New to cannabis and attempting first grow. Trying to be as stealthy as I can and would really like opinions on my ideas or if any of this could work.

  • Thread starter Greengift
  • Start date
  • Tagged users None
G

Greengift

7
3
I know this is pretty wordy, I've been thinking about this a lot. I really want to grow my own but even moreso I do not want to get busted doing it so I'd really appreciate feedback based on the experience and knowledge of others here.

I got 10 Durban Poison seeds that I'm in the process of sprouting atm. Once I get some sprouted and ready for light I'd like to attempt a grow on the patio behind my house. I live in a typical suburban neighborhood inter-spaced with small forested areas here and there, and the grow site is not easily viewable by neighbors and receives good light. Behind my backyard is a fenced in nature preserve with zero human activity so I'd say privacy is pretty good. My only real concern is that we have a pool guy and yard work team come out once every week at different times, and I need to make damn well sure they won't know what's going on.

Where I live it's a good time to grow vegetables etc. As I sprout the DP seeds I'm planting pots of lavender, beefsteak tomatoes (grow up to 8 feet), and I'm going to plant some cilantro seeds. I also have a bunch of small house plants I've had for a number of years against the wall. I'm going to line up the tomato pots so that as the plants grow they will obscure much of the patio on both visible sides. Aside from the tomatoes providing a wall, they, the lavender (hoping it helps mask the smell down the road) and the cilantro work as companion plants AND (along with the house plants) make it look like I just have a variety garden and hopefully take away any suspicion that I'm growing weed. All plants and walk room considered I should have about a 6x6 foot space I can devote to the star of the show.

In addition to all that I was wondering if it would help to get one of those smallish portable greenhouses that Wayfair etc. sell that have a mostly opaque screen and just house the plants inside there behind the tomatoes. Only questions about that are:

1. Can the plants still receive adequate sunlight through the somewhat opaque screen? (I can always keep the flap open when I know no one is coming around.)
2. Would the closed mini greenhouse look suspicious, even if it's behind the tomatoes and among the lavender, cilantro, and house plants? (There could just be other non-weed plants in there...)

As a side note, DP is definately the strain I need and I know it gets really tall. I'm hoping I can train them to grow as shorter bushes. Not sure how many plants I'll end up with eventually but I'll plan as I go, hoping to get at least a few adult girls. All of this is education and trial and error right now, so I'll be taking any mistakes in stride. The only things I can't afford are other people finding out and getting busted.

Thanks again everyone! I really appreciate the help!
 
G

Greengift

7
3
You need to consider the smell.
Thanks! That's why I got a couple lavender plants to start out with, besides the fact it's one of my favorites. I also read that plants like mint and merigold will help mask the smell. What would you say is the best plant I could get for masking, say, 3-5 flowering DPs? How many of those plants would I need to cover the smell? Or, would people still be able to smell the weed through them and recognize it regardless? I've never been around actual cannabis plants yet so I haven't experienced how strong they can smell or how the smell carries.
 
L

LeHerber

69
18
I know this is pretty wordy, I've been thinking about this a lot. I really want to grow my own but even moreso I do not want to get busted doing it so I'd really appreciate feedback based on the experience and knowledge of others here.

I got 10 Durban Poison seeds that I'm in the process of sprouting atm. Once I get some sprouted and ready for light I'd like to attempt a grow on the patio behind my house. I live in a typical suburban neighborhood inter-spaced with small forested areas here and there, and the grow site is not easily viewable by neighbors and receives good light. Behind my backyard is a fenced in nature preserve with zero human activity so I'd say privacy is pretty good. My only real concern is that we have a pool guy and yard work team come out once every week at different times, and I need to make damn well sure they won't know what's going on.

Where I live it's a good time to grow vegetables etc. As I sprout the DP seeds I'm planting pots of lavender, beefsteak tomatoes (grow up to 8 feet), and I'm going to plant some cilantro seeds. I also have a bunch of small house plants I've had for a number of years against the wall. I'm going to line up the tomato pots so that as the plants grow they will obscure much of the patio on both visible sides. Aside from the tomatoes providing a wall, they, the lavender (hoping it helps mask the smell down the road) and the cilantro work as companion plants AND (along with the house plants) make it look like I just have a variety garden and hopefully take away any suspicion that I'm growing weed. All plants and walk room considered I should have about a 6x6 foot space I can devote to the star of the show.

In addition to all that I was wondering if it would help to get one of those smallish portable greenhouses that Wayfair etc. sell that have a mostly opaque screen and just house the plants inside there behind the tomatoes. Only questions about that are:

1. Can the plants still receive adequate sunlight through the somewhat opaque screen? (I can always keep the flap open when I know no one is coming around.)
2. Would the closed mini greenhouse look suspicious, even if it's behind the tomatoes and among the lavender, cilantro, and house plants? (There could just be other non-weed plants in there...)

