St. Phatty
Active member
sub irrigated planter
that means, watering it from the bottom ?
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You Gotta SIP, Not Slurp
- Thread starter thailer
- Start date
that means, watering it from the bottom ?
Correct. The other name is a wicking bed, the container is sealed at the bottom no drainage holes. So water rises up and is only lost through transpiration in theory.
I was thinking about why it has taken this long for sips to gain in popularity? It makes sense that the basic concept has been tried probably very soon after the first plant was grown in a container. The difference would have been no reservoir to provide aeration, roots drowning and rotting. Add some liquid ferts to that mess and sip suddenly looks like a very bad idea. Giving rise to the theory that plants just don't like wet feet!
Call me nuts (because I am):yay: , but I want to get out there and try and find some water with one of these >>>
Hey man there is a dress code in this thread. No grandpa pants ^
St. Phatty
Active member
It's very similar to Ebb & Flow.
I used to do E&F with 6 inch rockwool cubes. 3 or 4 floods a day. A lot of emphasis on daily checking of nutrient reservoir pH.
I have never grown in that way so I wouldn't know, but my system can be left for 3 days without attention, no checking of ph or anything else.
thailer
Well-known member
its not like ebb and flood because the water table doesn't move up and down to water the plants and the watering action happens via capillary action and the roots search out the water in the SIP. in ebb and flood the water comes to the roots and if it doesn't then they die. bought ebb and flood table when i first started growing and ditched it for soil six months later.
Yes I agree like DWC. Sure has hell beats hand watered fabric pots with a stick.
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A little update. The SIPs are going well. I top dressed some OSF and lightly top watered in some olympus up a few times and things are going better. PH was trending up, but I haven't checked since the last top dress. Above 6 now for sure.
The plants that I thought were too far gone are getting green again in-between the dead/necrotic parts.
All the fabric pots are out of the tent now. I mowed down all of the cover crop, dried it out, and added to my mulch. All SIPS have a nice 1-2" layer of mulch. The fungus gnats are now pretty much gone (Hesitant to say gone, gone or karma will bite my ass)
I used to top water tea weekly, no more. To satiate my need to fiddle -- I now apply a weekly KNF foliar to everything that isn't in mid-late flower. So far so good.
Instead of building a few more 20g SIPS I busted the 7g autopots out of storage. Going to apply the same methods since it's basically a SIP.
My lessons this run is. Ph matters, yes even in organic. A nice thick mulch layer > 1/4" of straw. Minimize top watering.
Great information here. Thanks again
The plants that I thought were too far gone are getting green again in-between the dead/necrotic parts.
All the fabric pots are out of the tent now. I mowed down all of the cover crop, dried it out, and added to my mulch. All SIPS have a nice 1-2" layer of mulch. The fungus gnats are now pretty much gone (Hesitant to say gone, gone or karma will bite my ass)
I used to top water tea weekly, no more. To satiate my need to fiddle -- I now apply a weekly KNF foliar to everything that isn't in mid-late flower. So far so good.
Instead of building a few more 20g SIPS I busted the 7g autopots out of storage. Going to apply the same methods since it's basically a SIP.
My lessons this run is. Ph matters, yes even in organic. A nice thick mulch layer > 1/4" of straw. Minimize top watering.
Great information here. Thanks again
thailer
Well-known member
with the holiday hustle and bustle, i have not even started making the new design i wanted but i have spent a little time thinking about what I want. I am gonna start building it soon as it slows down probably after christmas till new years. i just can't decide on how to wick the water up inside the second tote. i was thinking two pvc columns with holes drilled. i was gonna use pvc pipe to hold up the second sip so it would be easy to use the same material.
part of it is i don't want to go into the stores right now both to avoid getting sick but also because the stores are packed hahaa
part of it is i don't want to go into the stores right now both to avoid getting sick but also because the stores are packed hahaa
thailer
Well-known member
so i'm pretty glad i procrastinated building these because i gotta stop growing like a medical one light grow show and get an actual schedule and focus more on production and less empty canopy space. so i am taking my two rooms and making them bloom rooms and putting up a 5x5 tent to veg clones.
so i am gonna buy the HDX 55 gallon tough totes that are long rectangular totes about 4 feet long and put four of those in my bigger room. the best part is the 55 gallon is 4 inches taller than the current one i am using, the 27 gallon. so the extra room means i will have the four inches i want for the reservoir and then 16 inches of soil which is deep enough to keep the topsoil dryer, keep the root ball out of the reservoir when transplanting, increase air in the soil, and make it way easier to use bamboo stakes. it basically solves the problems i was trying to solve with the smaller totes. i didn't realize this other design was taller.
so i am gonna buy the HDX 55 gallon tough totes that are long rectangular totes about 4 feet long and put four of those in my bigger room. the best part is the 55 gallon is 4 inches taller than the current one i am using, the 27 gallon. so the extra room means i will have the four inches i want for the reservoir and then 16 inches of soil which is deep enough to keep the topsoil dryer, keep the root ball out of the reservoir when transplanting, increase air in the soil, and make it way easier to use bamboo stakes. it basically solves the problems i was trying to solve with the smaller totes. i didn't realize this other design was taller.
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I am going to get to making my 45g totes I to SIPs this week. I saw some 50g ones at Walmart the other day but the plastic seemed cheap and I had visions of blowing out a tub full of soil and water in my tent. The 45g husky seems to be a great quality and I do like how deep they are for the reasons you mention.
As far as stakes go, with totes that big 3/4 pvc could make a great scrog frame right in the tub and you can just net it then. Just some food for thought.
As far as stakes go, with totes that big 3/4 pvc could make a great scrog frame right in the tub and you can just net it then. Just some food for thought.
thailer
Well-known member
the Husky one has wheels so thats pretty cool for moving around. the one i am talking about is the 55 gallon black tote with yellow lid. its not so much how many gallons they hold but it is more about how tall they are so the soil can be deep and not shallow.
shallow soil holds less oxygen due to water saturation, capillary action, and gravity. my goal is to have deep enough soil that the water can not travel up high enough and theres a sweet moist spot for the plants root ball and a dryish top soil. right now the top soil is saturated but these 55 gallon totes are four inches taller which should be perfect.
shallow soil holds less oxygen due to water saturation, capillary action, and gravity. my goal is to have deep enough soil that the water can not travel up high enough and theres a sweet moist spot for the plants root ball and a dryish top soil. right now the top soil is saturated but these 55 gallon totes are four inches taller which should be perfect.
kind regards from guineapig 
