I'm beginning the sip method on one of my plants to see how i like it. As of right now it's just a drip tray with water and lava rocks in it, with a large, flowering plant in a 10 gallon smart pot. How long does it take for the water to initially get from the "reservoir" (in this case the drip tray) through the lava rocks into the soil? If this works out for me i plan on building large,waterproof rectangle boxes large enough for a row of 6 plants, with water and lava rocks. Thanks all, Jake
Why then has the water sat all night and it not worked? Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
A lot of us will topwater the first day we install our sips, this will help establish the adhesion/cohesion links that water needs to travel up the soil to your plants. If you set a dry pot on the SIP, then when the plant 'sucks' out water from it's container, there is no link to the water in your reservoir and there won't be any 'wicking.' So I set my pots on my sip reservoir, drench the pots til runoff, and then I fill my SIP reservoir to the fill line. The next day I can see a lower water level.
Also, just a side note, I like to put a layer of perlite on top of the lava rock right where my pot is sitting so that there's more contact between the bottom of the pot and the wicking material (lava rock, perlite, whatever..). I feel like this helps increase the rate your plants can suck up the water, whether or not it actually does, it makes me feel better lol.
The height h of a liquid column is given by:[25] where is the liquid-air surface tension (force/unit length), θ is the contact angle, ρ is the density of liquid (mass/volume), g is local acceleration due to gravity (length/square of time[26]), and r is radius of tube (length). Thus the thinner the space in which the water can travel, the further up it goes. This means that the smaller the particulate size of the wicking material, the more efficient it is at drawing moisture up to the bottom of the pot... Capillary action - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Show us your sip. It could be a few things. Maybe not enough surface area. Crushed lava rock provides more surface area then uncrushed. Could be an aeration thing. I prefer more aeration in my soil used in SIPS then just regular planters. Vermiculite is known to retain water more then perlite. I like adding some along with other aeration amendments. How deep are your pans and where is the water level? If therrs large chunks of lava rocks and several inches to travel through, you'll definitely need to crush the rocks. Pics will help
Vermiculite also has a decently high CEC so it can help your soil store some nutrients, too. But I tried a soil mix with just vermiculite one time and that shit dried to a brick on top, lol. Everything in moderation.
I feel too stupid to post a pic I used the lava rocks right out of the bag lol! But- I like the idea of the vermeculite I almost chose that over the lava rocks, but I'll use both. I'll report back if this fixes things. Thanks Steve and killer!! Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Definatly gonna attempt this next run under the scrog net ! Much simpler than having to remove run off Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Yeah, and the concept of only having to keep a reservoir full, which most of us do already and the fact it eliminates over and under watering it's really a win win! Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Not vermiculite in the sip. I put some in the soil. I only put lava rocks in the actual sip reservoir. Vermiculite makes up maybe 20% of the total aeriation in my soil if I had to guess. Seems to help maintain moistness. Too much may retain too much moisture, so adjust to your needs.
Don't some people put vermeculite or even perlite in the reservoir? I thought I saw something about that when reading a thread about sip Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Perlite. I've never seen Verm. Anything that wicks would work though. I didn't like perlite because of the mess. I covered the perlite with another smart pot to keep the mess down but it still got everywhere. I would imagine Verm would be the same. Lava rocks are heavy enough to stay put
Definatly win win , seems the logical way to go about it ! Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Would vermiculite be beneficial in the soil mix to help retain the moisture ? Or would this cause rot from retaining to much water ?? Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum mobile app