Apartment Growers

[dj digigrow]

I have pest control at my place about every 3 months and I tell them every time I don't want the spraying anything inside my place. They just come in and check a sticky pad beside the fridge and change the air filters for the a/c and then leave.

Just keep your odor control in check and a lock on the door where the plants are. I've also realized that having a scrubber sitting in a room running isn't as effective at removing the odor as having the plants in a tent and exhausting the tent through the carbon filter. Since I got a tent there is no, I mean 0 smell, even in that room.

I built a diy carbon filter where the carbon is only 1/2" thick and it works great, and I can replace the carbon in 30 min when it stops working. It only cost my around $10 to change the carbon.

I should only be there for the 1 year and I only plan on doing 1 grow and moving into a rental house
I was thinking of using the ol' "I have kids and i dont want them exposed to chemicals and all"...I do have kids but they wont ever be there.. I have a brand new 8"scrubber so im sure smell shouldn't be a problem..
Hey sam how are you cooling? I have a 24k window a/c but im not tryin to run that in the room I cant have it out of the window either, I was thinking of just closing all the vents in the spot except for in the flower room and running the apt. a/c, but with a tent i guess ill just need an intake as well as that scrubber exhaust!?
Thanks Sam...
BTW, I will be renting a 3bed 2bath Apt. for $599 a month!..

 

[Sam the Caveman]

thats a dirt cheap apartment, wow. Is it in a bad part of town?

About cooling, I have a window unit hanging in the window. If you aren't allowed to have one, get a portable unit with 2 hoses, or you can make an intake hose and seal it to the intake on the unit. Portable a/c's only have a slot that goes in the window with a hole in it, so there is no unit hanging in the window, just a little plastic sleeve with 1 or 2 4" holes in it.

You might could get away with using the apartment a/c. If your running a 400w, it will work and maybe with a 600 if you shut the vents a little on the other rooms. I'm running a 1kw and a 400w, so I need more a/c than the apartment unit.

 

[dj digigrow]

Ive never heard anything good about portables , plus cant spend the extra $ right now , hence the cheap apt.(not in the hood, but it is income restricted though).
I like the sleeve Idea from the apt. vent to the top of the tent...
btw Ill be running 2k Flower and 800 Veg. lol.. so im going to have to see what the temps will be. I have a 24k btu window a/c but again, i cant have a window a/c.

 

[Sam the Caveman]

You can modify your window a/c with 6" ducts. Just make a manifold for the vents around the window a/c and attach a 6" duct to it and then make a manifold for the rear of the a/c with a 6" duct attached to it. Then get a 6" inline fan moving air in the right direction across the radiator. To find out the right direction, turn it on and see which way the fan blows the air. If you don't have an inline fan also, you won't get any airflow across the coils.

You need to make sure you can run all that stuff at the same time. That window unit you have will probably draw around 1700 watts, so it wouldn't suprise me if it requires 230v. That much power would max out a 15 amp circuit and it wouldn't be safe.

What room is the breaker box in?
Does it have room for another breaker?
Can a wire be ran from the breaker box to the grow room?

If you can run a new 230v line to the grow room, you can run your 2 1kw lights and the a/c on it, then run the 2 400's on the normal circuit.

 

[dj digigrow]

dont know all the details of the apt. I doubt I can mess with the panel in any way..these are pretty cookie cutter apt.'s its a big complex 160 units...
yea my ac is 240v... plus all that extra venting and another inline,, too much..
Im still looking, its fustrating tryin to find a spot...

 

[Sam the Caveman]

Or you could use the dryer outlet for your 230v line.

You could use a 10k to 12k btu a/c with success, and they can be found on craigslist for ~$50.

Stanley blower fans can be turned into a good cheap inline blower fan and they are only about ~$45.

