Location and Odor

I am a long-time smoker and I have recently lost my only supplier. I have had the same one for a few decades now and the possibility/thought of obtaining a new one is a bit out of the question for me at this time.

After a few weeks of consideration I've come to the decision that I either need to grow some of my own, or quit entirely. Quitting just doesn't sound that great so I am left with the former.

However, I have never grown before and I am naturally, more or less, paranoid as fuck. The only information I have on the topic is second-hand, but this seems like the perfect place to alleviate some of my paranoia and ignorance.

Excuse the long background, but it's my first post here. Now for the questions...

Is there a way to deal with the odor of the growing plants? Having never grown before I am not sure what kind of odor to expect. Friends, however, have told me that there is a very strong odor and it is nearly impossible to cover up. This will definitely present major problems with the family.

I am considering ordering some "auto-feminized?" seeds offline. How secure is this? I am majorly paranoid about this kind of thing and the thought of ordering seeds/growing equipment offline seems like a perfect way to paint myself as a target. Is this a safe way of going about obtaining my first crop?

I apologize if all this can be find in the search function but I am a bit technologically ignorant and have been unable to find the specific answers I've been looking for.

Anyway, thanks in advance for your time and advice. Any additional tips and/or advice would be much appreciated as well.

ONA Blocks or gel work great for smell

or buy or make a carbon filter to filter the air and keep it clean

Sorry, I am not quite sure what ONA blocks/gel are. I will have to look into those.

I have considered using some sort of ionizer (Ionic Breeze, etc.) to deal with the smell, however I am not entirely sure how effective that would be. Or if it would have any negative impact on the plants, for that matter. Any thought on that?

As for the carbon filter, I would have no idea how to go about building one of those. The only thing that comes to mind is the scene in Bio-Dome.

Again, any advice is much appreciated.

I forgot to mention that I am living in the central United States so the laws on this shit around here are pretty tight.

Superjoint420 said:

Sorry, I am not quite sure what ONA blocks/gel are. I will have to look into those.

I have considered using some sort of ionizer (Ionic Breeze, etc.) to deal with the smell, however I am not entirely sure how effective that would be. Or if it would have any negative impact on the plants, for that matter. Any thought on that?

As for the carbon filter, I would have no idea how to go about building one of those. The only thing that comes to mind is the scene in Bio-Dome.

Again, any advice is much appreciated.

I forgot to mention that I am living in the central United States so the laws on this shit around here are pretty tight.

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the the ionizer wont do much at all nither will sprays or little plug ins

ONA Blocks/gel kill any smell completely and get rid of them doesn't mask them and its all organic so it wont hurt anyone or the plants


if you got money to can get a good carbon filter and a fan some venting and just let it cycle the air of the room it will clean it

Uk.Cobra said:

the the ionizer wont do much at all nither will sprays or little plug ins

ONA Blocks/gel kill any smell completely and get rid of them doesn't mask them and its all organic so it wont hurt anyone or the plants


if you got money to can get a good carbon filter and a fan some venting and just let it cycle the air of the room it will clean it

Click to expand...

I took a look at some of the ONA products online, will those completely eliminate the smell of the plant without detriment to it, or do I have to take further considerations when using them?

I read that proper airflow (preferably an oscillating fan running 24/7 in the growing space) is ideal. If am able to maintain an airtight (or close) growing space using the ONA blocks and auto-feminizing seeds what would be my main area of concern then?

Superjoint420 said:

I took a look at some of the ONA products online, will those completely eliminate the smell of the plant without detriment to it, or do I have to take further considerations when using them?

I read that proper airflow (preferably an oscillating fan running 24/7 in the growing space) is ideal. If am able to maintain an airtight (or close) growing space using the ONA blocks and auto-feminizing seeds what would be my main area of concern then?

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i was told this myself once in a thread so im just passing on the knowledge. i dont know why but i was told not to put the ona product inside your cab/ closed space. maybe someone else can fill us in on the whys...

