Believe me when I say good luck with that. My rooms were continually dry year round (10-20% RH during the winter; 20-40% during the wet seasons), so I figured it wouldn't be an issue using SIP trays. I ended up running my exhaust + dehumidifier 24/7 and still couldn't keep it where I wanted during the wet season, so I took them out of the room and dissembled the lumber. What I would do now, as they were incredibly easy to use and provided fantastic growth rates in comparison to hand watering, is emulate CW's self sealed SIP trays, or even the bucket in a bucket method for smaller areas. I plan on getting some stainless steel boxes made, with the top open, to act as the container for my soil. I'll fill the bottom area with lava rock + perlite, insert a plastic tube and then line the box + sip bed with thick landscape fabric, to allow for oxygen exchange (like a smart pot). My soil would then go on top of the liner, SIP tray filled with water and the soil moistened from above to start the wick. This would both allow for more gas exchange than CW's sealed container method while preventing the excessive humidity of open trays. Just my 2c.
Your 2c was worth much more than my thoughts. Again, experience is the best teacher. Would you have the fabric up against the 'walls' of your box, or would you allow some room between for the roots to air prune themselves like fabric pots?
GiMiK , FWIW my room is within 2-4% above ambient. I do have 2x 12" intakes with fans and 6" s-series vortex on the scrubber running 24/7. My ambient RH is anywhere from 30-70 depending on the weather.
I got the 6" s series vortex. I think it is a nice fan. I don't seem to have issues with my humidity tho
Has anyone taken this idea outdoors? Im running my first sip indoors growing a GC growers strain. My tray is a little tall but it's working great. This clone has way outperformed her mother. More N and the SIP pots take all the credit. I have very limited experience growing indoors but I'm thrilled with the results. Golden Gun seeds bred by Hillbilly Out for better pics
I believe quite a few have in the least tried it outdoors. stevebomb: Is yours sitting under anything to keep rain from getting in the reservoir? More specifically curious how you handle algae growth if any.
Covering the perlite layer w/ landscape fabric helps keep out the light and algae growth. When it rains, like all this week, I have taken the pots off the sip tray and bring the tray under cover, and leave the plants out in the rain.
Thinking more of it, I opted from giving it a try just because I move my pots around outdoors to spots that could use some good soil around them. Let the rain Leach some into the barren dirt of my yard and turn it into soil. Plus sometimes I get worms
Ha! I don't believe I've ever said that before. I know other people do the landscape fabric deal, though.
I was thinking about doing a big SIP outdoors, like 100 gallons on top of a kiddy pool, but the perlite getting nasty is a concern. I figured I'd just embrace it and try to keep the microbes on the beneficial side somehow with acts or lacto maybe? And I could always rinse the perlite once a week or so running extra water over it to keep it fresh. I'm still thinking it out. Once the pot is filled with soil there would be no going back. Any input or ideas would be appreciated.
I've never seen a 100# in real life, only 50#. How much of the pool's surface space do you figure the pot will cover? IMO the more the better, considering where you live and the drought that you folks are going through... I'd try to size the res' to the footprint of the pot, and cover whatever excess res' area there is with a double layer of landscape fabric and a thick layer of mulch, like wood chips. Don't forget to install a length of PVC tubing so you can see the water level underneath all that covering. It's important to keep a good layer of air in between the top water level in the res' and the bottom of your pot. If you do this, please remember to post up progress. I would love to see how effective this is outside. Might give it a shot myself, but only in 20#s.
The pool and the 100g are so close to the same size that it seems ment to be. I'll definitely post pics. I'll either be showing off my success or warning people not to follow my stupid idea lol. I think it will work and it might help keep the plant cool in our crazy summer heat. Fingers crossed.