Question about Depth of trenches / Holes...

Butte · Mar 19, 2007

Hey all

Gonna throw this one out for input...

This year I’m going with trenches that’ll be 8 ft wide by 35-45 feet long. The original idea was a four feet deep bed, but one old-timer thought two was enough. Right now I’m thinking three feet deep and would like some input. I’m trying to get the plants on 15 ft centers thus there would only be two or, at the most, four plants per row. Anyway, would love some input from anyone else that’s filled trenches or extra big holes.

Thanks - Butte

Hoam Groan · Mar 19, 2007

Three feet sounds good, and if the trench is going to be 8 feet wide, hmm.. how many plants per trench? I'd space em so theres room for 30 gallons or more per plant, but considering the size of your plants you may want more.

Ah sorry, totally did not read the last half. three feet is just fine.

guest123 · Mar 19, 2007

from what ive seen in my growing u dont need a deep hole , cannabis likes to grow more surface roots than tap roots ,, specially when fed well ... im sure a 2 foot hole would be fine and add some mulch ...

Guest · Mar 20, 2007

If they are clones they will get mostly a rootball and spread outwards. If they are seedlings then they will have a tap root. Seedlings start with a taproot. By the time a seedling first pops it's head out of the ground the tap root can be 4 inches. By the first set of leaves 8-10". People are so used to planting clones they forget that marijuana is a tap root plant. They really do the best if not transplanted very much. Tap roots don't like be disturbed. Marijuana seedlings love well worked soil.

You want monster plants then you need big deep holes. I would dig a 4 foot deep hole and with a 3 foot radius from the center where the plant will go. That is 6 foot diameter so 4 plants in a row would be 6 feet wide and 24 feet long. Now you could spread them out more but you don't need to dig 8 feet by 35 feet. Just measure out the distance you want and dig each hole separate. That would save some digging. Now if you have a tractor than by all means dig the 4 foot deep, 8 feet wide and 35 feet long trench.

Butte · Mar 20, 2007

Well, this year is going to be done with a tractor. I'm playing with the idea of putting a french drain like system in the bottom of a three foot deep trench with two feet of good soil on top. The native soil at that depth may as well be terra cotta for how much clay/ hard rock is in it. A French drain for those who don’t know is perforated pipe covered with rounded rocks. It provides a way to keep roots from getting too soggy in compact soils, draining low lying areas of your lawn prone to flooding, etc.

Unless something really crazy happens, all of my plants will be from the clones I have now. They go from 35 gallon containers into these trenches, so I would think they wouldn’t go too much further down. The idea of a trench versus individual holes is one of just giving them as much room as possible to send out feeder roots.

Hoam Groan said:
...I'd space em so theres room for 30 gallons or more per plant, but considering the size of your plants you may want more.

Wrap your mind around this one: at the dimensions I’m working with, it works out to just over 4000 gallons per plant!

I’ll be doing a thread on this year’s grow when I have enough pictures and info to make it interesting, but as a teaser, I’ve almost quadrupled the space I’m using this year!

DJ_highst_ · Mar 20, 2007

I wish I had some of the holes before I filled them back up, but these were about 4' deep.. It took about 4-5 cubic yards of soil to fill back up, to give an idea of size. I recommend mushroom compost to help with "fill soil" if you are going to go for jumbo holes, to save money, some mushroom farms give it out for free. Also use Jumbo Chunk perlite from Nor Cal brand (only sold through FoxFarm) and a shit ton of peat moss, to help drain the massive holes.

Tom Hill · Mar 20, 2007

Hey Guys Howzit,

I've filled giant trenches & extra big holes

(just had to see how that sounded)

Assuming you can tend to them at will-

I think 18-24 inches deep is perfect for cannabis (regardless if from seed or clone). Maximum activity takes place in the top foot or so- this should be the area that the grower tends to & tries to keep perfect. If you go any deeper you will simply flank her at the lower depths with an area that is constantly too moist (not Butte, lol, French drains) for healthy root growth, & root rot will limit you to that same depth anyhow.

Good to see ya Wally,

Tom

badmf · Mar 20, 2007

A lot depends on the climate of your spot too. I have a very arid climate and I am using 32g trash cans with vem/perl/spag. moss/ grn sand a lil lime and the natural stream soil. I add 1/3rd polymer and have it on an auto-timer I tend to visit every month or so to adjust the timers setting up for temps and growth. I went larger this year to contain more moist soil and polymer. I theorize it will lessen water usage, plus fish fish grow in big tanks, :jawdrop: !! PS: Where ya been TH?

bongasaurus · Mar 20, 2007

french drain = weeping tiles? hmm i never knew :bat:

cant wait to see whatever ya do. 3 ft deep sounds about right to me though

bongasaurus · Mar 20, 2007

DJ_highst_ said:
I wish I had some of the holes before I filled them back up, but these were about 4' deep.. It took about 4-5 cubic yards of soil to fill back up, to give an idea of size.

4-5 yards! :yoinks:

holy shit man. how big were the holes?

guest123 · Mar 20, 2007

hey tom good to see u around , hope life is treating u well ...
You know i think the easiest and happiest grown herb is the ones that grow themselves ,, u know the old volunteer that comes up in the garden somewhere ...
no digging at all ,, and boy dont they take off ..
from what u see in the hydro sections ,, such small containers , yet quite large plants ,, one would begin to think the plants are often more resticted by lack of nutrients than room???
maybe time can be better spent improving your soil than digging deep holes???
heres a volunteer ...

