And, what are the take aways? Any clever ideas you picked up?
The Everything SWICK Club: 2023 And Beyond
- Thread starter Carmen Ray
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #102
Well Noobwannb's journal is 117 pages long, so I am sure there will be take aways. My initial observation was that her set up is the swicking bed of perlite that Sweet Sue & Co experimented with. I will have to spend some time going through that journal but I have also been in touch with 420 because that's an external link to a different weed site. If the aim is to have an accessible body of knowledge for those coming after us, then we'd want to keep people reading this blog, rather than moving to a different site to read about it. Hopefully 420 can give me an idea of how to reference this article without sending people over to GC
- Thread starter
- #103
It sounds to me that Noobwannb had similar reasons to mine for developing her perlite swick model. She didn't want to deal with overly large reservoirs for her grow, so she developed her individual perlite swick idea 
Now it seems almost certain that the word Swick simply arises from the shortening of Noobwannb's descriptor to Self Wicking. Now that we have found the origin of the word it is very simple indeed and can refer to any self-wicking surface.
It's hard to look at a thread if there are no pictures. I wanted to post these here to show you how much my plants are loving my swick experiment. Unlike a lot of other people who are currently experimenting with SIPS, these autos have been on swicks since birth and so there has been no transition period. I simply up-potted them to their 20 L final homes, popped them back on the swicks, and watered them in the way I normally would if following a top watering regimen, from moats on the outer circumference of the plants, to the sides. Since then I have left it to nature and my plants couldn't look happier.
This is their progress at 3 weeks.
Now it seems almost certain that the word Swick simply arises from the shortening of Noobwannb's descriptor to Self Wicking. Now that we have found the origin of the word it is very simple indeed and can refer to any self-wicking surface.
It's hard to look at a thread if there are no pictures. I wanted to post these here to show you how much my plants are loving my swick experiment. Unlike a lot of other people who are currently experimenting with SIPS, these autos have been on swicks since birth and so there has been no transition period. I simply up-potted them to their 20 L final homes, popped them back on the swicks, and watered them in the way I normally would if following a top watering regimen, from moats on the outer circumference of the plants, to the sides. Since then I have left it to nature and my plants couldn't look happier.
This is their progress at 3 weeks.
Nice and strong!
Emilya Green
Well-Known Member
Thank you for finding the original reference to the term SWICK, that was much appreciated. SweetSue followed up on that original work so that everything we need is here, in house, since she carefully and completely documented everything that she did in her daily journals. Thank you though for the original source so that anyone who wishes can go over there and see it.
Your plants look great by the way, and I am going to come back here as a reference when I grow 3 Autos soon. I will not be switching to my bottom watering system until I have worked with them a bit in traditional containers, knowing that I will have that dreaded delay when I switch to SIP. I am betting myself that by the end of veg, we end up in about the same place, and in the same amount of time.
It always amazes me how many completely different ways there are to grow this plant. Have a nice day @Carmen Ray !
Your plants look great by the way, and I am going to come back here as a reference when I grow 3 Autos soon. I will not be switching to my bottom watering system until I have worked with them a bit in traditional containers, knowing that I will have that dreaded delay when I switch to SIP. I am betting myself that by the end of veg, we end up in about the same place, and in the same amount of time.
It always amazes me how many completely different ways there are to grow this plant. Have a nice day @Carmen Ray !
- Thread starter
- #106
Thank you Emilya. I am very impressed with swick so far and happy with the progress of my plants.
Welcome to the thread. You will find that Sweet Sue is mentioned throughout and there are some people here who were in the original group with Sweet Sue!
These are some journal links from our introduction you might find useful, including Sweet Sue's.
I tell you what I'd like to see if anyone is up to it, and that is a proper comparative grow between a SIP and a swick of two clones off the same mother, all other conditions identical. I have a feeling that they might turn out rather similar and I'd love to see it for myself. Not possible with autos unfortunately.
I'll keep a look out for your plants
So many different ways to grow and while often people may be spoiled for choice, there are some niche ideas that can make the difference between whether someone can pull of a grow or not. 420 Mag is an amazing repository of collective knowledge.
ReservoirDog
Well-Known Member
Great Job with this thread @Carmen Ray, it’s so interesting and useful. I’m not fully Caught up yet but won’t be long. Thanks for doing this.
- Thread starter
- #108
Hi RD, glad you are back! I'm looking forward to getting some input from you too.
Gee64
Well-Known Member
I figured it was worth a try so on Dec 8th I planted 2 seeds, on Dec 10th they popped, this is Dec 12th. They are in solos with air holes and a yarn wick hanging from the bottom into the icecream pail.
It for some reason wont let me post more than 1 pic so there are 2 more posts to follow.
