My hydro plants vs potting mix plants

[Kerosene]

This is my first year growing chillis, and also my first year growing hydroponics (DWC).
I expected the hydro plants to do better than the potting mix plants, but not this much better.

Razzmatazz chilli

Bhut Jolokia

Everything was planted at the same time.

The potting mix plants are in various potting mixes, some cheap, some less cheap.
They all look kinda pathetic compared to the hydro plants.
Some of them have been fed with seaweed solution, but it doesn't seem to do anything.
I thought it was over watering - but I've really cut back on watering, and have even repotted some of them into fresh "dry" potting mix - I haven't noticed any improvement.
I'm almost at the point of pulling them out of the potting mix, dusting them off, and putting them into hydro pots.

Is it the hardware store potting mix?
Could it be that the potting mix is getting really cold at night (drops to 6-10c at night), and doesn't warm up enough during the day?

 

[AlphaHydroponics]

[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]"They all look kinda pathetic compared to the hydro plants"[/background]

[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]Sorry, just had to...[/background]

[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]"hardware store potting mix" will give you a media for your plants to root... but as mentioned in numerous threads, your soil needs to be alive if you are depending on it to feed your plants. As pepper guru says, feed your soil.[/background]

[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]Otherwise, soil based, ( or other media) grows simply exist to hold you plants upright and buffer the salt based nutes you disperse into it.[/background]
[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]It can also a bit slower to see a response in the plant.[/background]

[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]Don't get me wrong, We have a HUGE organic soil grow during the season, but hydro offers numerous advantages.[/background]

[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]It straightens the curves and flattens the hills during the season... [/background][background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]Anyone, anyone?[/background]



[background=rgb(255, 244, 228)]Chris[/background]

 

[Pr0digal_son]

Not a fair fight. Your soil plants are locked up bad. Hydro may have it's advantages,but they are not as overwhelming as this experiment is showing. Start another seed in a quality soiless mix, and monitor the ph of the water you are giving it.

 

[frosty]

It has been my experience that there is a small (but vocal) group of organic gardeners that will deny all evidence presented to them about hydroponic productivity with synthetic nutes. They will say that the nature's way is superior to all others. While they aerate compost teas with seaweed just like mother nature. Utilize compost bins just like the ones scattered through any forest area. They copy nature to the letter when they order seeds from trinidad and have them delivered to Indiana. This is how it happened before man came and how it will happen after man is gone.

Anyway, I think you started more than you expected. I'm sure I added fuel to the fire.

 

[willard3]

I have grown both in hydro and soil for quite a while and have kept data.

Same climatic conditions (light, temp, rh and etc) hydro does 30-40% better than soil, both quantity and quality.

It's not a matter of opinion which works better.

 

[Kerosene]

I've pulled out the worst of my potting mix plants and put them in hydro. It will be interesting to see if it saves them.
I will be a miracle if that pathetic Bhut Jolokia starts growing.

I've repotted the others into better quality potting mix, and fed them with seaweed and epsom salts.
They all have cupped leaves, so do the plants I have growing in the ground. Is it too cold at night for them? It's still regularly under 10c at night.
This is one of the healthier examples of how the leaves are curling:

 

[Kgren]

If i was you, I would leave your plants in there pots with the good mix and not mess around with them anymore ...
I have found that they tend to take a few weeks to get going after you repot them, provided they have a decent mix, feed them regularly and give them enough room, they should be fine once they get going !
Cheers !

 

[3/5King]

What nutes at what ppm are you putting in the hydro? What brand is the soil and what does it have in it? Seems that this experiment is severely flawed. There's a lack of structure and I wouldn't look at this experiment as a successful way to show that "Hydro is better than soil" I'm not saying one is better or worse than the other but this isn't a controlled experiment that I would take anything positive away from on the subject. Although I'm glad you're getting some chili's either way.

 

[Kerosene]

this isn't a controlled experiment that I would take anything positive away from on the subject.

