Weffalo's West Coast O.G. First Time Grow: Indoor, Soil, SIP, Auto

Weffalo said:
Good idea with the aggregate, that sounds easy enough :) So on the side of the hole and to just above its height? Think we've got the workings of a plan here !!
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Right, just something to hold out the soil and make an easier path for excess water to get to the overflow hole.

Weffalo said:
35 x 31 x 9.5cm so from my Googling that is around 10 litre? The listing doesn't say. Edit 10 litre actually seems way too high but I've no idea how to work it out properly lol.
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Yeah that sounds way too much. When you eyeball the volume with it in the bucket how much of the bucket would you say it takes up?

One way to tell is to fill it up with soil and then use a scoop of known quantity to empty it and add up the number of scoops it required.
 
DeeBeeBee said:
What shape are they? Cuboid? if so then 10.3L is correct.

EDIT - never bet anyone you can drink a Frisbee (TM) of beer - volume is deceptive!

DeeBeeBee
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This shape, I'd guess at least 5L if a cuboid this volume is 10 so seems like it should be plenty :D

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Azimuth said:
Right, just something to hold out the soil and make an easier path for excess water to get to the overflow hole.


Yeah that sounds way too much. When you eyeball the volume with it in the bucket how much of the bucket would you say it takes up?

One way to tell is to fill it up with soil and then use a scoop of known quantity to empty it and add up the number of scoops it required.
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Too much? Ah I can look for smaller it's just finding one the approximate diamater. I don't have it yet I'm just looking online for something appropriate before ordering.

Just finished cleaning and setting up the 25L sips, doing the mix now and then will soak for 24-48 hours ready for transplant!
 
Weffalo said:
Too much? Ah I can look for smaller it's just finding one the approximate diamater. I don't have it yet I'm just looking online for something appropriate before ordering.
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Too much in that I didn't believe the calculation. I'm thinking a reservoir somewhere in the 20-30% of total bucket volume should be about max you'd want to go.

Mine is 1.2 liters in an 8 liter bucket so more like 12%, and the bucket inserts I think are 1 gallon in a 5 gallon bucket so 20%.
 
If you have access to a drill and drill bits they are easy enough to make yourself from a standard food storage container and you'll have a lot more options with stated volumes.

I used a soldering iron to make my holes which was quick and efficient.
 
Azimuth said:
If you have access to a drill and drill bits they are easy enough to make yourself from a standard food storage container and you'll have a lot more options with stated volumes.

I used a soldering iron to make my holes which was quick and efficient.
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Gotya, think I can get access to those tools luckily I'm blessed with handy friends even though I avoid DIY like the plague. I'll look for something that's 10-20% volume and work from there, thanks as always Azi!!
 
Okay damn, first bit of real work there lol. SIPs are all filled with proper mix and placeholder cups, res has been filled and I will check it in a few days, I guess I need to get a thin piece of wood as the GroBucket level bit too short now :)

Have been feeding the coco seedlings once per day, they aren't so perky at the moment but they aren't droopy or anything either so assume all is good, pics whenever I sort a new phone!!
 
Weffalo said:
I guess I need to get a thin piece of wood as the GroBucket level bit too short now :)
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Did you end up getting an extention for the fill tube?
 
Azimuth said:
Did you end up getting an extention for the fill tube?
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Yeah I cut some PVC pipe to size, about 1 1/2 inches longer than the supplied one!
 
And, standard size pvc?

Also, I use a thin stick (piece of a tree branch) as a dip stick. But as long as you have an overflow hole in the bucket you don't necessarily even need it.
 
yeah standard waste pipe size, 40mm diameter. Cheers I'll probably use a stick as well just because for the first week I'm trying not to fill it to full :)
 
Looking forward to seeing some pics when the phone is sorted Weffalo :)
 
So I'm still waiting on the sip to show any signs of draining the res, I potentially over-moistened the soil beforehand so hopefully by tomorrow I can see signs of the water level dropping. One of the girls is kinda droopy I'm thinking maybe slight overwatering I'm not sure, they havent been watered today as there was still runoff.

