How To Grow Marijuana Outdoors

While being able to walk into a dispensary to buy marijuana is fantastic, the price of buying marijuana regularly from dispensaries can get quite expensive. All those small purchases quickly adds up to a lot of money, and after a while, it's natural for serious marijuana enthusiasts to start looking for a more cost-effective option.

Well, one of the most affordable and convenient ways to get marijuana is simply to grow it yourself. We’re not talking about indoor grows or hydroponic setups that require a small investment to get started, either. No, in the following article, we’re going to take a look at growing marijuana outdoors and why it’s becoming so popular across Canada.

Why Growing Outdoors Makes Sense!

Growing marijuana outdoors will start making a lot of sense once you’re sitting down and harvesting your first few ounces of weed. If you smoke a lot of marijuana and regularly buy from a dispensary or weed store, then you already know how much it costs you. Buying retail marijuana can be extremely expensive while growing it yourself will cost you almost nothing. You don’t need a large financial investment to start growing marijuana outdoors, just a seed or clone, some space to grow, and a little bit of love and attention. While you may not hit it out of the park on the first attempt, you might just be surprised at how easy growing marijuana outdoors can be!

Finally, one of the best reasons to grow your own marijuana is that you’ll know exactly where it came from, how it was grown, and what chemicals were or weren’t used during its lifecycle.

Outdoor Grow Vs. Indoor Grow

Growing outdoors is going to cost you almost nothing at a basic level. You’ll just need a spot in your garden with access to a lot of sunlight, soil, pots, a hose, and basic gardening equipment.

On the other hand, growing indoors will require buying equipment such as grow tents, hydroponic setups, ventilation, filters, nutrients, soils, lights, and other equipment. If everything goes well, you may be surprised at how great growing outdoors can be!

Outdoor Grow Guide

In this section, we’ll cover some of the areas you’ll need to focus on if you want to have the best chance of ensuring a successful outdoor cannabis grow!

• Location – Your marijuana plants will require at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day, if not more if possible. As fall approaches and the sunlight hours reduce, it will trigger your marijuana plant to start flowering and leave the vegetive stage of its life cycle.

• Soil – You can plant directly into your garden soil, but it will require a thorough understanding of your soil type and how to adjust it. However, a great option for marijuana is digging a hole in the ground and then filling it with purpose-bought soil that’s specifically designed for growing marijuana outdoors.

• Pots & Containers – Pots or containers are a versatile option that will allow you to move your marijuana plants around in case of bad weather such as wind. However, avoid clay pots and black plastic pots as they can cause your plants to receive too much heat on their root systems. Cloth pots are the recommended choice because they allow airflow and don’t retain excessive water or heat.

• Nutrients – Marijuana plants require more nutrients then regular flowering plants, especially if you’re hoping to get a big yield. The three main nutrients required for cultivating marijuana are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. For beginners, the recommended course of action is to buy a nutrients series dedicated to marijuana which covers all stages of your plant’s growth and carefully follow the manufacturer’s Instructions.

• Watering – It’s always easy to be tempted into over-watering your marijuana plants. During the vegetative stage, you should water every time the top 1 inch of soil dries out. This could be as much as every day, or every four days, depending on temperature, sunlight, soil type, and wind. If your plants are wilted, and the soil is dry, you’ll need to water more. If the soil is wet and the leaves are limp, water your plants less.
• Weeding – Fencing and barriers will keep larger animals out of your marijuana plants, and cleaning a buffer area from the base of your plants will stop weeds growing too close and competing for nutrients. If you are going to use a pesticide to combat smaller insects, then always try to use an organic product that’s designed for marijuana plants.
• Security – Privacy and security should always be a consideration when growing outdoors, even if you have the world’s greatest neighbours. Often, the temptation to grab a marijuana plant can prove too much for many people. Try to keep your marijuana plants somewhere that isn’t open to the general public’s view.

Seeds Vs. Clones

There are advantages and disadvantages to both methods. Plants grown from seeds will have stronger roots and be better prepared for outdoor challenges such as environmental conditions and pests, but they’ll take a month longer to grow, and you have to weed out any male plants. Marijuana plants grown from clones will be guaranteed to be female, require less time to grow but won’t have the same root development that plants grown from seeds will. Many marijuana growers start their seedlings indoors and then move them outdoors to give their plants a head start on their life.

The Best Places to Grow Weed In Canada

Canada truly is one of the best places to grow marijuana outdoors in the world. With the great summer months, your marijuana plants are going to thrive before they head into their flowering stages in late July when the weather changes and the daylight hours start to decrease. Like anywhere, timing is key, and choosing the perfect time to start your plants is crucial. If you start them too early, they can flower too quickly. Start them too late, and they won’t flower in time to beat the cooler weather.

Check your province’s laws on growing marijuana at home before you get too invested. The Federal government has stated that “The Cannabis Act will permit adults to cultivate up to 4 cannabis plants per household (not per person).” However some provinces (such as Quebec) have said that growing will not be permitted. 

How To Grow Marijuana Outdoors – Conclusion

With a bit of luck and a little bit of love and attention, you’ll soon find yourself growing marijuana outdoors like a champion in no time at all! Growing your own cannabis, especially outdoors, can be an affordable and cost-effective way to access some of the world’s best cannabis strains.

If you have any tips for growing marijuana outdoors or questions, please feel free to share them below! We’d love to hear them!