I really need help getting started indoors

Hey All,

I'm a veteran, I use cannabis for treating various conditions I have. It helps me so much that I want to grow it. I have one big issue, I have no where to grow it indoors.
I have a 2 year old at home and I don't want my home smelling like Cannabis.
The only room that makes sense is my Furnace room but unfortunately in the same room there is my air exchanger and my oil furnace that could suck up air from the room(minimally).
I am aware that there are carbon filters and so forth, I could get one for inside the tent and one for outside - I'm not going to drill holes in my house to vent outside as that will be a huge pain.

The only other area I can think of is my detached garage but its like -10c in there in the winter sometimes and I really don't want to build an entire room and insulate it and heat it, thats a lot of unnecessary stress and anxiety for me, I have a hard time doing basic chores around the house lol.

I know the smell of cannabis itself shouldn't harm anyone, but I still don't want the entire house smelling like weed when I have guests over and etc.

Before I go out and spend a small fortune on equipment, I'd like to know if its indeed possible to eliminate most of the smells and grow successfully in said room?

Thanks everyone.

happyhippy420 said:

f its indeed possible to eliminate most of the smells and grow successfully in said room

Click to expand...

Yes, absolutely, with properly sized carbon filtering. If odor is the primary concern, oversize the capability of the equipment, to allow them to at run at lower speeds.

happyhippy420 said:

... Before I go out and spend a small fortune on equipment, I'd like to know if its indeed possible to eliminate most of the smells and grow successfully in said room? ...

Click to expand...

That most definitely works.

I have had my tent right beside the furnace and directly under the air exchange unit in our service area since Day 1 and have harvested 5 successful crops with a 6th about to be chopped within the next week to 10 days. Never found a problem with excessive heat in that service area when the furnace is running. The carbon filter removes all of that bud stink - but a little does waft out when the tent is opened. ( Let's be real ... that's just what good and frosty pot does ... ) Once the tent is closed up again, no stink.

My intake vent does draw air from the larger and cooler basement area. Fortunately, I am able to leave the door between the two areas open so that new air is always available. The exhaust fans and circulation fans run 24/7 to keep drawing in good air and circulating it through the tent.

I have reaped double digit oz. yields from a 2 x 4 in all 5 grows. I will wager that it will be another double digit oz. yield when this crop comes due.

StareCase said:

That most definitely works.

I have had my tent right beside the furnace and directly under the air exchange unit in our service area since Day 1 and have harvested 5 successful crops with a 6th about to be chopped within the next week to 10 days. Never found a problem with excessive heat in that service area when the furnace is running. The carbon filter removes all of that bud stink - but a little does waft out when the tent is opened. ( Let's be real ... that's just what good and frosty pot does ... ) Once the tent is closed up again, no stink.

My intake vent does draw air from the larger and cooler basement area. Fortunately, I am able to leave the door between the two areas open so that new air is always available. The exhaust fans and circulation fans run 24/7 to keep drawing in good air and circulating it through the tent.

I have reaped double digit oz. yields from a 2 x 4 in all 5 grows. I will wager that it will be another double digit oz. yield when this crop comes due.

Click to expand...

Would love to see your setup if you don't mind sharing!

Thanks for the info!

I've had non-smokers in my house 2 weeks before harvest and they had no clue there was a grow going. It was a giant 8 plant 10ftx10ft jungle in my tent. A big enough carbon filter on your exhaust and you wont be able to smell anything at all.

I also run my grow in my basement where my furnace and biggest air intake in the house is. The air exchange is actually great, don't have to vent out a window or pull in fresh air from outside.

Yeah, I grow in a basement near a furnace also. With filters in place, there is no smell with the tent closed. When you have to chop and dry is when you will be challenged. But if you get a big enough filter/fan to set up a room scrubber and run it only when trimming, it works ok.

A plus is the ambient co2 in the basement is 100 ppm higher than outdoors. That's a big boost.

