@patchman brings up a valid point, while gas lamps may not be ideal, and are expensive to use, if a grower has his or her operation dialed in it will perform well. The difference in performance and production is not that great between the 2 technologies that I would consider the switch mandatory. Switching from Gas lamps to LED requires a complete overhaul of the way you grow. You need to adjust HVAC totally.
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Yes true and I belive I touched on that in my first reply.
Thatās the barrier for some people, while itās not a better way to grow they are comfortable growing that way and the change is to much to fathom for them.
Itās the same as those that grow in soil and refused to switch to hydro or soil less
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Ok @Nicky this is where I differ with many. I believe that healthy, worm loaded, composted loamy soil with lots of drainage is superior to any other growing medium, and heres whyā¦
First off its a renewable resource, and can be reused without the need to flush. Healthy soil is also a great ph buffer, not that even bother to check soil ph?
Soil is full of living organism in concert with minerals, water and air that help to continuously feed whatever plant is growing there. Plants dont have to worry about ph swings to get what they need because of a healthy biome.
Most importantly, growing in good ol fashion dirt is super easy! Just pour water and a few natural ammendments onto it and thats all folks!
I have grown, liquid hydro, and coco and mixed medium and if I had to grow in anything other than dirt, it would be liquid hydro hands down. The only thing I dont like about hydro is the fact that plants are not easy to transplant outdoors into soil. That necessitates the grower to add the cloning step into it again. Not a big deal butā¦ the other massive downside to liquid hydro is power outages, they seem to occur here on a monthly basis.
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Iād be down to try multiple methods to growing but I do agree with @Cannabian I would prefer just to have to pour water when needed and add a few natural things with it and thatās it but I also like to measure out the different nutes also I guess I just like to learn a bit of everything so I have the knowledge if needed
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Agree to disagree =p
As side from the power outages out there, they are bad out there I feel your pain. You need a generator lol
Soils a meh medium =p
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Depends on your soil! I get mine from a cottonwood bog, hippies have been growing stellar cannabis with this soil for decades! This isnt landscaping dirt. Its rich and black with good drainage and lots of microorganisms. Its the stuff nature takes hundreds of years to make a foot of.
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Oh and with this meh soil, Im going to win the solo cup challenge! So there!
Heres my entry! Take that! Meenie
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Hey Nicky and Cannabian-
I guess I kind of started this debate. Nicky, you are an accomplished grower. I respect your opinion when it comes to growing. Its clear that you are dialed in with growing in coco. You have found the style that is best for you. Cannabian grows in a different style, with living soil. And he is getting dialed in to that. Both styles can grow great cannabis. I donāt know, maybe its an age thing. Looking at what we have done to our environment, I wanted to grow naturally without chemicals and measurements and all. Just water and go. And being poor, getting to reuse soil is a benefit. I know that neither one of you will give an inch on your stance on why you grow the way you do. Thatās good- it means you feel strongly about growing this great plant. And that is the tie that binds us. Its why we came to this site. We love to grow marijuana. We are all in the same army, we just have different specializations!! Good Saturday night everyone! Now what did I do with that vapeā¦
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We all have our super power! I prefer the earth for reason of simplicity and enjoy the concept of letting nature having a say in the end product. It doesnt mean its the best or the only way, its a personal preference. Also, it reduces my carbon footprint some as I dont require as much electrical use. I can also keep the smell out of my living quarters.
Some like wine, others wiskey, and others beer. I agree the greatest amount if control over a plant is indoor, that is a no brainer. Getting more consistent growth is also easier indoors. Quality, has a lot to do with luck in an outdoor grow, as much as having a basic understanding of what works and what doesnāt.
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I like a healthy debate 
I appreciate your words and views as well as @Cannabian (Infact heās sorta my parents neighbour we just havenāt met yet maybe next summer lol)
I do want to pry just a little more though because I can understand where soil growers come from in the hope to grow with such a basic eco friendly way. I grew up on a 500 acre ranch off grid and have grown in soil most of my life so I am humbled by that experience.
My question to you @patchman is how do you plan to re use soil because that is a bit of a broad statement, thus Iām not exactly sure of how you plan to do this.
With the right plan and enough space soil grows can be the most environmentally friendly I will give you that but it has much more limitions in my view.
If you want to grow in soil and greatly reduce your environmental footprint my suggestion is to grow photos definitely not autos.
Hopefully you have nice weather and can grow outdoors (as @Cannabian knows a greenhouse is a huge advantage) this all takes space, which you would want lots of in order to make a worm box and a compost (a well designed compost at that because so many are very poorly designed and take forever to get results).
With this you can produce great soil and then add your perlite at 30% minium, I would shoot for more of a 40-50%. Now your going to want to slowly pot your plant up from a solo cup to a 1 gallon to a 3 gallon to a 10-20 gallon depending on how long your veg period is.
