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

[Fenderbender]

Thanks man, but I was just being a smart ass…

With my previous light I attached a rope to the reflector that had 12" 18" & 24" markings. Easy to see how far the buds are from the light. And easy to put them at hanging distance.
Also in a way easier to train the plant to stay a certain height.

Edit : of course not an easy to burn rope, and I've first made sure the location and way of attaching wasn't hot.. if I were to do it with my current light, I'd first attach a metal bar that keeps it away from the light.. as there's no hood or reflector now. Just to be safe with all them stoners out there

 

[Thirvnrob]

With my previous light I attached a rope to the reflector that had 12" 18" & 24" markings. Easy to see how far the buds are from the light. And easy to put them at hanging distance.
Also in a way easier to train the plant to stay a certain height.

Edit : of course not an easy to burn rope, and I've first made sure the location and way of attaching wasn't hot.. if I were to do it with my current light, I'd first attach a metal bar that keeps it away from the light.. as there's no hood or reflector now. Just to be safe with all them stoners out there

I like that idea! I’ve just been using a tape measure - not too difficult, but I like your idea better…

 

[Thirvnrob]

Most of the clawing leaves have relaxed & started praying. I think the show is about to start…

 

[StoneOtter]

Most of the clawing leaves have relaxed & started praying. I think the show is about to start…

I'm waiting for mine to relax. Yours look very nice!

 

[Thirvnrob]

I'm waiting for mine to relax. Yours look very nice!

Thanks Stone. These are the healthiest plants I’ve grown so far. I hope they stay that way…

 

[Azimuth]

Azi what do your plants feel like? as this one does feel a lot like DWC, they are a bit wet noodly.. too much juice. If you bend it has less bounce back.

Just healthy strong growth. Limbs out at the growth tips are quite pliable and I use my lightest weights out there, but the main stem is firm and becomes hard to train without splitting if left too long.

I've never grown DWC so can't compare but no 'wet noodly'.

 

[Thirvnrob]

I'm waiting for mine to relax. Yours look very nice!

Are they in your sponsored grow?

 

[Fenderbender]

Just healthy strong growth. Limbs out at the growth tips are quite pliable and I use my lightest weights out there, but the main stem is firm and becomes hard to train without splitting if left too long.

I've never grown DWC so can't compare but no 'wet noodly'.

Ah.. well the main older stem is super firm here as well, it's not that she stays a wet noodle, but the new growth is super pliable with very little bounce back, it keeps looking where I turn it to which reminds me of DWC with regular grow I feel at least resistance and an instant pressure of the plant trying to turn back.
However today might be different, as I just peeked in the tent and well I didn't disturb her as she was in the midst of prayer.
Not super pronounced but well everything was up instead of droopy.

 

[Thirvnrob]

LOL!

I usually grow almost entirely outside, but since my winter grow has been indoors (because of the CA weather) I can offer these pieces of advice:
-Keep lowering the light 2"/day and watch the top of the canopy for any signs of light stress (bleaching, curled edges). As soon as you see it back the light up 2" again. Keep it that distance as the plant grows while still checking the upper leaves.

Additionally, you could:
-Get a lux meter or download the Photone app, calibrate it, and see what numbers you have across the top. There are a number of websites that recommend lux numbers for different stages, but no matter what you'll still be reading the leaves.

Lighting is my biggest weakness. I already have the photone a on my hone, but I forgot it was there, because I don't understand what any of it means, much less how to apply it. Here's a similar situation:
I'm a life long musician, but I'm totally self taught. I can learn a song on my guitar & theory can be explained to me & I get it. I have no idea how to apply that same theory to another song. It just doesn't register.
Same thing with lighting, although it's not as complicated. Lux? Lumens? Par? Instructions on how high to hang the lights at 100% intensity is what I absorb. Show me how to Play a song on the guitar & there's a good chance I can learn it. Tell me how high to hang my lights & at what percentages at each stage of growth & I'm golden.
Yeah, I have ADHD

 

[InTheShed]

Tell me how high to hang my lights & at what percentages at each stage of growth & I'm golden.

Not every plant will like the same intensity at the tops, so there isn't really a one-size-fits-all approach.

Compare watching the leaves to being taught the song, and then adjusting the light to playing it yourself!

 

[Fenderbender]

Lights just came on, just measured the finger again.. 10.4cm yesterday lights on 11.5cm today. No wonder I think she's always grown a lot after the lights come on.. if all the tips moved a cm over night.. that's a lot of extra area.
And well most of the movement happens in the light off period as I also did measure an hour before light off and she measured 10.6cm

 

[lootznbootz]

The furthest most parts of the branches in my sip feel the same way. As if they will stay exactly where you put them with no training needed.

But further down where you get to the main stems and main stem and yea….
If anyone here can LST or SUPER CROP this thing I’ll give you my entire next harvest

Both of these were started same time from seed and are day 48 from seed.

@StoneOtter I meant to show this in my last Suzanne update to give you an idea of what to expect EARLY ON IN A SIP
Azi told me and I waited too long.
You need to start training these main stems sooner than later before it’s too late

 

[Bode]

Highya loots, Azi, guys,

I renenber a process where one can manipulate a stem (or branch) so that the inside of the stem (branch) is broken down, and it'll bend as much as you want! The lady will repair herself quite quickly, and increase growth around the wound to make it much stronger. Doesn't seem to hurt her very much. Happy Smokin'

 

[InTheShed]

If anyone here can LST or SUPER CROP this thing I’ll give you my entire next harvest

Hold my seltzer...

