What Is The Best Way To Save Water When Cultivating Cannabis Outdoors?
My friend Bee sent me a link today on social media that greatly impressed me. The link was to a video of a guy who pitched on the TV Shark Tank. The guy was pitching a product that helps outdoor plants consume less water and prevent frost damage. The product is not necessarily designed for cannabis cultivation, but I think it could be used while growing marijuana outdoors and product amazing results. It’s a very simple, yet effective concept.
To be clear, this is not in any way an advertisement. I genuinely think that this product is amazing and should be something that every outdoor marijuana grower uses. And not only am I impressed with the product, I’m even more impressed (and inspired) with the story behind the product. According to the pitch on the TV show, the person pitching (Johnny Georges) and his father came up with the idea while they were farming.
In order to battle frost they would have to come out and cover the base of the trees they were farming each day, which was very labor intensive. Also the standard irrigation system they were using resulted in a lot of water being sprayed on areas around the tree base, but even more water being sprayed around a large perimeter that resulted in a lot of wasted water. Add wind to the equation which blows even more water away from the base of the tree, and Mr. Georges estimated that only 10% of the water being used was actually going to the tree base where it needed to go.
That’s when Mr. Georges and his father came up with a type of dome that they named the ‘Tree-T-Pee.’ The product keeps the water in a confined space, while at the same time shielding the base of the tree from frost. Using the old irrigation method resulted in one plant consuming 25,000 gallons a year. With the Tree-T-Pee, that consumption is reduced to only 800 gallons a year. By no means am I a farmer, and I don’t know what type of trees they were growing (I know it wasn’t cannabis), but if that ratio holds up with cannabis plants, that would be a substantial level of water conservation.
I couldn’t find a video format to embed the video of the man’s pitch on Shark Tank, but you can click on this link and see it on Facebook. I don’t know when the episode aired, but I think it’s a somewhat older video. I hadn’t seen it yet otherwise I would have shared it sooner. A special thanks to Bee for sending it over! I don’t watch the show all that often, but I have seen enough episodes to know that some pitches go better than others.
I had never seen a pitch like this before. Usually the pitcher brings a lot of showmanship and tries to wow the sharks and it’s all about the money. This pitch was not like that at all, and I don’t mean that in a bad way, I actually think it’s one of the most inspirational things I’ve ever seen. You can tell that Mr. Georges isn’t in this for the money – he’s in it to help farmers save water, which is becoming more and more of a limited resource, and family farmers definitely need help saving money.
The pitch almost went into the dumps when Mr. Georges actually refused to charge more for his product. Literally, his unwillingness to comprise his morals almost cost him the deal. But, just when my heart was about to sink, one of the sharks stepped up and did a full investment. It warmed my heart, and made my day. The black version of the Tree-T-Pee is $7.95. The first one was invented in 1984, and is still being used today. They are durable, and will more than pay for themselves in saved water. Plus you will be doing something good for the planet, which is a very worthwhile bonus.
As far as I understand there are wholesaler opportunities too, so if you own a garden store or are a garden equipment distributor, you will want to get it on this. Unlike a lot of cultivation products which may or may not yield improved results, this product speaks for itself. It should become the industry standard. Imagine if every outdoor grower was using these? It would help out in huge ways in areas that have been experiencing droughts (here’s looking at you Southern Oregon and Northern California!).
You can find out more about the product at their website and on Facebook. I’d swoop up as many as you can while you can because once this catches on, I’d imagine it will be hard for the company to keep up with demand! I absolutely love supporting real, wholesome people and their efforts, and you should too!
