I am kinda interested in growing for the following reasons: 1) save some money (not a huge concern for me, but not a non-issue either) 2) don't have to worry about going dry if I'm my own supplier 3) have trimmings and such to make hash out of 4) quality control However, I have the following concerns. Some I realize you guys won't really be able to comment, on, but maybe I can get some advice on a few of them. 1) My wife is a little sketchy about it... she is a teacher and really doesn't want us to be caught with plants. (She doesn't smoke at all). But, she told me to go ahead if thats what I really want to do... which of course means "if you do it I'll be pissed", but I can deal with that 2) A lot of work? I tend to get really into something for a little bit, and then move on. (ie: get really into cooking awesome stuff for like a month, then stop cooking. Get really into a video game for a few weeks, then I'm done, etc). So, how much time am I looking at investing if I want to just grow a few plants for my personal supply? I imagine the initial time of going and getting everything together is kinda high (I'm not very handy... my wife likes building stuff, but my guess is she would not help me trick out a grow area...). What about ongoing time invested? ie: time daily/weekly/monthly? 3) Not sure where to do it... we have our own house, but my wife is worried about the smell, and I also have 2 cats (I imagine they could wreak havoc on some plants...). I've read the stickied grow guides, and it looks like if I did sea of green, I'd only need a few square feet at a time? The other concern with location is that we have friends (especially my wife's friends) who are not down. i doubt they'd do anything if they found them, but my wife would be really upset... also, when her or my parents come visit, I'd need to be hide them all somewhere (neither set of parents would turn me in, but would definately cause some family drama). The friend's are more handle-able, as there are some parts of the house they wouldn't really go in. But when our parents come up there isn't really any part of the house I could ensure they wouldn't either go in or ask why its not accessible... 4) Apparently lots of people order seeds online... what are the legal ramifications here? ie: if for some reason it is discovered that you ordered seeds, is that probable cause to search your property? Is it possible/relatively easy to build a "grow box" type thing that would be protected from the cats? Is an active carbon filter totally effective against smell? ie, if someone was standing next to the grow area, or right at the exhaust vent, would they smell anything? We have several areas that I might consider for growing, but they all have downsides: On my 3rd floor: this is a large, open area. The problems are the cats (this is the only space we can really keep their litter boxes without heavilly impeding the rest of the house... the litter boxes are off in a large walk-in closet, so I guess I could barricade the rest of the room off...), and that I would have to move everything somewhere, or make it very non-obvious what it was, if parents were visiting, as they are likely to go up to the 3rd floor at some point. This is also the only floor my wife is ok with smoking on (she doesn't want the rest of the house to smell), so anyone I had over, unless somehow it was pretty stealth, would know I was growing, and where my plants were. My wife also has a lot of relatives in new york, and sometimes our house would likely to be crammed full of visitors for thanksgiving, xmas, etc... 2nd floor spare bedroom: I can keep the cats out of here easilly, but anytime we have a guest over for the night, this is where they stay... so I'd definately need to be able to move it somewhere else, and have no lingering odor... Basement: While this is a large and open area, it tends to get cold unless I leave the heat on pretty high (which makes the first floor, which is on the same heat zone, uncomfortable). This is also where my wife and I hang with friends. So, it would need to be stealth, or off in the water pipe room, which is about 5x10, and would have adequate room, but is uninsulated (and so gets pretty cold...) If I could somehow get around the cold without blowing through too much money (I guess I could throw up insulation all over the place and remove the insulation between it and the rest of the basement... but I wouldn't want to run a heater in there 24/7), and could get something at least moderately stealth (ie: enough so that if a relative did decide to see what was in there or something, they wouldn't see or smell plants), that might work... Anyway, if anyone has any advice, I'd appreciate it.
So I was thinking some more, and: I'm not really a heavy smoker anymore (I used to go through about 3/4 or an ounce of nug a week, but now its probably more like an 8th a week, if that), so I think the parents/visitor thing wouldn't be a problem, since from what I've read about SoG growing, you can have everything wrapped up in 1 month. So, my main concerns are just the acquiring of seeds, the location in my house, and how many plants I'd likely need to get me maybe 10 ounces worth of harvest? Also, if I only grew once a year, would I need to buy new seeds each time I went to grow more, or could I, in a separate area, put a male and a female, let it pollinate, collect the seeds, and have them still be grow able the next year?
