Sure you can!- It's pretty easy, I think finding containers that fit together correctly might be the hardest part...
Here's a few pics:
Start with a solo cup (or a dollar store party cup) and poke/drill/melt a bunch of 1/8" (3.17mm)holes in it, to make sure the roots get some air- but only make 2 holes in the bottom, for the wicks..
Now run a stick through two of the holes, then run the string up and over it, and back out the other hole in the bottom. The wick material is just general purpose cotton twine.
You're doing this so there's more of the wick in the soil- I think more wick makes it work a little better
Now you've got this:
So you leave the stick in, and fill the cup with your preferred medium (I use ProMix HP)
Then, you pull the stick out, and the wicks stay put...-you should have 4 - apx.2" long wicks out the bottom...
I used a small Folgers Coffee jar for the rez, because solo or party cups fit perfectly...there's a little grip tape on there to remind me
not to pick it up by the solo cup, because that can get messy when the rez falls off a few feet off the ground...
The red line on the rez is where you want to maintain the water level, although, you can put as much water as you want in there, as long as there's an air gap between the bottom of the cup and the water..
I just prefer to keep the water about an inch below the cup..
Slip the cup into the rez, and you're sippin'!
I recommend starting with damp soil, which is usually the case anyway if you've got a seed in there...
Those are air holes in the rez, and you can also fill it through the holes if you want to...
And there ya go
@HashGirl !- the plant I've got going now has never been top watered, and she seems pretty happy about that...The wicks really keep the seedling water level "just right"- you might think the cup would get all heavy and waterlogged, but that doesn't happen- in fact, the cup stays lighter than when I water a seedling normally...
Happy mini-sippin' !
edit* I forgot to mention- at transplant time, clip the wicks off where they come through the bottom, and just leave the rest in there- a little string in the dirt won't hurt anything...
Yeah, my taxes went the opposite direction too...
I've been lucky with the SIPs, haven't had any problems yet- and once you build the SIP, the rest is actually easier than growing in a regular container, (imo)- Not that watering is that difficult, but sips do it for you, and us lazy folk can really appreciate that