watering 101

[jazzm]

nah i'm in a fairly populated area and thats why i have to grow so far away. so if i were to setup a tank, then a 44 gal drum would hold enough water for 2 weeks? i think they hold about 1600 litres.

yeah i'm planting in summer, just planning well ahead

[67Special]

The off season can go pretty damn fast when you've got irrigation and such to setup, so starting now is a great idea.

 

As for the 44, well they're only 205L, so you'll be needing about half a dozen of em

 

Are you aiming for 30 plants at harvest, or just starting with 30 to cover loses etc.?

 

30 plants will take a lot of effort and will eventually be a considerable asset to have sitting out in the bush. I'm not trying to discourage you by any means, but you need to be realistic about the work and risks involved

 

[jazzm]

hmm dunno where i got 1600 from

I was just going to start out with around 30 clones and see what happened from there. not really too fussed if i lose a few (and probly will) for whatever reasons. I am planting with a mate so i'm not too worried about the work involved, I guess i'm just thinking of how to make it as easy and safe as possible once the plants are up and growing (less visits, decreasing risk of being caught etc.). i guess it might just be easier in the end to try to visit them a bit more often. i live about an hour and a half away and the landcruiser chews the fuel. maybe a moto would be a sound investment good excuse anyway.

[RobbieGanjaSeed]

I love the idea f the dead sheep, and oneday will certainly ive it a go.

 

But if you're going to grow 30 plants, or if anyone's growing and has access to a permanent running river or creek within a kilometer of so, you can't go past a "RAM PUMP".

 

Given the amazing technology of these little beauties, it's carzy they're so unheard of. They use the flow of the creek to power the pump, and need only as little as .5 of a meter head to pump as high as ..well I forget he details, maybe a hundred meters. Willpump for kilometersif you want tolay tgher money out for the pipe.

They are silent as the wind, use no fuel, electricty etc, and are very reliable.

 

A creek you can step over will run one of these pumps, so long as the creek wil run all season youhave no rpblems.

 

I'm in a hurry right now and couldnt find the Aussie owned ram pump that's been for sale for years. it's a gem, costs about 600 bux, and is worth every cent. I did find plans for making your own ram pump though.

 

If you don't know about Ram Pumps, are going to grow in the bush and have access to a flowing ruin of water even a tiny ione within cooeee of the grow, you should look into it. It'll cover ya 30 plants with ease seeing u have a creek nearby, and u set tem up to pump around the clock,.so u dont even have to be there. Just show up every now and then to turn it off. Flood for a few days, go back and trun it off, goout in a fortnight, flood again..

 

Plans for home made ram pump

 

Another one

 

One more

 

Ram pums are ancient works of art, the one I like sits in the creek and is invisible unless u know it's there. U should chain them to something heavy incase it rains hard and it tries to wash away. If ya interested, the one that sits int he creek is the one to get. Just a low water flow is all that will neeed to pump all the water u need, and like I siad, they're all but totally silent. No fuel, motor or electricty.

 

cheers

rob

[67Special]

I did find plans for making your own ram pump though.

These are a great idea Rob, I started building one as part of a subject in yr 12, but like most things I start, it was never finished

 

Are they really 'as quiet as the wind'? I've never seen/heard one working.

 

Our creek only runs for a week or so after heavy rain, but there's a reasonable size dam that I could probably siphon out of and get about 2m of fall. Even if it's not watering mullies, it could at least top up the tank that waters our vege patch, chooks and toilet, instead of running a petrol pump every 4 or 5 wks.

 

 

edit: just realised that they lose seven times the amount of water they pump, so I'd empty the dam pretty fucking soon

[RobbieGanjaSeed]

Yeah I think they loose a bit of water, but that's why I love the ones I couldn't find alink to. I saw one running and had a brouchure for it. It layinthe creek itself, looked quiet different to these. It was lways underwater, and was truely silent.

 

The ones on those links have a "clakc" sound, but it would be enough to draw attention. It's the kind of sound you do hear in the bush from farm machinery echoing, one o f those nondescript sounds that dont raise any concern.

 

That was the old cast iron jobs, I see many make them from PVC now and I think they'd be very silent. What I really menat by silent is no motor to run etc.

 

I saw one running in a spring fed creek, the one than looks sifferent to these. It pumpoed water slowly over 50 meters high and about 1.5 kilometers to our tanks. Becasue ofthe slow flow of the spring, the high lift and the long distance with many,many joinrs, it only dribbled out. Maybe a litre every few minutes, maybe a bit quicker. But they run without ceasing.

 

before that was set up we had an old petrol morot converted to run a "stroker" pump. I foget what they call them, like a windmill pump, but with a eccentric motor, it just lift and dopped a bar which caused the pump to go up and down. It was noisy as hell, unreliable, and pumped no quicker.

