Becca Takes A Big SIP

[BeccaBuds]

I've decided to go ahead and try growing Cannabis right away in my new Dual Bucket SIP instead of trying the planter on the patio with a tobacco plant. I hatched a regular photoperiod mystery seed on July 9th, and transplanted it this morning to the SIP container. My normal grow closet is down for now as I will likely be moving shortly, so this plant will sit in front of my cacti/houseplant tent so it can get some light. I've been watching the patio every day, and it just doesn't get enough light to grow much of anything. Here's a photo taken a few minutes ago.

And away we grow!​

 

[Jack420]

Nice what’s strains u have in mind ?

 

[Melville Hobbes]

Mystery seed, huh?
It'll be fun to see how it turns out!

 

[BeccaBuds]

This plant is going to go APE SH#T. After filling and soaking the wicking cone with soil, I added a half gallon of Fox Farm Ocean Forest (FFOF) to the bottom of the pot, then spread an 1/8th cup of Geoflora Veg (GV), dumped in another gallon of FFOF, another 1/8th of Geoflora, and continued until there is 5/8 cup of GV in the pot, then topped it up with soil. Just poured in a gallon of water with 7.5mL of Purpinator added.

 

[BeccaBuds]

Regarding the strain, this seed came from an earlier crop that slightly hermied and formed a few seeds. That plant's seed came from a commercial grower in central California, but that is all I know. It appears to be Sativa dominant based on it's growth characteristics. I may end up cutting it down depending on when I find a place to move to.

 

[Azimuth]

I've decided to go ahead and try growing Cannabis right away in my new Dual Bucket SIP instead of trying the planter on the patio with a tobacco plant.

 Now we're talkin!

 

[GratefulBud]

Right on!

 

[BeccaBuds]

 Now we're talkin!

I decided I needed to do the first run with cannabis to fully prove it will work and not get too soggy. @Pondwater pointed out that the footprint of the 5" net pot wick is quite large. I had already considered this and don't think it will be a problem, but I want to confirm it's good before I cut any more 5" holes in buckets.

 

[Pondwater]

I think experimentation on this be rare with that net pot eh hehe , from past experience my current foot is too small with fabric wicks it’s not enough

maybe a need to do a small and big test same strain etc , my worry would be volume left for water but that can be changed with a float valve and res

also swick uses a full perlite bed … that’s kinda a big foot ?

 

[BeccaBuds]

Yeah, I've been try to find some reference info via google. I can conclude that mine with the netpot wick taking up almost 30% of the area of the base of the pot, is huge compared to some other designs that are as low as 5%. Time will tell!

 

[Azimuth]

And what was your thinking for such a large volume, just to try it?

 

[BeccaBuds]

Mainly cost, @Azimuth. 20 ounce Mixing Cups had better dimensions but 10 would have cost $17.00. I got 10 of the net pots for $7.50. I didn't think the footprint would be an issue.

 

[BeccaBuds]

Day 2 update. The plant doesn't appear to have suffered much transplant shock, has a beautiful deep emerald green color and looks healthy. The 5th node is just forming and opening- time to decide if I want to top & train it. Discovered a 30 dram snap-cap container (with it's cap snipped off) makes a good cover for the planter's filler tube.

 

[Azimuth]

Mainly cost, @Azimuth. 20 ounce Mixing Cups had better dimensions but 10 would have cost $17.00. I got 10 of the net pots for $7.50. I didn't think the footprint would be an issue.

Ah, I get it. I mostly use discarded salsa containers and the like and make the various holes with a soldering iron. But the net pots do work great.

 

[BeccaBuds]

I hope they work great, lol!

 

[Azimuth]

I hope they work great, lol!

Yah, they do. Just need something to hold the soil together in that extra wet environment. In my SIPs I just pack the soil down firmly around the container I use for the reservoir void and don't even bother containing it. That design is kinda the mirror image of yours.

 

[BeccaBuds]

Mixing cups with small holes do have the advantage of not needing to contain the soil with w/ fabric or paper towel. Less time and work to set up.
You have GroTech GroBuckets, Azimuth?

 

[Azimuth]

You have GroTech GroBuckets, Azimuth?

Nah, old school DIY going on here. Mostly using the designs I Posted here.

 

[BeccaBuds]

First off, some baby pics. I had originally planted 6 Root Riot Rooting Cubes with Havana Gold tobacco seed on July 2, but lost one and so dropped a small mystery cannabis seed in the cube's hole around July 6 or 7, and it sprouted July 9. It was transplanted to a 1 quart coleslaw container into a mix with very high % of perlite (no coleslaw, lol), so I put it on a regimen of half strength MaxiGro with every watering. I have to say, these rooting cubes are great. No soak, just drop the seed and bag the tray in a gallon plastic bag for a day or two after spritzing with water to wet the seed. Ez-peazy! It's also really easy to feed plants in them using a digital scale with a pipette and liquid nutrient solutions to get a good start.

​

The soil for the SIP bucket is FFOF that has some added perlite and has been used for two cycles. Before filling the bucket I leached the soil, let it drain and dry a bit to remove any build-up of salts. See my post on July 28 for the Geoflora soil amendments.
Now that the plant is growing in some and getting past transplant shock, I'm starting to see some explosive growth, so I think the plant has already discovered a "mineral" deposit, lol! One of the fifth node leaves is deformed a bit with two stumpy blades and this plant has been showing some other weird stuff like the "ripples" in the leaves. Something to do with the weird mix it was in. At one point I leached the quart pot it was in and some brown colored water came out. After that I fertilized it with MaxiGro and it was looking normal until this. Probably just transplant shock.

 

[Azimuth]

Could be a water issue as well. I like to water them sparely until they catch. Only then do I water enough to get some in the reservoir. Otherwise there seems to be a couple of week transition period.

Too much water too quickly stalls them out a bit until they adjust their roots.