SIP thread -- (Sub-Irrigated Planter)

weedstoner420

Well-Known Member
Yes I will have four grow boxes , two with early girl tomatoes and one with a pair of bell peppers and one with a pair of jalapenos
Nice, I've not used my growboxes outside (too paranoid of bringing bugs inside) but I've grown tomatoes and peppers in them in the tent with great success...

Post some pics if ya feel like it, I dunno if this thread is just for weed or if anything in a SIP is allowed :P
 

Tim Fox

Well-Known Member
Nice, I've not used my growboxes outside (too paranoid of bringing bugs inside) but I've grown tomatoes and peppers in them in the tent with great success...

Post some pics if ya feel like it, I dunno if this thread is just for weed or if anything in a SIP is allowed :P
I don't think anyone would mind a veggie sip picture this summer, I just won't over do it haha
 

weedstoner420

Well-Known Member
Would one 5" net pot placed in center of a home depot 14 gallon tote be too big, wicking too much water? All options/suggestions welcome. Scaling down from 27 gallon totes, can't move them without removing 1/2+ soil. Thanks
I would say the best way to find out is to try it. You'd think for half the amount of soil, you would need half the wicking volume, and if the totes are longer on one direction, it might be better to have one wick at each end (even if they're a bit smaller) rather than just in the middle...
 

SBNDB

Well-Known Member
Is it possible to have too much wicking? The medium will only wick so much right? The wicking ratio has always puzzled me. Seems like there should be a formula or something , maybe there is i’m just not educated enough on the matter…
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
Would one 5" net pot placed in center of a home depot 14 gallon tote be too big, wicking too much water? All options/suggestions welcome. Scaling down from 27 gallon totes, can't move them without removing 1/2+ soil. Thanks
How much water the wick sucks up from the bottom rez depends on a few factors:
- material of the wick: coco would wick much better than perlite for example.
- how thick the wick is: long and thin eicks less than short and wide.
- distance between the water surface and the bottom of the pot where the wick attaches.

Using net pots seems like somewhat of a mistake to me, they are so short they tend to wick too much. If you want to control how much your wick sucks from the res your best bet is to do a prototype with a fairly long and leaning on thin rather than thick wick and making sure that you can somehow control what level the water sits at.
 

GenericEnigma

Well-Known Member
How much water the wick sucks up from the bottom rez depends on a few factors:
- material of the wick: coco would wick much better than perlite for example.
- how thick the wick is: long and thin eicks less than short and wide.
- distance between the water surface and the bottom of the pot where the wick attaches.

Using net pots seems like somewhat of a mistake to me, they are so short they tend to wick too much. If you want to control how much your wick sucks from the res your best bet is to do a prototype with a fairly long and leaning on thin rather than thick wick and making sure that you can somehow control what level the water sits at.
Concur.

I use a wicking bed adaptation, and gravel size/shape makes a significant difference there.

Coming at it from the too-large/too-dry side of the balance made it easy to limp along when fine-tuning (just top water a bit). Too wet could be catastrophic.
 

Rocket Soul

Well-Known Member
Concur.

I use a wicking bed adaptation, and gravel size/shape makes a significant difference there.

Coming at it from the too-large/too-dry side of the balance made it easy to limp along when fine-tuning (just top water a bit). Too wet could be catastrophic.
Theres a very helpfull document back in the thread posted by hyrootz (i think?) it resumes a lot about perched water tables and wicking in purpose of the ppk system.
Its quite different but the way it describes how media and water reacts is the same.
 

SBNDB

Well-Known Member
My 4x8 with my modified grobuckets at about 7 weeks. 50% of the time my brain is trying to come up with a perfectly designed SIP lol. I can’t begin to imagine the hours i’ve spent thinking of this lol. For now i’ll stick with the grobuckets i guess. Does anyone have an automated solution for filling up reservoirs that is reliable and not overly complicated and expensive ? The couple of things i’ve tried have not worked as well as i’d like.
 

Attachments

weedstoner420

Well-Known Member
My 4x8 with my modified grobuckets at about 7 weeks. 50% of the time my brain is trying to come up with a perfectly designed SIP lol. I can’t begin to imagine the hours i’ve spent thinking of this lol. For now i’ll stick with the grobuckets i guess. Does anyone have an automated solution for filling up reservoirs that is reliable and not overly complicated and expensive ? The couple of things i’ve tried have not worked as well as i’d like.
Beautiful looking plants!

With that many separate buckets it might be hard to automate watering without getting overly complicated, unless you have an automated way to drain the runoff as well (actively or passively).

I've successfully gone away for a week or so and used a very small aquarium pump (like less than 100 gph) and a digital timer, just guestimating how much water would be needed via trial and error, running something like 2-3 mins every day or every other day. But that was only for 1 or 2 plants, looks like you've got at least 10 in there which is why I say it could get complicated quickly...
 

SBNDB

Well-Known Member
Exactly. I’ve done the same thing. It’s a guessing game and i try to not have any overflow/runoff. And with multiple outlets coming off the pump, the flow volume ends up being different on each line it seems. I only need the automation for when i go away just a couple times a year.
 

weedstoner420

Well-Known Member
Exactly. I’ve done the same thing. It’s a guessing game and i try to not have any overflow/runoff. And with multiple outlets coming off the pump, the flow volume ends up being different on each line it seems. I only need the automation for when i go away just a couple times a year.
Fwiw, I used a pump similar to this. They're cheap enough you could just get one for each SIP if you wanted...

I know some folks have set up float valves in the res for larger SIPs, not sure if that's feasible in 5-gallon buckets, but something to consider at least. The last few years I've just been timing my grows so my tent is either empty while I'm away, or has small plants that can go a week or so without needing any attention.
 
Lot of good info! question - I may have overlooked someplace within the 285 pages, approximately how long are the plants top watered until roots get down to the reservoir ?
 
Top