SIP thread -- (Sub-Irrigated Planter)

[budLIFE60]

Hey guys, pretty new to SIP growing here. I actually got a glimps of @Nu-Be 's sip garden over on the bodhi thread and instantly set out to make my own. Has really turned how I water my plants around and they seem to love it. Anyway im having an issue with some over watering currently on my plants in flower. I was wondering if you are doing anything once your roots reach the water? I know some people are adding bubblers, is there anything else I could do? For now I'm just letting them dry up til I get the problem under control before Re watering. I'm leaving on a trip in a month and would really like to have to this problem solved so any help is much appreciated!
Happy Danksgiving

 

[Tim Fox]

Here is a nice video I watched that helped me understand better.

Pedrod grow room with his SIP pots. nice thread. I have two Earth boxes and I was messing with them. I got them for $2 total cost with wheels. peace

My earthbox is taking very good care of my plants, I can post a pic when I get home from Thanksgiving

 

[Tim Fox]

Hey guys, pretty new to SIP growing here. I actually got a glimps of @Nu-Be 's sip garden over on the bodhi thread and instantly set out to make my own. Has really turned how I water my plants around and they seem to love it. Anyway im having an issue with some over watering currently on my plants in flower. I was wondering if you are doing anything once your roots reach the water? I know some people are adding bubblers, is there anything else I could do? For now I'm just letting them dry up til I get the problem under control before Re watering. I'm leaving on a trip in a month and would really like to have to this problem solved so any help is much appreciated!
Happy Danksgiving

If your sip is home made then it sounds like your wick is to large

 

[budLIFE60]

If your sip is home made then it sounds like your wick is to large

Hey thanks for the reply. My sip is homemade. I went with a 3 inch tube with coco/perlite mix for the wicking material. I haven't had any issue with over watering for the month in half or so until the roots hit the water. The roots are just soaking up too much sitting in the water. Is there much I can do for this? Might just start watering from the top if all else fails.

 

[Tim Fox]

Hey thanks for the reply. My sip is homemade. I went with a 3 inch tube with coco/perlite mix for the wicking material. I haven't had any issue with over watering for the month in half or so until the roots hit the water. The roots are just soaking up too much sitting in the water. Is there much I can do for this? Might just start watering from the top if all else fails.

My first thought are these, the roots that go into the res are water roots and like a dwc grow the plants should only drink what they need, a sip gets over watered when the one inch air gap is not correct, meaning the gap has shrunk or is non existent,, or the wick is too big, or the soil mix is wrong, or to much top watering
Bubbles and air stone s are not used in earthbox or octopot, the addition of air stone can get more air your roots but air stone are not a consideration when discussing soil that's to damp

 

[Tim Fox]

People do ad air stone to earth boxes and octopot
I am not using air stone and the plants are super healthy,
Now my latest grow my clones looked wilty and droopy for a couple of weeks before they got thier water legs
Maybe some pictures of what you have going on so I help us help you

 

[Humanrob]

Tim's point about the 1" gap is a good one.

Not sure if I can be of any assistance, its all been trial and error for me so far. Maybe give some specs -- size of soil container, size of res...? Are you keeping the soil covered? What kind of temps are you keeping the grow space at?

Have you tried to smell the water in your res (maybe through your fill tube) and/or look at it? When I've put my SIPs together and done the initial fill, some soil always gets in my water. During my grows I tend to add something like Hygrozyme or Pond-Zyme to the res, which can help keep the water cleaner and a better environment for the roots. I say that as though I know what I'm talking about, but in the limited time I've been on this forum (my only contact with other growers) no one else that I'm aware of is using those products... but if you read the labels they should help, and I can say for sure in my grows they have not hurt.

LOL... that's all I got. Sorry its kind of weak. I think we're all figuring it out as we go.

Hey guys, pretty new to SIP growing here. I actually got a glimps of @Nu-Be 's sip garden over on the bodhi thread and instantly set out to make my own. Has really turned how I water my plants around and they seem to love it. Anyway im having an issue with some over watering currently on my plants in flower. I was wondering if you are doing anything once your roots reach the water? I know some people are adding bubblers, is there anything else I could do? For now I'm just letting them dry up til I get the problem under control before Re watering. I'm leaving on a trip in a month and would really like to have to this problem solved so any help is much appreciated!
Happy Danksgiving

 

[Tim Fox]

