*Grow Spot Hunting!*

[BACKCOUNTRY]

I spend tons of time out in the hills in my area, year round, I may go on a scouting run for the "perfect spot" at any given time.

I prefer late summer/early fall to scout, reason is... it is bone dry in my area July-late Sept. Irrigating my grows is one of the most critical parts of my outdoor operations, because of this lack of rainfall.

I like to go out in early Sept, it is as dry as it will get for the season. If I find a green place, where the ground is moist, chances are I will be able to grow a crop there next year, without needing to water by hand.
If I plan to water by hand, I will have a idea where the nearest water supplies will be for a prospective plot at the driest time of the season.

Where do I look for these places? Mostly on Public(BLM) or commercial timber lands. Usually my spots are far off the roads, as far as I can stand to hike(I like hiking anyways, kind of a win/win). I like getting into country that is not attractive for deer hunting, mushroom pickers, dirt-bikers, etc.

Generally I look for south facing hillsides, the sun rises in the east and travels west across the southern sky(northern sky in Southern hemisphere). I use a Compass to find south, east and then west. How much of the southern sky is clear for the sun to shine on the plants? Ideally we need a minimum of 6-8 hours of clear sunshine, every minute over that is more bud, less than will result in small disappointing buds.
I use a compass with a inclinometer built in, I also have a sunchart that(with the use of compass/inclinometer) will tell me where the sun will travel across the sky through the season. This way I will know how much direct sunshine my plot will get at the begining of the season and the end.

I like to plant near similar looking plants, a few from my area- Big leaf maple trees, Black/Raspberries, Wild Hazelnut. I also like to use the sunchart/compass so I can plant the plants directly beneath a tree(so it is less visable from the sky), but still gets light from the right direction.

As you can imagine, by the time I satisfy all of the above, I don't have many prospects left.

But I am always working on ways to "bend" the rules

 

[lemonade]

Wow great post BC! I'd love to learn about the inclinometer/sunchart. Being able to calculate how much sun my spots will get next year would be so rad! Do you know any links explaining how it works/how to do it?

 

[BACKCOUNTRY]

I would point you in a direction, but I am the only person I know of that does this.
Here is what the sunchart looks like:

And a place to get your own for your local-Sunchart link

The scale across the bottom is Azimuth, this tells you a compass direction (80 degrees east, or 220 degrees south-west for example).
The scale up the side shows elevation, this tells you how high the sun is in the sky, this is what the (in)clinometer is for.
The blue lines show the path of the sun across the sky each month of the season, the red lines show the time of day.


Generally when I find a spot that looks good, I crouch down and sit where the plant(s) will be planted, so I see what they will.
If I want to know where the sun will be in the sky at 2pm, on July 21, I trace the red(time of day) line up to where it intersects the blue (time of year) line for July 21.
The chart says it the sun will be 210 degrees south, at a elevation of 63 degrees.
Now I take my compass, find 210 degrees south, then I convert it to the clinometer setting and site along it untill I see 63 degrees of elevation. If I see a branch, or a tree or a hill in the way, I know it may be a problem in this spot. I do this along the whole path of the sun for each month of the season, and That is how I figure my hours of sunshine for the day for any part of the year, any time of the year I please.


Here is a link to compass that is similar to mine, they are spendy!-Link to Compass
Good luck with the season!

 

[Stoner133]

Far out, great find.

 

[pipeline]

Good call on squatting where the plants are going to live. Thats what i use. Thanks for the link for the sun chart, i'll try that out.

When im spot hunting, i look for thorny tangle messes that have good south exposure of course, and are big enough to offer good camo and protection from any unlikely casual hikers. Somehow get yourself inside of the big thorn/small tree patch, and start hacking. Once you shed some blood, and you have a small clearing, dig the holes (6 or less for me) toward the north edge of the small area, but not too close, so that they are not shaded by the vegitation to the south.

Small pine trees and big fallen logs can help camo things in, but dont plant too close to the pines because their dead needles, i've read, can increase soil acidity. Useing adequate dolomitic lime in the soil mix will help buffer the acidity.

 

[bentom187]

hey, this is somthing that works for camoing your plant,if there are small sappling like trees or similar vegitation in the winter bend them over so you only lightly crack the stem but its still intact and in the spring it should grow back vegitatiion and create a wall of leaves,also remeber to make a entrence facing away from the trail/path , ive had to do this to a few sites cause most of the ones i found were'nt up to par it also opens up the cannopie a bit for more sun exposure. also look around for multiple piles of deer crap if there there ,dont waste your time,i hate deer.

 

[BACKCOUNTRY]

bentom187-I wouldn't plant near a path if I was you, and as for the deer, put some chicken wire up around the plants. If you don't like the fencing for one reason or another, there is always the liquid fence products if you want to put faith in them.

EDIT: OOPS! I misunderstood what you were saying, I thought you meant by a foot path sorry ,carry on bro!

 

[bentom187]

your right, but point being hide the entrence

 

[haxixe]

Most of my concerns after security which is a given, are about what's growing there. I've been growing long enough in my area to get a real good feel for what specific species of plants will indicate a superior potential spot. In the PNW for example, Asiatic Blackberries- especially big thick healthy ones- will almost invariably indicate a spot with both sufficient sun, water and soil fertility/pH to generally assure good results without watering or a lot of hauling of soil amendments/ferts. Digging out blackberries by the roots is damn good excercise on a cold, stormy winter's afternoon and if you do a good job of it you will cultivate the hell out of the soil a good metre deep. Cannabis loves this, and it's the perfect time to stir in any amendments you want to. Many if not most places will have similar 'indicator' plants, they'll tend to be fast growing, and sun loving. Unsurprisingly, the best spots will usually have big healthy plants already there.

Security's a whole 'nother rap.

 

[Jiant_J]

I would definitely think that smell is a big issue. Cuz outdoors, if a plant smells enough, ppl in helo's can smell em too, and thats a good enough sign for them to look at the area with scrutiny.