By: Grass Master J (with contributions by Nebula Haze and Sirius Fourside of GrowWeedEasy.com)
Hello there, fellow growers! I know that a major concern for a lot of you guys is and always has been strategic and stealthy growing.
Regardless of how many plants you grow, what sort of lights you use, whether you’re growing in soil or a snazzy hydroponics system, your biggest priority should always be to grow stealthy! After all, who would want all their hard work to go down the drain because some neighbors see your lights or a guest finds your growing room.
In this article, I’m going to tell you how to keep your little garden secret and secure. These quick, simple precautions and strategies will keep you growing strong without constantly worrying about those nosey neighbors or having a panic attack every time you have a house guest.
1. Location
Location, location, location. I cannot stress this enough my friends, location is KEY. Putting your garden in the wrong place is the easiest way to get caught, and in some instances leads to a less bountiful harvest (See: The Attic). Here’s a list of good places to put your cannabis, with some of the pros and cons that come with the territory.
1a. The Attic
Pros:
- Nobody else is going to go in your attic but you! It’s not included on a tour of the house, and isn’t visible to neighbors.
- Your grow room is going to be bright and attics have less places for light to leak out and alert neighbors.
- Plenty of room.
Cons:
- Some attics are difficult to get to.
- If your attic isn’t well insulated, you’re going to need lots of fans to keep it cool during the summer and some way of heating it during the winter or your plants won’t produce as much bud as you want. They could actually die from too much heat (or not enough heat).
- Possible lack of outlets for your equipment.
[If you have windows in your attic, make sure to cover them up with something like panda film.]
1b. The Basement
Pros:
- Generally basements have few or no windows, so no light is going to get out.
- Remains at a steady temperature throughout the year.
- Plenty of room.
Cons:
- Some people have living areas, playrooms and the sort set up in their basements, and if this is the case, putting your garden there can attract some very unwanted attention.
1c. An Unused Closet
Pros:
- Well-defined space, you may not even need a grow tent. Cover it in Mylar or panda film, make sure no light leaks through the door and you’re good.
- Temperature will be roughly the same as in the rest of your house, so other than some fans, you won’t need to get too fancy.
Cons:
- Unless there’s a lock on the door, anybody looking for a bathroom or some paper towels could accidentally stumble into your grow room. This is why a very out-of-the-way closet is preferable.
- Not as much room to grow.
- Sirius: Another problem with growing in closets is that there is no ventilation. So if your closet gets hot and stuffy, it’s going to stay hot and stuffy unless you intervene! With that being said, closets are still great grow areas.
1d. The Garage
Pros:
- If you’re using a grow tent, it won’t be hard to hide or camouflage as something innocent like a tool cabinet.
- Stays cool in the summer and (reasonably) warm in the winter.
Cons:
- If your garage isn’t attached to your house, you probably shouldn’t grow there. You want your grow room as close to you and accessible as possible since people will get suspicious if they see you lugging a whole bunch of lights and growing supplies in.
1e. Camouflaged Grow Boxes (Stealth Boxes)
One way to keep a grow of 1-2 small plants stealthy and hidden is to build a camouflaged grow box. This basically means you use something that you would have in your garage or your basement that doesn’t stand out as odd (It looks like it belongs there), and turn it into a grow box. Here are some things you could use to make stealth boxes:
- Lockers (like a school locker, they’re a bit expensive)
- Tool Cabinets
All you really need to do with these is line them with Mylar or panda film, make holes for all your wires and extension cords, and make sure it’s properly ventilated (and no light leaking of course).
There are websites that will sell you pre-built stealth boxes, but they end up being on the expensive side.
Sirius: Also, check out some of our past newsletters on homemade stealth boxes!
- Ultra-Stealthy Grow Cabinet
- 400 Watt Stealth Box
- Grow Tents (alternative) – Get a perfect growing environment that you can set up in an afternoon! Highly recommended.
These are all good places to build your grow room, but almost any room in your house can be a grow room as long as there is privacy, a way to stabilize the temperature, people won’t go in accidentally, and you don’t use the room or space for anything other than growing.
2. Smell
So now we have a good set of options for our grow room, but now we run into some problems. Cannabis plants often have very strong and distinct smells, so you’ll NEED some way of dealing with those. I personally recommend a carbon filter to control smell in the grow room, as it requires little to no maintenance and does a great job of getting rid of the smell.
DO NOT spray your plants or grow room with aerosol based air fresheners, or use a product like ONA gel near your plants. The chemicals can hurt your harvest quality, and your bud will more than likely taste terrible when you smoke it!
If you don’t want to have to struggle with intense smell control, you can find strains that have a very neutral smell while growing. Blue Mystic and Northern Light are relatively scent-neutral and great strains for beginners or people working with limited amounts of room.
3. Sound
The more equipment you work with and the more powerful that equipment is, the louder it ends up being. You don’t want people to come investigate what sounds like a tornado ripping through your house, and you’ll have a pretty tough time sleeping. Make sure you get equipment that is quiet as possible, and walk around the outside of your house to see if any sound is easily noticeable.
4. Security
It may seem like overkill, but I really recommend getting a lock on the door to your grow room. You should be the only one with a key, and don’t make more than two! Your keys should be hidden somewhere only you will be able to find them, so no fake rocks or doormats. If people ask you why you keep the room locked, just say that you have some utility stuff that you don’t want anybody messing with, or just say it’s none of their business.
I know one person who went so far as to use a fake bookcase door entrance for his grow room (Of course by showing it to me, he sort of defeated the point of using it, but I digress). Do not go into your grow room or leave it unlocked when you have company in your house, and if you are going away for an extended amount of time, don’t ask people to tend to your plants!
Last but not least, there is one thing which this site has already mentioned in their “how to not get caught” article which I feel is worth repeating….
DON’T TELL PEOPLE – loose lips sink ships my friends, and this is not a good ship to sink. If the ship goes down, you go down with it, and that can mean anything from a loss of a harvest to jail time. Nobody cares as much about keeping your garden a secret as you do, and if somebody else lets it slip; they aren’t the ones who have to deal with the consequences.
With all this being said, I wish all of you the best of luck in your grows. I really hope that this article helps some of you out when you’re planning on how to set up your grow rooms!
Peace, love, and happy growing you guys!
Grass Master J
Get the Right Tools To Grow Like A Ninja!
Low Odor Marijuana Strains – These Strains are known for producing low/non-marijuana-like odor:
Photoperiod
Auto-flowering strains – what is that?
- Royal Creamatic Auto is an auto-flowering strain that is great for stealth growing due to its small size and relatively low smell (the buds still smell delicious). Royal Queen Seeds autoflowering strains are all excellent in my experience.
- Northern Lights Auto
Low odor strains aren’t fool-proof, but they’ll definitely help make things easier. These are just a few examples that I’ve had a great experience with, but there are many others. Learn more about researching and finding the right strains. Learn more about controlling smells in the grow room (so you can grow any strain smell-free).
Note: Cannabis smells are usually most intense when the environment gets hot and humid
Quiet Electronic Devices – Get devices that work without making noise:
- Silent Air Pump
- Low-noise Water Transfer Pump (for Bubbleponics and DWC)
- Stealthy Exhaust Fans (also in 6 inch version)
- Carbon Filters
- Odor Neutralizers – for living spaces only, don’t use near plants!
