It'll be different for us. I'm in Living organic soil and I won't be feeding at all. Everything's already in the soil if all goes right.
SIP Club - Getting Hydro/Coco Results In A Soil Based Medium
- Thread starter Azimuth
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lootznbootz
Well-Known Member
So for me my experience in my DIY SIP made me decide to feed through the top.
I do a FWF so after giving her nothing but water in the res for a week I will allow her to go dry for a day then I feed through the soil not too much that I get much run off if any then fill my res with 6.3 cal/mag water
lootznbootz
Well-Known Member
This is my ultimate goal in gardening right now los in a sip
@farside05 started what will be a synthetic nute res-fed grow that's still in the sprout stage, so I'm waiting to see how his goes before deciding if I want to give it a go this year:
A ViparSpectra KS3000, GroBucket SIPs, & FN Fertilizer, Oh My - By Farside05
Lighting: Upgraded the lighting in the 3'x3' to a ViparSpectra KS3000. My trusty home build strip light has served me well, but at 24" strips, it concentrates light more towards the center and there is more drop off on the edges and corners. I could rework the frame to make it 24" x 32"...
www.420magazine.com
full disclosure I’m new to SIP club also but I’ll take a stab at it. Please crew speak up if I’ve got it wrong here…
Multiple peeps all doing pretty much same thing but in different ways
some are doing traditional soil grows with nothing but plain water in the res.
others chose soil or coco with an organic dry mix fert (Geoflora or Jacks) added to media before potting up then added as top dress every 2 weeks and watered in.
next soil or coco as grow media with salt based nutes added to the res. there has been some talk of slower delivery of nutes from the res thru the wickfoot or salt buildup so maybe more input is needed.
the wicking foot can be soil, coco, perlite & hydroton to name a few but with most any method you can still top feed to stomp out any deficiencies.
Shed is fast on the draw…
I'm getting ready to start another SIP with Remo nutrients, and I plan on giving her everything through the res. No top watering/feeding once she's in the SIP.
Here is the flow diagram for how this is supposed to work, and I can confirm it does indeed work as advertized:I've been exploring autowatering options and was about to go with a float valve inside a 5gal grobucket setup -- I want to use a 5gal external gravity fed reservoir so I can get several days between watering. My issue is that this is in an attic and I have zero desire for any kind of leakage. I started looking at other options including building my own controller off of a rpi zeroW that is already in the tent for timelapse capture and video monitoring. Anyway, long story short, one of my searches on the Bay auction site I turned up a $8 water level controller like this:
My next quest was a backup leak detector in case of malfunction. In the end I decided to just buy 2 and use one as a leak sensor. Will take pics once they arrive and I get everything setup.
if one wants to use it SOLELY as a water cutoff sensor for power, you can just use the "out" and "high water" probes and ignore (not use) the low water probe.... if out and high are shorted then you are off, if they are dry you are on.
Hi @Bill284, @lootznbootz , thanks for the info so if I stick to my 6.3 ph what I put in the other pots should be fine? It's true that I'd rather have a uniform PH than mix separately the watering for SIP and it will be more convenient
and one more question, it's good to give clean water with adjusted PH once in a while. What do you think is this a good idea?
In soil feed, water, feed, water, feed water..... is common practice.Hi @Bill284, @lootznbootz , thanks for the info so if I stick to my 6.3 ph what I put in the other pots should be fine? It's true that I'd rather have a uniform PH than mix separately the watering for SIP and it will be more convenient
In a reservoir with roots plain water is of no use, imo.
Also coco is feed, feed, feed, so no plain water there either.
But I'm not running sip so maby someone with experience might be better equipped to answer.
#Vivosun #Love What You Grow
Bill284
lootznbootz
Well-Known Member
This is how I do it in my Soil SIPs.if I stick to my 6.3 ph what I put in the other pots should be fine? It's true that I'd rather have a uniform PH than mix separately the watering for SIP and it will be more convenient
I only give her 6.3 whether I'm mixing up nutrients to top feed or water for the res.
