GEMiNi GENETiCS
Active member
So Ive been thinking more and more a quick easy way to get water a long distance for a 'relatively' cheap cost. But it depends highly upon where you grow .. Some people grow semi "guerrilla" on their own property or off land next to their property but this method should only be used it your so remote there isnt a chance someone would find it or if you "know" no one will go there.
And this is more or less what I've come up with and I think it will work in most cases but that must be determined by the individual and grow location.
For most of my grow sites I have are in swampy areas or marshes connected next to rivers and with water tables so high in those area's I dont have to water much if at all .. Just once real well upon transplant and never again. I make a large almost Tom Hill sized bottom-less containers with coco and pro mix for a "semi-wicking" container .. Containers are 50-100gallons with at least 50% being coco the rest is peat, perilite, promix and 20% EWC by volume plus all my dry ferts but I mix those in such high doses (hot mix) into the pro mix that I measure out the pro mix to feed the entire container.
These work quite well and I don't have to visit these unless its a crazy drought and all the water dries up (very unlikely) but one of my biggest and best/safest plots is a giant field (150'L x 50'W)that no one knows about And is VERY difficult to access) due to many different factors but the only issue is that it is about 200' from the stream and lower field is about 10-12' above the water table and the upper field/hill is 15-20' above the water table. This spot is over an hour drive from me and my time there is limited so this got me to thinking (what made me make this thread). Its quite easy for me to move equipment into this plot due to easy access to the stream about 300' down stream to walk right up the stream and leave no trail I was there. But if Im carrying water its too many trips to the stream which causes a "trail" and causes noise that I dont want or need plus I dont have the time to carry # of gallons of water every few days to keep them watered.
WARNING!! By clicking on any of the underlined they are links to other sites.
The equipment needed to make this work .. Plus misc. items
(1) 55-gal drum with lid (I get these for free)
(1) car battery ($50)
(1) Epcom 50 Watt Solar Panel (20"x30"x1.4")($150)
(2) 10-gal tote ($10/each)
(1) Battery powered self watering timer ($15)
(1) submersible pump ($50-100) depending on size needed
# of ft of hose/tubing
Now that we have the parts this is how I would put it together, but input is always welcome and wanted! And for close to $400 give or take it would pay for it's self pretty quickly in my eyes .. For far too long I have been a slave to my guerrilla plants carrying water for up to a mile or more in distance and doing it with (2) 5-gal jugs at a time making at least 5 trips each visit. So for me to not have to lug water Ill pay $400 and a little sweat. Plus carrying that much weight (water) you make un-needed noise and cause trails/paths to be made and that will make it a high chance of getting caught or found.
Solar panel is put in field up against the hill covered camo style to keep it hidden (but still able to get sun), attached to the car battery which is inside a 10-gal tote to protect it from weather. On a side note the solar panel is warrentied for 5-years so if it gets messed up in some way it can be replaced, but $150 isn't much to pay if you get a nice fat harvest in with it. The tote would be camoed and partially dug into the side of the hill to keep profile down. The 55-gal drum would be placed at highest point in your plot (mine being on the hill). My hill is really quite easy to dig in (and its covered with small trees, tons of thorned bushes making it impassable from the other side) so I would dig a hole big enough to fit 1/2 the barrel in (either standing up right or on is side, not sure yet). Now attach your self watering timer to your hose/barrel and you run hoses from the timer at the base of your barrel to within 5'(if your planting in ground like I do) of your plants. Some sort of hard/semi-flexible tubing (similar to PEX tubing) would be ideal and at each plant drill a hole for a dripper or two, but for a cheaper solution soaker hoses would do quite well or regular hoses and just poke some small pin holes in them at each plant. You are pretty much done now. You can run a hose or tubing from the top of your barrel to your water source but I can not so I would have to visit once a week (if it doesn't rain) to fill the barrel(s). So I would store my pump and extra hoses nearby but well hidden in another small tote dug in to hide it well and every visit run the hose out to the water source hook it up to the pump and carry the charged car battery out with me. Hook up the pump to the battery and viola your pumping watering up to your barrel, I would keep the timer set to "ON" to thoroughly soak the ground then tun it back to "AUTO" (turn ON for 1-2hrs every 3 days) and fill the barrel(s) up. Now pack everything up and put it back. Hook the battery back up to the solar panel (a converter is needed to keep the battery from being over charged (above 13.5v) by the solar panel.
WARNING!! By clicking on the "VIDEO" link you will go to youtube.
Here's a quick solar panel to car battery VIDEO to check out
If possible to do a test run at your house before running it out in the woods I would do that just to see how long it takes to empty the 55-gal barrel on the time settings you plan on using. If you have it run every 3 days like I would and you can visit once a week then I'd have it empty 1/3 of the water with every "ON" cycle so just in case 1 week you cant make it for a few extra days your covered and it helps account for some evaporation lose.
