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1 Guerillla Grower: How many plants?

M

moondawg

Member
I see threads where guys are growing 100 plant sites and talk about dozens of clones and im wondering how they do it.

For the last several years, ive tried to grow 20 plants and because i have to water alll through aug/sept, i havent been able to harvest all 2o plants yet! It seems like my limit is about 14 plants. Every morning i have to carry water and there just arent enought hours in the day for me to grow more plants. I wont take on a partner but it seems like i coulld grow more than that?????.

Am i missing something? How many plants are you guys growing?
 
thor

thor

Outdoor Grower, C99 Lover
ICMag Donor
It really depends on the quality of soil you're growing in; strains have different watering needs, some can take more abuse than others. Get some water retaining crystals, they worked really well for me - I grow in a sandy area and watering was a pain until I started adding some to the soil mix.

If you're growing in pots, plant them in the ground! You'll get much better chances of harvesting when roots have the ability to grow deep and look for water. If you really don't have any other choice, invest in a small 12V pump and a solar battery - makes irrigation so easy!

Also, soil in areas close to a river seem to have a higher water content. Watering is also easier when you don't have to carry jugs.
 
Stress_test

Stress_test

I'm always here when I'm not someplace else
Veteran
Location. Location. Location.

If you want to run more plants then you have to find better locations to grow. I know a couple people who do nothing but OD and they run 200 - 300 plants. They also hike into the hardest places they can find and set up irrigation even before putting plants in the ground.

From what I have seen, they try to plant near streams, creeks or rivers.
 
M

moondawg

Member
I cant help but wonder why the corn and tobacco grown around here doesnt get watered and it grows fine. Does cannabis use much more water than corn?


stresstest, Im stuck in the upper south, its where i live and we have some dry august and sept.

I use water crystals by the jugg thor. The soil is a big issue. My native soil is really quite good for agriculture, but in most of my sites, ive added so much compost that its mostly organic now. After seeing a thread on the topic and doing some reading, im mixing back into my holes some native soil because it is higher in clay which retains moisture better and should reduce watering, but still, if its 95 degrees and hasnt rained in weeks you have to water and water.

I dont have any water source to pump water from.
 
D

D.S. Toker. MD

Active member
Veteran
YES. Its my sense that cannabis requires much more water than corn.

I have broken free of the constraints of the organic soil myth!! Its been a big mistake for this guerilla grower to get sucked into the organic fad. Its probably a great way to grow if you can tend your plants, but I have to water plants grown in organic soil nearly 2X as much as i do native soil ammended with fertilizer, perlite and lime. Screw that, im done with organics.
 
E

el dub

The number of plants depends on the set up.

Last season I ran 20 plants on the prairie. 12 were in a single hidden spot and 8 others scattered on the open prairie. There was no problem getting water to the dozen, but the other 8 took a lot of work to keep moist. I shlepped water at least 100 yards in five gallon buckets for every plant.

Not sure if I could have pulled it off having to drag water to all 20.

After fighting bacterial leaf spot all summer, I ended up pulling between 1/2 and 3/4 lb from most of those gals. Definitely a lot of work considering the fight against black spot.

lw
 
D

darby crash

Member
D.S. Toker. MD said:
YES. Its my sense that cannabis requires much more water than corn.

I have broken free of the constraints of the organic soil myth!! Its been a big mistake for this guerilla grower to get sucked into the organic fad. Its probably a great way to grow if you can tend your plants, but I have to water plants grown in organic soil nearly 2X as much as i do native soil ammended with fertilizer, perlite and lime. Screw that, im done with organics.
Click to expand...

I'm right there with ya DS man. Cannabis requires much more water than corn, and organics as far as Im concerned suck for us guerillas. At first I just thought I had my plants in a dry area, but then I noticed how dry and hard my organic soil was compared to the native soil which was still moist. This season Im concentrating on using water retention admendments. Thinking about using coco coir along with stashing water ahead of time during april and may when it is nice out. Maybe even making the bottom of my hole concave like and lining it with pond liner.
 
F

fortitude

New member
I'm dealing with this question as well. It boils down to risk vs. reward and knowing that you’re capable of and your limitations.

For obvious reasons diversifying and compartmentalizing sites is best, but the efficiencies and ease of multi-pants sites might be worth rolling the dice.

20 plizos all over the place is a lot harder to run than 20 in the same general site/area. In the later you risk putting all your eggs in one basket.
 
C

.clunk

Member
There's no way that I'd even consider growing a single plant without first having a gravity fed drip irrigation setup going. Hauling water around makes no sense to me at all when you could simply run a couple hundred feet of 1/2" plastic irrigation line from a creek to your site, bury it then hook up a hose end timer and run 1/4" spaghetti line to each plant so they all get watered evenly every day, whether you're there or not.

