NoobwannaB's Fabric Pot SIP method (works with hard pots too)

[Tonygreen]

I love my smart pots, watering can be a pain in a crowded room for me. I just might give this a shot! Thanks for taking time to post here.

 

[2 Legal Co]

Q; Does perlite do anything to the PH, and or hardness,,, of the water? I don't remember. Hep me out here pls...

 

[noobwannaB]

Hey noobwannaB, I like your thread, you have some useful information. I recently went to some homemade sip pots made from 5 gal buckets. I like you perlite set up. Do you think this set up would aslo work soiless? Fill pots with perlite instead of dirt. Of coarse I would have to add nutes. Whats your input please.
P.S. I am new hear just joined when I saw your thread.

Sure, but then it would be called a hempy bucket
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=98419&highlight=hempy+buckets

Welcome to the board btw!! I'm pretty new here myself, but so far it seems pretty cool.


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[noobwannaB]

Q; Does perlite do anything to the PH, and or hardness,,, of the water? I don't remember. Hep me out here pls...

Hey 2 Legal...I have to say I dunno. With organic soil I never have to worry about that so I never thought to check. I'll look around and see what I can find on the subject and report back if I find anything.
My guess would be no....but then again, I've been wrong before.

added: checked a few resources and found perlite is a fairly neutral ph
Here's just one http://www.schundler.com/hort.htm
I'm sure if you do a google search you'll come up with the same result.
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[Javadog]

Late post...made no sense out of context

 

[2 Legal Co]

Hey 2 Legal...I have to say I dunno. With organic soil I never have to worry about that so I never thought to check. I'll look around and see what I can find on the subject and report back if I find anything.
My guess would be no....but then again, I've been wrong before.

added: checked a few resources and found perlite is a fairly neutral ph
Here's just one http://www.schundler.com/hort.htm
I'm sure if you do a google search you'll come up with the same result.
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Thx Noob; Like I said CRS.

 

[ziggestardust]

I wasn't too impressed of the fabric "pots" I built. Since I lack the knowledge to build stuff out of fabric in general I decided to try another approach.

The problem for me in using smartpots is that I need to maximize the size of the pots to exactly fit the room. This also implies the pots need to be square.

Moreover, buying 32 smartpots at $7 (europe!) each would set me back over $200, which I cannot afford.

Because of this I have been doing some preliminary research regarding paper pots - that is large scale origami pots.

I will go buy the material needed today and report back in another thread after evaluating. Including a tutorial on how to calculate pot size and how to fold them.

I hope this doesn't interfere with your thread, NooB?

Peace, Z!

 

[2 Legal Co]

For those of you wanting/needing, and alternative to expensive premade Smarties.

Couple of suggestions. You can use chicken wire, and weed stopper/landscaping fabric to line them with. Or even line them with old sheeting, or any fabric that's big enough, or you can sew together.

By the way untreated Cotton Canvas would be a good material, if it's available. Scrap is normally sold by the pound. I got some years ago at a Tent & Awning manufacturer. The Treated stuff would last longer,,, but probably won't wick properly.

I've read elsewhere on IC, of people using the fabric type/reusable grocery bags as pots. I'm probably going to give the grocery bags a go this round.

If they don't work out....... well, I have been known to be a cloth butcher ... and my old Singer 3115 industrial does need exercise. Bought it to make 'fitted' covers for my boat/s, years ago.

edit; Has anyone tried using plastic 'screen wire' as a liner for a wire pot?

 

[noobwannaB]

For those of you wanting/needing, and alternative to expensive premade Smarties.

Couple of suggestions. You can use chicken wire, and weed stopper/landscaping fabric to line them with. Or even line them with old sheeting, or any fabric that's big enough, or you can sew together.

By the way untreated Cotton Canvas would be a good material, if it's available. Scrap is normally sold by the pound. I got some years ago at a Tent & Awning manufacturer. The Treated stuff would last longer,,, but probably won't wick properly.

I've read elsewhere on IC, of people using the fabric type/reusable grocery bags as pots. I'm probably going to give the grocery bags a go this round.

If they don't work out....... well, I have been known to be a cloth butcher ... and my old Singer 3115 industrial does need exercise. Bought it to make 'fitted' covers for my boat/s, years ago.

edit; Has anyone tried using plastic 'screen wire' as a liner for a wire pot?

All excellent suggestions/alternatives 2 Legal! Many of them (grocery bags, cotton) may not last through more than one grow, but I see no reason they wouldn't work. I thought about trying to make a few out of canvas myself

As for the screen, I'm sure it would work, but not sure it would work with this system...plastic doesn't wick If you just used it around the sides though and left the bottom fabric only, it'd be perfect!

They do make square smart pots, but they are even more expensive than the round ones and relatively new and scarce. Square pond plant pots (I have one) work and are usually cheaper than smarties. There are also off brand fabric pots. Paper...I'd be skeptical about. Maybe a thick cardboard box reinforced with some wire or chicken wire might get through a grow though, I dunno.