I use R/O water, so I always have to add Cal/mag even when only giving water.
This makes my PH 6.3 - 6.4 naturally so that's what I add
I'm not sure of the nutrient line your using I can go find out tho. But for me I didnt like the results of adding nutrients to the res. (IN MY 2 BUCKET DIY SIP)
It left a residue and then made me think when adding ONLY water it wasnt really ONLY water.
That led me to feeding through the soil and only giving cal/mag water in the res at 6.3
are you asking through the soil after having fed through the soil after some time?
If that is what you mean I don't think it would be a bad idea, but it also isn't really necessary.
My thought is that if the soil Is going to be SIPping then it will have water in the soil from the res that's already been PH to 6.3 and the point of the sip is to keep the soil moisture constant. That rinse of clean water shouldn't really be needed IMO
- Thread starter
- #1,012
Welcome to #SIP Club, Blumen!
As you've seen, there are many different ways to water your SIP depending on your grow mix and nutes. For synthetic nutes the way to go is add right to your fill water, and pH as required. For organic nutes, many have had issues feeding them through the reservoir and so prefer to top feed according to the nute directions, so every two weeks up top and watered in for Geoflora and then plain water down the fill tube in between.
I'm experimenting with adding my organic Jadam nutes directly to the reservoir so far without issue, but I'm just beginning flower so too early to tell if that will continue.
I'd have to agree with you in an organic grow if that's how you're feeding. If instead you feed your organic grow via top dressing, then straight water in the res is what's called for.In a reservoir with roots plain water is of no use, imo.
Also coco is feed, feed, feed, so no plain water there either.
But I'm not running sip so maby someone with experience might be better equipped to answer.
In a synthetic grow, especially in flower where the reservoir gets drained everyday, the FWFW seems to be quite effective. That's the strategy @Buds Buddy uses in his grow,
Welcome to #SIP Club, Blumen!
As you've seen, there are many different ways to water your SIP depending on your grow mix and nutes. For synthetic nutes the way to go is add right to your fill water, and pH as required. For organic nutes, many have had issues feeding them through the reservoir and so prefer to top feed according to the nute directions, so every two weeks up top and watered in for Geoflora and then plain water down the fill tube in between.
I agree Az. I had organics in the res and within 24hrs it STANK and out it went.
Fenderbender
Well-Known Member
Ah so that's why 013 posted me that quote.
I'm using the biocanna line which is supposed to be organic.. and well I worry about sediment in the res as I could see already in the bucket that an hour after mixing them up you started to see separation and settling again.
That's why maybe a circulation pump in the res might be an okay thing. Might also be part of the suspected problem of upwards mobility of them nutes, if they contain a lot of non solvable particles, those won't wick up well through the pebbles.
So far no stink though.. oef. but I am expecting a very caked res after the grow.
Also what's this line "In a synthetic grow, especially in flower where the reservoir gets drained everyday, the FWFW seems to be quite effective. That's the strategy @Buds Buddy uses in his grow,"
What's the purpose of working with a res if it gets drained everyday.. kinda defeats the idea of self irrigation with a reservoir no?
Okay so this is going to be interesting.. as indeed growing a plant is quite different from flowering them, people keep many plants alive they've never seen flower or fruit.
And it's still early days with an untested pot. So really no idea what will be going on in there in a month..
And of course now I'm worrying about them bio nutes..
I still got 6 pumps from my hydro days.. next grow I can have one circulating the nutes, I can install one for draining the res and one for an airstone in the water channel (if I noticed it got colonised by roots)
As I'm still not sure that my system is free from jumping the gap, however I can see if it works well that the roots don't see the need to go digging through the pebbles more than a couple of cm's just to wick.. however I feel if they sense there's more goodness just a bit lower they will go for it.
But then at least I have some ability to interact... as now I can't do anything, clearing the res will be impossible once it's scrogged in... same for shaking up the res, I need to at least be able to be mix it up and clear it out. I want some switches I can flick.
