Heady Intentions
Member
Where do you get samples tested? And how much does it usually run? I'd be interested in doing that...
Heady Intention's 2013 SWAMP GUERRILLA GROW
- Thread starter Heady Intentions
- Start date
jrainman
Active Member
I like this and will be following along , but I have a question ,you mention you you go out exploring to find the swamps ,why dont you just go to your local sporting goods store/hunting and fishing shop and ask for Topo maps for the state gamelands in that area ,they charge a couple of bucks at the most and will give you very detailed topograghical layout of each zone per map they will show every swamp and grade of the land and much more info.
Heady Intentions
Member
Thanks man!
I actually use an add-on for Google Earth that has the fish & wildlife wetlands mapped out where ever I zoom into. It's located on the dec.gov site if you're interested... depicts between forested wetlands and open wetlands so I go for the semi-forested ones for moderate arial cover.
I did not know about the topo maps tho! There's a Dick's sporting goods in my town so though it's late for scouting I'll go check one out next time I'm over in that area... I've heard they carry maps for hunters and trail maps but I never actually checked em out yet. Thanks for the tip homie, appreciate it!
jrainman
Active Member
Know I no google , but the topo maps that are issued by the state gamelands are very nice extremly detailed ,and enless info once you learn how to read them ,its very common tool for hunters and fishers ,so no eyebrows will be rasied when asking,rite now in most states it turkey season so there your excuse for asking. they also have info on them like underground water ways (wrong term ) but you get what Im sayin ,just a very good tool for learning the lay of the land you are looking at to investigate.
BudWhyz
Active Member
This looks great. I've been thinking about doing a guerilla grow for years now but I've never gotten around to it. I learned a bunch of new things in this thread though, and I'm really considering getting something going in 2014. But I definitely want to follow along on this one.
One thing though. Could you explain how the tubes work? I'm not sure if I understand exactly how they work.
One thing though. Could you explain how the tubes work? I'm not sure if I understand exactly how they work.
getawaymountain
Well-Known Member
heres the lab we use and it cost 35 bucks(results within 3 days ) each analisys which is cheap security for a seasons crop !!
Heady Intentions
Member
Gracias man, and sure it's pretty simple to be honest -
The tubes are bottomless and are put down in the muck of the swamp, with around 6''-12'' of standing water in the bottom of them. The tubes are typically 18''-24'' taller than this water mark. The art of the tube is the wicking process, cannabis roots would normally rot out and drown sitting in water like this but the key is to have a tall tube so the water wicked up from the base provides a moist substrate all season long. The root ball will be above in the moist media, then send a tap root down into the water to drink from like a straw when need-be. Plants absolutely explode from this method because unlimited water + unlimited light = max potential. That's why you typically see swamp plants reaching upwards of 8-12' tall, which is why I personally like fimming and topping them out as the season goes along to keep em shorter and bushy; making a more stealthy grow. The eye is attracted to tall things and heli's look for the typical x-mas tree shape and un-natural patterns, so I try to go for random clusters and keep em as bushy as possible.
Time released nutes are a must, because hand-watering would be brutal with a pot/tube this size since it takes around 40-60 gallons. I stake my tubes down so when plants get top-heavy come harvest they stand up straight and don't wobble and tip over from strong winds. It would suck to get that far and then come back to soaking wet buds!
Any other questions you have feel free to ask man, and if youre trying to do a nice outdoor crop next season it's never too early to scout for spots. I wish I started prepping last summer for mine, because I've been rushing to get things done this month and I never looked to see how the foliage/coverage looked in the summer... when things get a little more bare. Start searchin!
BudWhyz
Active Member
Awesome. Thank you for the detailed response.
A couple more questions (for now lol):
A couple more questions (for now lol):
Would 6"-12" of standing water in the tube indicate that the bottom of the tube is equally submerged 6"-12" inches or is the tube deeper. And what are you using to stake them? How deep do the stakes go?
I saw you mentioned Osmocote, blood and bone meals. Are you using anything else? I have my organic mixes down pretty solid. I use the 3LB method for my outdoor gardening. What are your mix weights and ratios for an average tube?
