I don't think @Krissi Carbone uses these though, does she? I thought her's were more the type of pot with the spout for adding water directly to the bottom of the pot. Those don't have anywhere near the size reservoir that the insert type does.
SIP - Pity Do Dah, SIP - Pity A
- Thread starter Buds Buddy
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He's got the same ide, conceptually speaking and a DIY at that.
Mine have just a tripod base that keeps them lifted above the bottom of the pot with a removable base attachment.
Simple, but like 22/28 bucks each 3/5gl
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- #43
Yes, hers are a little different, but same principle idea. I have the same ones she has also but in smaller sizes. I'll probably give them to the wife for her flowers as I doubt I'll use them again. Seems better to go from a 1 gal. plastic pot straight to the 5 gal. SIP Bucket to me.
If any of you are trying this out, it's easy to up-pot from a 1 gal. to a 5 gal. A 2 gal. is not as easy because it's bigger around & makes it hard to center the plant in the 5 gal. bucket. The fill tube kind of gets in the way of centering it.
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- #44
When I was mixing nutes today I realized I was down to my last qt. of Alchemist Stout MSA (Mono Silicic Acid) = Silica.
I use a lot of this in the Nute Calculations so had to order another gallon from Zon for $73.00. The qt. prices use to be about $23 but have went up to $36 so the gal. was a better deal. Sure wish our wages went up as fast as inflation.
To give you an idea of how much Si I use, I bought 4 qts. of Silica & 4 qts. of Natures Nectar Nitrogen at the same time. I still have 3 qts. of N, but only 1 qt. of Silica.
For a 4.5 gr. MC Nute Calculation of 4 gal. it takes 8.4 ml. of "N" & 58.8 ml. of Silica along with 15.2 gr. of Mega Crop.
This Calculation is the equivalent of using 4.5 gr. of MC. Just in different ratios of ingredient's.
I use a lot of this in the Nute Calculations so had to order another gallon from Zon for $73.00. The qt. prices use to be about $23 but have went up to $36 so the gal. was a better deal. Sure wish our wages went up as fast as inflation.
To give you an idea of how much Si I use, I bought 4 qts. of Silica & 4 qts. of Natures Nectar Nitrogen at the same time. I still have 3 qts. of N, but only 1 qt. of Silica.
For a 4.5 gr. MC Nute Calculation of 4 gal. it takes 8.4 ml. of "N" & 58.8 ml. of Silica along with 15.2 gr. of Mega Crop.
This Calculation is the equivalent of using 4.5 gr. of MC. Just in different ratios of ingredient's.
I found a guy doing the same as you on here using sip system. Think he was called jaycbreeze. He was using a tough storage box maybe 100litre and he got same results. Seens a really good system I've just never used the nutes your using. What is the cost of them all just to give a rough idea. Keep up the good work buds
Wow that is right down to the point. Great job man you've done some real testing to get those numbers and your setup shows.
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- #47
The Nitrogen is about $20 a qt. & will get you through about 3-4 grows of 6 plants. Mega Crop comes in different sizes ranging from about $25 - $100. I bought the $100 bag & that will last me 2-3 years. I grow about a dozen plants at a time usually. The Silica is about $25 a qt. usually, but it appears to have gone up. You will use up a qt. per 6 plant grow.
You save about $25 if you buy it by the gallon.
ReservoirDog
Well-Known Member
Ah, so you are the SIP grower Emilya must have been referring to...So for those of you who haven't seen what these SIP Buckets can do here are a couple pics from my last grow using them. I'm hoping to get something even close to this in all 6 buckets this grow. "I'm callin everyone to ride along, for another grow. We can laugh our lives away, & smoke weed once more".
So here are what these buckets consist of. A simple Reservoir, Fill Tube & a Float come in the box (3 pack) $49.
That kit with a 5 gallon bucket with a hole drilled 3.5" from the bottom. ( I didn't forget to drill the holes this time @Azimuth .... lol.)
Factory Pics from the Website.
