i'm thinking of trying it hybrid style using straight perlite as the media.
i currently pull something like 12oz out of the 4x4 on a decent grow with the 5 hempys. i like them as the buckets clearly punch well above their class, similar to the sips.
hempy is primarily a micro growing system though, it was intended for 2L and under, ive flowered plants in 750ml shampoo bottles. you can do macro plants in hempy if you want,
@FelipeBlu grew massive outdoor hempys in 20L/5gal.
sips is aimed straight at macro grows, and i'm kinda guessing it enjoys a couple advantages there from reading through this thread. less frequent feeding primarily one, and i love the stability i've seen in the plants. i'm a little concerned over what ph would do in the longer standing res, but i'm not seeing any folk with problems.
what size space are you in and how many plants are you running ? will have a closer look.
Sorry everyone, I can’t upload pics for some reason.
Hiya Bluter. I sample my synthetic fertigation (MC 2pt and/or GH in Lucas/3part) in my Sips weekly for pH/ppm, and slurry test the Promix pH/ppm every 14 days .
I became even more focused on fertigation pH stability recently because my new DIY SIPs now carry a 9 gallon , fertilizer water table for each plant, meaning, this stuff needs to be pH stable for 2-3 weeks+.
As a passive system utilizing peat/perlite, my primary concern is a possible nute buildup causing a toxicity and lockout. This is always a peat concern in any setup but manageable, as I understand it. Preventing multiple dry-backs is key, I’m told, and I think letting my rez go dry and/or using forced air would be the major causes. Peat experts are welcome to jump in here - I’ll help you with anything I can if you lay some peat knowledge drops on me!
To date, neither the Promix/MCrop 2pt SIPs nor my Organics/soil SIPs had a single pH reading that caused me concern over two years. I don’t pH my fertigation every time anymore before adding to the rez because I have extremely soft tap water with a very steady pH of 7.0 and 0-10ppm. I used to add a little bit extra buffer to my new Promix, it’s proved unnecessary. Same with Sunshine Mix #4. If I reuse the Promix then I do add some slow release gypsum and fast release Dolopril.
I have experienced nute retention/concentration once, however. On my last canna grow one of my slurries revealed a 1500+ ppm reading when my fresh nute mix was only 800ppm by that point. No obvious issues were found with plant but I flushed anyways then top dressed worm manure. No issues subsequently, so not 100% sure this has become a problem for me, could have been the organics registering PPMs, but reading was anomalous.
I keep up my testing regime in hopes of helping us leverage SIP tech to the max without setbacks.
I haven’t tested the GH all-in-one, “MaxiGrow/Bloom” properly in a SIP, but my normal use of it elsewhere has led me to believe that it doesn’t have the most stable pH and not suited to large, long term reservoirs.
In addition, I am well pleased with the MegaCrop 2-part, it’s Amino Acid Chelates, and multisourced NPK. It even has low dose Silica and magnesium. I add more magnesium, and grind up one, 300mg aspirin per gallon fertigation. My sole biological permitted in the reservoir is 1ml/1L of GH liquid humic acids which is very clean and further chelates minerals. That’s it.
All the other good bio stuff, LiquiDirt, my drain-cleaner bennies, seaweed, KNF/Jadam, molasses/dextrose (cheaper and dry powder) they all have to wait until plant is established and then top watered in carefully to avoid leeching into reservoir, say weekly or bimonthly. They’ll putrify if mixed into rez in my experience, every time, esp. if over 70 deg. F, and remember now my rez sits for weeks untouched at almost 9 gallons for one plant.
I’ve also abandoned air injection because I concluded it threatens pH during hands on testing, however, a stirring (water) pump is useful.
Sometimes I choose to foliar spray the aspirin, mixed with humic acids and kelp. It’s awesome stuff. Witchcraft. No more bad fungi including powdery mildew, super strong stems, awesome roots. Highly recommend using aspirin in feed water or foliar. You get benefits of Silica without the mix issues, and a lot more.
I run a weak reservoir at 1.0 EC because I also have some dry, available, organic nutes in the Promix to help prevent salts buildup, and add some flavah-flayve.
Mixed into my Promix are my homemade, high-end worm castings. My worms eat only accumulators such as dandelion, horsetails, stinging nettles, comfrey, seaweed, powdered banana peels, flowers and my cannabis trimmings.
I also inoculated the worm bins with a shit-tonne of store-bought mycorrhiza and NPK-brand phosphate solubizing beneficial bacteria. I also added fine-ground eggshell, my mushroom-grow blocks, rock dust, and some composting seaweed, to the worm-feed menu. Should mean super-high Brix, ultimately, and I have about 20 kilos of it now, with preloaded and activated mycorrhiza that will benefit plant immediately. Cool, eh? Good for plants? Well, pass it all through some worms first and it’ll be fekking witchcraft!
Brilliantly, I don’t even have to leave my yard anymore to get any of this stuff!! I planted it all in my garden, and the seaweed washes up on my backyard “beach”, I love it and have the forum to thank 100% for the inspiration. Thanks everyone, so much.
So, that high power worm manure is pretty damn special, I don’t mind saying. Ha! I’ve got 6 bins running, and harvested my first decent haul of it this week after 4-5 mos.
Mycelium powered, accumulator-fed, worm manure chalk-full of living mycorrhiza hyphae, not spores… fuck yes, gonna be epic.
I’ve been planning a slow drift to homemade super soil from the start of this new grow show and water-only growing, spiked with KNF/Jadam and my custom vermicompost. Because I’m cooking and growing it all from scratch, there’s been a year-long build-up period.
I can’t imagine a more sustainable way to produce THC, really, and costs will plummet. I’m nervous and hope it works. Worms
have eaten all the additives so they are working great (bedding is coco, peat, shredded paper). They loved the comfrey, nettles, dandelion, sugar leaves, horsetails, rock dust and eggshells and that’s pretty much all they got, along with a lot of mycorrhiza and bennies which will switch on inside the worm them emerge the other end ready to work! So cool. Worms: The Ultimate Force Multiplier!
Any organic soil will need to be well aerated to use in SIP, so I’ve been recycling the peat/perlite in my giant Hugel kulture bed that’s been cooking almost a year now.
Nonetheless, I need to find a perlite replacement that’s free and local.
I’m going to plant my next seedlings/clones in 60% custom-accumulator worm manure, and 40% aeration, going forward. Might try dried bamboo leaves for aeration. Have a bamboo stand I planted and harvest from every year. Looking for more aeration ideas to try in SIPs that are local and freeish. Input most welcome.
he's kidding right??? or IS he
