Thinking About Making the Hydro to Soil Switch

I've been growing hydroponics for a little over a year now. I had three moderately successful harvests, and one epic failure at 5.5 weeks into flower on the fourth and just had my fifth fail 2 weeks in because of root rot. The thing is that I am CONSTANTLY fighting root rot and other crap in hydroponics. I've used ebb and flow and DWC and had it happen in both. While my yields have been somewhat successful, I don't think they are anywhere near where they should be. Secondly, I have not been satisfied by the taste of any of my plants and many have told me that soil has a more natural taste to it. Whether thats true or not, I don't know.

So my main question is, what is the best kind of commercially available soil to use and where can I get it? I have Jorge Cervantes' Medical Grow Bible so I have a lot of info there, but I just need to know what I need to get started. I have one mother plant living and my plan is to take a set of clones and flower the mother in DWC, and then once the clones root, plant them in soil. So let me know what you guys and gals think.:jointsmile:

I did a soil grow upsing Fox Farm soil and nutes...worked great.
Now im just starting my first hydro grow

I personnally use Organic Pro-Mix and some Earth Juice as fertilizers. It making this grow a complete organic one... Organic grow are supposed to taste better, well see that when I harvest, supposed to be in about 45 days, can't wait, but I have to. Patience is the key to a good grow !

Hi, I grow in soil what works for me is I buy Expert potting soil (its just a generic soil) that has nutrients in it I mix in perlite and earth worm casings then I use FF products at half strength.

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Originally Posted by dejayou30

So my main question is, what is the best kind of commercially available soil to use and where can I get it? I have Jorge Cervantes' Medical Grow Bible so I have a lot of info there, but I just need to know what I need to get started. I have one mother plant living and my plan is to take a set of clones and flower the mother in DWC, and then once the clones root, plant them in soil. So let me know what you guys and gals think.:jointsmile:

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Dejay, I suffer with you girl, I've been doing DWC grows the past three years. (I can only do them during the cooler months, as my grow shed does not have AC)
DWC was for me line having an infant child in the house: constant attention and needs that 'must' be attended to.
I do outside soil grows, but also loved the indoor yields from my dwc's. I'm finished with them though.
I've started a coco grow, as an experiment for speed of growth and yield. I've always managed to keep fairly accurate logs of all my grows, and intend to use this coco as a comparison. Maybe take a peek at it, and see if this might be the alternative you're looking for...B

Coco coir Grow From Seeds - Dedicated to Cannabis Education, Recreational. Medicinal, and Cultivation.

Thanks for all the input. I decided, for now, to stick with hydroponics, but instead of DWC I am going back to the old tried and true Ebb and Flow. The problems I had the last time I used E&F that prompted the switch to DWC was basically just too many plants in too small an area and poor drainage. I tried to flower 10 plants total, 5 plants per shallow 7 gallon tub (lol) and they formed one huge rootbound mass and were growing out of control fighting for light. When I switched to DWC, I didn't provide enough air and the roots rotted off, which really hurt my yield.

Since I have downgraded to only flowering 2 at a time instead of 10, my prediction is that the roots will be able to spread out as much as they want without forming a huge mass since they will each have their own 7 gallon tub and each plant will be able to grow as large as it wants. :jointsmile: For some reason, sitting in water 24/7 just doesn't work for me no matter how much air I put in the bucket; the root rot just doesn't quit.

I currently only have one mother plant that has survived the root rot plague I seem to have, and just made the switch back to E&F today. Hopefully things go well over the next couple weeks so it is healthy enough to cut some clones. I am unfortunately going to run out of herb before I can harvest again, but I could probably stand to take a little break anyways.

Thanks again for all the input, I will keep it in mind in case my E&F grow fails. Keep your fingers crossed for me, haha!

try hydrogard by botanicare i think.....

Dejayou30 sounds like a few easy fixes and your setup will be dialed in again, getting air into the tank simple fix. Start off slow, 7 gal tub isn't enough room for 2 plants unless your 12/12 from clone.

Which might be a good idea, start a few off from clone, less fighting for room both top and bottom. I wish I knew more about your setup for the simple purpose to give the best advise.

Side note, roots grow 3x bigger then the top half of the plant, I'm really buzzed right now so I hope this makes sense. So if your plant is 17 inch tall with a hugh spread of on it, your root room needs to be 3x that, 51 inchs.

I use one 5 gal bucket for one plant and the room in there is tight when we get to the end of the cycle so I can't imagine the craziness in a 10 plant 7 gal.


Bleh,
Booya