While it would be nice to see comparison grows to explore the differences as you guys have been discussing I believe ‘hothouse’ and indoor are what @HolyAngel referenced but has not mentioned outdoor when discussing the end result comparisons.
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Yeah I have done zero experimentation with outdoor so cannot speak on it. I may try and get the FLC #1 out there this year to see.
So I’m speaking only indoors. DWC/Flood and Drain with H&G Aqua Flakes or Maxibloom vs Organically amended water-only soil in 3-7 gallon fabric pots. All indoors in tents.
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Well, I didn’t mean to start a dust up with my organics comment-
It’s true, when I give advice to new growers, I tell them if you’re growing for your own smoke, learn organic growing right away, and forget weighing your harvests…
I am not a organic soil expert, but it doesn’t take an expert to tell the difference in the flavor. Never said anything about potency-
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Not even…it’s just dialogue and overdue from my perspective. We should be able to say with conviction what the affects of each are- media (artificial or organic or even none), sunlight/artificial light, what each brings in the end is of interest I believe to everyone.
But no way to assert without some side by side testing and comparison.
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All good here. 
'You probably never seen the old ‘Shark Tank’ area of the forum where virtually anything was permissible. 
If anything I jumped in with “but wait there’s more!” opinion-sharing, the spreading the gossipel 
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That may have something to do with your mediocre results. If you master you understanding, you can come close to mastering the style. Hydro is adding a+b till your little meter reads 1000 (or whatever). I’ve noticed organic takes a bit of finesse. Please don’t take that wrong, you’re an amazing grower.
I remember seeing the terp comparison on a study that I found. I’ve had trouble finding it again. Having the extra terps in organically grown flower was why I went with organic in the first place.
Above all, it’s really what works for you. I’ve had some of jbows Hydro grown, and I was way smoother than any of the dispo trash. I told him he could make some major dough teaching the professionals. 
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Yes you are definitely correct. My understanding is limited with soil and that is most definitely why my result’s are lacking with it.
Hydro I have a much greater understanding of whats going on at any point in time in the system by monitoring ph/ec/water level. You might start off hydro by setting the ppm’s to an arbitrary(1000 or whatever) point at first but then you watch what the plant does. I can tell if she’s not eating, not drinking, hates it, loves it, all within a couple hours of running the system and I can fix it at any given time too.
I just don’t feel like I have that control in soil. It’s like, I put this stuff in the dirt and hope for the best 
is what it seems like to me 
I think the way I water needs work, and understanding the ratios of each amendment and how much and when… it’s a struggle for me.
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I put the plants in, and let the microbes do the work for me. Theyve been doing it for thousands of years, so who am I to second guess them? 
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I don’t think growing organic is difficult at all. In fact, it seems way easier than hydro does. I just mix up some of Coot’s mix and call it a day. There was a time when I knew why we added, like, crustacean meal or gypsum or whatever, but I’ve long since forgotten why we do that. I just do it. And I don’t have a “regimen” at all. Sometimes I’ll add coconut water or a kelp and neem meal tea, but most of the time it’s just water-only. It’s fucking simple. No need to worry about what to feed the plants, at what ratios, at what point in the plant’s lives etc etc. It’s all in the soil; the plants decide what they want and when.
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Outdoors this works for me, but in these containers is where the problem has been.
I just need to spend another couple hundred on a coots mix it seems 
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Yeah, Im super happy. I just mixed up a new batch using bio live (based on coot), and I was actually able to find pumice. I even charged my bio char this time. I cant wait to see how it does, but I suppose I should wait a month before using.
Edit:
unfortunately it is not cheap
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The most expensive part of Coot’s mix is the humus third of the base. You want really good EWC/compost. The rest of the stuff is pretty cheap, especially for a small indoor grow like yours.
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Why? I’ve used my soil the day of mixing, no problems at all.
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I suppose cost it relative. I spent 60 buck on aeration for 3 batches, so not cheap in my book. The ewc wasnt that bad, but I couldnt get any from my good, local guy.
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I thought it was supposed to “cook” and let the nutrients become available.
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If you were using “super soil,” with amendments like guano and shit that’s really “hot” you’d definitely need to let it compost for a month. But the amendments in Coot’s mix are all pretty mellow. No need to let it cook.
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yeah looks like only $65 for the amendments from buildasoil, but you still gotta buy peat/ewc/aeration so still likely in the ~$150 range… my hydro nutes are ~$50 for a couple years…
idk, i’ll definitely try it eventually here. you guys have such good results.
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The ingredients in bio live are:
Derived from:
Fish Bone Meal, Fish Meal, Alfalfa Meal, Crab Meal, Shrimp Meal, Langbeinite, and Kelp Meal
2.5% Humic Acids derived from Leonardite
Endomycorrhizal fungi: Glomus intraradices, G. mosseae, G. aggregatum, G. etunicatum – 0.2 prop/gm each; Glomus deserticola, G. monosporum, G. clarum, Paraglomus brasilianum, Gigaspora margarita – 0.16 prop/gm each. (725 prop/lb total)
Ectomycorrhizal fungi: Rhizopogon villosulus, R. luteolus, R. amylopogon, R. fulvigleba – 300 prop/gm each; Pisolithus tinctorius – 5,500 prop/gm; Scleroderma cepa, S. citrinum – 575 prop/gm each. (3.5 million prop/lb total)
Trichoderma: Trichoderma harzianum, T. koningii – 13,750 CFU/gm each. (12.4 million CFU/lb total)
Saccharomyces: Saccharomyces cerevisiae – 18,250 CFU/gm. (8.2 million CFU/lb total)
Bacteria: Bacillus azotoformans, B. coagulans, B. licheniformis, B. megaterium, B. pumilus, B. thuringiensis, Paenibacillus durum, P.
Listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute for use in organic production.
I guess I should be good, but the nutes wont be fully available yet, right?
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A three cubic foot of peat costs twenty bucks. A one cubic foot of pumice is pretty cheap, too. Plus, pumice is friggin’ hard to find. And a one cubic foot bag of something like Bu’s blend is around twenty bucks, too. So yeah, it’d be around 100 bucks for a hundred gallons of the base mix, but once you add all the amendments, that’d increase the amount of soil you have to around 130 gallons of soil.
It might be a little spendy to start, but once you have it, you have it for a long time. I use the same soil for a few years (and could probably use it for longer, I just get bored sometimes and mix up new soil). Plus, I just prefer organic weed. I like knowing that there’s nothing in it that’s gonna give me cancer or whatever. And it really is just so much easier and less time-consuming for me. The peace of mind it gives me, knowing that I’m not gonna wake up one morning and find my garden fried because I fucked up the amount of hydro nutes I gave my plants is worth whatever the cost of the soil is.
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Its so smooth and tasty too. I was thoroughly impressed with my first crop (along with everyone else). I know I can do better from there as I learn and add tools to the box.
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