DJ_highst_ · Mar 20, 2007

Wallyduck-nice pic, thats a lovely plant. You are right about the hole size. I wont dig holes that big again, 2-3 ft tops. After digging this ladies up at the end of the year, the roots had done most of their developement in the first 2.5 feet and went latteral from there. You are correct in that more time can be spent in preparing better soil and more effecient water system (watering properly becomes a big issue with big holes) bc its hard for the plants to use all the excess water they recieve in such a big space.

Bongasaurus- too big, I was able to fit two people and all three of my 100 lbs. dogs in there and walk around comfortably. The holes were up to my stomach/chest and the old dirt raised the dirt level on the side of my house by about two feet, even after it got leveled out. We nick-named the hole the whale grave. It took a month to do with only a shovel and wheel-barrel.

The holes went up to my chest, but the buds went up to my head

Babbabud · Mar 20, 2007

Yea I agree with Wally and Tom. My garden is less then two feet deep but lots of surface room. I think 18 inches is plenty for depth as long as they have alot of area to spread out.

BACKCOUNTRY · Mar 20, 2007

wallyduck said:
hey tom good to see u around , hope life is treating u well ...
You know i think the easiest and happiest grown herb is the ones that grow themselves ,, u know the old volunteer that comes up in the garden somewhere ...
no digging at all ,, and boy dont they take off ..
from what u see in the hydro sections ,, such small containers , yet quite large plants ,, one would begin to think the plants are often more resticted by lack of nutrients than room???
maybe time can be better spent improving your soil than digging deep holes???
heres a volunteer ...

Exactly!!

Butte · Mar 20, 2007

I love hearing from the heavy hitters...thanks for swinging by guys. This year's garden is going to be groundbreaking (pun intended) for me. Tom, I used your grow a couple years back (has it been that long?) as inspiration for my containers. While it worked, I didn't have the water you did and feel trenches are going to be it this year.

How about changing the direction of this thread a bit now that we have a general consensus on how deep I should go?

What are you going to do/ have done to prep your large beds/ holes?
Wally, Babba, and Tom, I’m especially interested in hearing from you three as you all seem to have the most similar conditions to mine (able to grow in the open, able to be tended regularly, etc.). DJ, you as well as you seem to work with clones quite a bit...

BACKCOUNTRY · Mar 21, 2007

Butte said:
What are you going to do/ have done to prep your large beds/ holes?
Wally, Babba, and Tom, I’m especially interested in hearing from you three as you all seem to have the most similar conditions to mine (able to grow in the open, able to be tended regularly, etc.). DJ, you as well as you seem to work with clones quite a bit...

Oh! I feel so rejected! Just Kidding heheh, I'll find a way to catch up with you monster growers, even in the bush. Good luck Butte!

Butte · Mar 21, 2007

Aww, BC, come on...you know you're loved!

Like you said it's simply guerilla vs wide open medical...

masterlow37 · Mar 22, 2007

I Like the Guerilla Thread Idea !

I Like the Guerilla Thread Idea !

for those of us not fortunate in being able to grow in our backyards (wish i could though !) hehe make it easy to love on um daily, OK back to reallity, for those of us that have to do the G-thang its a different kind of animal altogether, pun pun, so two seperate forums would be a great idea, hint hint...Peace :smoke:

DJ_highst_ · Mar 22, 2007

masterlow37 said:
for those of us not fortunate in being able to grow in our backyards (wish i could though !) hehe make it easy to love on um daily, OK back to reallity, for those of us that have to do the G-thang its a different kind of animal altogether, pun pun, so two seperate forums would be a great idea, hint hint...Peace

start a thread in the comments/suggestions forum. thats what I did with the Greehouse forum idea. Gypsy really listened and sent me a PM and came into the chat room to talk about the idea, very cool. It worked too. My little contribution to the site, lol.

Butte- this may sound basic, but just a heads up. When you are ready to plant, make sure you have strains that you KNOW you will be happy with and have tested yourself or someone you trust has tested out. I was kicking myself in the ass come harvest time, when some of the plants that I hoped were going to be keeper strains, weren't all that great. It sucks to dedicate so much time, effort and space into plants that are less than what they should be. Dont play the clone guessing game at the clubs.

What strains did you end of getting at HS? Hopefully some of Medi Kush's stuff, bc some of there cuts I am having second thoughts about dedicating any space to outdoors; at least not until some verification indoors first. Did you snag any SR-71 cuts when you came down? Their Odyseey is great outdoors and it might be a great strain for your situation. SR-71 is the only place I 100% trust for clones now.

Deft · Mar 22, 2007

I'm of the opinion that no new forum is needed till this one is overcrowded, like threads getting knocked off the front page within a day for a subforum like this.

In terms of trenches, I dont think my site will allow it as there are WAY to many thick roots to cut, I'd rather just let the plants roots find their way around them after I loosen it all up a bit. Good luck with yours, diging is damn hard work and seems to get harder with a larger scaled project lol.

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Question about Depth of trenches / Holes...

Butte

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Hoam Groan

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guest123

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Butte

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DJ_highst_

Tom Hill

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badmf

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bongasaurus

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bongasaurus

king of the dinosaurs

guest123

DJ_highst_

Babbabud

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BACKCOUNTRY

Mourning the loss of my dog......

Butte

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BACKCOUNTRY

Mourning the loss of my dog......

Butte

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masterlow37

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DJ_highst_

Deft

Get two birds stoned at once

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