How to grow marijuana indoor safely without being detected?

1. KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT

We get it, growing your own cannabis plants is exciting. But too many growers make the mistake of telling everyone they know about their new plants.

Trust us, the key to not getting caught is running a stealthy operation. Forget your ego and keep your grow operation to yourself.

2. DON’T ANNOY ANYONE

Not telling anyone seems like a simple task, but it is a sad fact that many people get caught simply because they like to talk about growing marijuana. (Tip: If you must talk about it, join an online forum and share anonymously.) Keeping your mouth shut isn’t easy, especially when you’re enthusiastic and proud of your progress.
If you tell one person, then you’ve practically told all their friends, too. Before too long, everyone knows you’re growing weed. Then, all it takes is for someone who doesn’t like you to call the police and snitch on you. Even your good friends can become your enemies. It’s better to keep your weed growing hobby to yourself. Save your pride for after the harvest.

Keeping quiet also means literally keeping quiet when you’re growing indoors. The sounds of a grow room building project can bring nosy neighbors to your door. Fans are typically a major culprit, so try and soundproof your grow room or use quiet fans if possible. Avoid putting the fans on the floor since it will create some vibrations and noise. It’s better to hang them using rubber rings.

Since blowing the warm air out of the room also makes some noise, minimize it by using an insulated hose.

Even your power usage can indicate potentially questionable behavior. Use low-energy lights to keep your power company from getting concerned or construct a soundproof gas generator using a ventilated dog house, spray foam insulation and an ultra-quiet 3500-watt generator in your garage. It’s definitely a project, but if you are successful, your indoor grow is way less likely to be discovered by the authorities or your neighbors.

3.Sound

Don't let anyone hear your grow!When buying any kind of electrical device, look up reviews on the product to make sure it runs quietly. A low-quality exhaust fan or air pump will cause people to be suspicious since they make lots of noise and typically run all day and night.

Exhaust fans and air pumps of especially low quality can raise even more suspicion by vibrating. This can make your grow noticeable through multiple walls!

Tips for quiet operation

Use stealthy devices known to be quiet – it often helps to get quality equipment

Don’t get a fan that’s way too powerful for your space, as bigger fans are noisier

Install your exhaust fan inside your tent instead of outside, and try to hang it as opposed to letting it sit on something. Hanging your fan from the inside of my tent (which you can easily do with rope ratchets, large zip ties or even bungee cord) will reduce the amount of fan noise greatly.

Keep the path for ducting as straight and short as possible. Extra bends and length will increase noise because of the air moving through the ducting, as well as because it makes your fan work harder.

Use insulated ducting to help keep sounds inside

Make sure your cool air intake hole is big enough. Your intake hole(s) where you get air should be near the bottom of the grow space and in total about 4x as big as the exhaust hole. If the fan is having trouble getting enough air it will run louder (and it’s hard on the fan)

Use something that reduces sound around the outside of the fan, like egg crate material or foam. If there is foam between the fan and the place where it’s mounted it will help reduce vibration. Some people will also use an insulated box around the exhaust fan.

Be aware of where the noise is going. Keep fans away from shared walls, the entrance of the room, near windows where sound projects, etc

4.Sight

To the outside world, it should appear as if you’re doing everything as normal. As paranoid as it sounds, you should assume that anyone who sees you doing growing related activity will know what it is and report you.

• Move any growing equipment at night so you’re less likely to be seen. It’s also a really good idea to cover any growing equipment you’re transporting, for example in black trash bags. This way, no one can see exactly what it is you’re moving!
• Be careful about what you throw in your trash. On the rare occasion that I do throw cannabis trash (like stems) in a trash can, I usually cover it in food trash or kitty litter so no one will want to go through it. Also, throwing away your cannabis-related trash on the day trash is picked up means there is minimal time for a snooping person to find your secret garbage.
• Make sure nothing stands out**.** Pick a couple days to walk around your house at a few different times of the day to see if anything stands out as suspicious. Example of something suspicious: Super bright yellow light (HPS) coming from a window at 11:00pm. Learn how to make a stealthy exhaust system.
• Be a good neighbor! A lot of people think of cannabis growers as criminals. When you continue to act like the intelligent, well-mannered, amicable person you are, your neighbors naturally become less suspicious!
• Don’t look like a stereotypical stoner! There’s nothing wrong with wearing Rastafarian colors or pro-cannabis clothing, and it’s your right to dress and act as you wish. Just remember that police, nosy neighbors, and marijuana haters are more likely to ‘judge a book by its cover’ and harass a person based on their clothing…regardless of how unfair that is.

5.STAY SAFE

Another simple way to get caught is by causing a fire or some other kind of safety hazard. Remember, cannabis grow equipment can malfunction. And when it does, the consequences can be serious.

To avoid the chances of a grow mishap, always work with professional equipment and do your best to do regular upkeep and maintenance on things like your extractors, filters, fans, and lights.

Only purchase quality equipment. Quality parts mean fewer failures, which means fewer fires started. Fire is bad!

Keep water and other liquids below waist level and electrical equipment above waist level. Even if this isn’t always possible, it will help to accomplish the real goal: keeping water and electrical devices separated.

Clean up all spilled water. Having a few towels or a roll of paper towels handy makes this a breeze.

Don’t overload your circuits. If you live in an older house, you probably don’t want two 1000w HPS grow lights and high powered exhaust fans running from one room unless you know how much your circuits can take. Sticking only to what you actually need will help you in this department. For example: for indoor growing that’s strictly for personal use, a single 600w HPS grow light can keep most people in constant over-abundance all year, every year.

6. STAY INSULATED!

Everyone can pinpoint the smell of weed, regardless of how innocent they might seem. Hence, make sure you contain the smell of your plants as much as possible by keeping your grow space well insulated.

When insulating, make sure you think about insulating the sights and sounds of your grow space as well. There’s no better way to arouse suspicion than to have your grow lights running all night and letting the light leak out a window onto your neighbour’s property.

7. STAY HIDDEN

Most of the tips we've covered concern indoor growers. However, this goes goes for outdoor growers as well:

When growing outdoors, make sure you keep your plants hidden. Don’t be surprised to get a visit from the police if you’re growing a 2 metre sativa on your balcony.

If you’re limited to growing outdoors, make sure you do so in a private space that can't be seen from elsewhere.