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

[simoiget]

[/ATTACH]

Interesting thread! I am absolutely in love with my Earthbox and very happy with my grows, so I will share my experience so far:

Earthboxes work best if they are used as described on their homepage. Use peat based soil, fill it 1-2 inches above the rim, cover it with plastic ... that’s the best way to keep this system running, because level of moisture is perfect from top to bottom, microbes can do their work and break down the food. The „wild root grow“ is exactly what you want to archive. Roots are getting enough oxygen, believe me.
Main problem: we growers! Try to keep it simple and you will have great results and less issues. I‘ve observed a lot of Earthbox grows and in 9 out of 10 cases, the results aren‘t as good as they could be. The 2 reasons are:
1. Wrong setting (uncovered, wrong cover, dry res., ...)
2. Overdoing it (mostly in terms of a too frequent feeding)

Keep it a simple as possible ... maybe it‘s boring but the plants will thank you. My plants get a dry grow amendment which I work into the soil a couple of days before seeds are planted and I water it in with some goodies (ben. bacteria, fluvic and humic acid, mycorrhiza). Every other week I top water a bit more than a 1/4 gal (same goodies). At day 35 (+/-) a dry bloom amendment will be carefully worked into to top layer and watered in very slowly, this time using 1/2 up to 3/4gal water containing the same goodies as described above. I use peat based soil and I mix RO with tap water, ec=0,3. Never experienced any cal-mag def or other issues. A bit of silica may be a good idea if growing organically, but that‘s all what is needed.

By the way ... some people recommend to keep res halfway full ..... the water level doesn‘t have any consequence to the medium‘s level of moisture at all, that‘s physics. It isn’t necessary to keep it full all the time but don‘t let it get/remain empty.

Cheers and happy growing!

Thanks for your input! Everyone else too! I too have been using sips for a few runs now and I love them and have had good success

Thanks for sharing your system and we have very similar approaches.. and believe me I am all about keeping it simple!

I have seen many growers do very well with running their system with full res, mulch covers etc.

I do suspect my issue may be caused by the lime I have added so I will not be using going forward

I got the idea for the drying of the res from this discussion..



The sip info starts around 30min mark..and I do add compost plus my homemade castings to my soil mix

I always remember what @MrOldBoy used to say.."hydro results in living soil" ..and I know that is possible but I just want to understand as much as possible of the "why"

These are some shots of my previous grows all various @mephisto strains

 

[WildBill]

I watched that vid and along with the series. It's what made me choose how my next run will work.

 

[simoiget]

Quick update...day 11

Not much exciting to show/report

Seedlings are happy..double g still looks funky with some twisted leaves but she is keeping up with the others so she stays for now

Temps are 24-27 /daytime and 21 - 23 at night. humidity 65%

Below is tent shot and forgotten cookies baby. The support is preemptive as I thought she was looking a little top heavy.some air movement should help beef up the stem a little

I will update again in a week or 2 when growth starts to take off

 

[simoiget]

All right.. just blazed a beautiful Walter white fatty and it's a beautiful day here in Canada

I felt inspired to post an update..things are still slow but the little babies look the picture of happiness...even the double grape I've been worried about has become a "normie"

I've been just misting the much and soil surface and occasionally filling the res to about half full

In a day or 3 I will top dress a small amount of worm castings and maybe a sprinkle of kelp and barley water in with microbial mass which is a new addition for me this grow.then will mulch a little more straw and I think what I've settled on is running mulch covers but using burlap instead of the plastic aka " shower cap" style....oh yeah and add a few more worm workers too.

I'm thinking the burlap might be the best compromise for a mulch cover..has some of the same benefits as a plastic cover but more breathable...not as bomber for keeping bugs out tho..but imma going to try it...I run BTI in my soil and I find that super effective for fungus gnats..


Double G

Sam og

Forgotten cookies

Tent shot

 

[nizmoKush]

I'm new to SIP containers gonna follow this along. Waiting for some FB to get here and I can start on my earthbox jr

 

[Sour D]

Ya water quality is crucial! How I realized mines loaded with chloramine and other nasty stuff! Mine smells like bleach coming out the tap so I don’t drink it and won’t give it to the plants! They’d prob move if I fed em that water! Come gone to empty pots!

According to the county, our well water isn't fit for human consumption so I have ro system that also adds in "good stuff" which is the side I've been using since going organic. Maybe I'll try the ro side for a bit. Still having issues with yellowing/rust spots that starts at the top suggesting manganese deficiency. Made some WSCALMAG and gonna try spraying the stems

 

[Sour D]

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

I make my own from homedepot totes. One issue I think I have is I scaled up the water rez and I think the nutes etc don't get cycled through fast enough and maybe instead of figuring enough amendment for the gallon of water I'm adding, I should be figuring for the 3 gallons in the rez?
Leighton Morrison promotes the Horizons layer system and the first layer is rock and coarse sand that creates a sand filter. Thinking of trying it in my next box. Aside from this lockout issue in bloom I love the sips. I have 3 plants going now with 2 in sips and 1 in living soil pot. Didn't have any issue with the pot but the plant was half the size of the sip girls. The potted one got cut down last Sun and the sips are only about 2% amber.

 

[Sour D]

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

One of the things I did with my boxes is to put the drain opposite end of the fill to help push through the old water.

 

[Fermented_Fruitz]

2 plants in 1 box seems to be kicking some ass so far! Topdressed small amount of the HG kashi back when I was still making up some food for them!

Bottom pic is knf way of making WCaP but also have a jar going I made using modern natural farming recipe for making WCaMg and already got WCa made from eggshells! Plants seem to be loving this stuff tho and are happier then I have seen them in a good while!

 

[WildBill]

I'm new to SIP containers gonna follow this along. Waiting for some FB to get here and I can start on my earthbox jr

Watch this series!!!