Advanced watering on several large plants: Guerilla Style

I have several 2-3 footers that I can only visit every 2 weeks. I have been overwatering when I see them, which I know isnt good. I need to figure out how and how much to water. I live in a medical state so I dont need to worry about the law, but I still haul in my own water. I only have 6-8 more weeks of weg and I want to capitalize (Its very dry up here this time of year.) As anyone who has done it knows hauling water sucks. Even more than soil in my opinion because it never ends. Does anyone with more experience use some sort of basic equation to know how much they will need a week. Something like .25gal a day times # of Ft of vegetation times 7 days= water a week. Ive been giving the girls in the pix 40 gal every 2 weeks, but all within a couple days when I visit. Again I know this is bad, but what really sucks is that I have no idea if Im wasting my time and effort with so much water??

Also how can I deliver the water, even a hole only 3/10 in delivers like a gallon every 5 minutes which is way to much right?? Thanks all

water every 4 days, if not use a drip system with a 2 liter soda bottle. also if you leave a few buckets out you can collect rain water.

I jog to my spot every 4 days, i have plants ranging from 4ft to 7ft and still growing. and they arent lanky lol

How far down is the water table? Once took about 20 feet of 1 1/4" pipe and a well tip and drove my own well in about 20 minutes then had a hand crank pump no more carrying water now you can get a 12 volt dc solar panel and a pump and do automatic never touch a thing.

i think bucketsto catch rain might be a good idea. drilling a well might not work as where i live you can drill a well but you need heavy machinery and a very big and expensive drill bit to get through the lime rock. is there a nearby river or lake or something? what i would do is take drip line and punch 3 holes in it at each plant then have the pipe ran by each bucket make sure you get your grade right like 1:2 or something then have all the pipe tie in together so you have one main line and take a five gallon bucket or as many as you want and tie them all in to the main drain line. then every time it rains your bucket(s) catch the rain and runs down the drainline to your plants and exists out the holes you punched in the drainline. if your getting 2 or 3 rains a week this would work quite well

hammer21 said:

How far down is the water table? Once took about 20 feet of 1" pipe and a well tip and drove my own well in about 20 minutes then had a hand crank pump no more carrying water now you can get a 12 volt dc solar panel and a pump and do automatic never touch a thing.

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My water table is only 10- 50 down (1 of the reasons I bought this property, BTW I grow legal medical) this is a great solution that wont help me right now but I might be able to drive this kind of well. Obviously couldnt be used for drinking but the plants would love the natural minerals. For anyone else thinking along these lines. Make sure youre water is clean enough!!! I live in the middle of nowhere on a mountain, most other folks should check their ground water first b/c of chemicals ect.

The way i did this was had pipe cut to 5 foot length`s and threaded this way you don`t need a ladder to drive. Used a fence post driver simple and easy total cost maybe $150 buxs with hand pump end result priceless. Just make sure you get a good well point and get a few extra couplers.http://cgi.ebay.com/Watersource-Staess-Steel-Well-Point-1-1-4in-Pipe-/280664002014?pt=BI_Pumps&hash=item4158e0cdde Here is a new hand pump you can get these cheap used just have to rebuild it http://cgi.ebay.com/Large-Cast-Iron-WELL-POND-HAND-PUMP-/320684104915?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aaa431cd3 you can also get hand crank pump with better suction if you need to go deeper

I know from experience that a little Mulch goes a long way for water retention. I use cedar mulch, two fold one helps with water retention, and two the cedar helps with bugs. I do however have to pull away the mulch when I feed my girls, but paying attention to soil PH keeps the mulch a good idea for me. Good Luck.

get a couple 5-10 gallon buckets...get some hose with a small diameter...drill a hole at the bottom of the bucket just small enough that you have to really squeeze the hose thru and keep a really good seal.....fill the bucket up and let the water drip slowly into the pots...depending on the size of the hose it call drain anywhere from a 1/2 hour to 8-12 hours....fill the buckets up everytime you visit and you will have a neat little drip system to keep the plants watered....this technique is also good for flushing out a plant....can also feed your plant this way...very simple and cheap...good luck bro!!!!

hammer21 said:

The way i did this was had pipe cut to 5 foot length`s and threaded this way you don`t need a ladder to drive. Used a fence post driver simple and easy total cost maybe $150 buxs with hand pump end result priceless. Just make sure you get a good well point and get a few extra couplers.http://cgi.ebay.com/Watersource-Staess-Steel-Well-Point-1-1-4in-Pipe-/280664002014?pt=BI_Pumps&hash=item4158e0cdde Here is a new hand pump you can get these cheap used just have to rebuild it http://cgi.ebay.com/Large-Cast-Iron-WELL-POND-HAND-PUMP-/320684104915?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4aaa431cd3 you can also get hand crank pump with better suction if you need to go deeper

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Thanks for the great idea, Hammer. Its going to work great for me since I dont need to worry about the law/stealth, growing legal medical. Although anyone growing out away from where they visit everyday should ALWAYS hide where they grow!! How did you decide where to dig? I have several constant wet spots in the soil around my property that I thought would be the best place to look for water. I never thought twice about getting water from them b/c its not safe for humans but in this case . If you can send me any more info Hammer, just PM
Maybe I'll make a journal once I figure it out....

roundplanet said:

I know from experience that a little Mulch goes a long way for water retention. I use cedar mulch, two fold one helps with water retention, and two the cedar helps with bugs. I do however have to pull away the mulch when I feed my girls, but paying attention to soil PH keeps the mulch a good idea for me. Good Luck.

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You're right about the mulch, just added some. Helps with water but also a hidden benefit is helping to keep bugs away, like roundplanet said. Dont need to worry about ph change yet, but I will keep an eye out. I wont cheap out on mulch again in my climate.

@roundplanet I buried a series of dripper lines so I dont need to pull back the mulch. It was a pain in the ass but "worth it" in the long run.

Ok so I got a couple of 50 gal rain barrels and hooked them into an 8 way driper line manifold. The flow is adjustable

pray for rain