Playbyking

I am going to be hopefully growing next year in college, and I'm trying to decide what will be better for me, hydro, aero, or soil. I realize that soil produces no noise at all, but how much noise is produced from an average pump for a hyrdoponic system, a system that could support 4-6 medium sized plants.

opt[i]c

Hey man,
I was doing some lil experiments using hydro and aero, and i made my own systems.
I didnt grow weed in them but i tried them using tomato seeds and the results were excellent.
With my setup i found the aero setup ( DWC bubbler ), made more noise, even though it was still minimal, since the air kept on bubbling through through the water; imagine water boiling ( it made 3/4 the noise ), if the setup is kept in a closet i dont think there would be much of a noise problem, except it is on 24/7 meaning it is more noticable even though it is a VERY easy method to use with good results.
I created a flood and drain hydro setup, using rockwool, and it proved to be quite good too ( not as good as the aero setup ), but made less noise, and the pump only switched on 4 times a day.
Go with AERO it produces beautiful results. BUT if it is your first time growing weed, i'd propose going for a soil/soiless mix as i did, 1 part vermiculite, 1 part perlite, 2 parts ground peatmoss. It is easy to grow in, holds the right amount of water, and already has some nutes.

Warloc730

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, helvetica, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by opt[i]c:
1 part vermiculite, 1 part perlite, 2 parts ground peatmoss. It is easy to grow in, holds the right amount of water, and already has some nutes. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I always thought that organic medias were never as good to use as pure hydro/aero because the organics in the media have a property of changing "usable" nutes into "stored" nutes. Would the ground peat moss/VL/PL mix be a good type of organic mix to combat this for someone beginning hydro or partial hydro? Would this mix be suitable for hand watering from the top? Would you recommend this mix for a beginner using a wick system?

I'm asking because I'm very eager to get into hydro, but I'm afraid I'll spend a bunch of cash (getting low on cash) and end up getting a crop sometime next year.

-War

opt[i]c

It is to be watered from above, by hand, even though i rigged a dripper onto the pot, so water drips slowly, keeping the soil moist, but not overwatering, since the medium holds exactly enough moisture, and drains the unwanted water.
This is the setup I use, proposed to me by Delta9 and lilbudie, and its quite forgiving to beginners ( like me ).
If its your first grow i propose this setup, i use a 250W H.P.S for my 3 girls , and they look good.
The setup i used for hydro tomatoes, was found on http://www.yahooka.com, and its a passive system, and the medium is rockwool. But im sure you could find better, somewhere if you have the time and money to spend on it.