Site Prep

So you have your site picked out, great area, tough to get into and out of and in the middle of nowhere. You know you still have some time till you have to plant but your wife and kids or gone and you got the day to work.

Of course my first thoughts would be to figure out some type of irrigation system. Since I am no where near any body of water I would be digging out a hole for a water supply. Do you dig yours close to your garden so you don't have black tube leading right to you or far away so that when people find it they also don't find your garden.

Next I would go ahead and dig out the area I want to plant in. I don't think I would go as far as digging holes for my actual plants since I know there will be rain and erosion in the month or so before I plant.

After that I would build so kind of waterproof place to store the gear that I leave. I don't want to have to explain to people my I enjoy nature walks with a shovel and fertilizer. I would only ever leave stuff that in no way, shape or form could be tied to me. I might dig an area out and then lug in all my bags of fertilizer to cover and use when I get ready to plant.

I am then going to look at what I can do to protect my little clearing. What can I use to block the view of my clearing to the rest of the area? Depending on time I might look around till I found a few of our very hearty native thorn bushes to transplant in a perimeter around my grow spot. I am also going to drag what brush I can to restrict access and block view. Cutting down a few trees would be fine in this area but it would have to be by hand. At that point I ask myself if hacking away at a small tree with a hatchet or using a hand chain saw is going to be worth my time and effort.

Basically I want to prep my site to the point where when I am carrying plants in or checking on plants (illegal activities) I am there for as short a time as possible. I also need to make sure I am not having to drag around any bulky or hard to explain items. The goal is to be able to spend 20-40 minutes planting my girls, then be able to come back once every few weeks, empty my water I am carrying into my tank, check the plants and scoot within 10-20 minutes. I am also toying around with the idea of picking up some night vision goggles and doing all of this in the dead of night (like 2 AM on a week night).

What do you think about my prep plans and do you have any of your own?

sounds like you got a great head start. we have to much snow in my area, so most of the site work will have to wait.

The snow is killing me this year. Can't be leaving tracks.

Anyways, dead of night has always worked for me. I don't think night vision goggles are needed, but would certainly be badass. I use a green headlamp, the light doesn't carry and no worries about affecting the plants photo cycle.

If you do cut down trees, cut at the base close the the ground as possible, dig a whole next to the stump, cover stump with that dirt, place the cut end of the trunk in the whole and bury. If done properly it just looks like a tree died due to groundhog activity.

Daytime trips are necessary too. Pick the right time and try to look like you're a bird watcher or something. Binoculars around the neck is all you really need to get that look.

If you are going to arrange brush and trees to block access, do it before spring so vegetation is not trampled and can grow in around the disturbed area to look natural.

When is the best time to plant in zone 5?

Where is zone 5?

Zone 5??? Oh well. What strains are you growing?