SIP Club - Getting Hydro/Coco Results In A Soil Based Medium

[Emilya Green]

Ahoy Emilya
I remember telling you I wanted to garden in your fashion. I had to finish up my drought studies. I am hear to learn.

Ahoy Matey! I would love to hear your conclusions on your draught studies. I formed my opinion rather quickly on that one, I admit. It's hard to determine at any single point in time what my particular fashion happens to be so I always hold those who try to follow me in high esteem. I have been known to change an opinion almost as often as the weather changes, but I think I have figured this out so as to be able to explain all that I know in one simple thought. It all comes down to the ability to be just a little bit smarter than your plant.

Calm seas and the winds at your back my friend, I am always here for you.

 

[greenjeans]

It all comes down to the ability to be just a little bit smarter than your plant.

Oh NO!!!!! I'm doomed!!!!!!

 

[StoneOtter]

A little catch up here. So this cross between a Wedding Cake Mother And pollen from a Chunky Cherry Thai making Cherries DubeLee at 80 veg days and ~17 flower. SIP'n the Dream! Healthiest plant to date!

IMG_2687.jpeg

• StoneOtter
• Feb 24, 2023

Cherries DubeLee thinned leaves

IMG_2688.jpeg

• StoneOtter
• Feb 24, 2023

Cherries DubeLee thinned leaves

 

[Azimuth]

Looking good Otter! Lots of bud sites springing up all over. She's going to be a beast!

 

[StoneOtter]

Looking good Otter! Lots of bud sites springing up all over. She's going to be a beast!

I have the chair, all I need is a whip!

 

[Azimuth]

I have the chair, all I need is a whip!

Just be careful!

 

[ReservoirDog]

super-cool, Otter! Look at all that biomass! how are you finding the human responsibilities of SIP growing? Well, she's def looking the right colour from here, and I dunno if you've noticed but SIPs are almost always ''praying" which means always growing. Thank goodness so many people are emerging from the dark ages of traditional container gardening. Wasn't quite the Spanish Inquisition or anything, but I was never comfortable with conventional container grows, always choosing hydro indoors when I could. My issue was that I could tell that plants were only growing 1/5th of the time, at best, and found this frustrating. Yer EB single is "chef's kiss" tres bien. So what's next? If you find a nice tote size you like, we could DIY something up, something that perfectly fits the grow space. btw, did you ever look up Kootsmed? He's an older fellow growing in different styles but has great vids and provides ref sheets etc.. Check him out, look for his EB material. I keep a lot of his reference material on hand for mixing etc.

 

[Carcass]

@StoneOtter is a hard act to follow, but I'll give it a shot!
It's time for few progress pics on my 2 diy SIPs...

First up, the 64 day old Alaskan Thunderfuck- in the SIP for 40 days now..(and loving it!)
No pistils yet, but it's only 6 days since the flip:

She's almost touching all 4 walls, but she hasn't done much stretching yet, so she's still a stubby girl..

This one is growing in 2 stacked 4 gallon mop buckets, which are working pretty well- although, the res is pretty small, so she drinks it dry every day- not a big deal- watering both of them takes less than a minute.
I fill the water jug in the evening, then sit it on our old pilot light type stove, and in the morning the water is about 78-80f. By morning, it's a little chilly out in the garage, so it's a perfect time to warm them roots up a bit..
And, to try and keep things warmer in there, she's got a new 21"x21" seedling mat under her to try and keep the root zone warm, and it also warms the box apx. 5 degrees- between that, and the light, the box stays between 75-80f all day.

Now the 50 day old Amnesia Haze (also flipped 6 days ago)- No room in the box, so for now she spends her days next to the box on a seedling mat, under the Atreum Hydra-1000, but I take her into the house at night, since it gets down to about 40f out in the garage..She's been in her SIP for 28 days.

This one is in a 3.25 gallon SIP (air chamber type) and I sure can't complain about how she's growing, given the fact that her environment is 20 to 25 degrees cooler than the ATF's...
This one also drinks the SIP dry every day- the res on this one is also pretty small...

