The Art of Apartment Growing....

Daemon · Apr 22, 2008

Hey y'all,

I'm an apartment grower, as some of ya know, and as anyone who's done it before knows, growing in an apartment can be a real art. You are much closer to your neighbors, thinner walls, nosy landlords/supers, etc. can make for sleepless nights and a great deal of worry.
In response to this, I figured why not create a thread specifically about Apt. Growing?? So, here it is. I'll share some of what I've learned and soon(hopefully this week), I'll have a camera to document everything. I encourage anyone with any knowledge/experience/ideas to chime in! Also, I searched and didn't see anything but if this has been done before please let me know!

Okay, I suppose first off would be smell and noise. You certainly don't want any detectable smell and it must be fairly quiet, after all what good does it do to have a setup that sounds like a fucking German Tiger II rolling along?

Shit - I must go to work(I forgot, lol), I'll finish this later - anyone have any ideas for the time being?

Pig-Pen · Apr 22, 2008

Some years ago I did a one-off in an apartment closet with a 150w HPS in a cardboard box. :bandit:

I didn't make any provisions for odor control other than little jars of ONA gel.....didn't work, but didn't cause any problems.

TheStarJacqui · Apr 24, 2008

Be careful for all those reasons. Growing in an APT got the cops to my front door and eventually an entire crop destroyed. Neighbors became suspicious seeing equipment going into the place, etc.

BE CAREFUL. Move all your stuff in/out at night.

Germanator · Apr 24, 2008

The nicer the apartment, the more privacy you are afforded. If you are in a shit area you are going to have more police activity regardless of your grow. Move into a high rise apartment complex with concrete for walls and the hum of your closet/room will not be heard. Clean your air before you exhaust it, both with carbon and Ozone.

Keep company to a minimum, no loud parties. Do not move equipment in bulk into your place. Stage it in your vehicle and move it in over the course of an entire day off.

My first grow was in an apartment... it was inspired by some great growers on OG and it was successful for over two years. Apartment growing is in my honest opinion, not worth the risk. I came within a few moments of having a record because of it, and the only good which really came from it was knowledge and equipment.

Ohhh and keep a large butcher knife handy to dice up root mass in an emergency... always be prepared to take the knife to all your plants to confuse plant count.

Good luck all you apartment hacks out there, stay safe.

Germ

Mr_Micro · Apr 24, 2008

I've been growing in apartments for years now, and once I figured out that the only way to prevent odor was with a good carbon filter I've been problem free since then :smoke:

Of course I have been doing it in PC case growboxes the whole time, so I imagine the risk increases a bit when using other methods. But if you're curious about my methods just check either of the two grow thread links in my signature to see how I did it. The crops were always small, anywhere from half an ounce to 2 ounces or so, but it was enough and I was pleased with the level of safety and security.

But, I am considering moving up to a DR40 grow tent stashed away in a closet with a locked door, so that makes things a little bit less safe. Despite my desire for bigger crops though I may just stick with the PC case methods for their safety and security (despite the ridiculous amount of work it takes to build a good stealthy one LOL).

But yeah, the biggest risks in an apartment grow are going to be smell and noise. You can take care of the smell pretty easy with a carbon filter but the noise is a tricker issue. Either find a big closet with a lockable door to stash your growbox in the back of or grow in something like a PC case, which would naturally make noise from the fans and whatnot so it won't seem suspicious.
If you keep fish than growing in a cabinet underneath a fish tank may be a good option as well :smoke:

brainlab · Apr 24, 2008

im an apartment grower and im just happy that the police cant come busting in without real evidence. 7 years in the same apartment and i useuly do small grows .. but ones in a while i do big grows too. but man do i want to move to a house with a cellar =)

have a funny story that happend about 3-4 months ago , me and friend was sitting in the livingroom and having coffee when the door rings. i take a look in the peephole and just see there is a old man standing outside and i dont recognise him so i open the door and its one of my neigoubour. he asks me if there is something wrong with the tv reception, and i say no but we have digital tv ... then he starts to ask me questions about the digital. and all the sudden he just steps rigth in goes in the livingroom without asking, he´s old and you know how they can be =)

the thing is when walking to the livingroom you pass the hallway where a have a temperary cab with clones, and the light leaks out becaouse as a said it a temp cab.

he just walked by it like there was nothing wrong with a closet with bright light leaking out ... looked at the tv for a minute then he said , i think we have to get digital tv and thanked me the left. nothing ever happend after that but im glad he was old and confused =)

so be careful you never know who can show up.

FreezerBoy · Apr 24, 2008

Heh, neighbors ... gotta love em.

I had a roomie die tragically young 11 years ago. Never occured to me to failsafe the house, I called 911. The responding officer was allergic to cigarettes and I was too freaked out to stop smoking like a chimney. I offered to move out to the garage and stay there till all questions were answered. The next 2- 3 hours I answered questions from officers, paramedics, detectives, coroners, neighbors, families and friends. It wasn't till the next day I realised I'd done it just six inches from my garden in full bloom. None of them had a clue.

chosen · Apr 25, 2008

i've done it a few times. I have a much better room now. Yet, I'd love to do it again.
Women....... :noway:

TGT · Apr 25, 2008

My first apartment grow me and a friend decided to go large. We had 4 - 1000 watt HPS in a 2 bedroom apartment. The crop was in full bloom and after watering we decided to go to the strip bar. We had a good time looking at nude women and decided it was late so began our journey home. As we were driving down the street we could see our apartment in the distance. We had the top floor apartment and the building had about 26 floors. On the 26th floor we noticed a huge beacon of light coming out of the bedroom window! It was a foggy night and this made it much more noticable. It looked like a light house beacon and the 4 HPS bulbs were projecting a ray of light through the fog that lite up the entire sky and stretched across the whole downtown core! We freaked and got home as quick as we could. Waiting for the elavator seemed to take an eternity. When we got in the room we noticed the duc-tape had fallen off the window and taken the b&w polly with it! It must have been caused by too much humidity in the room. We covered it back up and hoped for the best. Unbelievably nothing bad came of it.

