Good idea, that sounds like it would still work IMO. Best of luck!
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I wanna share a website I came across the other day with everyone:
www.browndirtwarrior.com
^ This guy is a jacked up muscle head but he's the real deal out in the bush. Check out his guerrilla files especially, I learned so much solely from those lol
www.browndirtwarrior.com
^ This guy is a jacked up muscle head but he's the real deal out in the bush. Check out his guerrilla files especially, I learned so much solely from those lol
Nice man, I just watched brown dirts youtube vids for the first time the other day. That dude is awesome. Love his whole attitude to growing.
Same here man, he's big on principals like I am so I really connect with that dude. He's too into himself but I take it for what it's worth and learn from all his mistakes and tips
Using Technology
Using Technology
Google Earth
...can be an amazing tool for the grower. I'm going to cover a few tactics when searching for sites using this tool, and some cool features you can download to your Google Earth at home. Check it out:
It's easy to fall in love with spots like this, here are just a few reasons why -
1. Stealth access. It borders a bike trail and has available parking to park a vehicle at, get my bike out, and bike to the forest entry point; slipping in when no traffic is around.
2. Year-round water access. This is located upstream of a lake so it dumps out into it, leaving the land there wet and moist all year round. No watering = less visits and less visits mean better chances of not compromising your location(s).
3. Fertile land. It borders a farmer's field too... usually farms are located on good land so keep this in mind when hunting. I've found the most vigorous natural growth to be bordering water... but be careful here because choppers usually search here first. Getting as far away from water as possible is key, that's why I like remote swamps the most.
So I wrote this spot off as a "go". I was planning on carting amendments out there with soil this month but decided to give the old Google Earth ONE more peek to double check the surroundings before committing to building a drop-site and making drops. Well son of a bitch, look what I saw:
A landing strip located directly in-line with my would-be patch. These would have definitely been spotted from any planes landing or taking off in that direction. This brings up a good point - Always double check your locations before committing to them. This saved me money and my ass most likely.
Now let's talk about a better possible location. For the sake of discussion, I mapped this out how I normally would during pre-season; marking potential spots here and there to explore further on foot/bicycle:
Notice I marked outside of the wetland borders. Always do this incase of heavy late-season rains that can rise water levels significantly.
A quick tip -
As you drag your curser over the land look in the lower bottom right corner of the screen for it's height (in feet) above sea level. Plant on the upland of swamps to prevent these dreaded late-season disasters. Also, and not very relevant now but site-searching in the summer when conditions are dry is best. Coming back in early Fall wouldn't hurt either to check and make sure water levels don't get too high to plant in the following year.
I used the Fish & Wildlife Wetland's map to locate the swamps seen above. These types of maps can be found on the DEC.GOV websites. Just type in dec.(insert state here).gov to find your state's maps. You can literally download hundred's of different kinds, from bicycle trails to railroads to stream systems linking to ponds and lakes. It's a guerrilla's life line in scouting IMO. You can get pretty detailed if you know what to look for, and find a guerrilla oasis tucked in the middle of nowhere with the right luck. Check it out, I just found this spot:
4 words: Forested Mineral Soil Wetlands
This is what we're looking for when planting, especially set & forget gardens that won't be tended to often. Remember, plants reach full potential when given enough SUN, WATER, and balanced ratios of FOOD. Well the sun is taken care for, so that leaves water and food. Food we have control over, finding a balanced soil recipe isn't the hardest thing in the world to do especially with a little effort and $10 for a soil test. These tests will tell you exactly what and how much you need to add to your mix to make it perfect. Very good investment for the outdoor grower to make! So now that we've got our sun & soil, we run into our main problem found outdoors:
Water.
Swamps are the answer here folks, my swamp plants get 2x-3x bigger than my dry-land plants, easy. After a while I stopped planting on dry land and went straight swamp guerrilla. Speaking of; A great thread to check out is Guerrilla in the Swamp by frankenstein. He cropped 25 pounds from just one patch! Anyways, when swamp tubes are administered they act as a wick and the bottom 1/4 is always submerged in the swamp water. The middle 2/4 is moist, and the top 1/4 is dry/moist. Plants never need to be watered, and send a tap root down into the swamp to literally drink from like you would a straw. This puts the plant back in control, and she decides when to eat (if growing organically), when to drink, and when to shit whenever she pleases. With these 3 factors, ultimate plant potential is seen.