 

I'll keep looking for the one I really wanted to show. i'm kind of amazed it isntr easy to find on gooogle, I cant see why they arentmore well used in farming, and especially our tpe of farming.

I never had the luxury of a creek to pump onto my plants. The cloest was quiet a few miles away.

Actually I did have a vcrek within a few hundred meters once, but I just bucked the water. i was fit as a bull then. didnt have to hide on that property either, which makes a world of difference.

 

Anyone who is growing near a creek but should experiement with one of these.

 

Do u reckon flooding for a couple days would be too excesive? I've seen dope drwon before. A mate planted on the uphill side of his contour banks, rightinthe middle of the paddocks. it rained and the water pooled up on the banks, the plants dioed. the only rain all season too of course.

 

But I always thought withthese ram pumps, you cpould flood the spot for a couple days, come back out and turn ot off. then leave it alone for weeks, then flood again....

 

What do u reckon? I think it'd work a treat.

 

rob

[KudaCamper]

Wow robbie....i really think your onto something....I am going to attempt to get one in action this outdoor season.

Will be sure to let everyone know how it works out. It could be used to keep a drip system full, im going to knuckle down and figure this out. I have at my disposal a friend who is a hydraulic engineer. Perhaps his usually insane psycho babble will be of some use.

 

Thanks robbie for your most appreciated information!

 

Kuda

[themistisrising]

I love the idea f the dead sheep, and oneday will certainly ive it a go.

 

But if you're going to grow 30 plants, or if anyone's growing and has access to a permanent running river or creek within a kilometer of so, you can't go past a "RAM PUMP".

 

Given the amazing technology of these little beauties, it's carzy they're so unheard of. They use the flow of the creek to power the pump, and need only as little as .5 of a meter head to pump as high as ..well I forget he details, maybe a hundred meters. Willpump for kilometersif you want tolay tgher money out for the pipe.

They are silent as the wind, use no fuel, electricty etc, and are very reliable.

 

A creek you can step over will run one of these pumps, so long as the creek wil run all season youhave no rpblems.

 

I'm in a hurry right now and couldnt find the Aussie owned ram pump that's been for sale for years. it's a gem, costs about 600 bux, and is worth every cent. I did find plans for making your own ram pump though.

 

If you don't know about Ram Pumps, are going to grow in the bush and have access to a flowing ruin of water even a tiny ione within cooeee of the grow, you should look into it. It'll cover ya 30 plants with ease seeing u have a creek nearby, and u set tem up to pump around the clock,.so u dont even have to be there. Just show up every now and then to turn it off. Flood for a few days, go back and trun it off, goout in a fortnight, flood again..

 

Plans for home made ram pump

 

Another one

 

One more

 

Ram pums are ancient works of art, the one I like sits in the creek and is invisible unless u know it's there. U should chain them to something heavy incase it rains hard and it tries to wash away. If ya interested, the one that sits int he creek is the one to get. Just a low water flow is all that will neeed to pump all the water u need, and like I siad, they're all but totally silent. No fuel, motor or electricty.

 

cheers

rob

 

I am so glad at this very moment that I joined this forum. I always grow near a water source so that I don't have to bring it in with me, however this means that I have to leave water jugs near my crop. Plus, nine times out of ten the sun shines at the top of the valley that the creek runs through, so I would have to pump it uphill to irrigate these areas. Since there's no electrical outlets in the woods, this effectively solves my problem. I can now (or next year, since I'm halfway through) try and put these in.

 

Do you think it would matter if I buried the pump? (I should've looked to see if it used air)

[cheeba]

Outdoors? When I do that I just like, throw a glass of water on 'em a day...seems to work for me.

Ha

[ANDYCRAPP]

Hi all and hope this season is a good one.

 

I have been growing pot in the Aussie Bush for years. Other that the hard slog, the best results have come from using a combination of water crystals, eco bags and leaf mulch. Using this combination, it becomes only a weekly event when you can refil the eco bags (20 ltr). So if you are lugging water it takes a few trips at 50 ltrs per trip. Ten nice plants at the height of an Aussie summer require the eco bags to be refilled weekly. On arrival at the plot I give the plants a treat by emptying the eco bags while I am doing a return trip. With a good thick layer of leaf mulch the soil still contains some moisture, so there is little run off. Four trips will get 200 ltrs to your plot, this kind of traffic will cause a path, which is something that cops and thieves look for, so another hint is lead the main track past your plots and into a dead end, being very careful you can grow in Lantana leaving a wall of noxious weed between the track and your plants. Always take extra time when carting materials and take all containers with you, Any color other than green stick out badly in the scrub.

 

Have plenty more tips on how to pull off a small but a very nice harvest

 

Cheers