- Thread starter
- #421
*** SEED TO SIP EXPERIMENT ***
It's time for another experiment since that's what you guys pay me to do in this thread.
I've had great success with the SIP pot format and I'm getting ready to promote a plant to flower and therefore need a replacement to get ready for next month's slot. Usually I pick from one of the clones I have and try to keep a decent rotation of strains, but this next slot was allocated for my new CBG strain.
I do have a couple of clones I could use but neither are really as developed as I wanted to up-pot, so I've decided to see how a seed planted directly into the SIP will fare from seed to harvest all in the same pot. This isn't exactly breaking new ground as I did do this before in my smaller 1L veg pots. That plant quickly got out of hand and I've used it for clones, but its structure won't really work to send it to flower so I need an alternative.
Plus, I'll likely be recommending this structure to new growers and I want to have the hands-on experience going from seed to harvest in the final pot. So, this evening I started giving swimming lessons to a feminized CBG seed. Right now she's practicing treading water.
I've got a couple of SIPs in flower now that are based on the "cave" pot structure and I'm noticing that I'm having the same delay of getting the roots established in the reservoir with these 2 Gal containers as I did with the 1L ones. Soooo, I'm going to build a couple of the 2 Gal "gravel bed" types and then I can compare them to the cave structured pots running now.
The 'gravel bed' structured pot is easier to build compared to the 'cave', and here's how I'm doing it...
--------
This will work with any standard 2 or 5 gallon bucket. I use a 2 gallon because I have height restrictions but the standard is definitely a 5 gallon.
To create the reservoir, I use food storage containers (Tupperware) like a bowl with straight sides with a slightly smaller footprint than the width of my bucket and that fits down into it. I make holes for the fill tubes in the bottom of the bowl near its side and then make a bunch of other drainage holes all over with a soldering iron (but could use a small drill bit).
Then I make a small drainage hole in the side of the bucket about an inch below where the top of the the bowl will be (flipped over so it makes a dome) so there is an air gap between the top of the water and the soil that sits on top of the upside down bowl. This air gap is very important and what I think is the true secret behind the success of these things.
Then I flip the food container upside down so it's like a dome and put it in the bottom of my bucket and insert the fill tubes through the holes made in the dome. I like to have the fill tubes suspended in the dome rather than going all the way down to the bottom so I use a pvc coupler to hold a stub piece that goes through the ceiling of the dome and is connected to the fill tube above it. Then I fill the bucket all around the dome with media. I put hydroton clay balls in the bottom to a level just over the drainage hole but most growers just use the grow mix they are already using. If you do use your regular mix just be sure to pack it down well in the zone below the overflow hole. The rest of your mix goes in firmed like you normally would do in any other pot.
I get water roots to fill the transition section which I think is a good thing but that does not seem to apply to SIPs using only soil. Since I prefer roots in the reservoir area, I'm going to stick with my hydroton clay balls.
---------
So, that's pretty much it. Very simple and I think will play to the strengths of this set-up quite well. Once the seed pops and shows a bit of leg, I'll plant it directly into the 2 Gal pot and then water lightly for a few days as the tap root makes its way down to the reservoir. At that point I'll start watering it through the fill tubes, giving it what it can drink in a day or two and see how it progresses. It will veg for 4 weeks and then get flipped.
My only concern is that my soil mix seems to last 8-10 weeks before running out of gas so I'll try to give it enough of my crumbles, FAA, and Jadam nutes to keep it going.
Assuming this works as well as I think it will, this could be a great way for a new grower to get a successful harvest without the usual growing pains of learning how to water.
I think this could be a part of the 'ultimate new grower setup':
"New Grower Package."
A 2 or 5 Gallon SIP
A good soil mix
GeoFlora nutes
MarsHydro Tent Package with a light and fan
Train with a quadline and you have a super easy, but very effective grow for even a first time grower, even with autos.
Or even a great specimen plant for an accomplished grower like @Mycelium Farmer to put out on that great back deck of his overlooking the farm. Put a favorite smelling plant in a 5 Gal bucket and have a nice, low maintenance, but successful grow.