And that's about it for today's progress report...
Have a great weekend, and keep on SIPpin'

 

[Stunger]

Progressing sweetly Carcass!

 

[farside05]

Rainbow Kush, Day 58, Day 22 post flip

The stretching seems to have stopped, which is good. Was running out of height. I'll clean them up more tomorrow.

IMG_20230226_041241.jpg

• farside05
• Feb 26, 2023

IMG_20230226_041252.jpg

• farside05
• Feb 26, 2023

 

[StoneOtter]

how are you finding the human responsibilities of SIP growing?

Hey Dog, different a little. I made it a point to put the mulch cover on the pot and never opened it for any reason, So all maintenance has been done through the pipe. Pretty cool so far. On the weird side, this one grew so fast and strong I couldn't figure how to scrog her. She kept busting my efforts so I had to resort to this!

did you ever look up Kootsmed?

I have. Recently I've seen one of his vids and liked it.

Yer EB single is "chef's kiss" tres bien. So what's next?

I'm sticking with earthbox. I got 4 of the same ready to set up including their auto watering system. I'm getting all revved up for that! I have a never grown african sativa a friend/member

got to me I want to put in one of them, actually I want to put that one in this 3 x 3 alone and go with 4 individuals in the 4 x 4.

@StoneOtter is a hard act to follow, but I'll give it a shot!

Whew, am I lucky to have come on early! You sir are my master of lst! I have a picture of you on my mantle I salute each noon! No one does it (Carcanopy's) better than you Carcass!

 

[AutoNautPsychoFlower]

Hi SIP people! I did an outdoor grow journal last year here (still so very happy to have found this community!) and was going to be doing my first real indoor set up in decades over winter but had a major fund loss. I was going to go with soil and keep it "simple" that way. Ive completely changed my mind over this growls winter though, I want SIP!

Set up is going to be following a similar grow as @LKABudMan and his Vivosun Smart Grow System grows. We put away enough to do a full 4 Aerolight set up in 4x4 with their whole system (trying to get one of those hard to obtain Smart System Fans too lol). So the idea is to have two 5 gal SIP buckets (giving them approximately 200w each and a decent amount of space).

Im wondering what you wonderful and amazing growers consider the best full SIP set that I can buy with hope little to no re engineering. I just dont want to build my own. Im sorry, I know thats not the usual ethics for the crew here lol. Any suggestions?

By the way, Im sooooo super excited to get back to growing. I actually cried like a kid leaving the best summer camp ever when I couldnt afford to grow this winter!

Oh and apologies if this was the wrong place to put this!

 

[Azimuth]

Hi SIP people! I did an outdoor grow journal last year here (still so very happy to have found this community!) and was going to be doing my first real indoor set up in decades over winter but had a major fund loss. I was going to go with soil and keep it "simple" that way. Ive completely changed my mind over this growls winter though, I want SIP!

Set up is going to be following a similar grow as @LKABudMan and his Vivosun Smart Grow System grows. We put away enough to do a full 4 Aerolight set up in 4x4 with their whole system (trying to get one of those hard to obtain Smart System Fans too lol). So the idea is to have two 5 gal SIP buckets (giving them approximately 200w each and a decent amount of space).

Im wondering what you wonderful and amazing growers consider the best full SIP set that I can buy with hope little to no re engineering. I just dont want to build my own. Im sorry, I know thats not the usual ethics for the crew here lol. Any suggestions?

By the way, Im sooooo super excited to get back to growing. I actually cried like a kid leaving the best summer camp ever when I couldnt afford to grow this winter!

Oh and apologies if this was the wrong place to put this!

Hey AutoNaut,

Welcome to SIP Club! Glad to have you here.

We have growers of all types and interests growing with these things and I'd say there's probably more growers using commercial products than doing the DIY thing, so no need to apologize for your preferences.

There are several commercial choices you have such as 5 gallon bucket inserts like The GroBucket, the Octopot system, as well as the Earthbox system, and Real Growers Recharge has a system as well. All three of the latter offer auto fill options to further automate the process.