I don't know about the ona.. but where are you planning on setting this up? a closet? bedroom? How many plants do you want to grow? I am growing one autoflower now and the smell is not that strong. you def know it's there but the smell can be easily covered up. I am growing for the same reason as you. it's just easier to grow it myself than deal with finding a new dealer. Plus you get to smoke the goods and not have to worry about what they put in the bag. Anyhow, I will help with any questions I can answer for you.. good luck!

i heartmj said:

I don't know about the ona.. but where are you planning on setting this up? a closet? bedroom? How many plants do you want to grow? I am growing one autoflower now and the smell is not that strong. you def know it's there but the smell can be easily covered up. I am growing for the same reason as you. it's just easier to grow it myself than deal with finding a new dealer. Plus you get to smoke the goods and not have to worry about what they put in the bag. Anyhow, I will help with any questions I can answer for you.. good luck!

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My ideas on the matter have changed pretty rapidly after reading the entire thread of growing ganja in a dorm room by Andreyy. It was an inspiring read for sure.

I am considering building a computer grow case setup or possibly rebuilding my mini-fridge as stealth is really my main concern. If I find that neither of those work I will probably look into building a small case of my own out of some lumber if that's feasible.

I am not planning on a big operation, especially as this will be my first attempt at growing of any kind. I was thinking 2-4 small plants would be a good starting point. Are there any relatively high-quality strains that are newbie-friendly?

There is so much about this that is entirely beyond my reach of comprehension at this point. I have tons of questions but I suppose I can find the answers to most of those by reading around. Regardless, I appreciate anything and everything.

Superjoint420 said:

My ideas on the matter have changed pretty rapidly after reading the entire thread of growing ganja in a dorm room by Andreyy. It was an inspiring read for sure.

I am considering building a computer grow case setup or possibly rebuilding my mini-fridge as stealth is really my main concern. If I find that neither of those work I will probably look into building a small case of my own out of some lumber if that's feasible.

I am not planning on a big operation, especially as this will be my first attempt at growing of any kind. I was thinking 2-4 small plants would be a good starting point. Are there any relatively high-quality strains that are newbie-friendly?

There is so much about this that is entirely beyond my reach of comprehension at this point. I have tons of questions but I suppose I can find the answers to most of those by reading around. Regardless, I appreciate anything and everything.

Click to expand...

Dude, dont get freaked out. No guts no glory... Get yourself a super low odor strain like Northern Lights #5 and get to work. As far as a stealth grow, its cool, but you will not yield much. Find a closet in your house, and grab an hps light,and get some yield. Wish you the best. CG

CLOSETGROWTH said:

Dude, dont get freaked out. No guts no glory... Get yourself a super low odor strain like Northern Lights #5 and get to work. As far as a stealth grow, its cool, but you will not yield much. Find a closet in your house, and grab an hps light,and get some yield. Wish you the best. CG

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Northern Lights #5 sounds like a good starting point from what I've read about the strain. Would that be a good one to grow in a relatively small space if I decide to build something like a stealth computer tower setup?

It seems like the lighting is one of the most important things for growing. Would I be alright using 4-8 CFLs with Y sockets?
I read somewhere that it's like 2700 and 6500 depending on the growing stage.

I have read that I won't get as high of a yield with CFLs compared to HPS. Any idea on how big of a difference there really is?

Another thing you mentioned is yield, which is definitely important to me as I spend about $150 a week on personal smoke (usually about an oz to an oz and a half a week). From what I've been reading it seems like I'd be lucky to get an ounce out of two micro plants. That would be a few months of growing to keep me happy for a week. Not quite an ideal ratio.

What kind of yield could I expect from two smallish northern lights #5 plants after about 60-70 days growth?

(not sure on all the terminology here, forgive my ignorance)

Superjoint420 said:

Northern Lights #5 sounds like a good starting point from what I've read about the strain. Would that be a good one to grow in a relatively small space if I decide to build something like a stealth computer tower setup?