So remember, www.dec (your state here) .gov for the maps to assist you in a more detailed and safe search. Happy hunting out there guys/gals, and Godspeed
Using Technology
Google Earth
...can be an amazing tool for the grower. I'm going to cover a few tactics when searching for sites using this tool, and some cool features you can download to your Google Earth at home. Check it out:
It's easy to fall in love with spots like this, here are just a few reasons why -
1. Stealth access. It borders a bike trail and has available parking to park a vehicle at, get my bike out, and bike to the forest entry point; slipping in when no traffic is around.
2. Year-round water access. This is located upstream of a lake so it dumps out into it, leaving the land there wet and moist all year round. No watering = less visits and less visits mean better chances of not compromising your location(s).
3. Fertile land. It borders a farmer's field too... usually farms are located on good land so keep this in mind when hunting. I've found the most vigorous natural growth to be bordering water... but be careful here because choppers usually search here first. Getting as far away from water as possible is key, that's why I like remote swamps the most.
So I wrote this spot off as a "go". I was planning on carting amendments out there with soil this month but decided to give the old Google Earth ONE more peek to double check the surroundings before committing to building a drop-site and making drops. Well son of a bitch, look what I saw:
A landing strip located directly in-line with my would-be patch. These would have definitely been spotted from any planes landing or taking off in that direction. This brings up a good point - Always double check your locations before committing to them. This saved me money and my ass most likely.
Now let's talk about a better possible location. For the sake of discussion, I mapped this out how I normally would during pre-season; marking potential spots here and there to explore further on foot/bicycle:
Notice I marked outside of the wetland borders. Always do this incase of heavy late-season rains that can rise water levels significantly.
A quick tip -
As you drag your curser over the land look in the lower bottom right corner of the screen for it's height (in feet) above sea level. Plant on the upland of swamps to prevent these dreaded late-season disasters. Also, and not very relevant now but site-searching in the summer when conditions are dry is best. Coming back in early Fall wouldn't hurt either to check and make sure water levels don't get too high to plant in the following year.
I used the Fish & Wildlife Wetland's map to locate the swamps seen above. These types of maps can be found on the DEC.GOV websites. Just type in dec.(insert state here).gov to find your state's maps. You can literally download hundred's of different kinds, from bicycle trails to railroads to stream systems linking to ponds and lakes. It's a guerrilla's life line in scouting IMO. You can get pretty detailed if you know what to look for, and find a guerrilla oasis tucked in the middle of nowhere with the right luck. Check it out, I just found this spot:
4 words: Forested Mineral Soil Wetlands
This is what we're looking for when planting, especially set & forget gardens that won't be tended to often. Remember, plants reach full potential when given enough SUN, WATER, and balanced ratios of FOOD. Well the sun is taken care for, so that leaves water and food. Food we have control over, finding a balanced soil recipe isn't the hardest thing in the world to do especially with a little effort and $10 for a soil test. These tests will tell you exactly what and how much you need to add to your mix to make it perfect. Very good investment for the outdoor grower to make! So now that we've got our sun & soil, we run into our main problem found outdoors:
Water.
Swamps are the answer here folks, my swamp plants get 2x-3x bigger than my dry-land plants, easy. After a while I stopped planting on dry land and went straight swamp guerrilla. Speaking of; A great thread to check out is Guerrilla in the Swamp by frankenstein. He cropped 25 pounds from just one patch! Anyways, when swamp tubes are administered they act as a wick and the bottom 1/4 is always submerged in the swamp water. The middle 2/4 is moist, and the top 1/4 is dry/moist. Plants never need to be watered, and send a tap root down into the swamp to literally drink from like you would a straw. This puts the plant back in control, and she decides when to eat (if growing organically), when to drink, and when to shit whenever she pleases. With these 3 factors, ultimate plant potential is seen.
