By Luke Sumpter


While some of us have the luxury of growing cannabis in dedicated tents, makeshift grow rooms, greenhouses, or outdoors in the garden, others are much more limited in where they can grow. Cultivators seeking extreme stealth often opt for guerrilla growingthe act of raising weed plants away from one’s own property. These locations often include forest openings, secluded meadows and fields, and sometimes even abandoned gardens and greenhouses. However, some growers have taken guerrilla growing to the extreme, raising cannabis crops in some of the most unlikely, and at times highly risky, places.

Below, you’re going to discover the five most creative places people have grown weed in the past. While we don’t advise copying them, the information presented will certainly help to get your own creative cogs turning.

Guerrilla growing

What Do You Need to Grow Weed?

The sheer amount of information surrounding cannabis cultivation can make the feat seem complex and difficult. In reality, it takes nothing more than the bare minimum to achieve a good harvest. You’ll need seeds or clones to kickstart your growth, as well as some good-quality potting soil and some containers. You’ll also need to make sure your plant receives enough nutrients, lighting, and water to grow and thrive.

There you have it—growing weed really isn’t that difficult. With just a few supplies to hand, you can cultivate this plant almost anywhere. The fact that it requires so little to churn out a respectable harvest means it’s possible to grow the herb even in less-than-ideal spaces. That’s good news if cultivating in a grow room or garden simply isn’t an option.

The 5 Most Creative Places to Grow Weed

If you need some inspiration on how to grow weed secretly, next up we’re going to take a look at some of the most creative growing locations used by past growers. Again, none of these places are recommended owing to the huge risk involved, but they will serve as inspiration to get your brain ticking.

  • Cold War Bunker

Among the most secret places to grow cannabis, a Cold War bunker certainly ranks as the most unusual. Granted, these places are considerably hard to find, but growers of the past have demonstrated their grift in pulling off this gobsmacking feat.

Back in November 2013, police officers discovered a 400-plant cannabis operation worth £650,000 in the Drakelow Tunnels on the outskirts of Kidderminster in the United Kingdom. The network of tunnels served as a headquarters for local government leaders in the event of a nuclear attack in the Cold War era. While growing cannabis in such a dark and concealed location might seem impossible to many, the cultivators responsible for this operation created a secret grow room consisting of hydroponics equipment, heating, lighting, and ventilation.

Bunker cannabis growing
  • Next to a Police Station

Growing weed next to a police station might seem like an incredibly low-IQ move. However, if the words of Pippin from the Lord of the Rings are anything to go by, then “The closer we are to danger, the farther we are from harm”. While not always the case, there certainly is something to the strategy of pulling off the unexpected when trying to remain undetected. This location makes transporting equipment to and from a site very risky, but some growers have attempted to make it work.

Despite ultimately failing at their attempt, growers in Plymouth, England set up a cannabis farm directly behind their local police station. Local officers discovered the site in April 2015 and seized 146 plants with an estimated worth of £60,000, dried cannabis worth £30,000, and grow lights. While this operation failed, who knows how many others have chosen to cultivate in close proximity to the authorities.

  • Abandoned Churches

Some growers have taken it upon themselves to grow cannabis in abandoned churches. One famous case comes out of the nation of Costa Rica, where growers set up store in a recently closed evangelical church, keeping the sign in place to give the appearance of an operational building. However, their lack of effective odour control led to a police raid and the discovery of 226 marijuana plants and 8kg of processed and packaged flowers.

Abandoned churches might seem like a good place to set up a secret grow room, but we don’t advise this approach. First, these buildings are often frequented by urban explorers who could possibly steal your crop or report the operation to the police. Second, abandoned churches are often protected and listed buildings. Accidentally causing damage during your grow could land you in even bigger trouble than just growing a few plants alone.

Church cannabis growing
  • Disused Railway Tunnels

Dark, damp, draughty, and spooky, disused railway tunnels aren’t exactly the most pleasant of places to raise a crop of weed. However, their lack of appeal also minimises the chances of getting caught by anyone who isn't a cave-lurking enthusiast. Although creative and covert, this setting provides a major problem: it’s incredibly dark and almost certainly doesn't have functional electricity lines. Thus, you’re going to have to rely on a noisy and expensive generator to run your lights, which will drastically compromise the clandestine nature of your operation.

While it seems almost impossible to pull off, a group of growers did it in Wales in December 2012. Under the guise of a legal mushroom-growing business, four men put together five large secret growing rooms in the disused Faenol tunnels under the Menai Business Park in Bangor. Their operation turned over an estimated £1.5–2 million annually before being shut down.

Railways cannabis growing
  • Country Manors

Light, airy, spacious, and quaint, country manors are the antithesis of disused railway tunnels. If you’re lucky enough to come across an empty one, you’ll have a plethora of indoor rooms and a bunch of garden space to choose from to raise plants. Some of these sites will likely also have abandoned greenhouses and other garden infrastructure ready and waiting. A group of English growers managed to put together a £5.2 million cannabis farm in a Grade-II listed mansion in the county of Cumbria. Again, country manors might seem hidden, but they’re also in the scope of urban explorers and curious hikers.

Abandones mansion cannabis growing

Get Creative With Weed Growing

There you have it—you’re by no means limited to secret grow rooms in your house or covert corners of your garden when growing weed! There are endless options out there for the guerrilla growers, from isolated pieces of land to abandoned buildings and transportation infrastructure. With that said, we don’t recommend mimicking the examples above, as cultivation in all of these settings has been met with the firm hand of the law. Instead, use them as a creative inspiration to open up your horticultural horizons!

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: