Size of outdoor holes??

tropical

tropical

Well-Known Member
I'm about to startup an outdoor grow and I'm wondering if it is really worth it to dig gigantic holes in order to get really big plants. I have enough Fox Farms Ocean Forest to use 15-20 gallons on each of my plants. I'm doing this whole operation on my own and that would be a LOT of hard work digging. Can I get comparable sized plants just digging the holes big enough to hold 10 gallons or so?

One idea I've had is to dig the holes, then over fill them with the Ocean Forest in sort of a raised bed above the surface.

I know the particular strain will limit the size of the plants anyways. The first round of plants going out will be Trainwreck, Cheese, Auto Pakistani, Auto Afghan Kush, White Berry and Lemon Skunk. I'll probably throw a 3-D clone and Jack the Ripper clone outdoors as well later on (when I get them). That's a total of 8 holes I'm going to have to dig. Anyone think the over-filled holes is the best idea?? Will I see much better yields with 15-20 gallons of soil compared to say just 10 gallons? Thanks.
 
Is it a secure site, ie on your property or in a park? If it is on your property I would go with digging and building up a mound.
 
tropical said:
I'm about to startup an outdoor grow and I'm wondering if it is really worth it to dig gigantic holes in order to get really big plants. I have enough Fox Farms Ocean Forest to use 15-20 gallons on each of my plants. I'm doing this whole operation on my own and that would be a LOT of hard work digging. Can I get comparable sized plants just digging the holes big enough to hold 10 gallons or so?

One idea I've had is to dig the holes, then over fill them with the Ocean Forest in sort of a raised bed above the surface.

I know the particular strain will limit the size of the plants anyways. The first round of plants going out will be Trainwreck, Cheese, Auto Pakistani, Auto Afghan Kush, White Berry and Lemon Skunk. I'll probably throw a 3-D clone and Jack the Ripper clone outdoors as well later on (when I get them). That's a total of 8 holes I'm going to have to dig. Anyone think the over-filled holes is the best idea?? Will I see much better yields with 15-20 gallons of soil compared to say just 10 gallons? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Hey welcome
I read a thread about burlap bags filled with promix
The Dude said all he did was fil the burlap bag tie the end lay it on the ground and cut a hole in the side to plant and that is it
The roots can grow out the bottom and if you have good soil under it then you have a growing area bigger then the hole you dug
He also said he didnt water but maybe one time last year and got 1,1.5 lbs per plant
the dew soakes into the burlap and waters
I will be tring this on several plants
Hope this helps
Happy Growing and be Safe
Green Dave:eyesmoke:
 
Green Dave said:
Hey welcome
I read a thread about burlap bags filled with promix
The Dude said all he did was fil the burlap bag tie the end lay it on the ground and cut a hole in the side to plant and that is it
The roots can grow out the bottom and if you have good soil under it then you have a growing area bigger then the hole you dug
He also said he didnt water but maybe one time last year and got 1,1.5 lbs per plant
the dew soakes into the burlap and waters
I will be tring this on several plants
Hope this helps
Happy Growing and be Safe
Green Dave:eyesmoke:
Click to expand...

Its better to leave your grow a few inches below to allow rain water to collect it also make fertizing alot easyer it may act as a funnel. With fox farm you shouldn't have any problems with drainage.
 
Thanks for the advise. I may try a burlap sack on a couple of my plants to test it out. Never heard of that before.

The grow is not on my property. It is about a mile from where I live. My wife is going to drive me to the spot whenever I need to go and drop me off. When I'm done, I'll call the house and have her pick me up as stealthily as possible. Its WAY out in the middle of nowhere with hardly any traffic. Its a very large area with a bunch of 6-8 ft baby pine trees. Most of the spots should get almost full sunlight most of the day. That would be amazing if I could pull a lb off one of these plants. I keep my expectations a bit lower though. I'm hoping to average 4-6 ounces on all the non-auto strains. If I can get that I'll be VERY happy. I love the fact I'll have so many different strains as well, from sativa dominant to indica dominant.
 
tropical said:
I'm about to startup an outdoor grow and I'm wondering if it is really worth it to dig gigantic holes in order to get really big plants. I have enough Fox Farms Ocean Forest to use 15-20 gallons on each of my plants. I'm doing this whole operation on my own and that would be a LOT of hard work digging. Can I get comparable sized plants just digging the holes big enough to hold 10 gallons or so?

One idea I've had is to dig the holes, then over fill them with the Ocean Forest in sort of a raised bed above the surface.

I know the particular strain will limit the size of the plants anyways. The first round of plants going out will be Trainwreck, Cheese, Auto Pakistani, Auto Afghan Kush, White Berry and Lemon Skunk. I'll probably throw a 3-D clone and Jack the Ripper clone outdoors as well later on (when I get them). That's a total of 8 holes I'm going to have to dig. Anyone think the over-filled holes is the best idea?? Will I see much better yields with 15-20 gallons of soil compared to say just 10 gallons? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Unless you're using containers, think in cubic feet, not gallons.

A 10 gallon hole is only 1.3 cubic feet.

A 20 gallon hole is 2.7 cubic feet.

A 2'x2'x2' hole is 8 cubic feet.