If you want to make the window look normal, you could open the window all the way and lower the blinds, then tape a big piece of 3/4" styrafoam board to seal off the window and then put a 6" duct fitting on it. That will be your intake for your a/c coils. Then go in the attic and disconnect the duct, and seal it off, that enters that room from the ceiling and use that as your a/c exhaust.

To turn the stanley fan into an inline fan, there will be some mods that need to be done. Silicone a 6" duct flange on the intake side. Tape off the intake vents on the other side below the plug-ins. Then take it apart and drill some symetrical holes with a paddle bit through the center wall of the squirrel cage. To get a 6" flex duct to fit on the exhaust port of the fan, you will need to remove the metal support wire in the duct to where you have about 6-8" of duct length without that wire. At this point, it should fit perfectly over the rectangular exhaust port on the fan, and just duct tape it in place. All these mods will take about 1.5 hrs or so. Or you could just spend the extra $45 and get a 6" inline fan.

 

[dj digigrow]

Thanks Sam:.....

 

[Bobby Stainless]

Just so everyone is clear, at a apartment complex, a Property Manager can enter whenever they want. Period.

If you change the locks, that is almost always a breach of the lease, and a dead giveaway.

Anything more than a closet grow, is sure to get busted.

 

[Each1Teach1]

Okay. So here's my apartment grow. Before this room I lived in inner city San Diego. I could play catch with the center fielder in petco park if I wanted. High up apartment ( 16th floor). Had all my shit legit too. The only person that knew I grew was my girl. 1 1000wt setup with 4 plants under it. Came home one day and was immediately put into handcuffs. Fucking water heater leaked into the apartment below and when the landlord came in he called he pigs with no hesitation. I'm legal and still spent 4 days in the clanker. If your gonna do an apartment grow, make sure your room can be taken down within minutes. Carbon filter is a must!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Odor will put you behind bars if your neighbors can recognize the difference between skunks and the funky skunky shit. Know what I mean. DON'T TELL ANYONE ABOUT YOUR GARDEN. Not even your loud mouth best friend who brags about how his buddy grow the bomb deezy.

I used pvc pipe with panda film in this apartment. I can collapse and be gone within 5 minutes ( and unfortunately have done it) if I wanted. Good luck with your apartment grows ladies and gentlemen. And the best advice I can give for growing in an apartment that you rent while trying not to get caught is... DON'T DO IT.

Before
View attachment 106547

After
View attachment 106548

 

[Sam the Caveman]

each1teach1 - did you have a carbon filter running? and why did they have to go in that room, was the hot water heater in there?

I don't think its appropriate to say "growing in apartements = busted", because the circumstances are different in every apartment.

 

[dj digigrow]

The only time management can enter without notice is an emergency, other than that they need to give you 24hr notice, I've seen this in writing myself!

 

[Bobby Stainless]

If a manager believes there is illegal activity happening, they can enter w/o any notice.

or If they feel the property is in any danger of damage, for example a leak.

"Oh sorry we heard running water, and turns out it was the fans in your grow op, meet officer so&so."

I am in property management, but if you don't believe me, no skin off my back.

Just think about the consequences. The owner/property manager enters your apartment "illegally/with out notice", the Manager MIGHT get a slap on the wrist, but you are still in jail.

Apartments are not good places to grow, go rent a house from a owner who is preferably out of state and uses a management company.

 

[dj digigrow]

If a manager believes there is illegal activity happening, they can enter w/o any notice.

or If they feel the property is in any danger of damage, for example a leak.

"Oh sorry we heard running water, and turns out it was the fans in your grow op, meet officer so&so."

I am in property management, but if you don't believe me, no skin off my back.

Just think about the consequences. The owner/property manager enters your apartment "illegally/with out notice", the Manager MIGHT get a slap on the wrist, but you are still in jail.

Apartments are not good places to grow, go rent a house from a owner who is preferably out of state and uses a management company.

