SIP thread -- (Sub-Irrigated Planter)

raggyb said:
yes. i had a little which I did put down on the worst spots and it helped. also some spiders have set up shop in the infected pot and they know better than to go in the de. it's funny though because it almost seems like a small number of fg's figure out not to go in the de, how not to fly into the spider's webs and not to land on the sticky paper. one sip I made was a weird afterthought of spare parts so it isn't quite right but it's a pot with a wick sitting across a tray of water. the water is exposed by the water inlet which enters thru a hole in the side of the tray. I saw live larvae in the water and so when they hatch they try to fly out to open air and get stuck in sticky paper that i covered the opening with. that worked well.

maybe I put a 'cap' on one of the better sips and DE the top of that one to test and see how it works. but I'm suspicious DE doesn't work that well after it gets wet. it cakes up and doesn't completely cover the soil any more.
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Hmmm I’m thinking of putting some DE on top of the cap. That’s one way they get out.
 
Hey guys, new member, I noticed someone else in this thread also planned on doing a no-till 4x4 fabric raised bed using build a soils sip design but i stll had a few questions about it. Do i need to cut holes into the fabric for the 4 pvc pipes around the corners? (or can the water and oxygen properly permeate the material into the reservoir by just laying it flat against the material) im using a grassroots planter instead of the geo. another issue i see running no till with this system is how do I deal with the roots that grow into the res? how do i gauge how much water to add to a system like that since i cant see the res under? i know im suppose to have a 1 inch gap, so should I make some sort of hole in the low profile tray? will there be enough oxygen if the bed is completely over the reserv even with the 1 inch gap like in B.A.S's design? i could up the tray size so that i can visibly see the water line/ add more water plus im assuming more airflow since the bed wouldnt be covering it completely, but then i would probably run into humidity issues in flower no? also most people ive seen use swicks say to use perlite but i assume ill need lava rock or river stone considering how heavy the bed will be but do those keep the water non stagnant as nicely as perlite does?(with out em1 even tho i will be using it religiously)
 
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just read through all 129 pages, nevermind on the perlite question but still curious about most of my other ones. I am going to need to put the bed on some sort of pumice or perlite just because the weight will need to be held up by something, that being said will i need to cut holes and use net pots like everyone else suggested or will the pumice touching the bottom of the cloth bed be enough for capillary action like SWICK watering methods. upping the tray size seems like the obvious answer as far as being able to see the water level and allowing more air through but then im probably asking for all sorts of bacteria and stuff if its uncovered correct? super divided on the 4x4 vs 5x5 tray. ( i think the 4x4 might get ample enough air just from the 4 pvc tubes on each corner, and maybe i can always hook up an air pump straight to the pvc and just push fresh air down towards the 1 inch gap)
 
I would still be applying compost teas and stuff from the top to keep it moist, but to negate compaction or over watering i will just be using higher concentrations with less water, i guess just misting the top as a root "drench" sort of. I still want to keep worms in something like this, and i really enjoy cover crop. i plan on having a 3/5 gallon bucket in the center with holes drilled into it and no bottom that i drop in bokashi / plant trimmings, letting the worms come in and spread it out sort of like the avocado tek, this would probably be annoying to deal with if i had to uncover the entire bed to get to the middle
 
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Going to go ahead and not add net pots just because i think itll be wicking from the entire bottom anyway because of the perlite/pumice bed. still not sure if i bust the 4 corner pvc through the cloth tho, would prefer not to but not sure how air flow will be. as far as the roots going through the bed im just going to give the first run a try and stress about cleaning it later. but i have seen some divide over adding the air stones, should I be doing this just because I dont have a 100% way to guarantee i have the 1 inch gap yet? or will this just make the roots want to grow into the reservoir making the cleanup even harder then its already going to be? Very sorry for spamming this chat, will be putting the bed up monday :)
 
HallowedOri said:
Going to go ahead and not add net pots just because i think itll be wicking from the entire bottom anyway because of the perlite/pumice bed. still not sure if i bust the 4 corner pvc through the cloth tho, would prefer not to but not sure how air flow will be. as far as the roots going through the bed im just going to give the first run a try and stress about cleaning it later. but i have seen some divide over adding the air stones, should I be doing this just because I dont have a 100% way to guarantee i have the 1 inch gap yet? or will this just make the roots want to grow into the reservoir making the cleanup even harder then its already going to be? Very sorry for spamming this chat, will be putting the bed up monday :)
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Let me read up here...
 
HallowedOri said:
also something i forgot that i dont think was ever brought up anywhere in here. i know people use the cover to keep there soil moist up top, but does it need to be a plastic cover? i use cover crops, straw with mushroom mycelium, and inoculated mulch, will this be enough?
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Yes you can for sure you grow Kashi or inoculated mulch you will just have to keep it moist. If you are doing no til though I would consider some kind of nitrogen fixing cover crop like clover.
 
