GrumpsGrown Uses SIPs For Aunt Ginny's Elixir & Black Cream - 2023

GrumpsGrown

GrumpsGrown

420 Member
This grow will be Mephisto Genetics Aunt Ginny’s Elixir and Sweet Seeds Black Cream Auto. Aunt Ginny’s Elixir is a 1:1 medicinal strain 60/40 Indica/Sativa hybrid. Black Carmel Auto is an Indica dominant hybrid with a very short 80 day cycle. Only one of each will be grown due to space constraints, as my 3x3 tent is currently full of veggies until mid May.


Both plants will be grown in the 2x2.5 tent with a 220w LED grow light. I am using Gro Tech Garden GroBuckets 5gallon SIPs. Grow medium is peat moss, perlite and dolomite lime (Faux Mix HP). Nutrients are FoxFarm Happy Frog all-purpose 6-4-5 organic fertilizer, which I will mix into the grow medium before planting, and Happy Frog fruit and flower 4-9-3 organic fertilizer. I may use a liquid fertilizer for flowering instead of the dry mix Happy Frog.


Aunt Ginny germinates.
Mephisto Genetics Seed Pack.jpeg

Mephisto Genetics Seed Pack.jpeg


Aunt Ginny's Germinated.jpeg

Aunt Ginny's Germinated.jpeg


The Black Cream seed was soaked earlier and germinated the day before Aunt Ginny. The germinated seeds were placed in peat pods until they sprouted. I use plastic jar lids as water reservoirs for the seedlings so they are bottom watered from the start.
Black Cream Auto.jpeg

Black Cream Auto.jpeg


Aunt Ginny's Sprout.jpeg

Aunt Ginny's Sprout.jpeg


The GroBucket kit arrived today so I will be assembling those and prepping my grow medium this weekend.
 
A SIP grow? I'm in. :popcorn:

Once you get to the SIP bucket stage, post a pic or two over in #SIP Club with a link back here as I'm sure a bunch of growers over there would love to follow your progress.
 
Thanks for following along.

I cleaned up two buckets to use and then waited for the soil less mix to stabilize after watering in the lime. The ph of the resulting mix was 7.1 and I realized I had used to much lime for the amount of peat moss in the mix. I added more peat moss, perlite, and water and waited again for the mix to stabilize.

The seedlings at this point were over a week old and sending roots out of the peat cups.
AGE 1 week.jpeg

AGE 1 week.jpeg


BCA 1 Week.jpeg

BCA 1 Week.jpeg


The mix ph was now 6.6 and I planted the seedlings in the containers. I also over watered the little ones unintentionally the day the containers were ready, so I’ll wait until they recover before filling the reservoirs.
GroBuckets.jpeg

GroBuckets.jpeg

 
I've found it better not to fill the reservoirs full for a while until the plant is growing strongly. I monitor the daily water usage and usually just give them what they'll use in a day or two.

Too much water in the reservoir too early will have the pearched water table too high and the seedlings don't have their proper roots converted yet.

A number of us SIP growers have noticed a couple of week slow down period where the plant is adjusting to the wet medium. Treating it more like a normal plant initially seems to help minimize that stall.
 
Azimuth said:
I've found it better not to fill the reservoirs full for a while until the plant is growing strongly. I monitor the daily water usage and usually just give them what they'll use in a day or two.
Click to expand...
That is pretty much my plan. I have been reading the SIP Club thread looking for info on the adjustment period as the plants find the water source below. The seedlings were bottom watered from the start, so maybe they won't take too long finding the reservoir.
 
It's not really about the roots finding the reservoir since in a properly built SIP the soil will be wicking moisture up the pot in a gradient (wet at the bottom, less so as you go up) and the plant will have access to all it wants pretty early. It's more about the plant developing the proper roots since we keep things much wetter than is typical.

That's what I've come to call the transition period where the upper growth seems to stall a bit while the roots morph over to the ones it'll use in these containers. Various members have had success shortening or even eliminating this slowdown as you'll see as you read through.

