First off, i would like to let people know that if you have any chance of being caught dont do it, you will be expelled from college. Personally, i knew that there was a very very low chance to be caught. This is a grow set-up that i have used in my dorm that worked rather well, unfortunatly the plants (2 females around 38" tall) were killed by sister the 9th week of growing (when i went out of town for 8 days and gave her the simple instructions of not touching anything except to mix fertilizer and water it every other morning. My sister who has a 3.8 GPA as a senior in college doesn't understand the difference between tsp and tbsp. Since i told her to use 2 tsp/gallon she used 2 tbsp and used fertilized water everyother time she watered them, not just once a week) so i never got to harvest. They were in between the 2nd and 3rd week of flowering and only had 3-4 weeks left. They were full of mini buds and looked amazing. The set-up is pretty basic and cost effective. (Probably can do everything for 100 bucks, and if you really want to do it perfect you can buy a 250 watt hps on ebay for like another $100) It is great for growing between 2-5 plants, and if you have the right seeds you can get around 2 oz per plant. If you cant tell, im still pissed about my last crop. Space- You will need a space at least 24" long and 12" wide, more is always better though Equipment Seeds- An Indica strain is a must, and unless you get clones from a friend buying seeds offline is your best bet. If you have a sativa, growing will take a little longer, be harder to hide, and take up more room vertically (which i will explain later is one of the biggest problems). Cost- $30 Lights- For vegetative growing stages, flourescents are a very good choice. HPS and other lights like that will make your plants grow to tall in the beginning. 3 24'' flourescent tubes work well for this set-up, 4 also works well. More than that is pointless. They need to be as high of wattage as possible. I used 75 watt tubes. A timer is also need for the 12-12 light stage. Cost- $10 per light Soil- Black potting soil is good enough to start your plants, but a friend told me how he went to a fishing bait shop and bought 2 cans of worms. Then he threw all the worms away and used the dirt that was left. I tried this and it worked amazing. After the plants are about 2-3" tall they can be transplanted and the bigger pots can be filled with normal soil. Cost- $3 per can of worm soil, $1 per soil bag Fertilizer- I used Expert Gardener All Purpose Plant food. This has a formula of 15-30-15 which i know isn't ideal, but is the best i found. It is very good for flowering though. I'm not a fertilizer expert but most people or guides tell you to use as close to a 15-15-15 formula as possible. Cost- $5 Random Shit- I used a lot of randoms things to make my set-up. I will explain them in more detail later on. Cost- $20 Total Expenses: Around 100 bucks. If you can spend more i would recommend buying a 100 or 250 watt hps for between $80 and 100 shipped. Building a Grow Area My grow area consisted of a small space under my bed in the back corner. It is around 3 feet long and 2 feet wide, as well as 40 inches tall. I started by lining the entire bottom with aluminum foil. Then i did the same to the back and far side wall. My biggest concern was how to get the lights 3-4 inches above the plants, and still be able to raise it easily. To do this, first i used gorilla glue to mount 6 plastic hooks to the underside of my bed. The hooks were placed using 3 on each side and spaced about 4 inches apart, the 2 sides were 22 inches from each other. J J J J J J That is what the hook placement should look like Then I tied a 3 foot long piece of fishing line to each end of the light and tied it the hook directly above it. J=========J J=========J J=========J This is what it would look like if u were directly below the lights and look straight up. The equal signs are supposed to be the lights The great part of mounting lights like this is the fast and easy way to raise your lights. All you need to do is wrap the fishing line around the hooks a few times. Lights can easily be raised any incriment in just a few seconds. The rest of the set-up is relatively simple. It may be a bit nig-rigged but it works. On 1 of the 2 sides that isnt already cover with aluminum foil you will need something that is as long as your grow area and preferbly the same heigth. This adds like a wall and keep light in. Cover the part facing your plants with aluminum foil. I used a suitcase. It worked very well and didnt look out of place. The last side left needs to be like a door. It will be the only real place to access the plants, except for going over the top which involves moving lights and is a pain in the ass. Cardboard works well because it is very light and is easily availible in decent size pieces that can be cut to trim the exact shape that you need. Again, cover the part facing your plants with aluminum foil. Since I was in a dorm i had a large window and didnt need a fan. If you are doing this in a closet of in a stuffy place, a fan is always a good idea. My watering schedule was every other day i would water the soil with plain until it was pretty moist, and days i didnt water i would spray the plant with a light mist of extremely diluted water/fertilizer mixture. The amount of fertilizer in the water was about 1/25 of the dosage recommened on the box. On Saturday or Sunday, I would put fertilizer in the water that i put on the soil, but that also was only about 1/4 strength of what the box said to use. I didnt use any real plant grooming methods since that was my first time growing and didnt want to fuck up at all, but i believe that using this set-up with the ScrOG method of growing may be very succesful. I hope this may help someone, which, in turn will produce more bud than the world had before, therefore making it a better place, which means i have done my part.
Great guide, but no way in hell would I risk getting caught. I'd rather wait until I have a house of my own...4 months
I am currently growing in a dorm room as well. There isnt really any risk of me getting caught becuase I have my own room and the setup is in my closet. Dorm rooms are a pretty good place to grow if you know you cant get caught. I just have a few cfls and the basics and everything seems to be going good.
Famous last words. Everyone who has ever been busted thought they couldn't get caught. Dorms are a big risk no matter how cool you think the situation is.
don't use aluminum foil when growing. it creates hot stops on your plants which will burn them. pay a little extra and get mylar.
Thats what you may think, and I do understand your thinking and yes in most situations dorm growing is quite risky. But please understand that in my case, it is not. I do not have a roommate and live in a 2 person room. I control who enters my room. I have the setup in my closet which is locked as well. Therefore, the chance of me getting caught really does not exist. I have thought this over very well and have covered my ass pretty well.
I dont understand what you are implying when you say "wow, your a college student?'' Are you commenting on my grammer? Or maybe my vocabulary isn't on your level? I am curious to find out though.
as far as the aluminum foil, i've used it with no problems at all. i think the danger of hot spots lies in if you have an hid light. with cfl's, i don't think it'll matter but if you can get mylar, use it.
actually, even if dorm ppl have probable cause and can enter they cn not touch or search anything unless they have more than probable cause
I apologize, that didn't exactly convey what I wanted. I love growing, I understand your passion and all, I just think if I were in your situation, I wouldn't risk it. I have weighed the cons of my grow and am prepared to accept the consequences should the shit hit the fan, I hope you have as well, peace friend.
This is my point exactly. While they may be able to enter my room if they have probable cause, they cannot search any of my posessions without a warrant or if I get caught with open alcohol or marijuana. I will never give them reason to enter my room, and even if anyone were to enter my room, they would not know or have the right to know whats in my closet. I am not stupid enough to do this if there was any large risk involved, trust me.