As a side note, DP is definately the strain I need and I know it gets really tall. I'm hoping I can train them to grow as shorter bushes. Not sure how many plants I'll end up with eventually but I'll plan as I go, hoping to get at least a few adult girls. All of this is education and trial and error right now, so I'll be taking any mistakes in stride. The only things I can't afford are other people finding out and getting busted.

Thanks again everyone! I really appreciate the help!
Hell yea a rando greenhouse in the middle of surburbia will look suspicious, especially the ones your thinking of. Greenhouses aren’t really necessary if tomatoes and such can grow so the only reason you’d have it is to be hiding something
 
L

LeHerber

69
18
Sounds like you need to go and find a nice spot in the wilderness with a water source close by so you don’t have to lug jugs of water. DP is known for its stink, like they said. That’s what I would do, make sure it’s as remote as possible put out some deer repellent and hope for the best. Dig big holes and fill them with good soil like pro mix and some amendments for nutrition so you get that over with . I PROMISE SOMEONE WILL FIND THEM IN THE SUBURBS OUTSIDE. Best hope it’s a thief. The whole reason I started growing inside was because of that reason. Every time some kid, animal, “concerned citizen” (I’ve seen them destroyed and left behind for me to find) some ass hole will eventually stumble across them in the 3-4 months there in the same spot. Promise. And they never leave them be. And you also have it on your mind that your growing marijuana (which not everyone needs like kids) outside uncontrolled where anyone can access it, a pet, a child, a cop. Unless your somewhere it’s cool like Cali and you personally just want to hide it for your own reasons. I dunno. I’ve hid this shit for the better part of 2 decades and THANK BABY JESUS I don’t have to do that anymore, but even this it’s legal for me I still grow inside, so I fell you. And good luck. Go to REI get some gear for the woods and get out there, bears and snakes are the best things out there (the idea of them anyway) to keep randos away, add a trail or 2 with some gps and your in there alone , make it a thing. It’s fun, bring pepper spray and a friend
 
basscaptain

basscaptain

5,275
313
I do agree with a lot said all ready... But If your in a state like ca, were it's kool then I (just my 2 cents) just go for it..... your workers won't really care...... If It was me... I would clean my pool and not pay someone to do it..... but that's the guy I would worry about........ if you know him and he's kool don't worry about them as much as someone else.....

your talking 6 plants keep them in pots and move them inside for the day the pool guy is there.......
 
G

Greengift

7
3
I appreciate it guys, thanks! So with all that info it looks like my options are to either add a pet skunk as well (lol), or consider planting back in the nature preserve at least several hundred yards away from my house where I can see an open spot that I may be able to space my plants out in. Access around the fence is currently blocked by water, so I'd need waders. Besides that though I'd feel paranoid as all hell going back and fourth to tend to my plants, especially the first few times moving them and lugging tools and other equipment. I'd do that at like 2AM or so but I would still be feeling really paranoid about it. It might just be my naturally cautious nature though... or would this proximity still be really risky with getting busted? While it would suck, I can handle the risk of thieves, concerned citizens, animals etc. to my plants, just not arrest.

Another side question: People have said DP is pretty smelly. What is the least smelly weed strain you know of, and could that be stealth grown in a backyard?

Pretty exciting day, 8 of my 10 seeds have already sprouted above the soil! Half of them are mature enough that I'm giving them their first light.
 
G

Greengift

7
3
I do agree with a lot said all ready... But If your in a state like ca, were it's kool then I (just my 2 cents) just go for it..... your workers won't really care...... If It was me... I would clean my pool and not pay someone to do it..... but that's the guy I would worry about........ if you know him and he's kool don't worry about them as much as someone else.....

your talking 6 plants keep them in pots and move them inside for the day the pool guy is there.......
Lol na, only medicinal is legal here now but I'm REALLY hoping full legalization comes in the next few years. The pool guy can be a little strange so I'm not sure I could trust him with knowing.
 
