Coots style soil with smaller containers(5G to 7G)

[poundofyourfinest]

The original buildasoil coots mix with grokashi and fish bone meal
Soil Mix:
1 pt. Peat Moss
1 pt. Rice Hulls
1 pt. Compost/EWC


mixed with:
Acadian Kelp Meal @ 1/2 Cup per cubic foot
Neem Cake and Karanja Cake 50/50 Mix @ 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Crustacean Meal @ 1/2 Cup per cubic foot
Gypsum Dust @ 1 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Brix Blend Basalt @ 1 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Glacial Rock Dust @ 1 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Oyster Flour @ 1 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Fish Bone Meal @ 1/2 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Grokashi @ 1 and a half cups per batch

 

[poundofyourfinest]

I stopped using rice hulls because I just don’t like them so with perlite, some strains don’t even use it all by the end like the rainbow belts they can be in 3 gallons all day

 

[Nwtexan]

The original buildasoil coots mix with grokashi and fish bone meal
Soil Mix:
1 pt. Peat Moss
1 pt. Rice Hulls
1 pt. Compost/EWC


mixed with:
Acadian Kelp Meal @ 1/2 Cup per cubic foot
Neem Cake and Karanja Cake 50/50 Mix @ 1/2 cup per cubic foot
Crustacean Meal @ 1/2 Cup per cubic foot
Gypsum Dust @ 1 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Brix Blend Basalt @ 1 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Glacial Rock Dust @ 1 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Oyster Flour @ 1 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Fish Bone Meal @ 1/2 Cup Per Cubic Foot
Grokashi @ 1 and a half cups per batch

thanks. Looks like a good mix and nice to hear that it has worked for you in smaller containers. That has been the question for me.

 

[poundofyourfinest]

Yeah it’s good, you can go on buildasoil and read about it more they share a lot of organic information

 

[poundofyourfinest]

I’m trying to figure out if I’m wasting mycorrhizae by mixing it into my soil when planting? I add it to the root zone but figured it couldn’t hurt to have it throughout the soil too? The bag says mix it into the soil but is that them trying to sell more product?

 

[NewGrower2011]

What I like about SIPs? Low to no maintenance. No pumps to fail, no pumps to make low audible noises I need to mask in my situation, etc.

I can top off the rez and leave for a week or more and not fret about watering. You can use super soil and go water-only or do a little bit of an amended soil mix and then top-feed with a line like Nectar for the Gods or other semi/organic-like lines.

For me it's became the preferred method. I was going to try drain-to-waste but that still required playing chemist and mixing nutes, tending to a rez, worrying about sterile or bennies, etc. SIP's are just simpler and less likely to fail. The only real trick is dialing in your soil mix.

Also I use EM1 in the rez to help prevent it from getting too funky.

 

[stoobeey]

I have been using coots mix with a couple extra amendments in 5 and 3 gallon pots and doing okay for several years. I don’t grow for profit so my yield isn’t huge but it’s good enough for me, and you stay away from the grow store because you never know who is in the building a cross the road watching what you buy

I've just moved into organics away from gh go box. Bit even with an auto I'm having big N def. When it hits flower, whole plant lime greens basically, I'd prefer to keep at it in 5s and not go to 10s and 15s for full organics

 

[Nwtexan]

What I like about SIPs? Low to no maintenance. No pumps to fail, no pumps to make low audible noises I need to mask in my situation, etc.

I can top off the rez and leave for a week or more and not fret about watering. You can use super soil and go water-only or do a little bit of an amended soil mix and then top-feed with a line like Nectar for the Gods or other semi/organic-like lines.

For me it's became the preferred method. I was going to try drain-to-waste but that still required playing chemist and mixing nutes, tending to a rez, worrying about sterile or bennies, etc. SIP's are just simpler and less likely to fail. The only real trick is dialing in your soil mix.

Also I use EM1 in the rez to help prevent it from getting too funky.

So, you just put the one bin in the other? Do you have any pics of your setup?

 

[NewGrower2011]

Here's the link where I show the current setup => https://www.rollitup.org/t/sip-thread-sub-irrigated-planter.904886/post-14999442

 

[Nwtexan]

Here's the link where I show the current setup => https://www.rollitup.org/t/sip-thread-sub-irrigated-planter.904886/post-14999442

I checked out your setup. It looks great! DO the flanges sit flush with the bottom in the bigger tote? How do you maintain an air gap? Any modifications you would reccomend from that build?

 

[NewGrower2011]

I have those 4" corrugated pipes that work with the flange to make a riser which is then packed with your media/wicking material.

Biggest modification I'd make is be sure to build a damn trellis and put the thing on a dolly with wheels. And I'm still looking for a good water level indicator than what I've been doing which is just using a yardstick stuck down the air/water inlet pipe to check the water level.

Next change I'm considering is something I saw on another site where the SIP(s) all have inlets at the bottom of the rez and then hoses that run from each SIP to a 'control bucket'. That would then let me add water and check level all in one place one step.

