Growing Medium

Ive done a bit of a search (there might be a thread about this somewer i just failed at finding it) im just curious as to what people recommend as a growing medium, ive seen people just using soil, oasis cubes, rock wool etc but is there a difference in yield depending on what you use? and if you start in cubes or rock wool do you just plant the cube in soil or try and remove it somehow?

(sorry if this is a totally pointless newbie question, but it doesnt hurt to ask)

Thanks.

I like the "Rock wool cubes/orchid net/hydroton/DWC" idea. It all depends on your budget and personal taste. Its a very broad question.

Rusty Crutch said:

I like the "Rock wool cubes/orchid net/hydroton/DWC" idea. It all depends on your budget and personal taste. Its a very broad question.

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Thanks, im only going to be growing a small amount (up to 5 i think) so budget isnt going to be much of a problem, i just dont want to pick something thats going to be overly difficult and balls it up basically.

If you're new to the game, I recommend going with soil, as it's alot more forgiving than hydro. Spend the extra money on some good soil, and you'll be happy you did. Abd if you keep doing research while they are growing, you should be able to have a good run with a good yield. Also, the growing medium has little to do with your yield. It's having nice healthy plants, combined with the right amount of light. Light is the biggest factor in getting nice yields, not the type of growing medium.

jawbrodt said:

If you're new to the game, I recommend going with soil, as it's alot more forgiving than hydro. Spend the extra money on some good soil, and you'll be happy you did. Abd if you keep doing research while they are growing, you should be able to have a good run with a good yield. Also, the growing medium has little to do with your yield. It's having nice healthy plants, combined with the right amount of light. Light is the biggest factor in getting nice yields, not the type of growing medium.

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thanks, that's what I wanted to hear soil sounds good to me, thanks again for the info.

i suggest you don't do soil at all..i spend about $8 a plant to make hempy buckets.i've done a few soils grows and this way is a lot better,its easier cheaper and i get better yields.you need a plastic mop bucket ($2 at walmart) and a bag of perlite ($6 at walmart) put a pencil sized hole in the bucket 2 inches from the bottom and fill it with the perlite,when you get roots from the bottom of your rockwool stick it into the hempy bucket and water it. pm me if your interested i can give you more details.the bottom 2 inches stays wet this is mimicking your plants hitting ground water.

with this way you won't over water if you mess up and give too much nutes you can just give them a gallon of water and its fixed.bugs are less likely and you can grow a 3ft plant in a 2 gallon bucket, i grow 5-6 ft plants in a 3 gallon bucket easy.there less messy and the watering schedule is a lot more flexible,just don't let the bottom get too dry and you can water when ever you want,every day or once a week.its easy to set up an auto feed and drain but i hand water so i don't need drainage i just stop when the water gets to the hole and there good.

If your planning on going with a hydro method(basically anything other than soil) than your gonna need to get a good ph/ppm meter. Hydro methods generally produce better than soil because everything is controlled by the grower and their is more oxygen available to the roots which enables fast growing. Hydro can be intimidating but really it's all about supplying your plants with a proper nutrient solution because it's fed directly to the roots while soil is more forgiving. Do what suits you best but I will admit lu8gging around soil is a pain the ass!

thats correct i got a ppm and ph meter on ebay for about $15 each and they have worked 100% they came with calibration solution but every time i test them there good. my ph is 5.8 but 5.6-6 is good nute ppm i keep low like 200-400 for veg and 800 or so for flower but if you give them to much you will see it in a few hours so you can just fix it.its very easy

If you can get soil amendments (bone meal, blood meal, kelp, guano, dolomite lime etc.) go soil. Get some good soil recipe, follow it and you should be fine for the most of the grow with plain tap-water.
If like me you don't have access to thoes things I recommand Coco\perlite. You treat it like soil but you need different fertilizers and a different PH. Its not organic and all that but compared to my previous soil grows it yields way better and is WAY MORE SIMPLE. I just add what the chart says and it grows great. (Using mainly HESI coco. One bottle for veg and bloom. 5ml\L since the 3rd week until the final flush. Can it possible be easier? I add some suplements but with that alone you can get a decent harvest)
Unlike soil where there's a nutrient buildup in the soil that you should consider before giving any fertililizer, in coco you don't.
I use a pre-bought 50\50 mix of coco and perlite.

