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Planting inside a patch of blackberries or other sticker bushes will deter many curious hikers and other animals.

B l a c k b e r r i e s

The High Lifter is remarkably efficient and one of the best options for guerilla growers.

Below; A ram pump is one of the original low-tech methods to lift water with the force of gravity.

Right: Drill powered pump that uses a rechargeable battery. Attach a pump to the end of the drill.

Remove cord and make battery powered.

Above: The Grobot is an out-standing invention! This bat-tery-powered pump delivers water to three plants quietly and efficiently.

example, keeps the pH level too high and blocks uptake of several nutrients including iron a n d potassium. Fertilizer with chelated iron will counteract this problem. Too m u c h magnesium creates rapid uptake of trace elements but d o e s not usually cause a problem.

The fertilizer comes in liquid or wettable crys-tal form and can also be used in soil to alleviate problems caused by bad water. Several c o m

-mercial hydroponic fertilizer formulations for

"hard water" are available and work very well.

Check the garden daily, if possible, and water w h e n soil is dry one inch (3 cm) below the

sur-face. Irrigate containers until 10-20 percent of the water comes through the drainage holes.

Irrigate plants in the ground until they are c o m -pletely wet.

M a n y different types of receptacles and reser-voirs can store irrigation water. Use the biggest storage unit that you can m a n a g e ; y o u will always need water. O n e g o o d option for storing a lot of water is to dig a nice big hole and line it with a pond liner. For all kinds of water storage devices, see www.realgoods.com.

Pumps

P u m p s move water long distances a n d uphill.

P u m p s can be operated by hand, batteries, gasoline, gravity, and with pressure from mov-ing water.

Gasoline-powered p u m p s are reliable and can lift m u c h water uphill quickly, but they are noisy.

You can purchase a p u m p already attached to the motor or connect them yourself and mount them on a board. Check your local Yellow Pages for a g o o d supplier.

Noise is a major factor in starting up a small gasoline-powered engine in the middle of a quiet mountainous area. An oversized muffler a n d small baffle will d e a d e n most of the

exhaust s o u n d .

Set up the p u m p so that the intake will be able to gather water easily. M a k e a small d a m only if it is discreet.

A ram p u m p p u m p s water from a source of flowing water above the pump. The force of

A gasoline-powered pump moves much water uphill, but they arc noisy!

Build a baffle around gasoline-powered motors to muffle noise.

gravity is all the power needed. R a m p u m p s are rugged and dependable, but noisy, www.ram-pumps.com.

The High Lifter Water P u m p is water-powered and will work with a low flow of water. The unique design uses hydraulic pressure and is self-starting and self-regulating. If inlet water stops, so does the p u m p ; the p u m p starts by itself as s o o n as water flow begins, www.realgo-ods.com.

Manual-powered p u m p s require a lot of phys-ical energy to operate and are impractphys-ical for moving a large volume of water uphill.

Solar energy is an outstanding way to move water. On a sunny day a 75-watt solar panel supplies e n o u g h power to a p u m p to move 75 gallons ( 2 8 5 L) of water 35 feet (10.5 m) uphill

Cold-affected plants develop few calyxes but still frost with resin.

a n d more than 4 0 0 feet (120 m) away to a reservoir, www.otherpower.com.

Siphoning water downhill will m o v e a lot of water. Finding a water source above the garden is the key!

Lightweight hose will not disturb foliage. If you can find it in black, it will be more difficult to spot. M o s t garden hose is a bright green color!

Temperature

The best way to control temperature outdoors is to plant in the right place. Normally hot tem-peratures are c o m m o n during midday in full s u n . Cannabis virtually stops growing at 85°F

(29°C). If you are planting in a hot climate, make sure plants receive filtered sunlight during the heat of the day. Also, plant them in natural breezeways so a breeze will cool them during the heat of the day.

You can create shade over your patch by bending tree branches a n d tying them in place.

Cold temperatures can be avoided by planting at the proper times-well after last frost. Harvest before first frost!

S e e Chapter Thirteen, "Air," for more specific information about temperature.

A s h a d e h o u s e covered with "shade cloth"

(synthetic sun-blocking material) or lath house, which is built from thin, narrow strips of w o o d , are great places to protect plants. Lath h o u s e s can provide 25 percent shade or more

depend-Cold temperatures turned this plant purple and curled the leaves.

Wind is one of the strongest forces outdoors.

Sustained wind will suck moisture from plants.

Wind causes plants to draw moisture from the roots and shed it through the leaves in a defen-sive mechanism to regulate internal tempera-ture and chemistry. It creates a problem if the water supply is limited.

For example. Southern Spain a n d other arid regions are subject to strong desert winds that transport abrasive s a n d and other particles. We call it "kalmia" in Spain because the grit is mixed with saline air from the Mediterranean. These winds can destroy crops. If your climate is

plagued by such abrasive winds, protect plants with windbreaks. W a s h foliage with plenty of water to remove the particles after windstorms.

Moderate sustained w i n d s will dry out con-tainer- and field-grown crops within a few hours. Container crops suffer the most. For example, plants grown in five-gallon ( 2 0 L) con-tainers on a terrace that receives full s u n a n d constant moderate winds uses about two gal-lons (7.5 L) of water daily! Indoors, the s a m e plant would use 75 percent less water!

/. A solid wall

Plant in protected areas so the garden suffers little effect from strong wind.