Mephisto Genetics Simoigets SIP grow ..all time favorites of the mephisto variety

[simoiget]

Update: not much going on I find when direct planting that things start pretty slow for the first week as it takes a bit for the roots to establish ..as with so many..or all? aspects of cannabis growing patience is needed! Maybe I would see some faster growth right off the start if I planted in a smaller container and then transplanted to the final container but I love to keep things simple and cut out as many steps as possible.what can I say ..I'm a simple guy!..and lazy!

I'm happy with the environment and progress so far the sam og and forgotten cookies look good and I can see some new growth each day the double grape is looking a little funky with some twisted thin leaves so I'm not sure about that one but will wait it out and give it a chance to establish

It already looks like the forgotten cookies will be the strongest of the bunch and that has been my previous expierience with this strain..very vigorous grower and an all around joy to grow and smoke

I have added some water to the res to fill it about half of it's one gallon capacity just to keep the soil moist throughout. I am also misting the top of the soil with plain water and some aloe flakes and keeping the soil covered with pieces of burlap that I also mist

Below are pics of each of the little babies and also a pic of a random mushroom that popped up..I love it when that happens as it is a great indication of life in the soil!
Double grape looking a little funky

Sam OG

Forgotten Cookies

Little shroom volunteer

 

[Organic Sinse]

thank you kindly @Organic Sinse very good info there. My water is pretty low in everything including calcium and magnesium but `there should be plenty of dolomite left in the soil to provide mag and I have several sources of calcium.

the issue I have been having seems to be a calcium deficiency that is likely the result of cal being locked out. My best hypothesis is that it is because of the semi anaerobic conditions of the earth box causing the soil to become acidic, this is what the dolomite lime should help to correct but I decided against continuing to add lime as I don't want an excess of mag to build up in my soil. Instead I am using gypsum and oyster shell this round in place of dolomite

That is why this run I will try running without the plastic mulch cover and instead I will mulch with straw. I will also let the reservoir run dry before filling it too provide more oxygen to the bottom of the root zone

At any rate I have been very pleased with my results even with the issues I've had I would just like to try to dial things in to see if I can achieve what I think is possible with SIP growing

My water is low in everything as well so I know where your coming from. Have you ever thought that perhaps since the water is wicking up, it’s not getting a chance to pick up calcium from the soil mix. To avoid this I always try to top water quite a bit, and add to the res very minimally. i know topwatering is not the vibe with earth boxes, but it beats a cal deficiency.
Hth
cheers
os

 

[simoiget]

My water is low in everything as well so I know where your coming from. Have you ever thought that perhaps since the water is wicking up, it’s not getting a chance to pick up calcium from the soil mix. To avoid this I always try to top water quite a bit, and add to the res very minimally. i know topwatering is not the vibe with earth boxes, but it beats a cal deficiency.
Hth
cheers
os

no I had not considered that ...but I do plan to top water more this round

Although I have to admit that if one is doing mostly or a lot of top watering...are we really growing in a SIP? kind of just defeating the purpose maybe?

perhaps a bit of a combined top water and wicking SIP will prove to be the answer tho! experimenting is all part of the fun I think

 

[Organic Sinse]

no I had not considered that ...but I do plan to top water more this round

Although I have to admit that if one is doing mostly or a lot of top watering...are we really growing in a SIP? kind of just defeating the purpose maybe?

perhaps a bit of a combined top water and wicking SIP will prove to be the answer tho! experimenting is all part of the fun I think

I build my own sips/swicks and I get best results with top watering, then adding a little water to the res. In the res I just add a little bit more water than she can wick up in a day.
When I grow really big plants, think 12 or more ounces, I usually top water to capacity, then add say a half to one gallon of water to the res. Using that strategy is the only time I get cal deficiency. I have learned that top watering to capacity two times a day, and adding just a little to the res eliminates this. My homemade units are 12” deep. I always have roots grow thru the bottom of the wicking felt, and about 6” of the inner side wicking felt. It’s this portion of the roots, that I suspect aren’t getting the calcium, cause they are feeding on straight water. One of the reasons top watering is discouraged in setups like the earth box, is overwatering can result in an unfavorable build up of salts or other things in the res. With your water, soil mix, and amendments buildup is not an issue.
Another option might be using a ‘shower cap’, so that more evaporative water condensates and drips back down into the soil. I’m not a shower cap fan myself, but just throwing ideas out there. The key is having an idea of what could be happening, so that you can correct it. In the big scheme of things, top watering is a pretty easy solution.
hth
cheers
os

 

[Organic Sinse]

Another thing I meant to mention is that wicking only works well for about six inches up from the res. So if you have say, 12” soil depth, the top six inches wouldn’t be getting watered well ( without a ‘shower cap’.
cheers
os

 

[simoiget]

Another thing I meant to mention is that wicking only works well for about six inches up from the res. So if you have say, 12” soil depth, the top six inches wouldn’t be getting watered well ( without a ‘shower cap’.
cheers
os

thought provoking reply as always @Organic Sinse ! and I thank you again for your input. Very interesting about the roots in the straight water of the res. I have had a lot of root growth through my bottom screen as well

I also made my own SIPs and my last grow I experienced some pretty wild root growth on the surface right under the mulch cover I was using.
I will include a pic in the next post below.

