SIP Club - Getting Hydro/Coco Results In A Soil Based Medium

StoneOtter said:
Azi may have an opinion?
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I'd set it to make sure to maintain a proper air gap of an inch or so at least. But, given water is constantly available with your snazzy auto-fill system, there may not be a need to maintain very much water in there at all.

I let my containers cycle and only give them what they'll drink in a day or two. Doing it that way I get roots all the way to the bottom. Some try to keep their reservoirs full and end up with roots that essentially stop at the water line. We don't know if the two are related or causative, but I'd bet they are.

I figure why give them more water if there's still enough left for another day, but I check on them with a dip stick every day. If I didn't do that and didn't check on them so often, I'd probably keep a higher level in the reservoir.
 
Azimuth said:
I let my containers cycle and only give them what they'll drink in a day or two. Doing it that way I get roots all the way to the bottom. Some try to keep their reservoirs full and end up with roots that essentially stop at the water line. We don't know if the two are related or causative, but I'd bet they are.
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Yeah I think we spoke about this before? I very much want my roots to jump the airgap.

I think We’re getting very close to harvest on the first Solo SIP as soon as this weekend. Going to be fascinating to see what’s been going on inside. I might cut a “window” in the cup down the entire length - see where the roots ended up in the res.

Nick
 
Very few roots will jump the gap. Mostly they'll follow the soil connector piece down into the lower reservoir area.

That's one of the reasons I prefer the dome type reservoir setup vs the column style wicking foot like ResDog and Emilya use. In the dome setup, there is a broader soil area for roots to explore and populate vs the single column of soil in the bucket-in-a-bucket, false floor style.

In the end, they both seem to produce great topside results. I started with the column style and still have a few set-ups hanging around so at some point I plan to do a side-by-side grow and see if there are any noticeable differences.
 
StoneOtter said:
The soil sits at 3 inches and the hole just below that. I'm thinking to try to get a skosh below the weep hole by lifting the tubes. I may not be able to we'll have to see. Maybe I should let the EarthBox design speak for itself this run. You know I really should and will. Edit: I put a note out to them yesterday and am waiting for direction
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I've got a question related to water level: if one plant drinks faster than the others does it have to wait for the slowest drinker before they all get a refill?
 
InTheShed said:
I've got a question related to water level: if one plant drinks faster than the others does it have to wait for the slowest drinker before they all get a refill?
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Good question Shed! No, they each have separate control for that. One of these per pot does the sensing and controls the water on/off time.
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Azimuth said:
I'd set it to make sure to maintain a proper air gap of an inch or so at least. But, given water is constantly available with your snazzy auto-fill system, there may not be a need to maintain very much water in there at all.

I let my containers cycle and only give them what they'll drink in a day or two. Doing it that way I get roots all the way to the bottom. Some try to keep their reservoirs full and end up with roots that essentially stop at the water line. We don't know if the two are related or causative, but I'd bet they are.

I figure why give them more water if there's still enough left for another day, but I check on them with a dip stick every day. If I didn't do that and didn't check on them so often, I'd probably keep a higher level in the reservoir.
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Hmmm, I found the top third to have very little root action. That's why I thought a high water level might be good. I'm thinking of laying a wick in a foot right in the soil and have it go up into that little used area to try and do better there.
 
StoneOtter said:
Hmmm, I found the top third to have very little root action. That's why I thought a high water level might be good. I'm thinking of laying a wick in a foot right in the soil and have it go up into that little used area to try and do better there.
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Well, you've got four of them. Sounds like a comparative experiment is in order.
 
StoneOtter said:
Hi I'll try putting this here. I copied it from my journal. These are Earthbox Veg pots.


WOOHOO! NO LEAKES AND IT WORKS PERFECT! UPDATE

Hi all! I went and turned the water on and was thrilled to see how it operated!
Let me start from the beginning. I'm with well water and it has over 500 ppm minerals. This soil requires much less than that so I make RO water. The feed is from the RO out.
Here we go!
Getting fed RO at ~30 ppm first shutoff outside the tent.
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Auto Water SIP LOS Project
Turned that baby on and that fills to the shutoff inside the tent which I then turned on!
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Auto Water SIP LOS Project
And the system of 4 all filled and stopped as they should! Woofa!
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Auto Water SIP LOS Project
I found that my feed tubes were inserted into the bottoms to different heights by seeing water stopping at different levels between pots. So I put a straight edge on them and eyed then to about the same and voila! All pretty much the same! I can think about how high the water should be.
What do you think?
It stops at about an inch or less now. I have to measure to know for sure, but it didn't come near the exit hole.
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Auto Water SIP LOS Project
Water comes from the middle of the Feeders.
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Auto Water SIP LOS Project
Here's the kind of joints I did that day! Strong hands or what I did. I used a hairdrier to heat the piping up and make it easier to push onto the barbs. Tried a torch but I think that was a tad much. Silicon o-ring grease too, just a little.
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Auto Water SIP LOS Project
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Auto Water SIP LOS Project
Last and maybe so I can sleep tonight, a wet alarm. Just a inexpensive gyzmo that screams when it sits in water. Right in the tent.
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Auto Water SIP LOS Project
We're getting there! Hope you all are having a super day! I am! :hookah:
SIP on!
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Sweet setup!
 
