water

[whitestalkslongwalks]

considering an outdoor geurilla grow; i'm in boulder, CO. finding a suitable location is going to be difficult, but i'm willing to try. i'm not going to put a lot of time into it, and i won't be visiting often. there is lots of open space around here, but lots of hikers too. still i have some ideas off the beaten path, probably up on the hillsides.


anyway, my main question is WATER. we don't get much rain. can i plant on a hillside and the plants will grow without me watering them? in the summer we get thunderstorms, but regular rainfall is not very common. it's better than southern california, but it's still pretty dry.


second question is when to plant seeds. we've had some strange below-freezing temps lately so perhaps i should hold off?


basically, i've got some seeds, and i figure i'll give it a shot. i do a lot of hiking so scouting a spot will be fun. i don't really expect it to work out, and i'm not going to do much preparation or maintenance, so i need a place where it will just grow. sunlight isn't a problem, there's plenty of that, but any real estate on a creek is going to be more visible, so i may not be able to plant there.

so: with our limited rainfall: can i actually grow on a hillside? the only thing that grows naturally on the hills are conifers, and a few aspens, and some bushes of course

[unclebob]

Sorry but I don't think you will have much success in a dry climate without some means of irrigation or regularly carrying in water. If no weeds, high grass or dense brush grows there, there is a good reason for that. Its because you live in what is basicly a semi-desert. Also you wrote "i'm not going to do much preparation or maintenance" Without very thorough preparing of the spot, you are certainly not going to get much result. Preping a spot takes time and effort and most of all hard work (digging). That is the number one most important factor in success. At a min, you should add in lots of organic compost and water crystals to make the most of the minute amount of rain that you get in Co. Too bad you can't just toss some seeds on the ground in a barren, no growth, dry as a bone rock hard area on the side of a steep slope and get some good bud from it. If it was that easy, people would not be getting $300 / Z for good smoke. Don't mean to rain on your plans but just being realistic.

good luck

[GoAwayDeer]

Too bad you can't just toss some seeds on the ground in a barren, no growth, dry as a bone rock hard area on the side of a steep slope and get some good bud from it. If it was that easy, people would not be getting $300 / Z for good smoke. Don't mean to rain on your plans but just being realistic.

good luck


Haha so true.

[whitestalkslongwalks]

twas what i figured; good to know ;)

[keeko]

Watersorb - Home Page (http://www.watersorb.com/index.htm)

ive been looking into these for my hot texas weather. they say about an once of water polymers can hold about a cub of water. im sure this would cut down on your watering.

[unclebob]

Been using water crystals for years for outdoor growing. They work great. You will get more growth. They not only increase available water with the rains but they also tend to keep the soil looser and more airated by expanding and contracting. You can use up to about 1.3 times the recomeded rate with no trouble. Turn them into about 5-6 inches. Don't overdo it though, as there is a definite best / max rate. Over that and you will end up with a big jelly like mess after a rain.

good luck

BTW - any cheap brand will do its all the same stuff. Can get it at any garden center.

[keeko]

thanks a bunch uncle bob......i was actually at a garden store yesterday and all they had was a very small cannister of something that he said would work. I told him no thanks and i think im just going to order a coulple pounds over the web site. Does it get pretty hot where you live in the summer?

[unclebob]

yeah,
It gets real hot. I'm in the SE (AL) so its blazing hot in mid summer. Upper
90s every single day. Good thing around here though is we get lots of rain. An ave of over 4 inches per month. Even with all the rain it can get bone dry in the summer cause the hot sun just bakes out the moisture in a few days. One week without rain and the ground hardens up like brick. Its a great place to grow if you prep the spots good with organic amendments, water crystals, slow ferts, etc.

[madeline]

A waterbed mattress makes a nice water tank without too much difficulty to hide. Plant the mattress uphill from the grow and use a gravity-feed system to keep them watered a little bit all the time, as in a drip irrigation system. The only hard part is filling it up but once done it'll supply a few plants for a couple months using Rainbird lines and drip emitters.

[unclebob]

Hey Madeline,
Not to be a jerk, but seriously, how in the world would somebody fill up a water matress with hundreds of gallons of water in the middle of no place without access to a hose or faucet? I love this post, but does it really make any sense? Does it really help somebody who is trying to figure out how to grow plants out in the middle of bumfuck on someone elses land? No offense intended, but I have seen this same post over and over about the watebed uphill. I think somebody posted it somewhere sometime and then people just keep reading it, hearing of it and recycling it. I mean really, have you ever done this? How did you go about filling it?

[keeko]

that would deff. be a big heavy mattress to lug through woods and forest alone

[madeline]

It takes a lot of trips with 5 gal buckets in each hand. Hey bud, no one said guerilla growing is easy!

It obviously doesn't suit your needs...too bad as it has helped many others who had the proper access needed for something like this and a little imagination...

[keeko]

i know what you mean, each time i visit i have to lug gallons of water. and occassionaly at night i bring big 5gallon jugs......its a bitch but i sure love my ladies

[unclebob]

OK lets see:
Water weighs over 8 lbs per gallon. A five gal bucket weighs over 40 lbs. One in each hand now weighs over 80 lbs. A small / med size water matress is maybe 150 gallons. Thats 15 trips carrying 80 lbs each time for what is in most cases a considerable distance going through what is usually very, very rough terrain to support a couple plants. Not to mention that we are all trying to be as discreet as humanly possible and go in and out quick and unoticed. Now you still have to carry in the rest of the needed supplies.

My question for you was not if it was theoreticaly possible with 10 workers and a team of mules. My question was this - Have you personally done it this way before? How did it work out for you? Was it practical? Would you recomend doing it this way again based on that personal experience?

Now lets look at a slightly different plan:
1. Prep an appropriate size bed for each plant thorougly by making ONE not FIFTEEN trips by using organic amendments, water crystals, etc. Heavy? You can do a 2 plant 3X6 bed by carrying in maybe 15 lbs of stuff including light compost or peat, water crystals, lime, ferts, landscape fabric a fold up shovel and a little mulch in a small or medium napsack.
2. Carry in a bare minimum amount of water when and IF you can during any serious drought periods.
3. Figure out from experience what you can yeild from this method depending on the average rain fall in your area.
4. Do the math and decide how many plants you need to put out to meet your needs.

Do you see what I mean? Is 15 times the trips in and out and 15 times the effort really worth doing for many people reading this? This may be the only way to go if you live in an arid, dry or desert like area, but if that's the case your much better off growing indoors to begin with or just buying. Growing outdoors in a desert in not practical. The only time I have ever heard or read about this waterbed method being employed is out in the state land in Cali where gangs set up tents and live out in the middle of no place on canned tuna and bottled water for the entire season growing what are like small scale farms. The only time you ever even hear about that, is when they are being arrested usually because the FEDS found this elaborate waterbed and drip line system and then followed the lines down hill. Is this really a good suggestion for people here, who are mainly small time guerilla growers putting out like 1-3 plants here and there?

My point was that its more helpful to post about things that you know to be useful and practical from personal experience, than to post things you read or heard about.

Sorry is it sounds a bit brash, but I think people should stick with posting experiences that have worked out good for them instead of ideas they have not employed successfully many times. Like some guy a couple weeks back who posted that you can't water plants with clorinated city water or you will kill them. Commen sense would allow you to remember how many hundreds of times have you seen someone watering a lawn or a flower bed or a vegetable garden with a garden hose hooked up to the city supply? BTW - Before you criticize my spelling I already know I can't spell to save my life.