SIP thread -- (Sub-Irrigated Planter)
- Thread starter Humanrob
- Start date
Rocket Soul
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the info. My knowledge is limited to my reasoning and my non-mj outdoor garden. The 4x4 is the exact size im planning on so very appreciated
i need a solution where i can avoid bubbling and airstones and from checking out the octopots i reasoned that a shallower ress with a large surface is a win for oxygen. Do you have any feedback regards to wicks, ress and being able to raise and lower the water level to adapt the watering level of your pot? Or having several plants drinking from the same ress? Seeing youve had success with this im eager to pick ur brain. And i love your "sticky forrest" 
SomeGuy
Well-Known Member
It is so much more effective when I can take someone into my garden and show them personally. I kind of guessed on water level my first run with the sips and adjusted a bit this round. leaving a bit more air space in the rez. I have a cone shaped wick which is just graduated netpots ziptied together. Its filled with just peet. even when water is down to just a few inches in the tub its still wicking and keeps the medium watered. I do notice that when I first fill up from that low the bottoms of the softpots get a little more moist but still the growth of the plants says they are happy. So IMO, hard to over water.
This round I have already top fed labs by moistening the entire top layer of soil and then putting two quarts of lab mix on each one. Has worked great also. My wick has roots like crazy but i am aerating with stones. IMO you can make an air pump run pretty quiet. as a matter of fact with the fan etc.. going the air pump is the quietest thing running. LOL
when I pulled things apart last round the roots in the rez where essentially knoted around each airstone. So this time I added many more per tub. Its working great..
This round I have already top fed labs by moistening the entire top layer of soil and then putting two quarts of lab mix on each one. Has worked great also. My wick has roots like crazy but i am aerating with stones. IMO you can make an air pump run pretty quiet. as a matter of fact with the fan etc.. going the air pump is the quietest thing running. LOL
when I pulled things apart last round the roots in the rez where essentially knoted around each airstone. So this time I added many more per tub. Its working great..
JorgeGonzales
Well-Known Member
There's also these autopots: 
I've seen them on sale cheap sometimes, 12 gallon reservoir, but the whole autofill system looks super fiddly.
What's cool is that you can obviously fill SIPs with inert media, even pure hydroton, feed from the bottom and keep a steady water level without any oxygen or pythium problems, which makes me think hempies don't need to dry out, or even be fed from the top or need any percentage of overflow. Also, earthbox recommends soil ferts, octopot recommends liquid ferts, and they are the same thing at the end of the day. Lots of flexibility in these, and somewhere in there is the perfect system
I've seen them on sale cheap sometimes, 12 gallon reservoir, but the whole autofill system looks super fiddly.
What's cool is that you can obviously fill SIPs with inert media, even pure hydroton, feed from the bottom and keep a steady water level without any oxygen or pythium problems, which makes me think hempies don't need to dry out, or even be fed from the top or need any percentage of overflow. Also, earthbox recommends soil ferts, octopot recommends liquid ferts, and they are the same thing at the end of the day. Lots of flexibility in these, and somewhere in there is the perfect system
Rocket Soul
Well-Known Member
I suppose plenty of airstones make up for probs with wicks overwatering the softpot. But the place im starting my grow is on top of my neighbours bedroom so i gotta be a bit carefull. Or maybe find a way of managing my neighbour cause she seems quite nice, if only i could bribe her with bud...It is so much more effective when I can take someone into my garden and show them personally. I kind of guessed on water level my first run with the sips and adjusted a bit this round. leaving a bit more air space in the rez. I have a cone shaped wick which is just graduated netpots ziptied together. Its filled with just peet. even when water is down to just a few inches in the tub its still wicking and keeps the medium watered. I do notice that when I first fill up from that low the bottoms of the softpots get a little more moist but still the growth of the plants says they are happy. So IMO, hard to over water.
This round I have already top fed labs by moistening the entire top layer of soil and then putting two quarts of lab mix on each one. Has worked great also. My wick has roots like crazy but i am aerating with stones. IMO you can make an air pump run pretty quiet. as a matter of fact with the fan etc.. going the air pump is the quietest thing running. LOL
when I pulled things apart last round the roots in the rez where essentially knoted around each airstone. So this time I added many more per tub. Its working great..
