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How to hide the weed smell when growing marijuana?

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The smell of marijuana is usually what attracts people to it, the pungency and taste giving an indication of its strength. But for the purposes of growing, it can simply become a way to draw attention to your growing area and cause yourself potential problems. This articles discusses a few methods aiming to keep the smell under control.

How to Hide the Smell of Growing Weed Indoors | Before growing

Before you actually start growing cannabis indoors you’ll need to make sure that air gets in and out exactly where it’s supposed to; any leaks would be disastrous and would defeat the point of hiding the smell. Once you’ve checked everything and set up your filtration system (which needs to be strong enough to filter the amount of air in your grow tent or room) you need to make sure that your extractor and air intake system is creating negative pressure, which makes sure that all of the air inside the tent or room will be sucked out via your extractor fan rather than leaking out anywhere else.

If your grow tent walls seem to be filling up and expanding outwards your intake fan is much too strong and your extractor fan isn’t strong enough to absorb all of the new air being taken into the tent. When growing in a room it’s much harder to realize that this is an issue – you’ll know when you start to small cannabis outside the room.

Methods to remove odours from indoor crops

If you have a large indoor crop with which home remedies do not seem to be solving your problem, it is best to use an odour control system that guarantees their total elimination.

Active carbon filters

These are those most often used by beginner growers who do not want to arouse any suspicions. Some even claim that these filters are essential for indoor crops because they prevent the aroma from plants from escaping through the ventilation system.

However, if you opt for this solution you must not forget that to function properly they need to be connected to a tubular air extractor adapted to their capacity.

In this way, the smell coming from growing cabinets and growing rooms passes through the filter, which is full of small pellets of active carbon that neutralise the scent in the air. Unlike the case with other products that we will indicate below, filters do not emit any other kind of aroma. Rather, they produce air devoid of cannabis traces. These products are available in various diameters and capacities, depending on the needs of one's crop. On the market you can also find other types of more modern, latest-gen filters, such as those offered by Can Filters, CarbonActive and Odorsok. The first is from the largest manufacturer of activated carbon filters in Europe, and they last around 30 months.

Choosing the carbon filter for grow tent that best suits your needs will depend mainly on the size of your crop. The bigger it is, the more powerful the filter must be, so that it can purify all the air. 

One way to know exactly which is the right one for you is to know how many cubic meters of air there are in your crop's growing space. To calculate this, use a simple formula featuring the dimensions of the space it occupies: width x depth x height. 

For example, if your growing cabinet measures 10 meters wide, 10 meters deep and 2.5 meters high, calculate 10 x 10 x 2.5, which means it is 250 cubic meters. When choosing your filter it is important that it have a capacity greater than the space calculated. Thus, if your volume is 250 cubic meters, you will need to buy a filter for 300 cubic meters. This will ensure that the filtering is much more effective.

There also exist other filters not containing active carbon inside, such as coconut fibre (coir), which can also be a good choice. In any case, it is important when acquiring a device like this to be sure to get a new one, as filters become less effective with use. In addition, with these filters it is advisable to use a high-quality extractor (such as that seen below) that makes it possible to evacuate purified air without any problems.

Ozone generator, or ozoniser

These devices eliminate odours through the creation of ozone, responsible for destroying odorous particles. There are several models on the market, ranging from 20 to 200 euros, depending on their size.

In addition, ozone generators can be of two types: those that distribute ozone, acting indoors, and those that, adhered to the air extraction tube, purify it before it is released. In the first case you will need to choose one that generates an amount sufficient to cover your growing area. There are different generators that can act in dimensions ranging from 1 square meter up to 100. With such devices you must exercise great caution, as breathing in large amounts of ozone can be bad for your health.

Some growers combine the use of these ozone generators with carbon filters to remove the oxide smell the ozone gives off, thus ensuring a more successful elimination of all types of aromas. By the way, if you are a beginner, ECO Farm marijuana grow kit can be your great choice.

