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Soil SIP vs Earthbox

moonymonkey

Active member
high...only thing i know to do is pour water over the top of soil,only total 2 gallons at a time thats all the resovior holds,then drain that out the over flow hole..pain in butt..i use 5gallons of soil at a time and a moisture meter an probe it in diff. places and eye them to see if they look like they need water and box gets light way.moisture meter between 1-2.thats me...i think the biggest thing for me was mixing the soil with enough water to mak it clump up wen squeezed,break apart if poked for 1 gallon water to 5 gallons of soil,plant the plants water the some ,not to much... DO NOT FILL THE RESOVIOR for me until the box gets light,i use 1 gallon 17 ounces to start.same thing with starting seedlings in this,soil is mixed planted no resovior not filled until its light weight to start some time its 3-4 weeks moisture meter 1-2 prbed in diff. ends of box.peace moon/
 
G

Gr33nSanta

If you have done a proper SIP you will see after harvest how much that upper layer has dried out. No shortage of oxygen in a SIP.

After transplanting I water from above the first time and then I'm good for 2 weeks ish and then after I fill the reservoir every 5 days. I do them all at once. So easy. No guess work!

In my grow journal (link in signature) and my youtube channel (links all over my journal) you can see many SIP grows.

The first was almost 2 years ago and have since converted to almost all SIPs.

So yeah, 2 of my SIPS have been in the grow room since March 2016.

I love them SIPs!
 

moonymonkey

Active member
thnx for posting gr33nsanta+ always want to see what others are doing with there sipper boxes..what fertilizers do you use? I'm under 300wats of 4ft 40 watt dual fixtures..
 
G

Gr33nSanta

thnx for posting gr33nsanta+ always want to see what others are doing with there sipper boxes..what fertilizers do you use? I'm under 300wats of 4ft 40 watt dual fixtures..

that is the part where I am experimenting. My mix the last couple of years, a bit of a hit and miss I am not gonna lie, is simply vermiculite and or perlite with unfinished hillbilly style vermicompost/cold compost.

No amendments.

Ingredients in my compost are constantly changing depending on the time of the year but I guess coffee ground and comfrey would be the most regulars.

This last round I watered all my SIPs with mild liquid seaweed and I might have to start amending at some point but so far everything is working out alright. Like I said my compost mix is really not proper and not consistent and some genetics are simply not as demanding.

For the most part at harvest, depending how much room I have at the top of the sip, I might pull and replant or leave the stalks there and replant next to them, top dress with compost AND worms (always worms in my soil mix since its mostly vermicasting)

sorry my message is all over the place. Maybe I ll post a proper tutorial on my SIPs in my journal at some point if people want to see.
 

moonymonkey

Active member
hey thnx++ i would like to see the tutorial,always want to know what others are doing.. was thinking seaweed to before i read the post..good stuff....peace mm/:dance013:
 
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Cannavore

Well-known member
Veteran
alans video was dope, he seems to know his shit.

any good links to how sips are setup on the mag?

also how does one flush in an earthbox system?

theyre pretty straight forward to get started.


ttUfDs9.jpg


pack your soil (or straight coco which im experimenting with on some boxes) tightly into those two cutouts. those squares are where your water will be wicked up from the rez.

then i take handfuls of my medium and somewhat gently place it on top without making a ton of it fall into the rez (some will fall down, you can't help it). fill it up with your plant(s) in. some people make a lime layer but i havent added one to any of the boxes ive made so far.
i then do a bit of top watering to get everything settled, wait 20min or so for the top watering to take affect and drip into the rez if necessary, then top the rez off til runoff. you shouldn't need to top water your box again. do it only when setting it up the first time.
then i lay some grokashi down and put the cover on. after 24hrs or so you should have a mycelial layer forming. that's when I make a slurry from plain water and earthworm castings and apply it right on top of the mycelial layer similar to how Alan Adkisson does it in that video to mimic cow patties and animal droppings.

it might take a couple days to a week for the box to become alive, but once it's at peak performance it's pretty much auto pilot the rest of the way lol.
if they need food, topdress or foliar. i dont put anything but pure water or water with em1 in the rez.
and flushing isn't really necessary either. earthboxes mimic the way a plant would grow in nature, and nature doesn't flush :)



hope this helps. i'm still a noob so there's probably a lot i'm still just learning about SIP.
 

Cannavore

Well-known member
Veteran
under the hood pics


keep making fresh layers on top lasagna tech style. your roots will thank you
RRtsamU.jpg



you can see where the ewc slurry meets the normal dirt
UOWoNifh.jpg



freshly applied slurry
kPJ4oaUh.jpg



yummy
zGhcgHXh.jpg



experimenting with some dutch white clover around the areas where i cut into the cover to stick the plant through
yrKKI9Sh.jpg
 

moonymonkey

Active member
canvasser,sweet bro. that why i all ways want to know what others are doing,more then one way to does it, id like to definitely wud like to try some of those tips,liking the organic set up!...keep up the tips++i like thick stalks and large buds...thnx man+ peace the moon/:tiphat:
 

moonymonkey

Active member
how long do you grow plant in there? and what else besides worm castings are you using to feed the plant? nice pics++:dance013:
 

moonymonkey

Active member
I'm thinking about modifying your method to my enviorment and using my watering methods dam i hope i can pull it off..thnx again for the great idea! peace mm/
 

Sarcclash

Member
Damn Cannavore! Amazing technique! Gonna have to look at your links.
If I tried that in my present environs, fungus gnats would demolish it. I've had to cease using mychorrizae entirely. Already did a neem drench as preventative, plants are at two weeks from seed pop.
At any rate that soil bench needs about an inch of airspace below it to the res for this style pot to be truly functional. Hopefully there is at least one drain in the side that ensures this.
With the addition of a float and tubing any sip can be watered indefinitely, how anyone can keep away from their plants for extended periods is beyond me, maybe useful in a guerilla grow. SIP's should never flood.
If there aren't any I'd suggest trying it at least in one pot, don't make the hole any larger that a wine cork say, or any size handy plug diameter.
Can't use this style in my micro grow, too much height reduction penalty. Plus strong odors from the res.
I'm going with attached 32oz square h2o2 bottles taped together (ez on ez off) one with the top trimmed off and holes in the bottom filled with a soilless mix of my own. The other is the res untopped with a wick that waters below mid line height of the soil pot. I'll try and post pics soon to the micro grow section and link back here.
This grow has to be pure organic, I haven't had a successful indoor, full organic grow yet. But I think I'm on to something here.
Comments?
 

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