So remember, www.dec (your state here) .gov for the maps to assist you in a more detailed and safe search. Happy hunting out there guys/gals, and Godspeed
Last edited:
*bump*
GEMiNi GENETiCS
Active member
What's up ™!
I too utilize a lot of the same techniques as you but thank you for those DEC links bro....clutch this summer while scouting....I got 3 great spots and 3 testers this season but always looking for more.
If someone is looking for a smaller swamp tube check out h y d r owholesale as they have 2 packs of potato tubes that are 20"h x 12" wide or carrot boxes $10 for a 2 pack....can fit 10 discretely in a back pack if needed.
Also depending how your area is population wise will play a role in where you can look. I find large outdoor construction storage sites are great, near malls...surprisingly enough lots of malls/shopping centers are built near wetlands and they provide great cover. Lots of cars during the day so yours just blends in and people in the area are focused on shopping so no one looks around the area and since its so close to a shopping plaza heli's passing over is pretty minimal. I like to hide right under their nose.
I too utilize a lot of the same techniques as you but thank you for those DEC links bro....clutch this summer while scouting....I got 3 great spots and 3 testers this season but always looking for more.
If someone is looking for a smaller swamp tube check out h y d r owholesale as they have 2 packs of potato tubes that are 20"h x 12" wide or carrot boxes $10 for a 2 pack....can fit 10 discretely in a back pack if needed.
Also depending how your area is population wise will play a role in where you can look. I find large outdoor construction storage sites are great, near malls...surprisingly enough lots of malls/shopping centers are built near wetlands and they provide great cover. Lots of cars during the day so yours just blends in and people in the area are focused on shopping so no one looks around the area and since its so close to a shopping plaza heli's passing over is pretty minimal. I like to hide right under their nose.
i use team microbes technique. the google maps type tools are invaluable imo. i like multiple points of egress/regress (gettin in and out).
the swamp areas can work great if you get to some elvated land adjacent. the problem in my area with swampy areas is that they often don't have lots of breeze. you need lots of fresh moving air. one of the biggest mistakes is to ignore the importance of breezy areas. this is essential in swampy areas and dry areas. we often want to hide the plants so well they can't get plenty of sun and fresh air. b a d.
ppl pick up on patterns. coming and going the same way is a pattern. plowing up bare earth is a pattern (from the air). canna trees are a pattern (top, trestle, bend, you know...). using the same day/same time of day to come and go into your patch is a pattern.
i also do 360 degree searches/surveys on foot. you never know what you might find near your grow area that u need to know about. i once was growing a small stealth garden next to a major od grow site. this place ended up on the 6:00 news. thanks to my survey i didn't end up on the local news
this year while doing a 360 around a promising new area i found some pvc irrigation pipe and a barrel hidden under some brush. then i see a tree stand looking construct. someone was putting a couple of 55 gallon barrels in an elevated stand (one already in place, one not placed). hmmmmm..... got me a sign posted no trespassing on the stand . will go back and check soon.
the swamp areas can work great if you get to some elvated land adjacent. the problem in my area with swampy areas is that they often don't have lots of breeze. you need lots of fresh moving air. one of the biggest mistakes is to ignore the importance of breezy areas. this is essential in swampy areas and dry areas. we often want to hide the plants so well they can't get plenty of sun and fresh air. b a d.
ppl pick up on patterns. coming and going the same way is a pattern. plowing up bare earth is a pattern (from the air). canna trees are a pattern (top, trestle, bend, you know...). using the same day/same time of day to come and go into your patch is a pattern.
i also do 360 degree searches/surveys on foot. you never know what you might find near your grow area that u need to know about. i once was growing a small stealth garden next to a major od grow site. this place ended up on the 6:00 news. thanks to my survey i didn't end up on the local news
this year while doing a 360 around a promising new area i found some pvc irrigation pipe and a barrel hidden under some brush. then i see a tree stand looking construct. someone was putting a couple of 55 gallon barrels in an elevated stand (one already in place, one not placed). hmmmmm..... got me a sign posted no trespassing on the stand
. will go back and check soon.
