soil Soil vs DWC vs Aquaponics grow

SentencedToBurn · Aug 29, 2015

CelticFarmer said:
That stuff is seriously thick. I used to use it for 4 or so years until I realized it costs a fortune and its performance vs price ratio isn't worth it.

I also hated how thick it was and how I would sometimes get clogging no matter how well it was mixed. It would goo up on occasion with my 8 bucket dwc with res setup at the right angle fittings on the return line back to the res. it would also gunk up my airstones.. I tried the biue planet nutes 3 part intro system and that's all I've used since in my hydro setups.

I will say that the flora nova series does keep it simple and even controls the ph of the water. Helps people new to hydro without much hand holding. However, the trade off is no explosive growth.

Ive looked it up the blue planet nutes, looks like we can't get it here, but Ive seen plenty of other products on the market locally, might try something else then further down the track.

CelticFarmer · Aug 29, 2015

SentencedToBurn said:
Ive looked it up the blue planet nutes, looks like we can't get it here, but Ive seen plenty of other products on the market locally, might try something else then further down the track.

Wow that really sucks. Can't beat the bang for dollar ratio on their nutes.

SentencedToBurn · Sep 5, 2015

Ok this isn't really an aquaponics comparison anymore since I've added hydro nutes to the aquaponics system, but still, the results are pretty cool.

Soil and DWC:

Soil vs aquaponics with nutes

SentencedToBurn · Oct 5, 2015

This month's update - I'll be moving the soil plant into a 35L growbag this weekend so won't be able to keep them side by side anymore but will include a ruler or something to compare the size:

N8thaniel · Oct 7, 2015

i just took down my aquaponics system-ofcourse if u are adding nutes its not really ap-bioponics perhaps?

anyway Im sure come fruit time soil will win

good luck, im subbed in

sevenstrings · Oct 7, 2015

SentencedToBurn said:
This month's update - I'll be moving the soil plant into a 35L growbag this weekend so won't be able to keep them side by side anymore but will include a ruler or something to compare the size:

Uuuuggghhhhh..... I don't think you need a ruler!!! Lololol. Nice work man, keep it up :-)

SentencedToBurn · Oct 8, 2015

N8thaniel said:
i just took down my aquaponics system-ofcourse if u are adding nutes its not really ap-bioponics perhaps?

anyway Im sure come fruit time soil will win

good luck, im subbed in

Hey mate yup this turned into more of a DWC vs soil, there is still fish in the aquaponics tank, and a lot less nutes than in regular DWC but it definitely isnt proper aquaponics as it's meant to be.

SentencedToBurn · Oct 23, 2015

Here is another update:

DWC: 54cm / 21" - has a couple of flowers just opened up
"Aquaponics": 72cm / 28" (although less bushy than the DWC one) - also a couple of floweres just opened
Soil: 23cm / 9" - This one has been outside for about a week, but the temperatures are now sweet for them to be outside

Swampy_NZ · Oct 24, 2015

Hydro.So good.The ones I put into hydro 3 weeks ago are slowly inching ahead of my soil ones and thats after getting stressed to hell when I washed the soil off their roots.
If I were you (and this is gunna sound drastic as hell) I would slice the whole top off just below where it splits.In about a week all those tiny side branches will explode and you will get a super bushy plant.The way its going now It will be very tall and top heavy.I just topped all my plats today.I hate doing it but I know in the long term you will have more compact bushy plants.

SentencedToBurn · Oct 24, 2015

yeah bro I actually topped two of them earlier this afternoon. Didnt have the balls to do it to the biggest ones though since they're already flowering. But yeah the side shoots normally go nuts. I just want to have some pods already.

fred42 · Oct 25, 2015

As a complete noob to DWC,I just read that the water temp should be around 20c.. As I live in a tropical climate where temps average 28/30 c will this cause me problems growing hot peppers in this way?

SentencedToBurn · Oct 25, 2015

fred42 said:
As a complete noob to DWC,I just read that the water temp should be around 20c.. As I live in a tropical climate where temps average 28/30 c will this cause me problems growing hot peppers in this way?

I've never taken the water temp into account - the temp inside the greenhouse fluctuates between 15C at night to high 30s during the day, and they don't seem to mind.

I'm sure the water act as a heatsink and won't change that dramatically but it definitely will go up to high 20s on a daily basis and the plants don't seem to mind. I keep an eye on pH which seems to be relatively stable, thats about it.