It for some reason wont let me post more than 1 pic so there are 2 more posts to follow.
Gee64
Well-Known Member
13 days later I uppotted straight into a 10gal cloth pot sitting on a wool pad on top of an upside down milk crate with 9 yarn wicks hanging into a 3gal pail of water, which fits perfectly under the flipped crate.
Roots are happening but look different than what Im used to seeing. Hopefully a good sign.
Im used to a cup full of roots similar to the one by my thumb but I am guessing myco knows the difference between feeder roots and water roots.
Roots are happening but look different than what Im used to seeing. Hopefully a good sign.
Im used to a cup full of roots similar to the one by my thumb but I am guessing myco knows the difference between feeder roots and water roots.
Gee64
Well-Known Member
15 days later the roots are busting out the bottom of a 15" high 10gal pot, sorry I don't have photos yet, Im travelling alot and only got home for 1 night. The pot is buried in the back of my veg tent. I will send pics later this week when I get home.
The plants have already been topped above the 3rd node for the manifolding to begin and the light color is false as I took my sunblaster cfl's out and put full spectrum leds in and everything looks pale. They are actually a very healthy green.
So day 28 above ground. About where I would expect but in a 10gal not a 1.66 gal veg pot and other than filling an ice cream pail once and a 3gal pail once and a pinch to top it I have done absolutely nothing. I did, as always, add new myco at uppotting.
Training will be easy with no further uppotting.
Gee64
Well-Known Member
Next time the seed will go right into a 10gal.
Gee64
Well-Known Member
It works for lettuce too. These were sown on Dec 16th, pic taken Jan 7th so 22 days from time of planting. Use that wasted light!
Gee64
Well-Known Member
Below the lettuce I have kale, pak choy, and green onions. All are doing excellent! Better veggies than larf out at the edges
- Thread starter
- #115
That sounds phenomenal Gee! Now I am looking forward to seeing the pics of the roots busting out of the 10 gal! I'm also interested that you plan on planting the seed straight into the 10 Gal next time. Thanks for sharing your setup and experience.
15 days later the roots are busting out the bottom of a 15" high 10gal pot, sorry I don't have photos yet, Im travelling alot and only got home for 1 night. The pot is buried in the back of my veg tent. I will send pics later this week when I get home.
The plants have already been topped above the 3rd node for the manifolding to begin and the light color is false as I took my sunblaster cfl's out and put full spectrum leds in and everything looks pale. They are actually a very healthy green.
So day 28 above ground. About where I would expect but in a 10gal not a 1.66 gal veg pot and other than filling an ice cream pail once and a 3gal pail once and a pinch to top it I have done absolutely nothing. I did, as always, add new myco at uppotting.
Training will be easy with no further uppotting.
Gee64
Well-Known Member
The roots will air prune but by the time I get home hopefully my wool pad will be infested. The ones busting out the sides at the bottom were myco-fuzzy not water roots so the feeders are going down too. I am afraid to lift the pot as a tap root may already be thru but I do love science so yeah... when I get home that big ol pot is getting lifted. Pro or con I will post the pics.
Gee64
Well-Known Member
Once this pot gets a bit bigger the cloning experiment will begin. My end game is to cut a clone into a 10gal pot and wait for the harvest.
I looked at both sips and swicks and swicks allow for smart pots and more importantly full control of the gradient so in my pea brain its superior, but the proof is always in the pudding.
I think controlling the gradient will get clones rooting very well but again.... pudding.... we shall see...
- everything I sprouted from seed, weed included, looked gloomy, yellow, and brutally overwatered for 36-48 hours then became very healthy looking.
I looked at both sips and swicks and swicks allow for smart pots and more importantly full control of the gradient so in my pea brain its superior, but the proof is always in the pudding.
I think controlling the gradient will get clones rooting very well but again.... pudding.... we shall see...
- everything I sprouted from seed, weed included, looked gloomy, yellow, and brutally overwatered for 36-48 hours then became very healthy looking.
- Thread starter
- #118
I don't see why your clone goal shouldn't work just fine. What a good idea!
Why would this happen, Gee? You had them swicking from sprout so why would they take strain like that?
Gee64
Well-Known Member
I am not sure this is all new to me but I have heard sippers say they start conventionally because of over saturation and then complain about a 10-14 day root conversion time upon uppotting to a sip. This really looked like a wet soil thing.
I'm a "Law of the Jungle" kind of guy so sink or swim, I always have room in my worm farm for more compost.
So I let them be and every single sprout greened up quickly.
I suspect that if I lowered the reservoir to move the gradient around I could do better but you know what?.... If your not strong enough to survive then nature claims you, or a worm farm does...
