Last winter I tried a similar method, only to find that peach web of mold on everything in less than a week- of course all with their lives sucked out of them by the gnats and mold. This method works for older plants, my blueberries do excellent, but my figs don't like to have soggy feet.  I found that what really work is to put about an inch of broken down wood chips at the bottom, the chips soak up the water and work as a sponge, but any excess, flows out.

Once a week I sit the pots in a bucket with water, the chips soak up, and once out of the bucket all excess water runs out.  So far, so good, how challenge is to stay alive for the winter. Hope you have a better less moldy city for the cuttings.

I need a safe house/safer way to overwinter a few layers with lignified roots that are promised to fig friends in the Spring. I have done it "my way" in the past but this way looks better. Thanks Frank. Good idea and I am putting it to the test. Five minutes is more than enough time to make two of them.

Repurposed Stuff & Gear: 32 oz yogurt container, 4 oz apple sauce container, straw, soldering iron, scissors, ruler, time.

Photo with the layer to follow...

JD, thanks for posting the pics.  I don't know why I didn't think of using a 32 oz yogurt container.  It's a better shape than the cups which tend to be top-heavy.

I am wondering how this system improves upon an ordinary wick situated in a pot above a source of water mixed with nutrients. I used to grow African violets and we simply put a small wick in the pot above a water source. The SIP method seems to be quite a bit more time consuming to set up. How is the SIP method better?

Milehighgirl, I've never used a wick but you may be correct that you could get the same outcome and spend less time setting it up.  I thought about trying the wick approach a while back but wasn't sure what material was best for the wick itself.  With both systems one needs to consider the wicking ability of the soil used.  I'm currently comparing a couple different mixes to see how they do.

Hi Frank

I am finally ready to transfer some rooted cuttings into the SIPs, I have a couple of questions:

1. It is common, the first time one uses a SIP, to water from above the first time, before proceeding to water through a tube thereafter.  Do you recommend that with these homemade SIPs?

2. About how much time should the cutting spend in the SIP before transferring to a 1-gallon pot?

Thx

Rafael

For me, I usually dampen the soil as i'm putting them in these little sips, and water a little from the top, but not enough that it drips into the bottom.  Maybe 5 to 10 ml?  Then just water from the bottom.

Mine are doing quite well.  Here's a Joe Dark that I took to work and put under a 20 watt 6500K T12 florecent.  This pic was 18 days ago.  I was out of the office for 5 days over thanksgiving.  When I went in this morning, it was touching the bulb.  It burned the end of the leaf.   It grew at least 3 inches in those 5 days!

 

I have another Joe Dark in a SIP just like this and it's just as big.

Thx Frank. See #45 above, you're not supposed to call it soil! Lol

James, previously you said " I'm using potting mix with a little bit of cow manure compost and a lot of Perlite."  Have you refined your potting mix since then?  I have been using a sand/coir based mix and that has been working well for bare rooted cuttings.  However, I've switched to rooting in root riot cubes and the cube of course comes along with the cutting.  I thought maybe peat (or coir) with vermiculite/perlite might be better than the sand-based mix for the root riot cuttings so I'm trying to decide on the best proportions so that that upper part of the cup is a bit damp but not wet.  Previously I tried one mini-SIP with promix-bx mixed with a little perlite and a little compost but it stays too wet throughout the cup.  It looks like that cutting has bit the dust.

Also if anyone has advice about fertilizers to use that would be of interest.  I've been adding really dilute foliage pro to mine but I'm a little concerned the fertilizer level will build up too high.  I wonder if slow release fertilizer would be better?

Is there a pictorial for the "maxi" SIP?

DallasFigs,

Thanks for the link. I tried numerous searches but could not find it. Now I know why; it was listed under SWC instead of SIP!

I have rooted cuttings going in my basement, including some in mini-SIPs.  One Col de Dame Noir started Oct. 22 has really put on large leaves.  As you can see from the pic that one is growing in the tall cup using the design presented by James further up-thread.  Yeah, this look might not be something I would want in my office at work but the plants really like it.  Along with the large leaves it has roots growing directly into the water reservoir and it sucks a lot of water.  I'm adding water (with some dilute foliage pro) nearly every day now.  I hadn't really planned on potting up this quickly.  I guess it is time to think about how to make a 1-2 gallon SIP.