If you stuck with me through this HUGE wall of text thank you very much. If you have input to help perfect this please post it. If you dont have anything negative to say that is NOT helpful then please DONT even bother posting.
And this is more or less what I've come up with and I think it will work in most cases but that must be determined by the individual and grow location.
For most of my grow sites I have are in swampy areas or marshes connected next to rivers and with water tables so high in those area's I dont have to water much if at all .. Just once real well upon transplant and never again. I make a large almost Tom Hill sized bottom-less containers with coco and pro mix for a "semi-wicking" container .. Containers are 50-100gallons with at least 50% being coco the rest is peat, perilite, promix and 20% EWC by volume plus all my dry ferts but I mix those in such high doses (hot mix) into the pro mix that I measure out the pro mix to feed the entire container.
These work quite well and I don't have to visit these unless its a crazy drought and all the water dries up (very unlikely) but one of my biggest and best/safest plots is a giant field (150'L x 50'W)that no one knows about And is VERY difficult to access) due to many different factors but the only issue is that it is about 200' from the stream and lower field is about 10-12' above the water table and the upper field/hill is 15-20' above the water table. This spot is over an hour drive from me and my time there is limited so this got me to thinking (what made me make this thread). Its quite easy for me to move equipment into this plot due to easy access to the stream about 300' down stream to walk right up the stream and leave no trail I was there. But if Im carrying water its too many trips to the stream which causes a "trail" and causes noise that I dont want or need plus I dont have the time to carry # of gallons of water every few days to keep them watered.
WARNING!! By clicking on any of the underlined they are links to other sites.
The equipment needed to make this work .. Plus misc. items
(1) 55-gal drum with lid (I get these for free)
(1) car battery ($50)
(1) Epcom 50 Watt Solar Panel (20"x30"x1.4")($150)
(2) 10-gal tote ($10/each)
(1) Battery powered self watering timer ($15)
(1) submersible pump ($50-100) depending on size needed
# of ft of hose/tubing
Now that we have the parts this is how I would put it together, but input is always welcome and wanted! And for close to $400 give or take it would pay for it's self pretty quickly in my eyes .. For far too long I have been a slave to my guerrilla plants carrying water for up to a mile or more in distance and doing it with (2) 5-gal jugs at a time making at least 5 trips each visit. So for me to not have to lug water Ill pay $400 and a little sweat. Plus carrying that much weight (water) you make un-needed noise and cause trails/paths to be made and that will make it a high chance of getting caught or found.
Solar panel is put in field up against the hill covered camo style to keep it hidden (but still able to get sun), attached to the car battery which is inside a 10-gal tote to protect it from weather. On a side note the solar panel is warrentied for 5-years so if it gets messed up in some way it can be replaced, but $150 isn't much to pay if you get a nice fat harvest in with it. The tote would be camoed and partially dug into the side of the hill to keep profile down. The 55-gal drum would be placed at highest point in your plot (mine being on the hill). My hill is really quite easy to dig in (and its covered with small trees, tons of thorned bushes making it impassable from the other side) so I would dig a hole big enough to fit 1/2 the barrel in (either standing up right or on is side, not sure yet). Now attach your self watering timer to your hose/barrel and you run hoses from the timer at the base of your barrel to within 5'(if your planting in ground like I do) of your plants. Some sort of hard/semi-flexible tubing (similar to PEX tubing) would be ideal and at each plant drill a hole for a dripper or two, but for a cheaper solution soaker hoses would do quite well or regular hoses and just poke some small pin holes in them at each plant. You are pretty much done now. You can run a hose or tubing from the top of your barrel to your water source but I can not so I would have to visit once a week (if it doesn't rain) to fill the barrel(s). So I would store my pump and extra hoses nearby but well hidden in another small tote dug in to hide it well and every visit run the hose out to the water source hook it up to the pump and carry the charged car battery out with me. Hook up the pump to the battery and viola your pumping watering up to your barrel, I would keep the timer set to "ON" to thoroughly soak the ground then tun it back to "AUTO" (turn ON for 1-2hrs every 3 days) and fill the barrel(s) up. Now pack everything up and put it back. Hook the battery back up to the solar panel (a converter is needed to keep the battery from being over charged (above 13.5v) by the solar panel.
WARNING!! By clicking on the "VIDEO" link you will go to youtube.
Here's a quick solar panel to car battery VIDEO to check out
If possible to do a test run at your house before running it out in the woods I would do that just to see how long it takes to empty the 55-gal barrel on the time settings you plan on using. If you have it run every 3 days like I would and you can visit once a week then I'd have it empty 1/3 of the water with every "ON" cycle so just in case 1 week you cant make it for a few extra days your covered and it helps account for some evaporation lose.
If you stuck with me through this HUGE wall of text thank you very much. If you have input to help perfect this please post it. If you dont have anything negative to say that is NOT helpful then please DONT even bother posting.
