The Everything SWICK Club: 2023 And Beyond

[Carmen Ray]

I was fascinated by the SIP thread which referenced this thread along the way.
Since I had just started another auto my usual way - 3 gallon cloth pot with coco/perlite & amendments and normally top fed, I decided switching it to a Swick would be easier than a SIP.

Preferring to use items I already own whenever possible, I took a 10 gallon bucket and cut about 4" off the bottom to use as the reservoir for water, filled it with washed 1/2" and smaller lava rock, piled an inch or so of coco from a previous grow on to one side creating a mound higher than the reservoir and large enough to set the 3 gallon cloth pot onto while keeping it out of the water.
Next, I made up 2 gallons of nute rich water (EC at 1.1 and pH 6.2) in a 5 gallon bucket and lowered the 3 gallon pot into it. The auto was started in this container and already had 2 nodes by gently top watering.
This pot absorbed about 1.5 gallons and still kept the top half inch dry. I could tell it was soaked because the coco around the stalk where I had been watering was wicking and now super wet.
Pulling this out of the bucket and placing it on its new throne to drain worked great and then poured the remainder into the lava rock reservoir.
3 days later and that moist ring around the stalk still remains moist with the rest of the top layer dry and the sides of the cloth pot cool and moist, so I am calling this a wicking success as I watch the water level in the reservoir slowly drop. I hadn't seen one done like this yet but I assume this should be labeled a Swick.

Two things have come to mind now:
1) If it gets in trouble and needs flushing or has a nute deficiency, I can easily correct that by dropping the soft pot into a 5 gallon bucket of whatever it needs for a few minutes.
2) I am concerned with the pH in the reservoir not staying at the low 6 area. In a day or so it tends to rise back up to the original 8.3 of my dechlorinated tap water. Wondering if I should be concerned about that or not?

Hi StratRider,

Welcome to the thread and thank you for sharing your setup with us! It looks interesting and it sounds like it is working very well for you.

 

[StratRider]

For those doing experiments - this was an interesting 2016 study. (on tomatoes & pretty sure I found it here)
For those thinking 18 pages is TLDR - my synopsis of the Abstract and Conclusion is this:
The performance of Wicking Beds was compared with precision surface irrigation in terms of water use efficiency (WUE), fruit yield, fruit quality and labour input.
WB's were better in all areas and a 150 mm reservoir and 300 mm soil bed was the most effective.
Also note that no air gap was used in this study so I didn't post it in the SIP thread.
They hit on root density and moisture at several levels and is an overall good read.

 

[InTheShed]

I am concerned with the pH in the reservoir not staying at the low 6 area. In a day or so it tends to rise back up to the original 8.3 of my dechlorinated tap water. Wondering if I should be concerned about that or not?

If you're in coco I would think you should work to maintain that high 5 pH in the res, which might involve sampling from down the feed tube and adjusting.

I know that @VetSmoke85 didn't have a lot of luck bottom watering in coco, so you might want to pick his brain if he stops by here or in his thread. He talks about res pH here.

 

[StratRider]

If you're in coco I would think you should work to maintain that high 5 pH in the res, which might involve sampling from down the feed tube and adjusting.

I know that @VetSmoke85 didn't have a lot of luck bottom watering in coco, so you might want to pick his brain if he stops by here or in his thread. He talks about res pH here.

Yes in the coco so I will suck this other water out with the shop-vac and give it another shot.
I'll be checking out that thread now also.

 

[Pondwater]

My soil company said he didn’t know if his soil will hold up in a sip as he thinks it will just wick all the water continuously and recommends top watering every other day to not overwater it ?

Is that where I add perlite to allow water to drain ? Idk just guessing

 

[Carmen Ray]

My soil company said he didn’t know if his soil will hold up in a sip as he thinks it will just wick all the water continuously and recommends top watering every other day to not overwater it ?

Is that where I add perlite to allow water to drain ? Idk just guessing

Hi Pondwater. I can't imagine how a craft cannabis soil will fail in a SIP or SWICK. Doesn't your soil already have perlite added to it? I wouldn't go messing with it or adding more perlite.
As far as top watering, it has its benefits, for instance if you are flushing or watering in a nutrient bump or a dose of calmag, but sub-irrigation is precisely that. You are avoiding wet/ dry cycles and top watering.
I think your soil person may be mistaken. Maybe @Azimuth will have more constructive advice as to the build.

