I believe the flir image of pot plants is somewhat controversial. I have heard and seen different reports, some saying absolutely pot plants give off a different signature than other plants. Others say no way. One thing that is certain though is the flir image of the ground around pot plants. This is well known. Due to the disruption of the soil and the hauling in of outside soil combined with regular watering, especially watering, this is what is seen from the air. Yet another reason to get in early in already prepared holes containing mostly native soil with long season slow release organic nutes and NO WATERING during the season. If all you do is occasionally return to weave the plants into the surrounding vegetation your signature on flir will be minimal, maybe non existent. To all you guerrilla growers out there, you should be digging and preparing your holes for the upcoming season now or as soon as possible.
From the Air......
- Thread starter D.S. Toker. MD
- Start date
It looks like the controversy is over and has been for a while. This quote is from a 2003 ag journal studying the potential of using satellite and aircraft imagery along with gps technology to better manage food crops. Granted this applies to specific weeds that damage crops but the point is it can be done and within 94% accuracy as of 11 years ago.
"Obviously, weed identity is important when tailoring herbicide choices and treatment rates. Early laboratory stud- ies by Gausman et al. (1981) revealed species differences in optical properties of weeds. Later, Richardson et al. (1985) demonstrated that multispectral aerial video images could be used to distinguish uniform plots of Johnsongrass and pigweed from sorghum, cotton, and cantaloupe plots. They speculated that, as technology improves and provides nar- rower band data, similar techniques might provide real-time information on weed infestations that were mixed in with the crop canopies. This approach is proving very useful in managing weed species such as salt cedar and leafy spurge in wildlands and range managed for grazing (see review by Hunt et al. (2003; p. xxx this issue)). Dickson et al. (1994) and Dickson and Bausch (1997) developed a method for crops that used digital images in visible wavelengths, neural networks, and the spatial characteristics of weed patches for identifying velvetleaf and wild proso millet weeds in corn fields. Their method achieved an overall accuracy of 94 per- cent when tested on an independent data set."
The article goes on to say the temperature and color given off by leaves of any plant vary based on water/or lack of water and nutrient deficiencies. You could assume a well watered fertilized plant may stick out like a sore thumb compared to the surrounding vegetation which is not irrigated or fertilized. It would scare me if there just weren't so many other problems facing our country on top of the tide turning toward legalization. I would be much more scared if my living depended on the enforcement of mj prohibition.
I think key words are "weed infestations" and "weed patches." I've farmed for years and have seen some patches of velvet leaf that I could identify form a half mile away. Single plants, worked, "weaved" into the surroundings like Ronbo states, are going to be much harder to pick out.
The technology for remote sensing can also identify regions in a field that have high concentration of nitrogen. So a field with relatively low fertility or a natural field state which has had fertilizer applied will show up. Dono if the old choppers are doing this, but it is done in many areas of the world in order to reduce crop inputs in large scale production. They fly over a given area and take a pic, and send it of to be transformed into a map of high and low fertility.
Claude,
I agree with you and still think the nature of pot growing has the advantage over law enforcement. My point in posting that clip was to show what could be done 8 years ago and to keep it in mind in today's climate. You also have to keep in mind these thousand plant busts happen every year so some of them must be getting away with it or that activity would stop.
Jakeh,
Yes. They surely have and use the technology to help locate plants and I've read some about the use of scanning for soil fertility.
Like you say, though, people are still pulling off these massive grows. That wouldn't happen if they caught all or even most.
My interest in this thread is to remind people of the importance of blending in with their surroundings - camouflage. I know that I cringe when I see grow threads where people are planting out in the open without taking advantage of backgrounds. Plant along lines, plant with bushes, trees or embankments to the shady side of your grow.
MJ hides well. This summer I'll take some pictures of blending.
Yes. They surely have and use the technology to help locate plants and I've read some about the use of scanning for soil fertility.
Like you say, though, people are still pulling off these massive grows. That wouldn't happen if they caught all or even most.
My interest in this thread is to remind people of the importance of blending in with their surroundings - camouflage. I know that I cringe when I see grow threads where people are planting out in the open without taking advantage of backgrounds. Plant along lines, plant with bushes, trees or embankments to the shady side of your grow.
MJ hides well. This summer I'll take some pictures of blending.
Hey jakeh, claude and others. A buddy of mine just went to court last week for his cultivation charge. I went for the 2 days the prosecution put on their case and i left the place scared fuckin to death!! He had 22 plants growing. I knew the location of his grow and it was in the middle of know where. 4 wheeler access only.