You are 100% correct my friend.. Only thing holding me back is $$, and i shouldnt compromise anything due to lack of funds.., just have to plan B it for now(Outdoor) till I get up enough money to do it correctly..
Thanks again to all who commented

 

[HeriMarry]

I always demand a 48 hour notice on all activity ,excluding emergencies .

 

[dragging hooks]

I have a landlord who has tons of properties and I never see him
I use a spare bedroom with a wooden frame to support the lights
and a closet for clones, veg

I can break the whole thing down and have it out of here in about a hour
My last landlord refinanced his rental and the assessor had to enter to take photos
So I know I can break it down in one hour

We never give the landlord any reason to visit.
I have the greenest well trimmed lawn on the block
rent is paid early and the room I use has no fuse box or piping in it
walk into our house and all you smell is Pine Sol from the daily floor mopping - hahaha

Nothing get distributed from home and all garbage goes to a dumpster
The people who get the product have no idea of my address
I only deal with people I have known 20+ years

All laundry is done at a laundromat to keep the power usage low
Lights are off during the day in case the meter reader takes a reading

The only thing I haven't done is cut off all my hair and put a Bush/Chaney sticker on my car hahaha

 

[Dry_paint]

There was a lot of good info in this part. Thanx

 

[Neuronaut]

If growing in an apartment I suggest having the grow in a locked bedroom, preferably one without a bathroom attached to it. Plumbing fucks up in bathrooms and that could compromise security. If the grow is behind a locked bedroom door then it won't be seen by the apartment manager even if they show up unannounced. If they come up with some reason that they need to see in the room simply state that your roomate is out of town and he keeps it locked because he had some shit stolen once when he was gone. Also, I would have wireless motion activated webcams so I know if anyone enters my apartment without my permission..

 

[Bobby Stainless]

A lot of apartments do yearly inspections, where they give residents probably a week notice.

The excuse is to assess budgetary needs for the next year's budget. There is no way out of these things.

Always have odor control on lock. If there is any suspicion of illegal activity, the 24 hour notice is out the window.

If a complex pays for your water, a good manager will notice a spike in use.

Just some things to think about.

 

[nickman]

id be way too nervous to grow in an apartment... thats just me though...

 

[señorsloth]

mines going great, i have been following this thread since i started looking at appartments, and i now have the first ounce in the jar, another drying, and 7 or 8 more in the wardrobe. i am VERY happy i made the jump, it's been about 4 years since i last grew indoors and i think i did very well for myself.

however, it's not for everyone, i do deal with quite a bit of paranoia, not for any real reason, but my mind would be a loooooot more serene if i just took this harvest, put it into jars and then did another in a year or so, but there are so many more strains i need for my collection!

i stuck with the usual polite hellos and whatnot's, untill i happened to be playing disc golf with a large group of people, one of whom happened to be my neighbor! i found out after we had smoked a bowl or two together, he had been living there a long time and suffice to say i got quite a bit of intel off him! asking questions like, how often do the managers come by? do i have to hide by pipes everyday in case some maintenance guy waltzes in or what? apparently for my situation its just a once a year thing, and that's the only time he ever hears from him, knowing he was a smoker ahead of time i had the benefit of being able to ask more probing questions without letting on that i'm a grower, just a paranoid pothead. not to mention, since then, i have smelled weed many times, on all three floors, so i'm pretty sure there are a lot of smokers in my building. i feel at the least this offers me some buffer with my 190 cfm carbon scrubber setup and hepa filter running full time in the room that i smoke in, with an open jug of ona gell by the exhaust and one of those 8 min timed air freshener sprayers...

for me, i'm thinking, when the inspection comes along i'm going to seal the cab up 100% with caulk, so that no smells can get out while they are there, as well as pulling all the cords inside the wardrobe. i run my lights off at 7am to 7 pm, so that if anybody were to walk in there would be no light or fan or anything, and also when the inspection does come i can get everything packed away an hour before the dark period and then fix it all up again at 7pm, with the plants and my landlord not knowing the wiser...