FiveSix said:
The main reason is food pathogen saftey, E-coli and Salmanella.
In your backyard? Fix your septic system, sir.
next bugs, I don't feel like eating a nice fresh pepper only to find a nice maggot resting inside.
Bugs do live outside. Yay! Not all of them are bad bugs, afterall. Sometimes bugs live inside, too; but I don't seem to be as squeamish as you. I'd squish the maggot and eat the pepper.
Plants can only use PURE ELEMENTS.
Goose piddle, all you have to do is look at the problems with pH to know that minerals can be abundant in solution or dirt and not be available to the plant to see the error in that statement. Nutrients and minerals are taken up in lots of different forms by plants, some are more readily available for the plant to use than others. Using a chemical fertilizer does not necessarily make them more available, or make them easier for the plant to use.
they don't know the difference between fish emulsion and Hydro nutrient solutions. All organist must be broken down into pure elements before the plant can use them,
Plants are not sentient, I agree. However, there is evidence that how a nutrient is supplied can affect taste and total nutrient content of fruit. It's complex, which is why we all argue so vociferously here about what works best.
In hydro these nutrients are delivered right to the roots. In soil the roots grow and grow in search of fresh nutrient and water which results in more work for the plant and causes less vigorous vegetative growth.
Now, that's just silly. Hydro might give you earlier and faster growth, but I challenge you to find fault with the vegetative growth of most any of the more experienced growers here by mid-season.
Also because plants only use pure elements, Nutrient solutions are not steroids which is common misinformation.
If your nutrients contain plant hormones, then you are indeed giving them plant steroids. Look, your first statement about bacteria being taken up by the plants gives the lie to that statement. If plants could only use pure elements, how does the Ecoli get up into the plant? If plants only use pure elements, how can I put a carnation in water with red food coloring and see the red water work its way through the veins of the plant? If your nutes contain plant hormones or growth stimulants or whatever purdy name you want to put on them, they are taken up without being broken down and are biologically active.
Look, there's nothing wrong with hydro. You'll get beautiful pepper plants using a hydro set up. Yay! Only, don't go hydro because you think there is something intrinsically wrong or dangerous about growing in dirt, cause there's not. You can use chemical fertilizers in dirt, too, and get good results. Organic practices are not required. They're preferred by me, but not required.
