SIP thread -- (Sub-Irrigated Planter)

Nugnewbie

Nugnewbie

Well-Known Member
myke said:
Big plants will run out of N just after stretch,gaia 444 is 3% water soluble N, 284 is only .5 %.
Big plants I give my 9ish gallons of soil 4-5 tablespoons a week,yes a week.Instructions say 1 tablespoons per gallon a month but were not growing a small petunia ,we grow trees lol.

Top water I use one full solo cup over a trench of gaia ,this way daily I can top water it in if I have to.
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Yes, I am in love with the idea of growing trees, unfortunately i believe i may, i say may cuz i don't really know, vegged these girls a bit too long and fear the dreaded stretch as I don't have an over abundance of headroom in my tent. So, getting them to grow bigger isn't really a goal at this point. A healthier, more robust and trichome laden plant at harvest for sure, just not taller, so I guess I could feed like that if I knew how to train plants better, or at all tbh. I also have a small or had a small gnat problem and wondered if you used any mosquito bits or not. I have beneficial nematodes enroute, but have the bits now. I know the fg aren't that harmful, but also found a caterpillar so..., um yeah.

I should also say, i got them as plants, clones, they were 2 to 3 feet tall and lanky so I topped and bent them over, i guess supercropped them. So, the were likely 3 week old plants when i got them, and I put them in SIPS right away, so yeah, they've probably vegged 8 weeks.
 
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Nugnewbie

Nugnewbie

Well-Known Member
I would like to use rollitup as a resource to help me grow in an efficient way, lessening the mistakes I am bound to make along the way. Eventually I will try to contribute what has worked for me for future newbies, but for now I am just learning. I asked one question, got good feedback but then asked a bunch more, and wonder again if I should have posted the second group of questions in a different area of rollitup forums. Probably answered my own question lol. Anyway, thinking of putting together a journal for this grow. Also, will re-ask my question in "Growing Problems" section.
 
myke

myke

Well-Known Member
Nugnewbie said:
I would like to use rollitup as a resource to help me grow in an efficient way, lessening the mistakes I am bound to make along the way. Eventually I will try to contribute what has worked for me for future newbies, but for now I am just learning. I asked one question, got good feedback but then asked a bunch more, and wonder again if I should have posted the second group of questions in a different area of rollitup forums. Probably answered my own question lol. Anyway, thinking of putting together a journal for this grow. Also, will re-ask my question in "Growing Problems" section.
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Sips take care of the watering which is 90% of the problems people have,add food and ewc to it and your good.Its really that easy.

Keep your soil covered so it stays moist,you can use a spray bottle.Good luck.
 
Nugnewbie

Nugnewbie

Well-Known Member
myke said:
Sips take care of the watering which is 90% of the problems people have,add food and ewc to it and your good.Its really that easy.

Keep your soil covered so it stays moist,you can use a spray bottle.Good luck.
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Thanks myke. Yes, started a worm bin that I should be able to harvest by end of the year, and have a source besides my own bin that is local so have that part covered. Thank you for your input.
 
X

Xsan

Well-Known Member
After a bit of a hiatus, I am now able to say howdy fellow sipers. I have some creatures on my sticky traps that are significantly smaller than fungus gnats but not sure what they are. Have any of you come across these and know what they are? I included a gnat for reference as these are about as good of pictures as I could get due to the size of them. This is zoomed all they way in on my phone...thumbnail.jpg
 
Hollatchaboy

Hollatchaboy

Well-Known Member
Xsan said:
After a bit of a hiatus, I am now able to say howdy fellow sipers. I have some creatures on my sticky traps that are significantly smaller than fungus gnats but not sure what they are. Have any of you come across these and know what they are? I included a gnat for reference as these are about as good of pictures as I could get due to the size of them. This is zoomed all they way in on my phone...View attachment 5029879
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Looks like springtails.
 
