Anyone who isn't brandnew to the ICmag Outdoor forums has probably heard me complain about my sub-regions excessivly dry summers. The rainy season lasts from October through June, with the heaviest falling Dec-Mar.
But from early July to middle Sept it is nearly desert dry, a matter of fact many desert areas in the USA recieve much more rain during these months than I do. Add to this temp highs ranging from 85-105 all of this time, I water my plants not just to help them grow bigger, but mostly because they will die if I don't!
Basicly, the first question I ask myself when I am considering a new Guerrilla plot is "How are the plants going to get water?". Most of my years of growing guerrilla have involved me visiting my plots 1-3 times a week, and watering by hand from nearby creeks or springs with jugs or buckets. The main hassle in watering my plots is not so much the actual work involved in watering, but more the travel time to my plots(I like to put my plants in rugged isolated places).
One answer is to find places where water is naturally present year round, places where a year round creek flows or a spring seeps from the ground, often these are easy to find in Aug/Sept when the country is the driest around here.
The problem is that these creeks and springs are usually located in deep canyons and valleys that usually have 100 foot tall Douglas fir and Alder trees growing all around them, blocking most of the light. Year round sources of water that also have plenty of sunlight are usually located near human settlements.
So this is what it boils down to, I need water and sunshine to grow decent quality buds. Pretty much my options are to provide water either by hand or with a automated system, or grow in the shady wet areas and get fluffy light buds. But I think there is a great potential strategy staring me right in the face...................
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In 2006 I put a serious effort into trying to use 3 of these naturally moist locations, 2 were located near small springs, 1 was located in a Willow thicket near a year round creek. All plants survived and provided bud, but yields were low, maybe 1/4 to 1 OZ total per plant. The top buds on most of the plants were halfway decent, but the rest of the buds were popcorn, which are a pain in the ass to smoke.
I could have planted dozens of plants at all these plots, planting large quanities would not add extra work for me down the road, since the ground would provide plenty of water.
If I were to plant large plots in these moist low-light areas, I could turn these light buds directly into Bubble hash, Kief, or Oil. I could still get a high quality product in the end, but at a substantial savings in manhours.
Hell, I could plant well hidden plots with all the unsexed seedlings I can carry, and not even return to pull males. Basicly I hike in one time to plant, and then hike in one time to harvest, with minimal investment of materials or time.
Basicly I trade the hassle of caring for plants on a weekly basis, for the hassle of making Hash, which I think is a great trade.
Plus, since I am not aiming for big buds, the plants can be grown in places with lots of cover, and less direct sunshine, making the plants totally invisable from Helicopters, and much less visable to hunters and other people walking around in the backcountry.
The great thing is I only have to concentrate on growing huge numbers of seedlings, and taking walks in isolated areas. Hiking deep into my local roadless areas and in the distant high mountains is no longer a problem, since I will only be returning once(twice at most) to harvest.
So again, I save myself:
1. The trouble of cloning or sexing seedlings.
2. About 25 hours per plot, per summer, watering and feeding plants(I have hiking and fishing I want to do in summer!).
3. Finding hidden, secure plot sites in my increasingly crowded local backcountry.
4. From airborn threats. Being able to plant in plots with maximum cover completely eliminates the Helicopter threat.
Does anyone use a strategy like this? I'm sure I'm not the first guy to be intrigued by this possibility.
Here are a couple reposts from my 2006 thread:
Another plot:
And another
But from early July to middle Sept it is nearly desert dry, a matter of fact many desert areas in the USA recieve much more rain during these months than I do. Add to this temp highs ranging from 85-105 all of this time, I water my plants not just to help them grow bigger, but mostly because they will die if I don't!
Basicly, the first question I ask myself when I am considering a new Guerrilla plot is "How are the plants going to get water?". Most of my years of growing guerrilla have involved me visiting my plots 1-3 times a week, and watering by hand from nearby creeks or springs with jugs or buckets. The main hassle in watering my plots is not so much the actual work involved in watering, but more the travel time to my plots(I like to put my plants in rugged isolated places).
One answer is to find places where water is naturally present year round, places where a year round creek flows or a spring seeps from the ground, often these are easy to find in Aug/Sept when the country is the driest around here.
