Only tools required for an existing container are a tape measure and scissors.

"Almost any container can be converted easily and inexpensively into a functional SIP", as I posted in an earlier SIP Topic (by member nycfig). This topic was started as "proof of concept"...

The Mini SIP or Miniature Sub-Irrigated Planter has a lot of positive benefits as it pertains to growing rooted fig cutting or starting fig cuttings, it provides for simple "automatic" watering of the potting mix. With a minimal investment in time and material any existing or new Cup, Deli Container, 1 gallon Nursery Pot, plastic grow bag or Band Pot can be converted into a Mini Sub Irrigated planter. The 2 required materials are wicking fabric (Pellon Thermolam Plus TP970) and Pea Gravel or Foam Peanuts. They are used to form an Aeration platform, Wick and Water Reservoir, these are all that are required for any container.

1. The wicking fabric is cut into strips and placed in the bottom of the container, extending up 3-inches into the potting mix, the actual strip width is 1 inch for containers smaller than 1 gallon, 1-1/2 inch for 1 gallon. the length is 8 inches plus the bottom diameter of the container. For 1 gallon nursery pots this is approximately 14 inches long.

2. 1-inch deep gravel or foam is then placed in the bottom of the container, to form a reservoir and or the aeration platform (aerated bottom of the potting mix container).

3. The container is then filled with pre wetted mix and planted with the pre-rooted cutting. The reservoir is only filled (if it has a built in reservoir) or placed in the filled watering container (separate reservoir or tray) when the potting mix is almost dry.
If rooting the cutting directly in the container, the reservoir is left empty. The reservoir should only be filled once the plant has started growing (roots and leaves).
        

Costs:
1 Yard of 45-inch wide Pellon Thermolam Plus TP970... $3.97 @ Walmart. (enough for at least 69 with 10% waste... 1 gallon containers @ $0.07 each)
1/2 Cubic foot bag of Gravel... $3.68 @ HomeDepot. (Enough for 30... 1 gallon containers @0.14 each)

Total; Additional cost to convert 30 containers only is $8.30 or $0.28 each... for 60 containers its $0.21 each

Additional time is cutting strips and their placement in the bottom of container before filling with potting mix... Less than one minute per container.

The only other consideration is the potting mix's ability to wick the required amount of moisture, in the case on fig cuttings, a minimal amount is required. A mix of Coir, Peat and sifted Perlite @ 2-2-1 or a Peat and Perlite @ 3-2 works well. You will have to test the wicking ability of your preferred mix.

Note: cotton fabrics (Terry and Denim) have been used successfully as wicks, but Thermolam TP970 has been tested with consistent results. I personally have used Pellon Thermolam Plus as a wick in SIPs for over 4 years.
I will not be starting my cuttings until march, but I will be fabricating all my mini SIPs, 5 gallon Easy SIPs, 30 and 55 gallon barrel SIPs for Spring Planting. I will also be testing several different mix recipes for their ease of manufacture and wicking ability. The results will be posted in this Topic.

Soda Bottle SIP design...From another Mini SIP Topic (by member FMD).
The 2 Liter SIPs that I've fabricated were cut at approximately 4" not 5" up from the bottom.

<edit> Two 1/2"  wide wicks have been installed in the bottle, through a 1/4 inch hole in the cap (edited diagram)... Two 1" wide wicks as shown in the original diagram, saturate the bottom of the planter, which is death to fig cuttings..
   











The Pellon Thermolam Plus (item # TP970) mentioned in the diagram is a stock item at Walmart @ $3.97 / Yard, SKU# 551772065... 1 yard provides enough material for 182 - 2 liter SIPs (including 10% for waste or 202 without waste). That's about $0.02 per SIP


More information on these and other similar designs can be found at http://www.insideurbangreen.org/recycled-popsoda-bottles/


Click on image below to enlarge.

Thanks for sharing this, Pete.
Do you think a 20 oz soda bottle would work for this method for initial planting of rooted cuttings or would it be better to plant them in a 2L bottle for their first pot?