 

[Carmen Ray]

I start my seeds on perlite SWICKS. As soon as they have a decent radicle the seeds are transferred from paper towel to SWICK. They are in 50 % seedling mix / 50 % Orgasoilux (craft cannabis soil). Roots are visible and growing through the drainage holes at 9 days.

Starting the seedlings immediately on SWICKS means no transition from top watering to sub-irrigation, no slowing of growth.

Seedling SWICK

• Carmen Ray
• Jun 20, 2023
• cannabis seedlings sub irrigated container swick swicking vipar spectra xs1500 pro

These two seedlings are in 50 % seedling mix/ 50 % Orgasoilux on perlite SWICKS.
They are under...

 

[Pondwater]

Hi Pondwater. I can't imagine how a craft cannabis soil will fail in a SIP or SWICK. Doesn't your soil already have perlite added to it? I wouldn't go messing with it or adding more perlite.
As far as top watering, it has its benefits, for instance if you are flushing or watering in a nutrient bump or a dose of calmag, but sub-irrigation is precisely that. You are avoiding wet/ dry cycles and top watering.
I think your soil person may be mistaken. Maybe @Azimuth will have more constructive advice as to the build.

No bro no perlite it’s a bracken sheeps wool and comfrey compost ready for heavily demanding crops like tomatoes etc there made up with bark compost to lock up nitrogen etc and promise food for 12 month even in small pots lol
The sheeps wool has somuch ca it’s awesome but I head ya on top watering it’s all I seem to do currently lol
He said it will wick more than peat and has the opposite effect as it holds moisture and doesn’t let it dissapear like peat , he said that if I feed peat 4l il need 1 l on this soil ,
They won awards and giant veg comps allover here and are one of 3 organic certified here
He said overwatering was easy so he worried about using a sip, I worry about having to water every day like I am now lol hence why I am making these bucket sips lol

 

[Carmen Ray]

No bro no perlite it’s a bracken sheeps wool and comfrey compost ready for heavily demanding crops like tomatoes etc there made up with bark compost to lock up nitrogen etc and promise food for 12 month even in small pots lol
The sheeps wool has somuch ca it’s awesome but I head ya on top watering it’s all I seem to do currently lol
He said it will wick more than peat and has the opposite effect as it holds moisture and doesn’t let it dissapear like peat , he said that if I feed peat 4l il need 1 l on this soil ,
They won awards and giant veg comps allover here and are one of 3 organic certified here
He said overwatering was easy so he worried about using a sip, I worry about having to water every day like I am now lol hence why I am making these bucket sips lol

Oh wow, that's a different sounding medium altogether. I can't even imagine it. So is the sheeps wool similar to a coir? What percentage of the medium is the wool?

 

[Azimuth]

My soil company said he didn’t know if his soil will hold up in a sip as he thinks it will just wick all the water continuously and recommends top watering every other day to not overwater it ?

Is that where I add perlite to allow water to drain ? Idk just guessing

Hi Pondwater. I can't imagine how a craft cannabis soil will fail in a SIP or SWICK. Doesn't your soil already have perlite added to it? I wouldn't go messing with it or adding more perlite.
As far as top watering, it has its benefits, for instance if you are flushing or watering in a nutrient bump or a dose of calmag, but sub-irrigation is precisely that. You are avoiding wet/ dry cycles and top watering.
I think your soil person may be mistaken. Maybe @Azimuth will have more constructive advice as to the build.

Sounds like your soil guy is not familiar with SIPs. That said, I don't think anyone has used that soil in a SIP yet so maybe he's right about the overwicking.

I would say ixnay to the every other day top watering idea. The general consensus is to top water once every two weeks to water in an organic topdressing but otherwise water thru the fill tube. So I'd start there and adjust if your soil somehow presents problems, but I wouldn't start out doing something completely different than what has worked for countless growers over the years.

 

[Carmen Ray]

These are my two week old seedlings on SWICKs

Gelato auto

• Carmen Ray
• Jun 27, 2023
• cannabis seedling gelato auto herbies seeds swick swicking vipar spectra xs1500 pro

2 Weeks above ground.

Parmesan auto

• Carmen Ray
• Jun 27, 2023
• cannabis seedling parmesan auto swick swicking vipar spectra xs1500 pro

2 Weeks above ground.

This is a copy paste from my journal, so forgive the repeat please those who are reading this a second time.

