Nwtexan
Well-Known Member
So I decided to try a couple of DIY SIPs this cycle. I put 4 clones into the 2 containers and filled them with a Coot's style mix that I spoke about in some different threads. I was interested in trying the SIPs with the no-till approach.
I just harvested a decent harvest of GSC and had some thoughts I wanted to share, should anyone go this route.
I initially tested my soil and it came back pretty low on Nitrogen. I amended with a light mix of blood meal. Once the soil started doing it's thing, the "low" nitrogen became too much nitrogen and I'm pretty sure this created a Potassium deficiency. One thing about SIPS is that it is hard to amend a situation like this; doesn't really take well to a flushing situation, so you should have your soil pretty dialed in before you go this route.
When i took the plants out I checked the reservoir for roots. I was surprised that the plants hadn't had more root development. There were none in the reservoir. The reservoir itself was pretty stinky, which makes me wonder if my air gap was appropriate-Perhaps the tote was sagging in the middle. I put PVC pieces throughout the reservoir to prevent this, but the wet soil is heavy! I definitely think this is an area to pay more attention to. The rubber/plastic containers give quite a bit in these and if you aren't liberal with the 1" air gap, you could get soil sitting in the water when the reservoir is full and really contributing to an anaerobic condition.
One thing that was evident is that the plant got perfect water for what it needed. The buds were significantly more resin than they mothers that were grown in fabric pots.
I'm gonna send the soil in for another test to see where it's sitting after a cycle. Considering maybe going to a fabric bed, but thinking i will do at least another cycle with this system to see what it will do with a longer veg-seed based grow
I just harvested a decent harvest of GSC and had some thoughts I wanted to share, should anyone go this route.
I initially tested my soil and it came back pretty low on Nitrogen. I amended with a light mix of blood meal. Once the soil started doing it's thing, the "low" nitrogen became too much nitrogen and I'm pretty sure this created a Potassium deficiency. One thing about SIPS is that it is hard to amend a situation like this; doesn't really take well to a flushing situation, so you should have your soil pretty dialed in before you go this route.
When i took the plants out I checked the reservoir for roots. I was surprised that the plants hadn't had more root development. There were none in the reservoir. The reservoir itself was pretty stinky, which makes me wonder if my air gap was appropriate-Perhaps the tote was sagging in the middle. I put PVC pieces throughout the reservoir to prevent this, but the wet soil is heavy! I definitely think this is an area to pay more attention to. The rubber/plastic containers give quite a bit in these and if you aren't liberal with the 1" air gap, you could get soil sitting in the water when the reservoir is full and really contributing to an anaerobic condition.
One thing that was evident is that the plant got perfect water for what it needed. The buds were significantly more resin than they mothers that were grown in fabric pots.
I'm gonna send the soil in for another test to see where it's sitting after a cycle. Considering maybe going to a fabric bed, but thinking i will do at least another cycle with this system to see what it will do with a longer veg-seed based grow