SIP thread -- (Sub-Irrigated Planter)

[CadillacJack]

The room your tent is in needs to be vented, the water needs to go somewhere in the end. If not vented or evacuated somehow, then the water will just stay in the room and go back in the tent. The other thing you can do in order to drop rh is to increase the temps in the tent a bit at night.

I have an 8" AC Infinity inline running at max power around the clock that sucks through a carbon filter and exhausts outside. I also have a 6" inline that pulls through a carbon filter from outside the tent and feeds into the tent. The 6" is for airflow and cooling. I don't have a way to vent the 6" outside unless I cut up the window insert thing that the 8" runs through.

I defoliated some last night, but I'm saving the big clean up for closer to the 3 week mark. I'm planning on doing that on Feb. 10th.
Humidity level did not seem to be affected. Also put a damprid in the tent and closed it partially. I don't want to fully close it so the circulating fan outside the tent can help make the plants dance and hopefully not let any PM or anything of the sort pop up.

All in all, I have an 8" inline, a 4" inline, 2 - 4" fixed position fans, and a 12" oscillating fan inside the tent, and the 18" oscillating fan outside the tent. Lots of air moving, but its humid ass air that keeps me up at night. Hopefully we make it to the 10th with no issues and the final clean up helps.

Thanks for your input @Rocket Soul and @GenericEnigma

 

[weedstoner420]

I have an 8" AC Infinity inline running at max power around the clock that sucks through a carbon filter and exhausts outside. I also have a 6" inline that pulls through a carbon filter from outside the tent and feeds into the tent. The 6" is for airflow and cooling. I don't have a way to vent the 6" outside unless I cut up the window insert thing that the 8" runs through.

I defoliated some last night, but I'm saving the big clean up for closer to the 3 week mark. I'm planning on doing that on Feb. 10th.
Humidity level did not seem to be affected. Also put a damprid in the tent and closed it partially. I don't want to fully close it so the circulating fan outside the tent can help make the plants dance and hopefully not let any PM or anything of the sort pop up.

All in all, I have an 8" inline, a 4" inline, 2 - 4" fixed position fans, and a 12" oscillating fan inside the tent, and the 18" oscillating fan outside the tent. Lots of air moving, but its humid ass air that keeps me up at night. Hopefully we make it to the 10th with no issues and the final clean up helps.

Thanks for your input @Rocket Soul and @GenericEnigma

What's the RH in the room like?

 

[CadillacJack]

What's the RH in the room like?

Currently at 75%
It goes as low as 65% when I open all the doors and let a draft go through the house. I live in Portland though, so trying to get below "atmospheric river" humidity levels seems impossible to me at this point

 

[weedstoner420]

Currently at 75%
It goes as low as 65% when I open all the doors and let a draft go through the house. I live in Portland though, so trying to get below "atmospheric river" humidity levels seems impossible to me at this point

Jeeze, that's pretty high yeah...

Your tent is never gonna get below the RH of the room no matter what you do. Have you considered dumping your exhaust back into the room instead of outside?

If you're exhausting outside, the air in the room has to get replenished with air from somewhere else, which is also gonna be super humid. You're pulling humid air in, dehumidifying it a little bit, then sending it back out. If you exhaust inside, the same volume of air gets recycled in and out of the tent and continuously dehumidified.

Unless there's some other reason for exhausting outside...?

 

[CadillacJack]

Jeeze, that's pretty high yeah...

Your tent is never gonna get below the RH of the room no matter what you do. Have you considered dumping your exhaust back into the room instead of outside?

If you're exhausting outside, the air in the room has to get replenished with air from somewhere else, which is also gonna be super humid. You're pulling humid air in, dehumidifying it a little bit, then sending it back out. If you exhaust inside, the same volume of air gets recycled in and out of the tent and continuously dehumidified.

Unless there's some other reason for exhausting outside...?

Just fresh air. Is "fresh" a generic term that implies air moving, or a literal term that means new air? I don't think I ever considered what it actually means to have fresh air.

 

[weedstoner420]

Just fresh air. Is "fresh" a generic term that implies air moving, or a literal term that means new air? I don't think I ever considered what it actually means to have fresh air.

I dunno, I would consider "fresh" to be introduced from outside, in which case you would definitely be getting "fresh" air.

At any rate, lots of folks (myself included) exhaust into the same room the tent is in without issue. How often that air needs to be "refreshed" (if at all) probably depends on a lot of factors. My tent is in an open space in my basement, but if it were in a sealed closet or some tiny room with a closed door, I might not want to keep circulating that air over and over without letting some fresh air in...

Not sure what your situation is like in that regard, I was just thinking about the physics of why you're having trouble keeping your humidity down...

 

[cannabiscrusader]

Definitely try exhausting inside if you have 2 dehumidifiers going. I have 3 4x8's and 2 2x8 veg cabinets in my basement with one 4,000 sq ft dehumidifier. Rh outside has been %99 to %80 this past week, and my tents are staying at %49. Your dehumidifiers are trying to dehumidify portland.

