Outdoor Prep Help

So I'm trying my hand at outdoor this year. Found a nice secluded field pretty close to me, maybe .5 - .75 miles. Plan is to dig 9 holes, got 3 done today. They are maybe 2-3 ft wide and deep, 10 gallons of soil filled the smallest hole a little less than halfway.

Need to get some compost for the holes, but other than that the plan is just amended soil from last year + compost until the hole is full. Anything I'm missing here, anything needs to be added?

Plan is to start with autos and see how that goes. Planting the first auto seeds the first week in April. Assuming all goes well with the autos 1-2 holes should open up mid June for a photo or 2.

One thing I have to worry about is deer. I've started urinating around my area, made a cayenne pepper/garlic spray, and plan on making fishing wire trip line 2 or 3 squares deep around each plant, pretty sure I read that from a member here.

Another deer repellent is to drop a dozen or so moth balls around the area.

garybo said:

Another deer repellent is to drop a dozen or so moth balls around the area.

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Ah that's a good one. I think I thought about or read that somewhere but forgot about it. Will def be picking up some moth balls. Thanks man.

Sometimes you can find mothballs at a dollar store.

Rob Roy said:

Sometimes you can find mothballs at a dollar store.

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I found some at my local grocery. Thanks for the tip though prolly cheaper at the dollar store, and it was hard to find ones that werent "scented" but I found them.

This is about the size of all of my holes. Anything I need to do differently? Its about 2-3ft deep, kinda hard to tell from the pic. I've only filled 1 and it took about 25-30 gallons of soil, still have 2 more to dig out today and soil to get out there.

Finally done hauling soil out there. Tomorrow I've gotta get all the holes filled, tote out mulch, setup a tent, and start 3 autos. Gonna do 5 gallon smart pots inside for about 2 maybe 3 weeks then off to the outdoors. Total of 9 autos, all mephisto, Skywalker, white chem, and I think sour livers or sour stomper. If I get a non pop on one of the mephisto I've got some backup freebies from the tude over the years.

Grower899 said:

This is about the size of all of my holes. Anything I need to do differently? Its about 2-3ft deep, kinda hard to tell from the pic. I've only filled 1 and it took about 25-30 gallons of soil, still have 2 more to dig out today and soil to get out there.

View attachment 4301119

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When digging holes, remember wide is more important than deep. 18 inches is plenty deep. There are pictures on RIU somewhere of T-Dubs kiddie pool grow. That is only about 9-10 inches deep and he pulled over a pound.

If there are any mushroom farms near you, the compost will be real cheap. Here it's 15 bucks for a Bobcat scoop. Needs to sit a while, but really good compost to add to the mix.

Good luck.

There are tons of sites like this one to figure volume for you.

http://www.online-calculators.co.uk/volumetric/cylindervolume.php

But it's pretty simple. Pi X R {squared} X Depth = V. Divide that by 231 for gallons.

A 24" X 24" hole would be 3.14 X 12 X 12 X 24 / 231 = 47 gallons

too larry said:

When digging holes, remember wide is more important than deep. 18 inches is plenty deep. There are pictures on RIU somewhere of T-Dubs kiddie pool grow. That is only about 9-10 inches deep and he pulled over a pound.

If there are any mushroom farms near you, the compost will be real cheap. Here it's 15 bucks for a Bobcat scoop. Needs to sit a while, but really good compost to add to the mix.

Good luck.

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Thanks for the info. Makes me wish I did my holes less deep and more wide. Half are near done minus mulch so they aren't getting any extra work. The other 5 I'll work on widening up a bit.

Half are filled with recycled soil from last year and homemade compost. The others unfortunately are getting bagged mixes. Theres very few composters around here and most dont deliver, so most gets made in house.

too larry said:

There are tons of sites like this one to figure volume for you.

http://www.online-calculators.co.uk/volumetric/cylindervolume.php

But it's pretty simple. Pi X R {squared} X Depth = V. Divide that by 231 for gallons.

A 24" X 24" hole would be 3.14 X 12 X 12 X 24 / 231 = 47 gallons

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Math was my shit in high school, stopped at pre cal in 11th grade. Shoulda done calculus but fuck it I was getting lazy by senior year. I just never took any measurements and/or forgot my tape measure every trip out.

Grower899 said:

Thanks for the info. Makes me wish I did my holes less deep and more wide. Half are near done minus mulch so they aren't getting any extra work. The other 5 I'll work on widening up a bit.

Half are filled with recycled soil from last year and homemade compost. The others unfortunately are getting bagged mixes. Theres very few composters around here and most dont deliver, so most gets made in house.




Math was my shit in high school, stopped at pre cal in 11th grade. Shoulda done calculus but fuck it I was getting lazy by senior year. I just never took any measurements and/or forgot my tape measure every trip out.

