The Cannabis Grow Bible. Greg Green

If you have the advantage of living out-of-town and have a garden in which this kind of stuff can be constructed, you could also grow plants inside a brick cubicle with sheets of glass on top. This is much like a very small greenhouse without the glass sides and can be camouflaged to look like a small shed. The problem with enclosed outdoor grows like this is that light only really gets to the canopy of the plants and very little bud is produced under this canopy. The advantage is that this setup does not look like a greenhouse or anything that is housing plants. If you want to use a greenhouse instead, then it is suggested that you paint the sides of the greenhouse white to prevent anyone from looking in. The white will also help reflect the sunlight that enters in above through the glass around the grow area, promoting growth on lower leaves and bud areas.

      Whatever method you choose: hide your crop well. Not everyone can easily spot marijuana, but someone who is trained to watch out for the plant will know it right away for what it is.

Guerrilla Farming

      Guerrilla growing is hard work and often prone to rip-offs. By planting in a forest or in someone else’s field or property, you are not in any danger of being caught with the plants on your property. However, the person’s property you plant on is put at risk. Be a good grower and do not plant on someone else’s private property. It is not nice and reflects badly on the cannabis-growing community. Find a public area, such as a forest or a hill slope. Look for an area that is away from the public eye, but will receive plenty of light. There are lots of places for this sort of thing, but spend time finding the right spot. Finding a good patch is the key to successful guerrilla growing. A patch near a river is ideal because it offers ready access to water and can help your crop survive a short drought.

      A garden, an unused patch, a high enough wall and Paradise Seeds’ Sensi Star: the end result will be the proof that this space went to very good use. Photo Paradise Seeds

      It’s never a good idea to camp right next to your grow.

      Most guerrilla farmers prefer to keep it simple and favor the following method. They start their seedlings in small plastic pots indoors. When the seedlings have developed, and the plants are ready to enter the vegetative growth stage of the life cycle, the grower cuts the bottoms of the pots away and tapes a small piece of cardboard to the bottom of each pot. The plants, in their pots, are then taken to the grow patch where the grower digs holes in the ground, removes the cardboard and places the pots and plants in the earth. Then the holes are filled in with soil. This way the grower has germinated the plants and only needs to worry about secondary factors such as light, security, and pests. The roots will find their way out of the bottom of the pots and into the soil below. Don’t worry about the roots not finding a way out of the pot. They always do, that’s their job.

Security

      Growing plants in with others reduces the conspicuousness of cannabis.

      The old saying, “Never tell anybody that you grow cannabis,” is extremely difficult to commit to and seems extraordinary for growers to employ. The truth is that there are many ways you can be discovered without saying a word. Keeping your mouth closed about growing reduces the probability of raising security issues. There are many reasons why a growing operation will reveal itself, from obtaining equipment, to obtaining seeds or clones, to actually growing smelly plants. However it is true that loose lips cause 99.9 percent of all security-related issues. The remaining 0.1 percent of security breaches are due to poor preparation and growers neglecting to take the time to conceal the area well enough. If you intend to share your crop with friends do it by other means.

      This outdoor cola is as long as a human arm and still has more to grow. Outdoor bud can get very big.

      Security is always an issue, whether you are an outdoor or indoor grower. We have learned that to secure your grow area you must prepare yourself for any future eventuality. Pre-production security arrangements are very important. A sudden peak in your electricity bill may attract unwanted attention from certain authorities that look for these things. This may seem odd to you, but it does occur.¹

      It is now common practice in most countries that support cannabis prohibition to set up special task forces to track down growers. The most frequently used technique is tracking purchasing orders. Many agencies keep tabs on grow shops and the items being sold to customers. Tracking requires special court orders, but law enforcement agencies can obtain these with ease. If someone has been identified as buying suspicious grow products, the agency will also try to find out what other items have been bought using the same credit card or other accounts. Many growers have been caught this way. The best way to avoid this trap is to always pay with cash.^{23 4 5 6 7 8 9}

      Seed banks are also sometimes tracked by agencies that watch for incoming mail with certain stamps and envelope headers. Sometimes it isn’t the agency that does the tracking but people in the post office. To get around this, most seed banks don’t head their mail anymore. If your seed bank does, it is best to keep away from that seed bank in the future.

      If you have done the right thing, then you should have all your growing tools and kits bought using cash and your seeds purchased from a seed bank that offers good seeds and a safe, secure way of sending you their product. Many seed banks use great stealth to get you your seeds. It is advised that you never have seeds sent directly to your grow area.

Indoor Security

      When growing indoors, try to consider certain short-term security factors, like visits from service people. Some growers have a grow room that can be swept clean in under a minute. They have a closet nearby where they can quickly move their plants if visitors do drop by.

      Always keep your security closet near your grow area. It’s no good walking around your house with five or more plants in your arms. It’s a bad idea to use a bathroom as a backup security area unless you have another one that guests can use.

      Another thing you must consider with indoor security is odor. Now Super Skunk and Skunk #1 are very smelly plants, especially during flowering, hence the name Skunk. If you live in an apartment complex, there’s no way you’ll be able to hide the smell unless you have some form of extraction fan or an ozone generator.

      Even growing in a cage can break up the image of an obvious outdoor cannabis plant. Boards can be placed around it and the top left open when the plant grows tall enough.

      In some indoor setups, fans can be used to extract unwanted smells away from corridors and high-traffic areas. Air can be pumped through a window or filter to another area where the smell will not be noticed. Not only that, but plants love fresh air and wind, so the fan can do two things at once for you. An ozone generator is a device that helps to get rid of cannabis odor problems and can be purchased from most grow shops.

      Fire