Smoking in Your Grow? Experienced Growers Explain Why Smoke Contaminates Your Grow
By: Ben Owens
Tags: Grow Advice, Smoking, Plants, Smoking In The Grow, Smoke

3 Things You Should Know About Subjecting Your Plants to Secondhand Smoke

Smoking in the grow? (Credit: Pixabay)

We’ve all seen the picturesque shots on instagram of someone enjoying their first puff of the day with their plants or lighting up a joint in the middle of a pot field. Sounds pretty great, right? But how does the smoke affect your plants? According to the growers I spoke with, smoking can hinder plant growth, contaminate medicine, and leave harmful residuals on your hands that are then transferred to your plants even if you aren’t smoking in the grow.

Outdoors, with proper ventilation, you might be able to get away with a puff or two, but indoors, you’re subjecting your plants to secondhand smoke. I’ve heard quite a few growers advise against tobacco smoke in the grow, but what about joints, bowls, or dabs (vapor only)?

I asked seven growers about smoking in their grows and here’s what they said:

Paul Farley (@PureOrganicsGlass):

“I prefer not to smoke in the grow. As a cultivator of medicine, I believe it is my job to keep the plants as pure and unadulterated as possible. I don’t think my patients really want second hand smoke plants let alone plants that grew up in a late 90s bar atmosphere…the plants told me they prefer when I don’t smoke in there…So it usually happens once or twice during the cycle but I treat it as medicine so it’s a different philosophy. I feel the first five years of a growers life maybe it’s cool to sit in there and smoke and then you just evolve. Could be wrong though; people got their own style.”

Colin Gordon (@ethoscolin)

“[It is] unequivocally bad to combust anything inside of a room that is supposed to be clean and sterile. With proper ventilation in good room, it’s unlikely to get pathogens from one time, but making a habit of smoking in a room is like buying a huge amount of lottery tickets; some of that material that is combusted at some point may have a pathogen that may be released through combustion. Some pathogens are critical and can kill entire crops, but the only confirmed case I’ve ever seen from tobacco mosaic virus confirmed in a lab was from someone smoking cigarettes.”

Even if you aren’t smoking in the grow, residuals remain on your hands long after. (Credit: Pixabay)

Ralph Zitzman III (@ZitzGlass):

“I do know at the first dispensary I worked in, a test on flower failed because the grower had just smoked a cig on a break and then handled a bud (he smoked a lot). The test data said the plants had been exposed to a whole bunch of harmful shit…I feel like the MED compliance people even said cigarette smoke or nicotine can cause, or make the plant more prone to some plant fungal infection but I’m not %100 on that…I did stop smoking blunts in the grow room after that back in 2015.”

Ashley Casto (@ashleyyaaasto)

“I will not smoke someone’s product if I know they smoke in their grow. I’m incredibly selective about who I buy flower/concentrate from because of this too. Papers, I don’t mind, but tobacco products are a no for me. One guy I work for doesn’t allow any smoke of any type in his garden or in the trim room- and that’s the only guy I’ll take flower from.”

Land of Stank (@LandOfStank)

“You can get tobacco mosaic virus on cannabis from smoking or handling cigarettes or blunts then going into your grow and touching plants stripping leaves. You’ll see it more from organic tobacco, too; American spirits are notorious for that.”

Ellyn (@b0nghits):

“So the answer is *if* TMV (tobacco mosaic virus) can spread to cannabis plants, then yes, it is harmful. Supposedly it has been observed on hemp so it is a definite risk to smoke cigarettes in a grow or even go smoke and not wash your hands before touching plants. Really, it’s just gross to smoke in a grow anyway and unprofessional imho.”

Jason Nguyen (@jason.exxo)

“Not sure about cannabis plants but when growing pepper plants, I has some plants die and I think it was purely because I was vaping nicotine. After I heard that was an effect it could have, I started a whole new batch and always made sure to wash my hands and never smoke around the plants and they did just fine.”

Takeaways:

Smoking and vaping in the grow (of any kind, but especially tobacco) can be detrimental to your plants, regardless of what you’re growing.

Smoking and vaping tobacco (or any combusted carcinogens) leaves residuals on your hands, which can be transferred to your plants if you don’t properly wash your hands. These condiments can affect growth and final products.

Your plants should be respected for their harvests; fruits or flowers, consider whether your plants want to live in a “90s bar” or in a medicinal, healthy space.

So, next time you think about firing up in the grow for a photo, or even for a personal meditation with the plants, consider the long-term effects, and how subjecting your plants to secondhand smoke may hinder their growth, and increase the likelihood of their absorbing harmful adulterants from the smoky air.

Do you smoke in your grow? Did this article impact your decision? Leave a comment below and tell us why.