growing in a desert?

[ole_boy]

I've been living in a desert for a little over a year now and i was wondering if anyone has experience growing in a desert. I dont want to grow during the summer because it gets 120 degrees and i plan to spread my plants out a mile or so from my house and that would just be hell on me having to bring water so often.

So i've been thinking about growing during the winter months when it is 70 to 80 degree weather here. I still need to do more research on when it frosts here but i think the frost here is just a weak frost and not enough to kill a plant(if it even does frost). But i have also been reading that for flowing to trigger the days have to become shorter and the nights longer so i was wondering if i planted in the winter and the days started to get longer if it would have an effect on the plant?

Any advice or suggestions on how i should go about this i would really apprieciet. Im doing it all myself and i plan on having 20 to 30 plants spread out. Its gonna be hell on me hiking to water them but im 23 years old and im in good physical condition so i think i can handle it. Obviously i need to either plant soil or use buckets or pots since the ground is rock and sand around me. So yeah i have some time labor and money to invest for this

now i will tell you why im planing to grow maybe some people can relate, Im from back east and i had a bunch of great connections and now im in a totally differnt place going through 18 year olds to get my stuff and they are just the middle men and nobody wants to just introduce me to someone. Getting taxed and treated like im just some no nothing hick.. im just tired of being looked at like im just that other guy. But besides all that i grew a few plants when i was younger and it is truely amazing to watch and it makes you happy too haha i use to talk to my plants. Anyways im still a newbie at growing i only grew one plant that actually had buds on it so you will see more of me around here probly asking some stupid questions but i hope that the people on this site is chill and could provide some good help. thanks! :D

 

[Green81]

Looks like your going to have to grow a rudaralis strain for it to work in winter, otherwise i just dont think they will get big enough with hours of daylight being around 12-13. Do you get ground frost, if you do ur gonna have problems.. Why dont you start you grow late winter to early spring, less chance of frost and if you use a auto flowering variety - it should work... Anyways im sure other peeps will come up with some ideas.. theres some life long pros here with mad skills..

All the best G

 

[thc4sim]

Sorry i cannot help out mate, but welcome to the Farm!!

im sure there are some guys on here who have the experience with those conditions..

see ya around the farm! :flower

 

[ole_boy]

ok so i live in a microclimate the which i think that means some areas are differnt than others. I read that it does frost from the end of november to march but i think its not often and i believe the frosts are weak. Also i read that the frost are mainly in lower elevation areas and im around alot of ridges and stuff so i might just be able to look at a topical map and find the right spot?? i dont know someone please help me i have a feeling i probly should have already planted or need to plant asap:(

 

[ole_boy]

and hey i wanted to the thanks green81 and nice to met you thc4sim

also can you explain what a rudaralis strain is? and which is a good one

and you said an auto flowering variety.. does that mean it will still flower if the sun dont go 12/12?

and what kind of strains have that?

sorry im a newbie.

 

[Boywonder]

Hey Ole Boy. I'm a newbie too mate, its all good here at the farm, u should get tons of help:) I have absolutely no knowledge on which to base what I'm about to suggest, it is just an idea that maybe some of the experienced farmers could expand on, but - Could you start them off indoors, then plant them very early spring, then cut the daylight hours to 12/12 (ie by covering them somehow, say 8am to 8pm uncovered, then vice versa) and finish them before it gets too hot?? Just a thought mate, just throwin it out there, lol:D. I was thinkin of doin the same thing for the opposite reason, finishin late summer, coz it gets too cold too early where I am:)

 

[Shaggy]

and hey i wanted to the thanks green81 and nice to met you thc4sim

also can you explain what a rudaralis strain is? and which is a good one

and you said an auto flowering variety.. does that mean it will still flower if the sun dont go 12/12?

and what kind of strains have that?

sorry im a newbie.

There are lots of Autoflower strains Lowrider being prob the most famous... and yes that means they will flower when they are ready regardless of the light cycle...