HallowedOri said:
Going to go ahead and not add net pots just because i think itll be wicking from the entire bottom anyway because of the perlite/pumice bed. still not sure if i bust the 4 corner pvc through the cloth tho, would prefer not to but not sure how air flow will be. as far as the roots going through the bed im just going to give the first run a try and stress about cleaning it later. but i have seen some divide over adding the air stones, should I be doing this just because I dont have a 100% way to guarantee i have the 1 inch gap yet? or will this just make the roots want to grow into the reservoir making the cleanup even harder then its already going to be? Very sorry for spamming this chat, will be putting the bed up monday :)
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Yes to the net pots... I would not break the fabric if you can help it...as far as roots I think you should be able to add something later that can eat those away... I would avoid air stones... I have tried them in sips and they have no effects. Good luck on this build man it sounds very interesting!
 
meangreengrowinmachine said:
Yes to the net pots... I would not break the fabric if you can help it...as far as roots I think you should be able to add something later that can eat those away... I would avoid air stones... I have tried them in sips and they have no effects. Good luck on this build man it sounds very interesting!
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Thank you for your response! as far as using net pots how would i implement this in a perlite/pumice bed without cutting holes into the fabric, my reservoir is going to be a hydro tray so its not very tall but its around 33 gallons without the perlite. I know SWICK method just lays fabric pots on top of perlite, and im basically just a huge 4x4 fabric pot in a perlite bed (fingers crossed the cloth on this specific bed wicks). and yes clover is awesome, im using a mix of 12 different cover crops with a few different clovers in there, was also thinking maybe lemon balm for pests
 
HallowedOri said:
Thank you for your response! as far as using net pots how would i implement this in a perlite/pumice bed without cutting holes into the fabric, my reservoir is going to be a hydro tray so its not very tall but its around 33 gallons without the perlite. I know SWICK method just lays fabric pots on top of perlite, and im basically just a huge 4x4 fabric pot in a perlite bed (fingers crossed the cloth on this specific bed wicks). and yes clover is awesome, im using a mix of 12 different cover crops with a few different clovers in there, was also thinking maybe lemon balm for pests
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Yeah I guess you would have to cut the fabric for net pots but it the entire fabric is touching the perlite you might be ok... I guess are you using all perlite or is there some vermiculite mixed in? I am not sure how well perlite alone will wick all the way up into the fabric... I might cut the fabric and sew or glue the net pots to the fabric if it was me then you will have wicks to the bottom of the rez.
 
meangreengrowinmachine said:
Yeah I guess you would have to cut the fabric for net pots but it the entire fabric is touching the perlite you might be ok... I guess are you using all perlite or is there some vermiculite mixed in? I am not sure how well perlite alone will wick all the way up into the fabric... I might cut the fabric and sew or glue the net pots to the fabric if it was me then you will have wicks to the bottom of the rez.
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It would be half perlite and half volcanic pumice( almost did strictly perlite but was worried about it just squishing under the weight). I do have a ton of vermiculite on hand tho if that would help? just worried about losing water volume. Im not sure if links are allowed or not sorry if they aren't, https://www.420magazine.com/communi...ystems-letting-the-plant-water-itself.244149/ lots of people use just perlite and keep the inch and seem to do fine with fabric (not sure if my fabric is the same yet) so its able to wick somewhat from what ive seen. it probably does it way less efficiently but maybe because its across the entire bottom of whatever medium maybe that makes up for it?
 
should i also be maybe mixing in more vermiculite to the top 1/3 layer of my soil to help retain moisture with the sips? I know it kinda breaks down over 2 years but not completely? in no till will this eventually become minerals or just turn to mush and make things harder
 
HallowedOri said:
It would be half perlite and half volcanic pumice( almost did strictly perlite but was worried about it just squishing under the weight). I do have a ton of vermiculite on hand tho if that would help? just worried about losing water volume. Im not sure if links are allowed or not sorry if they aren't, https://www.420magazine.com/communi...ystems-letting-the-plant-water-itself.244149/ lots of people use just perlite and keep the inch and seem to do fine with fabric (not sure if my fabric is the same yet) so its able to wick somewhat from what ive seen. it probably does it way less efficiently but maybe because its across the entire bottom of whatever medium maybe that makes up for it?
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Ah ok gotcha I am not very familiar with this bed method. Sounds like you are on point man!
 
HallowedOri said:
should i also be maybe mixing in more vermiculite to the top 1/3 layer of my soil to help retain moisture with the sips? I know it kinda breaks down over 2 years but not completely? in no till will this eventually become minerals or just turn to mush and make things harder
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If you have a cover crop and mulch you will be just fine man
 
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