Here's a few pics of what I'll be using in this grow. 5 of the plants will be in FFOF & 1 of the Cherry On Top will be in SoHum Super Soil. I'll be feeding Mega Crop, Silica & Nitrogen to 5 of them. The SoHum will be on a F,W,F,W schedule & will be fed Re-Charge @ 5 gr. per gal every other feeding.
A couple of weeks ago I took a butt load of Clones from these 2 Chery On Top Plants. I also took Clones from an Aurora Indica which is not pictured. Not sure which one it was.... lol.
I use a Bubble Cloner to root my Clones. 100% success using these things. @Emilya Green has a Tutorial on how to make one if you're interested.
Once my Clones rooted they were all put in Double Solo Cups. Clear Cup with holes in the bottom for drainage inside a Solid color cup. I do this so I can see the Root Growth & to see how wet the soil is.
A couple of pics of the Rooted Clones.
CONTINUED.................
Don't have to convince me, Buds! I do it the way I do because I require the extra reservoir in case I have a bad day and the plants will be ok without me. Will happen many times in a grow so I need 3 gal per plant on board, and the large 10 gal matrix per plant helps this cause also. Still grows siiiiiicck plants. Just have to poke a little here, prod a little there. My tomatoes last year were truly colossal and embarrassingly productive. It wasn't a fluke, you're home pal!
I've never mentioned it yet but there is a way to run my exact SIP prototype that will permit you to change the plants, every day if you wish. These are 10-gallon geopots filled w sunshine#4 sitting in two nested tote boxes, a 27 gallon, the reservoir, and a 17gal, the planter. if you were to grow instead in a 7 gallon geopot, there would be enough room between pots to pull past one-another without disturbing either. Not the case with the 10s. They are right up personal-like, and shape-locked. With 7s that you wanted to rotate, I would recommend lifting each one from the container, just half an inch every other day or so to prevent important root disruption. I'm sure it won't be long before I'm trying this. Like, maybe tomorrow?
Hmmm? Any thoughts?,
ReservoirDog
Well-Known Member
I truly believe that the one gallon intermediate step was a holdback on the plants. That uppoting is a relic of the flood and draught school of container gardening that require the gardener to take control of the decision-making around how the roots will grow and where. This he must do because the flood and draught method is dangerous and requires plants to adapt to impositions put upon them by the gardener so he can protect them from himself.
When released into plants control and a constant moisture gradient throughout the entire grow has been achieved as it has with SIPs, then the plants will make the most efficient use of resources and therefore design themselves the ideal root system for what they are experiencing, and we have assured they will continue to experience via SIPs.
This system takes advantage of the gradient, and a thin mulch if we provide it. "feeder roots" do not cluster at the top from the beginning as with pots because the constant message is, "there is more moisture the deeper you go, and there always will be."
This means that what you need the plant to do is immediately dive down to the water, only then will it begin to build its 'dream system" and you can't trick them into doing that. All other arrangements the plant makes before this priority is set will become inefficiencies or even hazards if they are built out before it locates and taps its source water. It can grow a huge tree because it DOESN't have to build a remarkably complex root system.
This is pure witchcraft to some, maybe most, I know. But this is what I've worked out all of these signs to mean after a year and a half growing SIPs. Not long, I know, but it was really the absence of previous dogma that permitted me to see this so quickly. I apologize if this comes off as arrogant, it is meant in all humility.
edit: sp.
When released into plants control and a constant moisture gradient throughout the entire grow has been achieved as it has with SIPs, then the plants will make the most efficient use of resources and therefore design themselves the ideal root system for what they are experiencing, and we have assured they will continue to experience via SIPs.
This system takes advantage of the gradient, and a thin mulch if we provide it. "feeder roots" do not cluster at the top from the beginning as with pots because the constant message is, "there is more moisture the deeper you go, and there always will be."
