CBDMed
Well-Known Member
Ok. Good to know!
I only ask because they said that with Biochar, it will soak all the nutrients out of your grow unless you pre-treat it. I thought you might know more about that than me (safe bet).
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- Thread starter Emilya Green
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I only ask because they said that with Biochar, it will soak all the nutrients out of your grow unless you pre-treat it. I thought you might know more about that than me (safe bet).
It will, but there are safer things to use, like a good worm casting tea if you are in a hurry to charge it. I just mix mine with fresh castings and let it sit for a few months. But you definitely have to do something.
CBDMed
Well-Known Member
Ahh, ok! An alternate method. Thanks!
ReservoirDog
Well-Known Member
Kinda more interested in the unhappy ending now, me. What happened, the reservoir went dry for too long do you reckon? Anyway, good luck with this year's plants, looking great as per usual. Love to have you visit the DogPound anytime for SIP adventures!I forgot I had two SIP containers going this summer for flowers. For giggles, here's one with a happy ending. It was completely covered in petunia flowers for the longest time! People were stunned at their beauty back then. I mean covered! It's a good system! 8" X 8" X 36" approx. About 2" free space below.
- Thread starter
- #925
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
I will get a little further on the SIP tubs today, but it is not clear if I will have enough time to get the final build done AND then get done with the transplanting of the clones. The last two nights I have been cutting 30' of drainage pipe down into 6 and 7 inch sections. Today I hope to make the necessary 4.5" holes in the inner tubs for the wick feet and get the drainage and fill pipes installed. I doubt that I have time before the KC Chiefs football game to fill 6x 7" pipe sections with soil and wrap them in nylons to be my wick feet, and then in the main tub add a couple of inches of soil, and then up-pot my 1 gallon containers holding my clones to 7 gallon cloth bags to sit in those tubs on top of the wick feet. I would say that barring any disasters, the clones will all be uppotted and SIPing from their 6 gallon reservoirs by sometime Friday afternoon.
- Thread starter
- #926
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
Ok... I didn't get it done on Friday. It has been so busy around here, that I just haven't had time to get to building the tubs. Until today, that is.
Today I drilled all the holes fitted the pipes and I have 3 fully assembled sip tubs. Tomorrow I will start transplanting, 2 plants at a time.
See the tub in the upper part of the picture? Look at that gap between tubs! There is no need for a fill tube in this system, just pour it in the crack a bucket full at a time.
Today I drilled all the holes fitted the pipes and I have 3 fully assembled sip tubs. Tomorrow I will start transplanting, 2 plants at a time.
See the tub in the upper part of the picture? Look at that gap between tubs! There is no need for a fill tube in this system, just pour it in the crack a bucket full at a time.
- Thread starter
- #927
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
Welcome to the newly remodeled Veg Room #2! Today I got one of the SIP tubs completed with 2 plants transplanted over to 7 gallon containers and installed in the SIP on top of the Wick Feet.
The first task was to stuff soil down into the 7" risers and tie a half a nylon stocking around it to hold the soil inside.
Before these were put in place, a layer of plant shield was cut to fit in the bottom of the top container, and slits were cut where the big holes were, so that the Wicks could fit up through the fabric to directly touch the 7gal cloth bags.
A 1" to 2" layer of soil was packed into the tub, right up to the level of the Wicks, to help with water distribution.
The 7 gallon bags were placed over the Wicks and filled part way with new FFOF soil to the level appropriate to transplant the plants in their tall 1 gallon containers, and then FFOF was packed in all around to fill in the large grow bags.
Then the plants got their next feeding of @GeoFlora Nutrients VEG, 2/3 cup each and they were watered from the top until runoff was observed in the soil below them.
Knowing that some of that runoff water was going down into the top of the wick, it was then time to fill the reservoir and get the capillary action started with the Wicks. 10-13 gallons of water was poured around the side, directly into the bottom tub, filling it to the runoff hole at 5" high from the bottom.
There is a LOT of water in this system and it should be days, maybe a week before I would need to water again. I will monitor it to make sure that the wicking is definitely occurring and to try to determine a daily water usage rate.
