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

[Will11]

Thanks @Azimuth for inviting me to this thread! Im definitely transitioning to SIPs… have to try this.
Question: if I go with grobucket does the color of the bucket matter? I see a lot of you have darker color buckets. Is that on purpose or what was available? I grow mostly outdoors so I’m thinking a dark color would make my plants unhealthily hot.
Also, what is the approximate grow space after you put the grobucket insert into the 5 gal bucket? Does it turn into more of a 4 gal grow space? Just curious. Thanks everyone for letting me tag along and learn!

 

[farside05]

Thanks @Azimuth for inviting me to this thread! Im definitely transitioning to SIPs… have to try this.
Question: if I go with grobucket does the color of the bucket matter? I see a lot of you have darker color buckets. Is that on purpose or what was available? I grow mostly outdoors so I’m thinking a dark color would make my plants unhealthily hot.
Also, what is the approximate grow space after you put the grobucket insert into the 5 gal bucket? Does it turn into more of a 4 gal grow space? Just curious. Thanks everyone for letting me tag along and learn!

Dark colored containers make sure the roots are in a nice dark place.

The GroBucket inserts are made for your standard 5 gal bucket.

You end up using about 4 gal of soil and the void in the bottom is about a gal in size.

 

[Will11]

Dark colored containers make sure the roots are in a nice dark place.

The GroBucket inserts are made for your standard 5 gal bucket.

You end up using about 4 gal of soil and the void in the bottom is about a gal in size.

Thanks farside! Super helpful!

 

[Buds Buddy]

Thanks Columbiano!!! I'm always late so no worries at all respond whenever you can.

So idk if we want to have the pity party for me now or later but it seems I missed my window of purchasing my favorite pots at the Home Depot

The pots I had to get and the only 4 pots they had left (meaning I had to pull the 2 other of the same pots from my garden and I'm only left with 2 of my favorite pots) are about an inch and a half less wide and I'm guessing 4.25gl and not 5. This particular brand is shaped a little differently, doesn't tell you the exact size and doesn't have the drainage I like. Ugh.

So I had to get out the drill and drill some darn drainage holes and now I'm just going to have to deal with having smaller vessels. I guess that's ok since I'm packing it in the tents this grow.

I also found some self feed contraptions for the fabric pot user via Infinity

But anyway..here is what I had to get and do today to prepare for up pot.

I'm so disappointed in myself, I said to myself weeks ago to buy these earlier. It's ok, they will still do the trick. You can see how they lack the separation triangles as well...pity party

I have some of those pots too. They are suppose to wick up through the slits in the legs.

 

[Azimuth]

Thanks @Azimuth for inviting me to this thread! Im definitely transitioning to SIPs… have to try this.
Question: if I go with grobucket does the color of the bucket matter? I see a lot of you have darker color buckets. Is that on purpose or what was available? I grow mostly outdoors so I’m thinking a dark color would make my plants unhealthily hot.
Also, what is the approximate grow space after you put the grobucket insert into the 5 gal bucket? Does it turn into more of a 4 gal grow space? Just curious. Thanks everyone for letting me tag along and learn!

What farside said.

A lighter colored bucket will let too much light thru which stunts the roots so you want to shade them as much as possible. I have a bunch of white buckets that I painted black and then white for outdoors. But you could simply hang some shade cloth or burlap or something from the rim. The 5 gal buckets have a slight taper to them so there would be an air gap doing it that way. But, it won't be all that long before you have enough leaf cover to shade it on its own. But dark is better.

And yes, the GroBuckets have a 1gallon reservoir, so about 4 gallons of grow mix. Keep in mind though that you'll grow mostly the very thin feeder roots rather than the big fat white water seeking roots you'd normally see so it's not really comparable to what you are used to seeing.

 

[CBDMed]

Thanks farside! Super helpful!

Hey Will! I am a newbie and this is my first run with SIPs. Just to add one more point, Buds uses supersoil (to make up for the fact that it is only 4 gallons).
(Others top feed and water just enough, so it does not hit the reservoir. Your mileage may vary).

 

[Buds Buddy]

High All ! Here are the 4 ladies I'm growing in the 5 gal. Gro Buckets. I have 2 "Aurora Indica" plants (pic 1 & 3) & 2 "Cherry on Top" (pics 2 & 4) . The 2 Cherry on Top should be ready for harvest in about 2 weeks. The 2 Aurora's probably have 4-5 weeks left. All 4 of these girls are with just 5 weeks of Veg.