BM9AGS
Well-Known Member
Take a bottle of wine to her and take a viagra.I suppose plenty of airstones make up for probs with wicks overwatering the softpot. But the place im starting my grow is on top of my neighbours bedroom so i gotta be a bit carefull. Or maybe find a way of managing my neighbour cause she seems quite nice, if only i could bribe her with bud...
Tim Fox
Well-Known Member
i am temped to try the float res idea,, but i am afraid of flooding the carpet in my bedroom,, right now the sips are fool proof, they cant leak,, its impossible and a gravity level external res is pretty safe also,, if I go with the float valve and the tall trash can n ext to the earthbox, if the float fails then the whole external res over flows onto the carpet,, the wife would kill me,, I wonder what the chance of failure is with the float,, and do you have a link to the float valve you recomend,,
thanks
Tim Fox
Well-Known Member
@Humanrob found the same thing when he took his indoor sip apart, the roots were all wrapped around the airstoneIt is so much more effective when I can take someone into my garden and show them personally. I kind of guessed on water level my first run with the sips and adjusted a bit this round. leaving a bit more air space in the rez. I have a cone shaped wick which is just graduated netpots ziptied together. Its filled with just peet. even when water is down to just a few inches in the tub its still wicking and keeps the medium watered. I do notice that when I first fill up from that low the bottoms of the softpots get a little more moist but still the growth of the plants says they are happy. So IMO, hard to over water.
This round I have already top fed labs by moistening the entire top layer of soil and then putting two quarts of lab mix on each one. Has worked great also. My wick has roots like crazy but i am aerating with stones. IMO you can make an air pump run pretty quiet. as a matter of fact with the fan etc.. going the air pump is the quietest thing running. LOL
when I pulled things apart last round the roots in the rez where essentially knoted around each airstone. So this time I added many more per tub. Its working great..
right now I am torn between using or not using an airstone?,, my outdoor tomato plant is in the earthbox with no airstone and is growing like the weed from outter space,, just going nuts,, but seeing your results from the last grow has me conflicted on what to do concerning air stones,,,
Humanrob
Well-Known Member
I've either moved or transplanted a few of my outdoor sips, and even after months of growing there have been almost zero roots outside of the wick. I always thought that "water roots" were the ones that were free-floating in the water, but I guess the ones that are in the always-wet wick are also considered water roots? In the outdoor one I transplanted and the indoor ones that finished, the wicks were full of roots. But the ONLY roots I had in the res water outside of the wick were in the columns of bubbles created by air stones. I'm not sure if those roots are "better" in some way? Or maybe its just a matter of the more roots the better?
Tim Fox
Well-Known Member
your posts have really got me thinking today ( I know dangerous),, so here is what I have pieced together, a 1/4" mini adjustable float valve for the control res,There's also these autopots: View attachment 3747956
I've seen them on sale cheap sometimes, 12 gallon reservoir, but the whole autofill system looks super fiddly.
What's cool is that you can obviously fill SIPs with inert media, even pure hydroton, feed from the bottom and keep a steady water level without any oxygen or pythium problems, which makes me think hempies don't need to dry out, or even be fed from the top or need any percentage of overflow. Also, earthbox recommends soil ferts, octopot recommends liquid ferts, and they are the same thing at the end of the day. Lots of flexibility in these, and somewhere in there is the perfect system
http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/item.aspx?itemid=74619
then, this container ( or something simular) for the control res , install the float valve in this in front of the earthbox https://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-21-Cup-Dry-Food-Container/dp/B003EYUZJU/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1470243203&sr=8-8&keywords=Tall+Plastic+Storage+Containers
and the res is a tall skinny dog food storage container,, its only 6 inches wide and 14 inches tall, should hold several gallons of water, and will just barely be taller than th e earthbox,, https://www.chewy.com/bergan-smart-storage-small/dp/39931?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=hg&utm_content=Bergan&utm_term=&gclid=CNaB6prZpc4CFY-Bfgod7tEHYA
i have enough floor space to fit all this in, and park my little fan on the floor, and an air pump also if i go that route
and I almost forgot, i have a large flat storage tub that i purchased way back when I was thinking of going hydro, and it fits the entire floor of my grow cab,, i need to go dig it out of the barn, and see about installing it, ,i would need to redo my air intake, but if i set the earthbox inside of this tub and the res ,, should the valve fail, the storage tub may be able to hold all the water, sure it would flood the sip up several inches,, but it would keep the water from flooding my carpet in the bedroom
JorgeGonzales
Well-Known Member
Here is what I've seen people use with homemade SIPs: https://www.amazon.com/Kerick-Valve-MAB22-Adjustable-Barbed/dp/B0077RB0LC
They make different mini valves with inlet different connections, some adjustable, some not.
