How To Grow Without Getting Busted
Since we originally wrote this article back in 2019 there have been many changes to the legal situation with many more states legalizing marijuana and allowing growing so that the need for complete “stealth” has been reduced.
However, we appreciate that this is not available to everyone and even where it is legal you may prefer to keep your growing private for a variety of reasons, including security!
So, are you in a situation where you’d rather people don’t know that you’re growing weed indoors? Maybe you’ve heard of stealth growing? Well, there are still stealth grow boxes and cabinets, to enable growing in private if that is your preference.
Unfortunately, as the need for stealth has declined so have the options, particularly if you want to grow cannabis which requires height if you are going to get the best and most successful results from your efforts. In our search to find cabinets to recommend this was the best offer we could find:
The Why Use a Stealth comes with everything you need except for the seeds and arrives fully assembled. This Grow Box is very stealthy in that it looks like an ordinary cabinet externally. Most people assume it is a storage cabinet. Uses Mars full-spectrum, quantum board LED top lighting, built-in durable odor control fans, and a 4 plant reservoir complete with all that is needed to grow except for the seeds. Handmade in the USA, this highly durable grow box doubles as an art piece as it is made of high-quality Russian wood. This grow box can fit right into your office, kitchen, garage, or even bedroom. It has a sleek design that is smooth to the touch. Fast, free shipping.
(Note: The center beam is only a support beam but this grow box is only a Single Chamber grow box. There is no divider in the middle as it may seem from the pictures)
Lifetime warranty on everything except lights (1-year warranty), free tech support & free plain box shipping included.
The day states started legalizing the use of medical and recreational weed was a day of great joy for weed growers. It gave us a big win, and now in many states you can legally grow a certain number of marijuana plants.
But this benefit isn’t open to everyone, and unless you live in a geographic location where it is legal to grow (like the places we list here in worldwide review), you are still up a creek without a paddle.
And even in states where weed growing is legal, you can certainly expect some pretty restrictive regulations.
Not to mention that some people still aren’t on board with marijuana legalization. Some of us have nosy neighbors who want to dictate how everyone should live. And some growers just don’t want to be tarred with the “stoner” stereotype or they have a job where being pegged as a weed grower could be problematic.
People may even decide to break in and steal your carefully grown stash if you publicize your growing too loudly.
In short, there are many reasons, even discounting local laws and regulations, why growers might prefer to go into stealth marijuana growing mode.
What Will Cause Trouble?
Stealth growing is all about managing and minimizing six main potential giveaways:
- Noise
- Heat
- Odor
- Safety
- Visibility (including light and behavior)
- Utility bills
The best stealth grow cabinets and grow boxes make minimizing most of these factors ultra-simple. They’re all-in-one, done-for-you solutions—everything you need to grow weed indoors discreetly, literally in a box. And what a stealth grow box doesn’t hide, you should be able to deal with through common sense and planning.
What Is Stealth Growing?
Stealth growing is about growing your weed quietly and inconspicuously so that no one else knows you have your own personal stash of plants.
It’s not about being paranoid. It’s just a matter of keeping things under wraps, on the down-low, being careful. Being safe rather than sorry.
It’s also often about making maximum use of limited space. Getting as much yield as you can from the room you have to spare.
You need common sense and of course a little planning. But to really minimize giveaway signs of your grow op you also need the right equipment. Let’s look at those potential giveaways in more detail.
Visibility
The biggest potential giveaway is always going to be visibility. If you’ve got limited space to grow Mary Jane indoors, you don’t want to have big, ugly grow tents sitting around for visitors to see or for passing neighbors to glimpse through your windows.
Equally, you’re going to need to make sure those super-bright LED grow lights aren’t going to give you away. If your upstairs window is constantly lit up like a UFO people are going to talk.
Odor
Flowering cannabis can get pretty pungent, even overwhelming. And it’s not an easy smell to disguise without fans and filters. This brings us on to the next potential problem…
Noise
Fans and filters aren’t exactly silent, at least not the cheaper ones and not if they’re set up badly. Plus your grow lights may also have their own internal cooling fans. Fan noises going 24/7 can easily arouse suspicion.
Heat
Speaking of grow lights, the other way they might give you away is the heat they can generate. If you’ve got an extractor fan running, the hot air it’s pumping out could be a problem. However, grow boxes usually use LED and CFL lights, which run much cooler than other grow lights. And even with HPS lights, good design should keep the heat down.
Safety
Cheap equipment, badly set up equipment, overloaded sockets, and circuits, water spilled in the wrong place… These are all electrical fires waiting to happen. Stealth grow cabinets are designed to keep all these possibilities to a minimum.
Behavior
This is all about common sense and planning. For instance, if you’ve got anything potentially suspicious to dispose of, don’t put it in the trash until trash day. And preferably put it under something local snoops and wildlife aren’t going to want to dig through.
If you’re posting photos of your beautiful freshly trimmed buds online, make sure the metadata has been removed. Even the cops have computers now! And of course, the fewer people you tell about your grow setup the fewer people there are who could let it slip. In fact, that is the first rule of avoiding problems–don’t tell anyone about your grow operations (except MaryJane Farmer, who knows how to scrub data from photos.)
Utility Bills
Generally, the more expensive the growing equipment the higher quality it is. And the higher quality it is the more efficient it should be, which means lower and less suspicious electricity bills.
How Will a Stealth Grow Cabinet Help?
The best stealth grow cabinets and boxes are designed to minimize light, sound, heat, and odor. They’re also designed to be easily hidden or to just not look suspicious in the first place.
All the equipment you’ll need has been put together carefully and correctly, all in one box so that it’s safe, secure, convenient, and runs efficiently. And best of all, everything’s included so that you can start growing immediately.
In fact, our recommended model even makes growing your weed more or less automated. (If that appeals to you of course. After all, we know that for some of you perfecting the process will be at least half of the fun.)
Of course, if you are handy there is another option:
Can I Build My Own Stealth Grow Box?
Absolutely. It’s a popular topic on grower’s forums. You’ll find it’s a popular topic on growers’ forums. And you’ll find all sorts of instructions and designs to follow and customize. It may end up being more expensive than simply purchasing a ready-made box, but if you love DIY that’s maybe not the point.
You will have to buy the hydroponics system, LED light panels, fans, CO2 regulator, and box construction all separately, and these costs can quickly add up. Fortunately, you can find everything you need by clicking on the links above. And of course grow cabinet manufacturers have already tested that all their chosen components work together nicely, so there’s no risk of discovering things aren’t working together the way you’d hoped.
But if you want to have a personalized stealth box, then feel free to check out our other articles on LED grow lamps, ventilation, and hydroponic systems to help you choose your ideal components. It can definitely be a satisfying DIY project.
MaryJane Farmer’s Advice
If you would like some further information and advice regarding grow tents versus grow boxes we recommend you visit Omnihomesideas and read through their article titled Grow Box vs Grow Tent: Which Should You Use You will find a lot of interesting information in this article as well as advice and comparisons between these two alternative options.
Unless you are very handy and love projects, you are really better off buying than building DIY. That’s because, with the rapidly falling prices of LED Grow Lights, which are the major cost factor in grow operations, you can find grow boxes and tents at prices lower than you will pay to build one. In fact, here are some more recommendations for grow tents that might even beat the prices in this review.
Check back here often for reviews of the best products for enjoying marijuana to the maximum. Check out our home page for LED Grow Lights if you’re a grower. If you are new to growing, get our free Beginner’s Guide here. And if you have some great photos of your garden, pop them into the electric post office and send them to me: MaryJane@420Beginner.com.
