Choosing a Site for a Gorilla Grow…Availability of Water

A guest post by the Ghost…Written by Jerry

For more tips on growing cannabis gorilla, be sure to read the other articles in this series:

Gorilla Growing 101…Introducing the Ghost

Choosing a Site for a Gorilla Grow…Security

Choosing a Site for a Gorilla Grow…Exposure to Sunlight

Choosing a Site for a Gorilla Grow…The Soil

Gorilla Growing…Bugs, Pests, and Other Animals

There are a couple things all cannabis plants need to survive, and flourish…sunlight, food, and water. And of course the availability of water is just as important as the other two.

In some locals water is not a huge concern because of adequate rainfall. But even in those places I think one should still have to water in times of drought, or to fertilize.

Therefore I have always sited my plants close to a water source, or where I do not have to go far if I will be packing water to them.

If you grow your plants in an area that does not get much rain fall this becomes even more important.

The area in which I have grown is considered semi-arid.

One of my favorite ways I can assure adequate water is to plant in an area that has ground water just a foot or two in the ground… In this situation all one has to do is water the plants till they become established, and their roots go deep enough to take advantage of that ground water. Once this happens you will not need to visit your plants to water. anymore, which can be an advantage.

Another favorite technique is to dig a shallow ‘well’ in order to obtain water. These wells are usually just a foot or two. I usually dig them deep enough to have enough water in them to do a watering. Sometimes they can take some time to fill with water again.

One could set up a solar panel, and a small 12 volt pump to pump water to your plants as well.

Or use a hand pump when you are on site.

If you have a creek or stream running down a hill, you could also easily redirect some of the water via a pipe, to your grow. One could also easily install a battery powered valve to automate watering.

I usually simply used a 5 gallon bucket. Low tech, easy, and I need to visit almost weekly most of the time anyways.

Another technique that can work well is to plant down off a road that has little traffic (or water perhaps at a time there is little traffic.) Have a pipe or hose running from the road down to your plants. You can bury the pipe or hose to avoid detection. At the top you can bury a 5 gallon bucket with a cap, with the hose or pipe connected at the bottom. Then you expose the cap of the bucket, take it off, put a funnel in place and pour the water in the bucket. This water then will flow down the hose or pipe to your plants.

One other technique that works is to have shallowly buried plastic sheeting surrounding your plants that extends a few feet. This plastic should all slope down to the plants. Then when it rains, the water that lands on the plastic will run down to your plants root zones. The advantage can be twofold, as the plastic will deter competing vegetation from growing around your plants.

And yet another technique…Dig a hole where you are going to grow your plants. Bury a 5 gallon bucket or more then one if you wish. Bury them so the top is near the surface of the ground. Drill a few small holes in the bottom of each bucket. These buckets need to have lids, with caps. Then when you visit the grow, you simply take the cap off the bucket(s) fill them with water, and the water will slowly seep out the holes you drilled in them. This water will be right down in the root zone, and you will not lose any to evaporation.

If you grow in a dry area here is another helpful hint.

When one waters the plants, this water (depending on soil type) can quickly peculate down and out of the plants root zone. There are a few methods one can use to slow this process down, and allow the plants time to absorb more of the water:

1. Put organic matter down in the root zone of the plants when planting to absorb and hold some of this water
2. Use water storing crystals…this is a link to some on Amazon.
3. Bury plastic, or some sort of container in the ground to catch and hold the water in the plants root zone.

Conclusion

Growing cannabis gorilla can be a challenge supplying everything the plants need to thrive. I hope this article will help you supply one of those needed elements….water.

Thanks for reading.