This is interesting, I haven't read much on it.  What are the benefits?  Does it work for outdoor plants?

Thanks for sharing, I love reusing items!! Timmy, it is a way to not over water your cuttings and figlings, they draw the water they need.

Hey Pete, these look great, I want to give this a try. Thank you.

Pete, thanks for sharing your experience with the wicking material Pellon Thermolam Plus TP970. I have been looking for something that would do the job for years. 

I hope that over the coming months figsters will try the mini-sip rooting system and post on their successes/failures. 

Ed,
You're welcome.
IMO 20 oz may be too small a container, but it should work, the wick just needs to be reduced to about 1/2 inch wide. I used 16 oz cups last season without wicks and they were root bound within a few weeks when the ambient temperatures were above 70 deg F. Attached is a 32 oz Deli Container after only a few weeks at temperatures above 70 Deg. F.


Timmy2green,
The benefit for cuttings is in maintaining proper moisture in the cupped stage or initial potted stage, usually where most cutting failures occur due to too much moisture or over watering, at least in my experience. The SIP allows for a moisture regulated growing environment without the worry or risks of over watering. 

Building and using mini SIPs...
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6155374 (member WillsC)
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post?id=6416006 (member FMD)

Using full sized SIPs outdoor... refer to attached links.
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1274588219&postcount=1 (member Drivewayfarmer)
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1276699900&postcount=1  (member Snaglpus)
http://figs4funforum.websitetoolbox.com/post/show_single_post?pid=1280740601&postcount=8  (several Links)
Former member Dominick's (NYPD5229) SIPs and  http://images.yuku.com/image/jpg/2471628151442452683fdccdbce6e3a7ef6de3f5_r.jpg
and his Youtube Video

Gloria and Donna,
You're welcome. and Thanks.

Frank,
You're welcome. Thanks for starting your SIP Topics.
I'm posting this simple design with that thought in mind. I will be posting my results here.

Thank you for posting this!!!! Now I can use all of my holiday soda bottles to make SIPs. It's much easier than I thought.

Smaritza,
You're welcome.
If you use the Soda bottle, Please test the wicking ability with your mix. If too wet or too dry you can reduce or increase the wick size. Also, the reason for the split (dual) wicks is to keep moisture away from the bottom of the cutting, where it may cause rot, if introduced too early in the rooting stage. Good Luck.



The Plan is to start in Mini SIPs and Step up progressively to larger SIPs or Plant in ground after growing in 5 gallon SIP for 2 years.
The next step up from the mini SIP is the Colander SIP or "Easy SIP", then to a Full 5 gallon SIP or Barrel SIP. Note Easy Sips are 3 to 3-1/2 gallon planters, due to the reservoir and planter being in a single bucket.

The Colander SIP or 1 Bucket Easy SIP uses a colander to form the reservoir and Aeration platform. The reusable shopping bag forms the wicking chamber. The planters soil volume is 3 to 3-1/2 gallons depending on the bucket used.
Assembly: Step 1
Measure 4 inches up from bottom of bucket and drill 1/2" to 3/4" holes on opposite sides of the bucket. Remove handles and or outer lip of colander with scissors or shears. Check colander for fit inside bottom of bucket.
Assembly: Step 2
Place colander upside down inside bucket. Place 10-1/2" piece of pipe or bamboo centered on colander (the legs of the colander will keep it from rolling off and if it is rotated the legs will automatically center it).
Assembly: Step 3
Place bag inside bucket and create "wicks" at opposite ends of the bag, the same ends as the drilled holes, the bag will "screen" the holes keeping out insects. Pack wicks with potting mix. Fill container with mix and plants.
 

An Easy SIP was built with mostly recycled material...
1 5-gallon plaster Bucket... Free
1 10 inch Colander from Dollar Tree......... $1.00
1 Reusable shopping bag from Walmart.... $0.50
1 10 inch piece of plastic pipe... Free
Note: If the bucket lid was available, it could have been used to replace the colander. The reusable shopping bag ($0.50) would have been the only purchase.