I keep wondering about root formation. We see that different kinds of roots develop to take advantage of the different ways in which the plants receive their water.

What are some of the common features of the roots of the bigger sub-irrigated plants that people are growing on SIP and SWICK?

I noticed a lot of fine feeder roots in my SWICK root balls. However the pots air pruned on the swicky pads I used in place of perlite, so that no water roots could develop outside of the soil. In other words, I did not have any roots penetrating the res and my plants were not giants. I am wondering if the combination roots are what does it to create the massive plants.

I guess what I am trying to say is that perhaps a perlite SWICK may be more advantageous for the plant's size than a cloth swicky pad. It makes sense. More roots, more plant right? What say you?

 

[InTheShed]

Since I'm growing in a perlite SWICK with the dirt directly on top of the perlite (rather than soaking through the bottom of a cloth pot or up through a wick), I wonder if it really qualifies as a SWICK. I mean, it probably does for the first week or so, but after that the roots have grown through the airgap (perlite above the water line) and into the reservoir.

Like this:

20230526_104100 5KC upcan roots.jpg

• InTheShed
• May 26, 2023

5 Killer Cookies SWICK transplant, day 25

and this:

20230604_185917 5KC SWICK upcan day 34.jpg

• InTheShed
• Jun 5, 2023

5 Killer Cookies transplant

It seems like kind of a more soil-over-hempy thing, and different from the folks using wicks or cloth pots on perlite.

Still, no complaints from me whatever it is, as evidenced by my 5 Killer Cookies, 55 days above ground:

20230625_102610 5KC day 55.jpg

• InTheShed
• Jun 25, 2023

5 Killer Cookies

...and drinking a gallon/day. Who knows what it's going to need in flower!

 

[Carmen Ray]

Since I'm growing in a perlite SWICK with the dirt directly on top of the perlite (rather than soaking through the bottom of a cloth pot or up through a wick), I wonder if it really qualifies as a SWICK. I mean, it probably does for the first week or so, but after that the roots have grown through the airgap (perlite above the water line) and into the reservoir.

Like this:

20230526_104100 5KC upcan roots.jpg

• InTheShed
• May 26, 2023

5 Killer Cookies SWICK transplant, day 25

and this:

20230604_185917 5KC SWICK upcan day 34.jpg

• InTheShed
• Jun 5, 2023

5 Killer Cookies transplant

It seems like kind of a more soil-over-hempy thing, and different from the folks using wicks or cloth pots on perlite.

Still, no complaints from me whatever it is, as evidenced by my 5 Killer Cookies, 55 days above ground:

20230625_102610 5KC day 55.jpg

• InTheShed
• Jun 25, 2023

5 Killer Cookies

...and drinking a gallon/day. Who knows what it's going to need in flower!

I think it still qualifies as a SWICK. The only thing you are doing differently is that you have removed the layer of fabric between the perlite and the soil.

Perhaps this variation is a technological improvement on the SWICK method, advanced to produce monster plants? Where are your nutes though? I think yours are in the res. I wonder what the growth would look like with plain water in the res.

Which SIPpers are producing the biggest plants and what are they doing that others are not?

 

[InTheShed]

I think it still qualifies as a SWICK. The only thing you are doing differently is that you have removed the layer of fabric between the perlite and the soil.

I'm not so sure because the bottom roots are actually growing in nutrient filled perlite, just like hempy.

Perhaps this variation is a technological improvement on the SWICK method, advanced to produce monster plants? Where are your nutes though? I think yours are in the res. I wonder what the growth would look like with plain water in the res.

My nutes would be in the res and (via capillary action) the soil. I have no idea what my style would look like in LOS given the number of roots down there. I would guess the perlite will be solid roots when I pull this apart.

 

[Carmen Ray]

I'm not so sure because the bottom roots are actually growing in nutrient filled perlite, just like hempy.

My nutes would be in the res and (via capillary action) the soil. I have no idea what my style would look like in LOS given the number of roots down there. I would guess the perlite will be solid roots when I pull this apart.

