I was wondering way some people grow soiless in mediums like coco when using soil is so much easier, what's the advantage?
larger yields mainly, even passive hydro will yield more than soil
my plants grow using NFT the roots do not grow into any medium but it is active hydroponics, and i think you're talking more about passive hydro
even so folk get great yields with the hempy style buckets (passive hydro)
imo with soil growing there are more environmental variables involved
with hydro you have a meter to measure anything you would need to know
when and how often to water and feed plants, the environmental conditions (temp & humidity) of a growroom can alter how often plants need water and food
which is the case for most growers who do not have complete climate control over their enviroment, temps fluctuate
some of the most common problems with soil are over-watering and over-feeding
imo you can take away many of the variables when growing hydroponically, over-watering is virtually impossible and overfeeding can be avoided very easy
having a meter giving you readings makes it too easy
when plants are growing in an active hydro system they have a water supply constantly available to them, if the environment becomes warmer or colder the plants can drink more or less
for this reason actively grown hydro plants can handle higher grow room temps, with no fear of wilting or drying out, the plants will drink more to cool themselves down
i find at temps around 85f they will grow faster and larger than at 75f
many of the modern hydro foods we have today include ph buffers/chelates so PH readings or adjustments i find are unnecessary, unless you have a poor quality water supply
with soil the grower would need to know how quickly a given size pot will dry out at any given temp for any given size plant
although this would also be true of a passive hydro system
other than first time growers wanting to invest as little money as possible on the initial setup (soil is dirt cheap)
i wonder why folk would run a passive soil garden or passive hydro (hempy buckets) etc,
when active hydro is easier and yields more
peace