An Easy SIP was built with materials available at Walmart...
1 5-gallon 70 Mil Bucket... $2.97
1 10 inch Colander......... $1.97
1 Reusable shopping bag.... $0.50
1 10 inch piece of Bamboo... $0.05, 1 spoon from a set of 4 plastic mixing spoons..$0.22 or a Piece of a heavy duty plastic hanger @ 3 - 10" pieces/hanger...$0.15

SIP ideas...
http://www.insideurbangreen.org/sub-irrigated-buckets/
http://www.insideurbangreen.org/2009/03/subirrigated-bucket-planter-.html
http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5149/5666867531_5b6679bdbd_z.jpg
http://www.postoilsolutions.org/documents/Earthbox.pdf (my first exposure to Bucket SIPs and Earthbox Clones in 2004 originally from this website...http://www.josho.com/gardening.htm)

YouTube Videos...

Thanks Pete and Gloria!

What's the best soil mix to use?  On hand I have sphagnum peat moss, perlite and vermiculite.  I was thinking about ordering something else like coir.  I also saw another post where someone used the K cups for wicking.. Suggestions?

Smaritza,
I plan on using the Coir/Peat/Perlite mix @ 2-2-1 ratio, but Peat/Perlite at a 3-2 ratio also works well. I've had very good success with the Coir/Perlite seed starting mix (Burpee brand from Lowes) which is a 6-1 ratio. Its all trial and error at this point, based on your personal mix recipe. IMO, the vermiculite will make the mix too wet (hold too much water). If you try the soda bottle use only one wick as a test.
Wicking test...
1. Put 1 inch of water(approximately 4 oz.) in the reservoir and place the assembled planter (with an almost dry potting mix) in the reservoir
2. Check the distribution and amount of water by emptying the planter's potting mix after all the water has been absorbed.

I am currently testing a single wick setup. The bottle cap was drilled with a 1/4 inch hole and one wick that is split in half length wise inside the bottle. It seems to be working better (less water being wicked into the bottom of the SIP) than the two wick setup in the diagram. I will post a few pictures tomorrow.

<edit> note attached pictures of the wick and of the wick in use in a 2 Liter SIP. The wick ends up, 2 inches below the surface of the potting mix, allowing for a dry surface layer 1 inch deep. This dry layer should eliminate Fungus gnat infestation. All the visible moisture...darker colored mix, was due to wicking. 1 inch of water was placed in the SIP reservoir and it was all wicked into the almost dry mix.
   

This is the brand Coir that I'm currently using in the tests it was purchased at Adams Fairacre Farms....
   .

Thanks Pete!  

Hi Pete
Love reading your posts. In the deli cup version with the peanuts and wick, does that go inside another container that is the reservoir? Hard to see.
This cold weather is a great time for us to be building these SIP's as I am making some of my own versions.
We are all a bit antsy
Happy New Year Professor
Coop

Hello Coop,
Thanks.
The "New Container" has one or more holes on the side at 1" from the bottom forming an integral reservoir.
The "Existing Container" (or any planter) that is already drilled with holes in the bottom is put into a 16 oz cup (or bowl) which serves as as the external reservoir. For containers or planters with bottom holes they can also placed in a group into a larger basin reservoir or even the 1020  tray which will hold nine 32oz SIPs.
  
I had a few days down time due to the season, so I decided to put them to good use, organizing and fabricating planters.
A Happy and Healthy New Year...

Thanks for the exhaustive research, Pete. Amazingly generous contribution.

Robert,
You're welcome., and thanks.
The hard work was done by others like "greenscaper"  and J. Lister who posted their SIP building instructions on the Web. My only contribution is tweaking the wicks for better capillary action when applied to growing fig cuttings.

Warning:
Caveat when using Mini SIPs for growing fig Cuttings. The wick will continue to water the soil until the reservoir is empty or the potting mix is saturated. If the reservoir is oversized, or refilled as soon as it is emptied soil saturation may occur.

The correct amount for the first few initial watering can be calculated by weigh or by observation.

