What to do about the smell of a ripe plant?

[AthelR]

We are in southern England. We have a very healthy plant in a polytunnel. I’m looking ahead and worrying about people smelling our plant when it’s nearing harvest time. We are a few metres from a country road. With neighbours not far away. I’ve attached a ground plan which explains everything.

Ideas I’ve had are : sealing the door of the polytunnel during the day and open late at night when hopefully no-one is about, creating a vent with ducting pipe taking the smell away from the road/neighbours, and some sort of charcoal filter in the door. Will it harm the plants for them to be sealed in most of the day?

Does anyone have other ideas or comments? Thanks!

 

[Randyy]

I don't have any experience growing in a polytunnel, but I will share my thoughts on it, maybe it can be of some help.

I think that if you seal the polytunnel during the day, then you will likely end up with high humidity and that can end up giving problems with mold. The solution to that would be to seal the room and then ventilate through a charcoal filter to remove the smell, as that is a concern for you. Now the size of the polytunnel, more precisely the volume, will determine the size of the fan that you will require. Not too sure, but I think the rule of thumb is to change the volume of the air 2-3 times per minute?! You might wanna look that up to be sure!

You will likely need a fan that will generate a good amount of noise, so maybe now you have fixed the problem with the smell, but instead have a problem with a noisy fan?! It is possible to lower the noise. You can build a box around the fan and isolate the box. You might also need to isolate the duct. There are mufflers on the market, but I never used those myself so can't say how effective they are.

With that said, maybe the smell wont be a problem in the first place. I don't grow outdoors, so can't say how noticeable the smell is outside. Maybe someone growing outside can chip in on that.

Either way, good luck on your project hope you find a good solution.

 

[JIMKSI64]

Every week replace a squashed skunk in the road in front of the house.
Yer on your own sourcing squashed skunks.
But seriously cover smell. What is a very noticeable loud plant like honeysuckle or wisteria hedges or the like. Might not help this run and will take planning. Heck there are a couple of tomatoes I have grown that you could smells from meters away.

 

[Galgrows]

Seems impossible to do hiding the smell in your situation. If your so parinoid maybe consider a sealed off room.

 

[AthelR]

I don't have any experience growing in a polytunnel, but I will share my thoughts on it, maybe it can be of some help.

I think that if you seal the polytunnel during the day, then you will likely end up with high humidity and that can end up giving problems with mold. The solution to that would be to seal the room and then ventilate through a charcoal filter to remove the smell, as that is a concern for you. Now the size of the polytunnel, more precisely the volume, will determine the size of the fan that you will require. Not too sure, but I think the rule of thumb is to change the volume of the air 2-3 times per minute?! You might wanna look that up to be sure!

You will likely need a fan that will generate a good amount of noise, so maybe now you have fixed the problem with the smell, but instead have a problem with a noisy fan?! It is possible to lower the noise. You can build a box around the fan and isolate the box. You might also need to isolate the duct. There are mufflers on the market, but I never used those myself so can't say how effective they are.

With that said, maybe the smell wont be a problem in the first place. I don't grow outdoors, so can't say how noticeable the smell is outside. Maybe someone growing outside can chip in on that.

Either way, good luck on your project hope you find a good solution.

Thanks Randy I hadn’t thought about a fan but then I have to have a one way inlet for the air as well. It’s getting complicated… let’s see what else people suggest.

 

[AthelR]

Every week replace a squashed skunk in the road in front of the house.
Yer on your own sourcing squashed skunks.
But seriously cover smell. What is a very noticeable loud plant like honeysuckle or wisteria hedges or the like. Might not help this run and will take planning. Heck there are a couple of tomatoes I have grown that you could smells from meters away.

Good idea for the long term, although does honeysuckle flower in autumn? We have tomatoes too and I can catch a whiff of those outside…

 

[AthelR]

Seems impossible to do hiding the smell in your situation. If you’re so parinoid maybe consider a sealed off room.

