Top Tips on Growing Cannabis Outdoors
When growing weed outdoors, simply throwing some seeds in the ground hoping they do well probably won’t cut it. Assuming you want some top quality buds, there’s going to quite a bit of preparation and upkeep involved. Here are a few tips I hope will help you out if you do decide to grow outdoors.
Having Good Soil
Having good soil is crucial to growing anything. Are you going to be growing in pots or in the open soil? Growing plants in pots probably have more benefits than the latter. When growing in pots, you can more easily make sure that the soil quality is high, and the pH is balanced. Your plants also become transportable and you can manage the size of them based on what size pot you use. In addition to this, the quality of bud you grow is more uniform because all of your plants are growing with the same exact mixtures of soil and supplements. Whereas, when you’re growing in open soil outdoors some areas may be better than others. Good soil is one of the founding blocks to high-quality bud.
Pick the Right Spot, and Maintain your Plants
Picking a good spot when growing outside is essential. You need to find a place that doesn’t get much human traffic, is well sheltered and also sunny. Usually, a forest clearing will get a good mixture of sun and shelter from the wind. If you’re in a hilly area, make sure that you’re growing on a south facing hillside to get the maximum amount of sun. Maintaining your plants is also very important when growing outdoors. Outdoor plants are more likely to have pests on them, the quicker you find pests the less damage they will end up doing. In addition to this, you have to make sure to give them an appropriate amount of water if you want them to grow sufficiently. If it’s extremely hot out, your plants may require more water. If you aren’t able to water your plants regularly, it is possible to set up drip systems to keep your plants in good condition.
It’s All About Timing and Strain
When buying cannabis seeds to grow outdoors, do some research to see what strains grow good in your climate. Certain strains like warmer regions, and others like colder ones. Also, make sure to buy from a reputable seed bank to make sure you know what you’re getting. When growing outdoors, you need to be aware of climate zones, changes in temperature, hours of daylight, rainfall, and a myriad of other variables. Picking the exact right time to grow can be a challenge if you plant too early the hours of daylight may be short enough to induce flowering too early. In general, you want to start planting around mid-April but make sure to do some research about the optimal planting time in your climate.
Start your plants indoors
Typically, you want to start your seeds indoors. Provide some artificial lighting, or simply place them by a window. By letting them grow for a week or two indoors, you’re minimizing the risk factor of your starts getting eaten by insects and birds, as well as providing them with better chances of survival in the event of a gold snap. It’s also advisable to keep them in pots and gradually let your plants become accustomed to the outdoor environment. Start leaving them outside for a few hours at a time before making them go cold turkey.
Well, those were my top few tips for growing outdoors! I hope they help 🙂
