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

[Thirvnrob]

I had every intention of doing this one organic but broke down quickly and got liquid nutrients from fox farm. I gave her the big dose of bloom about an hour ago so we'll see what happens. Thanks for the well wishings!

The hardest thing about growing organic is trusting the process. There is definitely a learning curve, but organic is a better way to grow IMO...

 

[Chuckeye]

A quick copy and paste from my Grow Journal...

You may remember I started my germinated seeds in SIP solo cups and only watered from the top.

Didn't work that well for me...

If I'm super critical the medium could have been on the wet side of moist and a day to dry to "moist" might have been enough to stunt growth ?

For the final pots I watered from the bottom Only 24 hours before transplant and then filled the reservoir to 50% on transplant day.

Anywho, they are a good week behind my last auto grow at week 3 starting in "normal solo cups" and top watering lightly.

I've been filling their reservoirs the past week but at 2 weeks from transplant the top 3 - 4" of the medium is bone dry.

And two of my girls are starting to Lean

All three got a gallon each from the Top.

BTW > Drain hole is in the correct position but full reservoir only shows five holes/tear drop shapes...

IIRC the rational behind only watering from the bottom is to develop the water roots.

Well, at week five (two from transplant) the roots have got to be developed and the plant could use some feeder roots higher up to help support the plants.

I don't see how this will defeat the purpose of the bottom watering.

The medium will dry from the top down and continue to feed from the reservoir.

Makes no difference to me if I water from the top or fill the reservoir, for a short period ?

Hopefully I have enough veg time left for this to happen and a larger root ball has to be a Good thing !

A teaser

Cheers

 

[NickHardy]

Hey Chuckeye,

Was gonna post some thing else but below. Mentioned this before about Solo SIPS. Bit of a pain to make and transplant can be a pain, our pure airpots are quicker. We use the below before SIP or Airpot- this is one of the lucky girls that might go in the SIP at the bottom.

Its more like a SWICK with a perlite wick. Or a very basic SIP. But you see roots out the sides and bottom. These have only been bottom fed, maybe the left over of a syringe from the top. Getting the horizontal root growth as well as those straight down tails. From here they’ll go into a 1G to further encourage them out before their 36 gallon SIP final home. When they’re there I’d be surprised they don’t get the occasional top watering. We also have airpot style holes in our SIPS

Anyway the Giant SIP is nearly there. Leak plugged and holes drilled. Gonna test how hot she gets the next few days with a skirt on before likely planting one of the girls in 7-10 days. On the Co2 for a week as well.

Nick

 

[goowa]

A quick copy and paste from my Grow Journal...

You may remember I started my germinated seeds in SIP solo cups and only watered from the top.

Didn't work that well for me...

If I'm super critical the medium could have been on the wet side of moist and a day to dry to "moist" might have been enough to stunt growth ?

For the final pots I watered from the bottom Only 24 hours before transplant and then filled the reservoir to 50% on transplant day.

Anywho, they are a good week behind my last auto grow at week 3 starting in "normal solo cups" and top watering lightly.

I've been filling their reservoirs the past week but at 2 weeks from transplant the top 3 - 4" of the medium is bone dry.

And two of my girls are starting to Lean

All three got a gallon each from the Top.

BTW > Drain hole is in the correct position but full reservoir only shows five holes/tear drop shapes...

IIRC the rational behind only watering from the bottom is to develop the water roots.

Well, at week five (two from transplant) the roots have got to be developed and the plant could use some feeder roots higher up to help support the plants.

I don't see how this will defeat the purpose of the bottom watering.

The medium will dry from the top down and continue to feed from the reservoir.

Makes no difference to me if I water from the top or fill the reservoir, for a short period ?

Hopefully I have enough veg time left for this to happen and a larger root ball has to be a Good thing !

A teaser

Cheers

Whatcha got there for a training technique @Chuckeye ?

 

[goowa]

This ^.
SIPs don't need Less nutrients than a top watered plant, they need More! They grow fast and drink water like a hydro baby, give them all the juices they can handle. Especially cal/mag.
Good job getting the Ph in check, I've had issues myself from putting acidic juice in the reservoir.
Feed em full strength thru the reservoir, give em a foliar of cal/mag, and they'll bounce back in a few days.

Check my clones in a SIP with the same issue popping up, hit em with the foliar and upped the food ratio - no mo rust spots, 6 days later.

Wow! That's crazy how well they recovered. I actually just finished playing with the girls. I ran a few gallons of 6.5 water through the top that ran off into the reservoir. They were coming out between 5.1 and 5.5 in the runoff, I don't have a meter for ppms. I figured the runoff was so low because I was feeding them too much and the salts built up and locked them out? Now I see your scenario and my head is all over the place.

