Not everyone is looking for a DIY project and although building sub irrigated planters is easy, there are sub irrigated planters for sale offering some very affordable ready made options.
I hope to review some of these products for you in the future. Many are designed to turn a 5 gallon bucket into a SIP planter. Some are designed to create a self watering planter bed.
Sub Irrigated Planters For Sale
I am also growing vegetables in 5 gallon SIP planters filled with coco. Plants are doing well despite a late start and are loving life! These sub irrigated planters for sale on Amazon work great.
Both individual buckets and beds work well and it’s really just a matter of preference. If you only have one plant a SIP bucket is probably the easiest way to go. You can grow a really large plant in a 5 gallon bucket too.
If you will be growing multiple plants they will work very well in a bed system. Personally I prefer beds with multiple plants because it means less and easier watering.
One advantage of the bucket system over a SIP bed is that you can move your plants. SIP buckets are light enough to easily move to a porch or other protected are in the fall.
In fact they can be used as indoor planters. You can dress them up with spray paint or other decorative surfaces. You need to place a mark on your dip stick when the water starts to spill out the bottom hole. Then place a 2nd mark below it and only fill to that point. Still putting a tray under the bucket is not a bad idea.
I would also like to share my recirculating sip grow system.
If you are feeling more adventurous I have a recirculating SIP bed system that is easy and inexpensive to build. Full details are here: http://420grower.org/diy-sip-grow-system-for-cannabis/
Don’t let the cannabis part throw you. This system will grow killer tomatoes or peppers or just about anything else you might want to grow.
