SIP thread -- (Sub-Irrigated Planter)

meangreengrowinmachine said:
Those solarcares are uv lights correct? Have you used them before and seen any added difference? Was thinking about getting a uv fixture from rapid led to throw in with my cobs.
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This is my first grow with them, I've been wanting to try them for awhile now and there was a sale a few weeks ago, so I did it. I'm pretty sure the 315watt CMH Phillips lamps are already putting out tons of UV anyway, but I also have a hooded 400watt CMH next to those two and the glass filters the UV. I'm about to switch all that out to two more cheap 315 fixtures though so it's really going to be UV city in this room. Excited to see if it makes a difference since I have a bunch of indoor and outgrows down with most of these strains without already.
 
natureboygrower said:
Holy snikes dude, those look great! You talked me into and I planted 3 plants per EBs yesterday. :-P are you running 8 hours of light? How about defo? You planning on doing any? I ask cuz its going to get wild in my grow I know it! I gotta run sone shoreline sometime, he's got some nice crosses.
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12/1 schedule for veg from clone xplant to flip, 4 or 6 weeks, strain dependent. (12/1 is 12 on, 5.5 off, 1 on, 5.5 off)

Flowering now on 8/16 from the flip, correct.

I already defoliated once before I transplanted into the EBs but I could maybe stand to do it again. I live in an arid environment overall though, and usually don't have humidity issues and I might just leave the jungle this time to see how things go. I don't like to be under all those lights for too long. I'm planning my room visits around the UV light schedule now. :-)
 
GrownAtHighAltitude said:
I'm using the standard Earthbox Auto-Watering system ($45 per box). It uses a pneumatic valve that senses pressure differences in the reservoir of each unit. I set the water timer to come on during the lights-on cycle and each of the valves flow 2 or 3 gallons per hour. The pump is an on-demand unit (like an RV, but with 120V power input) and I have a pressure tank attached. The system is pretty quiet and automated.

I'll put another outlet for the pvc rail and a water timer to turn on the Hydrolock unit sprayers for a couple of minutes maybe a few times a day. Then the non-SIP pots can have irrigation also. :-)
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Ah ok so sounds like something that would be difficult for be to replicate diy. Thanks for the info man!
 
meangreengrowinmachine said:
Ah ok so sounds like something that would be difficult for be to replicate diy. Thanks for the info man!
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Yeah, that system has been under patent since the early 00's but will be coming out of it soon (within a year or two, I believe) and so we may actually see competition in the SIP space soon. Hopefully it can bring that cost down. The EB system is great but I only justified the cost by the fact that I received all 4 EBs for free. I spent $180 on the watering system for just those boxes.

For contrast, the Hydrolock 12 site extension setup I bought was like $40...
 
GrownAtHighAltitude said:
Yeah, that system has been under patent since the early 00's but will be coming out of it soon (within a year or two, I believe) and so we may actually see competition in the SIP space soon. Hopefully it can bring that cost down. The EB system is great but I only justified the cost by the fact that I received all 4 EBs for free. I spent $180 on the watering system for just those boxes.

For contrast, the Hydrolock 12 site extension setup I bought was like $40...
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I built all my own sips, I have maybe fifteen 5 gallon sips and eight 18 gallons. I am thinking about making 22 3.5 gallon sips for my perpetual cycles that I have planned. Trying to run 2 bodhi packs each run so 22 in veg and hoping to get half in flower.
 
All the seeds are up! I gave them each just a shot glass full of plain water phed to 5.8 using only citric acid as my ph down ( my water comes out of my tap at 9.7 clear as crystal at under 100 ppm no filter or anything 300 foot well).

The big ladies got the umber foamy compost tea, (has some of my soil mix, worm bin runoff, fish emulsion, some em1, kelp, mollasses...dried banana peals... I think that's it lol) as a top dress with a sprayer and the rezs on the SIPs i gave each about a gallon of water phed to 6.5 again using only citric acid to stay organic as possible.

The big ladies are on day 28 of flower.
 

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Ok so I might have found a resource to have a regular source of food grade 55 gallon plastic drums.... could I make these into crazy sips?
A few questions for you all below.

What are my wicks looking like?

Is there a height restriction on SIPs? These would be rather narrow containers.

Is there even a market for someone growing on these tall ass things or am I just trying to go too far with up-cycling???

Love yall!
 
meangreengrowinmachine said:
Ok so I might have found a resource to have a regular source of food grade 55 gallon plastic drums.... could I make these into crazy sips?
A few questions for you all below.

What are my wicks looking like?

Is there a height restriction on SIPs? These would be rather narrow containers.

Is there even a market for someone growing on these tall ass things or am I just trying to go too far with up-cycling???

Love yall!
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Water only wicks up so much vertically (someone with knowledge feel free to chime in but 18” sticks in my mind) and those barrels are more than double that.