They all seem to grow great plants and I think it's because of the magic of the design (soil above, water below, and an air gap in between). Couple that with no dry cycle during the grow, a good grow mix and some good nutes, and you'll have almost everything you'll need for a great grow, other than lights and fans and other environmental things.

You become a better grower simply by changing containers.

There are lots of helpful growers in this thread happy to offer suggestions and advice and if you have questions about specific products we can probably point you to a user or two of that specific one to help narrow down your selection.

So, do you have any initial criteria you'd like to impose to help narrow your focus? If you like @LKABudMan 's approach, his would be a good setup to emulate as he seems to have growing with these things down pretty good.

So, again, welcome. And ask away.

Azi

 

[CaptainLucky]

Hey AutoNaut,

Welcome to SIP Club! Glad to have you here.

We have growers of all types and interests growing with these things and I'd say there's probably more growers using commercial products than doing the DIY thing, so no need to apologize for your preferences.

There are several commercial choices you have from 5 gallon bucket inserts like The Grow Bucket, the Octopot system, as well as the Earthbox system, and Real Growers Recharge has an auto fill system as well. All three of the latter offer auto fill options to further automate the process.

They all seem to grow great plants and I think it's because of the magic of the design (soil above, water below, and an air gap in between). Couple that with no dry cycle during the grow, a good grow mix and some good nutes, and you'll have almost everything you'll need for a great grow, other than lights and fans and other environmental things.

You become a better grower simply by changing containers.

There are lots of helpful growers in this thread happy to offer suggestions and advice and if you have questions about specific products we can probably point you to a user or two of that specific one to help narrow down your selection.

So, do you have any initial criteria you'd like to impose to help narrow your focus? If you like @LKABudMan 's approach, his would be a good setup to emulate as he seems to have growing with these things down pretty good.

So, again, welcome. And ask away.

Azi

Hey Azi please tell me that the Sip I’m trying will work? 2 Solos I made a hole about 1/2” up on the outer and 2nd I put a hole in the center n tied a knot of a cotton twine n pulled it thru for the Sip. I also put a plastic bottle cap on the bottom of the 1st to raise the 2nd. Btw I also did Bill284s layering .Do you think it will work? CL

 

[Azimuth]

That's more Swick than SIP with the cotton twine coming up the center. If you're going to water that way I'd put lots more drainage holes in your cups to get more air to the roots.

We do the single hole about an inch up from the bottom to establish a reservoir that will hold water and then have no need for strings, but that design works well also.

Can I assume the center hole is made in the bottom of the inner cup, and your outer cup serves as your reservoir?

 

[CaptainLucky]

That's more Swick than SIP with the cotton twine coming up the center. If you're going to water that way I'd put lots more drainage holes in your cups to get more air to the roots.

We do the single hole about an inch up from the bottom to establish a reservoir that will hold water and then have no need for strings, but that design works well also.

Can I assume the center hole is made in the bottom of the inner cup, and your outer cup serves as your reservoir?

Yes CL

 

[AutoNautPsychoFlower]

Hey AutoNaut,

Welcome to SIP Club! Glad to have you here.

We have growers of all types and interests growing with these things and I'd say there's probably more growers using commercial products than doing the DIY thing, so no need to apologize for your preferences.

There are several commercial choices you have from 5 gallon bucket inserts like The Grow Bucket, the Octopot system, as well as the Earthbox system, and Real Growers Recharge has an auto fill system as well. All three of the latter offer auto fill options to further automate the process.

They all seem to grow great plants and I think it's because of the magic of the design (soil above, water below, and an air gap in between). Couple that with no dry cycle during the grow, a good grow mix and some good nutes, and you'll have almost everything you'll need for a great grow, other than lights and fans and other environmental things.

You become a better grower simply by changing containers.

There are lots of helpful growers in this thread happy to offer suggestions and advice and if you have questions about specific products we can probably point you to a user or two of that specific one to help narrow down your selection.