He had every entrance marked with monofiliament "gates" so that if anyone entered the patch, he would know it before HE entered it so he thought he was secure. Unfortunately they repelled out of the chopper to mount the motion detected video camera high in a tree, so they didnt trip the monofilament detectors that would have made him suspicious. They played the tape in court of him pulling up on his 4 wheeler and unloading water and other stuff. There was 4 different pieces of tape for a total of 14 minutes of his face in the pot patch. 2 years - suspended sentence for 5 years, with drug testing.
I wonder if those camera's can see at night?
He had every entrance marked with monofiliament "gates" so that if anyone entered the patch, he would know it before HE entered it so he thought he was secure. Unfortunately they repelled out of the chopper to mount the motion detected video camera high in a tree, so they didnt trip the monofilament detectors that would have made him suspicious. They played the tape in court of him pulling up on his 4 wheeler and unloading water and other stuff. There was 4 different pieces of tape for a total of 14 minutes of his face in the pot patch. 2 years - suspended sentence for 5 years, with drug testing.
I wonder if those camera's can see at night?
Nadicus_Maximus
Member
Good information Toker, although not music to my ears! Just scored some femmed Sensi Star seeds per your recommendation
Wow, fucking cameras. It's hard to imagine that the resources for this kind of shit can continue. All local and state governments are broke. Once the last of the "stimulus" money that supported the state and locals runs out I don't see this continuing. It brings in no money. It's nothing but costs. God what a waste of tax money. This just shows how important managing your overhead profile is. Train those plants to be 4 or 6 lateral horizontal branches woven in amongst the blackberries and scrub. Do not allow it to climb higher than all the plants around it. Do everything you can to make it not look like a pot plant. That said, its not to late to do a seed run of autos for the upcoming outdoor season. I switched over to autos outdoors last year and was blown away. It met and exceeded all my expectations across all concerns. By starting seedlings 3 weeks before your last frost date, you will set out fully sexed rapidly vegging plants into your prepared holes. My last frost date is May 15'th. Full flowering during June with peak growth at the Solstice eliminates any mold issues as well as long daylight to support maximum bud growth. Moisture issues have not set in yet and most people have wetter Spring to hold soil moisture through until harvest if Summer bolts out hot and dry. Last year I harvested almost everything by July 11. Out of the woods long before any eradication programs have begun. Diesel, AK, hell, lots of great strains to choose from. Autos are the ultimate stealth plants. If I lived in a rural area and had a garden I would put a row in with my veggies, run some wire hoops and cover them with floating row cover like I do with most of my Spring starts. A row of peppers, a row of eggplant, a row of sour60, all under floating row cover wafting in the wind.
Check out game cameras at Cabela's or any other hunting goods supplier.
Watch the watchers.
Watch the watchers.
Nadicus, your weed world is about to change forever. Once you grow SS and harvest your first crop, potency for every strain you ever grow after that will be measured against her. You wont find anything that can compete with her in the indica world, but there are some sativa's that can run with her.
Get 50 posts and pm me.
ronbo1, im running some auto's in a soy bean field this year. June1 plant, Aug1 harvest.
We have a gung ho state/dea agent that has a hard on for weed and has declared all out war. In an interview, he said they spend 10 hrs a day, 6 days a week in the air hunting for weed. 3 choppers. Traffic here is as intense as it gets, but most of us harvest.
Get 50 posts and pm me.
ronbo1, im running some auto's in a soy bean field this year. June1 plant, Aug1 harvest.
We have a gung ho state/dea agent that has a hard on for weed and has declared all out war. In an interview, he said they spend 10 hrs a day, 6 days a week in the air hunting for weed. 3 choppers. Traffic here is as intense as it gets, but most of us harvest.
"I wonder if those camera's can see at night? "
I bet they can seeing that their resources are limitless. This could be a whole separate thread but the cost of 1rst generation infrared night vision has dropped to the point that they now make night vision goggles for kids for $50 and that was a year ago. My nephew had one and I took it into the bathroom to see how well it worked. It worked amazingly well. What was more interesting is how it worked and how easy it is to tell if there is another one near by. All they are is a pair of binoculars with a flashlight on top except the flashlight emits infrared which you can't see. When I looked at the mirror I spotlighted myself and could see the infrared with this cheap toy. Order one off of Amazon and drive through a rich neighborhood where they will have video surveilance and you will see what I'm talking about unless it is just motion activated or ask a buddy that has one for wild life and walk up to it at night. You will be able to see it no problem if you know where to look.
I bet they can seeing that their resources are limitless. This could be a whole separate thread but the cost of 1rst generation infrared night vision has dropped to the point that they now make night vision goggles for kids for $50 and that was a year ago. My nephew had one and I took it into the bathroom to see how well it worked. It worked amazingly well. What was more interesting is how it worked and how easy it is to tell if there is another one near by. All they are is a pair of binoculars with a flashlight on top except the flashlight emits infrared which you can't see. When I looked at the mirror I spotlighted myself and could see the infrared with this cheap toy. Order one off of Amazon and drive through a rich neighborhood where they will have video surveilance and you will see what I'm talking about unless it is just motion activated or ask a buddy that has one for wild life and walk up to it at night. You will be able to see it no problem if you know where to look.