My mulch covers last time were made out of contractor garbage bags that I cut to size and secured with the snap lock portion of the lid for the container I used to make the SIP

Im not sure I am a fan of them though either. same with the shower cap style ones that come with the commercial earth box. I like the advantage of reduced pest problems and water retention but I feel that the impermeable nature of the covers does not allow enough oxygenation and contributes to creating anaerobic conditions? Maybe?

at any rate I will try to run without them this round and see how it goes. I do expect this will lead to having to top water more as you said

I will post some pics of the set up below

 

[simoiget]

The first two show the wild root growth I had on my last run

Previous runs I had roots at the surface but not to this extent. I'm not exactly sure why these grew the way they did

This last one just shows the mulch cover I used on my homemade version, commercial eb is the white one

 

[Humanrob]

I will also let the reservoir run dry before filling it too provide more oxygen to the bottom of the root zone

Is this something you have done successfully before, or are trying for the first time?

My understanding has always been that it's best never to let the res dry out, so I never thought to try that. I haven't used sips with autos yet, but when I grew photos in them the best success I had was with using a fish tank bubbler in the res. The roots would grow like wild in the bubble stream, they seemed to love it.

I build my own sips/swicks and I get best results with top watering, then adding a little water to the res. In the res I just add a little bit more water than she can wick up in a day.
When I grow really big plants, think 12 or more ounces, I usually top water to capacity, then add say a half to one gallon of water to the res. Using that strategy is the only time I get cal deficiency. I have learned that top watering to capacity two times a day, and adding just a little to the res eliminates this. My homemade units are 12” deep. I always have roots grow thru the bottom of the wicking felt, and about 6” of the inner side wicking felt. It’s this portion of the roots, that I suspect aren’t getting the calcium, cause they are feeding on straight water. One of the reasons top watering is discouraged in setups like the earth box, is overwatering can result in an unfavorable build up of salts or other things in the res. With your water, soil mix, and amendments buildup is not an issue.
Another option might be using a ‘shower cap’, so that more evaporative water condensates and drips back down into the soil. I’m not a shower cap fan myself, but just throwing ideas out there. The key is having an idea of what could be happening, so that you can correct it. In the big scheme of things, top watering is a pretty easy solution.
hth
cheers
os

I never really had any issues with the top drying out, and I rarely top watered (all of my experience is with sips I've built myself). Sometimes I would top water around 2/3's the way through the grow to add some tea and cal-mag to the soil, but mostly I just kept filling the res. That said, I was using bagged soil, the original concept dry nute "trench", and as mentioned I was growing photos. I've read a bit about living soil, but haven't gone there yet.

I've tried to transfer some of my photo growing techniques to autos just in regular pots, with disastrous affect. Some included using dry time release nutes in various ways, which all failed. I can see how growing autos in sips could present unique challenges. Oddly, I can grow autos outdoors in the ground almost exactly like I grew photos, and have no issues. Perhaps that's because the soil in my raised beds is at this point, "living".

So I have no reliable experience to share in terms of growing autos in sips and I'm following this in order to see what I can learn.

 

[Organic Sinse]

Every auto I have done to date, has been in a sip or swick. Every one I have started in the final container. I think it works wicked great.
I have no experience using synthetics or salts in either dry slow release form or liquid form. Top dressing dry meals, like Kelp meal, alfalfa, and bone meals works really well. I always cover 'top dressed meals' with worm castings or compost.
cheers
os

 

[simoiget]

Is this something you have done successfully before, or are trying for the first time?

My understanding has always been that it's best never to let the res dry out, so I never thought to try that. I haven't used sips with autos yet, but when I grew photos in them the best success I had was with using a fish tank bubbler in the res. The roots would grow like wild in the bubble stream, they seemed to love it.


I never really had any issues with the top drying out, and I rarely top watered (all of my experience is with sips I've built myself). Sometimes I would top water around 2/3's the way through the grow to add some tea and cal-mag to the soil, but mostly I just kept filling the res. That said, I was using bagged soil, the original concept dry nute "trench", and as mentioned I was growing photos. I've read a bit about living soil, but haven't gone there yet.

I've tried to transfer some of my photo growing techniques to autos just in regular pots, with disastrous affect. Some included using dry time release nutes in various ways, which all failed. I can see how growing autos in sips could present unique challenges. Oddly, I can grow autos outdoors in the ground almost exactly like I grew photos, and have no issues. Perhaps that's because the soil in my raised beds is at this point, "living".

So I have no reliable experience to share in terms of growing autos in sips and I'm following this in order to see what I can learn.

Welcome aboard! I too am still learning and working to improve my SIP skills.

My previous grows I always kept the res topped up and never really top watered

I will let the res dram down this time just to provide more oxygen to the base of the soil.

This is in order to reduce any anaerobic or acidic conditions that might be caused or exasperated by having the res always full

I hope that not using the mulch cover will also have the same effect