Rate the odds of being caught with a stealth microgrow in a non-government apartment

[MicroBoxBud]

What is your opinion concerning the likelihood of being busted with a stealth micro grow in an apartment complex where mostly rich college students live?

Do you think that given proper odor control (commercial filter & ona) and security (mag locks w/ backup power etc.) the chances of being discovered are minimal?

Or, do you think that not even those things can keep all those nosy maintenance and pest control guys out of your stash?

 

[Pseudo]

dont do the crime if ya cant do the time...

 

[mean mr.mustard]

Remember that if someone is there to find something, they won't leave till they do.

If you're having a bunch of your college age neighbors over you're playing russian roulette.

Cops apartment workers and drunk kids have one thing in common, they aren't convincing, they are simply tenacious.

Houses rock. Especially when you OWN one



PS The first two options read the same to a stoner like me.

 

[Kalicokitty]

That completely depends on the person doing the grow.
One person, almost zero percent chance of anything happening.
Another person, 100% bust

I don't know what kind of person you are, so it's impossible for me to say in your case.

 

[johnny butt]

I pulled quite a few harvests out of apartments during my time there.

A couple things to remember when apartment growing....

1 - Get a privacy clause added to your lease. You can add a clause that requires 24 hour notice for all reasons of entry except emergencies. That way there won't be random pop ins to show the apartment and/or for maintenance. Now if the apartment above you floods into yours, you are just shit out of luck. Especially if you aren't home. But, that is the risk of growing in the apartment.

2 - Get a new lock for your door. I grew in a bedroom, so first thing I do is change the lock on the bedroom door to a key lock. I keep a spare around, but not inside the apartment for emergencies. You don't want to lock yourself out of your grow room, nor do you want anyone to find your spare.

3 - Find out when all routine maintenance is done. Things like pest spraying are normally done once a month, and it will usually be the same day each month. Your landlord will have this info. I had to shut down a grow because such a man entered my apartment, saw it, and stole a 1/2 zip from one of my jars.

4 - Control the smell. Especially in apartments with connecting hallways inside the building, the smell can build up and linger. It can be quite easy to detect in a complex, especially when you walk by the same doors each day, and it really stinks in front of one in particular.

5 - Don't clog drains, or do anything that really would require a maintenance man to show up. Garbage disposals can only take so much. Bag your trash in a separate bag, and find a dumpster to toss it in. DON'T dump it in your own dumpster. Especially on college campuses, the 'shelter impaired' like to dig for cans. They find a bag of cannabis trimmings, and that is worth a lot more than the cans they routinely pick up. Whether it be to police, or those willing to break in and rob you.

If you take care of all these, and have it stealth inside a dresser or cabinet, you will reap the rewards of a personal grow. Be safe, tell no one, and don't leave anything lying around, but most of all just use your brain. A young man walking in and out of an apartment complex carrying bags of soil IS suspicious!


Best of luck,
JB

 

[lvclosetgrower]

Just remember stealth and seriously they usally give 24 hour notice for fire alarm inspections,mait,pestspray etc and always keep incense lit trust me no matter how hard u try there will be a slight smell good luck peace

 

[Lapides]

Don't show anybody.

 

[someotherguy]

i voted 'go for it' before reading your post and now
i would say 'no way'.

i would never grow in an apartment complex, too many
neighbors and too many maintenance men and too many
rules.

then, add in an abundance of college aged kids and
you have a recipe for disaster.

if you are determined, make damned sure you are as
stealthy as you can get!



good luck and stay safe, SOG

 

[cannabi]

That completely depends on the person doing the grow.
One person, almost zero percent chance of anything happening.
Another person, 100% bust

I don't know what kind of person you are, so it's impossible for me to say in your case.

What kind of person would it take for it to be a near 0% chance, in your opinion?

Just someone who maintains their home, has few guests, tells no one, does not deal, and is capable of keeping odors and grow waste and debris where they belong? Or did you mean something more along the lines of luck?

 

[KolorBlind]

Just never trick yourself into believing that you can possibly be 100% safe EVER. Doesnt matter who owns the property or what the situation is. Just imagine a rat chews through your wires in your attic, months later a spark from the bare wires catches your whole house on fire. As you pull into your neighborhood you cuss yourself for not buying that slightly more expensive ceramic socket, or you think your wiring job was done wrong. Then to your amazement, your grow did not catch the house on fire at all, but for some reason there are 10 cops and 5 fire fighters all gathered around what used to be your closet.

Dont grow on someone else's property EVER (unless its outside, even then its stupid and risky). Fire safety is #1, #2 is ZERO smell, and #3 is TELL NO ONE! If you obey those 3 rules to the fullest extent possible, nothing short of an unexpected, non grow room related house fire will get you busted.

As soon as you try and skimp on one of the big 3, you are asking for it. If you cannot pull it off with safe wiring, ZERO smell, and ZERO other people knowing about your op (other than a spouse) then you should not even try. It IS possible to keep a grow under the radar for years, if not your whole life. I have seen a 100 plant setup that was in its 18th year of harvesting, and I have a friend that got busted with a male under a halogen bulb when he was 18 and spent over a year in jail.

Think before you leap, and in my opinion, if you have to ask whether or not you should grow in an apartment, you arent taking thins nearly serious enough. You should KNOW that it is not a good idea, and if you still have to do it, you shouldn't even register an account on this website, THAT is how careful you need to be.

Good luck, dont be stupid
KB

 

[Hammerhead]

If your in a med state and have your card growing in a apt is not an issue. Just be smart about it use a tent and dont try and grow more then allowed.

