Since marijuana is already legalized in a couple of states in the US and other countries across the globe, more and more people are trying to grow their own cannabis. Indoor hydroponic systems are continuously becoming easier to learn. This method can produce great and satisfying yields. However, growing marijuana outdoors is still much more rewarding. Growing marijuana naturally can produce better yields than doing it indoors and the flavor of these yields are usually more intricate. For people who prefer to do it naturally, they can try producing marijuana plants in 100% organic way.
Learning the Basics of Growing Marijuana Outdoors
Location and Sunlight
The amount of sunlight that is readily available is one of the primary concerns of any outdoor grower. When choosing the ideal location for your plants, you have to make sure that the area receives total sunshine within the entire day. If you are in the northern hemisphere, your garden should have a southern exposure. This means that your garden must be open mostly in the south, where the sun’s archway is faced throughout the day. On the other hand, if you are in the southern hemisphere, you need to have a northern exposure so that the position of the sun in the sky is relative to the axis of the Earth. For the ones who are growing closer to the equator, this concern can slightly be ignored since the sun’s arc passes directly overhead.
Nutrients and Water
If you have already chosen the right location of your marijuana growing area, you can then move to the next step of the process. You have to consider the proximity of the things that your plants need in order to grow healthy. If you are growing your plants in a property that is easily accessible, you can have all the flexibility of feeding and irrigating your garden. It will never be an issue to go outside every day to add nutrients and water your plants if your garden is just nearby. However, if you are growing your plants in a much considerable distance, you can consider utilizing a grow medium which can hold moisture for a longer period of time. With this, you can try to amend your soil with vermiculite, perlite, or other additives that absorb water.
Medium and Containers
It is your own choice if you want to plant your garden into the earth beds or if you choose to use plant containers. If you choose to make use of specialty mixture or create a blend of mediums when growing substrate, the ideal option is to make use of large container bags or pots. Using container bags in outdoor gardens can come in a lot of sizes but the ideal ones are those that hold up to 100 gallons of the medium. These are usually made up of durable fabric and have handles which are sewn on. Fabric bags are one of the best choices because they are more breathable than the plastic ones.
Breathable containers allow air so that they can penetrate the roots easily, which is very important in getting enough oxygen. Although your plant breaths in CO2, the roots make use of oxygen the most especially in the nighttime or during the dark cycle.
Things to Know Before Growing
- It is important to know your local laws that are governing about growing cannabis. There might be regulations on the block where you are living. There are local ordinances which can ban cultivating marijuana outdoors. Currently, Colorado and California residents are given the chance to grow until six plants per household either medicinal or recreational use.
- Marijuana is the only annual plant that has distinct genders. These are the female, male, and hermaphrodite. The female plant is only used for its flowers, but you can still use the male plants for reproducing and pollinating. You have to separate males and keep them away from the female ones. If the male, hermaphrodite, and the female plants are kept together, the yields can still flower fully, but rife with seeds. Yields that are filled with seeds can be very useful for breeding the harvests in the future. However, a seedy bud is not the desired result when it comes to consumption. Users usually pick out the seeds first before processing or smoking the flower for concentrates or edibles.
- Each plant can have the capacity to yield one to ten pounds of trim and flower. They can grow to 15 feet tall but is still depends on the strain and the maintenance of your plant.
- It is not recommended to start the life of your plant at the beginning of the year. Most growers and cultivators that are working with Humboldt Legends usually plant in the month of March and then harvest in the mid-October.
- Be sure to make a research on each strain so that you can understand all the growing needs of your plants and how they can yield to their best potential. You also have to understand their effects. Hybrids, Indica, Sativa, and strong CBD strains differ in growing considerations, mostly depending on elevation, climate, and other natural factors.
What to Plant
Choosing from planting seeds or clones is usually a big decision to come through in the course of the life of your plant. Seeds can be easily shipped and they are very discreet. Also, your emerging plant can be microbe- and pesticide- free. You can choose to hybridize your seeds so that they can create new cross-strains that can tailor the effects of the plants on you. One disadvantage of using seeds is that you cannot know the gender of the plants not until its pistils sprout. On the other hand, you can try to use clones to produce cannabis. Most growers use clones that are taken from female plants so that they know exactly what they are getting. They are very easy to procure and can be easily purchased commercially with the use of a medical marijuana card. You also have to make sure that your clones do not get mildew or mites. These can have noticeable damage to your plants so you have to take a closer look at this.