I'm planning to do an outdoor grow, may be confined to small forest areas. Wondering how far away can a plant be smelled from so i can pick a better spot.
A block or so would be a safe distance. My plants smell to the end of the street. Say maybe a football fields distance when in full bloom. Maybe more, but probably less for a moderate sized grow in the midst of trees. I think the forest helps filter the smell some.
Since you are in the planning stage, why not pick some strain with "Pine" in its name? "A pine-like scent is more likely to blend in with forest smells! http://forum.grasscity.com/apprentice-tokers/901015-pine-scented-strains-most-piney-strains.html Granny
Depends like mama said... In thick vegetation I've smelt it up to 100 yards even behind a line of pine trees if the wind is going the right way. Just a little story- I was hiking last fall in a very popular mountain hiking trail by me, I hike it maybe 3-4 times a year for its physical workout...anyway, I was maybe 2 miles in when I got caught in a sudden rain that lasted maybe 10 minutes, afterward I smelt marijuana, it was unmistakeable, that afghan smell in the musk air, it took me about twenty five minutes to find it and it was only 11 smaller plants i'd say 2-3 ounces each... I hike with my northface book bag that I used in college, I topped his biggest cola (lol) then in the ziplock bag I used to carry my bowl in (have to smoke when hiking) left a note on a $1 bill (didnt have paper haha) that said "Sorry I took your biggest cola but go another 20 yards from the trail I was able to smell them in the rain, buds look great" then I dated it... Now the funny part comes... I hiked it a month later in late october and went back to the spot, in an upside down bucket with a rock on top with a twenty dollar bill that said "youre a bastard for taking the biggest cola =) but I really appreciate you leaving my plants"- moral of the story is- in humidity you can smell them further and 99 out of 100 people will take your babies if they find them lol.
oh and the funny part was- the plants could have easily been harvested 3-5 days before I even came accross them lol