Advice on Watering System for Large(ish) Outdoor Grow

[The Apprentice]

Hey guys,

Contemplating a somewhat large grow.. 50-99 plants in 65 gallon containers. Already have a land piece scoped out and have the owners permission. It is kind of out in the open but I'll be adding fencing to add some security.
The issue that I am having at the moment is how to get enough water to my plants. If the piece of land was local, it would be easier, but this land is about an hour and a half away from where I spend most of my time.

I want to have a drip system that leads into each pot so I don't have to make a trip every 2 to 3 days.
There is a creek that I have water access to, so I was thinking of running a solar powered generator and pumping out creek water, with the owners permission of course, but I am not sure how I would set that up or if there is enough water in the creek year long.


Any tips or advice is welcome, I'm hoping I can figure this out soon because I feel like I am running behind schedule!

 

[DuskrayTroubador]

An hour and a half to tend 99 plants isn't shit. I've driven that far to tend a patch of four guerrilla plants.

Get your ass out there and garden.

 

[Wolfshadoe]

I would consider digging a hole just off of creek [owners perm]..Dig down deep enough that will ensure good water..Put screen down before inserting pump into hole/screen..

Problem:..Direction of gravity..You have to have pump that can push water thru out system.

you can always hand water and go every 5 or so days..65 gal big containers and will retain water nicely..tip: Bury half container in ground.Keeps root system cooler..Hot sun heating containers not good. EDIT: on second thought you not in real hot area prolly,sinking a lot of 65 gl containers too much work..
Good luck!!
<ws>

 

[The Apprentice]

An hour and a half to tend 99 plants isn't shit. I've driven that far to tend a patch of four guerrilla plants.

Get your ass out there and garden.

Haha. If I didn't have work I'd be all over it lol

I would consider digging a hole just off of creek [owners perm]..Dig down deep enough that will ensure good water..Put screen down before inserting pump into hole/screen..

Problem:..Direction of gravity..You have to have pump that can push water thru out system.

you can always hand water and go every 5 or so days..65 gal big containers and will retain water nicely..tip: Bury half container in ground.Keeps root system cooler..Hot sun heating containers not good. EDIT: on second thought you not in real hot area prolly,sinking a lot of 65 gl containers too much work..
Good luck!!
<ws>

The hole tip sounds like a good idea. I was thinking in a pinch I could fill up some milk jugs and poke small holes in them but like you said, the hot sun might melt them lol.
I'm at 39 degrees north on this one.
By dig down deep enough to ensure good water, what does that mean though?

 

[Wolfshadoe]

By that I mean .Dig down deep/wide enough for pump/screen ect..
Good water to pump No clog,good flow.. <<WORK..
Easssier:
Best idea I got ATV..Small trailer/w water tank. Go every 4/5 days water..Put moister pellets in bottoms..Not much though..Throw soil on top..Put plants in..Give good watering and wait and see..65 gl can retain good water prolly longer..But you DONT want to be away from that kind of grow for long..

I use the small bushnell IR cameras Atleast get you license plate number incase y not around..
Peace!! <ws>

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

Here in Spain I have seen and copied locals Orange growing techniques and they work well.

Basically, you create a system of mini canals snaking conveniently around between the bases of raised beds (or individual trees, or simply channels between lines) This means that all get water, as no drippers block, or get airlocks... ultimate KISS solution. You are also watering below and away from the stem, preventing stem/root rot issues, encouraging roots to go deep to get water.

There are probably several other advantages that I have missed. It also works very well as a doubled up system, as spare/backup/redundancy for any other irrigation system

 

[overgrowit]

A solar powered pump would be cool, but most likely not powerful enough to pressurize a drip system for that size. Maybe if you had it split into a bunch of zones with sprinkler timers or battery powered garden hose timers. Maybe the solar pump could fill a large cistern slowly and then that would give you the pressure.

I have a 3/4 acre vegetable garden that we irrigate with drip tape running down each row. The drip tape comes flat on a roll and expands when filled with water. You can get different spaced emitters for different crops and it works on a low pressure so I can pressurize the whole garden at once. Some flower growers will put their container plants in a row and then stretch the drip tape over the top of the containers. Might be worth looking into.

I use a 1.5hp Goulds irrigation pump and it has more than enough pressure for the whole field. The pump draws from a pond slightly below the garden, there is a filter on the hose in the pond and then a sand filter before it hits the drip manifold. You need a really good filter if you are pulling from a pond or stream.

If you don't have electricity you could either bring a generator or get a gas powered pump. You could get a couple cisterns and pump the water into the cisterns and then run the drip tape or low pressure drippers off the cisterns instead. This would allow you to store water for when the creek drys up also. In emergency you could have a water truck come and fill your cisterns.

 

[Davesnothere420]

All good information.

 

[Triplemfarms]

I hand water 50 55gal girls and 20more 200something gal holes.

W.o a considerable $$$ investment its a full time job.

Money or time, my usual life issue.

 

[master kusher]

I would buy a pump for about 200-300 on ebay and pump water to 55 gallon drums or one big tank. as for drip system one time I drilled a 3/8" hole at the bottom of a 5 gallon and stuck some fish tank air bubbles hose and tied a knot at the end; when it was all done and over with I think I got a drip every 2 seconds, but I never saw how long the water lasted. lol