Heady Intentions
Member
Np, and yes the tube is submerged to the bottom of the swamp. So for example, if you have 3' tubes and the swamp is 1' deep; you would see water filling up a foot of your tube leaving 2 feet of air before filling with soil. But if you had a 2' deep swamp then you'd want 4' tubes to keep that water/air ratio in check. Too much water leads to suffocating plants.
I'm using tent stakes that are U shaped to stake the tubes down that are about 10" long. You can find these at sporting goods stores or Home Depot/Lowes. You can also use fence rods that catch onto the chicken wire/fencing youre using for your tubes. 2-3 will do, and drive these bitches down into the muck with a sledge hammer. This was my original plan, but with 40 tubes it'd cost too much for me to grab 3 per tube so I went with the cheaper alternative this year. Next year I'll graduate to sturdier stakes I think.
And your soil mix question is more of a personal preference in my opinion. An organic dry-land mix won't perform well in the swamps, as a swamp mix won't perform too well on land. Swamps need a lot of aeration in the soil pretty much, so don't make your mix too "heavy" when you get down and dirty next year. I don't have my soil game dialed in yet, I've been running hydro indoors for the past 8 years and have recently been opened up to the soil game. I read Teaming with Microbes and it changed my view on soil completely. Shit is gold, I'd highly recommend it!
But my mix in the swamps this year will be:
60% peat moss
30% perlite/rice hulls (rice hulls most likely bc of the silica it provides plus theyre cheaper than perlite)
10% compost
Additives: Lime, Mycorrhizae, Osmocote (14-14-14)
This mix will feed the girls til flowering, then I'll be top-dressing with guanos to provide the extra phosphorous and potassium. I'm on a short budget this year since I decided to put out more tubes than anticipated, so I'm using the KISS method to keep my pockets semi-happy haha
Heady Intentions
Member
Thanks dude!
BudWhyz
Active Member
So as a rule, would you say 2 feet of air space at the top of your tubes?
How about something like this? Would it be any cheaper? You could could snap them in half. Would rust be a problem?
http://www.homedepot.com/p/1-8-in-x-48-in-Plain-Steel-Cold-Rolled-Round-Rod-48840/100338145#.UZHAyr-N7ww
Let's say your funds were a little better, what else would you recommend in that mix or to top dress with? Thanks again for all the info.
Heady Intentions
Member
Yes, about 2/3 of your tube should be above the water. So in 1' deep water you should have a 3' tube. In an 18'' deep swamp you should have a 4'+ tube. Always wanna keep the majority of your mix MOIST, not wet. I like to keep the bottom portion of my tubes very aerated since theyre sitting in water, so I'd toss like 50% perlite and 50% mix in the bottom third; then above the water line keep my 30/70 perlite/soil mix. It's all trial and error pretty much, I'm treating this season as a test-run for the perfect soil mix. I expect my desired results next season, if not the season after that. I'm talking 1 lb plants when I say desired results
& Something like these would be good stake-wise-
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Zareba-30-in-Green-Garden-Posts-P-30G/203266668#.UZSEl2KWWKw
^Just a simple U stake to keep the tubes in place for the season, if you're talking long-term I'd go with a little more expensive route and grab these bad boys:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Zareba-30-in-Green-Garden-Posts-P-30G/203266668#.UZSEl2KWWKw
^Tie em off to the sides of your tubes leaving a good foot hanging off the bottom and drive that 12'' into the muck for a more sturdy support system; 2-3 per tube.
I'd probably replicate Subcool's supersoil mix as much as I could without getting to heavy with it. Basically I'd take his mix and match it with 30-40% perlite/rice hulls since it's in a swamp and the need for aeration is key; his mix to the tee would be way too heavy in itself unless I were on dry land. Look it up if you haven't yet, just type in Subcool's Super soil mix 2012 in google and it'll give you mad details on it... it's basically a mix with Roots Organics and a lot of organic additives that literally make it SUPER soil. If I went this route with forty 50gal tubes I'd be looking into the $2,000 range though so unfortunately I can't do that this season... possibly next year. The only downside to organic mixes like this are the possibilities of animals sniffing out all that meal in your soil and digging it up in hopes of finding food... blood and bone meal can be smelt from a mile away from some critters and they will continuously dig up your plants if theyre unprotected just to find roots time and time again... they never learn. So if you DO go this route, chicken wire your tubes in at least til mid-veg and make it impossible for them to stunt/kill any growth to your girls.