It seems like the lighting is one of the most important things for growing. Would I be alright using 4-8 CFLs with Y sockets?
I read somewhere that it's like 2700 and 6500 depending on the growing stage.

I have read that I won't get as high of a yield with CFLs compared to HPS. Any idea on how big of a difference there really is?

Another thing you mentioned is yield, which is definitely important to me as I spend about $150 a week on personal smoke (usually about an oz to an oz and a half a week). From what I've been reading it seems like I'd be lucky to get an ounce out of two micro plants. That would be a few months of growing to keep me happy for a week. Not quite an ideal ratio.

What kind of yield could I expect from two smallish northern lights #5 plants after about 60-70 days growth?

(not sure on all the terminology here, forgive my ignorance)

Click to expand...

Your yields in a computer case will be minimum...so forget that idea. You need to throw some clothes out of a closet, and get something like either a 250 watt hps, or better yet a 430 watt son agro. With them hid bulbs you can expect something worthwhile. Trust me on this one. I cant give you a yield amount, But.. once you get good at this stuff, you should not have a problem getting ounce per plant if you did things like I suggested. You could easily grow 4 plants under a 430 watt hps lamp, and possibly get over 4 oz's+ every 3 months. If you did your grow in a computer case, you may get a 1/4 oz..

Superjoint420 said:

Northern Lights #5 sounds like a good starting point from what I've read about the strain. Would that be a good one to grow in a relatively small space if I decide to build something like a stealth computer tower setup?

It seems like the lighting is one of the most important things for growing. Would I be alright using 4-8 CFLs with Y sockets?
I read somewhere that it's like 2700 and 6500 depending on the growing stage.

I have read that I won't get as high of a yield with CFLs compared to HPS. Any idea on how big of a difference there really is?

Another thing you mentioned is yield, which is definitely important to me as I spend about $150 a week on personal smoke (usually about an oz to an oz and a half a week). From what I've been reading it seems like I'd be lucky to get an ounce out of two micro plants. That would be a few months of growing to keep me happy for a week. Not quite an ideal ratio.

What kind of yield could I expect from two smallish northern lights #5 plants after about 60-70 days growth?

(not sure on all the terminology here, forgive my ignorance)

Click to expand...

SuperJoint, i was pretty much in the same boat, needed some medicine but no more contacts
so i ordered some nl#5 seeds and did a cfl grow
odor was so low i didn't bother with odor control, not usually recommended, just have quite a bit of privacy
plant pictured was flowered with 78w(3 26w) of cfl's
the trick was i used a tube as a grow chamber, used every lumen off those bulbs for growth

You will also need to consider air flow plants will need fresh air well as removing stale warm air with the humidity. CF lights don’t put off a lot of heat so you wont have a major heat build up to exhaust like with HPS but HPS is going to give you better results faster growing and bigger buds although some people have had great results with CF.


The plants are going to smell even if you get a low odor strain once flowering starts you will smell them unless you already have some funky odors floating around in your house. I have never tried gel sure they work fine. I use a can filter 9000 for my exhaust and I scrub the room with a can 33 filter scrubbing is just recalculating the air in the room thru a filter.

Once I did a grow in a plastic cabinet that I picked up at home improvement center it was 80 bucks about 36” wide 24” deep and 60” tall. It was big enough for 4 plants I installed a 400 watt MH/HPS a can 9000 filter fit above the light I used a Dayton 190 cfm fan to exhaust. At the time I was lucky to be living in a mobile home so it was easy to run the exhaust thru the bottom of the cabinet and I cut a 3” hole in the floor all the air went under the trailer and out, my fresh air came in via vents I cut in the back of the cabinet
I used CPU fans to move air around inside adapted an old phone charger to power the fans.

It worked pretty well still has a heat build up at times but I harvested 4 plants and got about 8 ounces total when dried.

The biggest problem was the noise the fans made so I just kept a radio on in that room when people were around not to draw suspicions to a cabinet that had fans humming inside.

