Mephisto Genetics White Crack and Kis Organics Soil

[Organic Sinse]

Hopefully going to build my prototype tote sip tonight, time permitting. Snagged 12g totes, 4" drainage pipe and a couple of 1/2" grommets. If this works out I will decide between a raised platform for everything inside the tent -vs- individual furniture dollys.

The Jr's are doing fantastic. The runt is drinking about a liter a day, the big one about 1.75 liters/day. Only bottom watered, plain water during the week. They get the fancy fixins on the weekend. I really, really, really like the low maintenance of water only during the weekdays.

As soon as my rdwc fugue state finishes up (been 2 weeks out for about a month I think, she's looking ready but zero amber thus far), I'll rip that out of the tent and reconfigure so it's roomier.

Any opinions on if I really need to raise SIPs off the cold basement floor? I think I have to. My tent highs are 74. Lights off it's 65. Ambient is 63-64. The floor though -- gets colder.

I shoot for the following temps with autos. Its most important during the first month, after that they can drop a few degrees and its not a big deal.
In a perfect world:
Soil temp 75'F
Air temp 80'F (lights on)
Leaf temp 78'F
A few degrees lower is ok but you will see slower growth, and possibly have germination issues if starting seeds in the final container.
Living soil is fussier about low temps, than other ways of growing. The natural processes slow down with temps, and cause lock out like symptoms including things that look like cal mag defiency or other unusual things as soon as soil temps drop below 59'F. A good cheap investment is a dial type thermometer with a metal probe. The cheapo units they sell in the cooking section of stores work just fine. Just be sure it has the temp range you need.
I would definitely put something under your container to insulate it from the cold. The 2" foam works great and makes a huge difference. In your situation, I would also make it a point to use water that has been warmed up to around 80'F. ( I live up in AK and play the cold temp game year around).
hth
cheers
os

 

[slowandeasy]

I shoot for the following temps with autos. Its most important during the first month, after that they can drop a few degrees and its not a big deal.
In a perfect world:
Soil temp 75'F
Air temp 80'F (lights on)
Leaf temp 78'F
A few degrees lower is ok but you will see slower growth, and possibly have germination issues if starting seeds in the final container.
Living soil is fussier about low temps, than other ways of growing. The natural processes slow down with temps, and cause lock out like symptoms including things that look like cal mag defiency or other unusual things as soon as soil temps drop below 59'F. A good cheap investment is a dial type thermometer with a metal probe. The cheapo units they sell in the cooking section of stores work just fine. Just be sure it has the temp range you need.
I would definitely put something under your container to insulate it from the cold. The 2" foam works great and makes a huge difference. In your situation, I would also make it a point to use water that has been warmed up to around 80'F. ( I live up in AK and play the cold temp game year around).
hth
cheers
os

Excellent advice. I shoot for 80-85 ambient temps for germ. I have found that the older the seeds, the more important the 80-85 temps become. Auto seeds seem to degrade faster than Photo seeds. Many people who fail to germ or have issues with seeds tend to have more issues this time of year and a matter of 5deg F can mean pass or fail!
My plants are doing well, thanks to all of you! My WC is bulking up nicely. I did top dress the other day, but we all know that it's a little late. She is Yellowing up decently faster than I want to, but that's ok. I know what to expect from now on. I'm actually glad that I held off top Dressing or anything major. I truly have my baseline plant. She is big and was fed Minimal. Now I have about 2 weeks left.

I did order some stuff from Build a Soil. I will top dress with it once it arrives. That will be my last top dressing on those plants.e I also am making popcorn SST for a few of my other plants. I have 3 that are preflowering nicely. I believe @Organic Sinse said to use it at the sign of preflowering and it will help kick start the process faster?! I am right on schedule for these newer plants and will have my Top dressing schedule made up to follow starting this weekend. Sat will be my top Dressing day. I am able to water daily, I opt for No Overflow now. So I use 1/2 to 1 gal each time I water. If the Rez is low it gets 1 gal. If it has water in it, it gets 1/2. This is working Best for me. Now that I am using Tap water, I am so happy that I can use Tap. What a nice change! I can water so fast now. Not having to wait for RO water to fill up jugs. Not having to mix Nutrients is by far the best aspect! I am confident that I will be doing great in a relatively short period of time. I missed the Black Friday sale at Build a Soil, so I took the Silica out of my cart before buying. I can buy some later. I want to try my minor tweaks before using Silica. The Top dressing and Craft Blend will be plenty to use for a couple of weeks. I Will see how the plants look with these 2 items and will order Silica in a few weeks. It is free shipping anyways. Peacez slowandeasy

 

[MMMi]

Soil temps should be lower so unless basement floor is real cold I would leave alone or perhaps fold up a tarp to size and slip under.

I have everything on insulation foam right now, but if I don't have to elevate -- it's one less thing. My RDWC I intentionally wanted on the floor, but not so sure about soil. Might try without. I have a few plastic pallets which would make it easy, but I lose another 6" head clearance.