Ok, so the nutrients in the res are very likely aiding in making a big plant. I wish I could do comparisons. Ultimately we all want bigger, better plants and I'd love to see a comparison between LOS and res nutes. I suspect the res nutes are going to be like putting plants on steroids but if it were that simple there'd be less people growing in LOS and more with artificial nutes, surely?

I still think yours is a variation on SWICK. Following others' leads, I use swicky pads so is that strictly SWICK? I think it depends on what the definition of SWICK is. If we accept that it is potted Soil on a Wick of sorts, then variations in wicking material are likely. In my reading of the Sweet Sue thread I couldn't find a definition. Emilya offered one explanation. She suggested it might be named after Sue, but I doubt that. I think Sue did a similar thing to what I have done and that is convened a thread, and she experimented with perlite wicking beds. I wish we could ask her or someone else from those days. Their focus was on soil planters on perlite wicks, that much we know.

 

[Hash Hound]

Which SIPpers are producing the biggest plants and what are they doing that others are not?

I'm sure people are growing bigger swicks plants than me, but one of my bigger swick plants was 114g.
What am I doing different? I JUST USE A WICK and forgo the substrates.

Sippers use a wick too but it's in the form of a cup of soil or perlite.

 

[Carmen Ray]

I'm sure people are growing bigger swicks plants than me, but one of my bigger swick plants was 114g.
What am I doing different? I JUST USE A WICK and forgo the substrates.

Sippers use a wick too but it's in the form of a cup of soil or perlite.

It's your lead that I have followed but I grow the seedlings on perlite swicks and I transplant when the roots start coming through into the perlite. The big cloth pots are on a home made wicking plate with a cloth pad covering cloth wicks that hang in the res.

 

[Hash Hound]

Thanks @Carmen Ray

I dissected an extra clone I didn't need and no one else wanted

The peat pot clone showed roots in 11 days and was put in a 4" pot of Promix Org the next.
Fed bottom only in a little tray since the planting, I gave it about a cup +/- every few days.
What it doesn't suck up in a few hours I pitch, but normally it sucks it all up.
Then 25 days of growth in the 4" pot and this is what I found

PHDv3 cl d36 (2).JPG

• Hash Hound
• Jun 28, 2023

very tough to pull the root cube apart, packed with roots all the way.
*I must be pretty hi, i spelled cube qube and wondered why it spell checked it, plus I'm that bad at spelling*

PHDv3 cl d36 (3).JPG

• Hash Hound
• Jun 28, 2023

PHDv3 cl d36 (7).JPG

• Hash Hound
• Jun 28, 2023

PHDv3 cl d36 (5).JPG

• Hash Hound
• Jun 28, 2023

 

[Carmen Ray]

Thanks @Carmen Ray

I dissected an extra clone I didn't need and no one else wanted

The peat pot clone showed roots in 11 days and was put in a 4" pot of Promix Org the next.
Fed bottom only in a little tray since the planting, I gave it about a cup +/- every few days.
What it doesn't suck up in a few hours I pitch, but normally it sucks it all up.
Then 25 days of growth in the 4" pot and this is what I found

PHDv3 cl d36 (2).JPG

• Hash Hound
• Jun 28, 2023

very tough to pull the root cube apart, packed with roots all the way.
*I must be pretty hi, i spelled cube qube and wondered why it spell checked it, plus I'm that bad at spelling*

PHDv3 cl d36 (3).JPG

• Hash Hound
• Jun 28, 2023

PHDv3 cl d36 (7).JPG

• Hash Hound
• Jun 28, 2023

PHDv3 cl d36 (5).JPG

• Hash Hound
• Jun 28, 2023

Thanks Hash Hound,

Those beautiful thick long roots that wind around the edges, those are the same kind that grow into the res right? Are those different in thickness and texture to the filler ones? I think of them as a web of thicker and finer roots, water roots and feeder roots. Is that correct? How would you describe the root ball? I'm interested in how they form and work with the sub-irrigation compared with top watering, and also comparing the different ways of sub-irrigating.

 

[Hash Hound]

@Carmen Ray yes they seem to be a little thicker at the bottom and around the perimeter but that may be because they tend to group together making them seem thicker. What ever they were I was surprised at how many there were in a little over three weeks and only fed water.
They were tough too, I really had to pull hard to separate the peat pot from the rest of the root mass.
you can see various sizes of roots coming off of her.
I'm guessing anything thinner is newer.