Ever since then we learned a valuable lesson, to make sure the windows are properly covered. I never want to make a stupid mistake like that again. It's funny to talk about it now, but it could have been very bad to say the least. Thats the last time I grew in an apartment.

TGT

Brad · Apr 25, 2008

staple poly up so that doesnt happen dude....if your into apartment growing check this thread out.i put alot of good info in there

http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=72644&page=1&pp=40

check it out dudes

Daemon · Apr 25, 2008

All good info!

I've slacked a bit on this, but I was working on a good list of DO's/DON'TS of apartment growing. I'll hopefully finish tomorrow and have it posted.

I grow in a small 2 bedroom apartment without any problems. More later!

zombi3girl · Apr 25, 2008

I'm currently working on upgrading my apartment grow system...all closeted in a 1 bedroom/1 bath...though I live in a gated community in a very expensive neighborhood so cops don't patrol at all...and we basically pay not to be messed with....I dont think I'd grow in an apartment in any other situation

TGT · Apr 25, 2008

In my defense that happened when I was very young and it was one of my fist grows. Just had to say that so you guys/gals don't think i'm a complete dumb ass lol.

TGT

DIGITALHIPPY · Apr 25, 2008

TGT said:
My first apartment grow me and a friend decided to go large. We had 4 - 1000 watt HPS in a 2 bedroom apartment. The crop was in full bloom and after watering we decided to go to the strip bar. We had a good time looking at nude women and decided it was late so began our journey home. As we were driving down the street we could see our apartment in the distance. We had the top floor apartment and the building had about 26 floors. On the 26th floor we noticed a huge beacon of light coming out of the bedroom window! It was a foggy night and this made it much more noticable. It looked like a light house beacon and the 4 HPS bulbs were projecting a ray of light through the fog that lite up the entire sky and stretched across the whole downtown core! We freaked and got home as quick as we could. Waiting for the elavator seemed to take an eternity. When we got in the room we noticed the duc-tape had fallen off the window and taken the b&w polly with it! It must have been caused by too much humidity in the room. We covered it back up and hoped for the best. Unbelievably nothing bad came of it.

Ever since then we learned a valuable lesson, to make sure the windows are properly covered. I never want to make a stupid mistake like that again. It's funny to talk about it now, but it could have been very bad to say the least. Thats the last time I grew in an apartment.

TGT

WOW!! ive had somthing CLOSE to that, but dam!
we all learn, unfortunately mostly from mistakes.

my first/learning grows were in apartments... god its good to be done with that, the power bills get insain in thoes tiny units too. try running 6 or 7k(regular useage too) in a 1bedroom and not paying through the teeth.
my last apartment grow.

GROW before that

patio grow before that even.

had indoors there aswell but lost the pics, nothing worthwhile anyways.
its easy to get sloppy in a house-grow. you get too much sense of security.
i catch myself slipping all the time, then think to myself "DAM! i couldn't have gotten away with THAT in an apt!" :wave:

chosen · Apr 26, 2008

Growing in an apartment is better than a room mate to pay the rent.

GroworDie · Apr 26, 2008

Apt grower here. I have a constant nagging sense of paranoia, but I agree it keeps you on your toes. Makes me think and rethink about everything I do. As I've inevitably gotten bigger I have tried to keep stealth the number 1 priority. Sometimes it's not perfect as temps become more and more of an issue. But I've been dealing with them as they come up and am well on my way to a 100% stealth laundry room 250watter.

chebahawk · Apr 28, 2008

i live in a townhouse style apartment with a basement and three bedrooms. in a place this size would it be safe to run two 600w lamps?

green_tea · Apr 28, 2008

lol that size you could probably run ~3kW if you wanted too, assuming you do your laundry somewhere else.

Rob547 · Apr 28, 2008

I also grow in an apt. Top floor, only one neighbor, never seen them really in almost a whole year living here. I've had some close calls, but I dunno...... Not long ago we (me and GF) were home for spring break, come back to a piece a paper under the door saying 'mandatory bug inspection/eradication', with a blank date on it. I started to freak out, it being sunday and knowing the possibility of them coming early tomorrow morning. my plants are just out in the open really, just in my closet, door stays open to vent....yea yea i know i know. anyway, I call the office the next day, only to have them tell me that people already came and did the inspection without us being there....I guess they must have not cared, or not gone into my room at all. I must have done something to get some kick-ass karma

skylined · Apr 28, 2008

It's always a wise idea to keep the bedroom locked. Obviously....no one else but yourself has a key. Believe it or not it's not even a very suspicious thing to do as people steal things all the time so you gotta keep your shit secure. Just my .02 in that regard.

Peace.

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