Now you are talking. Floating row covers are great. I used them on my market garden crops all the time. If you're in a cool spring area like me you can gain 2 weeks on the season with their added warmth (they come in different thicknesses.) They are becoming quite common in the vegetable gardening world and will not look out of line. Maybe put them on something else too, like eggplant or hot peppers, to serve as a decoy if a nosy neighbor wants a peek..
Now you're talking. It's getting trickier with all the Roundup ready beans. In my area (and I farmed for 25 years till recently) Beans are planted anywhere from May1-June 10 so you have to be sure that the field wont be sprayed again. If the field looks clean about July 1 and the beans have canopied over the rows, then they aren't likely to spray again this year. Of course the shortening days mean this is cutting it close for getting really good yeilds from autos. Still its a worthy tactic.
Ronbo1, youre right. Dangerous stuff. Ski mask toboggan and coveralls i guess, and im serious.
Hey Cluade, Our beans get planted early May so spraying occurs a little early, but here,, some of these river bottom soy bean fields are 100-150 acres and if you look around, you'll find big areas that the farm coop laborer missed with the sprayer, especially down around the ends and corners,. Walk the field when the beans are 1' tall and look for young weeds comming up - they tell the story of the half assed spray job.
Also rainfall is important to record. If i spray with roundup today, and it rains on sunday and 2more times next week, my roundup wont last long. If it doesnt rain at all, it could be weeks before i could safely plant.
Hey Cluade, Our beans get planted early May so spraying occurs a little early, but here,, some of these river bottom soy bean fields are 100-150 acres and if you look around, you'll find big areas that the farm coop laborer missed with the sprayer, especially down around the ends and corners,. Walk the field when the beans are 1' tall and look for young weeds comming up - they tell the story of the half assed spray job.
Also rainfall is important to record. If i spray with roundup today, and it rains on sunday and 2more times next week, my roundup wont last long. If it doesnt rain at all, it could be weeks before i could safely plant.
Keep this in mind. The earlier you plant autos the better. They have a rep for mold later in the season once it starts to get cold. Timing them to mature around the solstice is the ticket. The longer the daylength the better. Indoors I grow 20 hours on 4 off. Get em in early and harvest LONG before the heat of the eradication teams kicks in. You can get a T8 shoplight, I use the standard 2x4 drop in troffer from Lowes/HD for less than 40 bucks, and easily start 60 or 70 in beer cups. Three weeks later you are ready to plant.
Doc, Yes, there are always missed spots in the fields. Terraces and waterways can be good too, as sprayers avoid these areas to avoid killing the grasses holding erosion in check. I know some of the neater farmers -and those with livestock to feed- often mow and bale up the waterways.
Ronbo, Sounds like good advice. I'm new to the AF scene but this spring I am trialing Lowryder2's,FMS' Purple Maroc and HFH's Danish bred Arne's Hash Plant.
Ronbo, Sounds like good advice. I'm new to the AF scene but this spring I am trialing Lowryder2's,FMS' Purple Maroc and HFH's Danish bred Arne's Hash Plant.
D.S.,
You may want to ask some local insurance agents who sell farm insurance what farmers they would not sell to. Tell them you are leasing some land for a relative and want to make sure you don't end up leasing to an insurance farmer whose goal is to put as little into the crop as possible including roundup and collect a check whether they yield or not. It's a good program that has been abused to the hilt. The advantage for you is if you find out which farmers are on the don't sell to list you know they will be putting minimal inputs into their crop. Once you know the names (if they will give them to you) ask your USDA ag agent what farm numbers they are currently leasing and you will have a better shot at not getting a 2nd spray and in many cases not even a first spray. Claude should be able to verify what I'm talking about if it doesn't make any sense.
You may want to ask some local insurance agents who sell farm insurance what farmers they would not sell to. Tell them you are leasing some land for a relative and want to make sure you don't end up leasing to an insurance farmer whose goal is to put as little into the crop as possible including roundup and collect a check whether they yield or not. It's a good program that has been abused to the hilt. The advantage for you is if you find out which farmers are on the don't sell to list you know they will be putting minimal inputs into their crop. Once you know the names (if they will give them to you) ask your USDA ag agent what farm numbers they are currently leasing and you will have a better shot at not getting a 2nd spray and in many cases not even a first spray. Claude should be able to verify what I'm talking about if it doesn't make any sense.
Jakeh has a good point; Some farmers simply cannot tolerate anything but a spotlessly clean field, some put up with a few weeds. Its easy to spot the fields on a stroll by.