 

[MMMi]

I shoot for the following temps with autos. Its most important during the first month, after that they can drop a few degrees and its not a big deal.
In a perfect world:
Soil temp 75'F
Air temp 80'F (lights on)
Leaf temp 78'F
A few degrees lower is ok but you will see slower growth, and possibly have germination issues if starting seeds in the final container.
Living soil is fussier about low temps, than other ways of growing. The natural processes slow down with temps, and cause lock out like symptoms including things that look like cal mag defiency or other unusual things as soon as soil temps drop below 59'F. A good cheap investment is a dial type thermometer with a metal probe. The cheapo units they sell in the cooking section of stores work just fine. Just be sure it has the temp range you need.
I would definitely put something under your container to insulate it from the cold. The 2" foam works great and makes a huge difference. In your situation, I would also make it a point to use water that has been warmed up to around 80'F. ( I live up in AK and play the cold temp game year around).
hth
cheers
os

Awesome info. not achievable without some engineering on my part. My air temp is 74 lights on, 68 lights off. Floor temp is probably 66. I run quantums and they just don't get that hot. I can hold them in my hands while running no problem. I have my LED drivers seperated and even tried putting them inside the tent -- made pretty much no difference.

Plus I have to sacrifice a few degrees just to get humidity in the 50% range. Considering changing to a steam humidifier.

This is swaying me to elevate and have an air buffer underneath. Ah well.

 

[MMMi]

Now that I am using Tap water, I am so happy that I can use Tap. What a nice change! I can water so fast now. Not having to wait for RO water to fill up jugs. Not having to mix Nutrients is by far the best aspect!

Did I mention how much I like that as well? I think I might have.

Last nights tasks:

My RDWC: Check PPM ,Check ph, top off, adjust ph
My Cocos: Mix new nutes with RO, wait, check ppms, check phs, adjust, dump in res
My Earthbox: Water from tap

One of those is clearly not like the others

And, if I am being honest... The lazily grown plant looks the best thus far.

 

[MMMi]

A good cheap investment is a dial type thermometer with a metal probe. The cheapo units they sell in the cooking section of stores work just fine. Just be sure it has the temp range you need.

I have some probe thermometers I use for cooking, but I gotta imagine at 20hrs a day lights on, the soil approaches ambient. These are the tent temps over last 24h

 

[MMMi]

I want to try my minor tweaks before using Silica.

Since you seem to be leaning towards teas, have you thought about comfrey or horsetail tea for silica? Or bamboo flakes? Or rice hulls in the soil?

I haven't done or bought anything yet.

 

[MMMi]

Sounds like you are doing well! So I saw some Totes and had a similar idea. I didn't have the 4 inch drain idea though. I was gonna use 2 hydroton baskets as my 2 Wicking baskets. I have a few simple ideas. To be honest, the Juniors are cheap enough, really no need to make your own. But the ORIGINAL is too expensive for a large scale operation.

I used this as inspiration. Didn't have enough time to finish prototype, was going to use some 1" bulkheads I have laying around, but decided I didn't want to deal with 1" tubing. lol

How To Make 30 Gallon Tote SIP Tutorial: Self-Watering, Sub-irrigated Garden Planter -AlboPepper.com

The AlboPepper self-watering 30 gallon tote SIP is a sub-irrigated planter for urban gardens. It wicks up water from a reservoir, which helps to water plants in a drought.

albopepper.com

 

[MrOldBoy]

Soon I’ll be testing the Juniors - having grown only one plant in the Original I have at least an idea what to expect and watching slow as well - coupled along with I grew a few girls in cloth pots at the same time helps, especially since I’m repeating a couple strains - two will get transplanted tomorrow ......

I do believe the Original is a good value especially when cost is spread out over several grows but having said that if I had five Original EarthBox grows I would need a 3x3 tent for each original .....

With respect to soil temps I kept Sam on the floor but had a tarp folded under the pot ..... Knowing soil temps should be lower than the air temps and the fact the water is on the bottom of a SIP Container I opted for NO insulation as I didn’t want my soil at same temps as the air and actually felt the cooler basement floor helped achieve ...... If insulated the soil will likely not be 5 degrees cooler ...... back in the one Reagan Day Grow I did I would keep my gallons of water inside the tent and the water was warm but with Sam I keep water outside in the room and water was around 68-70 degrees when put into the reservoir.

 

[MrOldBoy]

Since you seem to be leaning towards teas, have you thought about comfrey or horsetail tea for silica? Or bamboo flakes? Or rice hulls in the soil?

I haven't done or bought anything yet.

Myself I think zero teas but top dress ..... Grew some comfy over the summer and have some dried for top dressing and food for the worms but no tea .....

As @Organic Sinse said sometimes the best Route is to LTFA - prepare soil, plant and water that’s it - We have a nice plant growing and we try to improve rather than just let it do its thing.