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how noticeable is a backyard grow?

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rubenr4g

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Nov 14, 2011
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im in a medical state and i want to plant a single autoflower in my backyard. can it be done stealth? or is the odor and appearance to obvious. ive never grown before
 
It is going to depend on a number of factors, like how large your backyard is, how easily the neighbours can see into it and what your backyard looks like (particularly if it is more of a garden or just an open space).

The smell off one plant should be minimal, especially off an auto I would think, auto's should also stay pretty small so that works in your favour. You can train the plant to make it look less like a traditional cannabis plant as well.

You say you live in a Med State, assuming you have your card I would just do it, the cost of growing one autoflower outside in soil will be next to nothing, if your legal then the worst that can really happen is some kids hop your back fence one night and tear it out the ground, obviously that would suck, but for a small plant that cost you almost nothing and required little work, it wouldn't be the end of the world.
 
It can be very noticeable if you make it so
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Usually nobody will say shit. But this one time kids jumped my fence and then came in my house and took almost everything of value cause they were looking for my stash. Which they also took. So the probability is low but it could happen
 
Sorry the plants in that pic are not autoflowering so you are unlikely to be that noticeable but it only takes one person to see it. Most people are not interested or actively encourage it as does one of my neighbours.
 
justsayknow said:
It can be very noticeable if you make it so
picture.php


Usually nobody will say shit. But this one time kids jumped my fence and then came in my house and took almost everything of value cause they were looking for my stash. Which they also took. So the probability is low but it could happen
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Did you find out who stole the stuff?
 
Somebody will find out, unless you have a huge property with no nearby neighbors. But if you live in a medical state just make sure you do it within the law and you're fine--1 plant for 1 person is nothing.
 
you can grow bushier lower plants but the smell is a dead give away to anyone who would be looking for it. Not hard to pinpoint a smell with enough time, and it is something people talk about.

depending on how much you are growing the smell can travel for blocks if it catches the right wind.

If you live in the city expect everyone around you to be able to smell it. If that matters to you, don't do it.
 
Outdoor smell is really not as much of an issue as indoors, although please don't get me wrong, it can potentially present a problem if the strain and/or phenotype is particularly smelly because some plants can be smelled quite a distance away even outside. It's a risk, although I must admit I used to live in a flat with two gardens either side next to my own. The only thing separating the two gardens either side was a 6 inch tall barrier and the whole entrance to the garden was completely open and communal, so there was zero privacy from all the neighbours, not just the two next to me. I, being the risk taker I was at the time put up a greenhouse and hid a couple of plants inside with tomato plants, chilli plants, pepper plants and stevia plants etc. lol. I used that special greenhouse paint that lets light through but prevents people from being able to see inside and I put a lock on the door to prevent people getting it, although that wasn't needed nor would it really prevent the determined although it gave a minor layer of security against people that are simply curious to see what's inside a greenhouse with light obscuring paint. It wasn't particularly visible but in retrospect a lock on a greenhouse is a bit silly because you may as well put up a sign on the greenhouse saying 'look here, valuable tools inside!'. I managed to grow them out and harvest them successfully though, but I cringe looking back at it now, it was so stupid!

In the beginning when it was May and the nights were cold I put a fan heater inside (connected to a TC-10 thermostat controller set at 16°C to prevent frost killing seedlings) and ran the power cable from an indoor socket over the shed area (the 'shed' was built into the flat and was part of the building) and into the greenhouse. Early one morning I remember hearing the grumpy old asshole living one one side talking to the elderly neighbour above him and him asking her what it was and why I was running power into the greenhouse. I came out nonchalantly and that probably prevented him from actually going in and looking inside. He seemed to lose interest after that and didn't go in after that one time. After that I was careful about running out conspicuous cables outdoors like that evening in the morning at a time when most people would be asleep. The thing that really helped me was growing just two plants amongst a sea of other plants like tomatoes since you can't make the distinctive leaf shape out unless you go in, stand there and look really carefully. Tomatoes can be preserved so it's always a good idea to grow them yourself anyway, especially when you can grow beautiful looking and tasting heirloom varieties. I really would advise you to avoid growing in your own garden unless it is private and you have some way of hiding the plants but if you do, grow other smelly plants to try and mask the smell and crowd other plants around the cannabis so it's more difficult to make out by people casually looking at your garden if they get in a position to be doing that for whatever reason.
 
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I know @justsayknow's pic was intended as a joke, but seriously, an autoflower strain is going to be pretty small, nothing like that photo. Top the plant a couple times and LST (low stress train) it to keep it low to the ground if you want. Also, when selecting a strain, you can pick one intended to keep odor to a minimum. The folks at the growweedeasy blog have good info on stealth and strain selection. As long as you've got other shrubbery and a fenced yard, the odds are in your favor.

The truth is, though, that growing weed does incur certain risks. In your case--given a legal state--those risks are low. But they're still there.

I guess that leads me to one question: not sure what the laws are in your state, but in a place like CA it's awfully easy to get a card. If risk is an issue, would it be better just to buy from a dispensary? More expensive and less control over the plants. But it certainly would reduce the risk.
 
^ I didn't post that photo nor did I say that autos are not small mate.

But since you raise the issue, good breeding has produced much larger autos - 'super autos' aka 'amazonian autos' which are sativa dominant strains bred with autoflowering strains to carry the autoflowering trait across into the plants, producing longer flowering plants with much larger size and yield. Seriously, you should see some of them grown in the right conditions, they get huge for an auto! Not as large as the plant in the pic posted by justsaynkow obviously, but still big for an auto.
 
Also the guy in that picture stole nothing and harmed no one but he's doing hard time also. Most likely not an issue for the OP but for those of us in less lenient jurisdictions it is always something to bear in mind.
 
i said fuck it and im doing it...only one neighbor can see them really and thats because hes above me. im going to set up a lot of different plants and hope this makes it hard to find my one or two plants among them..i think ill be fine. just going to have to make sure i lock my windows and all that...the way my apartment is set up, u would have to avoid the eyes of 6 different apartments and jump through my front neighbors backyard to get to mine...i honestly think my biggest concern is my neighbors calling cops or helping themselves to my bud...thanks for the advice fam
 
Yeah blend them in amongst a heap of other plants and keep the whole lot green and bushy. I've never grown autos before but they sound like just the ticket for keeping things small and manageable. Should be fairly quick too right? That's got to reduce the risk a bit.
 
justsayknow said:
Yeah blend them in amongst a heap of other plants and keep the whole lot green and bushy. I've never grown autos before but they sound like just the ticket for keeping things small and manageable. Should be fairly quick too right? That's got to reduce the risk a bit.
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no youre right, the short 3 months needed will reduce that risk as well..can anyone give me advice on soil? so many suggestions have me confused. perlite coco, native soil, pre made bagged. im lost on thew soil..think i got the rest of the process down though
 
I used Canna Terra mix which is a brand of prebagged soil for Cannabis. For a 3 month grow it would be ok. Not practical for a 6 month summer grow though too expensive and too much required. It has coco, perlite and worm castings in it and some organic additives.

If you have ok soil and a bit of time before planting season where you are just prepare a piece of ground and put it straight in there.
Composting and soil preparation works better if you do it a few months in advance. Last time I used animal manure, worm castings, compost, straw and live worms and left it for 3 months in the intended spot. The results were much better than the prebagged stuff. The pots run out of root space and the nutrients get depleted. Its not a problem if you are happy to continually apply liquid nutes though.
 
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