Hollatchaboy

Hollatchaboy

Well-Known Member
Xsan said:
gotta love this place, thank you gentlemen. Time to make the wife try her new macro lens for her camera i bought myself LOL
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Post the pics afterwards and let's get a good look at them. I had a small outbreak of springtails a couple months ago, so their appearance is still pretty fresh in my memory.
 
BigGpops

BigGpops

Well-Known Member
I keep searching mini sips, I just know somebody besides me had to have made one, I like variety because when i think I've found the one, my mind tells, me there is something else out there with more of everything, and not only that, everything needs to be light weight for me anymore, because pain wants to be my friend, follows me everywhere i go, keeping it simple but not boring, is my goal! Because ya always think ya need to do something, I made 2, prolly more mistakes, my 2nd most recent mistake that happened I want share, because its not good when things go wrong in bloom, my 7 week in bloom tote all 4 plants started showing signs of over watering, i was so confused , so i yanked them up and emptied the 20 gallon tote, and what happened was my reservoir was a tad bit shallower then it should've been, but i used 4 inch square plastic seed starting pots for supporting the flimsy top of the tote,. I drowned them, so dont cheat yourself being cheap, use strong supports, strong totes, spend the extra, 1st mistake was similar but only 1 plant showed signs of over watering, it was the last kernal pupil, i tried so hard to save it, well after a few weeks i figured out, I had the cheap flimsy tote sitting on one of those gym floor scooters, ya use to scoot around in gym class! Well that will not let your tote stay level, most of the water sat in that corner, so make sure your totes are level
 
2

2com

Well-Known Member
It seems a SIP and a "wicking bed" are very similar, but not exactly the same. And other than the fact a hempy is watered from above, even they have a couple similarities, I think. I have a couple questions.

1) Can these be done with synthetics (ferts, not materials)?

2) What other mediums/substrate do you guys think would work (synthetic or otherwise)? As a wicking medium?

I've read before about the various wicking abilities and limitations of different substrate options, ie: how high water can actually wick up them.

Edit: found this, just started reading. https://www.roogulli.com/uploads/1/2/5/6/125620770/research_proposal.pdf
 
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Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
2com said:
It seems a SIP and a "wicking bed" are very similar, but not exactly the same. And other than the fact a hempy is watered from above, even they have a couple similarities, I think. I have a couple questions.

1) Can these be done with synthetics (ferts, not materials)?

2) What other mediums/substrate do you guys think would work (synthetic or otherwise)? As a wicking medium?

I've read before about the various wicking abilities and limitations of different substrate options, ie: how high water can actually wick up them.

Edit: found this, just started reading. https://www.roogulli.com/uploads/1/2/5/6/125620770/research_proposal.pdf
Click to expand...
1: there is an extremely interesting version of sips for synthetics: the passive plant killer/ppk. Youll find plenty of threads on ic mag forum, look for delta9 hes the inventor.
Its basicly a top fed coco system, with a wick to the res and over flow from the res to recirculating main res. Ive never tried it but everybody who dialed it in seems to never go back. The wick has 2 functions, wick from the res up to the root mass incase you have pump failure. The main function is eliminating what they call the perched water tabel. Ill try and explain: when ever you water coco the bottom will allways be a bit wetter than the top, there will be a sort of layer of water in the bottom and this layer will be the last to dry out and so the roots can breath. By having a wick and a res below you can eliminate this watertable, its moved down towards the bottom of the wick and res by osmotic pressure, water attracting water. This means the main part of the substrate is relatively dry and airy, plenty of oxygen for growing. It also means you can do multifeeding without being afraid of water logging roots, even when the rootsystem isnt filling the medium completely. Multi feeding, where you literally flood the pot, means the wwater/feed flows thru the pot, towards the res and as it goes down the wick it pulls in fresh air thru the substrate which means new air every few hours. As ive said i havent tried it and only just about understood it, theres versions of this where they also move the res water separately, sorta like a dutch bucket. But it looks like a sweet deal if you want something recirculating, but also some safety incase a pump dies. But it seems seriously geared towards larger plants. Just search ppk icmag on google and youll start hitting threads.

