It’s a decades-old debate with equally stubborn proponents on both sides: What yields better results — indoor- or outdoor-grown cannabis? All growers have their own preferences, practices, and requirements. And there’s a good chance that they’ll have strong opinions about what’s best for their crop.
So what’s the answer? It all depends on your goals and capabilities. There are three categories to consider when comparing indoor and outdoor growing: environment, cost, and quality. Carefully taking into account these aspects will help clarify what approach makes more sense for you and your business.
Outdoor: Is the climate in your current location suitable for growing weed outdoors?
Unfortunately, growing pot successfully outdoors depends on the climate in your area. Some strains won’t successfully grow outdoors in certain conditions. The most popular types of cannabis strains are Indica and Sativa. These strains successfully grow in these areas:
Sativa: These crops grow best in warm climates. Sativa plants can be found growing in countries like Thailand, Mexico and Jamaica. These tall plants produce thin cannabis leaves. It normally takes around 60–90 days for these plants to fully grow. The bud that these plants produce tend to be lightweight. When a person consumes this type of weed, they can expect it to give them an uplifting feeling. Lots of people who suffer from anxiety and depression use the substance to help them to treat their mental health.
Indica: These plants grow best in colder conditions such as the Indian subcontinent and Central Asia. These plants are small and sturdy, and produce large, thick leaves. The buds that grow on these crops tend to be dense. Those suffering from sleeping disorders like insomnia often use this type of weed to help them get a quality sleep at night.
Before you start growing outdoors, consider speaking to others in the area who have grown cannabis in your area. If they have successfully grown weed, perhaps asking them what type of seeds they used, what type of fertilizer worked best and how many weeks it took to flower will give you a good indication of what to expect.
Indoor growing is much more discreet than growing outdoor
If you live in a warm climate and you decide to grow a Sativa plant, keep in mind that these plants can grow extremely tall. If you don’t want everyone in the neighborhood finding out that you are growing weed at home, perhaps consider growing indoors instead.
Also, remember that when your plant starts to flower, the smell can travel. It is common for people living nearby or walking close to your property to smell the freshly grown weed. Even in areas where cannabis is legal to grow at home, most people want to avoid others knowing their business. Although cannabis is socially accepted within a lot of communities nowadays, some people are still very much against the substance. If you don’t want to make enemies, growing indoors is probably your best option.
Growing outdoors is cheaper
The cost of growing cannabis indoors, especially during your first attempt can cost you a lot of cash. Not only are you going to have to spend money on growing material such as the grow lights, grow tents, soil, and seeds going, you can expect your utility bills to increase significantly. It seems like the price of energy is constantly rising, which is one of the reasons many people opt to grow cannabis outdoors instead.
Because you use natural light when growing outdoors, your electricity bills won’t increase. Plus, you won’t need a grow tent or grow lights either. The main costs when growing outdoors are the seeds and fertilizers that you will need to grow top quality cannabis.
To grow good weed, you must invest your time. Although cannabis can grow naturally outdoors, you still need to keep an eye on the plant and tend to it on a regular basis.
Why Indoor Growing Is Best
Mother Nature gave us an amazing plant, and I will forever respect outdoor-grown cannabis. However, as with so much else, the technology for cannabis cultivation has far exceeded what was available in previous decades. It’s almost unfair to put outdoor and indoor cannabis growing in the same category: Outdoor grows rely on Mother Nature to control the most important variables, while indoor-gardening techniques will allow you to control the same factors with ease.
Environment plays a huge role in why indoor cannabis will always be superior. When growing outdoors, your crop is only as good as the season allows. The gardener is at a serious disadvantage, because seasonal elements determine the crucial environmental factors in a cannabis plant’s life cycle. Don’t get me wrong: In a climate that’s conducive to outdoor gardens, Mother Nature can do a great job for you! However, cloudy days decrease productivity by blocking light; winds or rain cause humidity levels to fluctuate; and, most significantly, an early frost can wreak havoc, killing entire crops overnight. These stressful events will diminish trichome development throughout the season, leaving the flowers with a weathered or rugged look and, consequently, a heavier-tasting smoke.
Nowadays, you can plant an amazing indoor garden that will yield a consistently bountiful crop no matter what the season is. When undertaken correctly, indoor gardens give you the ability to control everything from the temperature, humidity and CO2 level to the air movement and light spectrum the plant receives. Combine this with a good food and water regimen and strong genetics, and you’re set for success. If you have control of all of these variables, your plants will enjoy a stress-free life cycle, possess a more vibrant and attractive appearance, and produce a much lighter and smoother-tasting smoke.
Which brings me to my last point: price! It’s common knowledge in the cannabis community that indoor pot is much more expensive than outdoor. There’s a visible difference in quality; it’s very easy for any experienced cannabis user to tell one from the other. Numbers don’t lie! Indoor will always be considered superior because consumers prefer top quality.
Final Thoughts on Growing Marijuana Indoors vs. Outdoor
All in all, there is no single correct answer to the question, “Is it better to grow marijuana indoors or outdoors?’ You need to ask yourself which one is best and most convenient for you. If you live in a suitable climate and have access to well-secured land, you should consider growing outdoors. Your start-up costs will be a lot less, and you’ll enjoy organically grown marijuana once it is harvested.
If you live in an unsuitable climate for growing marijuana, you have little choice but to grow it indoors.
If you live in an unsuitable climate for growing marijuana, you have little choice but to grow it indoors. The downsides of indoor growing include incredibly high start-up costs and lots of maintenance. On the plus side, you can grow several batches of crops per year. Once you get used to indoor farming, you’ll find that it is much easier than you initially imagined.
Today, there has been an increase in commercial greenhouse farming, as it strikes a balance between indoor and outdoor growing. To date, cannabis grown in this manner has produced high-quality results, which is an exciting development. Above all, it is crucial that you continue to educate yourself if you wish to grow marijuana. Ultimately, the more you learn — and the more you grow — the better the results will become.