After a lot of reading and research inspired by the SIP Club (thank you @Azimuth ) I've decided to convert my existing 4 gallon square buckets into SIP planters. I got these buckets a couple years ago, perforated the bottoms and sides for drainage, installed 1"h x 1.5"d rubber feet to keep them up out of the run-off, and grew a couple of good crops with them. Now I'm going to "supercharge" these growing containers by turning them into Sub-Irrigated Planters to increase my yield!
The 4-gallon square buckets paying for themselves a while ago.
Since these 6 buckets have already been perforated for drainage, I decided to get 6 more buckets and construct dual bucket SIP systems with a wicking cone in the upper planter bucket. The lower bucket will be the reservoir with a capacity of 1 gallon. Again, thanks to Azimuth for posting this YouTube DIY SIP video that details the construction.
I thought about using 20 ounce paint mixing cups for the wicking cone, then I thought, hey, how about a netpot? Long story short, I found a steal of a deal on a 10-pack of 5" netpots for $7.50 w/ free shipping, AND they meet my dimensional requirements!
Holy smoke, Batman! Your bucket has a leak!
I thought about cutting the 5" hole for the netpot with a jig saw and decided to get an inexpensive set of hole saws to do the job right. The first bucket took less than a minute to cut the 5" hole, so it paid for itself already in my book. I also added an additional (28) 0.25" holes in the bottom so the soil can breathe and drain, and I'm thinking about adding 12 more holes on each of the four sides to give the soil more air.
Next, I need to figure out how high above nominal nesting height the planter bucket needs to be when installed in the reservoir bucket. To do that, I dumped a gallon of water (the target reservoir capacity) into a new, unperforated reservoir bucket and measured the depth. It read about 3.38 inches, which is about what I expected:
1 U.S. gallon = 231 cubic inches and the bottom of the bucket is 8.25 inches x 8.25 inches, or 68.0625 square inches, therefore the theoretical depth is 231/68.0625 = 3.394 inches. Check.
One gallon takes up how much space?
I put the netpot into a gallon plastic bag and pushed it through the 5 inch hole in the planter bucket, down into the water to see how much it displaced and raised the level. Tests showed that the drain hole on the reservoir bucket will need to be approximately 4 inches above the bottom to correspond to a 1 gallon capacity when the netpot is packed with soil. Further, mounting the planter bucket 1.5 inches above it's nominal nesting height will position the planter to provide a 1" air gap between the bottom of the planter bucket and the water in the full reservoir.
That, as it turns out, is pretty convenient because I have the 1.5 inch diameter rubber feet and stainless steel hardware that no longer are needed on the bottoms and can be mounted on the sides of the planter buckets to raise it just the right amount. 1x2 furring strip would work also but I would need to cut & mount (24) 6-inch lengths so rubber foot recycle is a win-win and all the hardware is stainless steel!
Recycled rubber feet and measured the depth of the reservoir with planter installed, 4.8 inches.
Next I’ll fit the reservoir bucket for an overflow drain composed of a 0.75”ID Grommet for a 1-1/8” mounting hole with 1/16” panel thickness and a 0.75” barbed PVC elbow.
The 4-gallon square buckets paying for themselves a while ago.
Since these 6 buckets have already been perforated for drainage, I decided to get 6 more buckets and construct dual bucket SIP systems with a wicking cone in the upper planter bucket. The lower bucket will be the reservoir with a capacity of 1 gallon. Again, thanks to Azimuth for posting this YouTube DIY SIP video that details the construction.
I thought about using 20 ounce paint mixing cups for the wicking cone, then I thought, hey, how about a netpot? Long story short, I found a steal of a deal on a 10-pack of 5" netpots for $7.50 w/ free shipping, AND they meet my dimensional requirements!
Holy smoke, Batman! Your bucket has a leak!
I thought about cutting the 5" hole for the netpot with a jig saw and decided to get an inexpensive set of hole saws to do the job right. The first bucket took less than a minute to cut the 5" hole, so it paid for itself already in my book. I also added an additional (28) 0.25" holes in the bottom so the soil can breathe and drain, and I'm thinking about adding 12 more holes on each of the four sides to give the soil more air.
Next, I need to figure out how high above nominal nesting height the planter bucket needs to be when installed in the reservoir bucket. To do that, I dumped a gallon of water (the target reservoir capacity) into a new, unperforated reservoir bucket and measured the depth. It read about 3.38 inches, which is about what I expected:
1 U.S. gallon = 231 cubic inches and the bottom of the bucket is 8.25 inches x 8.25 inches, or 68.0625 square inches, therefore the theoretical depth is 231/68.0625 = 3.394 inches. Check.
One gallon takes up how much space?
That, as it turns out, is pretty convenient because I have the 1.5 inch diameter rubber feet and stainless steel hardware that no longer are needed on the bottoms and can be mounted on the sides of the planter buckets to raise it just the right amount. 1x2 furring strip would work also but I would need to cut & mount (24) 6-inch lengths so rubber foot recycle is a win-win and all the hardware is stainless steel!
Recycled rubber feet and measured the depth of the reservoir with planter installed, 4.8 inches.
Next I’ll fit the reservoir bucket for an overflow drain composed of a 0.75”ID Grommet for a 1-1/8” mounting hole with 1/16” panel thickness and a 0.75” barbed PVC elbow.
I'm really looking forward to your grow. What mix and nutes do you grow with?