On the down side humidity is 30% in the winter and 70% in the summer. I run a dehumidier for the whole room so I can at least knock the peak down. The tent is always humid even in winter so I don't need anything in there; just vent it with a humidity controller on the fan.

Oh, and a space heater in the tent helps. Ambient in the winter with lights off drops to the 50's.

Go for it!

Thank you all for your help, I believe all of you when you say that the carbon filters definitely help, I am going to start buying things to get started.

Where would a good place to ask for recommendations on gear? Can I ask in this thread or should I make a new one?

Are you in a legal place? I found a lot of good deals local because CO. Including a $200 can filter I got for $40.
You only need one filter. If you size your fan and filter to your space properly, you'll create negative pressure inside your tent and no smell will leak out. You can set it up inside or outside the tent. I have my exhaust fan on top of my filter outside the tent. it sucks air out through insulated ducting and blows it through the filter. Some people will tell you that you must put the filter inside and suck air through the filter and blowing it through wont work, but that just isn't true.
What size is your tent?

fragileassassin said:

Are you in a legal place? I found a lot of good deals local because CO. Including a $200 can filter I got for $40.
You only need one filter. If you size your fan and filter to your space properly, you'll create negative pressure inside your tent and no smell will leak out. You can set it up inside or outside the tent. I have my exhaust fan on top of my filter outside the tent. it sucks air out through insulated ducting and blows it through the filter. Some people will tell you that you must put the filter inside and suck air through the filter and blowing it through wont work, but that just isn't true.
What size is your tent?

Click to expand...

Hey fragileassassin,

I am in Canada so yes completely legal, all I can find are the vivosun carbon filters.
I have room for a 3'x4' but I guess they don't really make them so I guess I have to use a 2'x4'? Was hoping on growing 4 plants but 2x4 seems a little cramped.
Almost ordered 2x 240w quantum boards from china(kingbrite) but I don't really want to burn my house down with unlicensed lights so I'm trying to find a CSA approved light lol, any recommendations?
also thinking 4 pot autopot system?
I was thinking mars-hydro for the tent.
I was thinking AC Infinity T4 but shouldn't I oversize and get a T6?

I love your setup, you did a great job!

Thanks buddy.

Autopots are a very fast way to kill your crop.... I'm sure they work when run properly, but if you are just getting started go soil. The problems with autopots or flood and drain systems are that problems come on fast and hit hard. You have little time to react. With soil, you have more warning, and more time to react.

At least until you understand the basics, stick with soil.

Just a thought.

greg nr said:

Autopots are a very fast way to kill your crop.... I'm sure they work when run properly, but if you are just getting started go soil. The problems with autopots or flood and drain systems are that problems come on fast and hit hard. You have little time to react. With soil, you have more warning, and more time to react.

At least until you understand the basics, stick with soil.

Just a thought.

Click to expand...

Great recommendation!
What is the standard for soil and fertilizer? I heard Remo fertilizer is great?

happyhippy420 said:

Great recommendation!
What is the standard for soil and fertilizer? I heard Remo fertilizer is great?

Click to expand...

I use Sunshine Mix #4, which is primarily peat as opposed to dirt (so I pH a little bit lower, around 5.8 instead of 6.5), and I use General Hydroponics three-part nutrients.

I pay $35-$38 CDN for a 60lb, 107L brick of the medium (I'm in BC's central interior). I mix my nutrients in 20 gallon drums with spigots at the bottom (one for veg and one for flower), so I don't have to mix every time I feed.

spek9 said:

I use Sunshine Mix #4, which is primarily peat as opposed to dirt (so I pH a little bit lower, around 5.8 instead of 6.5), and I use General Hydroponics three-part nutrients.

I pay $35-$38 CDN for a 60lb, 107L brick of the medium (I'm in BC's central interior). I mix my nutrients in 20 gallon drums with spigots at the bottom (one for veg and one for flower), so I don't have to mix every time I feed.

