# Hydro or Soil? Which is best overall?



## Marijuana_Man (Jun 14, 2005)

My cousin and I are going to turn a closet of his into a grow room big enough for one plant. However, there is one thing we can't agree on hydro or soil grown.  I need some opinions on which is best.You know a typical pro and con list. Like which one is more work, which one cost most and so on ect.  Please leave me some feedback on what you think and what you would do.


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## Hick (Jun 14, 2005)

for your first grow, I recommend soil. Far far more forgiving to newbies mistakes.


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## thewebjunkie (Jun 14, 2005)

soil all the way for all grows


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## GanjaGuru (Jun 14, 2005)

Hydro grows pot (during veg) faster, but like Hick said, go with soil.
Are you aware that if you grow just 1 plant, from seed, it may be a male and that means no buds?


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## Weeddog (Jun 14, 2005)

Hydro, DWC (bubbling bucket) is my favorite.  Start out with at least 4 or 5 then keep the best female after they start to flower.

Soil is easier but dirty.  Hydro will yield more bud.  Hydro costs more to setup than soil.


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## DoobieBro1 (Jun 14, 2005)

theres alot of good hydro and soil information on growing pot on the web. if your not sure read about 15 or 20 articles and go from there. like weeddog says bubbling buckets are good easy and not too much, unless you have too buy lights, but it sounds like you already have em. dirt is for sure easier and cheaper.


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## bizzy323 (Jun 14, 2005)

weeddog you recommend air pump instead of water pump for the hydro system?


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## GanjaGuru (Jun 14, 2005)

Where'd you get the idea that hydro yields more bud than soil?

Here's a plant I grew last year in DIRT.


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## Weeddog (Jun 15, 2005)

GanjaGuru said:
			
		

> Where'd you get the idea that hydro yields more bud than soil?
> 
> Here's a plant I grew last year in DIRT.



Sure,  lets see you grow that in your closet.


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## Weeddog (Jun 15, 2005)

bizzy323 said:
			
		

> weeddog you recommend air pump instead of water pump for the hydro system?



I use a dual air pump for each bucket and one for the reservoir.  I also use a water pump to circulate water from the reservoir to the buckets via 1/4" dripper hose.  I dont use stones in my buckets, only a T fitting on each hose.  I do use stones in the reservoir.


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## DoobieBro1 (Jun 15, 2005)

Heres my dirt ones from 78. they were just starting to flower, pulled about a third cause they were males. bag seed


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## Hick (Jun 16, 2005)

I don't believe hydro yeilds more than dirt. If you achieve 1 gram per watt, hydro or soil, you're juust about maxemizing efficiency.  Hydro may get you there faster, but bigger OR better, I think not.


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## brainwreck (Jun 16, 2005)

one way i really prefer soil, much higher yields then hydro, but on the other side i really prefer hydro or aero because the faster finishing of the plants, and the direct feeding to the roots. 

greetz


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## GanjaGuru (Jun 16, 2005)

Actually some of the plants in the pic WERE inside.
This was a weird strain, aquired from a friend who travels the world, picking up exotic seeds of little-known strains. He called it Hobie Big Bud. Because of it's size I'm guessing the strain came from either S.E. Asia or Africa.
This fucker wasn't finished until mid-Jan.
We had out first hard freeze in Nov. Just before that we had no other alternative but to bring them inside.
We hung a few 1000-watt HPS from the ceiling of his garage and put the plants in there, bent over, where they remained until harvest.

That huge plant only yielded 5 oz., and the weed was good but not that great. I've gotten up to 2 lbs. of killer weed off plants 1/2 that size before (not that strain). so we were disappointed.

Here's a pic of that plant at harvest (thanks to mellow dude for the photoshop).  Ralphie is holding up the top of that bent-over plant with our legal med-mj garden sign.

P.S. Ralphie is not fat.  He's got a bag full of fresh-cut buds stuffed in his blue hoody.


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## brainwreck (Jun 16, 2005)

doens't look really dense, that 12ft plant, a pitty. and do you know why? cause the pot you were using is way too small, to develop some nice roots, specially outdoor.

greetz


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## DoobieBro1 (Jun 16, 2005)

It looks tall enough for some giraffes.


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## brainwreck (Jun 16, 2005)

tall, yeah, but tall doesnt mean high yield, it has to expand more in weidth, look @ mine, of last summer, and this was only second week flowering, was 190 centimetres high without the pot, if i didn't topped it it would be like 2,40 metres or more 






greetz


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## GanjaGuru (Jun 16, 2005)

Those plants were sort of an experiment--we had lots of other strains in the garden.  But we had seeds from a rare strain--from North Africa I just found out.  The person we got them from didn't know anything about the pot, they were just seeds he picked up in his travels.

