NoobwannaB's Fabric Pot SIP method (works with hard pots too)

Hi everyone. I'm fairly new to this forum...been a member for awhile but made myself 'at home' elsewhere. I'm on an ipad, and this forum always lagged for me making any time spent here unbearably frustrating. Just found the app (TapaTalk) and was asked by a friend that recently found this forum to 'share the goods' here, so ...here goes.
It's caught on fast in this other forum and people are loving the results. I wasn't sure which area to post this in, but I'm sure the mods will take care of that

Since I'm new with no rep and a relatively new grower (started a year ago) you have no reason to take me seriously or trust me, but if you have some perlite, and a suitable tray/saucer laying around I challenge you to try it....you may just be pleasantly surprised. Doesn't matter to me....it's your grow.

This method is especially effective with organic soil, and was designed with it in mind, but I see no reason that it wouldn't work with bagged soil. It does go against everything we've been taught about the wet/dry cycles, but with organic soil the benefit of keeping it evenly moist is huge.

I love the health and vigor I've witnessed with a SIP (self irrigating planter) system, but have no room for 5 gallon buckets in my grow room. Frankly I like to keep my plants smallish and love the benefits of fabric pots as well, so I went looking for something that would provide the evenly moist condition for the soil (the benefit) without using large self contained buckets full of soil and came up with this.
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NoobwannaB's Fabric Pot SIP method (works with hard pots too)

1. You want a tray to hold the wicking material and water. Doesn't matter what size, kind, etc...you can use a plant saucer or a plastic swimming pool or anything in between. I started using seed flat trays and have moved up in size since.
More volume means more water/medium means less maintenance, but it's up to you. Also, the larger the tray the more pots you can fit inside.

2. You need to fill the tray with wicking material. I use perlite and think this works best, but I've been told that lava rock, hydroton and the like works also. ROCKS, stones, and anything that is bio degradable will NOT work. The stones won't wick and you don't want to use something that will break down causing issues with mold, smells, etc

3. Add water. I like to use an inverted water bottle so that I can gauge the water level but it's not necessary. The perlite will soak up the water so keep adding until it's at the level you want it which can be anything YOU want it to be, but I suggest at least an inch below the top of the perlite. The reason for this is you don't want your pots sitting directly in the water.



Sit your pots on the top of the perlite. That's it.
-You WILL have roots growing out of the bottom and sides if using a smartie after awhile. This is normal, and they usually dry up after awhile.
-You MAY see white mold on top of the soil for a few days (Santa's beard) until the system regulates itself. This is a good thing (means your soil is alive) and nothing to be alarmed about. The plant will back off pulling excess water after a few days and the 'good mold' will stop.
-You may (probably will) see a slight discoloration of the top layer if using perlite. This is algae because of the damp conditions and high light. It won't hurt anything, but if it bothers you, you can either cover the top with landscape fabric, black plastic, whatever, but I don't suggest using anything between the perlite and the bottom of the pot. Either cut holes or drape it around the pot(s).
*I now line my tray with weedblocker fabric before adding the perlite and leave a good amount of excess before cutting. After the perlite is added, I bring the excess up over the perlite and tuck it around the pots. It shades the perlite, and helps hold moisture in the tray as well....perfect.



Once the roots start growing out the bottom, within a few days the growth up top will explode because the plant has a steady supply of good, moist living soil, and that's because the soil has a good steady supply of water.

Enjoy!
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You CAN use hard pots, but smart pots work best. When you place hard pots make sure there are drain holes on the bottom of the pot, and push the pot down inside the perlite a bit so that it makes good contact with the soil through the drain holes. It's probably best to avoid moving hard pots much so that the wicking (via the drain holes) isn't interupted. You can move smart pots around as much as you like.

For teas and drenches, I suggest top watering outside of the tray..pull the pot out, water it with whatever and let it drain a bit before returning to the sip tray. I suggest this because imo pouring things into the res that have the potential to rot and smell doesn't appeal to me, but it is of course your choice. I found out the hard way using hydrolyzed fish ferts....not a pleasant clean up experience.

