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

[buckfastley]

I'm not even sure if this is a myth, but it is a sentiment I have come across frequently while researching how to grow Cannabis. So I would like to throw it out to you guys. Specifically:

1. Is there any verifiable reason that perfectly grown hydroponic weed would have a different/lesser flavor/terpene profile then the same perfectly grown weed in soil?

2. Is there any hypothetical reason that hydroponic weed would have a different or lesser flavor/terpene profile then weed grown in soil?

 

[elcoloan]

While experts come by, I'll say I believe it's just too difficult to provide everything a healthy living soil can, but with a lot of effort or with godd nutrient lines you can get very close. Also, it seems some strains somehow taste better in hydro than in soil and viceversa.

 

[Bob's Auto's]

I feel a healthy discussion coming...

There's lot's of scientific evidence to the contrary. Plants grown in a hydroponic setup can achieve far greater harvests, are healthier and have more flavour then when grown in soil. The misconception that people have with flavorless produce grown in hydroponics is all to blame on the variety that's being grown. Farmers want a produce with a certain shape and format and choose strains which produce those in a stable form. What the farmer should have to do is choose based on flavor and texture, but then you pay 2$ / tomato because of all the manual labor that goes into farming it...
The same goes for our beloved plant. Bro-science dictates that plants grown in soil become more flavorful, but there's nothing extra in the plant just because it's grown in soil. When grown in a large enough DWC you can create monster plants with monster yield ánd I can tell you the flavor will be the same as if it where grown in soil if not better.

But that's my opinion

 

[Death The Cultivator]

I agree with @AutoBobje especially with all the ways we can inoculate substrates and advancements in lighting are getting fuller spectra that aid in development of flavor profiles and overall growth. Imo, there is no downside to hydro except for the initial investment but

 

[hecno]

I think I know where this thought comes from , I grow in organic soil and have a Rep for the best tasting cannabis around . Now here is the kicker , we can't get well grow Hydro so have no idea what it is like . Yes there is Hydro around grown by the people that are in it for the money and not in it for pride , just cash . I see no reason it should not be as good as soil grown if grown with love .

 

[Doug58]

Personally, I can't taste the difference in taste of any type or strain of weed, whether I grow it myself, or get it from a dispensary in my state or other legal states. They all taste the same to me. I've probably grown 15 different strains. Smell of cured marijuana is another thing. They almost all smell different, spice, pine, berries, citrus endless smells. But when it comes to smoking they are all the same, I can't tell the difference for the most part.

What I don't get is that back in the 70's and 80's weed seemed to have a different smell when smoked. But I can't seem to identify that smell when I smoke now. Might be just old age.

 

[Sour D]

I think most would say organic grown will taste better than salt based. Therefore the question would be can you grow "perfectly", hydro organically? Another Bro science way would be to look to cup winners and how they were grown. IDK that there is an actual scientific taste test.

 

[elcoloan]

The misconception that people have with flavorless produce grown in hydroponics is all to blame on the variety that's being grown

I wouldn't say the variety has all the fault... We have seen first hand how the fewer elements a nute has the less flavors -among other things- we get form cuts of same a same mother... we see this also happens with basil. The 17 essentials are really ESSENTIAL.

BTW, I used to be an "only organic flowers in my vaporizer" guy, but after using several supplements and well balanced hydro nutes I started switching over to the hydro side. I am even now finding my hydro harvests more enjoyable than the organic-soil ones (not an expert in any really). Heck, we have done several runs of Black DOG cuts and the organic flowers are just too diesel tasting for us, while the cut grown with well balanced and complete mineral or mineral-organic nutes really are just a rainbow of flavors -including diesel in this particular case.

I think with more precise testing not of just cannabinoids but also terpenes, falvanoids and thing such as brix, these discussion could really be more productive, not to mention how the topic can be seen from several persepectives: hydro vs soil, mineral vs organic nutes, feeding the plant vs feeding the soil, organic hydro vs mineral hydro, etc.

Oh, and at least in my country, hydro weed in the street used to be worse than soil weed... but after the relativelty recent legalization of medcinal cannabis, I gotta say hydro street weed has improved A LOT. Still prefer our home grown, but the point is, a lot of misconception also comes from comparing street weed or weed grown by greedy people who want money fast and easy, and don't grow with the love @hecno mentions, and even soil weed grown without love can taste like crap.

 

[Proph]

Flavor comes from a proper cure. You can grow perfect plants in either style and both can taste like ass if not cured correctly. Yes, there are several aspects of soil growing that can't be duplicated in hydro, and vice versa. The flavor/taste has more to do with genetics and a proper cure, than it does the grow style the plant was grown in.

 

[buckfastley]

Yes, there are several aspects of soil growing that can't be duplicated in hydro, and vice versa.

Which of these aspects stand out to you as most significant?