When I picked thatplant up to clear out the run off I could see roots escaping out the bottom so I definitely think there's a decent root ball. The 4th node is now growing so I wanna get it transplanted asap tomorrow really I'm just apphrensive about the soil/res not having dranied yet!

Also I'm wondering if because the 4th node is now growing am I too late to top that one? I wanted to try one of them with just topping the 3rd/4th node, another I'm thinking of quadlining but I may just do topping/lst, the smallest one I'm going to leave to grow as is :)
 
Weffalo said:
So I'm still waiting on the sip to show any signs of draining the res, I potentially over-moistened the soil beforehand so hopefully by tomorrow I can see signs of the water level dropping. One of the girls is kinda droopy I'm thinking maybe slight overwatering I'm not sure, they havent been watered today as there was still runoff.
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The SIP won't drain the reservoir without a plant in it. The first time you put water in the reservoir the level may drop as some gets wicked up, but if your mix was overly wet out of the gates it probably doesn't get better until you plant

Weffalo said:
Also I'm wondering if because the 4th node is now growing am I too late to top that one? I wanted to try one of them with just topping the 3rd/4th node, another I'm thinking of quadlining but I may just do topping/lst, the smallest one I'm going to leave to grow as is :)
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You can still top. Are you concerned about it still being in the original container?

And quadlining is essentially topping and then LST.
 
Azimuth said:
The DIP won't drain the reservoir without a plant in it. The first time you put water in the reservoir the level may drop as some gets wicked up, but if your mix was overly wet out of the gates it probably doesn't get better until you plant


You can still top. Are you concerned about it still being in the original container?

And quadlining is essentially topping and then LST.
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Yeah I looked at quadlining and I'm probably gonna go with it, I'm just concerned about how it will do after transplant so will wait to see the results of that before any training. Same with topping I won't be doing it until the plant is settled in the SIP so it may have even further growth but that's good to hear I can still top after it's grown.

If the moisture won't get much better then there's not all that much point in waiting? I may as well get them in asap?

Plan is take them out of the pots, sprinkle some dynomyco on the outside of the roots and give it a light spray with water/superthrive then put them into the SIPs, move the soil and then add less than 2 litres to help seal them in. Does that all sound okay? :D
 
Weffalo said:
Yeah I looked at quadlining and I'm probably gonna go with it, I'm just concerned about how it will do after transplant so will wait to see the results of that before any training. Same with topping I won't be doing it until the plant is settled in the SIP so it may have even further growth but that's good to hear I can still top after it's grown.

If the moisture won't get much better then there's not all that much point in waiting? I may as well get them in asap?

Plan is take them out of the pots, sprinkle some dynomyco on the outside of the roots and give it a light spray with water/superthrive then put them into the SIPs, move the soil and then add less than 2 litres to help seal them in. Does that all sound okay? :D
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Sounds OK. If your mix is already pretty wet, don't be surprised at some drooping for a bit. I'd try to add as little as possible, and way less than 2L.
 
Azimuth said:
Sounds OK. If your mix is already pretty wet, don't be surprised at some drooping for a bit. I'd try to add as little as possible, and way less than 2L.
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Scary because one has been droopy for at least 24 hours, I'm gonna go for it today, my phone should be fixed tomorrow so can get second opinions then :) Thanks as always Azi, fingers crossed!
 
They have been moved into the sips, I could see root growth all the way down but looked a lot stronger at bottom near the perlite, no doubt because of my bottom watering approach for the first few weeks.

Massive squeeze fitting in 3 25litre buckets, the heater and the humidifier lol but it's in tightly for now till I figure out a better arrangement.

Roots had Dynomyco applied directly and sprayed with water/superthrive, Dynomyco put in the holes as well. Fingers crossed they adapt to the new buckets asapp.
 
If you think it's tight in there now, just wait until the plants start to grow and get wider than their pots. :eek:
 
Azimuth said:
If you think it's tight in there now, just wait until the plants start to grow and get wider than their pots. :eek:
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Haha luckily I will set the 4x4 up asap and they will finish in there with the better light. Exciting times, praying they survive the stress and then it's definitely onwards and upwards :D :lot-o-toke:
 
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