Help.

Okay. Here's the run down.
I am about to start growing and i really don't have that much of an idea of what i'm doing. I've some basic gardening and stuff, and by basic i mean, germinated the seeds in a wet paper towel for a few days and then planted them in the ground outside, watered every 2-3 days, and eventually, the plants i was growing....grew. Anyway, since i am living with my parents and at random my mom takes it upon her self to "clean" my room (i have no clue what my mother is thinking because it is clean anyway.) so i was wondering if anyone could tell me if there is a significant difference between just germinating in a paper towel then planting outside and whether an indoor system would be better. i'm also just trying for a short plant because i live in suburbia and a cop kinda lives in my neighborhood. i must be insane for attempting this, but i am unemployed and my friends hate sharing with me all the time. ALL HELP WILL BE GREATLY APPRECIATED. Also, is there a way to tell what kind of weed will grow before you actually grow it? My girlfriends friend is just gunna give me some seeds from his plant. See, my girlfriend knows even less about the subject than i do so i had to turn to the internet for answers. Thanks for the help.

youre kinda stuck in a bad situation. if you grow outdoors you get free lighting and soil but you got cops as neighbors. if you grow inside youll need lights, pots, soil and something to hide the plants in (unless your parents are cool with that.) so itll cost some money and you dont have a job.

as for the seeds why not just ask the guy whos giving them to you what strain hes growing? youd get the best answer as its impossible to tell from just looking at the seeds and even when the plant is grown out its hard to tell the exact strain.

yeah.
kinda fucked in many ways.
BUT, there is a large retention pond next to my house that dips down like 20 feet and there is mad amounts of brush and stuff down there. only real issue is i've never really gone down there to check out the lighting situation and if there's some spot that's inconspicuous so if any passer by's (namely my dad riding his motorcycle around near the fence that separates's my yard and the retention pond.) BUT i'm also unsure if any government officials come around and poke around those sorts of things. :[ basically, i have high aspirations about growing, great friends to toke it up with but not really any way i can really do this. God suburbia sucks. I'm gunna ask the guy that's giving me the seeds but i'm not even sure he knows. He's some idiot junior in high school.