By weight, the amount of water is found by first weighing the dry mix (not bone dry), then weighing again after it is "watered" and drained. (My definition of "watered" is damp to the touch, but without any visible water.)

By observation, the amount of water is found by slowly adding water from a measuring cup to the container's volume of dry mix (not bone dry), while gently mixing, to get it "watered" in a large bowl or basin (like mixing ingredients for a cake).

That amount of water is the actual amount that's required for the first few initial watering. After root and leaf growth the the cutting will dictate the frequency and amount of watering.

For the Soda Bottle SIPs, 5 cups of mix requires 6 oz - 8 oz of water, based on if it is the fast draining or slow draining mix (large or small Perlite ratio).
 

If using the SIP to root cuttings, the potting mix should be pre-wetted and the reservoir should remain empty until the the cutting is transpiring the moisture (grown roots and leaves), no additional water is required in the rooting stage.

Attached are pictures of a 6 qt Shoebox SIP made from a Sterilite 6qt  "Plastic Shoebox" available for $1.00 at most Retail Chain Stores.
   .

A SIP made from a 70 qt Rope Handled Tub. The tubs exterior should be lightly sanded and painted with Outdoor Latex Paint for UV protection (from UV degradation). The assembly is the same as the Colander Easy SIP.
       
70 qt SIP is approximately a 12 gallon planter with 3 1/2 gallon reservoir.

Material list :
1... Mainstays Rope-Handled Tub... $5.97... Container and Reservoir.
1... Sterilite 12 qt basin #0657... $1.97... Aeration Platform
1... 20 inch piece of 1 HDPE water pipe... Reservoir Fill pipe
1... 17 inch piece of 1 HDPE Water Pipe... Aeration Platform Fabric support
1... 48 x 48 inch piece of spun landscape fabric (weed block)... Aeration Platform and wick pockets.
1... 5 1/2 inch piece of 4 inch drain pipe or 1... 32oz #5 Plastic Cup... Basin support under Aeration Platform.
    .

Super Nice Professor,
I always look forward to your newest SIP designs. You show us there  is a world of possibilities out there
Love it
Coop

Pete, you are the adaptive genius of SIPs!

I have a few questions so I understand better.
Is the container under the Sterlite basin just for support?
Is the purpose of the 17in pipe just to hold up the landscape fabric on 2 sides? Is that to keep from rede ing the water reservoir size or to prevent increased wicking?
Is the 20 in pipe for a water intake down the inside of the tub?
Are those styrofoam peanuts inside the wick pockets in the last posted picture? Purpose?

Thanks!

Coop,
Thanks,
Its not actually a "new" design. All SIPs have a reservoir, an aeration platform and a wick. They can be formed in many ways, this was just adapting an existing design to fit this container and almost any container can be adapted. Also the 70 qt sip was inspired by 3 Topics, by Timmy2green,  by JustFigs. and by Bullet08.


Ed,
1. Yes , its supporting the center of the basin. It can be made out of drain pipe. I usually use perforated corrugated drain pipe in the bottom of my larger sips, but its not available at Walmart : ). Drainpipe is inexpensive and made of Black HDPE.
2. Yes, the 17" pipe is holding the landscape fabric above the aeration platform, decreasing the possible wick size.
3. The 20" pipe is the fill pipe and can be used to check the reservoir level with a dipstick, if needed.
4. The foam peanuts were used to fill and show the two (2) wicks at opposite sides of the planter. It was just easier to see and photograph when they were filled with the foam peanuts. Sorry about the confusion. It just took me a couple of minutes (2) to assemble.

Haha, "inspired" is a generous word when it comes to my contribution.  Let's just say I'm glad to see someone could learn from my failures.  If you're gonna fail, fail forward!  Nice work Pete.  Do you need to paint the entire inside and outside of the tub, or just the parts that get direct light from the sun?  Is the paint toxic to the fig roots?
Also, I've seen high quality injection mold nursery pots online for less than $10 in this larger size. It sounds like they would already be UV protected from our previous discussion.  But they would have holes in the bottom already.  Does that make them unusable for SIPs?
Timothy

Timothy,
Thanks, I was not planning on making a SIP this size, but I didn't want to hijack your topic, so I posted it here.
Only the outside areas exposed to sunlight need to be painted. Latex based paint once dried is nontoxic and the inside of the planter in contact with soil is not painted. There are also paints made specifically for Plastic, but I've never used them.