Man... I can't tell you how happy I am right now after looking at those collapsable tubes. Those would be perfect for shallow marshy wetland set & forget patches. Thank you!
I like the "under their noses" tactic too, I tried that last year but left a path and now that I say that your link in your bio just caught my eye haha... I'll be checkin that out in a minute
Thinking outside the box is the smartest one could do when not located near nice vacant country-side shrubbery. I like your style man! I'm about to check your links out they all look so good haha
i use team microbes technique. the google maps type tools are invaluable imo. i like multiple points of egress/regress (gettin in and out).
the swamp areas can work great if you get to some elvated land adjacent. the problem in my area with swampy areas is that they often don't have lots of breeze. you need lots of fresh moving air. one of the biggest mistakes is to ignore the importance of breezy areas. this is essential in swampy areas and dry areas. we often want to hide the plants so well they can't get plenty of sun and fresh air. b a d.
ppl pick up on patterns. coming and going the same way is a pattern. plowing up bare earth is a pattern (from the air). canna trees are a pattern (top, trestle, bend, you know...). using the same day/same time of day to come and go into your patch is a pattern.
i also do 360 degree searches/surveys on foot. you never know what you might find near your grow area that u need to know about. i once was growing a small stealth garden next to a major od grow site. this place ended up on the 6:00 news. thanks to my survey i didn't end up on the local news
this year while doing a 360 around a promising new area i found some pvc irrigation pipe and a barrel hidden under some brush. then i see a tree stand looking construct. someone was putting a couple of 55 gallon barrels in an elevated stand (one already in place, one not placed). hmmmmm..... got me a sign posted no trespassing on the stand
Great points made there idiit. I actually almost wrote off a swamp this week during a short expedition on foot but then decided to do exactly what you said... survey the entire area. Upon exploration I found a few hunting stands and a path connected to a nearby home that led right out to the swamp area I chose not 30 mins ago. It looked like he stayed near his home where the stands are to hunt, but you never know if he has some buddies over one day and they decide to hunt over near the swamp...
Then upon further investigation I discovered a grow bag and some cheap 3 gal pots in a (what I first thought) was a REALLY good spot. South-facing on the edge of a discrete stream with a northern overhanging canopy next to some train tracks. 9/10 spot turned into a 5/10 just like that. Who woulda thought.
Do you plant on the uplands of swamps to prevent from heavy rains flooding the girls out or something? Is that what you meant by rising lands adjacent to the swamp? This is convincing me into site-searching in the summer and keeping an eye on that water level throughout the year. Really wish I had done that last summer now!
That sign should scare the piss out of them... you should be good to go mate
GEMiNi GENETiCS
Active member
Man... I can't tell you how happy I am right now after looking at those collapsable tubes. Those would be perfect for shallow marshy wetland set & forget patches. Thank you!
I like the "under their noses" tactic too, I tried that last year but left a path and now that I say that your link in your bio just caught my eye haha... I'll be checkin that out in a minute
Thinking outside the box is the smartest one could do when not located near nice vacant country-side shrubbery. I like your style man! I'm about to check your links out they all look so good haha
Yeah I stumbled across them and the light bulb clicked.... I'm going to try out a couple concrete forming tubes(48"x12" cut in half to 24" @ $8 not too bad depending on how many you need and stealth requirements) as well to see what works best.
For my BEST spot which there's a link in my sig.... I park at a mall, walk 1/4mile down a dead end road, hop in the stream and go up stream 3-400m, crawl under a pricker bush, then off through the woods for a 30m to beautiful 20m x 100m field. Tree line on the north, large hill/berm to the south, and unobstructed east-west from 7am-6-8pm depending on season.....long story short lol ....try to use a stream or walk along fallen trees. I will even weave vines into trees to pull the saplings down and add prickers to obscure my entrances. Fertilizing your path tgroughout the season can help speed up the veg growth and hide your path quicker.
Good Lol' silverback ....RIP.... he was a great wealth of information.