We could never get the plant up. The polytunnel is a bit like a sealed room. It’s a question of ventilation I suppose…

 

[Gmix]

It shouldn’t smell enough to reach the road unless you’re going to grow loads

 

[Zill]

Harvest it

 

[AthelR]

Seems impossible to do hiding the smell in your situation. If your so parinoid maybe consider a sealed off room.

It’s not really paranoia, Galgrows. Marijuana farms are often raided because someone reported the smell.

 

[AthelR]

Harvest it

!!! There are no colas yet.

 

[AthelR]

It shouldn’t smell enough to reach the road unless you’re going to grow loads

Just one plant… but just one whiff. My friends have had their crop stolen bcs some savvy passerby had a sensitive nose.

 

[Galgrows]

Just one plant… but just one whiff. My friends have had their crop stolen bcs some savvy passerby had a sensitive nose.

Set up a alarm system, i mean these are the chances folks take outdoors be it legal or not. Sad but true i've had it happen 1x many years ago from a neighbor 3 houses away. We followed the leaf trail right to his back door.

 

[Gmix]

one plant there’s no way it’s going reach the road bud. I understand the need for people not smelling living in the uk myself & rats that steal crops.

 

[AthelR]

Set up an alarm system, i mean these are the chances folks take outdoors be it legal or not. Sad but true i've had it happen 1x many years ago from a neighbor 3 houses away. We followed the leaf trail right to his back door.

I might get an external light with a sensor. But the chances of anyone thinking there is anything to steal in it are remote. Unless they get a clue…

 

[AthelR]

We are in southern England. We have a very healthy plant in a polytunnel. I’m looking ahead and worrying about people smelling our plant when it’s nearing harvest time. We are a few metres from a country road. With neighbours not far away. I’ve attached a ground plan which explains everything.

Ideas I’ve had are : sealing the door of the polytunnel during the day and open late at night when hopefully no-one is about, creating a vent with ducting pipe taking the smell away from the road/neighbours, and some sort of charcoal filter in the door. Will it harm the plants for them to be sealed in most of the day? View attachment 2493251

Does anyone have other ideas or comments? Thanks!

For anyone interested, I’ve decided doing nothing carries too great a risk. The plant is now pushing 2.5m height and taking up most of 4square metres. We’re expecting a lot of colas. It’s going to pong.
So I am investing in a length of 10cm flexible duct, an inline fan, and 10k of activated charcoal. This will draw air out of the polytunnel, into a 1m square sump 15cm deep. This wil be covered by a mesh holding a 2cm layer of charcoal, and above that the deodorised air will be released. Actually, this will benefit the plant, because air circulation in the tunnel is not great… I can only hope this system is effective - I know very little about air duct systems or activated charcoal. If anyone has any expert comments I would welcome that. And thanks to everyone who has already commented.

 

[Ninjadogma]

I don't know if ornamental onions will grow well where you are but they may help. We have them in our front yard and any time out there weed wacking in the planter it smells like a skunk strain. Won't mask the smell, just provide an excuse for it.

 

[PlumberSoCal2]

Thanks Randy I hadn’t thought about a fan but then I have to have a one way inlet for the air as well. It’s getting complicated… let’s see what else people suggest.

Really this would work better than anything else I can think of. When I read the headline my first thought was ENJOY THE ODER but that's just me

Outside these plants can reak. I did a recipe on a mobile home several years ago where I would pass an acre planted with hemp. If that was really hemp why did it snell like a thousand skunks? Never heard of hemp Skunk The smell is real and without eliminating the source it gonna stink.

If you can run an electrical cord, seal up both ends and add intake and exhaust with filters there will still be some smell but not like wide open. You can even add auto watering with a pump and timer.

Good luck

 

[defective]

If growing outdoor, the smells comes with the territory…there’s no way to mask it, like others have said, the only way is to filter it.

 

[Gaudy]

get a air purifier, they are used to circulate room air thru a charcoal filter removing bad odors and unwanted particulates. If its one plant, I'd assume it's a small poly tunnel so it should work fine especially for enclosed spaces.