The task tomorrow is to get some more FFOF. I totally forgot how big 7 gallon containers are in relation to a bag of soil, and it's clear I will need at least 2 more bags to finish this project. I will get 3 just to be sure, and then tomorrow I plan on getting the last 4 clones into their own SIP tubs.
Eventually I want to automate the watering of these things using a water pump and moisture sensors. I could do this passively, but electronic devices that I can control with my phone are just cool, and must be attempted. For now, watering directly down the side of the tub with a 5 gallon bucket would work ok outside, but it's way too messy for indoors. I am going to get one of those long automotive funnels that I can stick in there when I need to water, and then the clutter and need for a fill tube can be completely ignored.
In the next few days, as soon as a very special shipment arrives, I will start a new grow journal, featuring just these 6 plants and that special shipment. Stay tuned for exciting stuff!
In the Bloom Room, we have our 3 5g SIPS, still doing remarkably well, compared to the way they looked when transplanted. Water usage per day has gone way up, and I am not certain how much they are using, but it is impressive. I will get a better handle on this as time goes on too. We are in day 4 of transitioning over to bloom and we are at day 12 since the last feeding, and the plants couldn't be happier. Even though the Geoflora is being top fed, these plants do not look hungry. If there was difficulty getting to the feed and new microbes because of the bottom watering, deficiencies would be showing by now and these plants would be showing the signs of multiple problems. They instead look quite healthy and well fed. Honestly, I did top water twice during this 14 day feeding period, but not a lot, maybe one full pitcher at a time. I believe at this point that this precaution was not necessary.
Speaking of watering pitchers, there was a request to see my little 3 cup pitcher that I prefer to water with. SIP is going to change all of this, but 2 of these little pitchers have served me for many years, one lives in VEG and the other resides in the bloom room, and no matter how big the container, I water them all slowly, 3 cups at a time.
The first task was to stuff soil down into the 7" risers and tie a half a nylon stocking around it to hold the soil inside.
Before these were put in place, a layer of plant shield was cut to fit in the bottom of the top container, and slits were cut where the big holes were, so that the Wicks could fit up through the fabric to directly touch the 7gal cloth bags.
A 1" to 2" layer of soil was packed into the tub, right up to the level of the Wicks, to help with water distribution.
The 7 gallon bags were placed over the Wicks and filled part way with new FFOF soil to the level appropriate to transplant the plants in their tall 1 gallon containers, and then FFOF was packed in all around to fill in the large grow bags.
Then the plants got their next feeding of @GeoFlora Nutrients VEG, 2/3 cup each and they were watered from the top until runoff was observed in the soil below them.
Knowing that some of that runoff water was going down into the top of the wick, it was then time to fill the reservoir and get the capillary action started with the Wicks. 10-13 gallons of water was poured around the side, directly into the bottom tub, filling it to the runoff hole at 5" high from the bottom.
There is a LOT of water in this system and it should be days, maybe a week before I would need to water again. I will monitor it to make sure that the wicking is definitely occurring and to try to determine a daily water usage rate.
The task tomorrow is to get some more FFOF. I totally forgot how big 7 gallon containers are in relation to a bag of soil, and it's clear I will need at least 2 more bags to finish this project. I will get 3 just to be sure, and then tomorrow I plan on getting the last 4 clones into their own SIP tubs.
Eventually I want to automate the watering of these things using a water pump and moisture sensors. I could do this passively, but electronic devices that I can control with my phone are just cool, and must be attempted. For now, watering directly down the side of the tub with a 5 gallon bucket would work ok outside, but it's way too messy for indoors. I am going to get one of those long automotive funnels that I can stick in there when I need to water, and then the clutter and need for a fill tube can be completely ignored.
In the next few days, as soon as a very special shipment arrives, I will start a new grow journal, featuring just these 6 plants and that special shipment. Stay tuned for exciting stuff!
In the Bloom Room, we have our 3 5g SIPS, still doing remarkably well, compared to the way they looked when transplanted. Water usage per day has gone way up, and I am not certain how much they are using, but it is impressive. I will get a better handle on this as time goes on too. We are in day 4 of transitioning over to bloom and we are at day 12 since the last feeding, and the plants couldn't be happier. Even though the Geoflora is being top fed, these plants do not look hungry. If there was difficulty getting to the feed and new microbes because of the bottom watering, deficiencies would be showing by now and these plants would be showing the signs of multiple problems. They instead look quite healthy and well fed. Honestly, I did top water twice during this 14 day feeding period, but not a lot, maybe one full pitcher at a time. I believe at this point that this precaution was not necessary.
