SIP thread -- (Sub-Irrigated Planter)

GenericEnigma said:
I use a multi-pronged approach.

I use EWC to keep hypoapsis miles in my pots. I cover the soil with plastic (for moisture retention and gnat discouragement). I kill the gnats manually when I see them. And if they get out of hand, I use BTi (Mosquito Bits). Lots of us use yellow sticky traps as well.

I have found it impossible to be rid of all fungus gnats. But I can keep it down to a few fliers with this method (and having some around keeps my hypoapsis miles going).
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I have the microbe lift which is BTI. Wondering if it does any good in the reservoir though or if it would need to be top watered in. I’d rather not top water anything and let the surface totally dry out.
 
Jcue81 said:
I have the microbe lift which is BTI. Wondering if it does any good in the reservoir though or if it would need to be top watered in. I’d rather not top water anything and let the surface totally dry out.
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I would top-water it in myself. Since the bacteria has to contact the grubs, and most gnats lay eggs in the top of the soil, that should do the most damage. It might take more than one treatment. This approach has gotten the problem back under control for me. I think gnats just crawl in from the top to where the soil is wet anyway. It would take something like sand or DE to block that gnat egress, I think.

I haven't tried putting BTi in the reservoir. It might work. I tend to keep my reservoir free of anything other than tap water, and Bits has worked top-watering.

Keep us posted, regardless of what you end up doing.
 
Wondering if securing the plastic with some tape to keep them from coming and going would help. Can they complete their whole life cycle under the plastic mulch cover?
 
Jcue81 said:
Wondering if securing the plastic with some tape to keep them from coming and going would help. Can they complete their whole life cycle under the plastic mulch cover?
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Might help some. I have mine fastened down with clothes pins (for quick/clean removal, and as anchors for LST).

I think gnats can still live and lay eggs down there. It's unclear to me what's truly going on. I see a flyer here and there. My miles are still around. I assume they are still part of the living cycle.
 
Jcue81 said:
Wondering if securing the plastic with some tape to keep them from coming and going would help. Can they complete their whole life cycle under the plastic mulch cover?
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I dunno about in your case, but I never have gnats in my flower tent with the earthbox. I'm guessing because of the cover being somewhat secured. My mom tent is another story, but if I don't get my soil too saturated, I only have a couple flyers, but as soon as I overwater..... infestation.
 
Hollatchaboy said:
I dunno about in your case, but I never have gnats in my flower tent with the earthbox. I'm guessing because of the cover being somewhat secured. My mom tent is another story, but if I don't get my soil too saturated, I only have a couple flyers, but as soon as I overwater..... infestation.
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Yeah that’s why I’m scratching my head. I’ve never had gnat issues in an earthbox. The top inch is pretty much completely dry. I may remove the top inch of soil and toss it and replace with an inch of fresh castings. Then secure the plastic top shut so there’s no sneaking in. Put some cheese cloth over the drainage hole.
 
Jcue81 said:
Yeah that’s why I’m scratching my head. I’ve never had gnat issues in an earthbox. The top inch is pretty much completely dry. I may remove the top inch of soil and toss it and replace with an inch of fresh castings. Then secure the plastic top shut so there’s no sneaking in. Put some cheese cloth over the drainage hole.
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It's the only thing I can think of, unless I have so many predator mites, they don't stand a chance, but I never see flyers in my flower tent.
 
Humanrob said:
Sub-irrigated planter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Sub-Irrigated Planter
Sub-irrigated planter (SIP) is a generic name for a special type of planting box used in container gardening and commercial landscaping. A SIP is any method of watering plants where the water is introduced from the bottom, allowing the water to soak upwards to the plant through capillary action.[1] It is possible to automate the watering and thus SIPs are popular with professional landscapers in buildings or urban settings. SIPs are available as products, under brand names such as Planter Technology[2] (commercial) and EarthBox[3] (consumer), Ollie Plant Sipper[4](consumer), The Refuge Garden (www.urbanrefugegardening.com) (consumer/commercial) or as do-it-yourselfprojects made from plastic buckets and boxes.[5]



Would love to hear about your experiments, projects, failures and successes. :)
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Love SIP! Just posting to say thanks, I didn't even know this was here.:clap:
 
Hollatchaboy said:
It's the only thing I can think of, unless I have so many predator mites, they don't stand a chance, but I never see flyers in my flower tent.
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I can second this. I've never had a gnat issue using Barley Straw Mulch or the plastic covers (which im using now being its easier to top dress in flower without all the straw) top dressing the other night I had a very healthy population of miles in all 3 SIPs.
 
Leeski said:
I have been following this thread for a while, seen some great grows and info on sips - finally got round to a sip run which I have wanted to do for a while so far loving it plants have been in veg for 19 days ….. ☮View attachment 5212444View attachment 5212445View attachment 5212446View attachment 5212447View attachment 5212448View attachment 5212449View attachment 5212450View attachment 5212451View attachment 5212454
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I like those SIPs! What the rez and soil capacity?
 
CrunchBerries said:
Thank you @Leeski im curious if we can get them in the States? Gardens looking super healthy!!
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I've been using these for a few years: https://www.agardenpatch.com/

Similar dimensions to earthbox as well. I went with them mostly because of the reservoir fill/overflow design. You can see the water level while you're filling it, whereas with the earthbox it looks like you just wait for it to overflow, which could be kinda awkward in a tent...the one @Leeski has also seems like a nice design in that regard.
@Hollatchaboy you use an earthbox right? How do you deal with overflow and checking the water level?
 
weedstoner420 said:
I've been using these for a few years: https://www.agardenpatch.com/

Similar dimensions to earthbox as well. I went with them mostly because of the reservoir fill/overflow design. You can see the water level while you're filling it, whereas with the earthbox it looks like you just wait for it to overflow, which could be kinda awkward in a tent...the one @Leeski has also seems like a nice design in that regard.
@Hollatchaboy you use an earthbox right? How do you deal with overflow and checking the water level?
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Like this....

20221008_212200.jpg

Lol
 
Hollatchaboy said:
To be honest though, I use my can sprayer to fill it. My res holds ~ 2 1/4 gallons, so I just fill my can to 2 gallons, and spray into the res. I worry about washing out my wicks, if I just pour the water in.

View attachment 5213815
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I washed my wicks out right in the beginning of using my SIPs...was not fun trying to repack the wicks from the bottom of the tote lol. Now I just pour my water in very slowly without a whole lot of splashing in the rez
 
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