Automatic watering for 250-300 plants

fatcat669

Active Member
Just wondering what everyone thinks the best setup for watering to supply that many outdoor plants. Was thinking of placing twenty or so 55 gallon containers a bit uphill from there and then just using a gravity drip system but with holes in the hoses (running parralell with the crop lines) instead of individual drippers. refill the drums from a nearby lake with gas powered water pump once every 4-6 days.


thanks
 

potillidie

Active Member
sounds like a good idea just be careful you dont overwater. plus you better be careful with choppers thats a big crop, they will pick it up with the heat sensors.
 

utbob

Active Member
Twenty 55 gallon tanks??? You trying to drown them?

I was asking about ONE 65 gallon tank for about the same number of plants and people were telling me to put a timer on the thing so it only waters every few days and not constantly. If one 65 gallon tank running a gravity drip constantly is too much water then surely twenty 55 gallon tanks is too much.
 

kkday

Well-Known Member
crazy way too much!!! with a question like that it says you have no idea what your getting in too. just dont!!
 

fatcat669

Active Member
Is giving a plant 2.5 gallons over the course of two days really extreme? I've grown smaller amounts outdoors and have watered about that much every 3 days and the plants were still thirsty - they are in a very hot and dry climate. 300 plants would use 750 gallons over 2 days, and thats 10 drums, 20 drums would allow the crop to be left alone for 4-5 days without going back. Am I seriously delusional or does that sound right?
 

fatcat669

Active Member
ive read numerous threads here and on other forums where many growers water between 1-2 gallons every other day for 5 gallon buckets. the plants im talking about are in the ground, so they will need more water than that because of runoff and diffusion through the soil. I still don't see why anyone thinks its crazy to give a plant 2.5 gallons every other day. of course the grower would adjust for ongoing conditions and the look of the plant but i feel thats a good baseline. 65 gallons for the same number of plants? thats less than 3/4 of a liter per plant over the course of how many days were you planning? you'd be there every day refilling the drum if you were watering anywhere near peak efficiency... the whole point of setting up the auto watering system is to make it so the grower doesn't have to visit the plot so much. disguising the 20 drums in the wilderness isn't a big deal either - if someone finds the drums they've obviously found the field so its backwards worrying about that fact. no choppers where i live thank god
 

utbob

Active Member
Btw, if you are doing 300 plants you might consider 3 sites instead of one. I know you have no plans of being discovered but 99 plants can be as low as a 10 month sentence whereas 100 plants is a MANDATORY 5 year sentence.
 

fatcat669

Active Member
thanks for the suggestion.

as for the stream idea, unfortunately, there are no accessible streams yet to be found in the area. will find out for certain when early site preparation takes place. still working with the idea of drawing directly from the remote lake without using drums but this is so far looking like a lazy and more risky way out.
 
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