Click to expand...

Sorry, what do you mean by 107L of medium? When you mix your nutrients in such a big container do you have to mix it often and does it 'expire'?

Seems neat whatever you have set up there, and hello from the other coast (Maritimes)

I mix up my own soil using a kit from build-a-soil. It's a super soil like mix, but can be hot, so you need healthy plants before introducing it.

Any of the big brand soils will work well. Fox Farm Ocean Forest can be a little hot (some will argue), but you can mix it with another brand to cut it a little. It's a good idea to add perlite to any soil that doesn't have it for drainage.

Any nutrient line will work. Just don't over do it. Some say to cut the label recipe to 25% of what they call for and see how that works. The labels are ok, but they assume perfect plant health, co2, and a 1000 watt light.

For seedlings, I start them in a soil less mix of jiffy starter mix and perlite using solo cups. I then transplant after a couple to three weeks. You won't know sex until about 5-6 weeks, so I usually go to a 1-2 gallon bag until I know.

Whatever you use, make sure you add silica and cal-mag in early veg. Switch out the cal-mag for a sulpher mag mix in flower.

You can spend a week in the forums reading nutrient war posts..... Because of the soil I use, I rarely use nutes, so I have no dog in those fights. It will keep my plants going well into flower. But I have fox farm, remo, and even some mega-crop nutrients kicking around from when I though I needed them. They all worked.

Cheap tents work well, just check the reviews. You don't need a tent you can do pullups in. Lights can be anything from hid to led. For hid, you need up to 50w/sq foot. for led, it's closer to 30-35. Just don't get one of those cheap leds off of amazon or ebay. They aren't what they appear.

Get yourself a pH and an EC meter. They will help mixing nutes and plain water.

The most expensive thing I bought was light. After that, the tent, then fans/filters and misc "stuff".

For pest control, get some of those yellow sticky boards and hang them in your tent. Also get a jewelers loop to look for mites and other pests, and it will also help to let you know when it's time to harvest. For chemicals, get some spinasad, it's a biologic that is pretty safe to use on plants and a good place to start for general ipm.

You can spend literally any amount. People have successful grows using what they have lying around or can be scavenged. Others spend thousands.

Somewhere in here are some posts on the most common mistakes new growers make. Very good reads........

happyhippy420 said:

Sorry, what do you mean by 107L of medium? When you mix your nutrients in such a big container do you have to mix it often and does it 'expire'?

Click to expand...

1) I mean that the brick of medium is 107 litres, or 3.78 cubic feet.

2) Once I mix the nutrient solution, I give it a quick stir just before using it (I fill one gallon/four litre containers to feed). I check the pH every couple of feeds to ensure nothing has happened, but once mixed, I've never had the need to re-pH, it's just a sanity confirmation. I've never had any issues with the mixture sitting at all, even for a couple of months. The 20 gallon drums are sealed, and when I go to pour, I just unscrew a cap at the top to relieve the vacuum.

Idk what options you have in canada, but I found a lot of good local deals on the facebook marketplace and places like craigslist.
You can still get a pretty decent yield out of a 2x4. You could do 2 bigger or 4 a little smaller imo. I just went for the cheapest tents I could find on amazon and am happy with them. I did see some 3x3 and 4x4 options on amazon.ca

I would personally go for a 6" filter and an adjustable fan. The vivosun kits are ok, a carbon filter is more or less a carbon filter as long as its big enough, but make sure you buy the service plan if you get a vivosun fan.
I recently purchased the 8" version of this terrabloom fan for my veg tent and got the 4 year protection on it.
Its nice and quiet and pushes good air. I am happy with the purchase.

A single 150w HPS would likely do fine if you can manage its heat.
I use china boards from meijiu for flower and T5 florescent fixtures for the rest of it.
HLG is a good option if you like the boards but want something not from china. Their V1 boards are cheap right now.

