Couldn't Resist A Christmas Auto Grow

[InTheShed]

it's not a hempy.

I was quoting Azi who was referring to a hempy bucket.

 

[Azimuth]

Bluter's idea of the perlite bed in a deep enough storage container would work great with your fabric pots. The perlite will stay moist and if the seedling is looking ofr moisture its roots will explore down below looking for some where it will be plentiful.

And, as he says, some growers grow this way long term, so another proven concept that should work great for your 7 days away if not longer.

 

[Azimuth]

Thank you Bluter! These systems are big and I think they would be problematic on the dining room table, which is where the plants get grown. I am interested to see if I can scale it down. What if I were to use a plastic dish washing bowl full of perlite with the fabric pots directly on the perlite?

That would work great as long as it holds enough water, which is not a big ask for 7 days since even if it goes dry on say day 4, you're mostly back on a normal watering routine that most people use anyway.

 

[Carmen Ray]

Yes, that is the concept I've been suggesting. Then the issue becomes how high do you place the 1L bottle as the level of the water in the bottle will determine the flow rate, the higher the bottle, the faster the flow, and that will slow as the water level falls in the bottle.

Keep the entire reservoir below the pot like in the "pot susppended over a bowl" idea, and you'd get a fairly even "flow" rate.

Are you saying that if I keep the bottle lower than the pot it will wick at an even flow?

some guys just use a towel draped over a riser dipping into a res bucket underneath. the pots sit on the towel.

I am not sure what a riser is. Is it a plastic pipe?

 

[Azimuth]

Are you saying that if I keep the bottle lower than the pot it will wick at an even flow?

Yes, mostly. As the water falls in the bottle then more gravity will affect it, but not so much that you'd likely notice over a short time period.

 

[Carmen Ray]

That would work great as long as it holds enough water, which is not a big ask for 7 days since even if it goes dry on say day 4, you're mostly back on a normal watering routine that most people use anyway.

I am not considering this for while I am away. I think that there will now be sufficient water in the soil for the little plants while I am gone for 7 days. They will be 2 weeks old when I get back, so very small still. I was considering this for when I up-pot to the 20 liter pots. I can't keep a storage container full of water on my dining room table. It's not safe. That's my restriction. I like the idea of self-watering plants though.

 

[Azimuth]

You're simplest solution is probably a dishpan or some other container slightly wider than your cloth pot and deeper than a typical saucer with water say half way up the lower container.

Errrr, but you're not in your cloth pots yet, are you?

 

[bluter]

Thank you Bluter! These systems are big and I think they would be problematic on the dining room table, which is where the plants get grown. I am interested to see if I can scale it down. What if I were to use a plastic dish washing bowl full of perlite with the fabric pots directly on the perlite?

for something that small you could stick to smaller cups. open them up a bit and bury them part way in the swick res.
a plastic pan or a small tote should do it.

Keep in mind that hempy is top fed rather than relying strictly on wicking action to keep the top roots moist.

i was thinking about this and hempy is mostly bottom fed. the res is replenished from the top, so the top gets a flood every few days, but it relies on the res itself once the roots get there.

edit : you want the res to sit about 2/3 of the way up the perlite, with the cup buried in the top dry third. you want the cup sitting just a little higher than the res, the perlite will wick the moisture in.

 

[Carmen Ray]

edit : you want the res to sit about 2/3 of the way up the perlite, with the cup buried in the top dry third. you want the cup sitting just a little higher than the res, the perlite will wick the moisture in.

What is the job of the cup?

Errrr, but you're not in your cloth pots yet, are you?

no I'd prefer to leave them where they are until they have established some roots.

 

[InTheShed]

i was thinking about this and hempy is mostly bottom fed. the res is replenished from the top, so the top gets a flood every few days, but it relies on the res itself once the roots get there.

I guess I should have gone with top-watered.

 

[bluter]

What is the job of the cup?

holds your media together unless you wanna cup your hands and stand there



it's the exact same idea as suspending the cups above a liquid res with a cloth wick extending down in to the res. the perlite becomes the wicking material, and regulates what the pot gets much better than a cloth wick.

I guess I should have gone with top-watered.

could probably feed hempy with a tube the same as sip system once the roots hit the res.

