Hydroponic Gardening Benefits

Until fairly recently, marijuana growers had to choose between the high speed of hydroponics or the high quality of organics.

If you’ve ever bought a bag of nugs that looked much nicer than they smoked, it was likely grown hydroponically with chemical fertilizers. I’ve often recommended against using hydroponics for medicinal gardens because of this. However, a boom in fertilizer companies aimed at a medical marijuana customer base has led to rapid advancements in organic hydroponics (A.K.A. hydro-organics).

In addition to improving the productivity of the medical marijuana industry, the development of organic hydroponic fertilizers is beneficial for the environment.

Traditional fertilizers, like the ones used by giant corporations to grow our food, can actually be quite damaging to their surroundings. Trace amounts of unused nutrients can begin to build up salts in the soil. These salts can change the pH of the soil, making certain nutrients unavailable to the plants. Even if the pH is treated, these salts can build up to levels that are toxic to plants.

These Hydroponic Fun Facts are a good summary of the benefits of hydroponic gardening, though there are a few things I’d like to note about it.

• The estimated 90% reduction in water use is a rather extreme figure. I’d expect this figure to be based on the contrast between outdoor soil grows and indoor hydroponic systems. Outdoors, the wet ground surface evaporates water very rapidly.  The difference in water usage between most indoor soil grows and indoor hydro grows would more likely average 30% – 60%.
• The 1/4 space listing does not pertain to container gardening. Root systems of hydroponic plants can be significantly smaller than those of soil plants. However, plant spacing is usually limited by the plant canopy size rather than the container size.
• Hydroponically grown marijuana will be ready to harvest 15% -25% earlier and may be larger than the same strain grown in soil. This means you harvest every 7 – 8 weeks instead of every 9 – 10 weeks (as an example), giving at least one extra harvest per year.
• It is also possible to grow in soil without the use of any chemical fertilizers, pesticides or (obviously) herbicides. Hydroponic gardens are significantly less vulnerable to pest infestations, but a well-maintained indoor garden of either type should easily remain pest free.

The benefits of hydroponics are very significant to anyone that grows marijuana. Growing organically in a hydroponic system is now just as easy as growing with chemicals. The only reason not to switch from soil to hydroponics now is personal preference.

These are a couple of the many organic hydroponic fertilizers available: I’ve used the Humboldt Nutrients Natural line of products in both soil and hydro systems with great success. Advanced Nutrients has long been a leader in quality and innovation with chemical hydroponic fertilizers, and have made a new organic variety, Iguana Juice, which I am excited to try.