Agreed, if you're floor between the soil layer and res is weak or if the weight of the soil has pressed down on the floor then your one inch air gap can be gone or worse yet if the floor below the soil is pushing down then your dirt can be touching the res water in effect making your wick far to big
I hope all that makes sense

 

[Fastslappy]

Agreed, if you're floor between the soil layer and res is weak or if the weight of the soil has pressed down on the floor then your one inch air gap can be gone or worse yet if the floor below the soil is pushing down then your dirt can be touching the res water in effect making your wick far to big
I hope all that makes sense

which has spoiled his soil ! ,
i'd un-pot the whole thing & reinforce the lid between the res & top section if that's the issue of lid sag
& at least troubleshoot it right now
y'd just need to dump the fluids in any case , check for rot
reinforce the id & slap it back down ,but rotted soils will kill it if something is not done imo
been there didn't do that ,it died

 

[budLIFE60]

Ok thanks for all of your help. Making a lot more sense now.

Here are some pics of the garden I took don't mind the male doing some pollen chucking.


About day 20 of flowering. I've got 3 plants in 5 gal pots sitting on top of a 20 gal container. 3inch drain tubing with coco/perlite for wicking. Only real cover on top of the soil is a couple inches of mulch. Temps in the room stay around 70F give or take a few degrees.

 

[budLIFE60]

You can see I've got way more than an inch between the top of the lid and the water. Have been waiting to water more in case it was an over watering issue. Plants in the back are pretty droopy. I'm using coot's soil mix recipe. Have used it many times before

 

[Tim Fox]

Good looking setup, are you putting any nutes in the res?
Your soil looks like no till?
Can we please see a picture of the wick?

 

[Tim Fox]

Tonights Earthbox Sip pictures,,
chernobyl on the left, Headband on the right,
earthbox sip, water and cal mag only so far

 

[budLIFE60]

Good looking setup, are you putting any nutes in the res?
Your soil looks like no till?
Can we please see a picture of the wick?

Thanks. Nope I dont add any nutes to the soil or res. I use a super soil. Water only. Ok I'll post the picture tomorrow. You mean the wick drain tube inside the container right?

 

[Tim Fox]

Thanks. Nope I dont add any nutes to the soil or res. I use a super soil. Water only. Ok I'll post the picture tomorrow. You mean the wick drain tube inside the container right?

yes, anything you can show of the wick, would be helpful
the distance from your roots the the res looks fine,,allot of guys use a deeper res without problems, so just want to see the wick,
but on a diy of your scale, getting the wick just right is important,,
i guess i was lucky in buying an earthbox they already had all that worked out,,
I have to say i really like the universal res for the 3 pots,,
I also really like super soils,, my current grow is the same way, i doubt I will ad any nutes at all,,

 

[ttystikk]

Good stuff, y'all are giving me ideas...

BIG ideas. Really Big.
When I say big, I mean tremendous!

My last big idea was good for 2lb plants, indoors.

Sooooooo big.

 

[budLIFE60]

Alright I'll see if I can get a good shot without dropping my phone in the res lol. I actually went with the bigger container so that I could fit the three 5 gallon pots. I figured it might cause some issues. But up until now I've been very impressed.
I've seen the earthbox on buildasoil before and will probably end up switching to those later on
Supersoil is the only way I've grown. I love it. Straight water the whole time. That's why all this sip growing is so new to me never had to deal with a res or wick.

 

[Tim Fox]

Alright I'll see if I can get a good shot without dropping my phone in the res lol. I actually went with the bigger container so that I could fit the three 5 gallon pots. I figured it might cause some issues. But up until now I've been very impressed.
I've seen the earthbox on buildasoil before and will probably end up switching to those later on
Supersoil is the only way I've grown. I love it. Straight water the whole time. That's why all this sip growing is so new to me never had to deal with a res or wick.

build a so is so amaing,, i love that web site, , they have an amazing device for making bubble teas,, and thier worm bin equipment is top notch, i bought some soil amendments from them, and mixed it in with my horse manure compost and the chicken poop compost , the soil is pretty rich,
Its so easy to just ad water to a sip the whole ride,, and to see such healthy plants ,, i am going to run this earthbox over and over

 

[ttystikk]

Mmmmmmmm, taking copious notes.

 

[Evil-Mobo]

Mmmmmmmm, taking copious notes.

If you are wanting to go no till we can discuss and I can show you my results thus far this run bro let me know. There's a section on the build a soil website titled the complete system and it explains some of the basics but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Your hardest run is the first because you're prepping the soil for the first time after that it is chop one down plant another in there and amend the soil as needed.