PH/PPM meter, lights, pumps and a cheap DIY hydro set up (mine was about 50 bucks using a cement mixing tub as the table which i bought from home depot.)

if you like to feel completely in control go with hydro, which honestly doesent need as much maintenance as people think... if you want to totally let it go on its own go with soil. which in my opinion is maybe a bit harder to run into problems, but will be harder to fix those problems once they happen, you will have to do ALOT of searching for your specific problem and if you dont now exactly what to look for, alot of problems look like they cause the same effects.

i hope this helps.............

 

[stelthy]

I would have to say a dwc hydroponic set up is the way forward.. I used a 5 litre food container, cut a net pot sized hole for which yhe net pot will sit flush in, i drill 3 holes in the lid to to relieve pressure build up and 1 for an aquarium airline and small diffuser i ran the airline cable to the pump which sits above the container with a non return valve to stop watter backtracking in to the pump, i then filled the container with 4.5 litres of tap water, adjusted the ph to 5.5 (yellow) - with a ph test kit, you use phosphorus 81% acid to lower the ph, (a few drops should do it!! Then in the net pot put enough clay hydro balls in so a rockwool cube will sit level,-flush, with the container lid then pour more clay balls around the cube to support it, .. Be sure to wash the clay balls 1st cos most the time they are very dusty with grit etc... Put the set up in a warm dark place for a week or 2, once a shoot has sprouted introduce light at a 18/on 6/off for vegging, you can put it into flower any time after 11 inches give it 2 days of darkness then swap light from blue to red spec, and use on a 12/on 12/off cycle, you can buy nuits on line or from your hydroponics store, nuits feed and build up the health/power of your plant they need them to become mature ... I sujest canna nuits, if you go to canna s web site www.canna.com they will tell you more and you can even do a custom grow guide on the site custom to the size of your tank!!! Hydro produces larger plants in a quicker time, earth is messy slow and old fashioned... Go with hydro its a learing curb... I am glad i learnt it.. I ve never looked back !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope this helps from stelthy PS BE SURE TO ADD THE SEED TO THE ROCK WOOL, ABOUT 1CM IN AND CHANGE THE WATER EVERY TIME THE LEVEL DROPS 3 INCHES FROM THE LID