SIP thread -- (Sub-Irrigated Planter)

[Tim Fox]

Hmm just a question, haven't read the thread all the way through. I've noticed that most of you seem to use fabric pots with some sort of soil wick dripping down into the reservoir. I was wondering why you choose that design?

I've been setting up beds similar to this(picture shamelessly stolen off the interwebs). Using a 27 gallon tough tote and 3" perforated drain pipe Coiled around the bottom and plastic over the end's. I plan on dropping an air stone down the watering pipe in the future, but so far growth has been rather explosive. Threw off my training cycle a bit lol. Anyone have thoughts on this style compared to the soil wick method?

Also, I had one other question for those of you using rice hulls. What ratio of rice hulls too your other aeration components do you recommend? I recently found out it's cheaper for me to order rice hulls online than it is to buy verm/perlite locally

picture states " Potting mix squeezed between drain pipes serves as the wick"
plus the 1 inch air gap in the pipes,, it works the same as all the other sips,
fantastic useful design and robust long lasting too
I have seen whole outside garden beds built using this method your showing,, like 10 foot and 12 foot long beds, just cutting the drain pipe to the length of the bed
I think @Humanrob may have used the drain pipe for a wick in one of his set ups,, not sure, he has many types,, lol

 

[Humanrob]

@bicit - I can only speak for myself. I've used both plastic bins as the top pot and fabric pots. In general I strongly prefer to grow in fabric pots, the root patterns seem so much more efficient and healthier to me. That said, with SIPs either one works, and possibly plastic pots may use less water since there is less surface area evaporation.

As far as the design you have, I have seen that before and read great stuff about those. I'm sure they work just as well as the full res under a pot design. With a separate res there might be more control in terms of designing the res size, some people like to use large res's so they can go away for 5-7 days and not have to worry about refilling it. I'm not sure if either design has a practical advantages over the other -- like in terms of breaking them down, cleaning, and reusing the components. I also wonder why they specify that it is for outdoor use. It might just be that their overflow just overflows...

 

[frankslan]

Anyone have thoughts on this style compared to the soil wick method?

Im doing the same thing it still has soil between the pipes to wick the water up up right? If it was just soil I think it would wick too much water up.

Aeration Im interested in this too. I was going to do rice hulls too they are so much lighter than pumice or something. But then I was reading the rice hulls break down quickly some people were saying like in a one cycle.

I'm wondering how much aeration is even need in a sub irrigated pot Im doing the standard 30 percent but maybe we can get away with less?

 

[bicit]

@bicit - I can only speak for myself. I've used both plastic bins as the top pot and fabric pots. In general I strongly prefer to grow in fabric pots, the root patterns seem so much more efficient and healthier to me. That said, with SIPs either one works, and possibly plastic pots may use less water since there is less surface area evaporation.

As far as the design you have, I have seen that before and read great stuff about those. I'm sure they work just as well as the full res under a pot design. With a separate res there might be more control in terms of designing the res size, some people like to use large res's so they can go away for 5-7 days and not have to worry about refilling it. I'm not sure if either design has a practical advantages over the other -- like in terms of breaking them down, cleaning, and reusing the components. I also wonder why they specify that it is for outdoor use. It might just be that their overflow just overflows...

I see, was curious. I'm not sure why they specify for out door use either. I've been quite happy with the one I have so far indoors.

Well with regards to the res size, I've had a few thoughts I want to experiment with. I've been thinking about connecting the overflow tube to a main reservoir. My thinking is that I can control the water level in multiple containers by using a master bucket and a simple float valve hooked up directly to an RO filter. Hmm just thinking someone could also set it up like a RDWC, circulating water from the main res, through the watering tubes. No idea if that would work out or not though.... yet.

 

[frankslan]

I see, was curious. I'm not sure why they specify for out door use either. I've been quite happy with the one I have so far indoors.

Well with regards to the res size, I've had a few thoughts I want to experiment with. I've been thinking about connecting the overflow tube to a main reservoir. My thinking is that I can control the water level in multiple containers by using a master bucket and a simple float valve hooked up directly to an RO filter. Hmm just thinking someone could also set it up like a RDWC, circulating water from the main res, through the watering tubes. No idea if that would work out or not though.... yet.

Ya that would be cool at least the float valve.

Speaking of ro water if we use RO water do we need to add cal mag?

where did you get 3 inch drain tube I could only find 4 inch

 

[bicit]

Ya that would be cool at least the float valve.

Speaking of ro water if we use RO water do we need to add cal mag?

where did you get 3 inch drain tube I could only find 4 inch

So far I see no reason too. Not with the BAS mix anyhow. Welcome to be corrected if I'm wrong, cal-mag is easy to make.

 

[ttystikk]

Hmm just a question, haven't read the thread all the way through. I've noticed that most of you seem to use fabric pots with some sort of soil wick dripping down into the reservoir. I was wondering why you choose that design?

I've been setting up beds similar to this(picture shamelessly stolen off the interwebs). Using a 27 gallon tough tote and 3" perforated drain pipe Coiled around the bottom and plastic over the end's. I plan on dropping an air stone down the watering pipe in the future, but so far growth has been rather explosive. Threw off my training cycle a bit lol. Anyone have thoughts on this style compared to the soil wick method?

