How to go the longest without having to water?

[dexorated]

I have a great area to grow outside, but it's a long hike into the wild. Because of this, I want to make the least amount of trips there as possible. Is there any way I could get away with only watering every 2 weeks? Am I going to have to water less if I use 5 gallon containers, or go directly in the dirt? My area gets very little rainfall so I can't count on that.

[davoplot]

You need to water more often than every 2 weeks.
If you proceed to do so, the plants will be very lucky to survive.
Make a watering system, or find a better spot with a creek running.

[AstralSativa]

Alright, so you already mentioned that your area gets little rainfall.

Here a few ideas to decrease watering frequency:

1) Plant in ground rather than in pots. This lets roots spread out and seach for water.

2) Use soil conditioners, such as vermiculite or peatmoss. These additives hold water and improve condition.

3) Add polymer/water crystals to your soil. These are crystals that look like large gains of salt or sugar that absorb water and expand to 20x their size. As the soil dries out, the crystals release the water.

4) Use mulch. This is a top layer of debris such as (rocks, grass, plastic, twigs, leaves, bark chips, moss, etc) that protects the soil from drying out too fast from the sun and also helps keep soil temperature a little more constant (improves root growth)

5) Place boards or plastic lining at the bottom of the hole that you dug.

[virginharvester]

Soilmoist crystals provide a good option.

http://www.soilmoist.com/soilhome.html

These crystals absorb a ton of water then slow release it to the plants. 2 tsps holds about 24 oz of water. I don't think it matters much if you use containers or holes with these, they would still help. I don't know if containers or holes are better for your situation generally either. If you were using soilmoist you would soak the crystals first so are loaded with water when you add them to the soil. Put some in the bottom center of the hole, add a few inches of soil, a little more, etc til it's distributed about half way up your pot or hole. That's how I did it, others might do it differently. I just figured that way when the plant is mature it will get water to the then major root structures. But the catch is that until then it's not doing it much good. I suppose you could position it from the bottom all the way to the top just below the surface, but I don't know. Maybe for the first 4-6 weeks you need to make the commitment to water weekly. My other impression of them is that once they dry out, unless it rains hard for hours the water won't absorb deep enough into the soil that the crystals reabsorb water but that if I water myself I can get enough water to the roots and crystals way down to "reactivate" them.

[dexorated]

Thanks guys... those sound like some good ideas. Can't wait to start growing outside and lower my electric bills.

[Ganja Guerrilla]

after you water your plants, add a milk jug full of water and or nutes with a pin hole takes 3 -4 days to drain
you need to take the lid off aswell, or it creates a vaccum
I watered my outdoor grow last year like this every 2 weeks, of course any hot spell will screw you up