Hey guys, So some of you may remember my thread I posted a little while back about my plants going through some challenges my last couple of harvests. I narrowed it down to a couple of different factors & am looking for advice on how to proceed as I want this next run to be absolutely stellar. I typically have always mixed my own soil & this time, due to continuing issues the last two mixes, plus a ridiculously busy schedule, I opted to buy from BAS as a local hydro shop was placing an order with them & I did not have to pay shipping. Funny thing was it only came to about an extra $100 over building my own which was awesome. For those of you that did not see my previous thread, I run 20 gallon Rain Science fabric pots & typically have been having quite a bit of runoff & that got me thinking about trying a SIP set up out, however, I have never done this before & while I have gone through threads dealing with this, I'd like some direct advice based on my situation. I cannot use Blumats or beds due to being in a second floor & any chance of flooding is an absolute no for me. This being said, I have been having my plants sit in plant trays on an elevator & have been wet vacuuming the excess water out once a week or so as, like I said, I have been getting quite a bit of runoff due to my aeration being far too much in this mix. I have had years of cultivating in this way that have worked amazing yet I am also looking to increase yield & be more efficient as, for instance, having to wet vacuum every 5-7 days is a PITA lol. So, my questions for each of you are first, aside from doing my traditional barley straw mulch layer & KNF inputs every other week, are there any suggestions you guys would recommend to keep my soil/plants healthy? Second, is it worth it to go with a SIP? I can only make it over to my grow every other day & did see some mention of SIPS needing to be watered multiple times per day which is one of the main reasons I wanted to make this thread. Typically I water with anywhere from 1-2 gallons every other day & it works, yet this last mix has been extra work due to the wet vacuuming, which is NOT what usually happens. Also, I have seen mention of using a fabric pot like mine on top of lava rock & I have also seen some people speaking of putting my fabric pot into a bigger pot with lava rock on the bottom of it...are there any benefits to one over the other? Thank you guys for taking the time to read all of this & I am happy to answer any questions you may have. P.S. I have a total of 2000 watts of LED lighting over a SOG pvc frame that is about 8x6 in a 10x10x12 room FWIW, any tips are appreciated!
2 1/2 weeks is the longest I've gone with an effective SIP. Took off to Egypt for vacation...had no worries, came back to healthy plants. SIP was made of perlite with fabric pots. Container was one of those 3 foot long under the bed plastic shoe storage containers.
The 5 wicking cups stand slightly higher then the support plate and have slits in the sides to admit water. Support cups Window screen over the vent holes I could have just used a ton of 1/4 inch holes. Fill pipe has a notched bottom so the water flows well. Had to tear the first one down as it took an hour to fill. Overflow hole is drilled just below the support plate leaving a 1 inch air gap. The 15 and 5 gallon versions are still in use 10 years on.. The small ones dried to fast here. I Can go a week or so even with a large flowering plant between fillups. BNW