Why not just cut them the long way? Now you’re probably thinking how do they stay upright? Get a rack like this ( https://barrelbroker.com/collections/barrel-racks ) or make something out of wood and put some 5” wheels on it, do yourself a favor and do not get small wheels they suck. A reservoir could be fit to the bottom of the rack with the wicks from the barrels going into it. Pretty simple with only a little bit of engineering involved.

Hopefully you are on concrete floors because it will weigh a couple of grams.
 
Jesusgrowsmygrass said:
Water only wicks up so much vertically (someone with knowledge feel free to chime in but 18” sticks in my mind) and those barrels are more than double that.

Why not just cut them the long way? Now you’re probably thinking how do they stay upright? Get a rack like this ( https://barrelbroker.com/collections/barrel-racks ) or make something out of wood and put some 5” wheels on it, do yourself a favor and do not get small wheels they suck. A reservoir could be fit to the bottom of the rack with the wicks from the barrels going into it. Pretty simple with only a little bit of engineering involved.

Hopefully you are on concrete floors because it will weigh a couple of grams.
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Hmm that is a good idea! Thank you!
 
meangreengrowinmachine said:
Hmm that is a good idea! Thank you!
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You're welcome. The engineering part will be the curved bottom, after you drill numerous holes in the bottom of the drum for the roots to grow into the reservoir, this will make the roots at different heights and not at the optimal 1" of air gap range. My thinking to overcome this would be hang mulitple pieces of something like burlap around the bottom of the barrel into the reservoir to create a friendly microclimate for those roots when they have to hang down 5-6" to hit water.
 
Yeah I was going to say turn it sideways too. a full barrel would weigh something like 400 lbs. Another thing to do if on it's side like a trough is fashion a flat piece of plastic across the bottom across supports cut from pvc pipe that holds the soil up and has the air space beneath and the wick baskets in it. I'm not sure where to get a flat piece of plastic that large but they must be somewhere.

Then again, you could cut in half tall wise and turn the top upside down and have 2 26 gallon containers.
 
raggyb said:
Yeah I was going to say turn it sideways too. a full barrel would weigh something like 400 lbs. Another thing to do if on it's side like a trough is fashion a flat piece of plastic across the bottom across supports cut from pvc pipe that holds the soil up and has the air space beneath and the wick baskets in it. I'm not sure where to get a flat piece of plastic that large but they must be somewhere.

Then again, you could cut in half tall wise and turn the top upside down and have 2 26 gallon containers.
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Cheap plastic? I found it recently, Plastic rain gutter cut into strips! I had to recently find cheap plastic for mounting undercabinet LED lighting and this was by far the cheapest solution I could find. Everything else was a boat load. 1 section of plastic rain gutter is 4"x2"x8' and only ten bucks. You will have to cut it in strips (easily done by scoring and snapping) and reinforce it with something like chicken wire or an extensive pvc structure.
 
Jesusgrowsmygrass said:
Cheap plastic? I found it recently, Plastic rain gutter cut into strips! I had to recently find cheap plastic for mounting undercabinet LED lighting and this was by far the cheapest solution I could find. Everything else was a boat load. 1 section of plastic rain gutter is 4"x2"x8' and only ten bucks. You will have to cut it in strips (easily done by scoring and snapping) and reinforce it with something like chicken wire or an extensive pvc structure.
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speaking ofrepurposing plastic I used a plastic spackling container to fashion a small sip using it as the res. only $5. nothing else fit my needs. had to pop out the little metal scraper piece and then it was exactly what I wanted. mixed results but it was the wrong distance from the light.
 
Jesusgrowsmygrass said:
Cheap plastic? I found it recently, Plastic rain gutter cut into strips! I had to recently find cheap plastic for mounting undercabinet LED lighting and this was by far the cheapest solution I could find. Everything else was a boat load. 1 section of plastic rain gutter is 4"x2"x8' and only ten bucks. You will have to cut it in strips (easily done by scoring and snapping) and reinforce it with something like chicken wire or an extensive pvc structure.
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so what LEDs did you use for under cabinet lighting? I'd like to do myself but not sure on what lights or how to rig up snazzy a p/s and on off switch.
 
Something like these ( https://www.amazon.com/LEDJump-Brig...ywords=led+strips+2700k&qid=1611652520&sr=8-6 ) not sure which one I bought without putting too much effort in. Its fancy when it costs almost nothing if the walls are ripped out. BTW you might want a triac driver with something like this (or wire it for PWM (0-10V) Meanwell drivers like they do in commercial buildings), so you can dim those mothers, also triple up over the sink for the dishwasher duties, you don't want to be called out for dirt on the pots and pans because of shadows.

More importantly concentrate on those plants, I know mine need more attention.

I'm thinking about making a clone tote with a sub watering tray filled with perlite/or lava rock/ or similar with my extra 2700k strip LEDs in a tote, maybe clear or opaque not sure, it depends if the plants are going into the flower room for warm or suffering in winter veg temps. Anyone do this? I know the kelvins are off.
 
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