Growing your own marijuana has quite a thrill to it! The whole process of growing your plant right from the seed phase all the way to the flowering phase where you get to smoke the bud of your labour is quite an experience! However, while there are a number of things that you need to take care of when you are working towards growing your plant, there are some small things that often pop up but go ignored. However, over time, they tend to bother some growers. One such thing is the smell of weed. If you are a grower who is growing a large quantity of weed, the one question that you might perhaps have on your mind is – how to make your grow tent smell proof?
Over the course of this article, we try to answer that question, along with a number of other questions about weed and the smell that it leaves behind. A number of these solutions to make your grow tent smell-proof are actually cost-effective and almost like a home remedy to this problem. There are also mechanical ways which are guaranteed to give you a result. As we proceed through this article, we intend at providing you with an accurate picture of what you can do to make your grow tent smell proof!
Making your tent smell-proof is something that has become quite a major thing for modern-day growers as some of them might be growing weed in places where either marijuana is completely illegal, or growing weed is illegal. Meanwhile, there might be other growers who might be growing their marijuana in regions where it might have been legal but continues to be a social stigma and hence they don’t want people knowing that they are growing weed in their house. Hence, the smell of weed needs to be masked. However, where does this smell come from! Here’s a closer look as we attempt to answer this question:
Understanding Terpenes: Why does Marijuana Have Such a Strong Smell?
The smell that weed emits is an instant tell! You know that smell. Every smoker knows that smell. Even many non-smokers know that smell and those who don’t instantly recognize it will still know that this is the smell of something special. Marijuana has such a strong smell and it tends to linger around in your home, in your hands, in your mouth, in your clothes, on your furniture, on your carpet, etc. However, why does weed have such a strong smell?
The smell that we associate with marijuana comes from terpenes, which are organic compounds responsible for the smell of every plant. There are a number of myths associated to marijuana plants such as that they smell only when you smoke them or that they smell only when you put the buds out to dry. However, marijuana plants actually smell even while they are growing and while smoking amplifies the smell and spreads it far and wide, your weed also has a very strong smell when it is growing.
The smell of the marijuana plants starts to kick in after about three weeks of growing and one of the primary reasons behind this is that the plant’s growth cycle is such that the terpenes are released at this time and among many other functions that they perform, they also tend to keep insects away. The smell from these compounds repels insects so that they can know this is not a plant that they want to feed on. The stronger the strain of the weed, the stronger the smell is going to be; in loose terms, you can say that the stronger the smell of your weed, the better ‘high’ it is going to give you. While terpenes have the property to repel insects, they also have a property to attract people towards the plant. A number of marijuana buyers actually choose their strain of weed based on the kind of smell that comes off it. While some people describe this smell as ‘skunk-like’, there are others who claim that they begin to salivate at the smell of weed!
Terpenes also carry certain medicinal properties to them, and they add to the overall medical properties that the marijuana plant shows. Different terpenes have different medicinal benefits. Some offer anti-inflammatory properties, others offer antibacterial properties, some terpenes can help you treat depression and stress while others can help you with malaria. There are a number of other benefits of terpenes and hence they are important to the marijuana plant.
How to Make Your Grow Tent Smell Proof? Best Methods to Hide the Smell of Weed
Grow tents can be made smell-proof by employing various methods. Here’s a look at some of the best ways in which you can hide the smell of weed and make your grow-tent smell proof against the strong smell that the marijuana plant emits.
#1. Using Carbon Filters
Generally considered to be the best solution against the smell that marijuana emits while it grows, carbon filters are one of the best options that you have when it comes to removing the smell of weed. Activated Carbon is very absorbent in nature and it is due to this property that carbon filters are used to contain the smell of weed. The filters can last you about two seasons of growth with ease and will help ensure that all your smell is contained on to them. They are usually attached to the inline fans that are connected to the ducts and vents of the grow tent and help in making your grow tent smell proof.
#2. Using Strong Exhaust Systems
A strong exhaust system is another great idea. Either you can choose to set up a proper full-sized system of growth where you use industrial-grade fans or you can actually use a simple pedestal fan and have it facing the window and switch it on. If the fan is powerful enough, it will suck in all the air and throw it out making sure that the smell of marijuana does not linger around in your room. However, there is a catch to this – this process will take the smell from one room or one area and throw it out in the open air, which means any neighbours or passers by can smell the weed that you are growing and it would be an instant tell! Carbon filters are a better option because they allow the smell to be contained as the Activated Carbon absorbs the smell.