I'm getting ready to start 2 Auto flowers in SIP's this week so I cleaned out 2 of my buckets from the last grow. Thought I'd post a few pics of the root system. First off, I turned my buckets upside down to get the soil out; so the pics are upside down too. In this first pic you can see how the roots really concentrate right at the top of the res. You can see the thick band of roots. But as you can see the roots don't go down into the water res. for the most part.

In this next pic you can see where the roots grew down the side where the Air Gap is. They were about 1/2" thick.

A pic of the res with roots removed from the Air Gap side.

Got everything all washed up & ready to go. Now to get off my lazy ____ & get to planting.... lol.

 

[Azimuth]

Great pics, Buds! Thanks for sharing. Those really show how the roots are the smaller feeder roots.

 

[CBDMed]

High All ! Here are the 4 ladies I'm growing in the 5 gal. Gro Buckets. I have 2 "Aurora Indica" plants (pic 1 & 3) & 2 "Cherry on Top" (pics 2 & 4) . The 2 Cherry on Top should be ready for harvest in about 2 weeks. The 2 Aurora's probably have 4-5 weeks left. All 4 of these girls are with just 5 weeks of Veg.

I'm getting ready to start 2 Auto flowers in SIP's this week so I cleaned out 2 of my buckets from the last grow. Thought I'd post a few pics of the root system. First off, I turned my buckets upside down to get the soil out; so the pics are upside down too. In this first pic you can see how the roots really concentrate right at the top of the res. You can see the thick band of roots. But as you can see the roots don't go down into the water res. for the most part.

In this next pic you can see where the roots grew down the side where the Air Gap is. They were about 1/2" thick.

A pic of the res with roots removed from the Air Gap side.

Got everything all washed up & ready to go. Now to get off my lazy ____ & get to planting.... lol.

Fabulous report, Buds!
Thanks for sharing that! Those roots are amazing!
I am looking forward to seeing how you do with your autos!

 

[CBDMed]

Great pics, Buds! Thanks for sharing. Those really show how the roots are the smaller feeder roots.

Hey Azi, sorry, may I please ask some clarification?
When you say "smaller feeder roots", are you talking about the spreader roots? (i.e., my terminology needs to be updated?
And if so, do you still advocate putting more emphasis on getting the tap root down to the reservoir quickly? Or feeding the spreader roots (smaller feeder roots)?
Thanks.

 

[Will11]

Just finished watching a bunch of the Build A Soil episodes with the Earthbox. Does anyone use a mulch cover with the grobucket? I don’t plan on top dressing just feeding in the reservoir. Is it ok that the top layer of soil gets dry? Thanks for the help!

 

[Azimuth]

And if so, do you still advocate putting more emphasis on getting the tap root down to the reservoir quickly? Or feeding the spreader roots (smaller feeder roots)?

With SIPs, you're not trying to build roots like you do with the wet/dry cycle. For a new seedling, I like to water just enough to keep the thing going but the roots will quickly find the reservoir and then will take care of themselves. And it only takes a matter of days for that to happen.

My comment about getting feeder roots is that these are what you end up with with these pots, not that you have to do snything special to achieve that.

 

[Azimuth]

Just finished watching a bunch of the Build A Soil episodes with the Earthbox. Does anyone use a mulch cover with the grobucket? I don’t plan on top dressing just feeding in the reservoir. Is it ok that the top layer of soil gets dry? Thanks for the help!

I do. I usually put a nice thick layer of leaf mold on mine which seems to help establish roots starting from the very top and probably because that top layer of soil doesn't dry out. That said having the very top layer dry out can help with certain pests that like a wetter top layer.

Since the plant has access to all of the water it wants down below it doesn't seem to hurt much if it does dry out, but for a living, organic soil having some moisture all the way to the top is beneficial. I usually mist my mulch layer to keep it active as well.

 

[Krissi Carbone]

Updating with another set of "pre and post feed with self-feed pots" pics , and for the record, NOT PREGNANT. I think the new little ones I was referring to were either my new pots or younger plants! One and done for me @ReservoirDog

But without further adieu...

