Type of cultivation

Soil culture

Soil is the base substrate for most plants. It's made from organic and mineral materials and should contains life to be healthy. Good soil hosts hundreds or thousands of different organisms. From mushrooms to worms, all these life contribute to nourishing and oxygenating the soil.

Outside, each soil contains a different amount and variety of texture and life. Adding to that the local weather, we call it the terroir.

Inside, soil will partly determine the quality of the crop (the other part depends on the genetic and type of light). Usually, organic and alive soil give best results, allowing the plant to show its whole potency.

Be careful when buying soil in supermarkets or random plant shops, they are often low quality, and are sometimes not clean. The most common problems is that black gnats are already living in there or unwanted mushrooms have already developed.

Best soil is usually found in grow-shops. There are mainly 2 kinds: the All Mix and the Light Mix.

All mix soil contains in it a fair amount of nutrients, which means there will be no need to add nutrients during 3 or 4 weeks. Of course it is possible to give additional nutrients to maximise the crop, but not completely necessary.

Light mix soil contains very little amount of nutrients. After 2 weeks, it becomes imperative to give nutrients otherwise plants will rapidly ask for food and stop growing (or blooming).

A different approach is to use coco fiber base substrate. This substrate is particular because it allows roots to breath much more than soil. At the same time, it gets dehydrated very fast, it is common to have to water everyday (or even more) when plants are well developed. Also, the supply of nutrients is more consistent because it is drained more easily. This substrate is more related to hydroponic technique because of its features.

Hydroponic culture

Hydroponic system is a bit technical to prepare but results can be worth it. There are thousands of different systems all having different features and complexity.

The general idea is to use a neutral substrate in which water will flow regularly. The water will contain all the food that plants need and will give lots of oxygen to the roots.

Plants grow faster and taller, with a bigger yield than regular soil. The overall plant cycle can be shortened. Everytime you add something to the water, plants will respond in a few hours, which is very interesting to closely control the health of your plant.

The counterpart is that this system requires care and time, as little problems occur often (blocked pipe, PH variation...). Also, most strains will not show their full aroma range because the terroir is missing. But don't worry, it doesn't mean your weed will be tasteless...

To get set up, you will need a growing substrate and a water system.

The most used substrate are clay pellets, rockwool, coco fiber or a mix of perlite and vermiculite.

Many different water systems work very well. The most simple is to have a tank half filled of water, with a pump bringing the water to the plant on top of it. It is imperative to use an air pump to bring oxygen in the water, and a water pump to bring water to the plant, unless you want to use gravity...

Make sure you use fertilizer that fits with the hydroponic system, otherwise many problems can arise...