Also, I had one other question for those of you using rice hulls. What ratio of rice hulls too your other aeration components do you recommend? I recently found out it's cheaper for me to order rice hulls online than it is to buy verm/perlite locally

Hey buddy, nice to see you around!

 

[bicit]

Hey buddy, nice to see you around!

It's been a minute hasn't it? How're things hanging for ya?

 

[ttystikk]

It's been a minute hasn't it? How're things hanging for ya?

Yes it has!
I'd been an interesting ride.
You should drop me a line sometime and we'll catch up.

 

[ShaFuL]

Hey guys time to break my lurking status,
I am planning to do a single big no till setup 7 by 7 feet. My main concern is longevity, with roots getting into the reservoir bad anaerobic bacteria might form. Does anyone have got any experience growing a no-till setup this way?
Help greatly appreciated

 

[PDX Joe]

Hey guys time to break my lurking status,
I am planning to do a single big no till setup 7 by 7 feet. My main concern is longevity, with roots getting into the reservoir bad anaerobic bacteria might form. Does anyone have got any experience growing a no-till setup this way?
Help greatly appreciated

Wow, big bed. You might want to try some 3 or 4 inch perforated irrigation pipe for the reservoir with the geotech fabric sock around it to keep dirt and roots out. It's the system similar to what bicit posted on the previous page. You can coil it up or place it in rows. This system works well for supporting a lot of soil. I've used this system on my larger containers. If you cover over the perf. pipe and fill in the gaps with washed agricultural sand it works really well as a wick. Cover the pipes with about an inch of sand. Also, the sand doesn't degrade sitting in the water like soil can over time.

 

[PDX Joe]

I just transplanted into the SIPs modified 6.6 gallon Autopots. Time to see how this works... and all organic.

 

[ShaFuL]

Wow, big bed. You might want to try some 3 or 4 inch perforated irrigation pipe for the reservoir with the geotech fabric sock around it to keep dirt and roots out. It's the system similar to what bicit posted on the previous page. You can coil it up or place it in rows. This system works well for supporting a lot of soil. I've used this system on my larger containers. If you cover over the perf. pipe and fill in the gaps with washed agricultural sand it works really well as a wick. Cover the pipes with about an inch of sand. Also, the sand doesn't degrade sitting in the water like soil can over time.

Thanks for the tip, I will try it this way, I will start building early April, I'll make sure to post some pics here

 

[frankslan]

Wow, big bed. You might want to try some 3 or 4 inch perforated irrigation pipe for the reservoir with the geotech fabric sock around it to keep dirt and roots out. It's the system similar to what bicit posted on the previous page. You can coil it up or place it in rows. This system works well for supporting a lot of soil. I've used this system on my larger containers. If you cover over the perf. pipe and fill in the gaps with washed agricultural sand it works really well as a wick. Cover the pipes with about an inch of sand. Also, the sand doesn't degrade sitting in the water like soil can over time.

Planning on filling this with sand to cover the pipes then putting weed fabric over it. The sand wicks well?

I did a little test in a some yogurt containers the sand one weren't that wet compared to the peat or soil mixes.

 

[Jp.the.pope]

View attachment 3914164

Planning on filling this with sand to cover the pipes then putting weed fabric over it. The sand wicks well?

I did a little test in a some yogurt containers the sand one weren't that wet compared to the peat or soil mixes.

Are you planning on an airstone?

 

[frankslan]

no I wasn't

 

[Jp.the.pope]

Then you should love that design. I use it outdoors, wanted to put inside with integrated airstone. Couldn't figure it out and went with another design suggested by @PDX Joe

 

[frankslan]

Then you should love that design. I use it outdoors, wanted to put inside with integrated airstone. Couldn't figure it out and went with another design suggested by @PDX Joe

you could put in a air stone in there pretty easy just pop one in one of the pipes or do three one in each pipe. I was thinking what if you did a system all dirt and then ran air tubing with pin holes in it snaked all along the bottom to provide air to the dirt.

I was just worried the sand wouldn't wick fast enough.

 

[Jp.the.pope]

I was concerned about the oxygenated water spreading to all the rubes without multiple airstones. Tubing idea should work fine

 

[PDX Joe]

View attachment 3914164

Planning on filling this with sand to cover the pipes then putting weed fabric over it. The sand wicks well?

I did a little test in a some yogurt containers the sand one weren't that wet compared to the peat or soil mixes.

Yes, sand wicks well. The smaller the particles the better capillary action. But, wet sand will slide right through those perf pipe slits, so you need to wrap your pipes with a drain sleeve. Of course soil absorbs and holds water better than sand. So basically soil absorbs and wicks and sand only wicks. So you're right that soil sitting in water will be more damp, but sand will do a better job of pulling water up into the soil. But, if you find the soil gets too dry then you might want to use a plastic sheet on the top of the container (a mulch layer). Consistent moisture from the top to bottom of the container will help the microbiology grow. If the top of the soil dries out too much, then you won't have microbiology at the top of the pot to break down organic fertilizer. That's if you are top dressing with organic nutes. If you are feeding from the reservoir then this is less of an issue.

Also make sure the sand is washed an clean. You don't want any silt in the sand or the water won't wick properly. Usually the agricultural sand from a nursery is already washed. It's a little bit more expensive than sand box sand from the big box store, but the sand box sand has a ton of dust, silt and extra crap. You know, all the crap you don't mind your kid playing in, but isn't good enough for your plants.