Those look lovely. Nearly all of my bryant darks died. But they were year old cutyings. I have 2 Joe darks that are ready to up pot already. Don't know where I'm going to put them. Also now seeing a few gnats at home. Waiting for gnatrol to arrive today.

Hi Frank below are my rooted cuttings as of today, keeping my fingers crossed.  Here is my question: I know we want to gets those roots nice and robust, how long do we let the cuttings grow in the SIPs?  I know someone said a clear cup would let you see the roots, but we went with the styrofoam-your advice?  Thank you and let me know

Rafael

 

Adhesive?   When making miniSIPS or larger SWCs, are you all using any kind of glue to adhere the smaller "wicking" pot into the bottom of the larger pot, or is it just held down by the weight of the medium? Couldn't tell if that was necessary to limit too much seepage from the water reservoir. Tx

Rafael, nice job!
I would leave the plants in the mini-sips until they require frequent watering, something like every other day or so. At that point, you know the roots will have filled the container and are ready to be up-potted.

Btw, another proponent of this system has proposed keeping the grow mix nice and loose with no compaction for better aeration. I can see the advantages

Frank,
Thanks for starting this topic. After all the posts on the successful use of SIPs with Fig Cuttings, I decided to experiment with the mini SIPs. I will be testing a few designs on pre-rooted cuttings. Here are two designs that I've tried in the past but have not used with figs.

 One, Two and Three Liter Soda (Pop) Bottle Planters - Step 1

2-liter soda bottle SIPs with 16 oz deli container tops

2-liter soda bottle SIPs with soda bottle and deli container tops.

I have tried the mini sips and so far I love them, no negative issues with them at all.  So far about 106 in sips with no losses though I am sure I will lose some. 

I have come to the conclusion that the k-cups I'm using in my 32oz deli cup SIP is too big. Instead I'll start using a smaller plastic cup that is about the size of a short shot glass.

Out of all the rootings I've moved directly to SIP's, it seems that they struggle or die until they out on some leaves. Once the leaves come, then they start drinking more and more water and do fine. Therefore, I'm changing my strategy a little.

When they come out of rooting box and into SIP they get one drink in the reservoir, just enough to soak it all up the first night. But then leave the reservoir dry until it start putting out leaves. Since the top of the sip is closed, the moisture shouldn't escape too much. Once the leaves pop out and/or I notice the container is lighter in weight, then it'll get a little more water in the reservoir. Once it really starts drinking, then I'll keep the reservoir full.

We'll see how that works in the comming weeks.

James - I think that what you are observing (and are compensating for) depends heavily on what type of mix you are using i.e. how much water it wicks and retains.  For me, the k-cups used with the tall 32 oz drink cups (placed inside a small reservior cup) have worked great. The only issue is that they area a little top heavy.  I use a sand-coir based mix which is heavy but works well for SIPs. Out of 7 mini-SIPs with this mix all cuttings are doing great.  I've only lost one and that one was an experiment with a peat based mix which wicked to much water causing the cutting to rot.  Obviously the peat based mix that you and others works well but it is a matter of getting the ratio of perlite etc right (along with the design of the cup itself) so that the amount of wicking is optimized.

Another thing I have noticed from this thread is that no one (including me) seems to be using a humidity bin with the SIPs.  Wills does have one or two out of a couple hundred (!) that has an inverted cup over it but in general the bin doesn't seem to be needed.  My cuttings had leaf if any leaf growth when placed in the SIPs (just green buds) so that when the leaves do appear they are already used to the relatively low ambient humidity.

more and more i think about SIP, it just makes sense to go that route. it just that i'm too darn lazy and cheap.. plain 1 gal and watering can do the job. but i can see where it's not as good as SIP set up. once the trees go to it's final size container, i would be ideal to have SIP set up where the water to the tree is constant instead of wet and dry cycle. 

i have seen some set up on the web that uses 20+ gal rubbermaid tub for SIP set up. i might try that.. if i can get myself to get off this recliner. 

Pete, the only downside I have found with the mini-SIPs is that the growth is so vigorous that I am needing to up-pot sooner than I thought I would.  Now I am trying decide whether to go to conventional pots (the roots are mature enough now that they should be much more forgiving) or to fabricate larger SIPs.