Azimuth said:
Some try to keep their reservoirs full and end up with roots that essentially stop at the water line.
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Not so sure I agree with you on this. As you know, I keep my res topped off. During Flower, you've seen I've had to Top my Res off 2-3 times per day with a gallon or more. Yes, my roots only go about 1/4" down into the slits in the Top of the Res. But the roots also grow all down the sides of the res encircling it completely all the way to the bottom of the bucket. You've also seen some of my plants & not one has yielded under a pound.
However, I'm doing 4 SIP's in a 4x4 right now for a quick grow; so I wont let them get all that big. Not journaling this grow as I don't feel like being committed to it right now. But, if you don't mind maybe I'll post once in a while in this thread. I'm only looking to pull 4+ oz. per plant on this grow. They just sprouted yesterday. Kush Mints, Banana Pudding, Apple Betty & Forbidden Fruit. Add a little variety to my smoking pleasure.... lol.
 
Thanks, Buds. Yes, do post up some updates here.

I could swear I remember a pic from you showing a lack of roots down below the reservoir line. Others also. But that's good to hear as roots all the way down to the bottom has been my experience as well.

Sounds like a dessert grow you've got going. :laughtwo:
 
Azimuth said:
Thanks, Buds. Yes, do post up some updates here.

I could swear I remember a pic from you showing a lack of roots down below the reservoir line. Others also. But that's good to hear as roots all the way down to the bottom has been my experience as well.

Sounds like a dessert grow you've got going. :laughtwo:
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I think on my first SIP grow the roots didn't hit bottom. I never kept a full res during that grow. Not sure that really means anything, but here lately the roots have hit bottom.
 
Can’t wait to cut my Solo SIP girl open vertically and see what I got.

Really - its going to be a little live window on the inside of a fairly classic SIP design. Its in a Solo so happy to donate the SIP to study and research as to what happens inside because I’m guessing not many people cut their SIP up with a hot knife to investigate. 3-4 days and I’m doing it!

Nick
 
Happy first day of summer (or winter if you're south of the equator)! Here's a quick update of my SIP grow.

Sensi Cheese on the day it was transplanted into the SIP:
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  • Media owner BeezLuiz
  • Date added
Sensi Cheese at 47 days from sprout. Planted into Earthbox.

and here it is today - only 18 days later. It's been topped twice and LST applied.
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  • Media owner BeezLuiz
  • Date added
Sensi Cheese 18 days after transplant into SIP.
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  • Media owner BeezLuiz
  • Date added
Sensi Cheese top view.

StoneOtter said:
any thought to water height? The soil sits at 3 inches and the hole just below that. I'm thinking to try to get a skosh below the weep hole by lifting the tubes. I may not be able to we'll have to see. Maybe I should let the EarthBox design speak for itself this run. You know I really should and will. Edit: I put a note out to them yesterday and am waiting for direction.
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I'll be curious what Earthbox says. My unit is very similar, and when the reservoir is full there is almost no air gap.
Azimuth said:
I'd set it to make sure to maintain a proper air gap of an inch or so at least.
Click to expand...
Azimuth said:
I let my containers cycle and only give them what they'll drink in a day or two. Doing it that way I get roots all the way to the bottom.
Click to expand...
I'm working on trying to figure that out also. I'm trying not to fill the reservoir to overflow so that I can maintain a decent air gap (whatever that may be). I just got back from a 2-day fishing trip and the res looked to be pretty low. It holds 2.75 gallons when full, so that's quite a bit of water usage in just 2 days.
 
Highya Beez,

That's some phenominal growth! Very impressive. No one has anything bad to say about SIP's. All good! Love the trolley. Do you put them/it under cover at night, (hence the trolley)? So cool! Happy Smokin'
 
Bode said:
Do you put them/it under cover at night, (hence the trolley)? So cool! Happy Smokin'
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Nope. The plants stay outside 24hrs/day. On occasion, I need to relocate the plants such as when family comes to visit or when contractors need to access the yard. During those times, the trolley makes it real easy to move them into the shed or garage. :Namaste:
 
BeezLuiz said:
I'll be curious what Earthbox says. My unit is very similar, and when the reservoir is full there is almost no air gap.
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They were mostly concerned with keeping the pipe in the platform so soil doesn't fall in and mess things up. My Earthbox had almost no room when filled as well Beez. I raised the pipes to give me about 3/4 of an inch to the drain hole. Folks seem to have good growing with an inch. I had good growing with almost no space too but watered once a day and space comes after that. Auto watering may need more air hence the 3/4 inch. I can raise them a half inch more at the tops if needed where they clip in the tube.
 
I put cardboard covers over the soil in both SIPs. Thinking this may reduce evaporation - it will be getting hot here next few days. I took a bucket lid and drew a circle on cardboard, then cut out the disk about a half inch inside the line I drew. Cut the circle in half and notched the center where it meats the stalk, and also notched where the fill pipe is. Easy to remove if desired.
SFV OG 6.22.23

SFV OG 6.22.23


Here they are yesterday before I topped them for the second time. Growing like crazy and drinking almost a gallon each per day.
SFV OG Kush 6.21.23

SFV OG Kush 6.21.23


SFV Gorilla 6.21.23

SFV Gorilla 6.21.23


So far these SIPs are rockin'!
 
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