GUERILLA SITE SELECTION

[D.S. Toker. MD]

I thought i would remind newer growers and anyone else that might be interested, that NOW is the time to get out and find grow sites for next years crop.

cover is at its optimum right now and its easy to determine if the plants can be seen and from where. View the spot from different angles. sometimes the placement of plant/s can be moved just afew feet to avoid them being visable.

Some reasonable judgements about soil conditions can be made by assessing the native growth for a determination of what will be required for soil.

Now is the time to look up at the sun and see where its at in the sky. As the season progresses, the sun travels lower and lower in the southern sky and plants that started out in full sun in May can now be in the shade for 1/2 the day.

Its important to determine the path to the site. Because of the growth you can see where to enter your plants in the least obvious place.

This is the time farmers work their fields and a little research can reveal who's comming and going - what the traffic is like.

I have already dug 4 new holes for next season and have sent off to the ag extension a soil sample for another spot.

Now is the time guys. Look around.

 

[TokerOftheSouth]

Indeed it is the time, im also just Scouting and trying to find spots that mite still have sum water

It sucks to have about 2,000 acres of prime clearcuts for growing and NO WATER

I messed up my first grow season ever and dug holes in the Fall, returned in sping and cud only find half of them

 

[D.S. Toker. MD]

Hey Tots.

I suffered the same "lost hole " fate in he beginning, but i then started marking the holes after digging. If the spot is isolated enough, i used those landscaping flags - u know,a little plastic flag on a piece of wire? But i became leary of those because they "mark" something and everyone knows that. I then started using an empty pop can and a good/plate sized rock. I then break off a limb and stick it up by my rock.

Water. I have one spot Tots, that i have a hole dug, 3X3 and covered with an old road sign and some leaves and sticks, and i put jugs of water in that hole all winter/spring. By the time spring and planting arrives, it try to have at least 12 gallons of water for every plant i intend to plant their. Usually i will only have a couple in one site, so it works well. I still carry water early in the season and leave the store for closer to the end of the season when im tired and my back hurts. Everytime i go to a site, i carry a gallon or 2 or water.

Its also the time to add lime or other needed additives to a grow hole. Lime begins to break down and impact the soil as soon as applied, but it will take that cup of lime 3 years before its full impact will be felt.. Lime applied in the spring is far less effective than when applied in the fall.

I also swear by and would strongly recommend a fall applicaiton of nutes. It changes the outcome of the grow big time. Do a test by applying a fall app to some holes and not to others. Come next september, you will be a convert.

 

[tristynhawk]

I remember my first year growing i was like 14, picked out my holes in the dead of winter not knowing any better and when i came back in the spring there was a solid canopy above me. Seriously though it's pretty solid advice to start looking now because like you said it's alot easier to see this years traffic signs.

peace tristynhawk

 

[Molson]

To add on... give yourself a refresher with silverback's outdoor primer. All the nitty grittys of what makes a site good are in there.

If ya can't find your holes, throw a few of those wire property marker flags down, so you can find it again. If you come back and they've been ripped up or taken... well than it wasn't a good site to begin with.

 

[SchweppesG]

Personally...I think swamp/marsh is the best place to grow weed. If there is any swamp/marsh near you that is isolating....USE IT. Unlimited water for your plant all day all year round and does provide enough security. Nobody go through swamp/marsh during the rest of the year except maybe for hunting season. I planted bbxgg late june and now it's around 8 ft tall.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=93233&highlight=silverback

AND

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=84581&highlight=silverback

There is a thread similar to this. This guy is a great grower and mentor. I always follow his advice. He know his shit well.

I miss him very much so.

 

[bubble_bobble]

What should be done to a hole you want to reuse for next year? Should you pull out the roots and soil, or just mix up and re-amend the soil a bit and just leave the roots?

 

[KSP]

Also check out some of BackCountry's posts on site selection and sunlight. Using a site like this one:

http://solardat.uoregon.edu/SunChartProgram.html

along with a good compass, can give you a good idea of the sun's path throughout the growing season, if you are unfamiliar with the new sites you've selected.

Seems kind of early to me with crops still out, but whatever.

Hyperbole SB.

 

[D.S. Toker. MD]

bubble bobble, when i go to cut a plant, i take 2 gallons of compost/dirt and after i cut the plant, i dump that on the spot. I come back before winter and turn it in and add 1 cup of 10-10-10.

I cant overstate the impact of a fall application of ferts. Have you noticed that farmers, lawn maintance people and others have a fall application? There is a reason: It workS!

 

[Rob547]

Thanks for all the info Toker, didn't know that about lime. I wasn't sure if you meant mainly organic nutrients in the fall or both. Obviously most any fertilizer used by mainstream consumers for lawn etc are chemicals. I was thinking about covering holes with compost/manure left over, figured it couldn't hurt.