How do you foliar and how strong a mix of calmag did you use? Should I be doing that in late flower?

 

[Chuckeye]

Whatcha got there for a training technique @Chuckeye ?

Your basic top above the fifth node and pull down all nodes

Don't think I will have time with these auto's but I like to train the plant(s) horizontally until they are 20" wide and then let them grow up. Keeps the overall height lower with a more even canopy.

And I don't think I will top the rest, they are small enough already. Will see how they stretch, perhaps just pull the tops over.

Cheers

 

[RedskinnedRhino]

Wow! That's crazy how well they recovered. I actually just finished playing with the girls. I ran a few gallons of 6.5 water through the top that ran off into the reservoir. They were coming out between 5.1 and 5.5 in the runoff, I don't have a meter for ppms. I figured the runoff was so low because I was feeding them too much and the salts built up and locked them out? Now I see your scenario and my head is all over the place.

How do you foliar and how strong a mix of calmag did you use? Should I be doing that in late flower?

I use cal/mag in 1/4 strength for foliar feeding. When the plant is in bloom and needs a foliar, I only hit the bottom foliage and fans, no need to spray the buds when the leaves are doing the eating. You're not getting them soaked, just misted, it shouldn't be dripping off everywhere. Add a tablespoon of insecticidal soap or 2 drops of Dawn soap to help it stick to the plant. Hit it twice the first day and once a day for a week and they should stop eating themselves up.

 

[TequilaSIPr]

Hi all day 31 check out the journal if you get a chance my lst isnt as good as yall but its better than before!! Thankful

 

[ReservoirDog]

Hi all day 31 check out the journal if you get a chance my lst isnt as good as yall but its better than before!! Thankful

Lookin real healthy

 

[Chuckeye]

Torture

Cheers

 

[NickHardy]

Emergency surgery on a SIP earlier. Full story in my Solo journal. There was no res just roots.

Not sure if it will work. 10 days into flower.

Nick

 

[ReservoirDog]

Hey Chuckeye,

Was gonna post some thing else but below. Mentioned this before about Solo SIPS. Bit of a pain to make and transplant can be a pain, our pure airpots are quicker. We use the below before SIP or Airpot- this is one of the lucky girls that might go in the SIP at the bottom.

Its more like a SWICK with a perlite wick. Or a very basic SIP. But you see roots out the sides and bottom. These have only been bottom fed, maybe the left over of a syringe from the top. Getting the horizontal root growth as well as those straight down tails. From here they’ll go into a 1G to further encourage them out before their 36 gallon SIP final home. When they’re there I’d be surprised they don’t get the occasional top watering. We also have airpot style holes in our SIPS

Anyway the Giant SIP is nearly there. Leak plugged and holes drilled. Gonna test how hot she gets the next few days with a skirt on before likely planting one of the girls in 7-10 days. On the Co2 for a week as well.

Nick

Hey Nick, how big is this bad-boy overall and, do you know the split, ie the reservoir capacity?

 

[ReservoirDog]

I wanted ask any of the resident LOS and/or Brix nerds aficionados if they could verify that the information in this image is correct. I do not know the source, I tried but wasn't possible. Would be pretty dang useful if this was reliable info/testing protocol for the interpretation of plant sap pH.

On a related front, coming up to flip now, the Brix in my two salts-fertigated, Peat/Perlite (CSPM, aka soilless) plants is testing steadily above 15+ BRIX. Pleasantly surprised. Might have something to do with my SIPs being Leonardite Humates/Kelp conditioned, w/ L-Aminos, Sugarcane extract, cranberry extract, grapeseed extract, a full vitamin B complex, mycos and a weekly microbial drench

That's what I ran all summer in most of my veggie SIPs too and they were/are remarkable (to me). Three cucumber SIPs produced an actual bushel+ of cukes in 60 days. That's 50lb+ cukes. Tomatoes will be over 2x that this year and I'm running mostly small, bushy, determinate varieties, so I think the SIPs really maxed-out the genetic potential.

Here's the two ready for flip. We got a Barbara Bud x Dynamite and a.... damn, something else. Sorry, I’m totally gapping out. These have been mercilessly ‘carhooked’ to keep a v. low profile and flat canopy. Tent is a5x5, plant(s) measuring over 4ft at widest. I’ll pull the hooks for stretch, but rework to flatten when stretch is done. Perhaps throw the net on for stretch just in case as these are new varieties to me.