Photo courtesy of my good friend Richayy-thanks again sweetie!!



I challenge you to try this even if on a small scale with one plant...especially if you like smart pots. You're gonna love it.

Pretty simple, but I'll try my best to stop by daily to answer any questions you may have.

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Wow. Talk about a bomb
So much for "Would love to see you spit the Perlite Tray knowledge to more willing people."

I tried buddy

Hey NooB!

Threads don't bang around here like in the city, just watch the views. This site LURKS like a motherfucker.

SoooHaggard said:

Hey NooB!

Threads don't bang around here like in the city, just watch the views. This site LURKS like a motherfucker.

Click to expand...

Thanks Haggard...seems that way. I see there are some 'views' now, whereas yesterday it read 0
As I mentioned I can understand skepticism, but not even a hiya....just took me a bit by surprise I guess. Anyway, thanks for stoppin by. I'll just wait and see what happens I guess.

I'm running my seedlings under 450 watts of MH right now in the sips (1 gal smarties in seed trays filled with perlite) and they're about doubling in size daily. Gotta love it


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FWIW, I'm one of your biggest fans at that other joint.

ICMaggotMe said:

FWIW, I'm one of your biggest fans at that other joint.

Click to expand...

Cool!! Good to know I have a friendd or two

Here the system @ work. 2 weeks from seed, small amount of Pro-TeKt coating the perlite.

I learned a similar method of growing some years ago on African Violets.

Pretty much the same thing as what you describe but when potting you put nylon string/rope up through the drain holes as 'wicks'. They keep the soil moist until the roots get to the bottom.

Under this method you had a pan of water with a grate on top. The grate was covered in felt, or you could just drop the wicks through the grate and into the water. If you used felt, the ends of the felt went into the water, serving as a wicking surface itself. You just set the pots on the felt with the wicks touching the wet felt... works good as well.

Only thing that we found as a possible negative was that using synthetic fertilizer, the 'salts' would collect on the surface of the soil. It was thought to be a good idea to top water occasionally to flush the salts out.

If the reservoir was large enough you could leave them unattended for a week or two with no harm done.... for us there is an additional concern. You need to remember to tie down, train, and or move the lights so the tops don't get burned.

The wicks do mineralize and it's best to replace them when transplanting... or between runs.

I've not used Smarties, will the water wick up through the bottoms if left on a wet surface?

Excellent system you've developed. Adding the felt and grate, instead of the perlite will be a good change, I think. The addition will allow for an easier clean up at the end of the run. You can throw the felt into the washing machine, and use a pressure washer to clean the pan and grate. Mineralization does occur, becoming a visual distraction if nothing else. I found felt that had a rubberized backing (more durable). It is a carpet product, used as padding in the automotive industry, and some marine applications as well.

As an aside; I'm thinking of using some reusable Grocery bags this run as an experiment, instead of nursery pots, or Smarties.

Good thinking.

noobwannaB said:

Wow. Talk about a bomb
So much for "Would love to see you spit the Perlite Tray knowledge to more willing people."

I tried buddy

Click to expand...

Today is the first time I saw your thread... Not say'n I wouldn't have just 'lurked' as well.


I do read a lot of threads and just move on. Not that I don't appreciate them just don't participate.



edit; just re-read your system. I'd missed the inverted bottle trick, used to extend the water supply. Nice. Kind of like a water bucket I used to have for the chickens.

Hey Legal, thanks for your input.
I use this system with all of my houseplants now, and you're right...it's perfect for African Violets. I figure they all have saucers under them anyway, why not fill them with perlite??

