Advice for growing in shitty, dry soil

John Kitchen

John Kitchen

Well-Known Member
Johnny has magic seeds.

Johnny wants to grow a beanstalk, so he can climb high.

Johnny lives in the driest country on the planet.

What the fuck should Johnny do?

I mean, I am close to a river, but all the soil surrounding is hard and dry as fuck. I only have a few seeds I want to try and grow, and growing indoors isn't really an option for me.

Another hurdle, is aside from one time chucking a seed in the ground, gettting impatient, ripping it up and smoking the leaves when I was 15, this will be my first attempt at groqing.

Any vets that can lend a word of advise?

Iss it enough to churn up the ground and use heaps of fertilizer?
 
John Kitchen

John Kitchen

Well-Known Member
texasjack said:
Google says Egypt. Put the seed in a pot and water it by hand.
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damn. I thought australia was the driest country.

Scratch that.

I live in a dry ass country. Possibly in the top three?

:-/

So I have the seedling pots and some super duper seedling fertilizer. I keep them in the shade for three days before moving into the sun?

Then, plant after they germinate?
 
Walterwhiter

Walterwhiter

Well-Known Member
John Kitchen said:
damn. I thought australia was the driest country.

Scratch that.

I live in a dry ass country. Possibly in the top three?

:-/

So I have the seedling pots and some super duper seedling fertilizer. I keep them in the shade for three days before moving into

bro there are Aussie threads down under
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Indagrow

Indagrow

Well-Known Member
You're going to have to amend the soil one way or another.. If it's really dry and compact this may be an advantage as whatever holes you dig will retain the water you put in.. An idea is to dig the hole fairly large.. Put in better soil (doesn't have to be top of the line for your first run). Then use buckets from the river to water the sites. Kinda labor intensive but it's a labor of love.. Snack on some of those pills you found and you'll be done in no time
 
John Kitchen

John Kitchen

Well-Known Member
GreatwhiteNorth said:
If you're worried about people seeing the pots out in the middle of nowhere then dig a hole in your dry ass dirt, fill said hole with amended soil & water as required.
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Walterwhiter said:
Hmm I'd find people out of Socal Nevada and Arizona could help you out. I've lived I phoenix AZ I know what hot and dry is lol
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Ah, nice tip.I might try that, although as the blue devil himself suggested, "Why dont I just ask in an aussie forum?"

I. Has. The. Dumbs.
 
John Kitchen

John Kitchen

Well-Known Member
Indagrow said:
You're going to have to amend the soil one way or another.. If it's really dry and compact this may be an advantage as whatever holes you dig will retain the water you put in.. An idea is to dig the hole fairly large.. Put in better soil (doesn't have to be top of the line for your first run). Then use buckets from the river to water the sites. Kinda labor intensive but it's a labor of love.. Snack on some of those pills you found and you'll be done in no time
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Can I ask what size, roughly, hole would i need per plant?

I'm not sure if these pills will make it to sunrise...eta:4 hours :-/
 
Indagrow

Indagrow

Well-Known Member
John Kitchen said:
Can I ask what size, roughly, hole would i need per plant?

I'm not sure if these pills will make it to sunrise...eta:4 hours :-/
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If you can replicate a 5gallon bucket in the ground you should be alright.. The bigger the hole the better tbh but that also requires more dirt and more water. For your first run you don't have to go nuts it's going to be a learning experience either way. As mentioned there are threads on here about growing in the bush. Follow those guys as they have already made the mistakes and learned from them
 
John Kitchen

John Kitchen

Well-Known Member
Indagrow said:
If you can replicate a 5gallon bucket in the ground you should be alright.. The bigger the hole the better tbh but that also requires more dirt and more water. For your first run you don't have to go nuts it's going to be a learning experience either way. As mentioned there are threads on here about growing in the bush. Follow those guys as they have already made the mistakes and learned from them
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Awesome.

Thanks for the wisdom.

I'll glean some more from an aussie forum, or try hitting up some AZ desert growers or something.
 
A

Azoned

Well-Known Member
I have had some luck in dry ass country. Our annual rainfall is less than 20 in. And have had volunteers make it w/o help. I don't know where you are...
Are there are plants [weeds] that grow around there that have the same basic needs as mj?...I use pigweed as an "indicator species" . I put my seed in those locations. You may need to haul water. If it is that dry, be careful to not beat a path. One trip to your plants, here... and you can see it.
 
greasemonkeymann

greasemonkeymann

Well-Known Member
John Kitchen said:
Awesome.

Thanks for the wisdom.

I'll glean some more from an aussie forum, or try hitting up some AZ desert growers or something.
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most important addition to dry or compacted soil is lots of humus.
you'll want a LOT of fresh compost, and if you are planting INTO the ground, rather than above ground, I suggest keeping a container, the reason is if it's super dry there it'll wick away the moisture in your rich mix.
and fertilizer will get you nowhere if the soil isn't the right "type"
cannabis likes humus, and lots of it.
 
A

Azoned

Well-Known Member
sorry... I misunderstood the OP

Yes
lots of humus.

If your soil is sandy...I'm sorry for you If you are growing melons, fine... but, it is a fight to keep things watered. I found a soaker hose useful. For compacted soil... clay needs some sand in addition to the standard humus/compost. If you have hardpan/caliche, gypsum will loosen it.


once you get some decent soil built up, you have to maintain it. You need to keep adding organic matter. It gets consumed remarkably fast. You will have nice, rock free sand in a few seasons, if you don't.
I usually take about 3 years to get the soil decent.
 
A

Azoned

Well-Known Member
I am in the "building process" myself. This place required a digging bar to punch a hole. 2 inches of loose stuff...sand. Then rocks. Then caliche... then, I might get lucky and get some red clay. By the time I kick the rock out of the dirt, I lose 1/3 of the volume. The original owner brought topsoil in, just to grow a lawn.

Look into "biochar". as an amendment. Acts like vermiculite and buffers nute leach out.
 
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