Is this what you mean?

EDIT If you follow the link on that page and do a search on Sub-Irrigation, he has lots of different designs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Simple SiPS design

This post was edited by writersblock on Sat, May 31, 14 at 17:41

Not quite what I had in mind; the one I saw was a single-bucket setup over on T'ville but I can't get in and am looking for videos or pics of it....

Thanks! Cool site anyway :)

were you looking at AlaskaGrowbuckets?
http://alaskagrowbuckets.com/

Not quite. The AK are great and I got a couple of good ides from them but what I'm really after is a look at "SIP Gro-Tubs'" single wicking bucket. His post is almost at the end of the container growing section. He even sells a kit but I can't find it any where either.

Did you click through to the Inside Urban Green website? Still nothing there?

Try this one.

Here is a link that might be useful: U. MD - 5 gallon grow bucket

My question is: How does this system work for growing tomatoes?
We often hear about preventing wet feet and soggy soil and trying to have a moderate amount of moisture, having a low Perched Water Table, letting plants get a bit thirsty between watering. Now this system runs quite to the contrary, defeating the old convention . And how about infection of the pool of water being present and stagnant at the bottom of container ?

I just don't get it. I could be wrong !

I see people posting some impressive self-watering tub (various "boxes") photos. They seem to be happy repeat users. I think smaller self-watering containers (buckets) are more experimental at this point.

I think drip and 5 gallon buckets is more proven and reliable at this point - and a hose-timer driven system isn't much more expensive.

Seyson, the SIPs work great. There are tons of examples and explanations on YouTube that show better than I ever could. Just be careful or you'll get hooked like I did ;-)

Writersblock, thanks. Urban Green is wonderfully loaded with goodies. My problem is that I'm stuck on wanting to see this ONE guy's design. His written instructions are good and I've built plenty of SIPs already... I just hate being frustrated by that forum since they say I joined but aren't giving any member privileges. He mentions a "worm hole" and I want to see it... (stamping my feet and whining loudly)

If anyone would like to share photos of mature plants in 5 gallon SWCs, that would be great. My Google searches didn't find anything of merit.

onefixed,

The e-mail you received when joining that forum has info as to how to write to them after the first 12 hours may have passed with no administrator clicking you in.

I've been waiting since Friday evening, but have not bothered them since it's such a perfect gardening weekend, I'm guessing they took some time off. Fair enough in my view. I'm a long term mod elsewhere and sometimes over the years, the group is better off if I take a weekend, here and there, to myself. ;)

( Which is how I end up wasting time in garden forums)

thanks Plaidbird! You know what I'm talkin' about ;) I've emailed the admin twice, but still no joy :(... did let a few days go in between so as not to be a pest...

Found these:

http://imgur.com/a/Q7jBK

I was able to find a shot of 10 foot, when pruned to one vine, to!atoes when grown with this system.. It uses two buckets, but the advantage is that it has a full 5 gallons of growing medium.

Chuck333- YOU ARE MY HERO!

Thanks so much - I'm sure that's it cuz it matches the description so well!

Hello onafixedincome,

I believe after you join the site you have to post in their town hall forum and then you can view pictures.

Rick

Thanks Rick. I'll try it.

Hi, I'm also a member at the site you're talking about. I found the thread in question, and the link to the photos Chucker posted are indeed the ones from that thread.

Posted by onafixedincome z8-9 CA (My Page) on
Sun, Jun 1, 14 at 15:36

Seyson, the SIPs work great.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
Thanks for the feed back. If you have tried and it works great, then that is all it counts. I am trying to reconcile the two schools: One saying that tomato plants need to have their feet dry and the other says it is ok to be in water.

I think the key, seysonn, is stability. If there is a low, fixed, PWT or a water sump, the tomatoes can decide (in their rooty way) whether to grow into it. I'd think they'd be smart enough not to grow too into something with too little oxygen.

I think root rot problems come from way too much PWT, or from a pot that cycles to way too wet. There the plant is tryin'. It is sending roots into drained soil, only to have it flood again.

Still, I think average drip performance is better than average SWC. And the way costs work out, for a small number of containers SWC give a higher ROI, but at some point, say 10 pots, you are investing enough to move up. Unless you can scrounge a lot of parts, it gets expensive to build 10 SWCs, more than it would for a small drip system with timer.

(My RainDrip kit cost $33 at lowes.)

Update: A rain gutter SWC system might be competitive with a small drip system, and probably less "fiddly"

This post was edited by johns.coastal.patio on Mon, Jun 2, 14 at 8:55

I am trying to reconcile the two schools: One saying that tomato plants need to have their feet dry and the other says it is ok to be in water.

The SIP and similar set-ups are derived from old-school hydroponics where a soil-based medium was used suspended in nutrient fluid.

They are generally considered a combination approach of hydro and soil gardening and since tomato plants will grow either way - hydroponically or in soil - as long as both sets of needs are met it can work.

Earthbox and similar set-ups are probably the most common examples.

Dave

The wait time to get approved at the forum in question can be a while. The administrator/owner generally does a bunch all at once because he checks for spammers.

Dave - I read a real good explanation of the water/sip issue the other day but cant remember where. It talked about the roots not rotting even if they grow into the reservoir because they are also in contact with air from below due to the Earthbox or correct SIP design.

Good luck in getting approved for that site. I tried in March or April and I'm still waiting. I've also sent gentle reminders which were completely ignored. I know of others who have had the same issues. I have given up but maybe you'll find a way to get approved. If you manage to infiltrate (snarky comment, I know) please do tell how you did it.

The owner of that site has run everything mostly by himself and funded it all since 2006 there are no ads or other $$$ sources. It is a great site and the growth, especially recently has been huge. As with any small family type business, when life happens, and it always does, it is pretty normal to fall behind. In a "for profit" situation, one could hire extra help, but as I mentioned this was always a labor of love. There is no income steam.

I am hopeful that the things will get back to normal sooner rather than later.

Thank you for the insider knowledge regarding member approval.

When I didn't get the acceptance email first thing Monday morning, I figured it was something like that, since I can see by viewing it's well run.

That's going to be a long hard task to catch up. Been there, done that...it's like keeping the dishes done or the weeds pulled. As long as you do a bit every day, it's not so bad, but can become a monumental problem if left too long.

I'm just grateful I can view the carefully gathered information. It's a treasure for sure.

So thank you to all of you more experienced tomato folks that take you time to guide the rest of us, not only here, but on other sites as well. I'm a very experienced gardener, but tomatoes are not my specialty at all, So I'm here and there lurking and admiring your plants. Inspiring !

The only actual insider knowledge I have is that now when we get new members we get A LOT all at once and that is because the owner carefully screens out spammers. I am guessing he sets aside as much time as he can to process new members, working around the constraints of family, employment, his own garden, etc.

I can only imagine that every thing is much more time consuming now that we are nearly 15,000 members. But, we are still getting new members approved so hang in.