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ID jit
Green Thumb
Posts: 339
Joined: Tue Nov 01, 2016 10:00 am
Location: SE New England: zone twilight or 5b... hard for me to tell some days.

Should I protect my SIPs from heavy rain?

I have 8 SIPs out side with 6 strawberries each. I filled them up once when I put them up on their racks. Have the mix mounded up and they are cover with black plastic with "X" cut for the plants to poke through. Every few days I check them and water will pour out the drain holes by barely tipping the container. SIPs may be very efficient at conserving water, but I don't think they are that efficient.

We had had an almost "what used to be normal" spring as far as rain goes. My guess is that my SIPs are getting refilled by the rain. My concern about heavy rain (2 1/2" in the past 36 hours) is that it may wash the fertilizer out of my SIPs. Enough water getting in through the "X"s for the plants, finding its way through the fertilized mix and then out the drain holes has the potential of taking all of the water dissolved fertilizer with it. I use non-slow release, granular fertilizer and think that stuff dissolves when exposed to water.

So, should I be concerned about this and cover up my SIPs when heavy rain is due in?

Thanks much.

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applestar
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Posts: 30514
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)

Are the black plastic covers secured on "shower cap" style or tucked in? That might make a difference.

I decided that in my garden with summer drought, I need every drop of rain so I'm tucking mine in the sides.



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