 

[Barnt]

Went to Chico, CA and rented an apartment with 2 other people. I had my license but let it expire since I didn't need it for the clubs. Landlord was non-existent. All but 1 roommate smoke (had total of 5 different people go through there in the 3 years I was in school). Not a single person knew of my grow in all three years. Be cautious when bringing supplies and disposal of material. I always did this when nobody was home. Never tell ANYONE. Smell control with a good carbon filter is a must. I've never tried ONA blocks but I'm not sure if I would trust them as well. Remember, your nose gets used to the smell after a while. What might not smell to you may smell to others, and people in the know can tell between growing and burning. A stealth cabinet in your closet is a very good idea. I even tucked the extension cord under the carpet so no one would wonder why an extension cord was leading to the closet. When everything was closed up, there was NO way to tell I had a grow.

If you're smart about it, it can be very rewarding with minimal risk. The only risk I feared was that one of my neighbors would start a fire that only burned the place enough for the firemen to discover my grow. And for a while we had tweakers below us so anything could have happened. Good luck!

 

[Abja Roots]

If you're not in a medical state, the risk is way greater than the reward imo. If you're going to do it. Then do it big. For the amount of herb you'll pull. You're better off just buying it off someone, especially if you can have them deliver it to your home. Even if it costs extra, it will not be nearly as expensive as the lawyer/legal fees. If you're not going to be pulling 2-4 lbs and making money to leave the state(which is contrary to the term micro), then my answer is no.

Kalico is right though. I know myself, not you. I literally had no social life, let girls think I had another girl/lived with my parents or uncle/aunt, crashed on friends couches etc.... I also didn't get faded at the bar, do pills, throw parties, make noise at obscene hours or levels, and make new friends. No plumbers, cable repair guys. Nothing and Nobody. If I didn't know you from growing up, you weren't coming over. It was just a closet. However a single plant or clone could get you 5 years mandatory minimum where I lived. Fucked up Shit and not to be trifled with or taken lightly.

My friends used to call me Ghost. If they had someone coming over, I would disappear. That was at their house. I wasn't even trying to get into the position of giving my name or having them like me and actually want to hang out.

A friend had a dresser he had converted. Nobody ever noticed. He only ran it one cycle and then shut it down. He had people sitting right in front of it. Always kept music, tv, and fans on. Maybe a short term one shot grow every so often and just be really good those months.

One felony at a time. That's my motto

 

[Garuda]

Interesting thread, I actually wasn't aware of the absurd penaltys even if it's micro in the US. Here in Germany the greatest threat would be the loss of your drivers license which could happen with anything drug-related. It would cost you a lot of money and time to get it back. The direct consequences of the actual bust would not be that painful, as long as you don't sell.

Greetings,
Garuda.

 

[cannabi]

Interesting thread, I actually wasn't aware of the absurd penaltys even if it's micro in the US. Here in Germany the greatest threat would be the loss of your drivers license which could happen with anything drug-related. It would cost you a lot of money and time to get it back. The direct consequences of the actual bust would not be that painful, as long as you don't sell.

In the US, a one plant bust... hell a possession charge of one gram means you lose your ability to receive state and federal financial aid for college or university. Yep, 4.0 GPA don't matter. You get caught with a seed and you're not going to graduate.

 

[Garuda]

I hope for you that this will change with the ongoing legalization efforts.

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

STUDY THE 4TH AMENDMENT AND THE SEARCH AND SEIZURE LAWS OF YOUR STATE. KNOW THE RENTING LAWS TOO.

ask your self these things.

can your land lord enter with out 24 hours prior notice, and permission?

can it be smelled while in full bloom?

is it over 1000 watts?

does the door to the grown room have less than a dead bolt?

you should answer all of these "No" before you start growing.

Also use mylar around the grow area. it fucks with infra red.

try to confine it to a closet if you can vent the heat out.

always over compensate for smell.

dont keep scales, guns or cash in the house.

get a dog, tazer, and baseball bat.

 

[ak-51]

I have seen several opinions around the forum, not just in this thread, where growing in an apartment is a deal-breaking factor, as in a definite no-go, no matter what. I disagree with this position. Just that one aspect "apartment-grow" is way way too vague to just shoot it down immediately.

Everybody's situations are different and it will ultimately be up to you to decide whether all of the factors that contribute to the total risk involved pass the threshold of reasonable safety and security. Where you grow is just one factor. I would say that there are many factors just as important as where you grow such as whether you live with anybody or not, whether or not you are dealing, how smart or dumb you are, etc.

I have lived in an apartment for over 2 years, during which a maintenance man has been over one time, which was by my request, and I let him in. The landlord has never stopped over. I do not have a shared hallway and the attic is partitioned off so that there is no air exchanged. Now in this case would it be more dangerous to be in this apartment or to be in a home where somebody else resided also? Certainly there are too many variables there to say. Maybe that other somebody is your wife or somebody who is confined to an iron lung. Who knows?

Anyway, the question is too vague. Although there will undoubtedly still be nay-sayers, offering a bit more details on the prospective apartment would help the community better help you.

 

[Kalicokitty]

What kind of person would it take for it to be a near 0% chance, in your opinion?

Just someone who maintains their home, has few guests, tells no one, does not deal, and is capable of keeping odors and grow waste and debris where they belong? Or did you mean something more along the lines of luck?

No, not luck, basically what you described, plus the ability to keep your cool in tight situations.
Your dealing with people skills.
Because sometimes even with the best of precautions, shit still happens.

 

[Japanfreakier]

What kind of person would it take for it to be a near 0% chance, in your opinion?

Just someone who maintains their home, has few guests, tells no one, does not deal, and is capable of keeping odors and grow waste and debris where they belong? Or did you mean something more along the lines of luck?

No guests
No fights
Good neighbor
Pay all bills on time
Keep a steady job
+ good luck

But there is no avoiding bad luck.