No, Nursery pots can be used as SIPs. For a nursery pot with holes the "reservoir" can be a container placed inside the bottom of the pot. This container would form the Reservoir, Aeration Platform and Wick all in one. This was discussed in a SIP topic started by ADelmanto. They can also be placed into a larger container or reservoir, like the Hybrid Kiddie pool or Milk Crate Videos in Post #9. Or a plastic liner could also be placed in the bottom of the nursery pot to form an "internal reservoir".
  
Picture sequence using a nursery pot to make a SIP with an external reservoir (or internal reservoir if a liner is installed). The "filling" can be anything, foam peanuts, gravel, drainage pipe or empty perforated bottles or cans. The height of the "wick" depends on the water depth of the reservoir, the wicks cross section area is 10% of the Nursery Pots Cross section area.

Thanks for the info! I'm gonna read up more before I ask anymore questions, but I did rig up 4 mini SIPs last night to test out.

Timothy,
You're welcome.Good Luck with your SIPs.

I haven't built any of the mini sips with the dual cups and straws, because I have been concentrating my time on testing the 2 liter sips and the 32 oz sips with fabric wicks. IMO the fabric wicked SIPs are easier to mass produce with my available time and materials, and I will need more than a hundred.
One thing that I noted earlier in Post # 17 is if the reservoir is oversized or continuosly filled, the potting mix will become saturated. This would apply to any mini SIP. It would be a problem with SIPs that are used for growing Figs and any plants that are sensetive to too much moisture. This should be tested before you start using the SIPs on Fig Cuttings

30 gallon barrel SIP: Materials
1... 30 gallon Barrel... Planter and Reservoir... Free ($10.00)
1... 6" Nursery pot... Wick... ($1.00)
1... 4' piece of 4" corrugated drain pipe... Aeration Platform supports... ($3.00)
1... 24" piece 1" pipe... Fill pipe... ($1.00)
1... 24" x 24" Piece of Plastic Garden Fence... Aeration Platform... ($1.00)
1... 24" x 24" piece of spun landscape fabric... Aeration Platform... ($1.00)

30 gallon Barrel SIP: Prep.
Cut off top of barrel with a saw, the top 8 inches. Leave the rib on the planter section.
Drill a drain hole at 5-1/2 up from the bottom of the barrel. If installing an automated fill, drill hole at the desired height. Cut the corrugated drain pipe into 6" pieces (a sharp knife works well)
Cut the bottom of the fill pipe at an angle (45 degrees) and drill additional hole in the side of the nursery pot

Assembly #1
30 gallon Barrel SIP: Step 1
Place the cut drain pipe and the Nursery pot in the bottom of the barrel with the pot in the center.

Assembly #2
30 gallon Barrel SIP: Step 2
Place the garden fence centered on top of the drain pipe and nursery pot. Carefully cut out the center of the garden fence directly above the nursery pot. Pull the nursery pot through the opening, then push the garden fence down on top of the drain pipe.

Assembly #3
30 gallon Barrel SIP: Step 3
Place the Landscape Fabric centered on top of the drain pipe and nursery pot. Carefully cut an X in the center of the Fabric directly above the nursery pot approximately 8" long. Push the fabric down around the nursery pot. Push down and smooth out the landscape fabric and garden fence and shape into the bottom of the planter.

Assembly #4
30 gallon barrel SIP: Step 4
Fill and pack the nursery pot "wick" with damp potting mix. Fill and pack the bottom of the planter, ensuring that the Fence and fabric are formed to the bottom and sides.

Assembly #5
30 gallon barrel SIP: Step 5
Insert the fill pipe angled end down (if required) and secure to the side of the barrel with a piece of wire or wire tie. Continue to fill planter with potting mix and plants. Fill the reservoir with water...