This means that what you need the plant to do is immediately dive down to the water, only then will it begin to build its 'dream system" and you can't trick them into doing that. All other arrangements the plant makes before this priority is set will become inefficiencies or even hazards if they are built out before it locates and taps its source water. It can grow a huge tree because it DOESN't have to build a remarkably complex root system.
This is pure witchcraft to some, maybe most, I know. But this is what I've worked out all of these signs to mean after a year and a half growing SIPs. Not long, I know, but it was really the absence of previous dogma that permitted me to see this so quickly. I apologize if this comes off as arrogant, it is meant in all humility.
edit: sp.
ReservoirDog
Well-Known Member
I grow the seedlings in a breathable nursery bag that is long and slim, and fits in a solo or similar shaped container. I use these because of the same reasons we use them for our ultimate pot material, dendritic root patterning. I bottom water/fertigate only as this is what its future holds and I plant anytime after two nodes, ASAP. You can also root cuttings straight into a full SIP or one of these bags, just place a cloche over top that does not touch the leaves. Large pieces may be cloned also.
cbdhemp808
Well-Known Member
Hey @ReservoirDog... sounds wonderful but I'm having a hard time picturing it. A diagram would be great. I am new to this SIP concept, but I like it. 5 gal bucket doesn't sound big enough, because that means only <4 gal for soil, and the 1 gal for the reservoir, correct? 10 gal sounds more like it. So you are saying a 10 gal fabric pot, in a plastic tote box that serves as the reservoir? Do you have something at the bottom of the fabric pot, like an inverted plastic pot, to elevate the soil above the reservoir water?
cbdhemp808
Well-Known Member
Really? I don't see that. The black plastic "tube stand" appears to contact the soil above. Or... OK, you mean the overflow hole is situation such that there's a little air space?
@Buds Buddy hi mate I just wondered with this growing method would it require more frequent watering or would that just be down to what medium is used?
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- #54
The "SIP" stuff is all new to me so I really hate to make any recommendations till I have a few grows at it & know a little more. But what you are doing is interesting so I'll be stopping by to check things out.
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- #55
I'd say it's pretty much the same as when you top water. About the same amount of time before the res. gets low.
Naturally, that depends on the size of the plant & how much it's drinking. In mid-flower they gulp the shit down.
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- #56
Gotta go check on the ladies in the shed here soon. Been harvesting another plant since midnight with a 420 break here & there. Almost got her done. 2/3rds done anyway. Sure will be glad to get a break from trimming. This is my 4th plant in a row & there's another that's ready when I can get to it.
Good morning Buds 
Great set up, those pots are interesting, love the root structure.
Can't wait.
Hope everything is going well my friend.
Take care.
Stay safe
Bill284
Great set up, those pots are interesting, love the root structure.
Can't wait.
Hope everything is going well my friend.
Take care.
Stay safe
Bill284
Au contraire. I get a surprising amount of top feeder roots with mine, but maybe the difference is thickness. I put my mulch layer on thick and get roots all thru it.
I've not had good luck rooting them in this setup, so I've taken to treating them like a normal cutting and waiting to put water in the reservoir until after roots have formed. Once they do I put a small amount down there and the plant forms water roots quickly.
These things are quite scalable. Most of mine have been in 1L containers, but I've recently built a couple of 2 Gallon ones. I don't have the space most of you guys do so mine have to be smaller plants but I've had similar (relative) success with them as I have with my 17G vegetable SIPs out in my garden.
There has to be some connector media for the roots to reach the water from the soil, otherwise they just air prune themselves and you don't get the benefit of the water tank. In the one Buds is using it comes in the form of soil surrounding a vented dome that defines the reservoir. In most of mine it is a central cup that extends from the soil through the air gap and into the reservoir.
But I'm convinced that it is that air gap that is the true secret to the success if these things. When I build mine I make them with two fill tubes to try to maximize that air space.
Yet another reason I like the perpetual lifestyle...
Cool man I'm just getting a rough idea. This method of growing has got me thinking about going organic might do some research into what the plants need throughout there life including the top dressing. Thanks again