Watering your outdoor marijuana 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 marijuana 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 rains).
If your marijuana plants are on private land that you have access to, then there is no shortage of unique techniques that you can employ to get water to your plants. For instance, you can fill buckets up with water and transport them with a truck to the grow site. Try to avoid dumping the water on a single plant and inundating it.
Other marijuana growers have set up a drip method of watering that acts almost like a squeeze bottle that has a permanent drip. This method allows the growers to avoid having to water the plants every day while also 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 water.
Of course, you might live in an area where marijuana 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. Hiking in your own water will be difficult 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.
If your marijuana plants are underwatered, then it is likely that they will start wilting. Just 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. If the soil there is still cool and moist, then the plants should be fine. Many soils are adept at maintaining water for long periods of time so that there is essentially a reservoir of water stored up there.
If at all possible, you might want to water your marijuana plants with a nutrient solution about once every couple of weeks. As long as the nutrient solution has a higher concentration of nitrogen, than phosphorous and potassium, then it will be good for vegetative growth. For flowering, use a solution that is higher in phosphorous than either of the other two nutrients. This should be done during the time at which you water the plants.