AT  FEED

30 hours post feed

Cultiuana CT-720 Winter Grow 22-23

• Krissi Carbone
• Oct 31, 2022
• autoflower big bull blueberry cannapot ct-720 cultiuana gelato-k gorilla glue super lemon haze grow journal i49 seeds kannabia photoperiods sirius black weed seeds express zombie death

Cultiuana CT-720 Winter Grow 22-23
8 ASSORTED
DAYS 26/27

Cultiuana CT-720 Winter Grow 22-23

• Krissi Carbone
• Oct 31, 2022
• autoflower big bull blueberry cannapot ct-720 cultiuana gelato-k gorilla glue super lemon haze grow journal i49 kannabia photoperiods sirius black weed seeds express zombie death

Cultiuana CT-720 Winter Grow 22-23
8 ASSORTED
DAYS 26/27

 

[Emilya Green]

They seem to like it in there

 

[Krissi Carbone]

They seem to like it in there

My little girls I will never have lol

They love the light, I see your early flowering girls really do, too! Like you said, between that and these types of pots/buckets, it's all systems go girlfriend

 

[Emilya Green]

Just finished watching a bunch of the Build A Soil episodes with the Earthbox. Does anyone use a mulch cover with the grobucket? I don’t plan on top dressing just feeding in the reservoir. Is it ok that the top layer of soil gets dry? Thanks for the help!

I have been thinking about it... I can't see a downside to it, as long as I can get my topdressed nutrient down in there. In lieu of that, I am thinking about sealing the top with a lid or plastic. I am starting to like my thoughts of cutting a 6mil piece of plastic sheeting just big enough to cover the surface, with its biggest plus the ability to quickly remove it for feeding and top watering.

 

[Gidorah]

Been lurking for a couple of months now and wanted to introduce myself. First grow ever, using SIP's because I found some grow journals here that were having great success so thank you innovators and risk takers. I put a small GMO Cookies clone, 2nd pic, in a 5 gal SIP and it took off, I can see growth everyday.

I started a Lemon Haze auto, 1st pic, from seed in a 5 gal SIP and it struggled for 2 weeks but with a little nutrient help, it is now doing well. I need to do an experiment with 2 seeds, one direct sowed in a 5 gal SIP and one in a solo cup, then transplanted into a 5 gal SIP and compare to be 100% sure. Great group, thanks to everybody!

 

[Krissi Carbone]

I have been thinking about it... I can't see a downside to it, as long as I can get my topdressed nutrient down in there. In lieu of that, I am thinking about sealing the top with a lid or plastic. I am starting to like my thoughts of cutting a 6mil piece of plastic sheeting just big enough to cover the surface, with its biggest plus the ability to quickly remove it for feeding and top watering.

Sounds good Em, I have to remind myself you use @GeoFlora Nutrients and I should know by now lol but you have a good plan and I know you will keep us informed!

Been lurking for a couple of months now and wanted to introduce myself. First grow ever, using SIP's because I found some grow journals here that were having great success so thank you innovators and risk takers. I put a small GMO Cookies clone, 2nd pic, in a 5 gal SIP and it took off, I can see growth everyday.

I started a Lemon Haze auto, 1st pic, from seed in a 5 gal SIP and it struggled for 2 weeks but with a little nutrient help, it is now doing well. I need to do an experiment with 2 seeds, one direct sowed in a 5 gal SIP and one in a solo cup, then transplanted into a 5 gal SIP and compare to be 100% sure. Great group, thanks to everybody!

Looking awesome bud and great training! Welcome!

I personally don't start in SIPs. In fact. I think the only time we see any issues is early on if started in a SIP. But they always recover and do very well!

Thanks for sharing your pics with us and feel free to chat anytime, Azi loved company as much as I do and the rest of us frolicking here!

 

[Will11]

Hey Will! I am a newbie and this is my first run with SIPs. Just to add one more point, Buds uses supersoil (to make up for the fact that it is only 4 gallons).
(Others top feed and water just enough, so it does not hit the reservoir. Your mileage may vary).

Thanks EG! I have used super soil in the past with some success. That might be the way to go. I’d love to know if @Buds

Hey Will! I am a newbie and this is my first run with SIPs. Just to add one more point, Buds uses supersoil (to make up for the fact that it is only 4 gallons).
(Others top feed and water just enough, so it does not hit the reservoir. Your mileage may vary).

Thanks EG! That’s good to know. I wonder if @Buds Buddy uses any other nutrients. I love to figure out the right combo. His roots looked amazing!