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

[WildBill]

I always thought that direct uv light on the soil surface was detrimental to microbial life?

I definetly could be wrong about that tho..

The plastic will absorb the UV, even clear.
I wouldn't use it because of the worms not coming to the top, but that's me.

 

[simoiget]

The plastic will absorb the UV, even clear.
I wouldn't use it because of the worms not coming to the top, but that's me.

good point..I have thought about that too..gotta keep the workers happy!

 

[Organic Sinse]

The bright spot in the tent is this samsquanch which is definetly in beast mode right now and growing visibly every day

View attachment 1313305

View attachment 1313306

Coming up on day 30 which is usually when I top dress so will plan on doing that within the next few days

Top dress will be gaia green bloom formula plus castings and kelp maybe a little alfalfa I will try to top water it in with aloe water and microbial mass...

The sun has never hurt my outside soil, so I don't worry about a little UV. You can kill small plants by baking them under clear plastic on a sunny day, but for what you are doing it won't hurt a thing.
cheers
os

 

[simoiget]

Top dress done on the Sam og.Gaia green recommends 1tbsp per gallon but I'm always a chicken with amendments and went at about 3/4 strength with a mix of their bloom and all purpose formulas. Added a sparing amount of kelp and barley. Covered with a mix of my castings and sea soil compost.I top watered in with aloe water and microbial mass.

The plants are responding well to the warmer temps but I think it will be too little too late for the 2 runts. No worries tho they are healthy little runts and should be good for an ounce or 2 of nice buds.which is always better than no ounce or 2 of nice buds!! At least they look like they will be done quick and I can start up a couple more and try agian

Peace and happy growing all

Sam og going strong

Top dressed

Forgotten cookies mini beast

Tent shot

 

[simoiget]

Question for thought for all my fellow SIP growers @Fermented_Fruitz/Mark @WildBill @Organic Sinse and anyone else who would like to chime in ...after you top dress do you top water in your amendments? how often and how much water?

In my previous grows I have not top watered in my amendments but this time I will try it.I plan to try to top water about once a week to get the amendments to travel down into the medium.I wonder if this is even necessary? I sort of relied on the worms to break down the amendments but I feel like that may be too slow of a process and may have contributed to the calcium deficiency I ran into in my previous grows?

I would prefer not to top water as I find it counter intuitive in the SIPs.in theory the soil should be at the perfect moisture level and I feel like I am over watering when I top water. I plan to let the res draw down before top watering , but I also don't want to let the soil dry out too much.

despite the mulch covers I don't think there is any/enough condensation happening to provide the desired effect

I also wonder if my previous practice of not top watering led to the amendments concentrating in the top portion of the soil and then led to the crazy surface root growth I had in my last grow? the roots coming to the surface for the nutrients?

 

[WildBill]

You can top water, just in limited amounts. I think half a gallon was too much in a reg EB. I backed it down to a quart. Washing the amendments into the media is not really what you want to do, unless you're talking about washing the amendment thru your cover., but I really don't like that either.
I mainly used top watering to deliver SST and Boost.
Your feeder roots were there because of the food there9top dressings) and moisture. I think it's a good thing.

 

[Fermented_Fruitz]

I have been alternating topwatering this time around since been using my knf inputs cuz not good putting them down the reservoir cuz ph drops the longer the solution sits so just topwatering it in makes life easy! Full size earthbox holds 1cu ft of soil/ 3 gal of water and if I let reservoir go dry and then wait like 36hrs I can topwater in about a gallon before it starts running thru into the rez! Have u popped the cover and found a nice mycelium layer on top of your box cuz that’ll let u know if moisture level is good up there!
2 examples......
Living soil WITHOUT a cover on box

Here’s what it’ll do under the cover when the moisture level is correct!

Also did u leave room to be able to add compost and castings during grow! If u put down your dry amendments and then cover with a small layer of either then it’ll help pull those amendments down into soil without the need to topwater them in!

 

[Fermented_Fruitz]

Oh and roots popping out surface of soil is normal on these boxes! That’s them searching for oxygen etc so they’ll come out the surface as long as u keep a cover on the box!

 

[Organic Sinse]

Question for thought for all my fellow SIP growers @Fermented_Fruitz/Mark @WildBill @Organic Sinse and anyone else who would like to chime in ...after you top dress do you top water in your amendments? how often and how much water?

In my previous grows I have not top watered in my amendments but this time I will try it.I plan to try to top water about once a week to get the amendments to travel down into the medium.I wonder if this is even necessary? I sort of relied on the worms to break down the amendments but I feel like that may be too slow of a process and may have contributed to the calcium deficiency I ran into in my previous grows?

I would prefer not to top water as I find it counter intuitive in the SIPs.in theory the soil should be at the perfect moisture level and I feel like I am over watering when I top water. I plan to let the res draw down before top watering , but I also don't want to let the soil dry out too much.

despite the mulch covers I don't think there is any/enough condensation happening to provide the desired effect

I also wonder if my previous practice of not top watering led to the amendments concentrating in the top portion of the soil and then led to the crazy surface root growth I had in my last grow? the roots coming to the surface for the nutrients?

I would water them in. You may want to let the res run low, not out, when you do this. For sure as others mention, apply a thin coat of compost or vermicompost over the top dressing if you can. it breaks down faster and prevents a crust from forming.
cheers
os

 

[gringuito98]

I would water them in. You may want to let the res run low, not out, when you do this. For sure as others mention, apply a thin coat of compost or vermicompost over the top dressing if you can. it breaks down faster and prevents a crust from forming.
cheers
os

That‘s the way it should be done, IMHO.
And -once again- it isn’t a good idea to keep the box uncovered or use alternative covers (most likely the reason for smaller plants than usual). The plastic cover is needed to keep moisture at an uniform level from bottom to top of your soil, this makes sure that roots grow to their max and dressings break down as needed. You don‘t have to let the res. dry out if you want to top water. I use to top water my box (regular Earthbox) weekly, 1 liter of water, ec 0,3 with aloe vera, humic and fluvic acids and some beneficial bacteria and my girls love it. Just pour it in very slowly and don’t use more than 1/4 to a 1/3gal of water. I always grow 2 plants in one box and I pour it in right between them. There is no over watering taking place because the system regulates the level of moisture by itself! With other words: if you increase moisture through top watering the wicking process slows down until the „normal level of moisture“ is reached again.

cheers and happy growing