GEMiNi GENETiCS
Active member
I wouldn't write that spot off that has the airfield there....being that close to the landing is actually a bonus in my book. Air travel through that area is VERY limited so you won't see searches going off there and you won't have people in planes flying too low....they will mostly be busy in the cock pit talking w air traffic, monitoring air speed, wind, landing gear, last minute gauge check....far took busy and distracted to look down and spot a few MJ plants....that's just me though....when I have spots like that I'll through 5 plants out and see what happens. 5 plants doesn't take a lot of time or work so its not a huge loss if it gets found to me but it could be the next sugar hole for a few seasons.
Yeah I was kinda thinking the same thing. Nearby to a landing strip could be a good spot for a small number of plants. People are unlikely to be searching very thoroughly nearby to the area. Anything that was discreet enough not to be instantly blatantly obvious would most likely blend in.
That sounds like the spot I dream about every night when I go to sleep....
This will be the first year I start to manipulate my surroundings like that, it would have definitely saved a few of my patches in the past I know that for sure! Vines grow so fast, they're a great contender. I actually heard recently you can clone vines as easy if not easier than you can cannabis. I wanna try this and get 50 cuttings to bring to my patches to plant next month... I wonder what it would look like come fall
I have an unconditional respect for Silverback, having not known him but hearing about everything he's done. I found this thread on site selection and needed to bring it back to life, it just felt right. Maybe it was Silverback himself giving that inner guerrilla in me a nudge
I never thought about it like that before... maybe I won't. But I would never post a google earth image of my spot whether roads are labeled or not so I'll probably still write this off haha... damn it!
GEMiNi GENETiCS
Active member
Gotta look at it from all angles bro that's why I like planting near malls because who's going to run a search over a mall? No one!
Fairly easy to clone em....I learned it by just scoring them and dropping in glass of water...oddly enough I'm horrible at cloning canna but fine with most other plants lol
If you fertilize the vines and around your spots it should be pretty well filled in come next season. Plus if you keep the surroundings green your lush canna plants aren't as attractive to animals and not as obvious from air vs brown surroundings and bright green canna.
that's why I like planting near malls because who's going to run a search over a mall? No one!Fairly easy to clone em....I learned it by just scoring them and dropping in glass of water...oddly enough I'm horrible at cloning canna but fine with most other plants lol
If you fertilize the vines and around your spots it should be pretty well filled in come next season. Plus if you keep the surroundings green your lush canna plants aren't as attractive to animals and not as obvious from air vs brown surroundings and bright green canna.
Yeah you're right, I like that option more than trecking out 2 hrs into the bush by car/foot. I live near a city so vacant land is far away. I was thinking about golf courses as well... and train tracks going over swamps and such. You're so right about thinking outside the box, I'm looking up all the malls in my area on google earth after I send this haha
GEMiNi GENETiCS
Active member
I found a National Wetlands locator....not as fine detailed as the one TM spoke of but not all states offer the Dec.your state.gov
WWW.fws.gov/wetlands/data/mapper.HTML
Kind of basic but can help narrow the search down. I use this one plus DEC.gov for certain states plus Google earth to really pin point locations. Then I print them, color code, xerox so I can mark my locations to find them throughout the season.
WWW.fws.gov/wetlands/data/mapper.HTML
Kind of basic but can help narrow the search down. I use this one plus DEC.gov for certain states plus Google earth to really pin point locations. Then I print them, color code, xerox so I can mark my locations to find them throughout the season.
That's a really good idea, I've never thought about printing any maps out to take into the field... I would even laminate a few of my reliable locations. Being my 3rd yr outdoors, it's becoming quite apparent how important organization and preparation are in this entire process. Great tip Gemini
Holy shitballs. This is revolutionary.
GEMiNi GENETiCS
Active member
Dry erase markers work wonders for mapping your plot then wiping it clear of evidence .... if you need something more permanent due to smudging... bring a sharpie and a dry erase marker .... if you trace over the sharpie w/ dry erase it will remove the sharpie marks.
Don't believe me just try it on a white board... I did it to my teachers a jokes to see how they would react lol
Don't believe me just try it on a white board... I did it to my teachers a jokes to see how they would react lol