Speaking of watering pitchers, there was a request to see my little 3 cup pitcher that I prefer to water with. SIP is going to change all of this, but 2 of these little pitchers have served me for many years, one lives in VEG and the other resides in the bloom room, and no matter how big the container, I water them all slowly, 3 cups at a time.
ReservoirDog
Well-Known Member
Tremendous! Excited for the surprise package. I've been mostly offline for 4-5 days (yeah, turns out it won't kill you, just hurts a lot). Great to see the progress. I’ve gone a month on a rez before, in low aeration SIPs. Not exactly an accomplishment. I’m avging a week with decent sized plants but I never fill to my drain level as I’ve found a bigger air gap can really excite growth while managing rh. Plants can get too big too fast in SIPs. Good problem I will admit.
These pics are already over a week old and plants seem twice the size. I’ll detail shortly on my thread.
Nice work with the wicking feet. It will be very interesting to see how you judge the moisture levels in each SIP design. Yes, the 5 gal are going to be a pain with the water uptake, but I hope the speed and size of growth blunts that pain!
Well impressed with the rez size you managed in the big totes. Also, with tin snips you could cut down the planter height, you know, of the inner tote, should that annoy you. Problem is it’ll look crap and then that’ll annoy you. *sigh* I have managed to find a 17 gal that nests perfectly inside the 27 gallon, so it saves me that needed planterheight. However, everything looks very good and secure and like it should produce really well. Nice work.
As you’ve done I do recommend heavy aeration in order to protect against the chance of plant-killing root rot incidence, as a precaution. I use 40% by volume perlite or lava stone, and also mix in a lot of cut up dried bamboo leaf that I grow at home. This heavy silicon source aerates quite well also. I find the aeration moves the rez moisture through the system much more quickly than identical SIPs without aeration, and that eases my concerns about roots sitting in stagnant, overmoist conditions too long.
The plants also root faster I've discovered when the reservoir is filled no higher than halfway, even kept closer to 1/3 full seems to get both seedlings and already rooted cuttings to settle faster. By which I mean that the normal SIP growth rate starts sooner under these 1/3 - 1/2 full rez conditions. I think it simply creates a stronger imperative to dive deep with a tap root and prevents poorly timed 'exploration' by the root system, however, this is merely my impression.
As for cloning a fresh cutting in a SIP, I've only ever tried to root a tomato cutting in a SIP, which is the easiest plant in the world to root so I don't think that success offers us much, but, soon I will try 'the real thing'. (sorry tomatoes, you know I love you, cukes too.)
How are your dollies holding up? Mine are constructed with 1/2 inch plywood and, FYI, this is the minimum for the weight I'm dealing with! Lol My dollies are 24/7 under the SIPs and with my 2, 10 gal geopots and 6 gallons fertigation I routinely fill to, its quite an ask of these dollies - but they are holding up fine so far. Two 27gal SIPs like yours in a 5x5 doesn’t leave a great deal of maneuvering space and I find the Dollie’s really help me with defols, etc.
Watching with great interest… we’ll done!
These pics are already over a week old and plants seem twice the size. I’ll detail shortly on my thread.
Nice work with the wicking feet. It will be very interesting to see how you judge the moisture levels in each SIP design. Yes, the 5 gal are going to be a pain with the water uptake, but I hope the speed and size of growth blunts that pain!
Well impressed with the rez size you managed in the big totes. Also, with tin snips you could cut down the planter height, you know, of the inner tote, should that annoy you. Problem is it’ll look crap and then that’ll annoy you. *sigh* I have managed to find a 17 gal that nests perfectly inside the 27 gallon, so it saves me that needed planterheight. However, everything looks very good and secure and like it should produce really well. Nice work.