Of course, all this stuff costs money so it's made worthwhile only by growing a few extra plants. Sure, digging a trench and burying a water line is hard work but to me it's much easier (and less conspicuous) than hauling jugs of water around in the blazing sun. Once it's buried, no one is going to stumble across your water line.

It also makes no sense to go to all this trouble for a site that isn't very secure; if you're going to invest several hundred dollars and a few days work in an irrigation set up you might as well make sure the location is secure so you can have a long term garden which you can add to every year. My motto is that you want a good spot that you can build on every year, since good things take time. Start with 30 plants on a good irrigation set up, the next year add another 30 and so on, until you've reached maximum capacity. Speaking of maximum capacity, this is something you should consider when picking out a site for the long term - make sure you have proper sun exposure, good native soil and of course; the space to add as many plants as you think you might want to grow in the next handful of years.

Remember, plan before you plant!
 
G

greennuggets7

Member
As most have already said depends... Also depends on what type of plants you're interested in growing, your putting out late season minis you can maybe put out on your own a couple hundred, but then again you could probably spend the same amount of efforts and grow 20 1lb+ monsters.

Also again you can use water crystals, peat moss, and mixing some clay back in sounds like a good idea, just see how much you add.

If watering is a problem, you don't have a source nearby you could set some sort of tent to catch rain water, or lug some in ahead of time.

If can't do any of that then simply put out enough plants that you KNOW you can water if thats 3 plants per spot then that's 3 more than you would have gotten otherwise.
 
M

moondawg

Member
Brother Bear said:
What is your yield off them 14 or so ?
Click to expand...

Im able to average a lb per plant and sometimes a little more Brother Bear. Ive always had better yeilds by growing fewer plants well than by trying to grow larger numbers of plants. 1/2 of my plants are single plant grows because they can get pretty big.


.clunk said:
There's no way that I'd even consider growing a single plant without first having a gravity fed drip irrigation setup going. !
Click to expand...
I dont have a water supply to run iriringatior from .Clunk
There isnt a water supply .clunk. No creeks, ponds or puddles.

Darby, im right beside you.

fortitude, thats the nature of my doubt. Is my capacity 14 plants? I hope not.op

el dub, i fought the leaf spot too. God i hope it doesnt return this year but ive had it 2 years in a row now

greennuggets7, i focus on growing fewer big plants than a bunch of little ones. Watering is the reason for that.
 
Bloods

Bloods

Member
.clunk said:
There's no way that I'd even consider growing a single plant without first having a gravity fed drip irrigation setup going. Hauling water around makes no sense to me at all when you could simply run a couple hundred feet of 1/2" plastic irrigation line from a creek to your site, bury it then hook up a hose end timer and run 1/4" spaghetti line to each plant so they all get watered evenly every day, whether you're there or not.

Of course, all this stuff costs money so it's made worthwhile only by growing a few extra plants. Sure, digging a trench and burying a water line is hard work but to me it's much easier (and less conspicuous) than hauling jugs of water around in the blazing sun. Once it's buried, no one is going to stumble across your water line.

It also makes no sense to go to all this trouble for a site that isn't very secure; if you're going to invest several hundred dollars and a few days work in an irrigation set up you might as well make sure the location is secure so you can have a long term garden which you can add to every year. My motto is that you want a good spot that you can build on every year, since good things take time. Start with 30 plants on a good irrigation set up, the next year add another 30 and so on, until you've reached maximum capacity. Speaking of maximum capacity, this is something you should consider when picking out a site for the long term - make sure you have proper sun exposure, good native soil and of course; the space to add as many plants as you think you might want to grow in the next handful of years.

Remember, plan before you plant!
Click to expand...
yea about that how could i get water to my plants that are about 15m away from a river but is 5m higher then the river..is it posible that i can set up something ?or should i just take bucket and go cary it :)
 
G

ghost of sage

Active member
I tell you the truth bro,an old timer that has been growing pot outdoors for 40 years gave me some advice and I will pass it on to you.If you get started watering your plants by hand they will expect it and you will have to do it constantly or they will die.But If you don't do it and let them get used to going without or mainly when it rains they will make it.I never carry water to mine unless it has went at least 3 weeks without rain and I tend about 30 holes. in several locations.I also only give them enough to get them by til mother nature waters them.The only time I may break this rule is right at the end when they are really heavy and I know that there is only at the most a month left I will water the shit outta them then and give them a chance to swell as much as possible.
 
G

ghost of sage

Active member
Also D.S can tell you,all you guys with that killer leaf spot buy you some liquid copper and that will be ball game for the leafspot.It kills it cold.
 
grimcreeper

grimcreeper

Member
I will be honest, I only water mine if it's been hot and dry for more than two weeks and during flowering. I see them maybe 5 or 6 times till choppin time.
 
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