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

ReservoirDog said:
I have looked at in detail, and personally DIY'd auto-filling SIPs. Also I've interrogated OG sippers and scraped the internet for anecdotals on this topic. I have strong opinion as a result that the best method is an elevated large feeder rez (like a 30gal on a on a small stool) that drops gravity-fed water into a "control bucket", on-demand, by a three-position mechanical float valve that predetermines water depth in control bucket - but control bucket has a separate equalization line going out to each SIP and connecting to it at its lowest point the reservoir meaning SIPs and control bucket height of water will be the same.
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Very good, Azimuth! That'll work very well! Happy Smokin'
 
I made the 27 gallon SIP like you see on Google, the reservoir is well over 3 gallons, plenty to keep from doing daily watering. Kinda boring actually. I don't interact with the plants anywhere near as much anymore.
 
It's been a little while, so how about a little quickie Update on my two Grow Dot fed SIP girls...?

First, the 109 day old ATF, in her SIP for 86 days now...It must be a SIP thing, because this girl has the beefiest branches of any plant I've grown- I don't think it matters how heavy the buds get, nothing's going to sag on this one...
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A Bud:
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And the outdoor Amnesia Haze, finally getting some actual sunlight- 95 days old, and it's her 73rd day in the SIP- she's not much to look at, but there's a lot of weed on her...she and the ATF were both flipped 52 days ago...
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One of her Buds:
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Evidently, the GrowDots are a bit weak in the flowering nute dep't., so I started adding a little Purpinator 15ml) to their feed 10 days ago to fend off an impending K deficiency, and it seems to be doing the trick!

I'm not expecting anything to turn purple- the Purpinator happens to be all I have that contains both Potassium and Phosphorous (0-2-4), so that's why I chose to use it...it took about 5 days to start working, but now it's all good.
I left the funky leaves on the plants- still ugly, but no longer dying and falling off...

That's it for today- my next update will probably be a harvest update in 2 or 3 weeks!
Thanks for looking, and keep on SIPpin'! :love:
 
RedskinnedRhino said:
I made the 27 gallon SIP like you see on Google, the reservoir is well over 3 gallons, plenty to keep from doing daily watering. Kinda boring actually. I don't interact with the plants anywhere near as much anymore.
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True!!! but I kinda like it, the tent stays more closed, just let the thing do its thing.
It's like I'm not worried anymore, as you know if she has water or not with a quick look.
Overwatering is definitely not a problem anymore as SIP plants are not bothered by being wet. I kept the res topped up during flower.
The plant grew without any hick up, without periods of stagnation and without showing a sign of being unhappy or having a surplus or a deficiency.
Which is more reminiscent of a hydro grow that goes great, without all the hassle and probably with a bit more security as with hydro grows you are checking in to see if everything is alright a lot.. as without a buffer things can go haywire pretty fast.
 
Carcass said:
It must be a SIP thing, because this girl has the beefiest branches of any plant I've grown- I don't think it matters how heavy the buds get, nothing's going to sag on this one...
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That's my take from my first too!
 
unfortunately my res sits on the floor and I have no vertical space to elevate it
 
The 2 SIPs for the outdoor plants are done

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Looking good! and yeah some type of anti root cloth at the water channel, I'm going to need to do that as well.. as I have infiltration right now.
On one hand the plant doesn't seem to mind at all and well if she's that hungry that she needs to be straight at the source.. who am I to say no? On the other hand I'd like to sip properly as that works well and I can still pour the full 8 litre in and use the water level as with root infiltrations those got out of whack.
 
You probably don't even need the filter cloth if you want to simplify the build. That drainage pipe won't let too many through and what does make it through will develop roots to drink directly from the res.

Good looking build though. The overflow pipe should get you even more air to the lower roots. I just use a hole, but a pipe is definitely better.
 
