Growing marijuana outdoors can be a good tactic. There are several challenges of course. One is watering.

Marijuana needs water. If you grow it in a confined space you’ll be amazed at how much water it can handle with good drainage.

This isn’t to say that marijuana likes swampy ground, or that it likes to be wet. It likes being well drained, and can take some drought if it’s prepared for it, but a steady water supply is beneficial.

If you’re planting around your residence it’s not much of a challenge. Yes, it’s outdoors, but it’s close to a hose. You can water it anytime you like.

Unless you face watering restrictions. In that case you need a solution. The same thing occurs if you’re growing in a remote area. You can’t just turn on the tap, so you need a solution.

The best solution is a combination of things. Being situated close to a water source helps. Having a storage system helps. Having soil that holds water helps.

Being close to a water source can be as simple as being downhill from a pond, lake, creek or irrigation ditch. Close means within hose length, or within walking distance. It’s even possible to dig irrigation troughs in some areas. It’s all relative.

Water is heavy and takes up lots of space. Carrying it is hard. If you are carrying it you want to be close. There’s nothing low profile about bring found by hikers with ten gallons of water strapped to your back.

Stretching a hose means a water source that is uphill from your crop. Otherwise you need a pump, which means a power source. A gasoline pump is noisy, and noise is bad. An electric pump could be powered by rechargeable power tool batteries, but that requires some fabrication skill. The hose also gas to be hidden or removed after watering.

Digging troughs is hard work. It also requires a gravity feed. They can also be hard to disguise. After all, little streams run toward water sources, not away.

Another challenge is delivery. You want water delivered on a regular basis. You don’t want the plants watered only when you can get there. Also, you don’t want to be chained to the plants. If you get sick, want to go somewhere, or need to stay away you want to be certain that the plants will get water and survive.

There are two solutions. The first is a water storage system. The second is water retaining soil.

Storage requires something to hold a lot of water. You want something that will hold lots of water and yet be low profile. There are a few options.

One is a series of five gallon buckets. They are small enough to hide in vegetation and debris. They are easy to acquire. They are also easy to fill, either by hose or directly from a water source if it’s close enough. Paint them black, green or camo so that they disappear into the background.

55 gallon drums are another option. Steel ones work, but lighter plastic ones are also available. They are harder to hide, but they can sometimes be hidden in plain sight as garbage.

Like five gallon drums, they’re easy to fill with a hose. You can put a plumbing fixture in the bottom to make watering easier, or attach a soaker hose to make it self watering. A self watering system, especially one with an automatic filler, won’t pass as garbage, though, and will need good hiding.

Big drums can also catch rainwater. This is a great source of pure water for your garden. Although it won’t solve the problems caused by an extended dry spell it will help.

Perhaps the best way to store water is an old waterbed mattress. They can be very low profile, and they hold lots of water. If you can fill it automatically from a creek and let it drip slowly over the crop you’ll do well.

You can also increase the ability of your garden to retain water, or at least moisture. Gardeners have done this for thousands of years in hot climates. There are also new products that help.

A hillside garden will drain quickly. If you terrace it you can retain moisture. Lots of mulch on top of the ground around your plants will slow evaporation. A circular trench around the base of the plant will keep water from draining away too quickly.

There is a new product available that can also offer help. Water retention crystals, or hydrogels, swell when soaked but then release the water back into the soil as it dries out. Some are made if starch and some are made of polymeracrilides. Not everyone agrees that water crystals work. I haven’t conducted any controlled studies but I can confirm that the tiny crystals can be mixed into dirt and will swell to many times their size when moistened enough. I can’t help but believe that they help outdoor plants survive drought more successfully.

Related posts:

Outdoor Growing Contest
Growing Marijuana Outdoors
Pot Seeds
Doper Math