I live in the high desert region and am considering putting some seeds in the ground at the top of a mountian around 7000 feet elevation. My problem is water, there are really no water sources that would be safe places to grow. I want to grow on a south facing rock wall cause i know it'll get light, air, and will not be found where i plan to put it, hell even animals can't reach it on the side of a cliff. My question then would be how much water does a plant require during an entire life cycle to do okay and basically not die? It's in a really inaccessible spot so i need a long term watering system. I'm considering something like a 128 quart rubbermaid container buried under desert ground above the ridge and a small clear or desert camo line feeding a drip system down the cliff. If I spend a night of digging i can get the water tank buried and seamlessly camoflauged but i need to make it airtight so no water vapor can escape, which means i can only fill it once. With careful rationing and regulation of water do you think this type of system can sustain a plant throughout it's cycle? Thanks for any input, suggestions, and experience, no matter how crazy it might be, i've been racking my brains all year about how i can do a high desert grow. At last resort i can build a water catcher and bury some 55 gal drums somewhere with a solar/battery timer but that's borering on building a water infrastructure and would require more people than i ould like to know about the project. Thanks, Peace
hard to say as i take it the temps there must be quite high?.......as for when i'm growing indoor, in the early veg stage the plant doesn't use too much and the amount needed increases with the size of the plant.....and when it is in flowering, it uses a lot more.....i flower at 12" with a maintained temp of approx 80-84 degrees farenheit.....and in the later stages of flowering...approx 6-10 weeks into the flowering phase, the plant was using approx 1-1.5 litres of water per day.for a 3 gallon pot....however it may differ a lot outdoor, with the wind and moisture being diffrent......but i just thought it may give you an indication.........Peace out.....Sid
Thanks, Sid. The temps here are actually cool, being high elevation there's always some crazy winds so it gets plenty of cool air, but also being high altitude, more sun, particularly more UV-B or 233nm wavelength light, which is known to stimulate production of THC. I think it will work really well cause at an average of 70 degrees with cool, dry air and as much air circulation as youre gonna find anywhere on the planet any plant that survives up here gets stems like tree trunks and branch out low to the ground. If i can give it enough water + some nutes i think i can get 1 plant to supply me all year. I'm gonna prolly go hiking tomorrow and scope a spot, plant a male i got to get rid of there and see how it does on it's own in a buried pot of soil. I'll just watch it for a while and see if it will grow or die with no care, then that will give me an idea of how much water is needed by whether it dies immediately or survives and just don't get big. There's a lot of cactus and sage, juniper there and they get water from somewhere so maybe my plant can find water and all i'll need to do is suppliment a little, reducing my water needs. I really want a nice healthy outdoor plant, but i just don't know how much help nature needs.