Fenderbender said:
Looking good! and yeah some type of anti root cloth at the water channel, I'm going to need to do that as well.. as I have infiltration right now.
On one hand the plant doesn't seem to mind at all and well if she's that hungry that she needs to be straight at the source.. who am I to say no? On the other hand I'd like to sip properly as that works well and I can still pour the full 8 litre in and use the water level as with root infiltrations those got out of whack.
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Wanted to say how glad I was to hear you had a good experience with the SIP, I really liked that little western-euro model you were sporting, with its "channels", very organized, and sleek. Different genetics this time? Need to send those new roots a message, a "brushback pitch" somehow.

I imagine using a SIp helps keeps the cats out since you don't have to open the door everyday anymore. Trusting the SIP, ain't it grand?I make these miniSIPs for starting seedlings in as it is a workaround for the dreaded transplant stall. I put an auto in each design and grew both out to harvest in 500ml of perlite/worm castings. Check out the pop-bottle-based design and results…. The seeds were soaked Feb1-3, I just trimmed off the last few big leaves and am droughting a few days before chop tomorrow.
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ReservoirDog said:
Wanted to say how glad I was to hear you had a good experience with the SIP, I really liked that little western-euro model you were sporting, with its "channels", very organized, and sleek. Different genetics this time? Need to send those new roots a message, a "brushback pitch" somehow.

I imagine using a SIp helps keeps the cats out since you don't have to open the door everyday anymore. Trusting the SIP, ain't it grand?I make these miniSIPs for starting seedlings in as it is a workaround for the dreaded transplant stall. I put an auto in each design and grew both out to harvest in 500ml of perlite/worm castings. Check out the pop-bottle-based design and results…. The seeds were soaked Feb1-3, I just trimmed off the last few big leaves and am droughting a few days before chop tomorrow.
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CD443E30-5C7A-4A4D-8161-1DC359FBB199.jpeg
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Well thats just living art right there! :bravo: I love how well it held the structure of its "mold". So cool.
 
ReservoirDog said:
Check out the pop-bottle-based design and results…
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Results speak for themselves, no? 👏

How do you water those soda bottle SIPs? Do you pull the halves apart first or do you have some sort of soil mix bypass?
 
Fenderbender said:
Cute Bonzai Sips?
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In this case, yeah. Usually, they are for raising seedlings to transplant to large SIP and avoid transplant stall, but here I fully grew out a Yumboldt auto. I topped it at node 5, but because it was an auto of questionable genetic stability I didn't remove any nodes after topping. Just some light lst with plastic clips
Azimuth said:
How do you water those soda bottle SIPs? Do you pull the halves apart first or do you have some sort of soil mix bypass?
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B, "bypass". A trademarked, high-tech feature I like to call a "hole"! I use a turkey baster to fill.

I also ended up running an air line (the sm aquarium air pumps seen in some pics) into the rez after it started really filling with roots when in flower (they snuck through the drilled-out holes in planter floor) During veg it wasn't an issue, and removal for transplanting wouldn't have damaged roots. However, once roots started pouring through the wee holes I just 'went for broke', set airpump on a burst timer, 30 sec every few minutes.

The entire pot was sheathed in a quick black plastic wrap to keep roots in dark, it goes on and is removed in a few seconds, and is secured with single piece masking tape. To further stabilize conditions plants sat on a heat mat with thermostat, set to 74f for entire grow.

Topdressed with new castings 4 weeks ago, which I topwatered with wormcasting tea. Other than that was all from the reservoir.

Am pleased RezDog Custom Castings got the job done as this was the real experiment - I've been developing a special castings product and I needed the fastest possible way to assess my new castings' abilities. Cest voila.

Oh, and I grew under 24-hour lighting.

We SIP growers are the Maytag Repairmen of the horticultural world, and such experiments are what we SIP growers do with all of the extra time on our hands! I have a single gg#4 taking up a whole 5x5 at the moment, in a SIP with a 9+ gal reservoir, or, at least I did the last time I checked - 3 weeks ago. lol.
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