SIP thread -- (Sub-Irrigated Planter)

meangreengrowinmachine

meangreengrowinmachine

Well-Known Member
With the 600 hps and the 250 watt bar int he 5x5 it will be 34 watts per square foot... I know comparing LED and HPS by watts though is not really apples to apples. Eventually the goal is 750 of all LED with 15 cobs in a 5x5... is that enough or do i need to go 4 bars?
 
Tim Fox

Tim Fox

Well-Known Member
Humanrob said:
It always makes me nervous to bring things from outside into my tent, do you do anything special to clean it up?

I always had gnat problems when I grew in the house, haven't had any since growing in the garage. As I was sitting here on my computer the other evening killing gnats, I realized they are here because my wife puts all the house plants outside during the summer, and then brings them back in for the winter... the plants, and all the bugs living in the soil.
Click to expand...
only thing coming into the grow cab is the plastic box,,, i will dump the old dirt in my wifes outside garden,, wash the sip plastic,, and put new bagged soil along with the tomato tone dry organic fert i am going to try this time
 
Tim Fox

Tim Fox

Well-Known Member
meangreengrowinmachine said:
With the 600 hps and the 250 watt bar int he 5x5 it will be 34 watts per square foot... I know comparing LED and HPS by watts though is not really apples to apples. Eventually the goal is 750 of all LED with 15 cobs in a 5x5... is that enough or do i need to go 4 bars?
Click to expand...
on my next grow,, if i turn the light panel up to full power,, i will be trying 54 watts per square foot of cob,,, we will see if the plants can take full power or not
 
Humanrob

Humanrob

Well-Known Member
meangreengrowinmachine said:
With the 600 hps and the 250 watt bar int he 5x5 it will be 34 watts per square foot... I know comparing LED and HPS by watts though is not really apples to apples. Eventually the goal is 750 of all LED with 15 cobs in a 5x5... is that enough or do i need to go 4 bars?
Click to expand...
I've only used an HPS a few times, but I was trying to figure out what is considered the optimal w/sf is with them. In a 3x3 600w = 66.6w/sf., 1000w in a 4x4 = 62.5w/sf -- so if those are common configurations then say around 64w/sf would be normal? COBs are still new enough that there don't seem to be norms yet, I think a lot depends on your grow style. Hydro guys (who know what they are doing) seem to be able to get away with things soil guys can't, I think, in terms of how much light they put down.

One "happy place" seems to be 37.5w/sf with COBs. Some guys grow below 30w/sf, and many will say 50w/sf is a safe ceiling. That's what I've read on here, and it matches my experience. At 37.5w/sf I always had very healthy easy to grow plants. At 50w/sf and up, I had bigger denser buds but it took more attention and managing them to keep them healthy (more cal-mag, etc).

Last winter I totally overdid it, and put a 600w HPS in a 3x3, and then added two Optic 120's for an additional 240w of COBs. I also "experimented" with lots of nutes. The combination created massive buds so dense they mutated and rotted in the middle. There definitely is such a thing as "too much of a good thing".

Tim Fox said:
only thing coming into the grow cab is the plastic box,,, i will dump the old dirt in my wifes outside garden,, wash the sip plastic,, and put new bagged soil along with the tomato tone dry organic fert i am going to try this time
Click to expand...
I'm paranoid, so I'd wash the plastic down with H2O2 and the rinse it off real well. But you've done this before, so I know you know what you're doing. :)

Thanks for reminding me -- this would be a good time to start that experiment where I mix some dolomite lime in with soil, wet it, and let it sit for 90 days so that when I mix that into the SIP soil it's already broken down and ready to use.
 
Last edited:
Tim Fox

Tim Fox

Well-Known Member
Humanrob said:
I've only used an HPS a few times, but I was trying to figure out what is considered the optimal w/sf is with them. In a 3x3 600w = 66.6w/sf., 1000w in a 4x4 = 62.5w/sf -- so if those are common configurations than say around 64w/sf would be normal? COBs are still new enough that there don't seem to be norms yet, I think a lot depends on your grow style. Hydro guys (who know what they are doing) seem to be able to get away with things soil guys can't, I think, in terms of how much light they put down.

One "happy place" seems to be 37.5w/sf with COBs. Some guys grow below 30w/sf, and many will say 50w/sf is a safe ceiling. That's what I've read on here, and it matches my experience. At 37.5w/sf I always had very healthy easy to grow plants. At 50w/sf and up, I had bigger denser buds but it took more attention and managing them to keep them healthy (more cal-mag, etc).

Last winter I totally overdid it, and put a 600w HPS in a 3x3, and then added two Optic 120's for an additional 240w of COBs. I also "experimented" with lots of nutes. The combination created massive buds so dense they mutated and rotted in the middle. There definitely is such a thing as "too much of a good thing".


I'm paranoid, so I'd wash the plastic down with H2O2 and the rinse it off real well. But you've done this before, so I know you know what you're doing. :)

Thanks for reminding me -- this would be a good time to start that experiment where I mix some dolomite lime in with soil, wet it, and let it sit for 90 days so that when I mix that into the SIP soil it's already broken down and ready to use.
Click to expand...
i am always happy to read about past experiences in this thread,, and how it helps going forward, i was so happy with the auto grow last summer, that i want to emply the same soil nute mix with my photos and the bigger sip,, your right the dimmer may come into play , the only strain i have grown that did not like the power of the cobs early in life was the Sour Diesel,, but i did not have dimmers back then, and my only option was to switch of single cobs or raise the light, now that i have dimming, it will be a differant story,
 
R

Ryan N Shoffner

Member
Lightgreen2k said:
Thanks

I only have time to hit the ground running persay.
dragonfly earth medicine has a great veganic line. Rootwise is good for microbes an mycorrhizae and a there are a couple of good compost tea companies out their. People may say they make great stuff. Sure fine however much of these things have been sourced.
Click to expand...
Im using dragonfly earth nedicine but wanting to use sip my next grow. Hiw would i feed the tea to the plants if theyre in a sip?
 
Tim Fox

Tim Fox

Well-Known Member
Ryan N Shoffner said:
I thought you werent supposed to put anything organic in the res or it would become anaerobic.
Click to expand...
well on my last sip grow i was dumping organic Big Bloom liquid nute to my res,,, and cal mag to my res,, i know capt puts organic liquid nutes in his res on the octopots every grow, have not had any problems
 
R

Ryan N Shoffner

Member
Tim Fox said:
well on my last sip grow i was dumping organic Big Bloom liquid nute to my res,,, and cal mag to my res,, i know capt puts organic liquid nutes in his res on the octopots every grow, have not had any problems
Click to expand...
its not the same.
Dragonfly earth medicine is brewed with earthworm castings so it would go anaerobic in the res
 
Tim Fox

Tim Fox

Well-Known Member
or if its bacteria you dont want , toss that stuff in the res that knocks it back down,, i have never used it, but hey, i dont top water,, my soil is ramped up it goes the whole ride without adding now
 
Tim Fox

Tim Fox

Well-Known Member
Lightgreen2k said:
Hmm I dont have an airstone.. How are your girls looking. I'm going go post a pick or two.
Click to expand...
the guys who have ran the air stones posted pictures of thier roots in this thread,, you will have to dig back thru the pages,, but the pump res pictures show massive water roots all wrapped around the air stones,, pretty cool
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top