Medicinal marijuana is legal in many areas provided you acquire the correct permits. Growing medicinal marijuana outdoors can be a good tactic. There are several challenges of course. One is watering.
Medical cannabis requires water, as we all realize. Grow some inside a closed off area and you'll see how much water it can transpire through the leaves. Provided you have good drainage the plant can handle lots of water.
Drainage matters because marijuana doesn't like to have "wet feet". It is drought resistant if it's been prepared, but a steady supply of water yields the best results.
If you're planting around your residence it's not much of a challenge. Yes, it's outdoors, but it's close to a hose. You can water it anytime you like.
Unless you face watering restrictions. In that case you need a solution. The same thing occurs if you're growing in a remote area. You can't just turn on the tap, so you need a solution.
Like many situations, the best solution is a range of options. Being close to a water source is an obvious benefit. Something to store water can contribute. Improving the soil to retain moisture also helps the crop.
Being close to a water source can be as simple as being downhill from a pond, lake, creek or irrigation ditch. Close means within hose length, or within walking distance. It's even possible to dig irrigation troughs in some areas. It's all relative.
Water isn't easy to transport, especially manually. It takes up lots of space. It's heavy. The more time you spend transporting it the more chance that you'll be seen. Situate the garden close to the water supply.
You have to put the garden below the water source if you're using hoses. Pumps are an option, but they are noisy when gas powered, and you have to transport fuel. Electric pumps are quiet, but need electricity, and that means a battery system. If you're creative you could have a solar powered pump system, but that's a lot of work. Hide your hoses if you don't want your crop stolen.
You could dig a ditch to irrigate your garden. The problem is that the soil may not cooperate (you could lose most or all of the water en route). Also, streams of water run toward creeks, not away, so disguising the ditch can be difficult.
Another challenge is delivery. You want water delivered on a regular basis. You don't want the plants watered only when you can get there. Also, you don't want to be chained to the plants. If you get sick, want to go somewhere, or need to stay away you want to be certain that the plants will get water and survive.
There are two solutions. The first is a water storage system. The second is water retaining soil.
Storage requires something to hold a lot of water. You want something that will hold lots of water and yet be low profile. There are a few options.
You can use five gallon plastic buckets, like paint buckets. They are easy to fine and easy to conceal. You can fill them at the water source and carry them to the garden, or hide them around the garden and fill them with a hose.
Plastic 55 gallon drums are now quite common, and you can even use the older metal ones. They are heavier, but may be advantageous. For example, big drums are harder to hide, but old rusty metal drums may be regarded as trash and ignored. Your watering system could be hidden in plain sight!
Hoses work best to fill these drums. You can also devise a self watering system with plumbing fixtures and soaker hoses. If you do this you'll have to disguise the whole system or at least the self watering part of it.
55 gallon drums with wide open tops will also capture rainfall. This will help by reducing how much water you have to carry to the site. It won;t solve everything, but every little bit helps.
One cool trick is the old water bed mattress. If there is space they are very low profile (they lay flat on the ground, after all). They have a large capacity. They can also be filled from a creek with a hose, and the hose can then be reversed and used to water the garden slowly.
The last method is to improve or alter the soil so that it retains more moisture and water. Farmers across the globe have practiced this for centuries. There are also modern additives that help retain water and release it slowly.
When your plot is on a hillside it will tend to drain more quickly. Terracing the area will help. You can also dig pits lined with plastic sheets to capture and retain rainwater. Mulching around the base of the plants will also retain moisture. Cover the area with prunings and clippings.
There is a new product available that can also offer help. Water retention crystals, or hydrogels, swell when soaked but then release the water back into the soil as it dries out. Some are made if starch and some are made of polymeracrilides. Not everyone agrees that water crystals work. I haven't conducted any controlled studies but I can confirm that the tiny crystals can be mixed into dirt and will swell to many times their size when moistened enough. I can't help but believe that they help outdoor plants survive drought more successfully.
