Guerilla Watering Methods

[sargentscraps]

Hi all,

 

As the start of the Outdoor season is upon us and many of us start making plans for the coming year, I thought I'd hopefully try and help some out with a few methods of Watering for the Guerilla Grower that I have come across in the past couple of years. Often after deciding on your soil recipe and getting the actual soil in to your plot (that sounds a lot easier than it is), your next big challenge is figuring out how your going to water this thirsty lady, which is very much the make or break factor in a successful grow. Many resort to simple techniques and somewhat pray that mother nature helps them out along the way why others go to some what elaborate lengths to ensure their ladies get the proper care and treatment they deserve.

Now some of the following methods I have mentioned previously in other threads and so forth, however I thought it would be a lot more convenient and easier if they were all located in the one place for those to read.

(By the way these methods are by no means the be all and end all of watering your garden.........these are just the few I have found in the past couple of years.)

 

Now firstly let me say regardless of if you grow Organic or not, any outdoor guerilla Gardner should Strongly consider using Organic materials in their soil mix. Not only is are these materials beneficial in more than a few ways for your plant and soil health, materials such as manures, mulches, composts and so forth will all hold and store a great deal of water that will keep your plant watered and fed over a period of time rather than the water evaporating or soaking away, as well as keeping the soil healthy.

Do not be afraid to use clay in your soil, my plot is largely clay based soil and I'll always throw in a few big handfuls into the mix as it can hold 3 times in weight in water, making it a great addition to any soil recipe......just don't over do it and think 'I'll just make the whole mix clay and then I wont have to water my plants! ' That won't work.

Another product that needs mentioning are Water Crystals, these are pretty widely known and used by most Outdoor Growers and Guerilla Gardeners. Personally I'm not to sure how well they work, however there's no harm in throwing some into your soil mix and underneath the root ball of your plants.

 

Now this method you may have seen here and there as they're starting to pop up quite a bit now with the strong demand for water saving techniques.

They're called 'Waterlogs' and have been around for some time now, however imitation brands have now popped up and you can by them at Bunnings, (I don't think they're as big though). Basically they're are a tube that is filled with '97% water and 3% molecule technology' or something above my pay grade. Its texture is quite similar to a hair gel or a scrambled jelly and basically rather than just water which can easily be evaporated and short lived within the soil, this jelly paste slowly oozes out and is absorbed by the soil over a period of time, thus feeding your plant for roughly 1-2 months.

http://www.savewater.com.au/tmp/221/library/HKAU_Pty_Ltd/Waterlog%20Image.jpg

 

I used these last season and was some what disappointed at how they performed. Don't get me wrong, they work, and effectively at that (as long as the water gel is aimed close enough to your roots), however they don't last any where as near as long as it was said they would.

I recommend if you choose to use these, use them knowing that they are only going to last for a month maybe two and avoid letting direct sun hit them if they're poking out of the soil.....so cover them in a mulch or soil if you can. A good way to use these for example would be to use them in February if your worried about not getting enough water to your plants during the hotter months.....and remember that you can always just switch out the old ones for a new one.

 

Another product available to us is the 'Eco-Bag' which is basically a bladder that you fill up and place around the stalk of your plant with a dripper that feeds directly to the base of the plant.

http://www.ecobagindustries.com.au/upload/features/Image/Home/IMG_0194.jpg

Now I also used this product last year and let me say one thing, it does work effectively and will water your plants while keeping your soil healthy and regulated for an extended period of time etc.... however if you don't have a flat even surface that's quite big around the base of the plant, and you do need a decent amount of space, I wouldn't bother purchasing them. So in other words if you have the room and can be bothered flattening the ground around your plant or are fortunate enough to grow on level ground.....go for gold. I unfortunately grow on quite an incline and lets just say they didn't work the absolute best for me.

 

Now my last method which I'll be using for this season was gravity fed drip irrigation. Originally I had planned to go to Bunnings or somewhere similar and purchase a bin and attach an outlet and so forth on the bottom and just drip feed with a timer on the valve to regulate watering. However somehow this morning, when I wasn't even doing browsing related to cannabis I stumbled across this website which pretty much answered my prayers. Wheelie Bins

They have done the hard work and set up a wheelie bin ready to be used for irrigation. So hopefully the plan is to use this (I'm purchasing the 240L model) and place it roughly 15m up a hill from my site and use it with a Tap Timer on the valave to regulate and water my plants when I'm not there. I'm also going to 'upgrade' (ha) my tap timer and buy the rain sensor for it so when it rains the plants wont be watered by the bin, only mother nature

For those who don't have the gradient to do gravity fed irrigation, all types of pumps (solar, petrol, electric) can be purchased and can end up being quite a smart investment as they can save one a lot of effort.

http://www.justwheeliebins.com.au/WebRoot/ecdb4/Shops/jwb/4B7C/9C64/D349/9D77/5CA4/C0A8/D218/169F/Tap_0020_Bin.jpg

For the moment that is all I can think of, hopefully it is of some help or value to those starting out or who are just looking for ways to water their babies when they're not there.

Its a hard and often brutal challenge Guerilla Growing, however when the day comes when your back at home smoking your own, it is obvious why we do what we do.

Peace

Scraps

Edited August 22, 2011 by sargentscraps

[uncle chron]

https://cannabis.community.forums.ozstoners.com/topic/7776-watering-101/page__view__findpost__p__292379__hl__101__fromsearch__1

[dopedogg]

Legend this will help loads of people no doubt !

[b00st]

What about something like this?

 

http://www.dealsdirect.com.au/p/200l-collapsible-water-tank/

 

Just bought a couple of these and I'll get some black and green spray paint to camo them up. Will post some pics once done. Usually rains a bit here in september so I'll have them all setup and ready out bush.

 

My thoughts are they should be fairly easy to carry out bush and assemble on site rather than lugging a green garbo bin through the bush.

Edited August 28, 2011 by b00st

[b00st]

Actually cheaper one here.... and green already. win

 

http://www.crazysales.com.au/products_pictures/158/15825_75243_F.jpg

Edited August 28, 2011 by b00st

[sargentscraps]

Bloody hell boost that is a phenominal find. Just ordered one! thanks mate you just saved me $100.

Cheers!

[b00st]

Bloody hell boost that is a phenominal find. Just ordered one! thanks mate you just saved me $100.

Cheers!

 

No worries champ... I'm yet to find any other forums either about this and never seen anyone suggest these. Fingers crossed hey, but a bit of camo and they should be fairly hidden from top view too. Now means my spot should have about 400L of water on hand plus the river near by.

Edited August 28, 2011 by b00st

[Frazz]

yea great stuff Boost

 

I just saw these for our South Aussie members;

@ Paramount Browns ;

http://paramountbrowns.ihub.com.au/DesktopDefault.aspx?R=9439508&tabid=806424&Cr=0&__Ns=p_StockRankSort_Int32|1||p_Make_String|0||p_Model_String|0||p_Year_Int32|1||p_StockPrice_Decimal|1&__N=1552%201610%204294938275%201602&render=details&silo=1701&seot=1&__Nne=15&trecs=3&__sid=13214BD1835B

 

Make USED 240LITRE WHEELIE BINS

Model GREEN WITH YELLOW LIDS

Price $29*

 

[b00st]

 

Doesn't look weird or out of place at all Just remember to put it out on bin day.

[uncle chron]

lmfao

 

good work