“[Cannabis is a drug] which helps produce the serenity and insight, sensitivity and fellowship so desperately needed in this increasingly mad and dangerous world.”- Carl Sagan
Are you interested in growing your own cannabis? If so, should you cultivate it indoors or outdoors? Or, is there no difference between these methods and the only consideration should be whether you have the space to plant your choice of cannabis seeds outdoors or not?
Cannabis is growing in popularity both as a recreational agent and a medical preparation. Even though the easing of prohibitive legislation is recent in terms of marijuana’s history, it is actually one of the oldest crops with the earliest records showing that it was first cultivated over 12 000 years ago. And its first recorded uses are that of an herbal remedy. Cannabis’s declaration as a prohibited substance has only been for the last 100 years or so.
Additionally, ancient history shows that cannabis was solely cultivated outdoors. However, modern growing environments allow for its growth both indoors and outdoors.
Therefore, the question that begs is whether it is better to grow weed indoors or outdoors. By way of answering this question, let’s consider the merits of growing weed outdoors versus indoors.
The merits of cultivating marijuana outdoors
One of the most important benefits of growing cannabis outdoors that it is a fairly low-cost exercise when compared with growing cannabis indoors. The most important ingredients of a successful outdoor crop are choosing the right location and the correct seeds, like the seeds purchased from Sensi Seeds, to suit the location. In fact, with proper care, outdoor growing will result in stronger, healthier plants and a greater yield.
Choosing a suitable location
Marijuana is an adaptable crop and can be successfully cultivated in a wide range of environments, climates, and locations.
In the 1960s and onwards, people used to grow weed plants in their backyards. Because growing marijuana used to be illegal, it was essential to plant your weed seeds in a secure, hidden location to avoid detection. However, it is no longer illegal to cultivate your own marijuana. Therefore, the only imperative is that the site must be secure to stop others from raiding and destroying your cannabis plants.
Choosing the correct cultivar
Outdoor plants grow much taller and stronger than plants are grown indoors. However, you should still choose a cannabis strain that has a record of proven success in your local area.
Plants grown from seeds are stronger and healthier than clones. The biggest negative to growing plants from seed is that there is no guarantee of how many female and male plants you will get. If you don’t buy feminized seeds, you’ll end up with both male and female plants and will have to sex them out to get rid of the male plants because they do not produce buds. This will result in a lower yield per number of seeds planted. However, buying standard, non-feminized seeds is the cheapest option.
Preparing the soil
Marijuana plants thrive in rich soil with lots of organic matter. They also need good drainage and can either be planted straight into the ground or into outdoor pots. If you plant the cannabis seeds straight into the ground, you must prepare the soil accordingly. This is one area where cultivating marijuana indoors might be beneficial because it is easier to mix potting soil and organic compost than it is to dig over a plot of land and prepare it accordingly.
Finally, cannabis plants need large amounts of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus during their growing life cycle from seed to mature plant that is ready to be harvested. However, it is important to avoid long-release chemical fertilizers and use organic fertilizers like bone meal, fish meal, guano, and kelp meal.
The benefits to growing cannabis indoors
While this article has focused on the merits of an outdoor growing environment, there are also benefits to cultivating an indoor marijuana crop. Here are a few of these benefits:
Hygienic environment
Medical marijuana growers have to be certain that their crop is totally germ-free. There must also be no parasites, fungi, or any other microscopic organisms on the plants when the buds are harvested. Otherwise, people with compromised immune systems and allergies will breathe in these allergens with negative and potentially fatal consequences.
Climate control
Plants grown outdoors are often at the mercy of the elements while you have control over the indoor climate to ensure that cannabis plants receive optimal lighting, moisture, and organic fertilizers.
A good example of the benefits of an indoor growing environment versus an outdoor field is if there is a harsh weather event like a hailstorm. Heavy hail will destroy most or all of your outdoor marijuana crops. Therefore, if you live in a region that is prone to severe weather events, and you have the space to set up an indoor growing environment, it is preferable to grow cannabis indoors.
Season-independent
If you plant an outdoor marijuana crop, you are dependent on the season. Cannabis seeds should be planted in early spring, even if the weather is still cool. Marijuana plants take two months to grow and mature. Therefore, you will have no more than 2-3 flowering periods if you grow your marijuana outdoors. However, you could realistically end up with 6 flowering periods if you grow your cannabis indoors. Marijuana needs between 12 and 18 hours of light per day during both the growing and flowering seasons.
Final thoughts
These are just a few of the considerations you should take into account when preparing to plant an outdoor or an indoor crop of marijuana seeds. And, it is essential to be aware of the fact that if you have the space and the ability to cultivate your weed crop outdoors, you will end up with stronger plants and a greater yield to an indoor crop.
However, as described above, should you wish to grow medical marijuana, then you must plant an indoor crop for better control over parasites and other microscopic organisms. And finally, an indoor growing season is not limited in anyway by external weather and climate.
Therefore, both indoor and outdoor environments have merit, and both have disadvantages. It just depends on your circumstances.
