soil spongey's hydro VS soil experiment fun

[spongey600]

OK, i know for a true experiment i would have to sprout seeds in soil and Hydro but due to lack of space/time i decided to just sprout seeds in solo cups and once they get big enough i will move them. my subjects are douglahs and Brain strain. i just had 3 of 5 BS sprout a couple days ago and the douglah showed up yesterday! so now just waiting for the first couple sets of leaves to move them. i will be using DWC buckets for hydro and for the soil i will be using Sunshine growers mix#4. my plan is to use the same ratio of nutrients for each one all through the experiment. i will be using FP 9-3-6 to start then GH flora Nova Bloom once they start to push flowers and use the bloom from then on out. this will be fun i foresee the DWC out performing the soil in the long run but we shall see! here are pics of the sprouts!!
douglah(thank Cappy)

Brain strain(thanks Cappy)

i am doing this as ilove both these peppers and thought it would be fun to mess around to see what happens, and sharing the progress with fellow pepper lovers!

Eric

 

[SuperHot]

I've read of this going both ways…we'll see which direction your experiment will bring you.

For only a few pots I would prefer Pro Mix BX, it's just my choice!!

 

[Edgie]

OK, i know for a true experiment i would have to sprout seeds in soil and Hydro but due to lack of space/time i decided to just sprout seeds in solo cups and once they get big enough i will move them. my subjects are douglahs and Brain strain. i just had 3 of 5 BS sprout a couple days ago and the douglah showed up yesterday! so now just waiting for the first couple sets of leaves to move them. i will be using DWC buckets for hydro and for the soil i will be using Sunshine growers mix#4. my plan is to use the same ratio of nutrients for each one all through the experiment. i will be using FP 9-3-6 to start then GH flora Nova Bloom once they start to push flowers and use the bloom from then on out. this will be fun i foresee the DWC out performing the soil in the long run but we shall see! here are pics of the sprouts!!
douglah(thank Cappy)

Brain strain(thanks Cappy)

i am doing this as ilove both these peppers and thought it would be fun to mess around to see what happens, and sharing the progress with fellow pepper lovers!

Eric

My wife and I are doing a similar experiment, but using some Bhut Jolokia & Aji Chombo seeds. I'm using GH Flora & she's using some MG mix. She swears that soil will win. We'll see...

 

[spongey600]

I've read of this going both ways…we'll see which direction your experiment will bring you.

For only a few pots I would prefer Pro Mix BX, it's just my choice!!

the Pro min is great, only i bought a 3.8cubic ft bale for this years grow so i have plenty left! it will def be fun to see how it goes!

 

[socapots]

looks like this will be an interesting thread to learn for the newbies.. like me. lol.
Keep us posted.

 

[spongey600]

i need some info from our seasoned pros on here! i have these little guys growing and i know i should wait till they have at least a couple sets of leaves. now for the DWC plants will i just take the seedling and place it in the basket? or should i put it something like rockwool then put it in the basket? or does that not matter?

Eric

 

[RouteBound]

You will need something to help support the plant I would use hydroton with coco cubes in it.
but you can use pea gravel even perlite

 

[spongey600]

You will need something to help support the plant I would use hydroton with coco cubes in it.
but you can use pea gravel even perlite

i have hydroton, i was just wondering if i needed to put the little guy lets say in a rockwool cube then put that into the basket and cover with hydroton, or can i just put the plant bare roots in and cover with hydroton and call it a day

 

[spongey600]

well, i decided to move the seedlings into the DWC buckets and so far 3 days and still looking good!
here is the douglah

Brain strain they popped up 4-5 days before the douglah that is why they are a little further along

here are the douglahs in soil

brain strain

 

[arolvl]

+1 for DWC wait til the root reach the water then your plant will explode

 

[spongey600]

here is an update, 9 days ago i moved the hydro guys to their new home in the buckets and left the soil guys in the solo cups as not to shock them. so here is what they looked like this morning
Brain Strain in DWC

Brain strain in Soil

Douglah in DWC

Douglah in Soil

they seem to be growing at the same pace, they all have a 3 set of leaves starting to grow, but the ones in soil are a very tiny bit bigger.
thanks for stopping by~
Eric

 

[Torno]

The DWC seedlings will be on par with the soil seedlings until they start stretching out and getting into the reservoir. Once they do there will be no competition at all at that point. I have a similar setup going on and the DWC plant makes the one in soil look very tiny when side by side.

-J

 

[spongey600]

little update, seems the ones in soil are gaining a little ground.
douglahs in soil

douglah in DWC

Brain strain in soil

Brain strain in DWC

thank you for looking, i know once the roots hit the res it will be game over but it will still be fun, and since i think i can grow year round it will give everyone viewing pleasure!

Eric

 

[spongey600]

well its been about 3 weeks since i last updated and the plants are getting bigger, and the DWC guys are now putting out roots through the bottom of the baskets so they are quite a bit bigger than the soil plants. its been cool so i figure growth will slow down a bit.
here is the douglah in the soil

here is the brain strain

DWC Brain strain

DWC Douglah had aphids really bad a couple weeks ago, but after neem/lady bugs i thinks its under control!

thanks for looking,

Eric

 

[Crusher]

That's some impressive growth in 3 weeks. Nice pics.

 

[spongey600]

That's some impressive growth in 3 weeks. Nice pics.

thanks! its crazy to look back at the pics and to think that 2 months ago they were just popping out o the soil, i waited 4 days to check the PH and it had actually dropped so i am figuring that the plants are not using the soloution, i had to use PH up for the first time. gonna do a nute change in 2 days. these buckets are crazy! i have a bell pepper that was stunted and not growing so i moved it to another DWC i have and in 1 week new growth has already started to grow!

Eric

 

[S.S.Tupperware]

Cool experiment... i mad a small DWF just for fun, i pulled a pepper 3-4 in and washed the soil off the roots, and put it in. It took a few days to yellow from shock i guess. but now a week later, it is greening nicly. i don't have any test stuff, so i'm just going to chance the water once a week, and more often if it looks like it. We'll see.

 

[Edgie]

DWC Douglah had aphids really bad a couple weeks ago, but after neem/lady bugs i thinks its under control!

I didn't think that Hydro systems could get aphids. I'll have to keep my eye out for those little buggers.

Are you just running individual buckets or are they on some type of recirculating system? Thanks.

 

[spongey600]

I didn't think that Hydro systems could get aphids. I'll have to keep my eye out for those little buggers.

Are you just running individual buckets or are they on some type of recirculating system? Thanks.

oh they can get them bastards! the buckets are out on my balcony, its not an indoor grow. so being outside the can catch anything that the others have. these are stand alone buckets. when i finally get a house i will be taking all 12 bucets i have avail and turning them into a recurculating DWC set up with a large resivoir.

Eric

 

[spongey600]

Cool experiment... i mad a small DWF just for fun, i pulled a pepper 3-4 in and washed the soil off the roots, and put it in. It took a few days to yellow from shock i guess. but now a week later, it is greening nicly. i don't have any test stuff, so i'm just going to chance the water once a week, and more often if it looks like it. We'll see.

i have taken 3 plants so far that were stunted and over watered, washed off the soil and placed in a DWC and within 3 weeks had new growth and the roots were growing out the bottom of the basket! after a month i moved them back to soil and not they are growing great! i had a choc bhut that was 3" tall and the main stalk had died but a main side shoot was still haning in there, revived it in the DWC and now its about 1.5 ft tall and has flowers all over it