I know some do put a bit of soft hydro nutes in the res of regular sips. I think @captainmorgan did it if hes still around. But looks like a recipe of hot soil and nute burnt plants.
 
2

2com

Well-Known Member
Rocket Soul said:
1: there is an extremely interesting version of sips for synthetics: the passive plant killer/ppk. Youll find plenty of threads on ic mag forum, look for delta9 hes the inventor.
Its basicly a top fed coco system, with a wick to the res and over flow from the res to recirculating main res. Ive never tried it but everybody who dialed it in seems to never go back. The wick has 2 functions, wick from the res up to the root mass incase you have pump failure. The main function is eliminating what they call the perched water tabel. Ill try and explain: when ever you water coco the bottom will allways be a bit wetter than the top, there will be a sort of layer of water in the bottom and this layer will be the last to dry out and so the roots can breath. By having a wick and a res below you can eliminate this watertable, its moved down towards the bottom of the wick and res by osmotic pressure, water attracting water. This means the main part of the substrate is relatively dry and airy, plenty of oxygen for growing. It also means you can do multifeeding without being afraid of water logging roots, even when the rootsystem isnt filling the medium completely. Multi feeding, where you literally flood the pot, means the wwater/feed flows thru the pot, towards the res and as it goes down the wick it pulls in fresh air thru the substrate which means new air every few hours. As ive said i havent tried it and only just about understood it, theres versions of this where they also move the res water separately, sorta like a dutch bucket. But it looks like a sweet deal if you want something recirculating, but also some safety incase a pump dies. But it seems seriously geared towards larger plants. Just search ppk icmag on google and youll start hitting threads.

I know some do put a bit of soft hydro nutes in the res of regular sips. I think @captainmorgan did it if hes still around. But looks like a recipe of hot soil and nute burnt plants.
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Thanks for the reply.
Yea, I remember "ppk" actually, the acronym anyways, from icmag. I never knew what it was, and the name "passive plant killer" didn't clear up anything back when I read the name, hah.
I'll have a quick look though, I'd like to see a diagram/drawing. It doesn't sound like it'd qualify for "sip" though, just wicking? As it's irrigated from above. Either way, interesting.

Thanks.
 
J

JimmyJackCorn

Well-Known Member
2com said:
It seems a SIP and a "wicking bed" are very similar, but not exactly the same. And other than the fact a hempy is watered from above, even they have a couple similarities, I think. I have a couple questions.

1) Can these be done with synthetics (ferts, not materials)?

2) What other mediums/substrate do you guys think would work (synthetic or otherwise)? As a wicking medium?

I've read before about the various wicking abilities and limitations of different substrate options, ie: how high water can actually wick up them.

Edit: found this, just started reading. https://www.roogulli.com/uploads/1/2/5/6/125620770/research_proposal.pdf
Click to expand...
Good questions, and I'd be interested if someone tried.

I think any material would work to wick water, as far as growing mediums go. For instance, the material that wicks my reservoir is 3/4" aggregate. If that will wick water, any viable growing medium will.

But then, as you suggest, feeding nutrients could become a problem--at which point this soil-loving, cheap-ass new grower must step back.
 
Rocket Soul

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
2com said:
Thanks for the reply.
Yea, I remember "ppk" actually, the acronym anyways, from icmag. I never knew what it was, and the name "passive plant killer" didn't clear up anything back when I read the name, hah.
I'll have a quick look though, I'd like to see a diagram/drawing. It doesn't sound like it'd qualify for "sip" though, just wicking? As it's irrigated from above. Either way, interesting.

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Ive also seen it called pound plant killer.
Its maybe not a sip really per se but an evolution of it. Youd only really be relying on the bottom res for watering if there was a failure of the top feeding.

Id love to see some tests, 5 gallon pot and 5 gallon ppk pot, water them both until complete saturation/runoff, then take the substrate and weigh it, to find out how much water is removed from the substrate by the wick leading water down to the res.
 
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