I grow in rdwc bro but it’s becoming a PITA as I can’t give the plants the attention they deserve and it inevitably causes me issues. Yield wise you can’t beat rdwc but with my autopots I can grow 9 plants instead of 4 (or 8 at the minute as I’m putting 2 in each 30l bucket).
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I have a thread where I showcase a grow of 10 plants in my buckets under one light (600W, then upped it to 1000W halfway through 12/12). I got just under 3 pounds from them. I don’t know how that compares, but I already described how little time it required, and the nutes cost me less than $7. You can check out the thread HERE.
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Two ways to skin the same cat! I think a lot of which camp you prefer has to do with an individuals background.
IMHO nothing beats the environment set up by Mother Nature. Lots of sun and soil. In my location that limits me to one harvest a year. I can sew a suitable seed, pretty much leave it alone, and it grows.
I choose to do hydro during the other months. Yes, I could do soil in the tent, but the speed and yield in hydro is what keeps me interested. I spend about 10 minutes a day maintaining the tent, can easily cut that to 5 if need be or even skip a day, but I like looking at her. Hydro is comfortable for me as I also have about 40 years of large aquarium experience so many of the concepts make sense to me and are already familiar. I can measure my Rez and know if I am in range or not, with soil I dont have that knowledge/control. I can easily inspect my root ball. Bugs are not as much of a problem in a sterile Rez as I have had with soil.
I think it is all in one’s background and experience, which way you prefer. I am pretty sure you can get killer smoke either way.
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I’ll take a look bro. Thanks.
I’ve grown a few mega yielding plants in my system in the past. Had a few 12oz + plants in the same buckets. My issue is my job is demanding. Once I get home the last thing I wanna do is tend to my plants so I neglect them. It’s more user error than the hydro if I’m 100% totally honest 
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I’m not able to grow outdoors, but I grow in soil and hydro indoors. Background and experience are factors, but so are other things like the indoor environment and water. I grew the best weed I’ve ever grown when I had city water and grew organically in soil. When I moved into my new home, my well water was pure, but the pH was extremely acidic. So I get better results from my hydro grows because of the control I have, but I still grow in soil because it’s where my roots began.
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IMHO
It’s not as much about better / worse as consistent.
Hydro with dialed in conditions and great genetics produces great weed consistently since conditions are, well, consistent. (Think of a great clone-only strain here)
Organic - outdoor / living soil / bag soil etc. just is not as consistent. However - I do think that organic can be SPECTACULAR on occasion - but yielded 1oz. per plant of foxtail buds and the plant next to it might suck - much more a roll of the dice. (Landrace, etc.)
The question itself starts to lean a bit into the scotch realm:
Do you like blended Johnny Walker (name your mainstream piss here) - or a 28yr. Laphroaig Single Cask?
The JW wins for consistency - it’s tasted EXACTLY the same for 40 something (or more) years, and it’s cheap.
The Laphroaig - read the reviews before buying; this year might be heavenly while the next cask might be metho/urine for $400 a bottle.
(wow - re-read my post and think I’m into one of the good plants from the grow I just jacked-up! )
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If you mix your own salts then you have complete control over how much N or P your plants are receiving.
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Yes true, I hear that, an def a cool way to do it too, and maybe it’s possible to find the exactly right proportions of NPK to create the best terpene profile. And, I suppose you could try to get close to the right proportions of micros, and there are water born microbes. I’m not sure about the trace elements, have people figured out water soluble trace elements?
For me I just like dirt; river silt and old growth humus, mmmm:)
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There are chelated micronutrient mixes available that are highly water soluble. A commercial grower I speak with occasionally told me balancing your micros just right is the key to obtaining 30+% THC consistently. I’m not there yet but, I’m learning.
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