Watering your outdoor plants can be kind of tricky, especially if they are located in a relatively dry and arid place. If your plants aren’t close to a hose then you’ll have to devise a plan to get your plants as much water as possible.
Obviously, early on, the plants won’t need a lot in the way of H2O but, as they enter into vegetative growth and start to get much larger, they will need more water.
Large adult plants can consume up to a gallon of water per day. This doesn’t mean that you’ll have to water the plants with a gallon of water every day because the soil should retain some of the water from previous waterings (or even from rain).
If your plants are on private land that you have access to, there is no shortage of unique techniques that you can use to get water to your plants.
For instance, you can fill buckets up with water and transport them by truck to the grow site. Try to avoid oversaturating your plants with water by dumping too much water on a single one
1. Methods
There are various options to water your outdoor plants. Below there are the most popular methods you could use.
Drip method
Other growers set up a drip method of watering with something like a squeeze bottle that has a permanent drip. This technique allows the growers to avoid having to water the plants every day while still keeping the soil moist on a continuous basis.
Although it is gradual by nature, the drip method keeps the plants relatively healthy and doesn’t flood them with too much water. For more information about water & nutrients, please take a look here!
Natural sources
Of course, you might live in an area where cannabis can grow naturally without the use of any extra water on your end. This is ideal for guerrilla farmers who likely won’t be able to check on their plants on a daily basis.
If you are a guerrilla farmer and you live in an area where the weather is often hot and dry, then you might need to keep a firm watch on the plants. Hauling in your own water will be challenging on a number of levels, and it’s better if you can find a nearby lake or stream that can provide water for you naturally
2. Underwatered
If your plants are underwatered they will likely start wilting, but be aware that plants will naturally start wilting in the summer as a response to the heat of the sun. The best way to check if your plants are getting enough water is to dig about 6 inches into the soil, making sure not to cut any major roots on the way down.
Solutions to underwatering
If the soil there is still cool and moist, the plants should be fine. Many types of soil are adept at holding water for long periods of time so that there is essentially a reservoir of water stored within it.
If at all possible, you might want to water your plants with a nutrient solution about once every couple of weeks. As long as the nutrient solution has a higher concentration of nitrogen than phosphorus and potassium, it will be good for vegetative growth.
For flowering, use a solution that is higher in phosphorus than either of the other two nutrients. This should be done when you water the plants