So, do you have any initial criteria you'd like to impose to help narrow your focus? If you like @LKABudMan 's approach, his would be a good setup to emulate as he seems to have growing with these things down pretty good.

So, again, welcome. And ask away.

Azi

I will be asking many questions Im sure! Thank you for the warm positive welcome. Autofill looks so super easier.

Are there certain common issues/ bro-science things I should be avoiding?
I feel like thats a good place to start.

I want to model after @LKABudMan 's garden. However it's going to be less engineer based, because Im a High School dropout and maths are not my strongpoint at all. I also just want this diary to be kind of geared towards brand newbies or old timers coming back after a long time away from growing. Like I did with my weird little cheap O outdoor grow last Summer. So the idea is to lean into how easy it is to grow good marijuana with a Smart Grow System and SIP and! without getting too lost in the weeds so to speak. One day I might be able to grow like @LKABudMan or really any of you that have been refining skills for so long. Im not there at all yet but I'll happily post the journey in journals here as I maybe get closer.

Im ridiculously excited about the combination of switching to new containers and whole new system top to bottom.

 

[CaptainLucky]

I will be asking many questions Im sure! Thank you for the warm positive welcome. Autofill looks so super easier.

Are there certain common issues/ bro-science things I should be avoiding?
I feel like thats a good place to start.

I want to model after @LKABudMan 's garden. However it's going to be less engineer based, because Im a High School dropout and maths are not my strongpoint at all. I also just want this diary to be kind of geared towards brand newbies or old timers coming back after a long time away from growing. Like I did with my weird little cheap O outdoor grow last Summer. So the idea is to lean into how easy it is to grow good marijuana with a Smart Grow System and SIP and! without getting too lost in the weeds so to speak. One day I might be able to grow like @LKABudMan or really any of you that have been refining skills for so long. Im not there at all yet but I'll happily post the journey in journals here as I maybe get closer.

Im ridiculously excited about the combination of switching to new containers and whole new system top to bottom.

I like your emoji AutoNaut it looks like a DMT vision. CL

 

[StoneOtter]

I will be asking many questions Im sure! Thank you for the warm positive welcome. Autofill looks so super easier.

Are there certain common issues/ bro-science things I should be avoiding?
I feel like thats a good place to start.

I want to model after @LKABudMan 's garden. However it's going to be less engineer based, because Im a High School dropout and maths are not my strongpoint at all. I also just want this diary to be kind of geared towards brand newbies or old timers coming back after a long time away from growing. Like I did with my weird little cheap O outdoor grow last Summer. So the idea is to lean into how easy it is to grow good marijuana with a Smart Grow System and SIP and! without getting too lost in the weeds so to speak. One day I might be able to grow like @LKABudMan or really any of you that have been refining skills for so long. Im not there at all yet but I'll happily post the journey in journals here as I maybe get closer.

Im ridiculously excited about the combination of switching to new containers and whole new system top to bottom.

I'm in! I'm excited like you with these containers! Midway first SIP now and am happy to yell you you'll have lots to go over when you tell folks how simple it is to make them grow! Let us know here please when you get up and running? I'd like to follow along.

 

[Azimuth]

Are there certain common issues/ bro-science things I should be avoiding?
I feel like thats a good place to start.

These things are so deceptively easy to grow with. Go through the thread and you'll see massive plant after massive plant and you'll get the expectation that everyone is some sort of master grower. And for sure we have our fair share of those. But we also have plenty of first or second time growers growing great plants.

You still need the other basics like a good grow mix, good nutes, a good environment etc. These containers are not magic problem solvers, but rather allow the full genetic potential of the plant the opportunity to be realized. Plants are generally larger and healthier and therefore less prone to pests and disease, but they're not immune.

The grower is still in charge, but this container structure eliminates improper watering practices which is the most common issue growers have at some point in a cycle, and new growers often suffer from it constantly as the only way to gain experience with watering is to do it wrong and learn what works.

SIPs don't ever have watering as an issue, though we've found ways to try to maximize even this well proven approach.

With SIPs, you can focus all your attention to factors other than watering as you nurture your plant though its cycle.