Nwtexan
Well-Known Member
Thanks! My design is copied from the earthtainer pdf which is floating around in this thread. Planning on getting some commercial units at some point but wanted to try this first
SIP thread -- (Sub-Irrigated Planter)
- Thread starter Humanrob
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Nwtexan
Well-Known Member
Plants are in and digging it. I just added some freshly ground malted barley(about 1C per container), and spread some straw on top. Grabbed a few earth worms and threw them in for good measure.
Curious if anyone is using TM7 and if so, are you dry amending similar to the barley?
Curious if anyone is using TM7 and if so, are you dry amending similar to the barley?
ilovereggae
Well-Known Member
1 week in. I think they work 
ilovereggae
Well-Known Member
Day 1 vs Day 13 in the Earthbox Jr's. Some topped once or twice and use of garden wire to try to keep an even height. These are all from seed so not too worried about that and not going to bother with scrog.
going to flip tomorrow after I take some clones from the lowers.
going to flip tomorrow after I take some clones from the lowers.
GrassBurner
Well-Known Member
Looking great @ilovereggae These sips are the truth! In the spirit of day 1 to 13, here are my plants at day 1 and 13 in the planters. 
Nwtexan
Well-Known Member
This run is a bit of an experiment to get my understanding together with the SIPs and no till.
Things are going reasonably well. I'm dealing with too much Nitrogen, that seems to be creating some other issues. This looks to my eye to be a Potassium deficiency(which I had in flower in my last, non SIP, grow as well).
With this route, it seems there isn't a ton you can do once you are having any issues. I have some malted barley and some TM7, both which have been lightly watered in from top.
Trying to figure out what to do with this soil once this cycle is done. I would like to try to dial it in a bit more to get past some of these issues, but it is a little challenging(at least to me). My soil test came back with really low nitrogen. I amended with some bloodmeal (sparingly) and got another test that put the N levels in the perfect region. My thought is that all the micro action brought the other nitrogen sources to life(crab meal, kelp meal, etc) causing the toxicity. There is a lot of learning to do about the interaction of different nutrients and how overabundance of one can cause deficiencies with another.
Things are going reasonably well. I'm dealing with too much Nitrogen, that seems to be creating some other issues. This looks to my eye to be a Potassium deficiency(which I had in flower in my last, non SIP, grow as well).
With this route, it seems there isn't a ton you can do once you are having any issues. I have some malted barley and some TM7, both which have been lightly watered in from top.
Trying to figure out what to do with this soil once this cycle is done. I would like to try to dial it in a bit more to get past some of these issues, but it is a little challenging(at least to me). My soil test came back with really low nitrogen. I amended with some bloodmeal (sparingly) and got another test that put the N levels in the perfect region. My thought is that all the micro action brought the other nitrogen sources to life(crab meal, kelp meal, etc) causing the toxicity. There is a lot of learning to do about the interaction of different nutrients and how overabundance of one can cause deficiencies with another.
Attachments
I am not an expert by any stretch but I will bet that the ones who are will want to know what your current soil mix is to help troubleshoot or adjust for the next cycle. Buildasoil sells a lot of products to help soil and gets good reviews. I havent used them yet but plan to.
Nwtexan
Well-Known Member
My soil mix was a Coots style mix that had some more of the dry amendments(based on some experienced members advice) It had the 1/3 mix of compost(bu's bio), aeration(perlite and pumice) and peat. I had all the rock dusts to the amounts per Coot's recipe. I originally did the 1/2C per CF of Neem, Karanja, Crab meal, and kelp meal, but ended up adding a bit more.
I used this recipe as my template
Coots Soil Mix | Organic Soil & Compost | Growing Organic
This Coots soil mix is not our own, but it is what we have found to work best for most plants. All credit for this recipe goes to Clackamas Coot.
growingorganic.com
ilovereggae
Well-Known Member
Flower day 7 (3 weeks in the sip)
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Lookin good man! Wishin ya luck!
GrassBurner
Well-Known Member
Time for a new cycle Got the old sips downstairs, old soil out, mixed into the fresh soil outside, and new soil brought back in. Cleaned out the sips, and now we're ready to fill them back up.
The reservoir was full of black gold
Tons of worms again down there, similar to the last sips I cleaned out.
