Soil versus hydroponic rocks

[Juliusthedisciple]

First time grower and im wondering which is better to grow in, soil or hydroponic rocks? what is the benefits of soil versus the benefits of the rocks? what are the problems for both? would like good advice for people on both sides of the growing world

 

[FreeRangeZombie]

Well for a noob I would deff recommend soil as you don't have to know much to get it to grow. I recommend foxfarm fruit&flower with fine lime and your choice of premium soiless mixture along with a ph kit . Now with this mixture you shouldn't ever have to add anything other than water that has a ph of 6.5-7 throughout this first grow.

 

[Warlock1369]

For a first time grower use soil. Hydro sounds easy but not much room to mess up. Soil is a great way to start. After you know how to grow a plant move to hydro.

 

[Warlock1369]

I like 3 soils when I grow soil. 707, happy frog, FFOF. And that is how I move when transplanting. 707 to root. Veg 1 gallon pot happy frog. 3-5 gallon FFOF. I keep moms in soil so don't need heavy nutes. But when I did grow soil there wasn't much out there. So I learned from mistakes. Found that a simple tamato food 4 weeks into flowering work good.

 

[Juliusthedisciple]

Good looks and those all sound valid but i heard the rocks were better

 

[hotrodharley]

Good looks and those all sound valid but i heard the rocks were better

Then why in hell even ask?

 

[Warlock1369]

Good looks and those all sound valid but i heard the rocks were better

And who told you that? You can't transplant them without alot of stress. First time you place rocks on roots you break them. I normsly had to give a week or 2 for them to recover. Soil maybe a week max. If any. And if you don't clean the rocks good have fun. Hydro is fun but I don't recamend it for first time growers.

 

[FreeRangeZombie]

Soil plants produce smaller,slower growth than Hydroponics but soil smells and taste way better in my opinion . Also true Meds are 100% organic am I right.

 

[blazingrngras]

For the buds go with hydro. I am a first time grower and im doing a dwc. everybody makes it seem hard but keep down to the basic common sense stuff. and you will get amazing results. Granted you will goof up every once in a while but remember your learning. take it slow, a little at a time. make 100% sure that you do not alter the nutrients level just yet. wait for you second grow or third. I just kicked my gals into flowering last night at about 9 and they have grown already like crazy. Have fun with and remember you get to smoke this wonderful med

 

[polyarcturus]

For the buds go with hydro. I am a first time grower and im doing a dwc. everybody makes it seem hard but keep down to the basic common sense stuff. and you will get amazing results. Granted you will goof up every once in a while but remember your learning. take it slow, a little at a time. make 100% sure that you do not alter the nutrients level just yet. wait for you second grow or third. I just kicked my gals into flowering last night at about 9 and they have grown already like crazy. Have fun with and remember you get to smoke this wonderful med

quite playn, you aint got no plants!

 

[chrishydro]

I grew first soil grow, just harvested. So much eaisier. Less yield but easy.

 

[kwilli]

Hydroponics simply means the plants will get all of their nutrients from the water. Hydro is also less forgiving so if you don't know what your doing you can kill your plants QUICKLY. With soil you have A LOT more room for error, the soil acts as a buffer. If you make an error with soil you may (depending on the severity) have days or weeks to fix the problem. With hydro your plants could be dead in hours. Start with soil, and once you are comfortable caring for your plants you can graduate to hydro. But if your set on doing a hydro grow, go for it. There is a lot of information on the web so I recommend you do some reading on the subject before you start.

 

[eyecandi]

soil is the easiest and most forgiving medium to begin with. get a bag of good soil mix to begin with, as mentioned earlier (FF, Roots Organic, etc). get a simple/cheap tri meter for soil (ph/moisture/light) and use it daily to check moisture levels so you don't over/under water. you can leave the plants for a weekend (with a lil drip) and not worry about coming back to dead plants. much more forgiving to stress as well.

hydro is not forgiving to noobs, IMO. you have to be on top of your system daily and ensure the ph doesn't swing out of control. better hope a pump doesn't go out, if not caught in time the damage to the plants can be devastating. more expensive startup costs - digital meters, ph/ppm are a must.

personally, I'd get 2-3 soil grows under your belt and experiment a little with hydro before going full bore. I've seen too many noob grows that start with hydro and they waste months worth of growing time figuring it out and tweaking the system. use the KIS (keep it simple) method and you'll be much happier, with solid meds to show for your work.

 

[Boomer2010]

I do not no anyone that started growing g in hydro. It is just too complex for first time grow, understanding ec, ph, ppm and everything else that comes along g with it. And as mentioned early, you have no room for error, one luck up and you lose your crop or you have decrease in your yield at the least. Trust me, start in soil and then you can see how the plant grows and learn as you go. Soil relay is easy to grow in and to learn about the plants, but at the end of the day it is your choice, but remember what we all said. We are experienced grows, not noobs.