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You can dig out your soil mix, then fill the hole halfway with native soil, adding your mix back on top.

Goggle mushroom compost near me. The compost has to be disposed of after it used to grow the mushrooms, so if there is a farm around you, it's going to be cheap. Cow and horse manure are good too. Chicken is good, but has to be used with caution. It's hot.

Math always does what it's supposed to. The rest of the world, not so much.

Back when I was trying for big plants, I dug my holes 32 inches across and 12-14 deep. I do dig down a little deeper in the center where the tap root will go. I made a pattern by cutting a hole in the center of a cheap tarp. It helps keep the area around the hole clean too.

too larry said:

Back when I was trying for big plants, I dug my holes 32 inches across and 12-14 deep. I do dig down a little deeper in the center where the tap root will go. I made a pattern by cutting a hole in the center of a cheap tarp. It helps keep the area around the hole clean too.

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Oh wow only 12-14" deep would have saved me a lotttt of time and soil.. lol. Im pretty sure i have at least 30" wide on all the holes, some a little more. I debated posting this thread or nah like 4 times before I started, guess i should have posted it earlier.

Not necessarily going for big plants. It's pretty secluded, but still have a few helicopters flying around. I doubt the autos will get more than 3-4 ft which should be fine. The photos will prolly get a lot bigger but I'll do a lot of staking them down to make em wider, and less tall. That's the plan anyway.

too larry said:

You can dig out your soil mix, then fill the hole halfway with native soil, adding your mix back on top.

Goggle mushroom compost near me. The compost has to be disposed of after it used to grow the mushrooms, so if there is a farm around you, it's going to be cheap. Cow and horse manure are good too. Chicken is good, but has to be used with caution. It's hot.

Math always does what it's supposed to. The rest of the world, not so much.

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No mushroom farms close by. All at least 100 miles or more. Can find a good bit of different composts, should have went that route but I went bagged from the local chain store. Just most convenient for this situation.

I may re do the holes idk. I've put a lot of time in already and everything is near finished. And I have some priorities coming up that are gonna take a decent amount of time. I def could go that route though if I put in the time.

I made a soil mix today. Here is what the mushroom compost looks like after sitting a year. It was full of worms. Hated to mix it up because of worm mutilation.

Grower899 said:

. . . . . . .Not necessarily going for big plants. It's pretty secluded, but still have a few helicopters flying around.. . . . . . .

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Three summers ago my local law found one of my patches with the helo. They were in the open, but only chest high and 4-5 foot wide. Since then I've been doing smaller holes and planting later to help control size.

too larry said:

I made a soil mix today. Here is what the mushroom compost looks like after sitting a year. It was full of worms. Hated to mix it up because of worm mutilation.

View attachment 4306677

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Looks like good stuff, wish I could find some around here. They'll repopulate just fine though yeah? I'd love to find some. I did start a 200+ gallon leaf pile for next year, gonna keep that up for pretty much ever. Should make some nice leaf mold. And I started a second compost pile. Need to find me some animal manure for the compost.

too larry said:

Three summers ago my local law found one of my patches with the helo. They were in the open, but only chest high and 4-5 foot wide. Since then I've been doing smaller holes and planting later to help control size.

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Hmm so you got me thinking, maybe I dont try my luck with any photos, just run the autos and be outta there by the end of July/begenning of Sept. It's mostly news choppers around here but still people above none the less. Or do like you and plant them late idk.

3/3 of mephisto Skywalker ogs are sprouted. Chilling in 5 gals right now. 2-3 weeks and they are headed to their holes. Prolly pop the white chems next.

Also pretty sure ima skip the photos. Just pull a couple freebie autos from the tude and run them in the extra holes. Gets everything done by Sept and I'll be outta there. Hopefully all goes to plan.

First 3 autos are going out in a couple days. They're still a little small but I need the room for my next 3. Photos may be back on, depends on how this next week goes. Having a lot of trouble with my indoor, at least until the home ac gets turned on.

I need an idea for rain. Something discreet that will protect them? Dont want to end up with budrot come the end of their cycle.

3 Mephisto Skywalkers put out into the field today! Well, 1 yesterday and when I went out there today he looked pretty happy. They're still kinda small but I'll grab some pics the next time I'm out there. Gotta top the holes off with soil, and still need to make a mulch.

Tossed moth balls every where, few garlic cloves, and sprayed the area with a cayenne/garlic spray. You cant see the trail the deer were using when I started coming back here anymore, so that's good.

Only thing left, after topping off the soil and making mulch, i think is to hit em and the surrounding area with a neem oil spray. Any other recommended products I could alternate with the neem oil as an ipm? Would the cayenne/garlic spray pretty much work for that? Dont know if I wanna hit the plants with that though.

Any thoughts on discreet rain protection? Prolly just go give them a good shake after it rains and hope? I just cant think of anything that wouldn't be completely obvious to a heli.