Sounds like these guys can get you in the right direction as far as the soil and pots. I am a hydro grower and havent done anything with soil so I cant help much there.

fragileassassin said:

Idk what options you have in canada, but I found a lot of good local deals on the facebook marketplace and places like craigslist.
You can still get a pretty decent yield out of a 2x4. You could do 2 bigger or 4 a little smaller imo. I just went for the cheapest tents I could find on amazon and am happy with them. I did see some 3x3 and 4x4 options on amazon.ca

I would personally go for a 6" filter and an adjustable fan. The vivosun kits are ok, a carbon filter is more or less a carbon filter as long as its big enough, but make sure you buy the service plan if you get a vivosun fan.
I recently purchased the 8" version of this terrabloom fan for my veg tent and got the 4 year protection on it.
Its nice and quiet and pushes good air. I am happy with the purchase.

6" Inline Fan - 395 CFM Exhaust Duct Fan, Built-In Speed Controller, ETL Listed, Pre-Wired 6 FT Grounded Cord - Great Use In Grow Tent With Carbon Filters, Light Fixtures, Intake. Fits 6 Inch Ducts., Building Supplies - Amazon Canada

6" Inline Fan - 395 CFM Exhaust Duct Fan, Built-In Speed Controller, ETL Listed, Pre-Wired 6 FT Grounded Cord - Great Use In Grow Tent With Carbon Filters, Light Fixtures, Intake. Fits 6 Inch Ducts. in Building Supplies.

www.amazon.ca

A single 150w HPS would likely do fine if you can manage its heat.
I use china boards from meijiu for flower and T5 florescent fixtures for the rest of it.
HLG is a good option if you like the boards but want something not from china. Their V1 boards are cheap right now.

QB Kits

All kits feature full-spectrum, high efficiency white light Quantum Board®. Choose R spec options for our latest module powered by Samsung LM301B and Deep Red LED 660nm.

horticulturelightinggroup.com

Sounds like these guys can get you in the right direction as far as the soil and pots. I am a hydro grower and havent done anything with soil so I cant help much there.

Click to expand...

I'm using the hlg v1 boards and have zero complaints.

happyhippy420 said:

... I have room for a 3'x4' but I guess they don't really make them so I guess I have to use a 2'x4'? Was hoping on growing 4 plants but 2x4 seems a little cramped ...

Click to expand...

I use a 2 x 4 and 4 plants would be a bit crowded - if you wanted to grow some monster girls. 4 is fine if you can keep 'em smaller. I SCROG 2 plants each in a 2 x 2 footprint and, with blurples during flower, can pull about 12 oz. per harvest.

happyhippy420 said:

Hey All,

I'm a veteran, I use cannabis for treating various conditions I have. It helps me so much that I want to grow it. I have one big issue, I have no where to grow it indoors.
I have a 2 year old at home and I don't want my home smelling like Cannabis.
The only room that makes sense is my Furnace room but unfortunately in the same room there is my air exchanger and my oil furnace that could suck up air from the room(minimally).
I am aware that there are carbon filters and so forth, I could get one for inside the tent and one for outside - I'm not going to drill holes in my house to vent outside as that will be a huge pain.

The only other area I can think of is my detached garage but its like -10c in there in the winter sometimes and I really don't want to build an entire room and insulate it and heat it, thats a lot of unnecessary stress and anxiety for me, I have a hard time doing basic chores around the house lol.

I know the smell of cannabis itself shouldn't harm anyone, but I still don't want the entire house smelling like weed when I have guests over and etc.

Before I go out and spend a small fortune on equipment, I'd like to know if its indeed possible to eliminate most of the smells and grow successfully in said room?

Thanks everyone.

Click to expand...

Go to growweedeasy, click on Tutorials, then How to grow Marijuana in ten steps, then complete beginners guide. It will separate the wheat from the chaff and cut the BS. Then come back here to fine tune. Veteran also and sure helped me.