SIP thread -- (Sub-Irrigated Planter)

myke

myke

Well-Known Member
GenericEnigma said:
Right on. I just cleaned up my tent yesterday.

Shocked to see water in the reservoirs and life in the soil. The SIPS have been sitting in the dark ignored for three months.

Got some clones from that big outdoor plant - which I chopped. It was already taller than my fence and just starting to stretch. Scared of rippers around here.

Looks like we're in about the same spot. What did you clone?
Click to expand...
Im running same clones as last run,White Widow, clone Ive had for a long time.Funny females in my group like it so its number 1 in my collection.Frosted fruit cake is another ,its a 12 week strain.Nice flavor and good producer.Others are a deep purple type strain.They all finish at different times so harvesting is a 1 month thing.Works for me as I don't have the space to dry all at once.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
A little off topic but close enough I think.

Here's my plan.

I have plants in 3.5 gallon black plastic pots. These pots will fit into 5 gallon buckets. My plan is to put rocks, marbles, hydroton, etc... on the bottom of the buckets at a level where the top of the pot will fit flush. That would leave 6-8 inches from the bottom of the pots to the bottom of the buckets. I would put a piece of PVC down the side of the pots as a fill tube. Think that would work for an on the fly SIP?
 
G

groworm

Active Member
xtsho said:
A little off topic but close enough I think.

Here's my plan.

I have plants in 3.5 gallon black plastic pots. These pots will fit into 5 gallon buckets. My plan is to put rocks, marbles, hydroton, etc... on the bottom of the buckets at a level where the top of the pot will fit flush. That would leave 6-8 inches from the bottom of the pots to the bottom of the buckets. I would put a piece of PVC down the side of the pots as a fill tube. Think that would work for an on the fly SIP?
Click to expand...
Woudn't the hydroton etc. take up a lot of the reservoir space while also doing a very poor job of wicking?
 
GenericEnigma

GenericEnigma

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
A little off topic but close enough I think.

Here's my plan.

I have plants in 3.5 gallon black plastic pots. These pots will fit into 5 gallon buckets. My plan is to put rocks, marbles, hydroton, etc... on the bottom of the buckets at a level where the top of the pot will fit flush. That would leave 6-8 inches from the bottom of the pots to the bottom of the buckets. I would put a piece of PVC down the side of the pots as a fill tube. Think that would work for an on the fly SIP?
Click to expand...
It could work. My concern here would be the interface between the hydroton and the soil. I'm assuming the use of some kind of "soil" as a medium.

I'd put some clay balls in the bottom of the 3.5G pot (a few inches deep) and none in the 5G (except what may be needed to keep the 3.5G top flush with the 5G pot - just for ease of access for topdressing - (and some other spacer could work as well)). Then the soil would get watered by wicking from a reservoir filled enough so the water level almost comes up to the interface between hydroton and soil in the 3.5G. I kinda doubt this system would wick well once the water level has fallen below the bottom of the 3.5G pot (the plastic of the 3.5G could be too much of a break in the wicking dynamic). Some folks use fabric pots in a scenario like this as the fabric doesn't break the wicking path (and if this is done, hydroton in the bottom of the fabric pot wouldn't be necessary).

The issue here is that the bigger you make your active reservoir (the bottom part of the 3.5G with hydroton that sits in the water), the less soil will be in the 3.5G.

The PVC pipe wouldn't be absolutely necessary for filling the reservoir (as you could dump water down between the pot and the bucket), but it might be easier/cleaner depending on your overall layout.

A landscaping fabric might serve well as a barrier between the soil and the clay in the 3.5G. Not 100% necessary, I don't think, but it would be cleaner and wouldn't inhibit the wicking.

It might be easier to forego the 5G and just use a deep saucer - one deep enough to submerge most of the hydroton in the 3.5G. If you have tons of 5G buckets, 3.5G pots, and hydroton sitting around and you just want to try some shit, I think this could be made to work, though. An overflow hole drilled in the 5G bucket at a level just below the bottom of the soil in the 3.5G pot would be a safety against overfilling the reservoir and over saturating the soil.

This kind of stuff can be hard to explain in writing, so I'd be happy to clarify if this is a bit opaque.
 
myke

myke

Well-Known Member
GenericEnigma said:
It could work. My concern here would be the interface between the hydroton and the soil. I'm assuming the use of some kind of "soil" as a medium.

I'd put some clay balls in the bottom of the 3.5G pot (a few inches deep) and none in the 5G (except what may be needed to keep the 3.5G top flush with the 5G pot - just for ease of access for topdressing - (and some other spacer could work as well)). Then the soil would get watered by wicking from a reservoir filled enough so the water level almost comes up to the interface between hydroton and soil in the 3.5G. I kinda doubt this system would wick well once the water level has fallen below the bottom of the 3.5G pot (the plastic of the 3.5G could be too much of a break in the wicking dynamic). Some folks use fabric pots in a scenario like this as the fabric doesn't break the wicking path (and if this is done, hydroton in the bottom of the fabric pot wouldn't be necessary).

