Odor control

Hi there everyone. I have been lurking around the forum for a while now learning as much as I can for my first grow. All of the advice and tutorials have greatly increased my confidence that my first grow will be a successful one. Thanks for all that.

Normally I have just searched the forum when I have a question which usually provides a wealth of good answers. I tried searching for an answer to this particular question but was not very successful. Doesn't mean its not out there I just couldn't find one. So here is my question followed by my observations and thoughts.


At what times during the development/growth and harvest/curing phases of cultivation is odor control most necessary?


This is one of my biggest concerns in my upcoming grow, odor control. I of course plan to have carbon filters for the operation to control the smell my question has more to do with when it most necessary. I plan on having separate boxes for veg, flower, and dry/cure. From my research it seems that during the vegetative stage the odor is not very bad and so I was thinking that I could get away without having an odor control system on the veg box since my plan is to grow only a small number of plants (4-8 plants). Of course the flowering phase produces a very strong odor and would require an odor control system. And from my research the dry/cure stage would also need some odor control but it does not smell as bad as the flowering stage and so perhaps just using an air freshener would work rather than a carbon filter or some other intensive system. Any help in this area would be great. Thanks in advance.

it depends on the strain as to how "smelly" things will get... some strains put off very little odor, while some smell like an arm pit...

during flowering will be the MOST important time to have odor control... if you have a seperate flower room just leave the fan on the carbon filter going all the time... you dont REALLY need to be concerned with it even till the 3rd or 4th week of flowering and on, by again some strains will stink sooner than others and more than others...

vegging plants put of very little fragrance so its not much of a concern there... although i have smelled some stinky vegging plants... use your nose to guide you.. or your paranoia... if you can smell it someone else can.. if your really worried about it leave your filter fan going all the time regardless...

Sorry to hijack this thread but I found it to be a concern of mine (not currently). Are there any other options besides a carbon filter, or is that basically the best possible option?

I use carbon filter with success. I also have an ozone generator for "emergencies". I've got respiratory issues, which makes ozone tough to breathe, so I turn it on if I know it stinks and someone un-hip is coming over. The wife knows how to turn it on, as well, in case she needs it, too.

That said, I'm looking into an ionizing fan. I need to do more research on it, though.

Thanks for the input simpsonsampson420, I didn't think about how the plant strain would effect things. But ultimately it is safe to say that the veg stages is less odor and the flower is more odor. What about drying and curing, would it be a good idea to use a filtered space for that too? I am assuming it would be.