I have a hempy bucket running with basil and its nice, once the roots hit the reservoir. I had many problems with it indoor - the plants fell due to lack of grasp and they haven't really reached the rez.
Also, the PH will shift in hempy's if you don't water it every couple of days. I water my plants every 4-6 days and I don't want more work for the same potential results.

DWC is cool if you live in a chilly place and have the budget.
Aeroponics is the same but you need a cooler place and more budget.

Ide say DWC it or straight perlite with a hole about 2inches from the bottem, on the side of ur container rather then the bottem to create a res. U pour water into it till it comes out the hole. Once the roots hit that res, watch out! The plants blow up! ull know rite away they hit the res. Its less mess then soil and ezer to flush if u over feed. Ppl say soil is good for beginers but I dis agree cuz nutes can build up ezer in soil, and if u do have to do a flush its much ezer to rinse and drain the crap out then soil not to mention less water to do so. its ezer to over water and compress ur soil rather the perilte. Watering soil is time consuming to water evenly like they r suposed to but hempy buckets of perlite, u jus dump the water in. Not to mention perlite is cheeper and lighter to carry. All in all ide say DWC, its ez shit so don't be discouraged

Oh and DWC is not that expensive. The set up would cost less then containers and dirt. The only thing is u may go threw more nutes but after ur fisrt harvest, they should be paid for as well as ur next grow or 2 or 3 depending. Ir DWC setup would cost 20-40 depending on where u get ur pump from and how stron u want it. U can get away with a cheep 15$ pump from wally or petsmart

with DWC you need a EC meter, temp meter for the rez. etc. Thats more expensive than a bag of compost, a bag of dirt and a pot.

i am a first time grower and i started with an ebb and flow system with hyrdoton clay pellets its cheap the most expensive thing was my pump $26 and timer $15..so easy i just went to vegas for 5 days came back and its like I wasnt even gone..the timers do it all..I know ppl say hydro is time consuming but i think those ppl are stuck on soil...

hey man whats going on. hey man im hopeing you can help me real quick. im gonna grow a starin called TheChurch(look it up on youtube by greenhouse seed bank). and its a medium plant. i have a 5gallon bucket that i want to grow a plant in. what would you recomend i do? like how long should i vegg them and after vegging? also i have couple 1000watt cfls, are they good for anything??lol. please if you can, help me out. what kind of soil should i use? again if you can help me then that would be great. thanks

So many choices! Soil is the most readily available to me (I have a lot of other stuff growing in the house already, plants, flowers etc, ya know, leagal stuff haha) but these other methods look good too so I think il have to reasearch some more and see wer I want to start.

You'r question is not what method to use, is what to use first ;P
If you live somewhere cold and have a few bucks to spare and handy skills you could go DWC or Ebb and Flow.
If you live somewhere hot I recommand coco\perlite at a 50\50 mix.

After your first run, when you get to know how pot grows you could always experiment with other methods.

Yield and timewise it goes this way:
Soil < Soiless (coco, perlite) < Hydro (DWC, Ebb and Flow) < Aero.

McFonz said:

You'r question is not what method to use, is what to use first ;P
If you live somewhere cold and have a few bucks to spare and handy skills you could go DWC or Ebb and Flow.
If you live somewhere hot I recommand coco\perlite at a 50\50 mix.

After your first run, when you get to know how pot grows you could always experiment with other methods.

Yield and timewise it goes this way:
Soil < Soiless (coco, perlite) < Hydro (DWC, Ebb and Flow) < Aero.

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got a bid on ebay for a DWC system, alltho if i dont win i mightjust save my money and start with soil for a couple of grows while i build my own.