Medical cannabis requires water, as we all realize. Grow some inside a closed off area and you'll see how much water it can transpire through the leaves. Provided you have good drainage the plant can handle lots of water.
Drainage matters because marijuana doesn't like to have "wet feet". It is drought resistant if it's been prepared, but a steady supply of water yields the best results.
If you're planting around your residence it's not much of a challenge. Yes, it's outdoors, but it's close to a hose. You can water it anytime you like.
Unless you face watering restrictions. In that case you need a solution. The same thing occurs if you're growing in a remote area. You can't just turn on the tap, so you need a solution.
Like many situations, the best solution is a range of options. Being close to a water source is an obvious benefit. Something to store water can contribute. Improving the soil to retain moisture also helps the crop.
Being close to a water source can be as simple as being downhill from a pond, lake, creek or irrigation ditch. Close means within hose length, or within walking distance. It's even possible to dig irrigation troughs in some areas. It's all relative.
Water isn't easy to transport, especially manually. It takes up lots of space. It's heavy. The more time you spend transporting it the more chance that you'll be seen. Situate the garden close to the water supply.
You have to put the garden below the water source if you're using hoses. Pumps are an option, but they are noisy when gas powered, and you have to transport fuel. Electric pumps are quiet, but need electricity, and that means a battery system. If you're creative you could have a solar powered pump system, but that's a lot of work. Hide your hoses if you don't want your crop stolen.
You could dig a ditch to irrigate your garden. The problem is that the soil may not cooperate (you could lose most or all of the water en route). Also, streams of water run toward creeks, not away, so disguising the ditch can be difficult.
Another challenge is delivery. You want water delivered on a regular basis. You don't want the plants watered only when you can get there. Also, you don't want to be chained to the plants. If you get sick, want to go somewhere, or need to stay away you want to be certain that the plants will get water and survive.
There are two solutions. The first is a water storage system. The second is water retaining soil.
Storage requires something to hold a lot of water. You want something that will hold lots of water and yet be low profile. There are a few options.
You can use five gallon plastic buckets, like paint buckets. They are easy to fine and easy to conceal. You can fill them at the water source and carry them to the garden, or hide them around the garden and fill them with a hose.
Plastic 55 gallon drums are now quite common, and you can even use the older metal ones. They are heavier, but may be advantageous. For example, big drums are harder to hide, but old rusty metal drums may be regarded as trash and ignored. Your watering system could be hidden in plain sight!
Hoses work best to fill these drums. You can also devise a self watering system with plumbing fixtures and soaker hoses. If you do this you'll have to disguise the whole system or at least the self watering part of it.
55 gallon drums with wide open tops will also capture rainfall. This will help by reducing how much water you have to carry to the site. It won;t solve everything, but every little bit helps.
One cool trick is the old water bed mattress. If there is space they are very low profile (they lay flat on the ground, after all). They have a large capacity. They can also be filled from a creek with a hose, and the hose can then be reversed and used to water the garden slowly.
The last method is to improve or alter the soil so that it retains more moisture and water. Farmers across the globe have practiced this for centuries. There are also modern additives that help retain water and release it slowly.
When your plot is on a hillside it will tend to drain more quickly. Terracing the area will help. You can also dig pits lined with plastic sheets to capture and retain rainwater. Mulching around the base of the plants will also retain moisture. Cover the area with prunings and clippings.
There is a new product available that can also offer help. Water retention crystals, or hydrogels, swell when soaked but then release the water back into the soil as it dries out. Some are made if starch and some are made of polymeracrilides. Not everyone agrees that water crystals work. I haven't conducted any controlled studies but I can confirm that the tiny crystals can be mixed into dirt and will swell to many times their size when moistened enough. I can't help but believe that they help outdoor plants survive drought more successfully.
About the Author:
Learn about ways to grow marijuana? Castulo Zane knows all about it. If you want to talk marijuana seeds google www.growyourownstone.com.