When we planted those, we didn't know they were going to grow that tall or take that long.  In those size containers we grew 7'-tall trainwrecks that yielded approz. 1.5 lbs. bud each.
Btw, the containers are pulp pots.  When the roots hit the bottom of the container, they grow right through them.

I think one reason the buds were so sparse--only 5 oz. total off a 12' tall plant!!!--is because when we had to move those plants indoors in Nov.,they lost a lot of their main roots.


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## MarPassion (Jun 17, 2005)

Interesting plant GanjaGuru. It's very tall and with this height you would think it should be much wider. You think that's because of the the strain or do you grow that way?


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## Hick (Jun 17, 2005)

Those two guys, the twins, standing on each others heads, they work in the circus, do they?..


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## GanjaGuru (Jun 17, 2005)

@ Hick.  That is The Emerad Triangle's version of Cirque de Soleil.

I'm 99% that it was the plants' genetics that resulted in it being so narrow.  3 of us grew some plants from (clones) of those seeds (different donor plants).  Some were in the ground, some were indoor their whole life (the donor plants), and 3 different nutrient regimin's were used.  All the plants grew the same.
You'd think with the way the plant grew (tall and slender) that it would be heavily sativa-dom, but the leaves had medium-sized blades.

All in all, it was a somewhat disappointing experiment, but then again, many great things are discovered by experimenting, like having sex with 3 women at the same time (conclusion: tough but do-able).
This year I'm experimenting with something my friend calls American Beauty, which I believe he got from the Oakland Cannibus Buyer's Club.
I know it's good, cause a few nights ago I smoked some of last year's harvest and woke up the next morning in the woods, dressed in a moose suit.


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## Marijuana_Man (Jun 19, 2005)

Thanks everyone for your input.  I was thinking the bubble bucket and my cuz was thinking soil. Since it's his place I guess I'll stick with what he wants.  But I'd still like more info on both.  I like the idea of the bubble bucket, I was wondering if you have to use steaks to hold it up? I am assuming yes but then again it's not like I know anything lol. That's what the post is for  
Thanks again everyone and lets keep this post going.


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## DoobieBro1 (Jun 19, 2005)

I got a couple bubblin buckets goin, fist time. I am going to tie strings around plants and fasten to walls with tacks (closet). They look and feel like there not too stable. mine are about 28" tall now


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## Weeddog (Jun 20, 2005)

I use 5" net pots with hydroton grow rock to hold the plant steady as it grows.  The bigger the pot, the more sturdy the plant will be.  You can also buy lids with the pots allready molded into it.  These would be really steady.  If you go mediumless then you will have to tie the babie up some way.

BTW,  if you put one in a 5 gal bucket of dirt and another in a 5 gal bubbler, then sit side by side under the same light,  you will see the bubbler blows the dirt away.  I've done it.   Dirt is ONLY great outdoors,  IMHO.   You will see lots of mixed opinions on that.  Thats why I did the test myself.


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## DoobieBro1 (Jun 20, 2005)

I beleive you,I was suprised and so was my buddy he grows constant running water way. I' stoned i cant think what its called.


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## GanjaGuru (Jun 20, 2005)

Hydro grows plants faster.
But not all that much faster than quality potting soil.
And soil is far more forgiving than hydro.
I recommend that the beginning indoor gardener use soil for at least the first grow, to learn about growing inside.

The easiest method of indoor growing is ebb n flo.
I've tried buckets, aeroponics, soil, and the drip method; with ebb n flo you can leave for up to a week (though you shouldn't).
When my ebb n flo is up and running (shut down now because of the season), all I need to do is go in for a few minutes every few days to check/adjust pH and ppm.
Once a week I top off the res., every 2 weeks I drain the res., flush the plants and re-fill.


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## DoobieBro1 (Jun 20, 2005)

Hey Ganja, I use the ebb&flo,its nice. I think I like it better than the bucket as far as maintenance.


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## Marijuana_Man (Nov 29, 2005)

It's been awhile since I posted. But I was wondering if anyone would know how hard it would be to set up a solar powered light so as not to put a spike in your electric bill. I don't wanna draw attention to how much power will be drawn.


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## GanjaGuru (Nov 29, 2005)

T
MM, there was a long thread about this subject at another site a year or 2 back, and a lot of research was done.  Factoring in solar panels, the concrete slabs they need to be mounted on, storage batteries, wiring, inverters & installation, solar power costs about $100.00/watt to generate.

However there is a form of solar energy that works GREAT for growing marijuana, and it's FREE.
It's called growing outside.


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## tallslim (Nov 30, 2005)

wow


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