G

Greengift

7
3
Sounds like you need to go and find a nice spot in the wilderness with a water source close by so you don’t have to lug jugs of water. DP is known for its stink, like they said. That’s what I would do, make sure it’s as remote as possible put out some deer repellent and hope for the best. Dig big holes and fill them with good soil like pro mix and some amendments for nutrition so you get that over with . I PROMISE SOMEONE WILL FIND THEM IN THE SUBURBS OUTSIDE. Best hope it’s a thief. The whole reason I started growing inside was because of that reason. Every time some kid, animal, “concerned citizen” (I’ve seen them destroyed and left behind for me to find) some ass hole will eventually stumble across them in the 3-4 months there in the same spot. Promise. And they never leave them be. And you also have it on your mind that your growing marijuana (which not everyone needs like kids) outside uncontrolled where anyone can access it, a pet, a child, a cop. Unless your somewhere it’s cool like Cali and you personally just want to hide it for your own reasons. I dunno. I’ve hid this shit for the better part of 2 decades and THANK BABY JESUS I don’t have to do that anymore, but even this it’s legal for me I still grow inside, so I fell you. And good luck. Go to REI get some gear for the woods and get out there, bears and snakes are the best things out there (the idea of them anyway) to keep randos away, add a trail or 2 with some gps and your in there alone , make it a thing. It’s fun, bring pepper spray and a friend
Thanks! What do you think of the preserve plan I just mentioned? It's right behind my house and there's almost never any people in there. I live in a pretty densely populated area so aside from putting them way back in there spaced out in the open spot, I'm not sure I could find another spot somewhere in the middle of nowhere where at least one person would see me lugging equipment, or otherwise be suspicious of what I was doing. Most forested area around here that is either private property or part of state parks, and those close at sunset. I'm right there with ya, I can't wait for full legalization in my state.
 
MIMedGrower

MIMedGrower

17,190
438
I have heard many times northern lights doesnt smell much. But i grew it and it sure smelled like weed to me and filled the room as soon as i opened the tent.

If you are in any danger of being caught please dont underestimate the smell. Many complaints even now with legal rec and medical are neighbors annoyed with the smell while flowering.
 
basscaptain

basscaptain

5,275
313
Thanks! What do you think of the preserve plan I just mentioned? It's right behind my house and there's almost never any people in there. I live in a pretty densely populated area so aside from putting them way back in there spaced out in the open spot, I'm not sure I could find another spot somewhere in the middle of nowhere where at least one person would see me lugging equipment, or otherwise be suspicious of what I was doing. Most forested area around here that is either private property or part of state parks, and those close at sunset. I'm right there with ya, I can't wait for full legalization in my state.
you could do that ... BUT....the min you go on State pro you now opened up a WHOLE diff Can of Worms..............................

If I was you ... I would run them in your back yard.... do the vegs just like you said... If pos... Grow some roses also for smell............... Your going to worry about it more then anyone for the 1st few weeks /grow....... by the time your smelling real good start bbqing and stuff like that..... get yourself some tiki lights they smell all the time.... put you a wifi cam out there and see if your pool guy is noise you know what i mean when there small... :)
 
basscaptain

basscaptain

5,275
313
I grew in this back yard for 10 plus yrs.... the kids get on and off the school bus in front of my old house...... :)
Bandit 4 18 2006 001
 
Victorville House 5 17 2010 003
G

Greengift

7
3
I grew in this back yard for 10 plus yrs.... the kids get on and off the school bus in front of my old house...... :)View attachment 903569
Nice! You're actually a lot closer to your neighbors than I am too! I'm gonna play things as I go. While they're smaller and less smelly they'll be much easier to conceal and move around. What you're mentioning may be an option, or maybe I can keep caring for them on the patio and moving them in and out of sight until they're about ready to flower, and then plant them out in the preserve, which would minimize my time messing around in there.

I got 8 tiny seedlings outside getting some sun now. Presently all I gotta worry about are squirrels and other furry friends but I have chicken wire over the pots. A repeat of my attempt to grow pumpkins this will be NOT!
 
G

Greengift

7
3
I have heard many times northern lights doesnt smell much. But i grew it and it sure smelled like weed to me and filled the room as soon as i opened the tent.

If you are in any danger of being caught please dont underestimate the smell. Many complaints even now with legal rec and medical are neighbors annoyed with the smell while flowering.

Thanks! I'd be growing these indoors if it were an option, but that's money and space I don't have right now. Plus I'd have to make sure the lights etc. couldn't be traced to my house, I'd need a P.O. box or Amazon locker or something...
 
L

LeHerber

69
18
That’s tough. You know. Gotta work with what you got. You know your neighborhood better than me. If you don’t think you’ll get in heat what can it hurt to put them outside. I love weed and I’ve stood right next to it and not noticed. Stink only happens bad in late flowering and if your lucky enough to have gotten seeds/clones that will b that pungent, so cross your fingers and roll with it. I wouldn’t bother with the greenhouse. Plant it in the middle of some other plants like your already gonna do. I think marigolds keep bugs away from other plants too
Good luck, make a grow thread if you do and not sketchy
 
Top Bottom