As you’ve done I do recommend heavy aeration in order to protect against the chance of plant-killing root rot incidence, as a precaution. I use 40% by volume perlite or lava stone, and also mix in a lot of cut up dried bamboo leaf that I grow at home. This heavy silicon source aerates quite well also. I find the aeration moves the rez moisture through the system much more quickly than identical SIPs without aeration, and that eases my concerns about roots sitting in stagnant, overmoist conditions too long.
The plants also root faster I've discovered when the reservoir is filled no higher than halfway, even kept closer to 1/3 full seems to get both seedlings and already rooted cuttings to settle faster. By which I mean that the normal SIP growth rate starts sooner under these 1/3 - 1/2 full rez conditions. I think it simply creates a stronger imperative to dive deep with a tap root and prevents poorly timed 'exploration' by the root system, however, this is merely my impression.
As for cloning a fresh cutting in a SIP, I've only ever tried to root a tomato cutting in a SIP, which is the easiest plant in the world to root so I don't think that success offers us much, but, soon I will try 'the real thing'. (sorry tomatoes, you know I love you, cukes too.)
How are your dollies holding up? Mine are constructed with 1/2 inch plywood and, FYI, this is the minimum for the weight I'm dealing with! Lol My dollies are 24/7 under the SIPs and with my 2, 10 gal geopots and 6 gallons fertigation I routinely fill to, its quite an ask of these dollies - but they are holding up fine so far. Two 27gal SIPs like yours in a 5x5 doesn’t leave a great deal of maneuvering space and I find the Dollie’s really help me with defols, etc.
Watching with great interest… we’ll done!
- Thread starter
- #929
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
The cheap dollies that I threw under this first one was a test, and a failed one at that. If I needed to roll this thing around on these two single plant dollies, I would quickly destroy them. I needed the height however, since I didn't put a drain pipe in to be able to divert drainage to a drip pan. I need to get right on building a skid for each of the 3 tubs, and with your advice I am going with 3/4" plywood and going to get 2 straight wheels along with 2 rotatable ones. I also need to get a bag of shims so that I can level the tub... the floor does slant a bit.Tremendous! Excited for the surprise package. I've been mostly offline for 4-5 days (yeah, turns out it won't kill you, just hurts a lot). Great to see the progress. I’ve gone a month on a rez before, in low aeration SIPs. Not exactly an accomplishment. I’m avging a week with decent sized plants but I never fill to my drain level as I’ve found a bigger air gap can really excite growth while managing rh. Plants can get too big too fast in SIPs. Good problem I will admit.
These pics are already over a week old and plants seem twice the size. I’ll detail shortly on my thread.
Nice work with the wicking feet. It will be very interesting to see how you judge the moisture levels in each SIP design. Yes, the 5 gal are going to be a pain with the water uptake, but I hope the speed and size of growth blunts that pain!
Well impressed with the rez size you managed in the big totes. Also, with tin snips you could cut down the planter height, you know, of the inner tote, should that annoy you. Problem is it’ll look crap and then that’ll annoy you. *sigh* I have managed to find a 17 gal that nests perfectly inside the 27 gallon, so it saves me that needed planterheight. However, everything looks very good and secure and like it should produce really well. Nice work.
As you’ve done I do recommend heavy aeration in order to protect against the chance of plant-killing root rot incidence, as a precaution. I use 40% by volume perlite or lava stone, and also mix in a lot of cut up dried bamboo leaf that I grow at home. This heavy silicon source aerates quite well also. I find the aeration moves the rez moisture through the system much more quickly than identical SIPs without aeration, and that eases my concerns about roots sitting in stagnant, overmoist conditions too long.
The plants also root faster I've discovered when the reservoir is filled no higher than halfway, even kept closer to 1/3 full seems to get both seedlings and already rooted cuttings to settle faster. By which I mean that the normal SIP growth rate starts sooner under these 1/3 - 1/2 full rez conditions. I think it simply creates a stronger imperative to dive deep with a tap root and prevents poorly timed 'exploration' by the root system, however, this is merely my impression.
As for cloning a fresh cutting in a SIP, I've only ever tried to root a tomato cutting in a SIP, which is the easiest plant in the world to root so I don't think that success offers us much, but, soon I will try 'the real thing'. (sorry tomatoes, you know I love you, cukes too.)
