SIP thread -- (Sub-Irrigated Planter)

Tim Fox

Well-Known Member
@Tim Fox, interesting, how does this work?
With plastic bag on top of planter, there is no need to mulch? Top drees? Top water?
Or can all the above be done with the plastic bag?
And how would I add my cal/ mag, or other nutes? In the res?
Sorry for the barrage of questions..
Here is what I'm planing on doing in a Indoor Tent.
Thanks,
View attachment 4005609
good questions,,
how it goes is this, almost everyone covers the tops of thier soil with plastic or lids to slow down evap, or to block bugs,, and it does both,, most people, ad cal mag and nutes to the res when needed and the soil/roots uptake from there, and since there is a plastic cover there is no need to top dress ,, most do not top water sips unless they accidently let them run dry to restart the wicking process,,,
with that being said,, i have seen many people do other things,, like leave off the plastic,, top dress,, or top feed,, and yet thier sips worked fine,, some report getting bugs again without the cover,, others dont
for me i cover and put anything needed down in the res,,
most growers try to start with such an amazing soil that the soil lasts the whole grow and no nutes are needed,, i had to ad cal mag on my last grow due to the cobs,,
BUT on this grow ,, the tomato tone dry fert had so much calcium in it,, that i did not have to add anything ,, ust water the whole grow,,,
on my next sip grow i will use ffof and tomato tone,, and hopefully water only the whole ride with a plastic cover in place
 

Nugachino

Well-Known Member
I know yield is subjective to conditions and a myriad of other variables. But would you say a SIP improves them in some way? Or is it more the fact that you don't have to deal with gnats and other shite?
 

Tim Fox

Well-Known Member
I know yield is subjective to conditions and a myriad of other variables. But would you say a SIP improves them in some way? Or is it more the fact that you don't have to deal with gnats and other shite?
i feel you get hydroponic type results without hydroponic work,, no ph'ing of water,, no tdds,, no mixing of nutes, no res change outs,, but fast explosive growth,, and many days inbetween watering
 

Nugachino

Well-Known Member
If that's true. Then I may just have to upsize my other grow box. And give that a go. The speed of veg in hydro is about the only aspect I really have any interest in. Don't care for the synthetic nutes. I like my organics too much.

Cheers Tim.
 

Lucky Luke

Well-Known Member
This guy is interesting. I dont think he is a fantastic grower (some of his veg time seems to be a waste when taking into account of his canopy height in some of his vids) but some decent info in here
 

CollieWeed

Member
:wall: I'm so confused! My last grow was a attempt at swc, I was told 101 times! Not to add anyting to my res. Except water!
Cause it may break down in water aND cause Bud Mold, now @Tim Fox you telling me You use all your nutes in your Res.?
I plan on using cal/mag, molasses and fish fert. So, I can cover the top and add all the above in my res?
Sorry for all the questions, but, I think I been doing it wrong.
 

Tim Fox

Well-Known Member
If that's true. Then I may just have to upsize my other grow box. And give that a go. The speed of veg in hydro is about the only aspect I really have any interest in. Don't care for the synthetic nutes. I like my organics too much.

Cheers Tim.
agreed with you,, i to prefer the no till organic soil mixes , and the simplicity of water only,, its really cool
 

Nugachino

Well-Known Member
agreed with you,, i to prefer the no till organic soil mixes , and the simplicity of water only,, its really cool
I wouldn't say water only. I mean. I might be able to get away with that. But, I've been feeding mine a varied solution of go go juice, bokashi bin runoff. And worm bin run off. I don't pH anything anymore. Haven't needed to.
 

Humanrob

Well-Known Member
That seems to be what I've understood -- if you add nutes then you change the water's chemistry to a degree that would necessitate ph'ing the water, taking things to a different place in terms of maintenance overhead. Like Tim I've added calmag (mostly in response to growing with COBs). I've also added silica, and a couple of times from another angle Pond-zyme or Hygrozyme (but I've never done a straight comparison with and without, so I'm really not sure how much impact they've had).

I think it really depends on what you are after. If you want to squeeze every possible gram per square foot out of your grow space, then you'll be turning everything (lights, nutes, etc.) up until it starts to hurt them, and then dialing back. If you just want healthy happy productive plants that are low maintenance -- keep them well within their limits, give them plenty but not too much of everything, and let them do their thing. Really good soil with time release organic nutes, and just water in the res has grown some great bud. Just my $.02


:wall: I'm so confused! My last grow was a attempt at swc, I was told 101 times! Not to add anyting to my res. Except water!
Cause it may break down in water aND cause Bud Mold, now @Tim Fox you telling me You use all your nutes in your Res.?
I plan on using cal/mag, molasses and fish fert. So, I can cover the top and add all the above in my res?
Sorry for all the questions, but, I think I been doing it wrong.
i know captain morgan on here ads up to half or more of his nutes to his res,,, i have only added cal mag to my res as my soil supports the entire grow,, but yes, you can ad nutes to your res,, i would not use salts type nutes,, that would be very bad
I wouldn't say water only. I mean. I might be able to get away with that. But, I've been feeding mine a varied solution of go go juice, bokashi bin runoff. And worm bin run off. I don't pH anything anymore. Haven't needed to.
 

Philip-O

Well-Known Member
This guy is interesting. I dont think he is a fantastic grower (some of his veg time seems to be a waste when taking into account of his canopy height in some of his vids) but some decent info in here
Can you elaborate on this? What is the relation between proper veg time and canopy height? For example, I just vegged for 9 weeks some very short plants that have 20+ main branches each.
 

Lucky Luke

Well-Known Member
Can you elaborate on this? What is the relation between proper veg time and canopy height? For example, I just vegged for 9 weeks some very short plants that have 20+ main branches each.
It might not be on this video but in some of them he shows a scrog net that is way to high. Over waist height?? from memory.
This means he has had to use allot of veg time just to reach the net, lollipop from the net down all that growth he has spent time growing. He could of 1/2 the distance from pot to net and cut his veg time way down and filled the same size canopy.
 

Lucky Luke

Well-Known Member
:wall: I'm so confused! My last grow was a attempt at swc, I was told 101 times! Not to add anyting to my res. Except water!
Cause it may break down in water aND cause Bud Mold, now @Tim Fox you telling me You use all your nutes in your Res.?
I plan on using cal/mag, molasses and fish fert. So, I can cover the top and add all the above in my res?
Sorry for all the questions, but, I think I been doing it wrong.
i use nutes in mine. Not always, only if i see a deffiancy
 

Skylander

Well-Known Member
The way it was explained to me was that with proper soil life and moister top dressing good as long as you understand the rate in which whatever you top dress breaks down. I top dress for my current and future grows. I have beneficial mites, worms, fungi etc and you can actually see the amendments break down. Also I've noticed I get way more surface roots with my plastic cover. I think I will reach my pound per plant goal this round.
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
The way it was explained to me was that with proper soil life and moister top dressing good as long as you understand the rate in which whatever you top dress breaks down. I top dress for my current and future grows. I have beneficial mites, worms, fungi etc and you can actually see the amendments break down. Also I've noticed I get way more surface roots with my plastic cover. I think I will reach my pound per plant goal this round.
From how big of a container?
 
Top