Choosing a Site for a Gorilla Grow…Security

A guest post by the Ghost…written by Jerry

Be sure to read the other articles written in this series…

Gorilla Growing 101…Introducing the Ghost

Choosing a Site for a Gorilla Grow…Exposure to Sunlight

Choosing a Site for a Gorilla Grow…The Soil

Choosing a Site for a Gorilla Grow…Availability of Water

I am going to write these in first person as I think it will be easier.

The Ghost just sends me recordings of talking points he records. I will then write them up for you guys.

When choosing a spot for a gorilla grow there are several very important criteria that need to be considered.

I will write a post covering all of these talking points, and will start with the most important one in my view…Security.

Security

This is likely the most important consideration when siting a gorilla grow. If thieves (they abound) find your cannabis all your work is for not. And you always need to think about what you will say if questioned by the police…

Always have a reason to be out there. Whether you are fishing and have your fishing pole, and other tackle, or you could be a wildlife photographer, complete with your camera, or collecting wild edibles, with a few you have collected. You get the point, if you are questioned, you always want to have a good reason for being there. Plan on explaining yourself well before hand. You don’t want to have a ‘duh’ moment if questioned.

When I first began growing cannabis gorilla I would simply go deep. By that I mean I would hike farther then most any thief would want to.

Another way to accomplish this much easier is to use a boat. You can access terrain that would be very difficult to get to on foot. And most people in boats do not put in to the bank, get out and hike around. One of my favorite spots from a boat are springs that are coming out up on the bank and flowing down into the pond, lake, or river you are in.

Islands can be the perfect place, especially if they are rarely accessed by anyone.

Another consideration when using a boat, is the ability to hide the boat while you are caring for your plants. Especially if there is much other boat traffic.

Regardless of how I get there, I usually want to find some heavy brush, blackberry brambles, stinging nettle patch, something that will be as tall as my mature plants, and hard to get through. Poison oak, or ivy would likely work well too. Something that most people would think twice about wading through. Thieves tend to be lazy…always looking for an easy score.

The eye in the sky is a much bigger problem if active in the area. If you plants are out in the open sun, they will be visible from the air. With infra red, and the technologies at their disposal, they can be very good at spotting your grow.

I always kept my grows small, only 10 plants or less, which can help.

Another technique that can help camouflage your grow is to adorn your plants with fake flowers or fruit.

The only way I found to really defeat the eye in the sky is to plant your plants along a water way on the south bank, just under a tree, with full southern exposure. When they fly, they generally fly over the bank, but not out over the water looking back at the bank, so this technique can be very effective at times.

Basically if the eye in the sky is active, growing gorilla can be nearly impossible. Yes, they are that good at it.

I have found many OPP… or Other Peoples Pot….gorilla grows that are completely under trees to camouflage them, but cannabis is not only a sun loving plant, but it needs nearly full sun in order to come anywhere near it’s full potential. These OPP grows were always substandard, and some were simply useless…a waste of time and effort.

A couple of my quickest, and favorite ways to find a good site is this…

Go to the southern bank of a river, lake, or pond. Either have a boat, or wear waders. Find a big patch of cattails, or that big tall grass that grows along water ways.

Use the boat, or wade along the water edge of that vegetation, then cut back into the tall grass or cattails. This can literally be right by a boat launch, just be aware of that wonderful smell of cannabis as it matures.

I liked to go in just a bit, then make a sharp right angle turn, for several feet then cut back in to shore, still surrounded by those cattails or tall grass. Get to where the water is only a few inches deep (you must be aware is the water level can fluctuate for any reason at any time during the growing season…and adjust your spot accordingly.)

Then I would stomp the cattails or grass down for the size of the grow I was putting in.

Then, you simply pack in a couple large bags of potting soil, and plant in it.

You will need to water these plants, until they get established, and their roots have gone down through the potting soil and hit the water. Once this happens you can pretty much just let them grow, perhaps feeding them a few times, and ensuring the surrounding vegetation does not close in on them.

Another way along those same lines is find a stream or creek, that flows through some seriously thick brambles or brush. Hopefully not a creek that others wade to fish. Get in the creek and wade either up or down stream and into the dense vegetation then find an area with good exposure to the sun, clear an area and put your plants there. You simply always access your grow by the creek, leaves no trail, and if it is not a common creek fished by many, no one will likely ever wade it.

Quick, easy, and very, very effective!

You should always try to not leave a trail to your grow, trails are a dead giveaway, and thieves look for them, as do authorities. Although the police rarely follow a trail right to your grow as they are concerned about booby traps. You can access your grow by carefully going a different way each time assuring you are not leaving a trail others can follow.

You can jump from rock to rock, or go down a fallen log in an effort to leave no trail.

Learn how nature works, how animals react to human presents. If I am going to one of my grows, I always look for tracks, of both animals, and especially people. I have been heading to a grow before, and find the woods silent, and devoid of wildlife….a sure sign a human has been there before you.

On many occasions I have parked to go to a grow. I look at the tracks around the area. I see that there have been many people there, and they all were wearing the same boots! I would immediately leave, as I know these are made by police, as they all get the same boots to wear.

Whenever I grew gorilla, I would always start with seedlings, the bigger the better to a point.

I have been successful planting seeds on occasion, but there are alot of creatures around who love cannabis seeds!

So seedlings were my go to. Clones or fem seed would likely work even better although I rarely used them. I would just cull males when needed.

Packing very many seedlings can be a problem, especially if you are hiking any distance, not to mention simply having them in your procession.

One technique I used was to sprout my plants right there in my gorilla grow spot.

To accomplish this I would build a 2 X 4 X 2 ft high plywood box with a bottom, but an open top. This can be constructed from a single sheet of plywood. You then make a screened top (1/4 inch works great), that fits snugly, this is to keep mice out.

I would then line the bottom of the box with several layers of black plastic, stapling it to the inside walls….making it water tight.

This box will hold about 75 dixie cups, that you can plant your seed in. Make drain holes in the bottom of all the cups, these holes also allow water in.

You position the box to where the sun goes across from one end to the other, giving it as much sun as possible during the day.

Once all your cups are planted, you pour in about a 5 gal bucket of water, which you will want to go about 1/3 of the way up the cups, and be contained by the plastic liner. This water is enough to last a week or so, and of course if you get rain you will have to adjust your methods accordingly.

One other point I would like to touch on is cleanliness and being a good steward of the land.

Always leave the area you plant better then when you found it. Never leave trash, or anything there when you are done for the year. During winter vegetation can die, and fall to the ground exposing the area you have grown in. Any trash is a dead give away, and is simply wrong anyway. Don’t do it!

Also, of course never put fertilizer in a water way, or pollute in any way. Leave no trace….

Conclusion

That is about all I have for this installment, I will be covering other considerations in future articles.