How many plants do you plan on running btw?
Spacemanseeds
Active Member
Should be sick, your a beast!
Heady Intentions
Member
haha thanks Space, but the fact is that we're all beasts. You just need to make the effort in order to enter beast-mode, you got it homie.
Heady Intentions
Member
UPDATE:
So things right now in the thread are movin slow but steady, a lot more feedback than I had expected coming from icmag.com. Learned a thing or two already that I'll be using to tweak my grow so I thank you guys again for any input you've thrown into the thread thus far.
This week I'll be picking up about 50 bales of 2.2 cubic ft peat moss and transporting them to the sites via U-Haul to cut down on visits. My buddy will be helping me do this. Then once everythings mixed up with Osmocote/Mycorrhizae/Rice Hulls/perlite at the site I'll be filling up tubes and letting them sit for a week before I transplant. The reason behind this is basically to let any animals do their thing (digging up the soil) and to let the mix wick up enough water to totally saturate the medium. This thread will finally be kicking off soon, I promise!!
But until then I'll show you one more pic of the girls before I do a final cloning to show you how much they've filled out. I'm running out of space pretty much, but it's perfect timing because transplant day is right around the corner. I'm almost worried theyre going to get TOO big outside, since theyre already 2' tall inside lol. I'll be doing some major LST with the chicken wire outside and some topping to keep buds from getting too big thus keeping mold at bay the best I can. Have high hopes though, I'm so fuckin excited to see these girls perform outside with unlimited space!
Closet:
(Critical Hog, Critical Kali Mist, Unknown Kush, Caramel Ice, Vintage 2006, Critical Mass, Sweet Island Skunk, Timewarp, Boss Hog)
Grow box: (C99, Blue Widow)
So things right now in the thread are movin slow but steady, a lot more feedback than I had expected coming from icmag.com. Learned a thing or two already that I'll be using to tweak my grow so I thank you guys again for any input you've thrown into the thread thus far.
This week I'll be picking up about 50 bales of 2.2 cubic ft peat moss and transporting them to the sites via U-Haul to cut down on visits. My buddy will be helping me do this. Then once everythings mixed up with Osmocote/Mycorrhizae/Rice Hulls/perlite at the site I'll be filling up tubes and letting them sit for a week before I transplant. The reason behind this is basically to let any animals do their thing (digging up the soil) and to let the mix wick up enough water to totally saturate the medium. This thread will finally be kicking off soon, I promise!!
But until then I'll show you one more pic of the girls before I do a final cloning to show you how much they've filled out. I'm running out of space pretty much, but it's perfect timing because transplant day is right around the corner. I'm almost worried theyre going to get TOO big outside, since theyre already 2' tall inside lol. I'll be doing some major LST with the chicken wire outside and some topping to keep buds from getting too big thus keeping mold at bay the best I can. Have high hopes though, I'm so fuckin excited to see these girls perform outside with unlimited space!
Closet:
(Critical Hog, Critical Kali Mist, Unknown Kush, Caramel Ice, Vintage 2006, Critical Mass, Sweet Island Skunk, Timewarp, Boss Hog)
Grow box: (C99, Blue Widow)
getawaymountain
Well-Known Member
looking great there!! keep it up
chickenpoop
Well-Known Member
those are some big plants, good luck traveling with those in your car, that's personally the worst part about guerrilla growing in my opinion.
Heady Intentions
Member
haha for real, I'll be cloning the tallest shoots before I pack up the car though so they won't be as tall as pictured; still tall though. Hoping to fit them into plastic totes!
I'll be double checking tail lights/registration and anything else that would get me pulled over. My spots are no more than 30 mins away from my house though so I'm not too worried, and if I do worry too much I won't drive comfortable and would more likely make stupid mistakes that'll get me stopped. It's not even that scary to me to be honest, it's like if you can drive for 30 minutes around town without getting pulled over you can haul a few plants around with you. And if you can haul a few plants you can haul a lot of plants. You guys will know if I get nabbed if I stop posting updates, let's just say that. hahaha
chickenpoop
Well-Known Member
you will be fine, you got a good head on your shoulders, god bless man. keep up the good work.