Weckels: Winter

weckels world of wonders

The great advantages of cold winter weather

…and keeping your grow space well hidden!

Winter is almost upon us, the trees are bare, the locks are frozen. In short, ice-cold air is once again a regular visitor to our countries. Whilst the cold temperature and the dry outdoor air can be the cause of a lot of nastiness, for us as indoor growers the golden times are back again! Because at no other time of the year are such good results achievable as in winter!

For this great advantage of the winter months we can thank the low outdoor temperature which makes it possible to hang more lamps indoors. That is in the summer months quite the opposite, when for most attic growers it is the time to be watch out, as the outside temperature can climb to 30°C. With a lot of work and by running the ventilators flat out, it is just about possible to keep the temperature just about within the safety zone, but it will cause you a lot of extra sweat and there can be no talk of achieving an ideal climate.

Besides the favourable outside temperature in winter, indoor growers also have the advantage that the air at this time of year is very dry. In short: when we let this air be blown (carefully) into our grow space, then there’s no way our air moisture inside is going to be doing anything crazy and we will be able to approach the bloom period with a justified feeling of calm. Professional growers do not really benefit from these advantages of the winter months, since they usually have an air humidifier or even a full climate control system in their grow spaces to air moisture remains at just the right level all year round. But not everybody can count on having such luxuries.

Besides the favourable outside temperature in winter, indoor growers also have the advantage that the air at this time of year is very dry

Hunting season

Alas, that the winter months also increase our chances of being busted is less well known among growers. In Holland, and it may well be the same in the UK, drugs squads also know that the number of (indoor) plantations is at its highest at this time of year, and so for them it well worth paying a bit more attention to these activities. Somewhat less charmed by the weather in the winter months and the resulting increase in indoor grow ops around this time are the big electricity companies, who don’t welcome the increase in numbers of people ripping off their power from the grid. As well as the police, they also really want to see some growers busted. When they work together with the police, they can become a very strong threat going along the suspected addresses one by one and thereby grab all the electricity tappers by the collar. Especially in the last months there appears to have been a veritable witch hunt unleashed. In the West of Holland in particular, there would appear to be a regular ‘hunting season’ opened. Dozens of plantations have been discovered and the police have confiscated a lot of equipment and marihuana. Of course it is going to look pretty bloody obvious if at a particular moment particular districts or even particular parts of an industrial estate the demand for electricity suddenly peaks.

The grow space is nicely hidden. When we close the door and shove the wardrobe in front of it, our mini-plantation will be a heck of job to discover.

Pay up for juice!

What is really noticeable is that the growers who get busted are usually the ones tapping electricity illegally, whereas those paying for their current, with a bit of luck, escape the net. And indeed, why would an electricity company start making a fuss when a marihuana grower doubles his electricity consumption and pays politely on time for it? Obviously, as a grower you have to have your story straight if they come asking what you’re doing with all this extra juice. For if you suddenly start using two or three times the electricity you used to use in exactly the same house, bells are going to start ringing in someone’s head and up goes your chance of being busted. So decide whether you’ve bought a sun bed or a kiln for your new ceramic hobby or something.

Contemplating the above considerations has prompted many a grower to change the way they operate and make changes, given that they would rather spend a bit more on their electricity than try and avoid paying and then run the risk of losing a lot more in the end.

Leaving aside the increased chance of getting busted and / or of landing a fat fine for illegally tapping electricity, the activity itself remains a pretty precarious venture. In addition the various (deadly) accident s that can happen, there is also always an increased chance of fire. Should your house go up in smoke and your insurer finds out that your electrics have been fiddled with, then the financial blow could be severe; in any case, it’s going to take a good many years of growing marihuana to get your head back above water.

By Weckels, the grow specialist from Atami

Diesel generator

There are growers who rise above such problems by seeking more creative ways to solve them. So for example the real ‘big boys’ tend to use a diesel generator to provide their spaces with electricity. Besides all the hassle of having to lug around diesel fuel, these machines tend to make such a hell of a racket that our plantation stands a big risk of being mistaken for a building site or factory. Of course, we can always reduce this as much as possible, such as by building a sound-proof cupboard for the generator. But it remains a heck of a job to completely get rid of the racket. What’s more, the purchase of a generator remains a pretty considerable investment.

Talking about investment, this brings us straight to the considerable number of growers who just hope to muck about a bit for a few years and while doing so bring themselves a nice little income with it. It is often this group who are barely if at all aware of the risks and yet are at the same running putting themselves at the most risk of being caught. This is because these, for the most part not really professional, marihuana growers all too often as a way of keeping costs down save money by not choosing good filters and avoiding somewhat dearer but often much better equipment. The coops are thankful to them for it, so make good use of your grow shop to prevent such problems!

As well as the problems mentioned above the winter months also often have the drawback that the warm air we have to expel from our grow spaces can be difficult to get rid of unobtrusively. When we’re growing in a shed and the warm air is belching out in great rising clouds, then that is not a comfortable feeling for any grower. We need to minimise every risk, but the one noted above it remains a hassle to get rid of warmed up air without it being seen.

Search warrant

What always remains of utmost importance is that the grow space is well sealed, in short because whenever we receive a visitor or a burglar is wandering around your gaff, we want to make it as hard as possible for him to discover your grow space. Also for when the police turn up for a quick look