# Soiless or Hydro?



## Pone (Jan 8, 2016)

Hello Everyone,
Been hanging out for a while and learning from all of you MP'ers. Thanks, the wealth of knowledge here is just that.. " very Wealthy ". OK, I am a long time soil grower who just switched to soiless. Sunshine Mix #4 with added perlite and dolomite lime. There doesn't seem to be a bunch of info. out there, at least that I can find. My trouble lies with my water, I think. Out of the tap my PH is 8.5 to 9.0. My Bluelab Truncheon meter says that my ppm's are between 200 and 300. One question is when I'm making nutes do I just adjust up from that starting range to the recommended range? Is my water bad enough that I should invest in a RO machine? Until I can fund it can one of you explain how I might get around this issue? I know there is probably more questions, but we can start here. BTW I am using the Botanicare Kind series for nutes. Thanks for your help everyone.. Pone


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## hippy59 (Jan 8, 2016)

I am a long time cocoa grower that has a few plants in ffof currently, 1 mother and 2 that are flowering, and not that I am switching to soil, I just did it thinking that it would be better for the mother. I also use that line, and tho I can not speak of ppm or the ro and will tell you what I have realized recently. also I will be switching to bubble buckets soon.

in my cocoa I would feed it so much of this and some of that. when I went with ffof, after 3 weeks, I started adding the nutes, but very little and the girls started to suffer. they was starving. so I upped the nutes and stuff. I am now at the exact same levels as I was in just the cocoa. so my temporary switch to ffof was kind of futile, in my opinion. when I do go to the bubble bucket I plan on using the exact same recipe. and my mother will eventually go back to cocoa

my ph is around 7.2 to 7.5, and when I addd the veg nutes I usually end up adding ph up. you likely add ph down if anything. I like to vary my ph between 5.5 and 6.5. so your ph isn't bad just needs adjusting.

so far as the ro goes, I looked into if and to me it just didn't really seem worth it. for me anyways. 2 to 300 ppm don't seem bad at all compared to some I have read about that are like 1200. I have a friend that does hydro and tho I don't know how high the ppms are before he starts he just uses hiss ppm as his zero and goes from there and he gets good stuff. so it would just be a matter of preference. I didn't like the idea of so many gallons going down the drain. I mean ther is a 1/4 in tube that is what your using compared to all that's going down the drain.

also, awhile back I was reading were most people were using half strength nutes, so I started doing the same, but this time around I decided to go back to full streanth, and I have to say the girls are looking all that much better. ( I use botana care as well. most of the stuff but not all). but I use the amounts on the card. NOT the bottle. so look into that. just a heads up. not saing everyone is wrong and I wont know the full scope till harvest time.

there are a few ppl here that know there **** quite well, and some that will make you sit back and go what??? lol. and  few that know there **** but wont admit it. I will not name names.

anyway welcome and happy growing.


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## Pone (Jan 8, 2016)

Thanks Hippy59,
I appreciate your help and welcome. When I was growing in soil I was having issues after about the 4th or 5th week of flower. Struggled through it all and managed some good harvests. But it has always been a struggle, and I happen to think it shouldn't be that difficult. So that's why I am growing soiless now. All I ever did was PH my water and for veg that was fine. Flower has proven more of a bump. One I will get through.. So I purchased a BL Truncheon meter, and I am figuring out how to use it. Brand new at my door yesterday. I figure now with my PH pen and Truncheon meter and a couple of grow books it just has to get better. Lol I'm listening, reading and learning with a fever about how to grow this natural medicine. Can you recommend a particular strain for fibromyalgia? Thanks a bunch for your help. Pone


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## Rosebud (Jan 9, 2016)

Pone, welcome to MP, we are glad you are here. I just wanted to say hi, I do dirt, so am no help to you but again, welcome.


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## Pone (Jan 10, 2016)

Thank you Ms. Rosebud,
I listen to what you say here all the time. A stand up member of this community. Respect and props.. Blessings to you!
Pone


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## Hushpuppy (Jan 12, 2016)

I spoke to the water issue in your other thread. But I will also say that I am a coco/hydro grower. I tried the sunshine #4 medium and hate it. I have been mixing it with my coco to use it up, but I grow in hydro with my stuff so it may work better for you in a soilless setting and using Organic nutrients. One thing you will discover is that there is no single right way to do this hobby. You will have to determine what works best for you by looking at what similar grows do, and then adjust yours not to be precisely like that but to fit what your plants like the best.

If you continue with organic nutrients (I think the Botanicare Kind is organic). you will not have to worry toooo much about the pH. But I would recommend that you get some Mychorrizae or some microbe tea to give the medium to keep the microbe herd healthy. And look into doing the organics so that you better understand the role of beneficial microbes in growing as that is really critical.

With synthetic nutrient growing (which I do) pH is critical to success, but in organic growing, microbe health is critical for success.


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