How are your dollies holding up? Mine are constructed with 1/2 inch plywood and, FYI, this is the minimum for the weight I'm dealing with! Lol My dollies are 24/7 under the SIPs and with my 2, 10 gal geopots and 6 gallons fertigation I routinely fill to, its quite an ask of these dollies - but they are holding up fine so far. Two 27gal SIPs like yours in a 5x5 doesn’t leave a great deal of maneuvering space and I find the Dollie’s really help me with defols, etc.
Watching with great interest… we’ll done!
I will also take to heart your advice not to fill the rez all the way up... I don't really need a week or more buffer between waterings and would rather take full advantage of the larger air gap and the aeration that will be provided around the edges between the two containers.
There will be 3 SIP tubs in this room, and eventually 3 more in the bloom room. At a future time, when there is a need for running 12 plants in bloom, 3 more tubs will be added to the Bloom Room for a total of 6. Luckily, my smallest room and the one I started this in, is 6'x7', so there is barely enough room to put three tubs. The bloom room is 7'x14' so there is plenty of room in there for this extended project.
ReservoirDog
Well-Known Member
They would be well over 2 ft off the soil deck if I let them go but they are heavily trained with @Carcass Carhooks to “pin them low for the grow”. For ‘stretch’ a scrog may or may not go up, my scrog materials have had to be used recently in order to protect my grape harvest from local fauna. So, we’ll see how fast I can harvest the grapes this year, but I can’t afford any more spending on the grow at the moment, which is fine.
Re: dollies. Initially, I bought 100% 360-degree rotating wheels (all mentioned wheels are 40kg/88lb) for my dollies. Then, based on forum discussion alone and previous to installation, I switched it up to use 2 straight-tracking wheels and two 360's. After building those dollies and putting into use I found that I should have stuck with 100% 360's. It really is about the weight, this much weight really means that the straight-trackers will ONLY track straight and there is no cheating even a little on the turning circle you're left with. As much as I loathed it, I decided I'd really hamstrung myself unnecessarily and so stripped them down and installed 4, 360's on each dolly. Much better now
I think on any new ones I build that I'll tuck the wheels underneath a little more, that is, reduce the long span on each wide side between wheels for purely precautionary reasons. I do anticipate a secondary impact of improved maneuverability by doing this, but with 4, 360 deg wheels on each corner manuve's aren't an issue, its meant purely for reducing any potential flex. An inch on each end would make a big difference I think
- Thread starter
- #931
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
First, let me do a report on the 3 Purple Kush sitting in the Bloom Room. I can hardly believe that these are the same plants that I put in here 6 days ago. I will also update the Dynomyco thread so that without a lot of scrolling you can compare the plant pictures to just a week or so ago. These plants are massive, and it is incredible how much water they are using. Their daily uptake of water is a little better than twice what I usually see when watering every 2-3 days to runoff. Those who thought that the watering queen would not see such a massive change when moving to SIP were mistaken. Apparently there is a much better way of watering than the old traditional from the top method.
The other odd thing is the transition time from veg to bloom. These plants took 4 days! I have never seen that short of a transition! So as of this morning, we are in the 2nd day of Bloom! Today is feeding day too, so they will get 1/2 cup of @GeoFlora Nutrients BLOOM. I will top feed and will water with 2x 3 cup pitchers from the top (not enough to produce runoff) and then I will fill the rez.
That brings me to Veg Room #2. All 3 SIP containers have been completed and moved into place, and all of my clones have been transplanted from their rootbound 1 gallon containers, into the SIP 7 gallon bags. The last 2 tubs were fed and top watered to runoff, and the rez was filled about halfway to its capacity. I will add another 5 gallons or so to each of the new tubs tonight, after a portion of the water has gone into the wicks and up into the grow bags. The plants all look a little haggard at the moment, but that is only because I have made them sit in those small containers for way too long. I suspect that they will start to green up and get much bushier in this next week.
The other odd thing is the transition time from veg to bloom. These plants took 4 days! I have never seen that short of a transition! So as of this morning, we are in the 2nd day of Bloom! Today is feeding day too, so they will get 1/2 cup of @GeoFlora Nutrients BLOOM. I will top feed and will water with 2x 3 cup pitchers from the top (not enough to produce runoff) and then I will fill the rez.