I've also went back & forth on whether to use the plastic 'rain cap' on the top or not. I planned to last time and even bought some really heavy duty EPMD rubber to make it from - but didn't. That's cutting off the oxygen supply if you go too tight I'd have to think. It does tend to grow a much better mycellium mat when you do though.

I'll eventually get back to the SIP thread to share some notes from my last run; I did have a couple things go wrong (errors on my part) that maybe someone else can learn from my mistakes. Not specific to SIPs but may be easier to bump into when using them.

 

[mudballs]

I’m trying to figure out if I’m wasting mycorrhizae by mixing it into my soil when planting? I add it to the root zone but figured it couldn’t hurt to have it throughout the soil too? The bag says mix it into the soil but is that them trying to sell more product?

No ur not wasting it, they sit dormant until suddenly the root expands into that area and then the myco latch on and off they go doing their thing. Think of them like just sitting in the bucket, might as well be in the soil waiting for a root to come along

 

[toomp]

As I make the jump from amended bag soil to something a bit more homemade, I am getting excited about putting together a Coots style mix.
In the requisite reading up on usage and stuff I found a few people saying that the mix didn't perform as well in smaller containers.
I am in a 3x3 tent, so I can't really go much bigger than 7G and those are pretty much filling the tent with 3.

So, what has your experience been if you use it in smaller containers? Do you change anything? Anything to be aware of?

Thanks everyone! I have read the whole thread on living soil and seems that as with most everything here, the opinions vary widely!

Tex

you will feed from bottles depending on how long you veg or top dress at some point

 

[Nwtexan]

I have those 4" corrugated pipes that work with the flange to make a riser which is then packed with your media/wicking material.

Biggest modification I'd make is be sure to build a damn trellis and put the thing on a dolly with wheels. And I'm still looking for a good water level indicator than what I've been doing which is just using a yardstick stuck down the air/water inlet pipe to check the water level.

Next change I'm considering is something I saw on another site where the SIP(s) all have inlets at the bottom of the rez and then hoses that run from each SIP to a 'control bucket'. That would then let me add water and check level all in one place one step.

I've also went back & forth on whether to use the plastic 'rain cap' on the top or not. I planned to last time and even bought some really heavy duty EPMD rubber to make it from - but didn't. That's cutting off the oxygen supply if you go too tight I'd have to think. It does tend to grow a much better mycellium mat when you do though.

I'll eventually get back to the SIP thread to share some notes from my last run; I did have a couple things go wrong (errors on my part) that maybe someone else can learn from my mistakes. Not specific to SIPs but may be easier to bump into when using them.

The "earthtainer" build diagram has a cool way to monitor water level, DId you see that? I'm also curious about coming up with a way to have an overflow that would keep the airgap. I'm inside, and inside a tent. Don't have much room for an additional bucket if i use the 2 30 gallon totes i am looking at

 

[myke]

I have those 4" corrugated pipes that work with the flange to make a riser which is then packed with your media/wicking material.

Biggest modification I'd make is be sure to build a damn trellis and put the thing on a dolly with wheels. And I'm still looking for a good water level indicator than what I've been doing which is just using a yardstick stuck down the air/water inlet pipe to check the water level.

Next change I'm considering is something I saw on another site where the SIP(s) all have inlets at the bottom of the rez and then hoses that run from each SIP to a 'control bucket'. That would then let me add water and check level all in one place one step.

I've also went back & forth on whether to use the plastic 'rain cap' on the top or not. I planned to last time and even bought some really heavy duty EPMD rubber to make it from - but didn't. That's cutting off the oxygen supply if you go too tight I'd have to think. It does tend to grow a much better mycellium mat when you do though.

I'll eventually get back to the SIP thread to share some notes from my last run; I did have a couple things go wrong (errors on my part) that maybe someone else can learn from my mistakes. Not specific to SIPs but may be easier to bump into when using them.

Wine cork,drill a hole glue a straw in tape another to make longer.Works well.

 

[Nwtexan]

Here's the link where I show the current setup => https://www.rollitup.org/t/sip-thread-sub-irrigated-planter.904886/post-14999442

I've got almost all my parts for my "Earthainer" style build. I will be building 2 30G of these for my 3x4 room. I'm curious as to why you put two wicking baskets in your design. In the Earthtainer build he is very specific about size for this size container. He says if you get any bigger it will wick too much. Did you find this in your build?

 

[NewGrower2011]

My setup does appear to keep them pretty moist down low in the bed, but top is bone dry. I've also experimented with how much aeration is in the mix and also how much it is intentionally compacted vs left loose & airy. The degree of compaction I was expecting to influence how much it wicks.

Another member on the site had also said they tried packing it fairly firm as well. It all comes down to experimentation and being able to take a small hit/set-back in the name of learning/evolving.

I also use EM-1 so that might be helping as well. So far I can't say I've had any issues with how much it wicks. The one issue I did face stemmed from top-watering and puddling around the root stem which gave me mid-flower wilt that slowly killed 2 of my 4 sips. They were also closes to a covered window and likely got far cooler at night (next time I'm going to pay more attention to night time temps - esp in the winter).