A best recommend for you: ECO Farm 4*2FT(48*24*80inch)DIY Grow Package

  • KEEPS ALL LIGHT IN: The grow tent blocks all light from escaping and is lined with 98%-reflective mylar to boost the output efficiency of any grow tent setup.
  • EXTRA-THICK CANVAS, STANDS STURDY: The top-quality 600D canvas is tear proof and double stitched for perfect light blocking; the thickness of the canvas is 0.8mm and the tent is supported by strong metal poles that are specially finished for smooth installation.
  • ATTENTION TO DETAIL: Little is more annoying than a low-quality zipper, so we've gone to great lengths to ensure our heavy-duty metal zipper is the best on the market.
  • FAST INSTALLATION: The grow tents are easy to install even if you've never done something like this before: no tools needed!

Artificial gels and fresheners

The market offers several products specifically to mask the smell of cannabis. This is the case with the gels and sprays sold by the Canadian brand Ona, which are placed in the area where one wants to neutralise odours. Using both sprays and gels is very simple: the former are sprayed into the air, while the latter come in little bottles, which must be left open to work. These vessels will no longer be effective when the gel inside them dries out. 

Other options are dispensers filled with anti-odour cartridges, or air fresheners using essential oils. These also camouflage the smell of cannabis with other, more powerful aromas.

How to use a carbon filter

If you are shopping for an exhaust system, look for one that is 6 inches in diameter. Anything smaller probably won’t be powerful enough to look after your grow operation, and anything bigger is only really recommended for commercial operations because they are enormous and expensive to run. Six inches is the perfect diameter for a carbon filter.

Every fan is going to have a different Cubic Feet of air per Minute rating (CFM). Check the CFM of your fan, and get a carbon filter to match the rating. This makes sure your fan is strong enough to pull the hot air through your carbon filter. The carbon filter should be opposite to the fan in your exhaust system.

Carbon filters can literally last forever, and they are the most effective solution to a smelly grow room. What's more, ECO Farm Carbon Filter can be your great choice.

How to Find & Install The Right Carbon Filter

1.) Identify the diameter of your exhaust

Many standard air-cooled marijuana grow lights are fitted with a 6″ exhaust hole (listed as 6″ air-cooled hoods). For most small-scale growers using a tent, you will want to get everything in 6″: including fan, carbon filter, and ducting.

Why 6 inches? 6″ fans are strong enough to exhaust the air from nearly any small-scale grow. Unlike 4″ fans which are often too weak for 4″ carbon filters & will not fit standard air-cooled grow lights. 8″ and bigger filters are generally for more commercial applications; they require extremely powerful (and expensive $$$) fans suitable to moving huge amounts of air from a large enclosed area, plus they can’t be hooked up directly to standard grow lights.

2.) Match up CFM rating between fan and carbon filter

Make sure the “CFM” rating of the carbon filter is the same or slightly higher than the one listed on your fan. This ensures maximum efficiency but also has an added security benefit: it makes sure your carbon filter is only taking in as much air as it can effective scrub for odors.

For example, if the carbon filter says “300 CFM”, your fan should be rated as 300 CFM or just a little lower. A 600 CFM fan would pull more air than the 300 CFM filter could deodorize.

3.) Install fan and filter into exhaust system

Refer to the diagram below to see how a carbon filter should be set up in your exhaust system. The carbon scrubber being placed at the back of the exhaust system minimizes the risk of flowering cannabis smell escaping.

Check Your Temperature and Humidity Levels

The first step in proper odor management is to make sure that your grow space’s temperature and relative humidity are under control. High temperature and humidity will perpetuate any odor issues that your garden may encounter, though this will most affect your garden in the bloom phase.

Plants that are in their vegetative phase maintain a very low odor as the plants have not yet begun to produce terpenes, the molecules responsible for a cannabis plant’s aromatic properties. As cannabis transitions to its bloom phase and begins to produce flowering nodes, trichomes will develop. Being the molecule factories that they are, trichomes begin to produce these aromatic compounds in abundance.

As your plants continue to grow and transition, temperature and humidity become increasingly vital to manage in order to keep odors under control. Some ways to immediately tackle these issues include outfitting your grow space with dehumidifiers and air conditioners. Although these options will greatly benefit a closed space, moving heat and humidity out of a room may be the better place to start.

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