Though the growing systems themselves can be extremely sophisticated, the principles behind hydroponic growing are actually very simple. With soil growing, you introduce water and nutrients to you plants through the soil itself, which the roots spread out through in order to access and soak up what the plant needs to grow. In hydroponic setups, the soil is done away with entirely and instead replaced with nothing but nutrient solution. Which in turns provides the plants with everything they need, though in a much larger, more constant and often more highly concentrated supply.

Of course the biggest question is that of whether it makes any difference at all in terms of what you get out of the deal. The short answer is yes…yes it does. Chances are you will find most seasoned stoners swearing by soil growing when it comes to creating weed that’s all about epic aroma and flavours. By contrast, if you’re simply out to grow as much as possible as quickly as possible, you might be told to go down the hydroponic route.

But in terms of evaluating which of the two options is best, it all comes down to your personal preferences and priorities. And of course, you’ll always get a totally different answer in accordance with whom you ask.