The thing with soil is you want really nice good quality soil but it has to also be nice and airey thus the Perlitre in order for bigger stronger faster growing roots. That again takes up space, and a large container is needed to avoid packing your small container with super rich soil that may stunt the growth of your plant since its to rich.
If I was living in a location with better outdoor weather, and I had the land like @Cannabian (since I donāt my parents do, one has 80 acres near him and another has the 500 acres about 3hr SW of him) I would totally build a setup like explained above. This is what @Cannabian has done to a degree I just donāt know his compost method and I donāt know to what extent he has remediated the soil but again also growing in the ground is a by far the best with remediation of the main area. Pots are easier but they donāt produce as good as results.
So @Cannabian what is your compost setup like?
Did you remediate the soil in your green house area? If not then why? Just due to labour? I have a buddy with a bobcat that has a backhoe attachment in silver Creek heās also a jman mechanic so let me know if you ever need a bobcat guy or a mechanic
Indoor growing is more common on this forum and thatās why I suggest coco, which is also environmentally friendly and can be re used. CoCo can be used with organics, although not autopots which I swear by.
Personally I think organics is a bit of a weird term, salt based nutrients are simply just concentrated chemicals. Organics are themselves made up of chemicals, autopots have ZERO waste water and I belive are more environmentally friendly than hydro or coco without autopots. When I dump my pots at the end of the grow it goes into a green bin and hauled away to my local city compost, this aids in alot of the kitchen scraps me and the rest of the city throw out. In the spring I cna go get some back gold soil from the city for cheap and they do a much better job composting it then I could in my tiny backyard.
It comes down to what your household setup is going to be setup to do.
I consider my dry nutrient, coco autopots to be environmentally friendly aside from the plastic my 25lb bag of nutrients come in once every two years as well as the plastic my perlite and coco come in (wish they would do burlap but no one does)
If you have a large grow area and want to grow photos then you can totally run soil and get good results your grows just going to be slower and more work/space is needed.
Unfortunately I donāt have that luxury, Iām 32 and my āhouseā is a starter home itās a 1978 mobile home with a small back yard and Iām using a whole bedroom for my grow room.
Ps I love my little house and in 3k sheās all mine haha, fully renovated.
Here is my grow roomā¦
Before
After (older pic but you get the idea)
I was going to build a greenhouse on my back fence but didnāt get around to it this year, covid robbing my bank account and all.
Instead I just put them in coco autopots on the deck and they worked.
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All goid points! And you definitely get results no denying that!
I have no perlite in my soil. Its the straight goods, probably could use a bunch though? I also live in a double wide 
my wife and I moved here from the Yukon with nothing. My mom moved here from Victoria around 30 years ago. Ive been here off and on around that long 18 years as a permanent guy. We bought this place because real estate was ridiculously expensive at the time and it was all we could afford. Not our dream home but it keeps us warm and dry. Downsideā¦ kids have to bus to Salmon Arm for school. 3 hours on the bus each day!
I use worms and scraps, leaves, wood chips composted, and rotten hay. Hay is a big one! ! The soil is from a cottonwood bog and requires no nutrients forbthe first year. It will require magnesium after a bunch of waterings and a big plant. I aslo grow crimson clover as a nitrogen fixer during the veg stage. Pretty easy, just sprinkle some seed down and cover with 1/4 inch of soil add water BAM! Instant free N
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I know I did the bus trip from Tappen when I was a kid =p
Itās Godās country of course real estate is expensive I honestly canāt think of a better place to live in the world I challenge any state /province to beat BC.
Long term is the smartest place to be in the world probably with global warming, water running low in so many places on earth, natural disasters everywhere else the worst we get is the odd fire here and there. You can grow food, tons of fresh water, enough sun light,Ong enough summer, cold enough winter to kill off things and keep the vagabonds at bay mostly. You can hunt and fishā¦ Like bc is the best place in the world and Iāve traveled a fair bit.
Ps yes add perlite you cheap. Hippy hahah
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Yeah its a special little pocket of paradise here for sure. We are just on the edge of many strains though, and if you choose wrongly you will be left with a plant that is frozen solid with half finished buds dangling off it.
Autos brother, autos =p
Ive been meaning to try the grizzly strains, but I hear its kinda home growny smelling and tasting, kinda like the Lesquiti Island weed from Vancouver Island area. Not a big fan of the hay like homegrown smelling pot. The plants get huge and finish early though. Thats from Kootenay Seeds guys.
Northern lights auto
Purple Afghani auto
If you can find a island sweet skunk auto or a texada timewarp or even a pinewarp auto (not from Pacific Seed though of course, I do belive timewarp auto crosses can be found)
Moby dick auto
Hmmm maybe some others your climate isnāt that bad mines worse
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Kootenay mountain seeds has Tuxeda Timewarp seed
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Seed stays good for 9 years?
Its minus 4 c here right now! Minus 9 last nightā¦ do its pretty hostile outside.
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Is that a Hydro system in tent and back yard?
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