 

[Carmen Ray]

holds your media together unless you wanna cup your hands and stand there

um I am sorry Bluter I am having a hard time imagining the setup. I am going to show you another pic that I drew when I was considering SIP. Would this pasta strainer work to contain the perlite which would take the place of soil? Is that more or less what the cup is for? In the Swick I wouldn't need the outflow pipe and I wouldn't fill the water above the perlite would I? Would this be acceptable or am I missing something conceptually?
I just need a basic diagram to work from and adapt. It's hard to see the actual mechanism of what people are doing from the photos in their tents.

 

[Azimuth]

With the perlite you likely wouldn't need the air gap since there are so many small air gaps in the material assuming the fine dust is filtered out, though some of it is fine and will help with the wicking properties.

So, in your diagram, you'd flatten the soil layer and replace it with perlite and lose the colander. Then set the cloth pot right on top of the flattened out perlite.

So, same thing, just completlely different.

 

[bluter]

by the time the conversation is finished they'll be ready to up pot


you're over thinking it. it's just a bunch of perlite with the bottom 2/3 or so used as a res. easy peasy. the trick is making sure your plant media is exposed to the res, but not drowned in it. that's it. the perlite both wicks and provides the air gap.

 

[bluter]

i'm thinking it might be easier just to get someone to come in once while you're gone and feed them lol
they'll only need it the once. probably just before you get back.

 

[Carmen Ray]

by the time the conversation is finished they'll be ready to up pot


you're over thinking it. it's just a bunch of perlite with the bottom 2/3 or so used as a res. easy peasy. the trick is making sure your plant media is exposed to the res, but not drowned in it. that's it. the perlite both wicks and provides the air gap.

That is easy peasy! Hmmm, I'm quite keen to try this.

With the perlite you likely wouldn't need the air gap since there are so many small air gaps in the material assuming the fine dust is filtered out, though some of it is fine and will help with the wicking properties.

So, in your diagram, you'd flatten the soil layer and replace it with perlite and lose the colander. Then set the cloth pot right on top of the flattened out perlite.

So, same thing, just completlely different.

Thank you! Now I have the image in my head.

 

[Carmen Ray]

i'm thinking it might be easier just to get someone to come in once while you're gone and feed them lol
they'll only need it the once. probably just before you get back.

I'm rethinking my options with them once I have put them in their 20 liter final pots. I like the idea of self-watering plants and am toying with the idea of going Swick on these babies when I upcan.

 

[Azimuth]

I'm rethinking my options with them once I have put them in their 20 liter final pots. I like the idea of self-watering plants and am toying with the idea of going Swick on these babies when I upcan.

I've been thinking about how I would do a SIP in a cloth pot and my design with the drainage pipe and the covering of soil and an gap in the pot, and setting the pot right on the soil, etc., and the more I think about it, the more sense the cloth pot on a bed of perlite makes.

Same overall theory with the air and the wicking of water, just a whole lot simpler and easier. I'm thinking the perlite might get algae on it over time and be a bit unsightly, but maybe once the limbs extend over the pot edges they shade out enough light to make that a non-issue. And that probably works better indoors than out with the wind and critters and all.

 

[Carmen Ray]

I've been thinking about how I would do a SIP in a cloth pot and my design with the drainage pipe and the covering of soil and an gap in the pot, and setting the pot right on the soil, etc., and the more I think about it, the more sense the cloth pot on a bed of perlite makes.

Same overall theory with the air and the wicking of water, just a whole lot simpler and easier. I'm thinking the perlite might get algae on it over time and be a bit unsightly, but maybe once the limbs extend over the pot edges they shade out enough light to make that a non-issue. And that probably works better indoors than out with the wind and critters and all.

I'm so glad you think this. I don't think slightly green perlite will worry me I'm excited to do this now. I am looking forward to shopping at the plastics shop lol.... it's the devil I know, but I do love the plastics shop

 

[Carmen Ray]

Day 4

Good morning,

As you can see, the stems are just over an inch long, the first leaves are getting bigger and there is action in the node where the next set of leaves will come from.

First up is Red Russian XXL

Then we have the Skywalker, Kush Cut

The soil is still spongy and damp. I will give it a slight top up this evening because I will be away from home from tomorrow.