Agen36
New Member
Used to have a nice compact grow setup in my study, just three or four auto flowers in 2 gallon pots- plenty of ventilation, ability to heat and cool easily as required. And then I put a lockset on my door to keep out grandkids and unwanted prying eyes. Hmmmmmmm, wasn't a good idea.
I have a nosey daughter who is a single mother and has issues. Because of these "issues" her 12 year-old lives with us. Well, she spotted the lock and had to physically pry while we were out of the house one day. She found the plants and began using their existence to drive a wedge between my wife and I to obtain things she wanted. She threatened to disclose their existence and that was all my wife had to hear. The cannabis and I received marching orders.
Luckily the plants were in late bloom, so I harvested about a week early, dismantled and stored the growing equipment and sanitized the room. Good to go; wife was happy, darling daughter had no ammo, all was quiet on the western front.
Except I wasn't happy. I'd gotten used to visiting my ladies when I sat at my desk to use the computer (frequently). Leaves were inspected daily, changes to the auto's were immediately spotted, feeding/watering was a snap and who doesn't like to watch the formation of exquisite sweet-smelling buds?
After racking my brains for alternative areas for private growth there was only one spot that guaranteed the necessary privacy: under my kitchen.
Our house was built in the 1920's with an outside stairwell to a dirt floor cellar. When we enlarged the kitchen 25 years ago, we built over that stairwell without dismantling it, just built a foundation right around it. The old stairwell exit door was left in place in the basement and simply nailed shut and left to fade from memory.
Hah! Memory served me and when the house was empty the next day I visited that door.
The basement is occasionally wet and cobwebby and dark and this door is in a corner behind boxes and accumulated stuff. I pried out a couple of nails and the door creaked open and there they were; 5 ascending stone slab steps 36"w by 12"d. The wooden beams supporting the kitchen floor clear the top of the last step by about 24". This was going to work!
A couple of days later several feet of chain was appropriately attached to a center beam over the steps, CFL and HID lights for vegging and flowering were hung, 4 solo cups had previouly been filled with Dr. Earth potting soil, lovingly watered and seeds germinated (in my study-easy to hide), a long heavy duty extension cord was surreptitiously run into the area and a multi-outlet safety strip was plugged in. Lights were turned on and four 2 gallon pots were set in place. A small (and silent) tower fan was added.
I cobbled together a stand from plastic milk crates I could stack on the steps (the kind you buy for cheap storage) which gave me support for an old tabletop which yielded a flat surface under the lights. We live in the northeast and being almost winter it gets into the high 40's to low 50's at night in this space under the kitchen so it's a concern for two to three weeks until I switch on the HID's which will then heat the space perfectly. A small (and safe) space heater is being used to warm the area for a few minutes and in concert with the vegging CFL's serves to keep the temp between 65 and 75 degrees.
Lastly I installed a plug-in timer for the lights, gave the ladies a last glance and closed the door and re-stacked the boxes in front of it. I even glued sawed-off nail heads in place. So, several times a week when I need to water or gaze and my wife is at work and the boy is in school (I'm retired on disability), I descend to the dark and gloomy dungeon, move boxes and open the door to the wonderful light from the garden under my kitchen.
The green of the plants, the yellow and soft white of the lights, the rich soil in the pots all stand in stark contrast to aged and weather-worn stone steps, years of dirt and dust, the crumbling concrete of the old casement. It's quite a sight and I do get a kick out of the whole thing. Ironically, when sitting at the kitchen table my chair is directly over this secret garden.
I do hope that there is nothing fetid about basement air, I will be adding co2 when they're old enough-at this point after about a week my babies appear healthy and several inches tall : 1 Lemon Auto 60 Day, 2 Hijack Auto and 1 Kannabia Afrodite Auto.
Looking forward to updating everyone and adding pics.
I have a nosey daughter who is a single mother and has issues. Because of these "issues" her 12 year-old lives with us. Well, she spotted the lock and had to physically pry while we were out of the house one day. She found the plants and began using their existence to drive a wedge between my wife and I to obtain things she wanted. She threatened to disclose their existence and that was all my wife had to hear. The cannabis and I received marching orders.
Luckily the plants were in late bloom, so I harvested about a week early, dismantled and stored the growing equipment and sanitized the room. Good to go; wife was happy, darling daughter had no ammo, all was quiet on the western front.
Except I wasn't happy. I'd gotten used to visiting my ladies when I sat at my desk to use the computer (frequently). Leaves were inspected daily, changes to the auto's were immediately spotted, feeding/watering was a snap and who doesn't like to watch the formation of exquisite sweet-smelling buds?
After racking my brains for alternative areas for private growth there was only one spot that guaranteed the necessary privacy: under my kitchen.
Our house was built in the 1920's with an outside stairwell to a dirt floor cellar. When we enlarged the kitchen 25 years ago, we built over that stairwell without dismantling it, just built a foundation right around it. The old stairwell exit door was left in place in the basement and simply nailed shut and left to fade from memory.
Hah! Memory served me and when the house was empty the next day I visited that door.
The basement is occasionally wet and cobwebby and dark and this door is in a corner behind boxes and accumulated stuff. I pried out a couple of nails and the door creaked open and there they were; 5 ascending stone slab steps 36"w by 12"d. The wooden beams supporting the kitchen floor clear the top of the last step by about 24". This was going to work!
A couple of days later several feet of chain was appropriately attached to a center beam over the steps, CFL and HID lights for vegging and flowering were hung, 4 solo cups had previouly been filled with Dr. Earth potting soil, lovingly watered and seeds germinated (in my study-easy to hide), a long heavy duty extension cord was surreptitiously run into the area and a multi-outlet safety strip was plugged in. Lights were turned on and four 2 gallon pots were set in place. A small (and silent) tower fan was added.
I cobbled together a stand from plastic milk crates I could stack on the steps (the kind you buy for cheap storage) which gave me support for an old tabletop which yielded a flat surface under the lights. We live in the northeast and being almost winter it gets into the high 40's to low 50's at night in this space under the kitchen so it's a concern for two to three weeks until I switch on the HID's which will then heat the space perfectly. A small (and safe) space heater is being used to warm the area for a few minutes and in concert with the vegging CFL's serves to keep the temp between 65 and 75 degrees.
Lastly I installed a plug-in timer for the lights, gave the ladies a last glance and closed the door and re-stacked the boxes in front of it. I even glued sawed-off nail heads in place. So, several times a week when I need to water or gaze and my wife is at work and the boy is in school (I'm retired on disability), I descend to the dark and gloomy dungeon, move boxes and open the door to the wonderful light from the garden under my kitchen.
The green of the plants, the yellow and soft white of the lights, the rich soil in the pots all stand in stark contrast to aged and weather-worn stone steps, years of dirt and dust, the crumbling concrete of the old casement. It's quite a sight and I do get a kick out of the whole thing. Ironically, when sitting at the kitchen table my chair is directly over this secret garden.
I do hope that there is nothing fetid about basement air, I will be adding co2 when they're old enough-at this point after about a week my babies appear healthy and several inches tall : 1 Lemon Auto 60 Day, 2 Hijack Auto and 1 Kannabia Afrodite Auto.
Looking forward to updating everyone and adding pics.
ers all know the positive feelings you get with a nice grow on.