With the smarites, the smart pot IS the felt wick, and it pulls the water straight out of the perliite, and the perlite pulls the water so it's a perfect system really. I use organic soil, and mentioned that I designed this with that in mind, so 'salts' are never an issue. As for clean up, the only thing that goes in is water, and since I line the tray with landscape fabric the clean up consists of lifting it out of the tray by the fabric, then letting it dry. It can then of course be reused...no cleaning necessary

It sounds too simple to make a real difference, but it really works. I think a lot of noobs especially have issue with overwatering and this is foolproof. The PLANT decides how much water it needs, and the amount it pulls from the res varies with it's needs.

I'd love to see someone try it and report back here. It's catching on in a big way at 'the other place' I'd love to do a side by side to compare and take pics, but I just can't bring myself to grow any other way now. Again, thanks for stopping by!

OH...and I forgot to mention, the water bottle isn't to extend the water supply, but to gauge the level of 'standing water'. I like to keep it fairly full, but at least an inch below the top of the perlite so the roots never sit in the water. Perlite is easily displaced as well so adding the water via the water bottle keeps the perlite intact and gives me a read on just how much standing water is in the rez.

interesting. May give it a run in a 1 gallon at some point in time.

noobwannaB said:

Hey Legal, thanks for your input.
I use this system with all of my houseplants now, and you're right...it's perfect for African Violets. I figure they all have saucers under them anyway, why not fill them with perlite??

With the smarites, the smart pot IS the felt wick, and it pulls the water straight out of the perliite, and the perlite pulls the water so it's a perfect system really. I use organic soil, and mentioned that I designed this with that in mind, so 'salts' are never an issue. As for clean up, the only thing that goes in is water, and since I line the tray with landscape fabric the clean up consists of lifting it out of the tray by the fabric, then letting it dry. It can then of course be reused...no cleaning necessary

It sounds too simple to make a real difference, but it really works. I think a lot of noobs especially have issue with overwatering and this is foolproof. The PLANT decides how much water it needs, and the amount it pulls from the res varies with it's needs.

I'd love to see someone try it and report back here. It's catching on in a big way at 'the other place' I'd love to do a side by side to compare and take pics, but I just can't bring myself to grow any other way now. Again, thanks for stopping by!

Click to expand...

Yes, I saw that you do organic. The salt comment was for the 'bottle feeder' folks. They do need to top water to flush. Hate to see somebody lose a harvest to salt overload.

So with the perlite; How deep can it be, and still wick up the water? I Am interested in extended 'away' time. I'm R--e-- tired, so I like not having to babysit daily. lol Somebody has to do the fishing!

Wondering if 5-6"s of perlite is practical? Think I could get a week out of that much. I also use T5HO for lighting, so I don't have such a big deal on heat concerns. I know I can get that much from felt, but I'm open to alternatives.

Currently using BluMats, but don't quite trust them.....had a couple runaways. That makes you nervous. lol

I know wicking works, but wasn't sure it'd wick fast enough to do 2-3 quarts a day. Since you've done it already... guess I need to buy some perlite.

I was going to ask about blumats and this system in conjunction. My 3gallon tall hard pots are pretty damned dry at the bottom.

2 Legal Co said:

Yes, I saw that you do organic. The salt comment was for the 'bottle feeder' folks. They do need to top water to flush. Hate to see somebody lose a harvest to salt overload.

So with the perlite; How deep can it be, and still wick up the water? I Am interested in extended 'away' time. I'm R--e-- tired, so I like not having to babysit daily. lol Somebody has to do the fishing!

Wondering if 5-6"s of perlite is practical? Think I could get a week out of that much. I also use T5HO for lighting, so I don't have such a big deal on heat concerns. I know I can get that much from felt, but I'm open to alternatives.

Currently using BluMats, but don't quite trust them.....had a couple runaways. That makes you nervous. lol

I know wicking works, but wasn't sure it'd wick fast enough to do 2-3 quarts a day. Since you've done it already... guess I need to buy some perlite.

Click to expand...

Again, for the 'bottle feeders', that too can be done outside the tray, much as an organic grower would use teas and drenches. Just remove the pot from the perlite (it just sits on top afterall) and add whatever (including water periodically to 'flush') and then put it back on the perlite after it's drained to maintain the water level.