Bottom watering from the jump should give the plant a head start assuming you weren't doing the wet/dry thing.

These containers are fun to grow with once the plant kicks into gear, which no doubt you will experience as well.
 
Azimuth said:
It's not really about the roots finding the reservoir since in a properly built SIP the soil will be wicking moisture up the pot in a gradient (wet at the bottom, less so as you go up) and the plant will have access to all it wants pretty early. It's more about the plant developing the proper roots since we keep things much wetter than is typical.
Click to expand...
Yes, the hydrotropic response to a moisture gradient in the soil. I still have homework to do as the instructions that came with the Grobuckets most likely assumed a slightly more mature plant than 2 weeks. They instructions were to top water the plant initially with a gallon of water and fill the reservoir with a gallon. I waited several days before top watering with .5 gallon per plant and filled the reservoir half way. The reservoir was then fully filled the next day.

Both plants are now 21 days above ground and appear slightly behind a normal potted plant but are growing.
BCA Top.jpeg

BCA Top.jpeg

Top view of Black Cream Auto

BCA 22 Days.jpeg

BCA 22 Days.jpeg

Black Cream Auto 10 days in the Grobucket

AGE Top.jpeg

AGE Top.jpeg

Top view of Aunt Ginny's Elixir

AGE 21 Days.jpeg

AGE 21 Days.jpeg

Aunt Ginny's Elixir 10 days in the Grobucket

Thanks for watching.
 
Too wet too early can cause a stall for a bit (couple of weeks) but once it catches it'll get fun.
 
The plants have been in the Grobuckets for two weeks and are now growing quickly. I filled the reservoirs yesterday as they were empty. I have the light at 12" off the plant tops and at 50%. Aunt Ginny got a bucket lift due to her squat habit. She will most likely surpass the Black Cream in height as the grow progresses. I am having to raise the light about one inch everyday and will increase the power to 75% later this week.
SIPs at 2 weeks.jpeg

SIPs at 2 weeks.jpeg


BCA at 28 days.jpeg

BCA at 28 days.jpeg


AGE at 27 days.jpeg

AGE at 27 days.jpeg


AGE top view.jpeg

AGE top view.jpeg


BCA top view.jpeg

BCA top view.jpeg


Thanks for watching.
 
Are you planning on thinning them at all? SIPs typically grow some very bushy plants and they can quickly get away from you when you're not looking. :laughtwo:

Of course, thinning becomes a regular thing since it'll grow it all back and then some.
 
Azimuth said:
Are you planning on thinning them at all? SIPs typically grow some very bushy plants and they can quickly get away from you when you're not looking. :laughtwo:

Of course, thinning becomes a regular thing since it'll grow it all back and then some.
Click to expand...
LOL, those photos were before I trimmed Aunt Ginny. She was starting to look like a green armadillo! Both plants get minor trimming as well during the week. Ginny gets leaf tucking and some LST. I'll take more photos later today to show her new look. She is so squat that she sits on a stool in the tent to keep level with the Black Cream.
 

Similar threads

M
Experimental Auto Greenhouse Grow: Sweet Cream & Amnesia Haze
Replies
17
Views
720
MedicalMe
M
Chuckeye
Black African Magic (2), Cafe Racer and Malawi x Panama in SIP's
2 3 4 5
Replies
92
Views
3K
Chuckeye
Chuckeye
Tim
Cream x Mazar Autoflower Journal!
2
Replies
20
Views
2K
Tim
Tim
Oldhippie59
Oldhippie59 2nd Auto Grow: Cream, White Widow, Lowryder2, LA Fruta Berry, Grapefruit Kush
2 3 4 5 6
Replies
100
Views
5K
Smilemeds
Smilemeds
Chuckeye
Autos - 3 SIP's, A Hempy Bucket And A Fabric Bag
2 3 4 5
Replies
84
Views
4K
Chuckeye
Chuckeye
Back
Top Bottom