You looking for about 10 ounces plant around 3-4 plants. Depending on your growing enviroment and type of plant you grow your yeild will be different. I would count on each plant at least growing 2 ounces. Just keep your shit on the DL man and you will be fine. Best of luck!
Sounds like you really need to keep it stealth all the way if you are going to be growing in an area where family or friends go. It can be done but it will take a bit of effort on your part for at least three months and you will need to spend a good amount of money to control odor issues, temps, and light leaks. Going truly stealth is hard. I can keep my grow stealth to the degree that I can confine it to a closet in a room which I always have locked and nobody goes in there ever except for me and my wife. Even keeping smell, light and temp under control when I have a whole room that is secure is tricky.....I can't imagine growing in a closet in an area or room that friends or family go into. I can family or friends in the house and nobody knows anything.....but if they were to ever go into that one room (even though the grow is confined to the closet) I would be discovered. Good luck.
That looks cool... have you used one? Does it work well? If I wanted to mess with the light wattage and all that, or veg under different lighting, is it relatively easy to do? Kind of expensive... not trying to lay down 1200 bucks for something unless I can see how well it works and how modifyable it is... I don't have time to google around for reviews right now, but I'll definately check that out later. Thanks! ps: They are having a valentines day sale... how sweet EDIT: Are these sold in stores anywhere in the US? I'd love to be able to go look at one...
Well you can do asimple set up like mine.... and keep it in the basement..... no one will ever know not even your wife...... and for the wife thing..... which is more important getting high or sex??? lol cuz my gf hated the fact of me growing and when i asked her she got mad and would not let me get near her for like a week.... lol but anyway i am the same way with like the hobby things.... but growing is very fun..... its also very interactive... and if you have timers and follow the watering schedule you would only have to look at the plants every 2 days..... and i must say home grown bud is not only cheaper then buying... but you will also get better smoke.. and if you buy an 8th a week that means your spending about 160 $ a month.... so i would spend around 3 dollars on the grow set up... thats what i spent and i will get about 3 ounces every 2 months! Hope this helps Miracle
The basement is finished, and used for a lot of stuff (we both go down there a lot, as do friends). She isn't thrilled with me wanting to grow, but wouldn't stop me or be pissy all the time or anything (I hope) How did you spend 3 dollars on a grow setup? what kind of setup?
Forget about the super-expensive fake refrigerator grow box. There are plenty of ways to have/make a growbox that doesn't attract suspicion. What you will need is an enclosure with a footprint of a few square feet -- could be a closet or an area of the attic or basement or garage, etc. You can make a grow cab out of a cheap assemble-yourself armoire-type unit that is sold at Wally World, Home Depot, etc. The kind that is made of particle board covered in white melamine, here's an example. Put that in the corner of your garage or an out-of-the-way space and no one will be going near it or suspect a thing. You will need to light-seal it all the way around (caulk and weather stripping will handle most of that) and cut at least one good-sized hole near the bottom for air intake and one near the top for exhaust. You probably want to channel that exhaust to the outside or to a raw space if possible, and since you want to be stealth for visitors you should put a good carbon filter on it. Then you deck it out on the inside with lights and such.
Hey Toastybiz.... How come every time I see one of your posts my first initial reaction is usually.... YEAH THAT! Look up NGB style cabs. Set yourself up a SMALL CFL or 150w grow. If you don't follow through like gourmet cooking you won't have invested much but you'll STILL have gotten a full experience at growing. I actually know that once you start this you're not going to toss it aside like that because this is something completely different. (You'll see ) Get a small clothes wardrobe or cabinet about 2'x2'x4' or something similar. Read up a LOT on odor control as it will be your main security risk. Read the links in my sig for good information as well. You're going to spend some time at this. It can take months to get started and it can start in weeks so be prepared. Patience and diligence will allow you to succeed. Once you can successfully do a small grow you'll have a MUCH better idea of what you're going to get yourself into and will have learned a ton of information about the plant itself in the process. Ahhh... brings back fond memories of the first cabinet I built. *sniff* Had to burn that one in the backyard due to security concerns. That was years ago. Good luck!