Newbie, soon to be a Pro

[Monkey Bone]

Hey Guys,

I am Monkey Bone, completely new to growing any sort of vegetable. I do not use Cannabis but I would like to try it out after I grow some for myself. The reason I am here is because I'd like to grow since I am very curious about it and I love challenges. I have never even grown a tomato. So this growing thing is all new to me. But I'd like to get my hands dirty(in a good way ).

Its been only 2 days or so since I have started reading about Cannabis. So there's a lot to learn. I would like to grasp as much as I can before I start setting up a grow tent. If any pro is reading this, then please free to share your first time experience and any mistakes you've made in the process.

I have a question as well. I have read it a lot that heat signature is not a problem if an individual is growing for himself. Is that true? I will be growing indoors, in an apartment, in a grow tent, with 600W grow lights. How many plants shall I be growing the first time to make is easy on me and also to minimize the heat signature? For a future large scale setup, I have a quick question as well. I know we can't buy Anti-Thermal IR coating Paint locally but can we actually import it from another country? What are the laws on it? Anybody?

Will post more about my setup once I get the entire picture ready

 

[Spimp]

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Glad to see you start your journey here. This is a great place with helpful people and tons of information.

As for your specific questions, Your heat sig should not be a concern. Anyone you tell, ANYONE, is much more likely to be a problem than LEO. I suggest starting small and expecting a few mess ups along the way. Grow a ouple bagseed plants so if you mess up, it doesnt cost you a hard to get imported bean.
Glad to have you on board!!

 

[TanR]

Hi Monkey Bone,

Following up on Spimp's welcome and adding one of my own! Would like to echo Spimp again (this is becoming a habit Spimp! LOL) in saying 420 Magazine and community that gathers here is unmatched - anywhere!

Since we don't know what country your in it's a little difficult to answer your question about the legality of growing for oneself. However if we think through the process of Law Enforcement detecting a heat signature and investigating based on that evidence I think we can readily see how difficult it would be to determine the intent of the grower being for personal consumption or distribution.

Since your plan is to grow in a tent, I would suggest that a 600 watt High Intensity Discharge (HID) light will not be easily detectable to LEO. Spimp is again correct that anyone knowing what you up to is a far more serious threat. As to your heat signature, it is not the number of plants your growing but the heat generated (and exhausted by) the light. Again, hard to make a recommendation on an ideal number of plants without knowing the size of your tent.

So suggestions - Keep reading like you have been. I've had a green thumb my entire life and worked in the Landscape construction industry for almost 15 years and I read for at least a month before germinating my first seed. There a bunch of ways to grow and each brings with it a thousand possible mistakes. Especially with little experience with growing plants at all, I respectfully suggest you plan on starting with a soil grow as soil is so much more forgiving than other methods. Again, I mean this respectfully, but you have to learn how to walk before you can run!

Be well, happy growing and again -

 

[Skybound]

Welcome to 420 bro. There's no other place one can find so much credible information and people willing to help you, me and others along as we gain in knowledge.

Just a few months ago, I got into a heated discussion with my employer (a know it all) about a similar subject. He was lead to adamantly believe the fuzz found large outdoor grows by spotting the heat signature of the plant, my argument was that the detection was straight lines of plants or camp sites. To better investigate this for yourself, I suggest doing a YouTube search for FLIR (forward looking InfraRed). You will likely find a few videos, one being Berry Cooper, and ex-DEA agent that explains what FLIR is and how it is used to spot indoor heat signatures which gives probable cause to get a search warrant. The plant does not produce the heat, the lights do, and if many or high wattage is used, can generate quite a lot of it. If the heat is not treated prior to exiting the structure, it can be spotted by FLIR either via heli or a passing car. unless you're gonna use that 600 in an airlock where the heat can build tremendously, I wouldn't worry that much, but take some time and research this matter before concluding for yourself.

 

[Sourdough]

I found this about the UK using helicopters for unusual heat patterns. I know they use it near me because they found two farms this way recently. They were large operations in rented properties though. Cops use helicopter and heat to detect marijuana grow operations in UK. - YouTube

 

[Monkey Bone]

Annie: Police can simply use handheld FLIR and be able to spot the heat signature even from a squad car driving by. Much easier and cost effective than chopper scans. But these are usually done for large scale commercial setup. At least that's what I have read.

 

[Monkey Bone]

Skybound: I know the heat signature is from the grow lights not the plant. My concern was the amount of heat generated with 1 600 Watt HPS Bulb and 1 600 Watt MH Bulb. Would that be noticeable enough for an apartment? Is there a place where I can go on web and validate the heat generated from these grow lights based on wattage?

 

[Spimp]

Skybound: I know the heat signature is from the grow lights not the plant. My concern was the amount of heat generated with 1 600 Watt HPS Bulb and 1 600 Watt MH Bulb. Would that be noticeable enough for an apartment? Is there a place where I can go on web and validate the heat generated from these grow lights based on wattage?

Heres my non-professional, non-expert opinion:
If you live somehwere where you think they are gonna scan your apartment, a 600w grow aint worth it. I could see if you had several 1000w lights and 20 plants pulling weight, but if its that 'checked' can a few ounce grow be worth the risk? Just opinion sir. I actually hope you do start a grow. Id like to check out the journal.

 

[Skybound]

You can definitely calculate how much heat the bulb generates by checking the manufacturer, then calculate how much of that heat either passes through the lens (if you have one), and also calculate the room temp to know what the bulb temp mixed with the room temp combined will make, then factor in the heat that is lost via radiation per unit length of ducting you are using, then factor ambient temps outside to calculate what all the previous factors will average out to, to know what temps will be expelled from your grow. Or you can refer to Spimp's post to circumvent all that.

What it boils down to is your knowledge of your area and is it even a risk (which I assume is yes), then weigh that against how bad you want to use your HIDs. I too have a 400w HID air cooled hood with bulbs and al the bells and whistles, but personal knowledge of my situation, as well as that of my surrounding area, I opted to use CFLs which you can see my setup by clicking my journal link below this post.

For other members to be able to give you a better guestimate, they'd need to know all the facts about your plan. which room, which floor, tent, box, passive or active inlet/outlet air, geography, air chiller, whatever. All these details will help you better understand what you're trying to accomplish as well as others that can possibly help.