slowandeasy
Cultivators Club
I think I happen to see some reslly nice Sour Cracks somewhere else recently?! Nice work over there. Im behind you, these 2 had nice tails and were planted about 24 hours ago. My first time using these homemeade SIPs too. Im gonna go put 1/2 gal more in them. They hold 1 gal. But should have wicked up some by now and zi only put 1/2 gal in the other day. With SIPs u want the Rez to stay somewhat full at all times if possible. Its ok to let the rez go low, but not too low for too long. It can dry out and not effect the plants...but if you do it too much or for too long you can cause issues. It is almost impossible to over water, becaise of the overflow holes. BUT when the plants are young or when you plant SEEDS DIRECTLY you dont need to water the rez daily. When planting directly in SIPs you want the soil to wick up the water enough to keep it moist....not wet.
So my personal technique is to keep the Rez 1/2 full vs full for the first few weeks. This prevents excessive moisture during the first 3 weeks of life when roots seek moisture the most and can be drastically slowed down due to overmoist soil. You can have overly moist soil and techniqually not be "over watering". Plants may look fine on top, but lack a dense root system in the soil. If you keep the Rez 1/2 full, I see faster growth during this time vs keeping it full. During the first 3 weeks I only water the Rez to overflow 1x. That is the initial.day I prep my soil. Fill it to overflow and let it wick up the water. I dont add water for the first 5 to 7 days to the Rez. The roots are not lsrge enough and the plants are barely growing yet...so covered soil with zero root systems dont dry out quickly! Moist NERVER wet during these first 3 weeks, not mstter how you grow...this will.provide the roots the best opprotunity snd conditions to seek moisture. Too wet = slow motion growing of roots and plants. So I have to see how long these plants will take to use up their water supply, as I made these SIPs and its first time trying them. Best to go slow and use 1/2 full rez tech. Epecially when directly planting the seeds. The starter soil has plent of moisture in it because I hand sprayed it and let the SIPs sit overnight before planting to wick up moisture fro. REZ. I know what to expect from Earthboxes, Mine hold less soil, so we will see how these do. Good thing is tbat you csn always handwater from.the top if you ever feel like the wicking is not enough. I can also add another wicking pipe if needed. I have 1 pipe and then the corners each have a small section that is filled with soil snd able to wick up from rez. Should work perefectly I dont expect the need for more wicking. Im excited to get these going, tkmorrow should be day 1. I will add pics when they break the surface. Peace, slow.
