With weed getting legalized in so many US states with the possibility to grow your own in many as well, more and more people are trying their luck at cultivating marijuana in the backyard. If you train yourself in cultivating weed at home, you can enjoy less expensive cannabis that doesn’t take too much effort to get your hands on.
One of the most important things to consider when cultivating cannabis yourself is the choice of your growing medium and knowing the best weed growing methods is crucial to ensure that you get a good batch every time.
Let’s take a look at some of the best and most popular weed growing methods that you can start using.
Soil – Most Common
Growing weed in soil is one the most common ways that people do it. There are many benefits that come with this like easy access to soil, an easy process, no need for special equipment, the ability to grow a lot of weed, and low costs. However, there are some risks you can also run into, including:
- Taking into account weather and climate.
- Giving it a significant amount of time and supervision.
- Having little to no control over bacterial impact and the organic matter in the soil.
If you follow the right steps though, growing weed in soil can lead to very healthy plants that provide you with marijuana that can last you a year.
Hydroponics – Innovative
When it comes to hydroponic weed vs soil weed, the debate rages on as to which method is better. For cannabis breeders, however, the benefits of hydroponic farming are in the fact that it takes soil out of the picture and along with it all the challenges that come with using natural soil for farming. Other benefits include faster access to nutrients, a faster overall growth cycle, and a lesser need for human supervision. There are various hydroponic growing methods, such as the kratky method.
However, some downsides that come with using hydroponic weed vs soil include:
- Being more difficult for beginners.
- Having higher costs for the systems.
Peat Moss – Lower Risk
When it comes to alternative mediums, people usually debate between peat moss vs coco coir. Using peat moss to cultivate weed has a number of benefits. The main ones among these are that the chances of getting a good harvest are higher and the risk of failure is lower. Other than that, peat moss has healthy nutrients that are added to cannabis, it retains water quite well, it helps with acidification, and it is very resistant.
With that said, in the coconut coir vs peat moss debate, the following negatives also come up:
- It takes weeks to prepare as a growing medium.
- It is not a very sustainable method.
- It has the ability to lead to soil compression.
Coco Coir – Sustainable
Growing cannabis in coco coir vs soil is another debate that carries on. Coco coir offers a very sustainable alternative to growing marijuana that offers great results thanks to the fibers inside that create an almost perfect growing environment. Coco coir also retains water very well and has a balanced pH range of 6.5 to 7.0, all of which helps get a healthy harvest. To increase the chances of a successful harvest, perlite is usually added to coco coir for increased oxygen and to help with root development.
In a debate of growing cannabis in coco coir vs soil, the results of the former are often better. However, there are some challenges here as well:
- It requires additional nutrients.
- Growers need to be experienced and skilled.
- Hydration is required to activate the medium.
Rockwool – Strange but Effective
While everyone talks about peat moss vs coco coir or hydroponic weed vs soil weed, many forget that Rockwool offers the perfect medium for cannabis to be cultivated in, especially in hydroponic setups. The material has the ability to retain water naturally and it also provides a very good amount of aeration to roots. Rockwool is also sterile and has plenty of benefits that appeal to first-time cannabis growers.
The negatives that are associated with this medium are more related to sustainability than anything else because:
- It is not a biodegradable material.
- Its manufacturing process is not friendly to the environment.
On top of that, stabilizing the pH of water when using Rockwool can be a big challenge.
Conclusion
There are many different methods you can use to cultivate cannabis if you know what you’re doing. Whether you’re debating between growing cannabis in coco coir vs soil or between coconut coir vs peat moss, it is smart to be aware of the pros and cons before you get started with any one of them.
Among these weed growing methods, we can say that soil is generally the easiest and cheapest medium you can go with. This makes it the ideal choice for beginners who have no prior experience, so it’s a good idea to start with soil and then move on to another alternative if you feel it will benefit your grow.
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