Space usage for hydro?

Quick question, does hydro generally use up less room than soil? That's how it looks in pictures, but I am not sure.

What I mean, is if I'm going to use 3 gallon buckets for my plants in a soil grow, would I be able to use smaller buckets if I go with hydro? I am thinking about setting up individual buckets for each plant and running each separately in a DWC type setup.

The smaller the area the better, as my space is limited, but I don't wanna give up a 400w HPS or reduce my yield.

Thanks!

It really depends on the setup, but I would say generally "no". For the same size plant between a hydro setup (like DWC) and a soil, the size is about the same. The only difference is the area the roots are contained in and the container is generally the same between the two.

For example, between soil and DWC, mother plants in their own containers generally sit in a 5 gallon.

I totally agree. It kind of depends on your setup. The big difference is the amount of space that you must use. In soil plants can become rootbound. That doesn't truly exist in hydro. The thing in hydro is that there is no such thing as overwatering, but under oxygenating. If the roots have enough air, then you can let them rest in water. You can cram more plants into an area because of this. Yet, the problem is that you can't go too crazy because plants compete and force each other out.

Ahh, I got it. So, in soil, since the roots will grow down, that is why you need it to be deeper rather than wider. However, in hydro, since there is no soil, the roots can grow any which way they want while suspend in the water, so as long as the competition isn't too heavy for the nutes, and there is enough oxygen for the given volume of water, it doesn't really matter. This has to be how they are putting plants in containers that are only 6" or so deep in hydro grows. Is this correct?

thanks!

You've got it. Just be careful with overcrowding due to lighting concerns as well. Sometimes plants block each other out which is a reason some people use netting or scrog to keep each plant in its on little area. Yep, its water doing the work.