Reducing the watering trips, sugestions or feedback.

So i have been thinking in taking advantage of the outstanding weather in my region, lots of hours of sun. One of the things that bothers me the most is having to make a lot of trips to water outdoor trees to avoid letting them go dry, or giving more chances to be seen at my spots.

In my quest for info this is what i have found so far any more suggestions or feedback on this Mater is appreciated.

1- Swell Gel, polymer that takes water you guys must know what this is, i found some places online to buy it and so far the only setback is some of you say it changes the flavor...

2- Blumat ceramic cones, i have no idea how to get them at a reasonable price but i saw a model that sucks the water from a container and you bury it near the plant and when the heat kicks in and drys it takes pressure to suck the water.

3- Adding 10% perlite and a good amount of coco so water is stored for longer periods and air is supplied to the roots.

4- WetPots, this come with a 30Lt reservoir so its not really discreet but also delivers to the root system so no loss to evaporation...

The climate here is extremely hot sometimes breaking 42Cº or more and very dry is a tendency also... planting in april and may im sure a true giant emerges so i guess the bigger the plant the more water it takes...

Any more suggestions or experiences anyone?

this is ur best bet for discreetness and a nominal amt. of trips (barring a drought)3- QUOTE:'Adding 10% perlite and a good amount of coco so water is stored for longer periods and air is supplied to the roots.'

I just use a plastic cover in a 2 ft circle around the base of the plants, an cover it with some mulch (very important) an watter once a week, i also transplant seedlings in mid april so the heat wont kill em cause its over 100 in june an jully. Also i plant in corn fields cause they watter em for me.

SCARHOLE said:

I just use a plastic cover in a 2 ft circle around the base of the plants, an cover it with some mulch (very important) an water once a week, i also transplant seedlings in mid April so the heat wont kill em cause its over 100 in june an jully. Also i plant in corn fields cause they watter em for me.

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plastic is out of the question at least outside that would be visible, maybe in the sides of the holes to avoid other trees from sucking in. Covering i was going to some stuff made o pine left overs i think this is a kind of mulch...

Anyone else with good watering skills ?

aqua globes, plastic bottle with needle hole poked in it so it slowly drips, or dig a big hole at your site and put a tarp in the hole to hold the water and a tarp to cover the hole, when you need more water, remove the cover and let the rain fill it up next time it rains then re cover

pot scott said:

aqua globes, plastic bottle with needle hole poked in it so it slowly drips, or dig a big hole at your site and put a tarp in the hole to hold the water and a tarp to cover the hole, when you need more water, remove the cover and let the rain fill it up next time it rains then re cover

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Aqua globes looked like fragile and small i need something more heavy duty... and rain is not really and option but thanks for your input.

I yesterday found this ooze tube bags some take like 25 gallons im not even sure how much that is in liters but sound like a lot i think its 3 liters for every galo some have 15 so i might go for them in the more remote locations...

Any more ideas guys?

I always grow cheep with few $ , And i was wondering if you threw a shredded wet diaper or tampon in the bottom of the holes would it help with watering trips?

They hold like 40 times there wight in water an are pretty sterile.?

I never tried it but it would help hold in lots of water and is cheep so it meets my requirements

Lets try it this year , it cant realy hurt .

Another idea i had was almost burying a plastic jug beside it with a cloth wick coming out top an down around the plants roots about 1 ft deep. then water like normal jill the the jug for a time release watering?

Perlite is actually added for more wet climates while as vermiculite more arid climates. Vermiculite absorbs water a lot more than perlite. Use a peat moss based soil with added nutes as peat holds a lot of water. Mulch on top very thickly. Water absorbing crystals.

You could grow where the water table isn't far down

perlite is for aeration in the root-zone, vermiculite is what you might add. i wouldn't use it though. face it, unless you get regular rain, you're just gonna have to water them. i got brown dirt warrior's dvd last year and am gonna put it to good use this outdoor season!

chronic coinoisseur said:

Perlite is actually added for more wet climates while as vermiculite more arid climates. Vermiculite absorbs water a lot more than perlite. Use a peat moss based soil with added nutes as peat holds a lot of water. Mulch on top very thickly. Water absorbing crystals.

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i have found vermiculite near me already and yes im making my own soil based on peat moss and coco plus worm castings and bio compost.

I have been experimenting with using a plastc 1 gallon jug with a very very small hole in bottom an one in the top, so the jug will slowly drip about once every few seconds. then I will water em like normal an drop a water jug beside em for some slow saturation.

Also , use a stake to make a hole in the ground about 2 ft deep an water in to it so the roots get most of the water, an not the quick to dry top soil.

I saw they spray shredded up diapers, get em wet an spray on houses to stop the forest fires from burning their house. If shredded diaper can do this im definatly going to use some this year in my soil prep! or on the top of the soil to keep the sun from drying out the soil.

SCARHOLE said:

I have been experimenting with using a plastc 1 gallon jug with a very very small hole in bottom an one in the top, so the jug will slowly drip about once every few seconds. then I will water em like normal an drop a water jug beside em for some slow saturation.

Also , use a stake to make a hole in the ground about 2 ft deep an water in to it so the roots get most of the water, an not the quick to dry top soil.

I saw they spray shredded up diapers, get em wet an spray on houses to stop the forest fires from burning their house. If shredded diaper can do this im definatly going to use some this year in my soil prep! or on the top of the soil to keep the sun from drying out the soil.

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I think I remember reading that marijuana likes to dry out in between waterings. It prefers it and its healthier for the plant. Not ridiculously dry but I'm not sure it would like to be saturated all the time either. Just saying

chronic coinoisseur said:

I think I remember reading that marijuana likes to dry out in between waterings. It prefers it and its healthier for the plant. Not ridiculously dry but I'm not sure it would like to be saturated all the time either. Just saying

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Ye and for constant stuff one gallon shit you should see the powerfull sun i have here in may, not talking about peak summer when it BURNS a plant with 5 or 6 hours of morning light get 6 meters high and you really need to get something like a ooze tub 15 gallons to keep constant watering... i found a superb spot in a swamp, also got my church seeds they say its mold resitant so im trying it, but still lots of places were i can make a plot just this watering thing kills me cause it might make the diference in so many aspects i have to think every time i got water them i might be caught\spotted and thats game over... im really thinking i might go "rambo" and just get one solarcooker, supplies, seeds and just camp for the season... in a place that has a BIG FUKING RIVER!!! HAHAHAHA

i read some thing about growing salvia that talks about using a certain kind of rope that holds lots of water, its probably cotton or something but im not quite sure you could probably just look up what rope holds lots of water, but anyways it said if you burry the rope as you ad the soil to the pot or hole when the soil dries up the water gets sucked out of the rope, and then you can just over water and instead of drowning or rotting roots, it is absorbed by the rope and the process is repeated, it would mean a lot more water when you do water, and im not sure if it will affect the growth of the plant. Just an idea that i thought of reading this and i have no clue how it would turn out, if your gonna do it probably try it on one or two plants but not all of them incase the type of rope can make soil toxic or something,

If nothing else though just try a few of any suggestions and take good notes on which methods look like they keep plants from drying out.

o i think i forgot to say you that you need to soak the rope before you put it in and it will give you more time until the first watering, theoriticially