Alternative medicine is growing in popularity with more than 30% of adults and more than 10% of children using it. Cannabis is included in this alternative medicine making the need for it rise. This means other methods, including hydroponic growing are being used, to meet the growing demand. While there are differences between soil growing and hydroponic growing, there are also advantages over using one or another. Read below to see the advantages of hydroponic growing compared with dry soil growing of cannabis.
No Dirt
When you choose to hydroponically grow cannabis you eliminate the soil and dirt which in turns means less mess for you. While soil growing has been tried and true over the years, it sure can be a mess. Soil growing also means less control over your plants. When you grow your plants hydroponically you have more control over things such as light, so you can ensure that the light reaches all parts of the plants. This can eliminate the need for multiple grow lights in order to reach all parts of the plant. Temperature control can also be controlled with hydroponics, meaning less work on your part.
Nutrients
Hydroponically grown cannabis retains more nutrients than cannabis grown in soil. All the food that is provided to the plant is absorbed. Plants that are grown in soil only get some of the nutrients while the soil gets the rest, but hydroponic growing allows all of the nutrients to reach the plant.
Less Water
Dry growing your plants in soil means constant watering. The plants get some of the water but the soil gets most of it, especially if the soil is dry. Growing plants hydroponically means that your plants will never be robbed of water because dry soil soaks up all the water before it reaches the plants. Aside from less water being used, plant growth is as much as three times faster when grown hydroponically compared to soil grown.
Less Pests
Everyone knows that pests love soil. Keeping soil moist and not dry actually encourages more pests around your plants. Hydroponic growing means you don’t have to worry about these pests making themselves at home in the soil surrounding your plants. This can mean healthier plants with stronger thriving roots compared to soil growing.
No Re-potting
When plants reach a certain height sometimes it becomes necessary to move them to a larger pot to encourage more growth. With hydroponic growing, this step is not necessary. This can save time, energy, mess and possibly your plant. Transplanting plants doesn’t seem like a very hard process, but things can go wrong which can damage your plant. Dry soil that crumbles can cause roots to tear and break, which plants sometimes can’t recover from. This means your once thriving plant won’t continue to thrive after re-potting it.
Roots
The roots of a plant are a clear indication as to how well they are growing. Inspecting roots can show disease and pests that are attacking the plant. Inspecting roots of plants grown in the soil is almost impossible, but inspecting roots of hydroponic plants is much easier and more practical. The roots are visible and easier to see which helps eliminate plants which show signs of disease before more plants are infected.
Less Chemicals
Medically necessary cannabis needs to be a pure as possible. Growing your plants in soil can lead to the use of many more chemicals that hydroponic growing doesn’t need. Some patients can experience serious side effects from the chemicals and organic contaminants found in the soil used to grow the cannabis. Hydroponic growing uses no chemicals and the water contains no general organics which can produce side effects for patients suffering from certain medical conditions. This is another reason why hydroponic growing is preferred over soil growing.
The benefits are many. Knowing what you are doing can yield many more plants that traditional methods. Research, learn and perfect hydroponic growing for an abundant crop. With a little work, and maybe some trial and error you too can find that hydroponic growing works better, is safer and easier than growing in soil.