I'm a small scale grower ...usually 2 or 3 plants at a time. This run I'm growing 6 because my strain selection got away from me and I plan to take a break for the summer and actually enjoy OUTDOOR gardening this year, so I bought a few smarties here, a few there to replace my hard pots. Same with my soil amendments. On a limited income I could never afford to buy it all at once either. Didn't stop me from doing a few at a time though


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[ziggestardust]

Actually these didn't turn out too shabby. I made several sizes, this is the small one.



They wick pretty well sitting on the hydroton but they are pretty fragile when wet. They could be a good alternative for smaller plants before planting in the final pot.

Cost pennies to make, are completely bio degredable and made out of recycled paper. Pretty fancy too and REALLY easy to make!

I can post pictures of how I made it if someone wants me to, I also have formulas for selecting paper size to get different sized pots etc.

 

[2 Legal Co]

zigge

What are they made of? Let's see the pics too.

How fragile are they? We get peppers from the nursery in cardboard pots that are supposed to be able to be planted w/o removing the pot. They sorta kinda work that way.

 

[ziggestardust]

zigge

What are they made of? Let's see the pics too.

How fragile are they? We get peppers from the nursery in cardboard pots that are supposed to be able to be planted w/o removing the pot. They sorta kinda work that way.

They are made from that kind of paper material you put on the floor as protection when painting and such. It cost me like $10 and it will make maybe 50 pots.

I wrote a short tutorial, will maybe fill in with more details on the folding when less baked and tired. It is 3 am, lol!

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=5685695&posted=1#post5685695

edit: Oh and they are pretty fragile, heavier - more fragile. I made some huge ass pots but I really don't want to move them when wet

 

[noobwannaB]

I've seen all kinds of things like this before for seed starting...everything from paper towel and toilet paper rolls to newspaper (better if secured with a bit of twine or something. A bit too fragile for anything besides starts though imo.

http://tipnut.com/make-seed-starting-pots-from-newspaper/

If I were going to use this method on a larger scale I'd invest in some fabric and make my own pots...you can make them as big as you want and square, or whatever your heart desires. If you don't have a sewing machine (or don't care to use one) you could always fold over the seams and use a stapler.

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[2 Legal Co]

I've seen all kinds of things like this before for seed starting...everything from paper towel and toilet paper rolls to newspaper (better if secured with a bit of twine or something. A bit too fragile for anything besides starts though imo.

http://tipnut.com/make-seed-starting-pots-from-newspaper/

If I were going to use this method on a larger scale I'd invest in some fabric and make my own pots...you can make them as big as you want and square, or whatever your heart desires. If you don't have a sewing machine (or don't care to use one) you could always fold over the seams and use a stapler.

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Never thought of using a stapler; good thinking, for those w/o a machine.

Zigge; Thx for the explanation. Origami special.

Yup, maybe for starters.

 

[noobwannaB]

Never thought of using a stapler; good thinking, for those w/o a machine.

Zigge; Thx for the explanation. Origami special.

Yup, maybe for starters.

I use my mini stapler for all KINDS of things Safety pins too....
The staples would eventually rust, but they'd get you through a grow I bet...then you can remove/restaple after washing the material for the next grow.

You could also do something like this

They're pond planters and cheap...3-4 bucks. You could wrap them in canvas/felt/weedblock (for the wick) and attach with twine or even wrap the top with duct tape.
I have one of these I'm going to be trying soon...

The possibilities are endless really, but the principal is the same


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[ziggestardust]

So what is really the drawback of having 2" of perlite in the bottom of hard pots and have them standing in water?

I think my setup is landing on a no-till solid chunk of soil in the entire room. The paper bags are bio degradable so when filled up I might just leave them there until they become one. In this case it would be a good idea to have some weed blocker in between, my guess the hydroton and soil will start to mix and that's no good.

 

[noobwannaB]

So what is really the drawback of having 2" of perlite in the bottom of hard pots and have them standing in water?

I think my setup is landing on a no-till solid chunk of soil in the entire room. The paper bags are bio degradable so when filled up I might just leave them there until they become one. In this case it would be a good idea to have some weed blocker in between, my guess the hydroton and soil will start to mix and that's no good.

Hey, it's your grow...you can do what you want


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[noobwannaB]

Had a few more ideas for fabric pots. You can use those fabric storage cubes that have become so popular if you can find them cheap somewhere....they're usually not much cheaper than a smartie would be though.

Today I bought some landscape fabric, and some craft felt (9x12" sheets) that I'm going to try sewing...I'll report back results and let you all know if they wick (I'm sure the landscape fabric will) when I've had a chance to test them.

I have another pic. My little Bubba Kush is still pretty small in her 1 gal pot, but just look at those big, white hairy roots

No mycos used so far...


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[Yakov]

Subb'ed. Looks interesting.

 

[mpd]

K++ to you! Great idea. I can't use it for my grow, but you have given me something to think about, no doubt. Welcome to ICMAG!