Growing Tips ►
The Secret of
High-Grade , Soil-Grown Plants by Jason Mispagel , contributing writer
Jason Mispagel is the co-owner and operator of Year-Round Garden , a grower ’ s supply center serving both home and commercial customers since 2016 . His extensive growing experience in hydroponics and soil dates to the early days of legalization in Colorado , where he served as one of the state ’ s early caregivers . Year-Round Garden . 1225 W 103rd St , Kansas City , MO . 816.216.6917 – FB : yrroundgarden ● IG : @ yrroundgarden
I often find myself recommending that first-time growers start in soil rather than hydroponics , simply because it tends to be more forgiving and doesn ’ t require quite the same level of attention . A water-only soil like SoHum in a five-gallon pot can easily carry a plant through four weeks of vegetative growth and eight – nine weeks of flowering without requiring any supplemental nutrients or maintenance . Give it good airflow and quality light , and you can find success right off the bat . You may not end up with the maximum possible yield , but you ’ ll score a quick win that ’ ll hopefully inspire you to continue growing . Over the years , I ’ ve found that the psychology of taking your first ▲ Dirt = Zero seed or clone all the Nutrition . way through harvest without any major hiccups has a tremendous impact on whether you ’ ll stick with growing your own cannabis in the future .
Unfortunately , the positive properties of soil that make it easier for a novice to get started can also lead to thinking of it as a “ dumb ” or imprecise medium that can ’ t compete with the precision of hydroponics when it comes to growing high-grade cannabis . That ’ s far from the truth ! I argue that soil is considerably more complex , offering even greater opportunities to grow the best plants possible .
So why do many of the larger cannabis cultivation facilities prefer hydroponics ? That boils down to consistency . It ’ s not necessarily a bad thing , but it ’ s a business thing . If you ’ re growing Blue Dream on a large scale and supplying a dozen different dispensaries , you want to be sure , not only for regulatory / lab testing purposes but for patient experience , that every gram you produce is nearly identical . At that scale , soil is much more difficult to manage not only for consistency but also logistically . Think about how much soil you ’ d need to grow a few thousand plants at a time , and then what you ’ d do with it when those plants were harvested , and a new round needed to be potted .
▲Soil = Packed with Nutrition .
I ’ m painting with a broad brush here , and I ’ m well aware that there are facilities that grow very successfully in soil . In general , the business benefit from using hydroponics tends to make it more appealing for larger scale grows .
Let ’ s get back to what makes soil so special . First , let ’ s distinguish “ soil ” from “ dirt .” Soil contains air , minerals , nutrients , organic matter , microbial life , and miniature ecosystems that can help feed a plant through its roots . Dirt is a combination of sand , silt , and clay with no nutritional content or living organisms . Dirt is more akin to hydroponic