Paranoia: Buying a lot at hydro store

bongrippinbob said:

I have been using credit cards, my own car, and ordering online for years with no problems. The hydro shop guys don't care what you are growing. Even if you are pissing yourself buying the stuff, they just want to make their money. As long as you don't say, hey I need this to grow weed, they could care less if you spend a million dollars.

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My personal experience exactly.

khulozz said:

The nearest hydroponics store is 30 miles away so naturally I want to get my shit in as few trips as possible.

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The closest hydro shop to me is 180 miles and i spend some cash whenever i go as to not have to drive three hours each way, ive never been messed with not even asked what are you growing. i guess since i do live 180 miles away no cops are following me home but i have herd of pples tags getting looked up, when i lived in the city we just road the train and that solved that problem most hydro shops ive been to are also organic gardening supply joints so you could just be buyin a ho, the one i go to is also a brewing supply joint. i guess they see you walk out with a few bags get in your car and drive off thats not illegal have a SAFE person drive you in their car and don't go streight home after

bongrippinbob said:

I have been using credit cards, my own car, and ordering online for years with no problems. The hydro shop guys don't care what you are growing. Even if you are pissing yourself buying the stuff, they just want to make their money. As long as you don't say, hey I need this to grow weed, they could care less if you spend a million dollars.

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oh i didn't see this but yea its just like a head shop, for tobbacoo use only if you say anything in referance to weed they kick your ass out some you cant even say bong.

No one answered your question about the TDS meter so here goes...

Are you growing Hydro? That's when you need a TDS meter. As with anything you can do without it but it's a vital tool in maintaining your hydro system properly.

If you are growing soil you don't need a TDS meter. You don't care what the total dissolved solids are in your water. Unless of course you have really hard water but that's another discussion.

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I can also vouch for HTGSupply. I've bought two lights from them and have been very happy with the speed and service. I never got anything "extra" though except a lighter the first time but the second light I ordered I didn't even get the stupid vinyl window sticker! And I really need the damn lighter then too... bastards.

You are pretty safe either way, gardening indoors is not a crime.

I can empathize, though. I was trembling so bad I had to get rocked before I could go in. But like everyone else has said, if you are spending money in their store, they could really care less...

As for buying online, keep this in mind: The PATRIOT Act. How shitty is this thing? You really should be aware that you can be monitored legally now without a warrant. There are a ton of loopholes and your "Constitutional Rights" are not as cut and dry as you think. Not that you are a big time grower that is on some DEA list... But the government does have robots scanning the internet for keywords. For those of you with a gmail account, did you know that google scans your emails for keywords for relevant advertising info? It's true look it up.

I prefer to shop locally and pay with cash. If you are paranoid park at a friend's house and have them drive you.

-Solo-Man-

Kludge said:

No one answered your question about the TDS meter so here goes...

Are you growing Hydro? That's when you need a TDS meter. As with anything you can do without it but it's a vital tool in maintaining your hydro system properly.

If you are growing soil you don't need a TDS meter. You don't care what the total dissolved solids are in your water. Unless of course you have really hard water but that's another discussion.

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This is completly untrue. You need a TDS meter no matter what you are growing in. Yes you can get away with out one like you said, but just because you grow in soil doesn't mean you don't need a meter.

Don't you want to know how many PPMs of nutes you are feeding your plants? You don't want to just start mixing nutes and not know how strong they are. For instance, the BotaniCare line of nutes I use, at half strength, comes out to about 1400ppm. If I didn't know that, I may have mixed a batch at full strength and ended up with my PPMs up at 2800 which would burn the hell out of my plants.

Or lets say I mixed my nutes at 1/4 strength to be on the safe side, this would still be at 700ppm which would burn my clones. But this amount may not be enough for your flowering plants.

A meter is a good thing to have if you are growing in soil or hydro. Although its not needed so to speak, it really helps out. A helmet is not needed to play football, but its a good idea to wear one.

Oh and you can get a cheap meter on ebay for like $25. Even if it only goes up to 999ppms, you can just mix equal parts plain water and nute mixture and test that. THen just double what ever the number is to find your ppms.

i wouldnt be paranoid at all the guy at my local hydro shop actually told me all the shit that was good for growin weed who knows the guy at the hydro shop ur goin to might actually be able to help you but dont just go up to him and say hey im trying to grow some weed what would you recomend lol

Fuck what they think and use cash. I fucked up and used a card and ill be paranoid for the rest of my life because of it.
o yeah, park around the corner.

khulozz said:

The nearest hydroponics store is 30 miles away so naturally I want to get my shit in as few trips as possible. I'm a bit paranoid so what do people think of going into the store once and buying a shitload of stuff, I'm thinking like a few hundred dollars worth? And it's pretty obvious in this case why I'm buying it. I'll probably be getting this stuff.

foxfarm big bloom nutes
foxfarm grow big nutes
foxfarm tiger bloom nutes
foxfarm ocean forest soil

ph up formula
ph down formula
rockwool cubes
cloning gel

possibly a 250 watt hps
fan timer
water meter

And finally, some way to measure pH and possibly tds or ppm. To go with this, is it absolutely necessary to have a tds meter of some kind even if I just plan on following the foxfarm feeding schedule at low doses, and adjusting concentrations based on how well the plants are doing?