The issue here is that the bigger you make your active reservoir (the bottom part of the 3.5G with hydroton that sits in the water), the less soil will be in the 3.5G.

The PVC pipe wouldn't be absolutely necessary for filling the reservoir (as you could dump water down between the pot and the bucket), but it might be easier/cleaner depending on your overall layout.

A landscaping fabric might serve well as a barrier between the soil and the clay in the 3.5G. Not 100% necessary, I don't think, but it would be cleaner and wouldn't inhibit the wicking.

It might be easier to forego the 5G and just use a deep saucer - one deep enough to submerge most of the hydroton in the 3.5G. If you have tons of 5G buckets, 3.5G pots, and hydroton sitting around and you just want to try some shit, I think this could be made to work, though. An overflow hole drilled in the 5G bucket at a level just below the bottom of the soil in the 3.5G pot would be a safety against overfilling the reservoir and over saturating the soil.

This kind of stuff can be hard to explain in writing, so I'd be happy to clarify if this is a bit opaque.
Click to expand...
Makes sense to me,there has to be a wick of some sort.Two plastic pots will need either a small net pot for a wick or a strip of fabric sticking out the bottom of the 3.5g pot.
 
myke

myke

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
A little off topic but close enough I think.

Here's my plan.

I have plants in 3.5 gallon black plastic pots. These pots will fit into 5 gallon buckets. My plan is to put rocks, marbles, hydroton, etc... on the bottom of the buckets at a level where the top of the pot will fit flush. That would leave 6-8 inches from the bottom of the pots to the bottom of the buckets. I would put a piece of PVC down the side of the pots as a fill tube. Think that would work for an on the fly SIP?
Click to expand...
What makes it difficult is you already have plants in.The bottom would need a bunch of holes and probably up the sides a little.I know clay pebbles will wick a long ways so as long as the dirt doesn't sit in the water it should work.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
myke said:
What makes it difficult is you already have plants in.The bottom would need a bunch of holes and probably up the sides a little.I know clay pebbles will wick a long ways so as long as the dirt doesn't sit in the water it should work.
Click to expand...

I had thought of running some wicking material from the bottom of the pot. The more I think about it the more I realize it's not worth the effort. I was trying to cut down on the watering maintenance. It's been so hot that keeping things hydrated is becoming a pain. I'll just deal with it this season but I'm definitely going to be using Sip's outdoors next year.

Thanks for the feedback.
 
myke

myke

Well-Known Member
Smscreations said:
Damn that thing is massive. I've been talking about SIPs to my Dad and trying to get him to convert his 5 gallon bucket stadium setup to some of these. What are you running for soil and nutes for your veggies?
Click to expand...
Gaia 444 EWC.Soil was made spring of 21' Same basic mix as my indoor ones.

I did add extra kelp and frass not long ago.

Under my patio it gets hot, dirt seams to love it.Lots of white fuzz.
 
Smscreations

Smscreations

Well-Known Member
myke said:
Gaia 444 EWC.Soil was made spring of 21' Same basic mix as my indoor ones.

I did add extra kelp and frass not long ago.

Under my patio it gets hot, dirt seams to love it.Lots of white fuzz.
Click to expand...
Nice!!
I completely forgot that I topdressed more Kashi when I transplanted my SIPs and freaked when I saw a thick layer of fuzz while trimming the plants last night lol. Was like, wait, that's supposed to be there haha
 
Somatek

Somatek

Well-Known Member
Hollatchaboy said:
Well my thinking is, coco isn't supposed to get dry. In a sip it mostly never would. The only problem I can see, would be the flushing of the old nutes and replacing with fresh.
Click to expand...
Bottom feeding with mineral salt fertilizers runs a much bigger risk of nutrient lock up, you could solve it by adding a drain so you can empty the res, flush your plants and then shut the valve and refill. Depending on the system you're planning to run it could be more complicated but that's just an excuse for creative problem solving.
 
Somatek

Somatek

Well-Known Member
Southernontariogrower said:
Does anyone aerate sips? Used a 5 gal bucket under a cloth pot, after l added a bubbler root health increased tenfold. Or would this be a soil dwc hybrid?
Click to expand...
Sounds like a hybrid unless you're using bottled nutes then it's straight hydro. It reminds me of a dual root zone aquaponic system, although there the soil is another type of filter to keep the water clean for the fish. Adding a bubbler makes sense though, roots need air so if they're growing into the res then keep it aerated.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top