Soil vs. Hydro

I have been contemplating going back to soil grows.

Right now we run 2 flowering trays. One is 3x3 and under 1000HPS. The other is 3x4 under 2 400 HPS.

We never get more than 1 OZ per plant with a couple of weeks veg time. So the 1000 watt systems yields around 10 OZ's with a high yielding strain. That's with 12 plants. The other tray we use upwards of 20 or more plants. We have spider mites all the time, but battle them pretty well (no webs ever). But this might be a big part of the problem. We flush every 3 weeks and use General Hydro 3 part nutes with Liquid Bloom and Snowstorm Ultra during flower.

I think I may have just too many plants to try to watch after. It's a modified SOG type system, but I think we should yield more in the end.

That is what is making me think we cut it back to something like 12 plants total. Put them all under the 3 lights and let them veg until they are a couple of feet tall. I could use an ebb and grow 5 gallon system (oh, BTW we use flood and drain trays), but I think there is less margin for error in soil. We seem to get a lot of salt buildup that could cause the yields to be smaller as well.

I know hydro is faster, but do you think I would be better off in soil and with bigger plants? I am just not happy with the yield- everything else is great. Great potency, etc, just crappy yields.

I'd like some opinions as to what I am doing wrong, and what I should do to make it better. If it is completely rethinking how we grow, then that is fine.

Thanks for you time...

From hearing what you are saying ) I think soilmaybe better for you. Get a RO system or at least a "tall boy" filer system for your hydro that you ccurrently have. Docktor doom that room, and get rid of all the spider mites. Thats probably part and most of your issue. Soiless like pro mix #4 or even some good ole fox farm soil would be a great choice in growing medium. Nutes, well you decide. Growing containers if you wanted the 3 foot plants or less, use maxipots. They are 3 gallon, i think 4 liter, pots that have edges that are meant for putting them side by side. Google maxi pots. I have seen people get 4 and 5 ounces from plants that are grown in these containers. You could do a scrog if you are worried about plant count.

are you trying any pruning methods?? it shouldnt be a hassle getting 2 oz's a plant try vegging untill about 12-16" then flowering. i usually have no problem getting 2 oz's a plant in my flood and drain with average yielding plants with lollypoping and topping but i also dont have a spider mite prob ether so i would get that taken care of asap whether you go back soil or stay with hydro.

Yea, I don't know what to do about the mites. I hit them with pyrethrin, neem, Safer's soap, No-pest Strips... and yet they always come back. I run a clean operation and keep everything tidy, but the bastards always show up. I even tried ladybugs a few times but they just end up flying into the light and dying. They are probably the main culprit to why my yields are low.

I was thinking if I didn't have 40 plants to watch for mites, etc it may prove to be better for the overall health of the 12 plants I do look after. Does that make sense?

MMM , well I'm no hydro guy but I have a few statements for you . If you have spider mites all the time your not going to yield out . I would clear out the garden and eradicate them mites and start over . We grow in soil and flush more often than 3 weeks . So you are having some salt build up I would say . I'd check with an experianced flood and drain guy on that . Homebrewer is an excellent flood and drain gardener . Only 2 weeks veg isn't very much at all your basically flowering juvenille plants . I veg no less than 5 wks in soil and just hit the 2 oz mark and thats with a 250w hps . Hope you get some good info and get it under control man .

If you are feeling overwhelmed by the number if plants you had been growing, my suggestion is to cut back and do fewer but let them get bigger. I think 12 in a 3x3 and 20 in a 3x4 would be pretty crowded. I would say maybe do half of those numbers, say 6 and 10 maybe, veg them for a month perhaps 1.5 to 2 feet tall, then flower. We use snowstorm as well, but you might also want to add some gravity in the mix toward latter end of flowering to harden the buds up some. Also take into consideration the yields of certain strains, some higher some lower

Tstat said:

Yea, I don't know what to do about the mites. I hit them with pyrethrin, neem, Safer's soap, No-pest Strips... and yet they always come back. I run a clean operation and keep everything tidy, but the bastards always show up. I even tried ladybugs a few times but they just end up flying into the light and dying. They are probably the main culprit to why my yields are low.

I was thinking if I didn't have 40 plants to watch for mites, etc it may prove to be better for the overall health of the 12 plants I do look after. Does that make sense?

Click to expand...

personally i would just try to get rid of them all together i have never had to deal with them before so i cant really help with that all that much. as far as salt buildup that shouldnt be a problem ether i run tap water with my nutes ( gh flora nova grow/bloom) is all i use in the last 4 weeks of flower i do hit them with some bud xl and never flush till the end of flower and never had a prob with salt buildup. here is a pic of one of my ww's flowered at 9" (from clone not seed) about 2 week veg and she was a easy 2 oz's notice how i topped and pruned the entire lower portion that was the secret for me pulling what i wanted from my plants.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am going to:
Veg longer with fewer, bigger plants
Buy new tubing and wash out everything good before I start again
Bomb the crap out of the room with Dr Doom and wash everything down with bleach

I am still thinking of going to soil, though, or maybe 5 or 6 in soil, and 12 in ebb/flow....

Hey sounds like your having a bit of burnout...my suggestion is go back to something that's easier..if that means cutting back girls then so be it...I have anxiety and the last thing I want to worry about (any more than I do) is that many plants..I have 12 in about a 5x4 area 1 400 watt MH...def have some ways to grow and go..but this is my second grow and the last 3 I had about 1 1/4 dried. per plant.

Another method that I've heard being used is smothering the plants/mites by sealing the room up and using 10000 PPM CO2...I've heard this can be hazardous to humans so be careful and read up on it on Google if you can.

HTH and good luck

i used a milk dawn antibactierial soap water and neem oil mix u can look it up online then switched it up every week with something else because they can get immune to the same thing over n over, also u have to pick and kill every adult mite u see and be very consistant, some strains are more tolerable at fighting off pests n molds and some are easy targets, i had em for a little while and managed to fight them off finally and suprizingly and when months with other plants and not another one in sight i currently moved so im in a different spot now though,, try the milk mixture then say 7 -10 days try something else u havent used each time while being persistant at killing em personally, mites like high heat and humid invoriments along with mold do what u can to prevent it and it should be easy controlling them, hope this helps good luck man i know how it feels!