At least, "that's the plan, man."
Azi out.
It's time for another experiment since that's what you guys pay me to do in this thread.
I've had great success with the SIP pot format and I'm getting ready to promote a plant to flower and therefore need a replacement to get ready for next month's slot. Usually I pick from one of the clones I have and try to keep a decent rotation of strains, but this next slot was allocated for my new CBG strain.
I do have a couple of clones I could use but neither are really as developed as I wanted to up-pot, so I've decided to see how a seed planted directly into the SIP will fare from seed to harvest all in the same pot. This isn't exactly breaking new ground as I did do this before in my smaller 1L veg pots. That plant quickly got out of hand and I've used it for clones, but its structure won't really work to send it to flower so I need an alternative.
Plus, I'll likely be recommending this structure to new growers and I want to have the hands-on experience going from seed to harvest in the final pot. So, this evening I started giving swimming lessons to a feminized CBG seed. Right now she's practicing treading water.
I've got a couple of SIPs in flower now that are based on the "cave" pot structure and I'm noticing that I'm having the same delay of getting the roots established in the reservoir with these 2 Gal containers as I did with the 1L ones. Soooo, I'm going to build a couple of the 2 Gal "gravel bed" types and then I can compare them to the cave structured pots running now.
The 'gravel bed' structured pot is easier to build compared to the 'cave', and here's how I'm doing it...
--------
This will work with any standard 2 or 5 gallon bucket. I use a 2 gallon because I have height restrictions but the standard is definitely a 5 gallon.
To create the reservoir, I use food storage containers (Tupperware) like a bowl with straight sides with a slightly smaller footprint than the width of my bucket and that fits down into it. I make holes for the fill tubes in the bottom of the bowl near its side and then make a bunch of other drainage holes all over with a soldering iron (but could use a small drill bit).
Then I make a small drainage hole in the side of the bucket about an inch below where the top of the the bowl will be (flipped over so it makes a dome) so there is an air gap between the top of the water and the soil that sits on top of the upside down bowl. This air gap is very important and what I think is the true secret behind the success of these things.
Then I flip the food container upside down so it's like a dome and put it in the bottom of my bucket and insert the fill tubes through the holes made in the dome. I like to have the fill tubes suspended in the dome rather than going all the way down to the bottom so I use a pvc coupler to hold a stub piece that goes through the ceiling of the dome and is connected to the fill tube above it. Then I fill the bucket all around the dome with media. I put hydroton clay balls in the bottom to a level just over the drainage hole but most growers just use the grow mix they are already using. If you do use your regular mix just be sure to pack it down well in the zone below the overflow hole. The rest of your mix goes in firmed like you normally would do in any other pot.
I get water roots to fill the transition section which I think is a good thing but that does not seem to apply to SIPs using only soil. Since I prefer roots in the reservoir area, I'm going to stick with my hydroton clay balls.
---------
So, that's pretty much it. Very simple and I think will play to the strengths of this set-up quite well. Once the seed pops and shows a bit of leg, I'll plant it directly into the 2 Gal pot and then water lightly for a few days as the tap root makes its way down to the reservoir. At that point I'll start watering it through the fill tubes, giving it what it can drink in a day or two and see how it progresses. It will veg for 4 weeks and then get flipped.
My only concern is that my soil mix seems to last 8-10 weeks before running out of gas so I'll try to give it enough of my crumbles, FAA, and Jadam nutes to keep it going.
Assuming this works as well as I think it will, this could be a great way for a new grower to get a successful harvest without the usual growing pains of learning how to water.
I think this could be a part of the 'ultimate new grower setup':
"New Grower Package."
A 2 or 5 Gallon SIP
A good soil mix
GeoFlora nutes
MarsHydro Tent Package with a light and fan
Train with a quadline and you have a super easy, but very effective grow for even a first time grower, even with autos.
Or even a great specimen plant for an accomplished grower like @Mycelium Farmer to put out on that great back deck of his overlooking the farm. Put a favorite smelling plant in a 5 Gal bucket and have a nice, low maintenance, but successful grow.
At least, "that's the plan, man."
Azi out.