If I must have some way to measure ppm, what meter do you all recommend?

So is it risky to buy this much shit at once? I'm thinking it should be safe since a cop probably won't follow me 30 miles back home. And I'll pay cash. Just looking for some peace of mind I guess.

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Because if you park around the corner the cops can't see where you walk to with arm fulls of stuff? I think that if you are trying to be all sly about things, and start acting all shady, if by chance the place is being watched, you'd be the first person they'd follow. Not the guy who is acting like he is doing nothing wrong. Which he isn't because buying garden supplies is not illegal.

Don't trip about your credit card usage. Shopping there is not probable cause to get a warrant, search your house, or what ever. Calm down, the cops have bigger things to worry about than you going and spending $100 at the hydro shop. Shit, the cops don't know how much a bottle of nutes cost, you could walk out with $500 worth of stuff in one bag without a problem. I watched a guy drive off in his truck with 22 bags of ocean forest soil and a bunch of giant tubs of nutes. No bed cover or anything. Just cruising around with all that stuff.

If you are not selling weed, your neighbors don't hate you, and you can't smell it growing outside your house, why would they have any reason to believe you are growing weed? There is nothing for them to go on and thats just what a judge would say when they went to get a warrant.

Try making 7-8 trips back and fourth in a fully loaded car LOL.

Im in good relations with the shop owners now because of my purchases. They have told me now to save all my boxes so I could return anything if I needed. Not ferts but other things. So I could either upgrade or downgrade until everything is just right.

I would think you are generally safe but cops do watch shops, just because they cant get you when you are leaving doesnt mean they cant follow you or take your license plate, and no cops dont have anything better to do. Just make sure you dont have any weed or grow books or high times or anything like that in your car, because they can pull you over for a minor driving infraction and then want to search your car, try and say no and youll be waiting for a k9 unit to show up. Just stop by depot and pick up a tomato plant or two before you head to the shop.

Mate best bet is if you want to play it safe buy off the net then when you get your set up put some veggies in it like tomatos and take a pic, if cops come to your house do say anything or let them in! and if they say they saw you buying stuff from a hydro store say you have no comment but you have a pic of the veggies your growing... Just an idea

If the cops show up at your house because they said they saw you go to a hydro shop, tell them to bite your ass and slam the door in their face.

Just because you have pot in the car, a high times or whatever, and grow supplies, does not mean you are growing pot. This is still not probable cause to search your home. I have beef in freezer, there is grass in my yard, and I have a butcher's knife. Does this mean I am raising cattle? I doubt it.

LOL.

Well put.

-Solo-Man-

"Just because you have pot in the car, a high times or whatever, and grow supplies, does not mean you are growing pot. This is still not probable cause to search your home. I have beef in freezer, there is grass in my yard, and I have a butcher's knife. Does this mean I am raising cattle? I doubt it."


I like that! LOL

~Outlaw~

Well I just got back. spent about $250. I was definitely over-paranoid.

I'm psyched cause I got most all the bells and whistles now. No more Scotts shit and Miracle grow.

There is no reason to be paranoid. I can assure you that no patrol officer is sitting on a hydro shop waiting for you to go in and buy stuff so they can follow you around. Second, narcotics officers are not sitting on hydro shops looking for customers. Trust me on this. They are out to catch big fish...They have not the time or resources to sit on hydro shops and decide if a buyer is a large enough dealer or user to consider busting. You can carry a bong in your car, as long as there is no residue on it, there is no probable cause to search. Water pipes as they are called are not illegal. Residue is however. Leave your dope at home, dont smoke before going to the hydro store, buy on your credit cards all you want...You have no idea what a pain in the ass it is to get a search warrant for records of sales or transactions from a store owner. It is nearly impossible...No judge wants the responsibility if the warrant was for what a cop thought was a drug dealer based on his purchases and they kicked the door only to discover the guy grew vegetables. Best advice..grow your own and dont sell it...

I got my set up at wal-mart it was pretty funny cause i had one of those big florecent shop lights 5 of the clamp lights a cart full of energy efficent bubls two bags of soil fertilzer, pots, fans and these things they call growing lights which i mounted on my wall and some random as dude walks up to me and hands me this different bottle of fertilizer and takes the miracle grow i bought and says this works betting i have been in the bussiness and long time. I kept the shit in my trunk till like midnight when it was dark then brought it up to my apartment and no one has ever said shit to me