Which is Best for You

For many people, cannabis growing is a mix of science and art. To produce crops, you follow the logical parameters of your chosen cultivation method along with your personal preferences. Your choice of growing cannabis with living soil or liquid nutrients will also be dictated by both science and personal taste.

While both living soil and liquid nutrients are both effective ways to feed cannabis plants, these methods are unique from one another. Growing with living soil is a hands-off sort of approach where you let mother nature take her course. Conversely, liquid nutrients offer a more hands-on type of cultivation with increased control over garden inputs.

Growing Cannabis with Living Soil

The process of growing with living soil is akin to laid-back parenting. With living soil, cannabis plants are simply watered and allowed to absorb nutrients from the ground as needed. As such, cultivating in living soil most closely matches how cannabis grows in the natural world.

The most discerning feature of growing with living soil is using a cultivation medium (soil) that is alive with an array of microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, and protozoa. In turn, these microorganisms break down rich organic compounds in the soil so they are available for cannabis plants to consume. (Read also: How Living Soil Benefits Cannabis)

The foundational blocks of any living soil are amendments and inoculants that are mixed and composted in the soil before planting crops. After microorganisms have had a chance to colonize the soil and break down the amendments, the soil is ready for planting.

Once your cannabis plants are growing, you might have to add amendments and inoculants a few more times for the best results – but this all depends on your operation.

Growing Cannabis with Liquid Nutrients

Growing with liquid nutrients is more reminiscent of involved, hands-on parenting. When you use liquid nutrients, plants are grown in relatively inert substrates and fed nutrients directly when watered. This type of precision feeding came along with the rise of hydroponics and controlled environment agriculture (CEA).

Many people that grow with liquid nutrients follow the feeding schedule provided by the fertilizer manufacturer. As such, you have direct insight into exactly what you are feeding your cannabis plants on any given day. As you shift from vegetative growth to flowering, you see the different macronutrients and micronutrients that your plants are consuming.

Since liquid nutrients are fed to crops with every watering, these operations generally don’t rely on the cultivation substrate as a food source for plants. As such, many growers opt for relatively inert substrates like coco-coir when feeding with liquid nutrients. In some cases, these substrates include amendments like bat guano or kelp, but still lack the microorganisms found in living soil.

Growing Plants as Nature Intended

If your primary aim as a grower is to produce crops exactly as nature intended, then living soil is the obvious choice.

When people first discovered landrace strains in places like Afghanistan and equatorial Africa, these cannabis plants were growing unattended. As a result, the plants were 100% reliant on organic compounds and microorganisms in the soil as a food source. In fact, all forests and grasslands on earth are supported by these symbiotic communities of bacteria, fungi, and protozoa that exist within the ground.

If you are interested in growing cannabis with living soil, be sure to purchase a blend that is more than just 100% organic – it also must contain the appropriate microorganisms. To illustrate, soil manufacturer Coast of Maine created their Stonington Blend for those growers interested in living soil. Using this quality soil mix, you can plant a container garden with cannabis and let the microorganisms do the rest of the work. (Read also: 4 Easy Steps to Super Soil for Thriving Cannabis Plants)

Precision Control Over Garden Inputs

If you would like to know exactly what your cannabis plants are consuming at any given moment, liquid nutrients are a safe bet for you.

Many commercial growers put a high value on the ability to have precise control over garden inputs. With commercial CEA operations, cultivators can monitor everything in their gardens down to the most minuscule details—including nutrients, water, light, temperature, humidity, and CO₂. Whether you hand mix nutrients or use a fertigation system, growing with liquid nutrients is a perfect fit for this precision school of thought.

Especially when it comes to hydroponics where slight variances in pH can wreak havoc on a garden, precision control is of the utmost importance. This same methodology applies to inert substrates or non-living soil mixes used with container gardens and liquid nutrients. For example, Coast of Maine developed its Aeration Formula specifically with liquid nutrients in mind. This 70/30 coir/perlite blend is amended with lobster meal and kelp to give your plants some foundational food, yet leaves ample room for feeding with liquid nutrients.

Garden Chores and Labor

If you are concerned with cutting down on the amount of labor that comes along with growing cannabis, living soil could be a great option.

When you cultivate cannabis with living soil, the beneficial organisms beneath the ground do a bulk of the work in delivering food to the root zone. Whether it be bacteria or fungi, these microorganisms break down nutrients and make them more available for your cannabis plants. When your living soil is properly amended, it doesn’t take much effort to keep a cannabis crop fed throughout its entire lifespan.

While people that grow with liquid nutrients must mix their formula with every feeding, living soil allows you to circumvent this repetitive and laborious task. Since irrigating living soil with straight water, you can substantially cut down on the amount of total labor it takes to produce a cannabis crop.

Learning for Beginner Growers

If you are new to cannabis growing, you are well-advised to work with liquid nutrients.

When using liquid nutrients, you can purchase everything you need for an entire crop in a single set – along with a detailed feeding calendar. Not only will you get precise instructions on what to feed your cannabis plants, but you will also learn which macronutrients and micronutrients are important in different growth phases. Without such foundational knowledge as the N-P-K ratio, it can be tough to ever progress as a cannabis grower. (Read also: 5 Things Newbie Cannabis Growers Need to Know)

While living soil offers a hands-off method for growing cannabis, it often takes more experienced cultivators to master this approach. When you kick off a cultivation season, you must be sure that your soil blend is perfectly mixed to provide your plants with everything they need throughout their lifespan. Not only must you understand how composting works, but you also need to know how nutrients become more available in time with living soil.

Summary
You can grow amazing cannabis crops with living soil and liquid nutrients. Yet, these cultivation methods are unique from one another. Growing with living soil is a hands-off approach while using liquid nutrients is a more hands-on type of cultivation. If you aren’t sure which method is best for you, it’s advisable to consider the size of your garden, your personal taste, as well as your skills as a grower.

Because they give you such detailed insight into what’s happening beneath the soil, liquid nutrients are almost always a better choice for newbie cultivators. As you expand your skills, working with living soil could very well become more appealing. When growers come to master living soil, they often take as much pride in their communities of microorganisms as they do in the cannabis plants themselves. In turn, this high-level of cultivation often leads to high-quality flowers renowned for their exquisite terpene profiles and outstanding bag appeal.

In the end, one method of cannabis growing is not superior to another. Rather, both living soil and liquid nutrients are different takes on the same process of recreating conditions where cannabis plants thrive in mother nature.

Coast of Maine Organics is a local New England Company that has been composting lobster shells, kelp, salmon and numerous other ocean resources for more than 20 years. To learn more, visit coastofmaine.com.