That brings me to Veg Room #2. All 3 SIP containers have been completed and moved into place, and all of my clones have been transplanted from their rootbound 1 gallon containers, into the SIP 7 gallon bags. The last 2 tubs were fed and top watered to runoff, and the rez was filled about halfway to its capacity. I will add another 5 gallons or so to each of the new tubs tonight, after a portion of the water has gone into the wicks and up into the grow bags. The plants all look a little haggard at the moment, but that is only because I have made them sit in those small containers for way too long. I suspect that they will start to green up and get much bushier in this next week.
Quite the findings Em! This is looking like it could be the future for tent soil growers. I'm really looking forward to seeing this grow play out!
Say it’s not so, a better way to water? And I’m so used to doing it your way from the top. It sure is a lot less complicated. Happy growing CLFirst, let me do a report on the 3 Purple Kush sitting in the Bloom Room. I can hardly believe that these are the same plants that I put in here 6 days ago. I will also update the Dynomyco thread so that without a lot of scrolling you can compare the plant pictures to just a week or so ago. These plants are massive, and it is incredible how much water they are using. Their daily uptake of water is a little better than twice what I usually see when watering every 2-3 days to runoff. Those who thought that the watering queen would not see such a massive change when moving to SIP were mistaken. Apparently there is a much better way of watering than the old traditional from the top method.
The other odd thing is the transition time from veg to bloom. These plants took 4 days! I have never seen that short of a transition! So as of this morning, we are in the 2nd day of Bloom! Today is feeding day too, so they will get 1/2 cup of @GeoFlora Nutrients BLOOM. I will top feed and will water with 2x 3 cup pitchers from the top (not enough to produce runoff) and then I will fill the rez.
That brings me to Veg Room #2. All 3 SIP containers have been completed and moved into place, and all of my clones have been transplanted from their rootbound 1 gallon containers, into the SIP 7 gallon bags. The last 2 tubs were fed and top watered to runoff, and the rez was filled about halfway to its capacity. I will add another 5 gallons or so to each of the new tubs tonight, after a portion of the water has gone into the wicks and up into the grow bags. The plants all look a little haggard at the moment, but that is only because I have made them sit in those small containers for way too long. I suspect that they will start to green up and get much bushier in this next week.
Well, that was me and I believe my actual comment was something along the lines of "if it's mostly about the roots, I thought you might not see the dramatic improvement most of us get since you've got the max root building game down with your watering technique."
Of course I think the largest contributor to the difference is the air gap that delivers air to those roots, and if that is the case you should enjoy the benefits and sounds like you are!
It's at least different, but I think better. It is easier, faster, and the plants take more of it more frequently.
Fantastic - great work Emilya 
- Thread starter
- #936
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
Here are the SIP tubs as of tonight. The plants are beginning to stand up tall and are greening up quickly.Fantastic - great work Emilya
With this grow, I am going to try changing the function of this room. This room is going to be the permanent home for these plants and the lighting in this room will be run independently from the other rooms. We are still doing room rotation each month, but in the case of this room, the rotation will be virtual.
@Roy Growin, per your advice, I am trying something different with these 3 pictures and I hope it helps get more eyes on this work. Hover over the pictures to see what I did.
Superb
ReservoirDog
Well-Known Member
What is?
What's the something different? Besides SIPS overall, or is that what you meant? Edit, oh ok, I take the hover-text feature was possibly new?
- Thread starter
- #939
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
No, its not really a new feature, but one that most of us are not taking advantage of. By renaming your pictures before you attach them, you give Google something to grab on to, something that will put that post, and every one you do like that, into the search engine. By making this one simple change with each post, your entire grow journal becomes searchable, and able to be found with internet searches. More search results means more eyes on your work, and more new people checking into the forum because of your posts. Your pictures will start showing up all over the web. Be sure to use your keywords, journal purpose/name, strain names, etc in this naming, but even a simple name other than DCS98745.jpg will give Google something to bite on. It WILL make an immediate difference.
ReservoirDog
Well-Known Member
really appreciate the explanation. Good one. cheers.
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