Rinsed everything out, you can see how much soil was in there. I'm going to put landscaping fabric across the plastic shelf to help mitigate the problem. Roots have no issues getting into the reservoir, saw one poking through the overflow on the last sips I recently cycled with fabric on the shelf.
Got the old sips downstairs, old soil out, mixed into the fresh soil outside, and new soil brought back in. Cleaned out the sips, and now we're ready to fill them back up. The reservoir was full of black gold
Tons of worms again down there, similar to the last sips I cleaned out. Rinsed everything out, you can see how much soil was in there. I'm going to put landscaping fabric across the plastic shelf to help mitigate the problem. Roots have no issues getting into the reservoir, saw one poking through the overflow on the last sips I recently cycled with fabric on the shelf.
ilovereggae
Well-Known Member
So I have a question for you all and need some advice. I am having a funky sulfur smell come from the new ones I just started.
The one w the cover on it was started this time last week. That one is rocking already. Probably will go into flower this weekend.
The other 2 I did this weekend and stuck a few clones into them.
I ran out of dirt from my first tote so moved on to my next one. I have 3 of these totes I put soil from last round, ammended w ewc and DTE veganic mix and left to cook since Dec.
This 2nd tote was a little dried out, I guess I hadn't added as much water to it or turned over the soil as much. It didn't smell any kind of way when I did add water to premoisten it. even now the tote doesn't smell.
I added my normal DTE vegan mix trenches, and then topped off the sips with EWC. the only thing I did do differently was mix in some of the BAS pinto bean compost which was bone dry. I top wet everything to get it nice (not too wet tho) and then planted my clones. I did not fill the sips with water yet.
Within 2 or 3 hours when I unzipped the tent, I smelled funk. like feet. I looked it up and realized I must have anaerobic bacteria so I pulled the covers off and turned my exhaust fan on a higher speed. within 24 hrs or so the smell had subsided and the top layer of soil was starting to dry out. I figured maybe I could use beneficial bacteria to kill the bad ones so I sprinkled some bokashi grain on top of the sips to at least try to help cover up the last of the smell. by the next day all I smelled was bokashi. so I decided it was time to add water, and to help boost the benes even more, made up a ewc, kelp meal, coconut powder, and touch of Recharge "tea" like I did for the plants that are in flower now. just a few oz each to wet the top of the soil a little. covers went back on.
this morning g I checked and the funky smell was back. have a little fuzz starting from the bokashi already so maybe that will knock it out. but I peeled back the covers again and turned the fan back up.
is this a lost cause? should I dump the dirt and start fresh any? any other ideas?
it would be annoying to lose these plants but they are all clones so I still have the genetics and more clones i can replace these with,, and would rather lose a couple weeks of growth than be fighting issues the whole time. but if it's just a matter of waiting a few days I will just be patient and wait for things to sort themself out.
The one w the cover on it was started this time last week. That one is rocking already. Probably will go into flower this weekend.
The other 2 I did this weekend and stuck a few clones into them.
I ran out of dirt from my first tote so moved on to my next one. I have 3 of these totes I put soil from last round, ammended w ewc and DTE veganic mix and left to cook since Dec.
This 2nd tote was a little dried out, I guess I hadn't added as much water to it or turned over the soil as much. It didn't smell any kind of way when I did add water to premoisten it. even now the tote doesn't smell.
I added my normal DTE vegan mix trenches, and then topped off the sips with EWC. the only thing I did do differently was mix in some of the BAS pinto bean compost which was bone dry. I top wet everything to get it nice (not too wet tho) and then planted my clones. I did not fill the sips with water yet.
Within 2 or 3 hours when I unzipped the tent, I smelled funk. like feet. I looked it up and realized I must have anaerobic bacteria so I pulled the covers off and turned my exhaust fan on a higher speed. within 24 hrs or so the smell had subsided and the top layer of soil was starting to dry out. I figured maybe I could use beneficial bacteria to kill the bad ones so I sprinkled some bokashi grain on top of the sips to at least try to help cover up the last of the smell. by the next day all I smelled was bokashi. so I decided it was time to add water, and to help boost the benes even more, made up a ewc, kelp meal, coconut powder, and touch of Recharge "tea" like I did for the plants that are in flower now. just a few oz each to wet the top of the soil a little. covers went back on.
this morning g I checked and the funky smell was back. have a little fuzz starting from the bokashi already so maybe that will knock it out. but I peeled back the covers again and turned the fan back up.
is this a lost cause? should I dump the dirt and start fresh any? any other ideas?
it would be annoying to lose these plants but they are all clones so I still have the genetics and more clones i can replace these with,, and would rather lose a couple weeks of growth than be fighting issues the whole time. but if it's just a matter of waiting a few days I will just be patient and wait for things to sort themself out.