Wish you the best of luck with your grow

Thanks for the advice guys, I think I am starting to gain a better picture of what I am looking for.

I still have a lot of research to do on what to buy exactly and where to buy it, but I suppose my biggest concern at this stage is where to obtain seeds?

I live in the central United States and somehow ordering the seeds online does not seem safe with the laws being the way they are. However, I can't think of any other way to obtain a specific strain like NL#5.

Does anybody have experience ordering seeds online in the United States, or any good sites to recommend? What kind of privacy buffers can I expect from their end?

I would assume that a package sent from XXXXX seeds shop to my front doorstep would be a pretty big red flag.

I suppose I have the option of poring through my collection of random stems and seeds but I don't think the quality would be very impressive. I don't expect a miracle for my first grow but I would like to know what I'm growing.

Again, thanks for the help.

Superjoint420 said:

Thanks for the advice guys, I think I am starting to gain a better picture of what I am looking for.

I still have a lot of research to do on what to buy exactly and where to buy it, but I suppose my biggest concern at this stage is where to obtain seeds?

I live in the central United States and somehow ordering the seeds online does not seem safe with the laws being the way they are. However, I can't think of any other way to obtain a specific strain like NL#5.

Does anybody have experience ordering seeds online in the United States, or any good sites to recommend? What kind of privacy buffers can I expect from their end?

I would assume that a package sent from XXXXX seeds shop to my front doorstep would be a pretty big red flag.

I suppose I have the option of poring through my collection of random stems and seeds but I don't think the quality would be very impressive. I don't expect a miracle for my first grow but I would like to know what I'm growing.

Again, thanks for the help.

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Here's a good place to get the Northern Lights #5 >>> http://www.highgrade-seeds.com/ Very discreet, and great communication. Best of luck!!!

growone said:

SuperJoint, i was pretty much in the same boat, needed some medicine but no more contacts
so i ordered some nl#5 seeds and did a cfl grow
odor was so low i didn't bother with odor control, not usually recommended, just have quite a bit of privacy
plant pictured was flowered with 78w(3 26w) of cfl's
the trick was i used a tube as a grow chamber, used every lumen off those bulbs for growth

Click to expand...

You've done an excellant job!! Kudo's! +rep.. Your making me want my seeds so bad!!! (just ordered about a week ago)

ordering seeds for the 1st time is a bit scary
reality is ordering seeds is far the safest part of the deal
actual growing is the real risk
there don't seem to be too many seedbanks that have nl#5
i got mine from highgrade-seeds.com, small breeder in canada
start reading over in the seed/strain form, lots of good advice there

if i were you, a person spending 600/month on herb already...i would go and buy a small inline fan, 400w HPS, and do DWC with 1-2 plants. you can yield a pound every 3 months of high quality bud. it will cost around $1500 for the equipments and the electricity for 3 months. your bill will go up around $100/month with a single light. everything will end up paying for itself after the 1st harvest

DWC= Deep Water Culture. google it, search it here. you can make a VERY nice bucket for 80 including the air pump. Also google Lucas Formula. works like a champ and is as simple as it gets.

j wizzle said:

if i were you, a person spending 600/month on herb already...i would go and buy a small inline fan, 400w HPS, and do DWC with 1-2 plants. you can yield a pound every 3 months of high quality bud. it will cost around $1500 for the equipments and the electricity for 3 months. your bill will go up around $100/month with a single light. everything will end up paying for itself after the 1st harvest

DWC= Deep Water Culture. google it, search it here. you can make a VERY nice bucket for 80 including the air pump. Also google Lucas Formula. works like a champ and is as simple as it gets.

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x2 Great post!!!

SuperJoint you said you wanted to try autos.. they are small and discreet. Check mine out in my sig.. the plant is only about 14 inches tall. Forget that pc grow box. use a closet or build one yourself. Send me a message and I'll tell you where I got my seeds from for the first time. I was a paranoid wreck but it has passed. Now I'm a week away from harvest. Good luck.