Who said this was an experiment? There is no experiment. I just want to know what I'm doing wrong with the soil plants.
The fact that the hydro plants are doing so well means that I must be doing something severely wrong with the soil based plants.
If the hydro plants were the ones failing, I'd want to know what I was doing wrong too.

 

[3/5King]

My apologies, I don't know where I got that idea from lol. To answer your questions and help you out with your soil problem. We need a little bit more info. How often we're you watering? How often were you feeding and with what? (I know you said that you feed with seaweed, was that all?) how did you start your seeds? Did you pot up or plant them straight into the pots they are in now?

It's interesting to see how the plant is dark purple on the right and not a hint of purple on the left. I don't see how that is possible that they are the same variety. That's pretty crazy.

It has been my experience that there is a small (but vocal) group of organic gardeners that will deny all evidence presented to them about hydroponic productivity with synthetic nutes. They will say that the nature's way is superior to all others. While they aerate compost teas with seaweed just like mother nature. Utilize compost bins just like the ones scattered through any forest area. They copy nature to the letter when they order seeds from trinidad and have them delivered to Indiana. This is how it happened before man came and how it will happen after man is gone.

Anyway, I think you started more than you expected. I'm sure I added fuel to the fire.

You could just add some thought on the topic at hand instead of trolling the thread and pointing your nose up at organic gardeners.

 

[Kerosene]

We need a little bit more info.

Watering maybe 3 times a week - less when inside, probably too much. Have cut down to once a week now.
Feeding just with seaweed (this one). Have added some epsom salts in the last few days.
Seeds were started in potting mix in seedling pots, started in indoor tent + lights (along with the hydros), and potted up.
They've had the same light and temperature/weather exposure as the hydro plants.

It's interesting to see how the plant is dark purple on the right and not a hint of purple on the left.

Interesting? I find it demoralizing

 

[3/5King]

It's all a learning process Kerosene, don't let it get you down. Did you just plant in the "hardware store potting mix? The cheap stuff that's like 1.29 a bag? That stuff likes to compact and hold water, depriving the roofs of room to breath oxygen. If this is so, my personal suggestion would be to one of two things; if you want to continue them in soil, you could get some quality potting mix (promix, sunshine advanced, doctor earth, etc.) and repot the plants or you can buy some soil amendments and rework the soil you already have.

Try foliar feeding with the seaweed and Epsom salts once a day, if the roots are locked out, the plant can still absorb nutrients through its leaves. You should see improvement. Let the plants wilt before your next watering and then water them, let them wilt again and repeat...this will give you an idea of how long they are taking until they need water again and then you can adjust your watering to the day before they should show signs of wilting. Although this has to be felt out with a change in temperature, plant growth/pot size.

That's we're I would start.

 

[frosty]

My apologies, I don't know where I got that idea from lol. To answer your questions and help you out with your soil problem. We need a little bit more info. How often we're you watering? How often were you feeding and with what? (I know you said that you feed with seaweed, was that all?) how did you start your seeds? Did you pot up or plant them straight into the pots they are in now?

It's interesting to see how the plant is dark purple on the right and not a hint of purple on the left. I don't see how that is possible that they are the same variety. That's pretty crazy.



You could just add some thought on the topic at hand instead of trolling the thread and pointing your nose up at organic gardeners.

I think saying that there is a small loud subset is not thumbing or pointing my nose. Actually I think it is defending the group as a whole. Warning a guy that some people will never concede anything seems like a nice thing and will help him parse through the responses.

He tried two methods found one that was superior. If he wants to do soil he will have to invest more time. Hydro is very easy to pick up and maintain. I think because it is harder to love your plants too much. I suspect that is his problem with soil he is doing too much.


Do not go from soil to hydro. I have done it and so have others but more often than not you end up with a mess. I cut roots, I washed them, I added enzymes and changed my nutes daily in order to go from soil to hydro. Sometimes it is just easier to start from seed.