How To Have A Stress-Free And Successful Outdoor Stealth Grow

Cultivating cannabis indoors is not always the safest or even easiest way to grow. If you can find an undisturbed place where you can spend time caring for your plants in peace and quiet, then this could be more beneficial for you. Disguise, location and planning should require careful consideration if you are going to do this.

CHOOSING YOUR SITE

Location is crucial when it comes to growing cannabis outdoors. If you're growing away from home, not only do you need to make sure you have a good soil and enough sun. You also need to think about how to make your operation as stealthy as possible. On the other hand, you could take the guerrilla approach and grow everywhere! This means that you can help to raise awareness about cannabis just by planting in the most obvious places.

If you want an outdoor grow that you can use for yourself though, it is important to exercise strong precaution about what you are doing, so that you don't get sniffed out by the authorities or any other outside interference.

Choosing to grow in your own garden means it is probably worth building up a good relationship with your neighbours. Don't tell them about all your secret growing tips. Just be friendly with them, try and be sure they like you so that if they do spot what you're up to, they are less likely to take action against you

For growing away from home, you are less likely to have to make friends with anyone. You just need to focus on how you are going to hide what you are doing as well as possible.

SMELL

Cannabis is a strong smell. Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but this is a key factor that plays into a lot of grower's choice of strain. But there are many strains with a much lower stink profile which - if you are sensible, should be considered if you want a successful grow from start to finish.The smell released by cannabis does not necessarily relate exactly to the caliber of your finished product. Try and avoid the muskier categories such as Skunk and Cheese.

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Classic Skunk (Zamnesia Seeds) feminized

(37)

Parents: Skunk

Genetics: 50% Indica / 50% Sativa

Flowering Time: 7-8 weeks

Potency: 17%

CBD: 3%

Flowering Type: Photoperiod

COMPANION PLANTING

Another way you can minimise the issue of smell from your guerrilla grow or garden is to interplant some other smelly plants. An added reason to this - camouflage.

For the Garden:

A mix of garden flowers can provide good disguise, while growing between a trellis filled with tomato plants is a useful idea. Just anything that makes your garden look full with lots of green looking plants to scramble the eye.

For Outside:

Using smelly plants are a great idea for use in the garden as well as outside. Lilac and Lavender provide a strong fragrance in the daytime. Plants such as Honeysuckle or Jasmine provide a strong smell for the evening.

Companion planting can also be a useful tool as a natural and organic pesticide. This can help to optimise your chances of success. To add to this, they could even add some extra flavour to your bud!

STAY HIDDEN

Produce a bushier looking plant that doesn't grow too tall by pruning and topping. This means that you can mask the distinctive shape of your cannabis plant by altering its appearance. Remember that cannabis is generally a naturally tall plant - think about how much space your grow is going to take up and plan accordingly.

You can super crop (high stress train) your plants. Essentially, finding a pliable (easy-to-bend) stem or stems on your plant and damaging their inner tissue by gently applying pressure to the area. This allows you to move the stem in whichever direction you like. Be careful not to break the outside skin or damage the plant too much though, as this can make the area susceptible to mould or disease. You don't want to be fixing your plant up with tape outside - Too obvious!

Plant corns and hops to make cover for your cannabis. Also growing close to where there are already bushes and shrubs should help do the trick. This is probably a wise move for growing in the garden too.

Make sure you are planting your crops well out of the way of the public eye. Maybe this will be somewhere that takes some time and careful footsteps to get to, but it will mean that you are not as easily spotted. This way you can spend more time focusing on the care of your plants.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT STRAIN

Choosing the correct strain is another crucial factor in your outdoor grow. Autoflowers work well because they don't produce too much bud so that if you do get caught, it will only be with a few ounces. Also the fact they don't grow too big and you can grow them in pots means that they are discreet and you can move them around or indoors if needed.

Dutch Passion Frisian Duck

A strain developed for its quiet smell and misshapen leaves. It was originally considered a genetic mutation because of this, but it was kept and developed over a period of years for the same reason. It produces a pine flavour with a mental high similar to that of a sativa.

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Frisian Duck (Dutch Passion) feminized

(32)

Parents: Frisian Dew x DucksFoot

Genetics: Indica-dominant

Flowering Time: 8-9 weeks

Potency: 7%

CBD: Unknown

Flowering Type: Photoperiod

Frisian Duck can grow up to 2m if you don't prune it. With its lush purple buds, it is a strain well suited for climates in northern US and Europe. It tends to grow in the shape of a Christmas tree and produces good yields. This strain is known for being strong and discreet, so it's easy to grow. Although you should be mindful of the upper leaves as they tend to display the typical cannabis shape as they mature.

Dutch Passion Auto Duck

Another strain that is popular for not looking like cannabis because of its bungled leaf structure. She grows with a set of even and sturdy side branches from tail to crown. The open branches tend to become packed with bud, making it ideal for mould resistance. Auto Duck doesn't grow much taller than 70cm and shouldn't require much extra care other than some tomato fertiliser if you feel like it.

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Auto Duck (Dutch Passion) feminized

(22)

Parents: Frisian Duck x Auto White Widow

Genetics: Indica/Sativa

Flowering Time: 11-12 weeks from seed to harvest

Potency: 8%

CBD: Unknown

Flowering Type: Autoflowering

A great outdoor plant with yields of up to 70 grams per plant. Perfect for the smaller gardens or balconies as well as stealth growing.

KEEP QUIET

Finally, try to be as discreet as possible when working on your grow. Especially in countries where cultivation is illegal. It is your own liberties you are risking to do this. Walking around with a joint hanging out of your mouth or any similar dodgy behaviour is going to make you clearly stand out. It's much better to blend in an as much as you can in this situation.

Keep your head down and try not to attract too much attention! This includes keeping quiet about what you are doing. Do not tell anyone, even your closest friends - unless you absolutely have to. Think about how many times someone has been caught because a begrudging ex-lover or friend has grassed on them. No matter how much you trust someone, some things are best kept a secret!

Luke Sumpter

With a BSc (Hons) degree in Clinical Health Sciences and a passion for growing plants, Luke Sumpter has worked as a professional journalist and writer at the intersection of cannabis and science for the past 7 years.

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