A 3'x3'x3' hole is 27 cubic feet.

If you're growing in the middle of pine saplings you can be certain the soil is very acidic and possibly has a heavy clay content. In that soil dig holes big enough to piss you off at the labor, minimum 2'x2'x2'.

FFOF comes in 1.5cf bags, so with 8 cubic foot holes (2'x2'x2') that would be 5.3 bags of FFOF per hole. I'd add at least 15% perlite to the mix, 25% would be better.

If you can get your money back for the FF, there are far better organic potting soil options at less than half the cost of FF. I pay $6.50 for a 2CF bag of Gardner & Bloom organic potting soil that contains fir bark, forest humus, peat moss, perlite, chicken manure, worm castings, bat guano, kelp meal, alfalfa meal, oyster shell and is pH adjusted with dolomite lime (6.68pH in my batch).
 
madodah said:
Unless you're using containers, think in cubic feet, not gallons.

A 10 gallon hole is only 1.3 cubic feet.

A 20 gallon hole is 2.7 cubic feet.

A 2'x2'x2' hole is 8 cubic feet.

A 3'x3'x3' hole is 27 cubic feet.

If you're growing in the middle of pine saplings you can be certain the soil is very acidic and possibly has a heavy clay content. In that soil dig holes big enough to piss you off at the labor, minimum 2'x2'x2'.

FFOF comes in 1.5cf bags, so with 8 cubic foot holes (2'x2'x2') that would be 5.3 bags of FFOF per hole. I'd add at least 15% perlite to the mix, 25% would be better.

If you can get your money back for the FF, there are far better organic potting soil options at less than half the cost of FF. I pay $6.50 for a 2CF bag of Gardner & Bloom organic potting soil that contains fir bark, forest humus, peat moss, perlite, chicken manure, worm castings, bat guano, kelp meal, alfalfa meal, oyster shell and is pH adjusted with dolomite lime (6.68pH in my batch).
Click to expand...

madodah -

What size smart pot would you suggest using. I was asking around and was told a 200 gal would be good! That sounds way BIG. I am willing to do it but it gets pricey. I think they hold about 2 yards of soil! any thoughts?
 
cazador said:
madodah -

What size smart pot would you suggest using. I was asking around and was told a 200 gal would be good! That sounds way BIG. I am willing to do it but it gets pricey. I think they hold about 2 yards of soil! any thoughts?
Click to expand...

200 gallons is actually about a cubic yard, the same as a 3'x3'x3' hole.

As to container size, bigger is always better.

A 25 gallon smart pot (smart pots were developed for growing saplings in the nursery industry) will, with the proper growing media, support the root system of a trunk diameter of about 2.5".

The problem with going larger and larger in a guerrilla grow is hauling in increased water (and if you're a true organic grower who shuns the pricey nutrient craze, ACT tea) requirements.

Water requirement is why most of the guerrilla grows published on these forums are normally small holes or small pots and smaller plants. Water weighs 8.35 lb/gallon, so keep that important fact in mind when you determine hole or container size, especially in high summer temperature areas.
 
madodah said:
200 gallons is actually about a cubic yard, the same as a 3'x3'x3' hole.

As to container size, bigger is always better.

A 25 gallon smart pot (smart pots were developed for growing saplings in the nursery industry) will, with the proper growing media, support the root system of a trunk diameter of about 2.5".

The problem with going larger and larger in a guerrilla grow is hauling in increased water (and if you're a true organic grower who shuns the pricey nutrient craze, ACT tea) requirements.

Water requirement is why most of the guerrilla grows published on these forums are normally small holes or small pots and smaller plants. Water weighs 8.35 lb/gallon, so keep that important fact in mind when you determine hole or container size, especially in high summer temperature areas.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. Rep+
I was off on the CuYds, as you stated it's only 1 cuyd not 2 as I thought and the 200 gal pots have a 50" base (4' round).
Watering is not a problem for me, so I think this is the route I'm going to take.
Maybe I'll go to 300 or make a custom pot as someone else suggested.
 
cazador said:
Thanks for the response. Rep+
I was off on the CuYds, as you stated it's only 1 cuyd not 2 as I thought and the 200 gal pots have a 50" base (4' round).
Watering is not a problem for me, so I think this is the route I'm going to take.
Maybe I'll go to 300 or make a custom pot as someone else suggested.
Click to expand...

200 gallon containers will be 27 1.5cf bags of FFOF each. You might want to consider looking around for other growing media options.
 
Why not digg holes and fill with good soil?
I would think that unless your in the dessert the native soil will be better then container walls
 
What i usually do is dig a hole about 3feet across and 2feet down and pile it all on a tarp(5feetx5feet) . Spread the soil evenly over the tarp add perlite and other stuff to make the soil perfect then i add organic soil nutriences(worm casting, bone and blood meal, etc). I spread these all over the top of the soil covering the tarp. Then you pull the edges of the tarp towards the center and this takes a lot of work out of the proces because it mixes it for you. Then i fill the hole back up with the new mix i just made. Then i add lots and lots of water to soak the new mix; and this also proceeds to activate the nutriences i just put in the soil. In 3 days the soil will be already nice and moist to put your babies right in. Hope this helped. Cause this has been working for me for years.
 
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