good point
. Speaking of which, a light that is just barely bright enough for you to see to walk in the woods at night... is like a beacon to someone in the distance who happens to be looking in your direction. You know how fireflies can be seen easily, lol? Well, even a dozen of them in a Mason jar won't be anywhere near as bright as the dimmest usable light source, so it's like that. BtW, digging makes a fair bit of noise, and it always sounds like "someone is digging." It's a good idea to have a partner in crime (heh), assuming there is one who you can trust and also trust to work as and when needed. When digging, you'll want that partner to back off a good bit from the place that you are digging that plant's hole and then start circling around constantly whilst monitoring for other people. Plus... you know... share the backache.
. Looking at relatively recent overhead views of the area might end up saving your plants or even your freedom, too. I was trying to do the outdoor thing back in the mid-late '80s, and went looking for a new hidden spot. Found the perfect one - or so I thought. I must have gotten turned around, and it's a good thing I did, because when I started heading back out, I almost immediately discovered...
. They must have bought a chunk of the section and decided that they didn't want to live anywhere near the road, so they had a long driveway into their property, and on to the very rear of it where they'd built their residence. The people might not have seen me, and they might not have heard me - but they would surely have smelled the plants when the things were flowering.
Wow, hope the op sees this!Because you volunteer?
Volunteer
www.forestandbird.org.nz
Much would depend on what you are allowed to do in there. Is it public land (government) or owned by an individual, group, business entity, etc.? If it's privately owned-- well, if that's the case, it's not cool to put someone else in jeopardy by "operating a criminal enterprise" on their property. If it's public land, are you allowed to be there at all? If so, what are the restrictions for access/use, if any?
If you arouse suspicion, it doesn't really matter whether you're carrying an empty leash, have a dog with you, etc. - whoever it is that has become suspicious is going to make a note of you, even if only a mental one. They'll be much more likely to notice that you're in there regularly if they spot you more than once (and may well be on the lookout for you after the first time). Depending on who it is, you might be lucky if they accost you immediately instead of choosing to follow you in order to see what you're up to. If you've walked the same route multiple times, there's now a path (to one degree or other) that will both make you easier to follow and cause them to wonder how many times you've gone where you're going (or returning from). If, on the other hand, there isn't a path, they're going to wonder why the <BLEEP> you're fighting your way in.
In short, learn to not get noticed. Learn to walk silently through the woods/brush. Learn about camouflaging yourself, which colors (and levels of brightness) are most likely to blend in to that specific area at that specific time of the year (and, possibly, that specific climate - a dry or wet spell might change the colors/growth/etc. of the vegetation you're trying to look like). Learn how to break up your outline so that you don't have a "human" shape. Learn not to smell like a person! There's more to that than merely leaving the cigarettes at home if you smoke (actually, non-smokers can smell cigarette smokers from a distance, even if they haven't smoked since they last showered and changed clothing - so if you smoke, stop now). Learn how to pass through without leaving footprints, without crushing the things you must pass, without breaking branches/stems. And on and on. It is important to not only not be seen/heard/smelled during the time that you are in there - you need to be able to not leave any signs that you have been there, or passed through on your way from here to there. If you are a hunter, put yourself in position of the prey (because that's what you're doing). If not, it would be a good idea to take a class on hunting, because you will learn a few useful skills that you can practice. Learn to track, because then you'll be learning how to not be (easily) tracked by others. Etc, etc., etc.
By the way, you'll probably be doing a lot of shovel work. Think on how you can hide this - both carrying in one or more digging implements, where to hide them during the - probably - extended time that you'll be doing the soil prep work - how to get them out without notice, and how to hide the fact that you are digging substantial holes where you are likely not expected to be digging at all. Pine trees tend to acidify the soil that they are growing in/near, so you'll want to do a slurry test for pH at each plant location to see how much lime you'll need to add to bring it up. It's good that you're planning this adventure well beforehand, because different types of lime work at different rates - and waiting until the last minute and throwing in the quickest-acting form of it is not the best way to go. Plus, 50-pound bags (you may end up needing quite a bit, assuming you're growing more than just a few plants and/or if the soil is very acidic) of lime are heavy when you have to take a long, meandering, clandestine route to your planting sites... ducking, duck-walking, weaving, and high-stepping. So multiple trips. Plus the same for whatever else you need in order to turn "it's okay to keep pine trees alive" stuff into cannabis-nurturing super soil. But you probably won't feel like digging a 3'x3'x3' hole all in one go anyway - and you won't be able to dig a dozen in one visit unless you stay for the weekend and, perhaps, have really excellent night vision
Oh, while I'm thinking about it, pine trees are evergreens - but they still drop needles. A lot of pine trees are allelopathic. What this means is that the needles they shed contain an acid that slowly leaches into the ground to make the soil (more) acidic. This is a great thing for those pine trees, because it prevents other species of plants from growing under and immediately beside them. For cannabis plants and the budding guerilla grower... not so much. So be sure to remove all pine needles from the immediate vicinity of your planting sites, otherwise they'll continue to acidify the soil that you spent the time/effort/money adjusting to be more compatible with cannabis plants. And that's something that you'll want to check for and deal with each time you visit your plants.
That's all I remember off the top of my head about trying to grow bud in a pine forest. Oh, wait: Hand sanitizer works for removing pine sap. So does oily stuff like vegetable oil, mayonnaise, and I've read that peanut butter might, too.
Is this a large area, like 100 acres or greater? If so, using something like Google Earth might be helpful. For searching for little natural clearings (if any exist in your chosen area). For finding any small water sources that you might not already be aware of. Possibly even for getting hints about where the water table is close to the surface. Finding and gaining access to a reliable source of water near your plants' locations will be very helpful. One liter of water weighs about one kilogram - and you're going to need a lot of them
...someone's house
I thought that, too, bring a shovel and help carry lol
.
Still, I can give a plausible reason why you would be there...it is all of what you pointed out why it could be a massive $hit show.It's mostly just simple common sense stuff. He probably already knows 98% of it, plus stuff I didn't mention, plus things that will be specific to his region that I haven't thought of. The most useful things in my post are probably the reminder that carrying something heavy across a parking lot to your truck, or even a mile down a paved road is worlds different than lumping it all over hither and yon in the back country... and that you can try rubbing your peanut butter sandwich all over your head to get pine sap out of your hair.
I have no idea how to get peanut butter out of your hair, though, so don't even ask
then cough few times lol