But I have a DIY float valve setup here, active with solenoids, and it uses two valves, one valve to set the level, and another installed above the water line as an emergency shutoff if the main valve fails. This is common in aquariums. It could be done with the Kericks if there was any kind of outlet connector, but I don't think there is a way to daisy chain them.
Mine has been hooked up to my RO/DI for like 7 years, even on vacation, and never failed. It's also been so long I forget where I bought it
Guess my point is, outside a Kerick will work, inside you probably want something more sophisticated, unless there is a clever way to daisy chain the passive float valves and have one function as a shutoff.
Tim Fox
Well-Known Member
Thank youHere is what I've seen people use with homemade SIPs: https://www.amazon.com/Kerick-Valve-MAB22-Adjustable-Barbed/dp/B0077RB0LC
They make different mini valves with inlet different connections, some adjustable, some not.
But I have a DIY float valve setup here, active with solenoids, and it uses two valves, one valve to set the level, and another installed above the water line as an emergency shutoff if the main valve fails. This is common in aquariums. It could be done with the Kericks if there was any kind of outlet connector, but I don't think there is a way to daisy chain them.
Mine has been hooked up to my RO/DI for like 7 years, even on vacation, and never failed. It's also been so long I forget where I bought it
Guess my point is, outside a Kerick will work, inside you probably want something more sophisticated, unless there is a clever way to daisy chain the passive float valves and have one function as a shutoff.
JorgeGonzales
Well-Known Member
I thought about this a little more, searched for some DC water pump setups, and here is a graphic blantantly ripped off from nano-reef.com:
This is different than what I do, but the same concepts on the floats. That's two float switches, which can be cheap as something like these, which are $1 each on eBay:
And a DC pump, like my cat fountains use, like these:
The diagram shows bent acrylic, but even PVC pipe could work. Mount the inside your controller res, first switch alway on, second switch is wired after that and is your water level, turns on when it drops. Everything runs off one 12V wall wart.
Anyway, that's the general idea. And I just figured out what I'll do inside, since this doesn't require any tricky holes to drill and waterproof like gravity fed does, just some mildly annoying wires, and a DC pump strong enough to get over the hump. Outside leaks really are a lot less scary.
This is different than what I do, but the same concepts on the floats. That's two float switches, which can be cheap as something like these, which are $1 each on eBay:
And a DC pump, like my cat fountains use, like these:
The diagram shows bent acrylic, but even PVC pipe could work. Mount the inside your controller res, first switch alway on, second switch is wired after that and is your water level, turns on when it drops. Everything runs off one 12V wall wart.
Anyway, that's the general idea. And I just figured out what I'll do inside, since this doesn't require any tricky holes to drill and waterproof like gravity fed does, just some mildly annoying wires, and a DC pump strong enough to get over the hump. Outside leaks really are a lot less scary.
Rocket Soul
Well-Known Member
Ultimate sacrifice on the altar of dank...=lets say not that into her would be a whale of an understatement
BM9AGS
Well-Known Member
Ehh. I can't stand big ones. The dank gods would remember your ultimate sacrifice....tho I'd tell them to fuck off
hyroot
Well-Known Member
I hand water . But I have a drain so I don't over water and I keep that air gap
If you add compost teas to the resi you want to hand water
If you don't have air stones and use labs in the resi you want to hand water. You don't want any agitation. That's no good for labs.
If you add compost teas to the resi you want to hand water
If you don't have air stones and use labs in the resi you want to hand water. You don't want any agitation. That's no good for labs.
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
The way to outwit this problem is to size your tubsites so they can collectively handle the entire contents of the res in case the float valve fails. Temporarily flooding the roots is better than irrigating your bedroom floor, lol
ttystikk
Well-Known Member
I'm getting water roots coming out of the bottoms of my 5 gallon buckets into the partially flooded tubs they're sitting in. I use waterfall aeration and circulation, and things sure look happy so far.
