SIP thread -- (Sub-Irrigated Planter)
- Thread starter Humanrob
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Tim Fox
Well-Known Member
Correct I stopped using air stones
Smscreations
Well-Known Member
Question for the vets using SIPs. checking to see if roots had jumped the air gap yet, I noticed my water reservoir smelled like a fish tank. My wicks also had some slimy goop (best I can describe it lol). It looks as if a bit of my soil mix dropped into the reservoir when it was all settling into thr tote. Ended up cleaning out the reservoirs really well and washing the wicks off. Refilled with fresh water and some LABs. Is this normal operation of SIPs or do I need to make corrections regarding my setup?
myke
Well-Known Member
Mine always have dirt in them. I’ve never added anything to my res. Other then fresh water from my tap which has chlorine in it.
Smscreations
Well-Known Member
Yea, this reminded me a lot of when I had some Red Eared Sliders in a big 55 gallon tank. Smelled the same as when it was time to give the turtle tank a good cleaning.
Tim Fox
Well-Known Member
I have had bits of soil in my res before, I've never changed the water, i fill with tap water, I'm on a well, my res always looks clear and smells fine
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
No. My earthbox uses soil wicks, and i get all kinds of soil in my res.
I've noticed some funky smell from the res, but it never was detrimental, but then again, the res never had water in it for more than 2 days when I noticed the smell. Once the res was dry again, the smell went away.
dr_professor
Member
I built some SIP containers to give this method a try. I followed the instructions here: https://www.rollitup.org/t/sip-thread-sub-irrigated-planter.904886/post-13026343
Unfortunately, my pots aren't wicking and I have to drench from the top as usual. I deviated from the instructions a bit and wanted to get some feedback, hopefully it's an easy fix.
1. I didn't fill to almost the top of the reservoir. I was reading that it's possible to overwater and wanted to be cautious
2. I didn't line my fabric pot with plastic. I also didn't cover the top with plastic. Just have a layer of mulch on top
How critical are these two items?
Unfortunately, my pots aren't wicking and I have to drench from the top as usual. I deviated from the instructions a bit and wanted to get some feedback, hopefully it's an easy fix.
1. I didn't fill to almost the top of the reservoir. I was reading that it's possible to overwater and wanted to be cautious
2. I didn't line my fabric pot with plastic. I also didn't cover the top with plastic. Just have a layer of mulch on top
How critical are these two items?
raggyb
Well-Known Member
Try priming the soil with top watering to get things going for the first week or two after planting. Compaction of the soil matters too. Make sure it's somwhat compact throughout, imho.
GenericEnigma
Well-Known Member
How critical? It depends.
If I were in your situation, I would want to test the wicking. If it's wicking, but not dampening the medium much, I would say it's drying out too fast for whatever reason (low RH, too much air movement, hydrophobic soil, etc.). I would wrap the sides of the fabric pot and maybe cover the top to see what happens.
If it's not wicking at all, there is likely a problem with your medium (probably hydrophobic). In this case, see raggyb's post above.
It's possible to overwater with a SIP, but not if your wick is the right size for the container. Some discussion and experiment on this is buried in this thread.
How did you deviate from the instructions?
Smscreations
Well-Known Member
I'm pretty sure I figure out why my rez smelled so funky. Noticed when I was cleaning everything that the bottom half of my wicks had washed out in the rez and the soil was no longer wicking water. My guess is however many days went by like that the water was just stagnant and not being utilized and started smelling like a turtle tank lol. Fixed the wicks since and everything is back in working order
GenericEnigma
Well-Known Member
I am going to experiment with LABS in my reservoir this winter. I made some with brown rice for my gut, and figured the plants might like it, too. My reservoir has never stunk before, but it's only ever had chloramine-tap water.I figured out to get rid of the smell.
Stop smelling it
dr_professor
Member
Thanks for the ideas. Will definitely give them a try. The 2 items I mentioned are the two instructions I didn't follow. Filling to the top and lining the fabric.
I'm going to start with lining, since it's easily reversible. Will see how far that gets me
Hollatchaboy
Well-Known Member
I tried em1 in my res. Didn't help. @myke Is right, no smelling it. Especially if there's no visual problems.
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weedstoner420
Well-Known Member
That's an interesting design...I would guess you need to pack the wick pretty dang tight with coco if you want it to pull water all the way up the tube once the water level gets low.
Seems like most sip designs are more wide than tall, especially the res, just cuz it's easier to wick up 4-6" than 12-14". In the design you shared I'd imagine you gotta keep the water level pretty high for good wicking, which kinda defeats the purpose of having such a giant res.
I'd start by filling the res up almost all the way. With that design it looks like you could have the res completely full with no issues. If it still doesn't wick well enough, since you already have the totes and corrugated pipe, maybe switch to one of the tote-in-tote designs with the pipes laying horizontally in the bottom tote for support.
Hash Hound
Well-Known Member
xtsho I think a wick would be less work. your 6-8" of stones is taking up more space than the water is.
I use a more swick than sip but I eliminate the need for stones and perlite by placing the bag on top of a cut out piece of an old bag for the wick on a plant riser easy peasy.. You could run a piece of wick through the bottom of the bucket and have more water.
Are you bottom feeding plain water for organics or synthetics nutes. I do plain water mostly but cal/mag once a week
ImpulsiveGrower
Well-Known Member
44 days from seed 15 days in flower! I love these earthboxes but the plants got to tall so I had to improvise.
