Swamp Tubes

Seed Collector

Active member
Stuff to buy:
Roll of fencing four feet tall. Something like this:
wire_fence_roll_4ft.png


Fence posts. Something like this. 6 feet tall.
t_post.png


Small camo tarp (could also be green or brown- not blue). Something like this:
camo_tarp.png


Cut a section of fencing about five feet long.
Lay it on the tarp.
poke sharp ends of fencing into tarp to hold it in place.
Roll the fencing into a cylinder, overlapping at least 4", and secure with the cut ends of the fencing.
Fold remainder of tarp into the tube.
The end result will look pretty similar to the picture of the roll of fencing, only with a tarp wrapped around/inside of it, and made from only 1 coil of fencing.

Install tube in a swampy area in about 10" of water. Early Spring or Fall.
Use three equally spaced fence posts to secure the tubes.
**MAKE SURE TO USE SOME KIND OF WIRE TO ATTACH THE TUBES TO THE POSTS.** they can blow over, once the plant gets big. be warned.

Fill with you Favourite organic soil mix. Include enough nutrients for the year.
I would recommend:
50% pro-mix HP (High Porosity) with mychorizae
10% worm castings
40% Mushroom compost or similarly available

Then:
1) Plant plants when the time comes.
2) Water with bat guano and molasses mixture once late summer if desired
3) Harvest huge, beautiful and healthy plants when appropriate.


Enjoy. :D



Some notes:
- The tube should be about equivalent to three 5 gallon buckets stacked, maybe a little shorter. - it should hold about the same in soil therefore

- Fold the top couple inches of the tube back over itself. This makes the whole thing a lot stronger.

- Water will ebb and flow during the season and even dry out. but being in a swamp, it is the low land and when it rains, water goes there first.

- Swamps hold the heat longer into the fall because it takes longer for the water to lose it's temperature to the air. Therefore swamp plants get an extra couple of weeks before the frost ;)

- Tubes don't have to be made of fencing. Use your imagination.

- It's just a tall hempy bucket. :)
 
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I’m going to be using these this coming outdoor season. The only challenge is getting the soil to them.
 
The only challenge is getting the soil to them.

That is a lot of work. A few suggestions would be:

- Smaller bags (5gal, 20-25L) are easier to handle than huge bags or bales.
- Mix everything at home.
- Only plan to put 3-4 @ any one location for security, That is also more than enough work for one day..
 
G'day all.

Hi quality compressed coconut bricks and good organic fertilizer is what I suggest. Build tube, ( I'd use a larger diameter ) throw in a couple of bricks. Wet 'em down, let 'em expand and mix in your nutes and a little molasses and walk away. Come back to plant a couple of weeks later.

Cheers
 
Hi quality compressed coconut bricks and good organic fertilizer is what I suggest. Build tube, ( I'd use a larger diameter ) throw in a couple of bricks. Wet 'em down, let 'em expand and mix in your nutes and a little molasses and walk away. Come back to plant a couple of weeks later.

Cheers

Thanks for the suggestions Jerry :)

I thought about coco fibre but I've had bad luck with it in the past. I think my problem was the "high quality" part of what you wrote. I think I may have used the wrong kind of coconut fibre :(

I definitely like how it's lighter than peat and highly compressed..
If you are familiar with coco fibre and have a long way to carry supplies, I would go with that. ;)

Also no problem making the tubes bigger.. It's just a lot of soil to buy/lug ..
 
Hi guys and gals. Very cool idea thanks for the thread and website just wondering ,do you fill the entire thing with soil and does it not it get too wet being soaked in the water? I would think soaking wet soil all the time would drown the plant. Or is this non wet are all the time you are describing? I was thinking about planting in the water inside a bunch of cat tails , maybe a design that has a wicking and a isolated above water soil pot. There is the water supply the plants need a big problem in outdoor grows.
 
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Hi guys and gals. Very cool idea thanks for the thread and website just wondering ,do you fill the entire thing with soil and does it not it get too wet being soaked in the water? I would think soaking wet soil all the time would drown the plant. Or is this non wet are all the time you are describing? I was thinking about planting in the water inside a bunch of cat tails , maybe a design that has a wicking and a isolated above water soil pot. There is the water supply the plants need a big problem in outdoor grows.


Hi G13Futurist :)

- Yes you fill the entire tube with soil.
- The soil gets dryer towards the top.
- If you install tube in 8-12 inches (approx 20-30cm) of water in the early spring. It will most likely be dry by the time summer comes.

As an example:
I installed three tubes at the same location. Very early in the springtime.

Tube #1 was installed in 12" of water (30cm)
Tube #2 was put in only about 6" of water
Tube #3 was put in about 2" of water

I planted a SSH mother and two large clones of her in late spring. The tubes were still under water.

When I checked on them in the middle of summer. They were no longer under water and the plant in Tube #1 looked fantastic! :eek:

The picture above is from the SSH mother in tube #1. It yielded 1&1/4 pounds. The other two tubes yielded about 3/4 of a pound combined. Tubes #2 and #3 dried out and did not yield what they could have. Tube #2 was less than half that of tube #1 and tube #3 was pitiful.

Let me know if that doesn't answer your questions. And yes water is critical. I too was thinking of elaborate systems. When I stumbled upon this method. It is very simple and yet very effective. ;)
 
So yes they need water it is a independent dry soil tube disguised in water. Very very cool and this would free up growth/height and hide plants well. Some sort of small wick like the tiniest wick possible would that be possible to connect to the tube without drowning it? If we did not have to water that would be of course the best . Thanks for the reply .I plan on a pack or 2 of Devil this summer and I want to make sure they do the best possible life outdoors! Thanks Niceguys !
 
Ok thanks, I was not sure but it makes sense as the camo tarp would have a leak at the seam. I would think the soil would be completely wet the entire time the 10 inches of water is present. Would this not drown the plant? Everything else makes sense for a top level super concealed grow site. Much respect to the site and members.
 
Ok thanks, I was not sure but it makes sense as the camo tarp would have a leak at the seam. I would think the soil would be completely wet the entire time the 10 inches of water is present. Would this not drown the plant? Everything else makes sense for a top level super concealed grow site. Much respect to the site and members.

The soil gets dryer the high up the tube you go.
The plant will likely live in the top 1.5 feet at first but when the hot summer comes that swamp will dry up. The plant will expand its roots to the bottom and the soil will be WELL watered. Upon subsequent heavy rains the tube bottom will get submerged and the tube will be watered through capillary action.

I also had some tubes that were only 3 feet tall with 1 foot submerged. the water did not drain from those tubes in the hot summer. the plants still did really good and still much better than tubes #2 and #3.

Hope that helps.
 
The soil gets dryer the high up the tube you go.
The plant will likely live in the top 1.5 feet at first but when the hot summer comes that swamp will dry up. The plant will expand its roots to the bottom and the soil will be WELL watered. Upon subsequent heavy rains the tube bottom will get submerged and the tube will be watered through capillary action.

I also had some tubes that were only 3 feet tall with 1 foot submerged. the water did not drain from those tubes in the hot summer. the plants still did really good and still much better than tubes #2 and #3.

Hope that helps.

This is awesome thanks for the idea I will for sure put this into the plan. -Winning Music Never Stops-
 
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