The problem is that these creeks and springs are usually located in deep canyons and valleys that usually have 100 foot tall Douglas fir and Alder trees growing all around them, blocking most of the light. Year round sources of water that also have plenty of sunlight are usually located near human settlements.
So this is what it boils down to, I need water and sunshine to grow decent quality buds. Pretty much my options are to provide water either by hand or with a automated system, or grow in the shady wet areas and get fluffy light buds. But I think there is a great potential strategy staring me right in the face...................
........HASH PLOTS!!
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In 2006 I put a serious effort into trying to use 3 of these naturally moist locations, 2 were located near small springs, 1 was located in a Willow thicket near a year round creek. All plants survived and provided bud, but yields were low, maybe 1/4 to 1 OZ total per plant. The top buds on most of the plants were halfway decent, but the rest of the buds were popcorn, which are a pain in the ass to smoke.
I could have planted dozens of plants at all these plots, planting large quanities would not add extra work for me down the road, since the ground would provide plenty of water.
If I were to plant large plots in these moist low-light areas, I could turn these light buds directly into Bubble hash, Kief, or Oil. I could still get a high quality product in the end, but at a substantial savings in manhours.
Hell, I could plant well hidden plots with all the unsexed seedlings I can carry, and not even return to pull males. Basicly I hike in one time to plant, and then hike in one time to harvest, with minimal investment of materials or time.
Basicly I trade the hassle of caring for plants on a weekly basis, for the hassle of making Hash, which I think is a great trade.
Plus, since I am not aiming for big buds, the plants can be grown in places with lots of cover, and less direct sunshine, making the plants totally invisable from Helicopters, and much less visable to hunters and other people walking around in the backcountry.
The great thing is I only have to concentrate on growing huge numbers of seedlings, and taking walks in isolated areas. Hiking deep into my local roadless areas and in the distant high mountains is no longer a problem, since I will only be returning once(twice at most) to harvest.
So again, I save myself:
1. The trouble of cloning or sexing seedlings.
2. About 25 hours per plot, per summer, watering and feeding plants(I have hiking and fishing I want to do in summer!).
3. Finding hidden, secure plot sites in my increasingly crowded local backcountry.
4. From airborn threats. Being able to plant in plots with maximum cover completely eliminates the Helicopter threat.
Does anyone use a strategy like this? I'm sure I'm not the first guy to be intrigued by this possibility.
Here are a couple reposts from my 2006 thread:
BACKCOUNTRY said:I also planted Low maint plot #2-
It is deep in the old woods, and sits in a clearing made when a good sized tree fell over and cleared much of the southern sky of smaller trees. A year round spring run off flows through the clearing, and 4 clones(see blow) sit in high spots around the damp area.
I used osmocote at this plot, partly as a control for my typically Organic grows, and partly because I used it alot in the past, and think it works fine.
While scanning the woods around where I parked my car, I found a unopened can of Hamms, went down good on the drive out of the woods
I went to visit trhis plot after not seeing it since I planted it in May. It was a low light grow, so the buds are kinda airy, but the only cost me 4 extra clones and 2 walks in the woods
Here they are as I found them:
Another plot:
BACKCOUNTRY said:This grow was the last planted, LM#3-
This plot got munched by wood rats, the 2 smaller plants were killed, the biggest survived with heavy damage. Despite this it looks like a 1/4oz of stinky smoke! Better than nothing I guess
And another
BACKCOUNTRY said:Low matience plot #1:
This location is in a small flood plain in the uper reaches of a year round stream, the soil there should remain moist enough to sustain my plants through the season. The willow will provide great cover from the ground and air, I will need to do some clearing for light as they put on more leaves.
Here is what the area looks like from the outside:
Well I finally found a window of time to harvest my big plot, LM #1. It appears the plot became light starved since the last time I saw it, in August. The fast growing Willows who provided so much camoflauge, also helped to reduce my expected harvest from 1.5 pounds to about half a pound. Oh well, at least this plot didn't cost me much time or money, so I guess I still won, heheh.
AQt least they were very pretty, and the bud is very potent, both the colors and power of the buds are due to leaving it to the last minute. Also it caused the small amount of mold I found, it was surprisingly little.
Anyways, here are the ladies!!
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