I'm using the biocanna line which is supposed to be organic.. and well I worry about sediment in the res as I could see already in the bucket that an hour after mixing them up you started to see separation and settling again.
That's why maybe a circulation pump in the res might be an okay thing. Might also be part of the suspected problem of upwards mobility of them nutes, if they contain a lot of non solvable particles, those won't wick up well through the pebbles.
So far no stink though.. oef. but I am expecting a very caked res after the grow.
Also what's this line "In a synthetic grow, especially in flower where the reservoir gets drained everyday, the FWFW seems to be quite effective. That's the strategy @Buds Buddy uses in his grow,"
What's the purpose of working with a res if it gets drained everyday.. kinda defeats the idea of self irrigation with a reservoir no?
Okay so this is going to be interesting.. as indeed growing a plant is quite different from flowering them, people keep many plants alive they've never seen flower or fruit.
And it's still early days with an untested pot. So really no idea what will be going on in there in a month..
And of course now I'm worrying about them bio nutes..
I still got 6 pumps from my hydro days.. next grow I can have one circulating the nutes, I can install one for draining the res and one for an airstone in the water channel (if I noticed it got colonised by roots)
As I'm still not sure that my system is free from jumping the gap, however I can see if it works well that the roots don't see the need to go digging through the pebbles more than a couple of cm's just to wick.. however I feel if they sense there's more goodness just a bit lower they will go for it.
But then at least I have some ability to interact... as now I can't do anything, clearing the res will be impossible once it's scrogged in... same for shaking up the res, I need to at least be able to be mix it up and clear it out. I want some switches I can flick.
lootznbootz
Well-Known Member
Your right to worry about it a using Roots Organics bottle nutrients and mine did the same also I don’t use a wetting agent to help keep their formula suspended so it all settles no matter how long I aerate it prior
My personal feeling is that any nute you have to Top Dress with should not be used in a SIP. You are not going to water in the nutes with one watering after you Top Dress. It will take several waterings which defeats the purpose of the SIP in the first place. This is exactly why I quit using Geo Flora for my SIP grow. That & it stinks up the house.
I will use it in Fabric Pots this spring though.
I feed every time. No plain water.Welcome to #SIP Club, Blumen!
As you've seen, there are many different ways to water your SIP depending on your grow mix and nutes. For synthetic nutes the way to go is add right to your fill water, and pH as required. For organic nutes, many have had issues feeding them through the reservoir and so prefer to top feed according to the nute directions, so every two weeks up top and watered in for Geoflora and then plain water down the fill tube in between.
I'm experimenting with adding my organic Jadam nutes directly to the reservoir so far without issue, but I'm just beginning flower so too early to tell if that will continue.
I'd have to agree with you in an organic grow if that's how you're feeding. If instead you feed your organic grow via top dressing, then straight water in the res is what's called for.
In a synthetic grow, especially in flower where the reservoir gets drained everyday, the FWFW seems to be quite effective. That's the strategy @Buds Buddy uses in his grow,
As the res gets sucked up & emptied the water level drops. Then you get more air to the roots & soil which expands root growth & dries the soil slightly. I only refill my res when the dipstick hits empty. Not until. That way I know I'm giving plenty of oxygen to the roots between filling the res.
I'm actually more concerned with the SIP I'm building since it will have a Float controlled water level which means it will stay full at all times. Hope things don't get too wet.
Is there any way that the float thingy can be modified to engage the refilling at a lower level, where the reservoir can be filled yet allowed to reach near empty before refilling? Or if keeping the reservoir full, is there an advantage to build in a larger air gap, after all if the reservoir is being topped up automatically then there is never any worry that the water will run out, and presumably the original air gap was simply to allow a minimum gap when full. It sounds like if the water level of the reservoir is being topped up constantly then you can choose the size of air gap that you feel is the most optimal. I wonder what size gap that would be?