Solar pump watering for the guerrilla grower

[GEMiNi GENETiCS]

Great ideas floating around guys!!

ion .. .. This is by no means the boonies lol Digging for me is a big risk .. So I source materials from the area .. .. My spot is actually pretty close to houses and a shopping mall (1/4mile) .. .. But people dumped some old tires near by so Im going to grab up those and use them as "raised -beds" for some plants in the field cause its the most difficult and rocky area to dig.

GP73 .. .. gotta love solar power free energy!! Once I get to a more permanent house Ill be adding some solar panels nearby to help generate some free power or enough to support the house/grow entirely!! The gov gives so many tax breaks to make it economically viable for so many people to do this .. Its just the initial cost but after the federal tax break on cost it should only take a year or 2 for the system to pay for its self .. It it provides enough energy to sell back to the state then it'll pay for its self even quicker!!

 

[dnabud]

i am gonna use a 12v 500gpm bilge pump, 50gal black barrel (5 gal bucket in a pinch) for storage, battery powered water timer to control the watering and a float switch to start and stop pump when empty/full

 

[FirstTracks]

It sounds like with all that hilly terrain around, you could set up some great stealth water collection traps.

You mentioned that you can get the 55gal drums for free. Why not get 4-6 of them, interconnect them with overflow pipes, run a rain collection system into them, and have your timer getting water out as needed? Instead of solar panels, pumps, and so much waterline, you could use camo or dark colored tarps along the ground or strung off trees to funnel water into your collection barrel system. If set up right, even a 10mm of rain could fill up your barrels and have your plants set for the next couple weeks.
You'd need to pull down the collection tarps before the leaves fell off the trees/ before flyover season.
As long as you had a good filter system to keep debris from clogging up your plumbing, you'd be set.

just an alternative thought..

 

[Finger]

Good idea Gemini but maybe its easier to buy http://www.irrigatia.com/
I will use this system 1st time in this year, but people say alot of good things about it.

 

[supermanlives]

dont be suprised if you solar panel goes missing along with your crop. solar panels will shine brightly at the right angles.

 

[Bennyweed1]

I have wanted to do this for so long but the solar panel has always threw me off.

From altitude that will stick out like a diamond sparkling in the light. At the right angels of approach from above photocells reflect a massive amount of light as they absorb the light in their photocells.

I would assume authorities are trained to look for solar panels too because it only means one thing and only one thing will shine like that from the ground in the middle of no where.

I dont mean to dis the idea. I would do it in a heart beat if my location was more remote. I wish the best of luck to you!

 

[stc9357]

I would go with the electric pump as supermanlives suggested might be more costly but stealth is the primary issue.

 

[supermanlives]

if it was that easy and stealthy i would of done it long ago. i tried to camo the aluminum frame but the glass still shined like a beacon at the right angles.easilly spotted from air and in the woods shure to get attention. the small 12v pumps are like 68$ and at harbor frieght you can get a warranty too. i bought 2 and another from somewhere else. not loud at all but your not reccomended to run em more than 30 mins at a time. a cheap source of batteries for me was those car jumpstart kits. i took out the batteries. worked great.

 

[supermanlives]

i really hope you ditch the idea of the panel. i dont wanna see a post from you around harvest time bearing bad news. those little batteries dont weigh much at all.

 

[BurrZurrKurr]

Years ago I saw a grower in Oz that had a solar panel connected to car battery, powering his pump. The panel was tucked into a lean-to type structure so it was only visible on the exact path the sun shone, it was beautiful. The pump was on a timer, the panel recharged the battery, and unless you were in exactly the right line of sight, essentially invisible. I've seen small aquarium/pond pumps that have built in panels, for smaller irrigation jobs they'd be great. You could lay all the hose out, "bury" it for stealth, and have the pump/panel/battery off to the side, just visible to the sun.

 

[TLoft13]

Maybe you would be better off just switching to a fresh battery 1 or 2 times during the season?

 

[Apache Kush]

Years ago I saw a grower in Oz that had a solar panel connected to car battery, powering his pump. The panel was tucked into a lean-to type structure so it was only visible on the exact path the sun shone, it was beautiful. The pump was on a timer, the panel recharged the battery, and unless you were in exactly the right line of sight, essentially invisible. I've seen small aquarium/pond pumps that have built in panels, for smaller irrigation jobs they'd be great. You could lay all the hose out, "bury" it for stealth, and have the pump/panel/battery off to the side, just visible to the sun.

Bumping this thread.
Been thinking of using pumps to water a random outdoor...