I use 10-gal softpots (square GeoPots) to keep them separated and though they are stuffed in tight, holding est. 9 gal medium each, I can move and remove indiv. plants as I like, giving me the flexibility to have a veg tent and flower tent if I like, without moving 175lb totes, or just to mix and match genetics, as I've done here.

If one doesn't take to the feed strength or there's an issue (hermie) I can yank her and isolate. The wicking foot is a large elongated shape netpot, and a 2-yr rated weed cloth on top in planter, directly under the bags/pots.

I find this setup keeps the SIP from being ''runaway wet'' and I can increase overall moisture level by spreading vermiculite or a layer of peat under the bags.

“Synths in the bottom, organics (and bennies) from the top”. With the exception of kelp extract:leonardite humates mixed into the rez fertigation, thinly. This run also has a pathetic little aquarium bubbler on a burst timer in the rez. My ferts are hella pH stable, and the peat mix super pH buffered so, wtfn? So far, so SIPpy.

I have an organics-only SIP a couple weeks behind this one that’s 1pt peat, 1 pt perlite, 1pt RD Special Worm Castings (RW and EW mixed) I’ll share it when we get it to flip. This SIP design I hoped could hold enough medium for LOS soils, this run should indicate whether such goals are realistic.

Super-stoked about the 15+ Brix results from the synth plants.

One more thing, I’m testing a method for inoculating transplants with Myco. I mix 1 part Myco, 1 part powderized oyster shell with water enough to create a thick soupy mix and dip the whole rootball in. Maybe should add some kelp and humates? Dunno, but I get nice heavy coverage this way. (these are cukes, just testing)

Best to you all from RD, and please comment or critique, I’m flyin’ by the seat of my pants here…

 

[InTheShed]

I wanted ask any of the resident LOS and/or Brix nerds aficionados if they could verify that the information in this image is correct. I do not know the source, I tried but wasn't possible. Would be pretty dang useful if this was reliable info/testing protocol for the interpretation of plant sap pH.

https://www.agsolcanada.com/images/stories/pdfs/AGSOL_Brix_Levels_x_pH_Levels_2020.pdf

and

https://static.horiba.com/fileadmin/Horiba/Water_Quality/03_Application/Agriculture/Measurement_of_pH_in_Plant_Tissue/01-2014_-_Measurement_of_pH_in_Plant_Tissue.pdf

 

[RedskinnedRhino]

Torture

Cheers

If I tried to bend my plants' arms out straight like that, I'd just have a stick with no arms the next morning.

 

[NickHardy]

Hey Nick, how big is this bad-boy overall and, do you know the split, ie the reservoir capacity?

Hey Res - garbage can not labelled but some maths tells me its its about 130L the res is ~45L (11-12G) and the medium area is ~80L. (20G) Having had a solo SIP get totally root bound hoping that’s large enough not to happen here!

Nick

 

[Pondwater]

Oops good point, I'm in soil. I vary around 6.5 between 6.4 and 6.6. here's a couple pics, she's a little self conscious right now so go easy on her.

I had this or have this , it got worse everything yellowed on me and I fed a bio bizz flower food which dropped the ph to 5.5 on water
turns out the ph of the soil in the top was fine the middle n bottom was 7.8 ,feeding lower ph helped also citric acid for one it is a chelate of nutrients and 2nd bubbles off any carbonates raising ph

i am end of flower I saved 3/4 the plant while the rest got spider mite
it’s locked down to the 1 plant with high ph soil the other plants are clear
matches a chart I was shown here few post ago to be honest lol

the holes in buckets , I have?plans for like 20 holes round my net pot …do I need to do them up the sides too ??

 

[Azimuth]

Lots of holes around the net pot on the bottom are good to help excess water drain as well as getting air to those lower roots. Holes up the sides aren't necessary but can also be helpful to get more air all around, kind of like the Airpots. That said, I haven't done those yet on my larger SIPs, but I do on my 1L ones.

 

[RedskinnedRhino]

Dry Ice Hash or RSO? What would you do with a pound of trim?
Either one is fine - but I've got to get that shit out of my freezer so it's time to make a decision. I'm running out of room for my ice cream and pork chops...

 

[Azimuth]

Dry Ice Hash or RSO? What would you do with a pound of trim?

Neither. It would be Dust for me which is my new favorite thing. Just like the hot sauce commercial, I put that **** on everything!

And it'll reduce down to about 1/10 of the original volume so can be stored in a much smaller footprint. An ounce will easily fit in a regular spice jar. For a pound you'd probably need a large canning jar.

1 gram is about a teaspoon, so 1/8 of a teaspoon of a 15% strain is about 18.75 mg for those dosing for medical issues.

But I'm not sure how it would work after being in the freezer.