#3. Using Air Fresheners
Air fresheners are another good way to contain the smell of marijuana. However, the thing about these are that they are not actually containing the smell but are instead replacing it with a stronger smell. Once the effect of your air freshener fades away, the smell of marijuana plants will return. You would either need to spray a lot of air fresheners or you would need to look for alternate ways as the smell of the room freshener tends to fade away in a while. Furthermore, getting so many air fresheners that it will mask the smell for a long time will be quite a costly affair as well. Hence, many consumers tend to buy carbon filters to make their grow tent smell proof.
#4. Using Odor Control Gels
Making use of odor control gels is another great thing that you can do. These are considered to be stronger than your regular air freshener but they function in a similar way. An odor control gel does not actually absorb the smell that the marijuana plants produce in the way that a carbon filter does, but they produce an overpowering smell that ensures that the smell of marijuana isn’t the most dominant smell in the room. Odor control gels and air fresheners are viable solutions for growers who are looking forward to grow their weed in small quantities but might turn out to be very expensive if you are growing a lot of weed.
#5. Using Other Stronger Smells
Now this is a classic way out. One of the best way to hide the smell of marijuana is to replace it with other stronger smells. This one always works for a small period of time and when the existing smells fade out, the smell of weed will overpower once again. If you are expecting guests and need a short-term solution for a couple of hours you can try using some other strong smells which overpower the smell of weed. If you ask us, personally, the smell of burnt popcorn is crazy good for masking the smell of marijuana. This is one of the best ways to make your grow tent smell proof for a short duration of time.
#6. Using Air Purifiers
Using air purifiers is another great way of getting rid of the smell of marijuana. However, if you look at the structure of an air purifier from the inside, most air purifiers come with activated carbon filters inside them, which are the primary reason as to why the smell of weed is contained. The activated carbon inside the air purifiers sucks in the odor and ensures that you have smell-proof grow tents. While this can get a little expensive, this is one of the best ways to ensure that all the smell is eliminated. Moreover, using an air purifier in your grow room will also ensure that your weed plants are getting the best quality of air.
Why is the Smell of Marijuana a Problem?
The smell of marijuana is a problem for some growers because it is an instant ‘tell’. The problem is that some growers like the ‘high’ that they get out of weed but the smell of weed is an instant turn-off for them. Others who like to consume weed for medical purposes also sometimes find the smell of marijuana a little too much for them and they do not consume it by smoking it but via other means. However, the biggest problem is that it is an easy identifier and many people who smoke or grow weed do not want others to know that they are growing weed.
The problem is, that while marijuana has been legalized for medicinal or for recreational purposes, a number of people continue to treat weed as something that should be looked down upon because of almost a century of oppressive laws against marijuana. This approach will take quite some time to change and till then weed, even though legal, will still be a societal taboo.
What is the Best Method to Make Your Grow Tent Smell Proof?
Personally, using a carbon filter is the best and the cheapest way to ensure that your grow tent remains smell proof. Get a good quality carbon filter which uses an absorbent charcoal in it. Considering that the idea behind a grow tent is to absorb the smell and not to replace it with another smell, it works really well. Most other solutions are temporary fixes to the core problem but using a carbon filter is really, really effective.
Are There any Smell-Proof Grow Tents?
Unfortunately, there are no grow tents which are 100% smell-proof. Since the smell is let out of these tents via inlet fans and exhaust fans, without which the fans won’t get clean and fresh air, it is not possible to get a 100% smell-proof grow tent. You can however use carbon filters in order to obtain desired levels of smell-proofing.
Conclusion
We hope that this article helped you with the burning question of ‘how to make your grow tent smell proof’. There are ae number of ways by which you can do that and using carbon filters is the one that we would recommend. We also provided information on tarpenes, which are the underlying cause of this smell, explaining in detail the role that they play in the plant’s life as well as their medicinal benefits. We hope you incorporate this knowledge in your growing to get rid of that smell of weed!
Happy Growing! 🙂
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