Where's Moggggys.. He's an auto GURU

 

[moggggys]

ok ill keep it as simple as poss as it could take a million words , theres normal run of the mill strains then theres unique plants that autoflower meaning they grow and flower regardless of the light cycles , the classic is lowryder but there are others out there such as gurillas gold and sweet105 plus a million and 1 mixes of lowryder from breeders such as lowlife , the origional lowryder is a fantastic little plant although theres alot of snobbery when it comes to weed so you may read reports of poor smoke , this is bullshit , a nicely grown lowryder is generally better than most avaliable commercial weed ,,, lowryder2 and crosses of the same tend to be very very veried in quality and size but normally with an excellent smoke , for yourself id aim for a sativa cross with lowryder thats listed as a 100% autoflower

the desert things a tricky thing to deal with , frost kills plants , once it drops bellow 4 degrees then there in deep shit , once again keeping it simple the cells in the plant freeze and die so saps arnt plumbed around , a plant that has suffered this will generally stop growing as it fights to repair itself , real bad news i can tell you ,,,,, also there the heat ,sativas deal beautifully with the heat as long as theres good airflow , the thin nature of the leaves means they are cooled so higher temps arnt an issue to a degree , what would also help is to have the full sun on them in the morning and shade in the afternoon , this requires a degree of skill working out what the suns upto but it will mean you can grow without too much of an issue , another trick is to dig a hole and line it with plastic to help retain water , even burying large buckets will do the trick and save alot of work

basically its possible to grow anywhere , it takes a little planning thats all

 

[ole_boy]

hey thanks shaggy for the help and nice meetin ya too boywonder i can tell just by reading moggggys post that everybody here is cool..

now i want to review moggggys post but first give a tremendous thanks because you gave me alot of incite... But i have alot of stuff to talk to you about and you seem like your the guy to help me.. First my temp in my desert rarely drops below 40 degress in the coldest months and i think the frosts are weak( because im wanting to plant like right now) and if i plant now then the plants will start out getting good sun and temp but its gonna drop fast but still be 70-80 during day and 40-50 during night at flowering(but the sun still gonna be less than the dark very soon here). and airflow should not be a problem there are mountains around me and this is a really windy desert but im wanting to grow when the heat aint that bad to make it easy on me to hike and water 3 times a week if needed.. if its 120 out i'll have to hike and water everyday. and finding the morning sun is simple here i know my n/s/e/w like the back of my hand plus ive been looking at topical maps around my house and checking elevation points since frost lays in lower areas around here. And also yes i think i will definetly have to bury the buckets just for the simple fact that when it rains it floods bad and with the wind them buckets will get blown over and be gone even though it dont rain much it only takes that once a year rain with the wind and its gone because unlike good soil the sand and rocks dont take water here when it actually does rain it seems everything gets washed up( BUT the spot ive looked at and found with the topical map has high elevation so even if it does flood then my pleants should'nt be effected(im guessing) and its not in a dip.. but any advice on that please say. i was thinking about starting out with the buckets above ground then burying them i know i need to drill holes in the bucket.. its gonna be a b*tch digging in this rock but thats the effort im willing to take.. i just hope i dont bury them and a one time a year rain comes and still pops them out. ahhhhhhh so much shit to think about, aint like back east but i've got determination and a fuck load of motivation so its gonna happen even if i gotta learn the hard way

but thanks guys and please keep giving me your advice.. im hoping i can make this work but if not i look at it as an expeirament for next generations to look upon because i have not seen anything online about desert growing, seems to be an untouch subject

 

[Green81]

Sounds like fighting talk :muscle . I tshould easily work for you Ole, like you said, a steep learning curve but once you got it WILL reward you.. :)

Peace bro

 

[ole_boy]

Sounds like fighting talk :muscle . I tshould easily work for you Ole, like you said, a steep learning curve but once you got it WILL reward you.. :)

Peace bro

its a fight to determine what will make my plants survive in this harsh ass climate but i seriously want any and everybody opinion to make this happen because im sittin on square1 but yes i think this is differnt and untouched subject.. im gonna start now and if they fail then everyone will know and sadly i will know along with my time and money being out the drain.. But if so then i will start agian in maybe the later winter months and try either way im willing to put in the work i just want everyones advice and we will see, i plan on keeping a intensive grow diary

 

[BLAZZEDUPP420]

Whats up old boy, IM in the desert here also I usually grow indoors but have done 2 out door grows with the auto strains I started indoors then slowley acclimated them to the outside climate I put them out in late april and they did great,