On of the guys trying this at the other place travels a lot, and has used a 5 gal bucket as a reservoir for the perlite, and sits his pot on top of the bucket. Again, I like to advise at least an inch of space between the water level and the bottom of the pot, but that's a LOT of water, and the perlite HOLDS a lot of water as well. He's been gone 7-10 days and returned to find no standing water, and nearly dry perlite but the soil is still nice and moist.

I'm retired too and add water daily just because I can, and enjoy it as well, but depending on the size of your res you can go a loooong time without adding water. I started using a seedtray, then moved up to a dishpan and cat litter trays (big ones). I'm running 5 strains this grow and wanted to use a hard shell kiddie pool this grow but when I mentioned it my better half gave me a bit of a look, so I bought a 67 gal underbed tote instead. It easily holds 3-7gal smarties, and I'll use the cat pans for the remainder. You can really use anything that holds water and the amount of perlite and water you want. I plan to build a wooden frame this summer with plywood bottom and put casters on it, then line with a pond liner that's still sitting in the box from a decade ago lol! Never got around to expanding my watergarden, then my back gave out, so it'll be nice to get SOME use out of it.

Pretty sure I mentioned it, but you can also use lava rock, or hydroton. I've not used it myself, but a lot have with great success. I have no issues with using perlite, but a lot of folks seem to, so there's that. And to answer your question, I've personally used anywhere between 2" and 6" of perlite...but it absorbs water so you can go as deep as you like!


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Canniwhatsis said:

I was going to ask about blumats and this system in conjunction. My 3gallon tall hard pots are pretty damned dry at the bottom.

Click to expand...

Hey Canniwhatsis...I know less than nothing about blumats so I'm not much help where they're concerned...sorry


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Nothing really,.... just kinda peaked a bit of curiosity.

I know my current 5 gallon smart pot girl that's in flower is having an easier time keeping the bottom dry thanks to "Slave" dripper's on the blumat system,... but I think there's still something to be desired in the fact that the plant sucks all the water up before it hits the bottom of the pot.


This could well be the answer to the dry bottoms,.... I have been thinking of bottom feeding actual feed since the blumats are dripping just water.

I have of course heard of Blumats, just never used em and only know of one person 'over there' that uses them. I don't follow his journal directly so no knowledge of how they work. Never been curious enough to investigate
I've been growing in one form or another for over 30 years, just not weed, And though I love gadgets, for some reason with growing not so much. I like to keep things as simple and cheap as possible. Cost is a factor too...I've heard blumats aren'ct cheap, and I am so.....this thread elsewhere is called Noobwannab's self wicking smartpot 'ghetto' set up...

I would say 3 things about using this method for bottom feeding...
-it WILL fix your dry bottoms, and you will find no reason to use the blumats anymore.
-again, adding anything besides water to the perlite could be problematic buuuuuttt
-give it a shot! what've you got to lose??

If you've got even a little bit of perlite, and a bucket, big bowl, seed tray..anything that will hold a couple of inches of perlite and some water try it. Just be sure to watch it closely for a few days because the first couple of days especially you will be adding a LOT of water. The perlite holds a lot of water, and even if you think your pot is watered, you have no idea until you see it in this set up, honestly.

It's crazy because as you can see from the photo Haggard kindly posted (thanks again sweetie) the roots go crazy. The plant initially will drink more water than you thought possible, then after a few days it evens out and you can get an idea of how often you'll need to add water on the regular (which of course changes depending on the stage of the plant and it's needs). You'll see roots in days, and within 2 weeks (it's like the plant settles in and gets all happy) a literally explosion of growth up top (are you ready Haggard???)

I honestly get excited about the idea of someone seeing this for the first time. I know I'll never forget the day it happened to me.

I've currently got a few 'Jilly Beans', seedlings on wicks and felt. Just haven't in the past continued into the 1gallon, and 3gallon pots with wicking.

Wicking does work well. Think I will continue it this round.

Thx
noob

My pleasure