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Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
What you got there, earth box jr?Time for a new cycle
The reservoir was full of black gold
View attachment 4888855
Rinsed everything out, you can see how much soil was in there. I'm going to put landscaping fabric across the plastic shelf to help mitigate the problem. Roots have no issues getting into the reservoir, saw one poking through the overflow on the last sips I recently cycled with fabric on the shelf.
View attachment 4888858
GrassBurner
Well-Known Member
I think they're called "Patio Pickers". They're the $30 planters from Lowes. Measure 20" wide and 24" long.
Between them and the Dr Earth dry ammendments, my plants have been super happy. A little too happy with how my first complete run in these got out of control. I was not ready
My plants going now are exploding. 6 of the 8 have been topped once.
. Thinking about making some rings out of 1/2" round steel, possibly rebar. Somewhere around a 10" diameter. Plop them down around each plant, and attach my wires to train branches.
Between them and the Dr Earth dry ammendments, my plants have been super happy. A little too happy with how my first complete run in these got out of control. I was not ready
My plants going now are exploding. 6 of the 8 have been topped once.
. Thinking about making some rings out of 1/2" round steel, possibly rebar. Somewhere around a 10" diameter. Plop them down around each plant, and attach my wires to train branches.
GrassBurner
Well-Known Member
It's training day!! These hookers were getting out of control.
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
Why not use concrete mesh?I think they're called "Patio Pickers". They're the $30 planters from Lowes. Measure 20" wide and 24" long.
Between them and the Dr Earth dry ammendments, my plants have been super happy. A little too happy with how my first complete run in these got out of control. I was not ready
My plants going now are exploding. 6 of the 8 have been topped once.
. Thinking about making some rings out of 1/2" round steel, possibly rebar. Somewhere around a 10" diameter. Plop them down around each plant, and attach my wires to train branches.
View attachment 4888878
Nwtexan
Well-Known Member
I'm kind of falling between a few forums with this, as it is a plant problem with a no till soil in a SIP.
These plants were transplanted into the SIP about 7 weeks ago from cuttings. The plants looked great before transplant. The soil is a Coots mix. I had the soil tested before planting and can post test results if anyone needs them(Ive posted these a couple of times). Since transplant, I have added some malted barley and some TM7.
I was noticing nitrogen toxicity a couple of weeks after planting. Could this be causing all of the issues?
My concern is more about next run than this one, as this was kind of a test run. I don't want to be subjecting another round of plants to the same issues, but not sure how to address or fix the issue. I could obviously get a soil test at the end of the run, before replant, but I am a bit unsure as I already did a test before this run, and still ran into these issues with the test coming back pretty solid.
These plants were transplanted into the SIP about 7 weeks ago from cuttings. The plants looked great before transplant. The soil is a Coots mix. I had the soil tested before planting and can post test results if anyone needs them(Ive posted these a couple of times). Since transplant, I have added some malted barley and some TM7.
I was noticing nitrogen toxicity a couple of weeks after planting. Could this be causing all of the issues?
My concern is more about next run than this one, as this was kind of a test run. I don't want to be subjecting another round of plants to the same issues, but not sure how to address or fix the issue. I could obviously get a soil test at the end of the run, before replant, but I am a bit unsure as I already did a test before this run, and still ran into these issues with the test coming back pretty solid.
GrownAtHighAltitude
Well-Known Member
Did you let the soil cook for awhile before you used it? What kind of compost did you use?
Nwtexan
Well-Known Member
It "cooked" for about 3-4 weeks, though I was under the impression that the Coots mix is usable immediately. I used Bo's biodynamic compost
raggyb
Well-Known Member
I'm the last person to ask but the yellow points and papery like brown appearance looks like further stage of what I had recently and think it was K deficiency. But in your case you have dark green there too so that like you said seems N excess. I don't recall if N is antagonistic to K or if it's something else that is but that could explain that.