Apartment Growing

If you're like me and live in a major city...There's a good chance you live and grow your bud inside an apt.

Apartment growers face the same issues as any other grower. Space, temps, venting, light leaks etc. It just seems like all those things are magnified when growing inside an apt. When you grow in a house you may be able to skimp on some things....like odor control if you don't have neighbors nearby. Or, for venting you could cut a hole in a wall or door and vent your grow....problem solved. Those things could either land you in the pokey....or have you looking at paying your apt. owners a bunch of money for property destruction.

So, I put this thread up to see how many growers other than me grow in their apt. And to see what kinds of problems you faced and had to figure out to complete your grow. Maybe a new person may see and avoid a problem before it becomes one. I wish I had something to look at on the subject before I started doing my thing.

Anyway...if this is you....drop a line.

i'm in an apt... but it's my first grow.... very curious to see this thread continue!! very great topic!

change your locks.. freaking maintnece men have keys to your place.. and the pest control guy does as well. and hes here everymonth doesnt even knock anymore.. there i am doing my girl on the couch and in walks the freaking orkin man.. im like wtf as i reach for the gun..

lmao...caught by the orkin man

In my case I had a few things to overcome. I grow in my closet so heat buildup was a major problem. Like I said...can't cut hole anywhere to vent.

So...I bought 2 more fans...cheap but blows very strong and strategically placed them. I had to open the closet door to let the fans vent the air.

The open door became a problem because of light leaking outta the bedroom window. So...I cuffed my gf's favorite blanket and hung it as a window curtain. That helped a lot.

Then I went outside to see the window from the outside. I noticed an apt. Security light that sits next to the window. But the security light never comes on. So...I asked my apt. Mangr to replace the bulb...they did. Lo and behold they must use an hps type bulb because its lighting is the same as my 400w hps. That was great because now the glow looks like its coming from the security light and not my growroom.

Just a couple obstacles I had to overcome. More await me I'm sure. This is my 1st grow as well....so I keep on the lookout.

As far as the orkin/maintenance man....that's why my pitbull is there. They hesitate to even knock on the door knowing my dog is in there waiting. And I also put a padlock on the bedroom door. My gf doesn't even have a key. But she does know about the grow. I'm attempting to give her some plausible denyability. Lol

I'm part of this club. As other's, heat and ventilation is a small problem. I use CFLs to cu down on the heat. I changed the lock on the bedroom door, and I leave the closet door cracked to ventilate a bit. With the oscillating fans, it's not too bad.

Odor is a bit of a problem, but the smell doesn't seem to leave the apt, and I don't mind it.

Other than security issues, I haven't really had any other problems.

I think the key to not having a lot of problems in an apt is to keep the op small and try to use CFLs.

I have to deal with all of this, being a closet grower too. Here's a few pictures of my setup.

The box.



The plants (week one of flowering)

does your apt run on electric/oil heat(the vents with no noticable box emmiting heat) or is it a hot water heating setup (thats the long white boxalong the floors)? my apt has hot water heat because we dont pay for water/heat but they do routine maintenance on our boilers and have had them out of commision for the last half week. that is the only major concern i ever had in an apt. other than heating/venting, there are cheap used arcitectural/used building supply stores where you can purchase another door and closet doors if you feel like hacking em up for vent/heat! good luck with your grow guerilla apt growers! respect

i to am part of this fuckin lame club..like the rest heat ventaltion an securtiy is a problem...1000wattmh...5x4 7 feet tall...the worst is havin to break that basterad down when shit breaks down in apt an i need them to come up...also i grow about 50 plants ina sog system..so problem get amped up...o the best part is i sleep in the same room as the box..an lemme tell you i want my plants cool so i got vents blowin the hot air in to my room..the ac is conected to the box in there...an where i live the summer temps hit 110 almost everyday...so its fuckin hot in my bedroom..not so much in the grow room..lol..

Interesting.. i was planning on movin out of my parents house into an apartment but havent decided yet. I may try and rig up my own setup to overcome all of these problems before I do tho.. the oder would be my biggest concedrn as I can controll the rest.. as for heating thats easy but cooling could get tricky and the exmited heat could be a dead givaway somethign is in there.. Thanks everyone for the input.. ill consider all of this when I decide to move out.

skamindustries said:

does your apt run on electric/oil heat(the vents with no noticable box emmiting heat) or is it a hot water heating setup (thats the long white boxalong the floors)? my apt has hot water heat because we dont pay for water/heat but they do routine maintenance on our boilers and have had them out of commision for the last half week. that is the only major concern i ever had in an apt. other than heating/venting, there are cheap used arcitectural/used building supply stores where you can purchase another door and closet doors if you feel like hacking em up for vent/heat! good luck with your grow guerilla apt growers! respect

Click to expand...

My apt has central air/heat.

Something that a new apt grower should definitely consider is using cfls for as long as you can....if not the entire grow. I say this only because of the heat issues. If I had it to do all over again Id try a complete cfl grow 1st. If the results were good...I woulda stuck with that Im sure. But....I wanted to go big boy style and get the HPS. I dont regret it at all because the plants are loving it. But I had to do alot of figuring out to use the HPS.

Another reason I think cfl would be better for me is....my grow space isnt that large (see pix in gallery). So the HPS Im using is almost overkill for the few plants I have. I figure if youre gonna use a powerful light....get the most out of it. I could grow up to 25 plants with my 400w light. But my grow space is limited to maybe 5-10 potted plants. But I think I'll be ok now that I built the DWC bubbler. With 6 pots in it...I could fit another of the same size and still another @ half size...thats 15 plants.

Anyway...glad to see some replies. I'll continue to add on tho this as my grow progresses and I face new issues. Much appreciated, everyone....

JethroTull said:

I have to deal with all of this, being a closet grower too. Here's a few pictures of my setup.

The box.

The plants (week one of flowering)

Click to expand...

i have to say this is pure genius. =) im sure its been done before. but this is the first ive seen it.. hope you dont mind im going to recreate your set up =)

thanx for some inspration. us apt growers need every bit of steath we can get.

the storage container ideal is PURE GENUS!!

hps all the way for flower nothing even comes close 400 for 25 plants????????
1000 good for about 15 max

3 years ago i did a grow in a closet i built with 32 plants hadda use 2 1000 and it was in a apt during the summer so i just airconditioned them like i'm doing now

i have to say this is pure genius.

Click to expand...

Agreed. I might do that in my next apartment. Before I was thinking of getting an old dresser or armoir and putting it in the closet, but that would just be weird and probably more expensive.

Currently I just have all of my stuff in my closet. The great thing is that the maintanance guys are only allowed to come into our living room unannounced. To get into the bedrooms they need our permission. They also announce about 2 weeks beforehand when they do inspections, and inspections are only to make sure that you don't have pets.

It's also good to have roommates who don't give a fuck that you grow weed.

Thanks for the compliments guys. I have more pictures (in fact, a whole construction and grow-log), but it's awaiting "moderator approval" in the Grow-Log sub-forum.

Here's a few others from the process.


Carbon Filter.

Here's some pictures from today.



Here's the label on the box if anyone's interested in finding them at their local home depot.

420101 said:

hps all the way for flower nothing even comes close 400 for 25 plants????????
1000 good for about 15 max

Click to expand...

Those #'s are based on a few things I read...and video I saw too I think.

Either way....that was beside my point. The point was if youre not gonna utilize all the light an HPS gives....maybe a cfl grow would be better.