"Hydroponically grown Cannabis is less flavorful compared to soil grown."

[Death The Cultivator]

Fascinating information, thanks for posting. Where is the data from?

As to the home grown vs. commercial, I recently tried two sativa (so called) strains from a couple local dispensaries just to see how I reacted to the most sativa strains on offer. One of the two was the harshest vape on my throat that I have ever experienced. I did not realize how bad that issue could be. The other is not as harsh, but as to effects, meh. Neither is a potent as my Mephisto 24 Carat, and I did not get anything like the happy giggles etc. advertised. Pretty much an expensive failed experiment at ~$15/gram, and likely the last one for quite a while. My home grown is looking pretty good.

Was $15/g their most expensive?

 

[Olderfart]

Was $15/g their most expensive?

I'm not sure, but likely close. The price thing was interesting. I had a recommendation from a long time stoner acquaintance of mine for a strain that was a real bargain when he bought some. As in ~$7/ gram or so as I recall, and really nice bud. When I got the the same dispensary a month or so later, the price was pretty much double - it seems that the word got out, ain't capitalism neat? The outfit must be doing well, they are opening a second store in town. Which will make three for a modest sized town.

Anyway, I have lost track of how many dispensary strains I have tried, and as far as I can tell, the best of them was no better than equal to my worst home grown. At ~$15/gram, my first indoor grow paid for all my diy weed mischief, not to mention all the dispensary weed I have ever bought, by at least 2-3 times. Works for me.

 

[Bruce Campbell]

Relationship among subjective responses, flavor, and chemical composition across more than 800 commercial cannabis varieties
Alethia de la Fuente, Federico Zamberlan, Andrés Sánchez Ferrán, Facundo Carrillo, Enzo Tagliazucchi, and Carla Pallavicini
J Cannabis Res. 2020; 2: 21.
Published online 2020 Jul 17. doi: 10.1186/s42238-020-00028-y

Interesting approach - they approached it from the other end by looking at how people described flavor/aroma/high for different strains and whether that correlated with actual THC/cannabinoid/terpene content. Sort of testing the "wine connoisseur hypothesis" - can people actually distinguish between flavors/etc, or are they just making it all up and/or is it just 100% subjective.

They found that, yes - different people did classify flavor/aroma relatively the same, and it was correlated to terpene content. But, their focus was more on large differences across different strains. The next step would be whether smaller differences between strains can be distinguished and whether/how those could vary with environmental conditions.

Still, I find the results highly suspect, and this study obviously needs to be repeated....
Where can I sign up?

 

[budwise]

It's all about the microbes.

This....

When you feed organically. Microbes break down and consume carbon-containing macromolecules and excrete inorganic ions such as phosphates ammonia and potassium, which the plants then takes up. In Hydro these inorganic ions are supplied to the plant immediately within the nutrient solution, which the plant can immediately feed on. I like looking at it as shelled lobster vs unshelled lobster... one requires more work, same shit on the inside.

However, it is a bit more complicated as its not just inorganic substances that the plant is provided with in a living substrate. microbes are also a source of secondary metabolites, things like hormones, amino acids, and other biostimulants. In my opinion, I think its safe to say that no nutrient bottle (organic or inorganic) can compare to the sheer diversity or complexity of biostimulants that microbes will prepare and deliver to your plant.

NOTICE i said "LIVING SUBSTRATE" not soil/hydro i really think thats important because hydro can be made to "Live" as well. especailly when you use organic substrates such as coco coir where microbes can flourish but the low CEC still makes it suitable for hydroponic growth techniques.
Anyone ever head of Bioponics? Hydroponics can be completely organic too, Biotabs in coco coir autopots are a good example in my opinion, same with aquaponics (the complicated fish shit stuff).

To conclude i wouldnt say that hydroponic products are lower quality in fact i think that because you can potentially introduce organic or living principles into a hydroponic setup, and precisely control your plants nutrient intake id say ultimately hydro has the highest potential to form higher quality crops. of course i could be wrong but this is how i see it

 

[Auto Tay]

Not only that but hps buds taste and look better than LED bud imo but that's another story. I grew my own cuttings in soil and coco and hands down the soil won in every category except yield.

 

[pop22]

No, that is not true, it has been proven that LED grown buds are richer in terpenes, not only becuase of LED superior spectrum, but also because there is no Infrared to cook of those terpenes. I'll put my LED grown bud up against ANY HPS grown bud. LED's not better? The why did Gavita sell of it's HPS divison to concentrate on LED lighting?

Not only that but hps buds taste and look better than LED bud imo but that's another story. I grew my own cuttings in soil and coco and hands down the soil won in every category except yield.

 

[AMG]

LED kicks HPS butt everyday.

 

[Auto Tay]

No, that is not true, it has been proven that LED grown buds are richer in terpenes, not only becuase of LED superior spectrum, but also because there is no Infrared to cook of those terpenes. I'll put my LED grown bud up against ANY HPS grown bud. LED's not better? The why did Gavita sell of it's HPS divison to concentrate on LED lighting?

Because LEDs are more efficient but that's not really the point. Soil terps>coco terps

 

[pop22]

Show me the science on how these hormones, amino acids, and other biostimulants enter the plant. My understanding is far from complete but I see no mechanism that will allow these large compounds to enter the plant.

This....

When you feed organically. Microbes break down and consume carbon-containing macromolecules and excrete inorganic ions such as phosphates ammonia and potassium, which the plants then takes up. In Hydro these inorganic ions are supplied to the plant immediately within the nutrient solution, which the plant can immediately feed on. I like looking at it as shelled lobster vs unshelled lobster... one requires more work, same shit on the inside.

However, it is a bit more complicated as its not just inorganic substances that the plant is provided with in a living substrate. microbes are also a source of secondary metabolites, things like hormones, amino acids, and other biostimulants. In my opinion, I think its safe to say that no nutrient bottle (organic or inorganic) can compare to the sheer diversity or complexity of biostimulants that microbes will prepare and deliver to your plant.

NOTICE i said "LIVING SUBSTRATE" not soil/hydro i really think thats important because hydro can be made to "Live" as well. especailly when you use organic substrates such as coco coir where microbes can flourish but the low CEC still makes it suitable for hydroponic growth techniques.
Anyone ever head of Bioponics? Hydroponics can be completely organic too, Biotabs in coco coir autopots are a good example in my opinion, same with aquaponics (the complicated fish shit stuff).

To conclude i wouldnt say that hydroponic products are lower quality in fact i think that because you can potentially introduce organic or living principles into a hydroponic setup, and precisely control your plants nutrient intake id say ultimately hydro has the highest potential to form higher quality crops. of course i could be wrong but this is how i see it

 

[Peacefulgarden]

Biggest plants I have seen are outdoor and organic. Starting to think hydro ‘grows faster’ mostly because in most cases they are using closer to ideal ph and again, in most cases, a more ‘balanced’ feed than most organic growers just throwing who knows what on the plant.

to be more on topic, you will have healthier plants in organics, less dis-ease and less bugs, look up brix. All this ‘elevates’ the plants in every way, flavor and terps included.

just my opinion.