Once you get the rh down in the lung room, you should be fine. I only exhaust outside in the summer time. Make sure your carbon filters are clear too. Clogged filters can send you on a tail chase

 

[GenericEnigma]

I dunno, I would consider "fresh" to be introduced from outside, in which case you would definitely be getting "fresh" air.

At any rate, lots of folks (myself included) exhaust into the same room the tent is in without issue. How often that air needs to be "refreshed" (if at all) probably depends on a lot of factors. My tent is in an open space in my basement, but if it were in a sealed closet or some tiny room with a closed door, I might not want to keep circulating that air over and over without letting some fresh air in...

Not sure what your situation is like in that regard, I was just thinking about the physics of why you're having trouble keeping your humidity down...

The best bet is probably to run dehumidifiers while recycling the air somewhat (put exhaust near intake) and keep temperature in the tent as high as practicable.

And definitely run plenty of fans inside the tent to keep the air moving!

 

[weedstoner420]

Your dehumidifiers are trying to dehumidify portland.

That's a really good way of putting it...

 

[CadillacJack]

Thanks for all your inputs everybody. When I pulled the ducting out of the window I realized the exhaust fan wasn't even running.....

It appears something knocked the cable out just enough to disrupt the signal, but not enough to make the cable fall. ‍



I bought the second dehumidifier a couple months ago, so it may have been off for months. I can't believe I missed that. Major face palm

 

[GenericEnigma]

Thanks for all your inputs everybody. When I pulled the ducting out of the window I realized the exhaust fan wasn't even running.....

It appears something knocked the cable out just enough to disrupt the signal, but not enough to make the cable fall. ‍



I bought the second dehumidifier a couple months ago, so it may have been off for months. I can't believe I missed that. Major face palm

I'm glad you found it, and I hope it improves the conditions!

 

[Tim Fox]

Any tips on keeping humidity down in a tent while using SIPS? My RH goes way too high at night. I have 2 dehumidifiers and a bunch of damprids in the room my tent is in. RH goes over 80%

Advice please?

Are you covering the sips with plastic or lids? Or are they open top with exposed soil?

 

[Tim Fox]

Thanks for all your inputs everybody. When I pulled the ducting out of the window I realized the exhaust fan wasn't even running.....

It appears something knocked the cable out just enough to disrupt the signal, but not enough to make the cable fall. ‍



I bought the second dehumidifier a couple months ago, so it may have been off for months. I can't believe I missed that. Major face palm

I had a fan speed control go bad once and my exhaust fan stopped for a while took a bit to figure it out, close call

 

[CadillacJack]

I'm glad you found it, and I hope it improves the conditions!

Things improved almost immediately. Thanks

 

[CadillacJack]

Are you covering the sips with plastic or lids? Or are they open top with exposed soil?

I'm using the plastic covers that come with the earthboxes

 

[weedstoner420]

Ye olde winter/spring SIP grow is underway. Strain is Erdpurt by Ace seeds.



This is my first time growing regular seeds, and I think I left them in 4 inch pots a bit too long waiting for them to show sex. They were looking pretty beat but are already starting to green up since planting in the SIPs earlier this week. Three are definitely female, one hasn't shown yet but it was looking so rough I decided to transplant it anyway. Already culled 4 males from the bunch too...

Happy SIP'ing y'all!

 

[BigGpops]

I wouldn't put anything but water in the reservoir. Maybe EM-1 or some other beneficial microbe product, but definitely not organic fertilizer

question I always ask myself, I'll ask here, so you do not want organic fertilizer in your reservoir, what happens when it does get in there? when i think or should say know that my fertilizer has gotten into my reservoir, i try and run it dry and overflow it over with fresh water for a bit!

 

[Rocket Soul]

question I always ask myself, I'll ask here, so you do not want organic fertilizer in your reservoir, what happens when it does get in there? when i think or should say know that my fertilizer has gotten into my reservoir, i try and run it dry and overflow it over with fresh water for a bit!

I know that some growers would do a little nutes in the deposit, like quarter-half strength without probs but not tested this myself. But they (is @Captain Morgan still on here) used synth ferts

 

[GenericEnigma]

question I always ask myself, I'll ask here, so you do not want organic fertilizer in your reservoir, what happens when it does get in there? when i think or should say know that my fertilizer has gotten into my reservoir, i try and run it dry and overflow it over with fresh water for a bit!

It probably depends.

I use a soil that is very strong. I watered in some top dressing (likely unnecessary in retrospect) and it was too much, running off into my reservoir. Within days, I was experiencing brutal lockout and had to drain and replace the reservoir with clean tap water.

But, like @Rocket Soul says, folks have done it in their setups.

 

[BigGpops]

It probably depends.

I use a soil that is very strong. I watered in some top dressing (likely unnecessary in retrospect) and it was too much, running off into my reservoir. Within days, I was experiencing brutal lockout and had to drain and replace the reservoir with clean tap water.

But, like @Rocket Soul says, folks have done it in their setups.

That's exactly what happened to me before in one tote, the supports holding the shelf collapsed, lesson learned on that one! Been lucky so far after, no more totes, 3gallon sips for me.