 

[Thirvnrob]

Not every plant will like the same intensity at the tops, so there isn't really a one-size-fits-all approach.

Compare watching the leaves to being taught the song, and then adjusting the light to playing it yourself!

I like that analogy!

 

[Thirvnrob]

They are 1-1/2” taller today. I imagine the water consumption is about to greatly increase. The canopy looks fairly even but the one in the middle is a little shorter. I don’t think she’s getting her share of light with the way I have them arranged.

 

[Hash Hound]

my Widow SIP end of 6th week.

P197 W42cl w6a.jpg

• Hash Hound
• Jan 14, 2023

P197 W42cl w6c.jpg

• Hash Hound
• Jan 14, 2023

 

[Azimuth]

my Widow SIP end of 6th week.

Mmmmm, frosty!

 

[ReservoirDog]

I see two potential issues.

First is a possible smell from having my organic soil mix sitting submerged in water and potentially rotting in an anaerobic way. My first try at this is about 3-4 weeks old and so far, no issues with that.

The second is that the nutes might simply be ineffective when added to the reservoir. That was my experience with my old style pots where I had hydroton clay balls holding the soil up and out of the reservoir level. I'm surmising that it was because the soil microbes that are an important element in an organic grow did not populate the reservoir level with just water in it.

My nutes are KNF and Jadam extracts which are predigested by microbes as part of the extract process so I figured I wouldn't need microbes to actually deliver the nutes, but rather they would be treated more like bottled nutes in that the plants would take them up in the process of drinking. But that didn't turn out to be the case. Even my fish extract, which I consider to be my most powerful option, was ineffective at reversing a nitrogen deficiency when fed through the reservoir.

But now with my new pot structure that has soil all the way down to the bottom level, I'm hoping the microbes down there process things as they do in a normal pot, and I've begun to feed that way starting last week. I won't know for a while, however, since my normal mix seems to power the plant just fine with simply water for about 6 weeks before deficiencies show up, and by that time I've generally flipped to flower.

My first plant with the new pot setup, a Northen Lights 5, is still a couple of weeks away from flip, and then it would be a couple of more weeks before I would generally see a P deficiency as I am on my current plant in flower, so it'll likely be into the new year before I'll have a better idea.

Hm, I dunno if this new setup qualifies as SIP anymore, Azi. I thought we were being hardasses about the reservoir/air gap/matrix setup? Lol.

If you add knf/Jadam from the top, say, weekly, but never in enough quantity to wipe out your moisture gradient or leech into reservoir, then knf/Jadam work very well and I have been getting good plant response to mine.

Also, if you guys really want to know how to avoid the 2 week transplant stall I’m happy to tell you. I’m even more confident now that I’ve sorted the issue, after multiple generations of starts with method - but I have shared the method before. Perhaps I just wasn’t clear, or it was in the middle of a classic RD text wall that no-one read.

I’ll make a photo-based instruction guide if anyone requests I do so. It’s basically a SIP design for seedlings so they develop SIP root structure from the start. If you do this then when seedling is at 5 nodes you may plant in main SIP without stalling and save yourself two weeks.

However, it is also very (very) important to setup the main SIP properly too. Meaning, a good moisture gradient (in my 16 inch deep SIP planters I shoot for 1.33x -1.5x field capacity at the bottom [that’s a simple moisture measurement you can make without tools - look it up] and almost dry in top 1/2 inch) from day one of transplant. I feel I’ve really got this worked out now, but, I don’t know if everyone is still experimenting or you’ve all figured it out yourselves.

Hi all, so I added a pipe holder to my SIP bucket.

And I also tried the amount of water that fits in the tank and it is about over 4 liters. I think I will put around 12 liters of soil there. I think that's enough. What do you growers think?

I think that’s awesome! Sorry been away 6 weeks or so. Just make sure enough dirt falls between the two close walls there so moisture can wick up and should work great. What’s the diameter? Oh, don’t forget a drain hole. Besides water level it helps air move about under-skirt and oxygenate the roots.

 

[Thirvnrob]

Hm, I dunno if this new setup qualifies as SIP anymore, Azi. I thought we were being hardasses about the reservoir/air gap/matrix setup? Lol.

If you add knf/Jadam from the top, say, weekly, but never in enough quantity to wipe out your moisture gradient or leech into reservoir, then knf/Jadam work very well and I have been getting good plant response to mine.

Also, if you guys really want to know how to avoid the 2 week transplant stall I’m happy to tell you. I’m even more confident now that I’ve sorted the issue, after multiple generations of starts with method - but I have shared the method before. Perhaps I just wasn’t clear, or it was in the middle of a classic RD text wall that no-one read.

I’ll make a photo-based instruction guide if anyone requests I do so. It’s basically a SIP design for seedlings so they develop SIP root structure from the start. If you do this then when seedling is at 5 nodes you may plant in main SIP without stalling and save yourself two weeks.

However, it is also very (very) important to setup the main SIP properly too. Meaning, a good moisture gradient (in my 16 inch deep SIP planters I shoot for 1.33x -1.5x field capacity at the bottom [that’s a simple moisture measurement you can make without tools - look it up] and almost dry in top 1/2 inch) from day one of transplant. I feel I’ve really got this worked out now, but, I don’t know if everyone is still experimenting or you’ve all figured it out yourselves.

I think that’s awesome! Sorry been away 6 weeks or so. Just make sure enough dirt falls between the two close walls there so moisture can wick up and should work great. What’s the diameter? Oh, don’t forget a drain hole. Besides water level it helps air move about under-skirt and oxygenate the roots.

Indeed, show us how!