Cannabis: Outdoor vs. Indoor

Indoor or outdoor? Especially if you’re new to this, you’re faced with a big decision that can have major consequences in terms of cost and effort.

But first of all, you just need to ask yourself one important question:

Is my balcony/patio/garden even suitable for growing outdoors?

Outdoor growing is a great thing – if you have the right space! Only if that’s not the case, you really have a decision to make🙂

This article is about the pros and cons of indoor and outdoor growing and what requirements your outdoor space needs to fulfill.

Outdoor growing

Only one harvest per year, unless you live near the equator
There should be a convenient water source nearby
The area should be well lit by the sun
The climate should be warm to ensure suitable temperatures during the growth period, the longer it is warm, the better
Plants need to be planted at a certain time of the year
Longer growing time until harvest
Possible disturbances by insects, animals, weather, and other uncontrollable factors

Simplest method, as marijuana plants in their natural environment require less care. If you live in an area with the right cultivation climate, you can let nature do almost everything
Lowest initial costs, as light and ventilation are free
With the right location, larger yields than indoor cultivation, as outdoor plants usually have enough space to grow and unlimited sunlight
Many people find that outdoor cultivation produces the tastiest buds (this is probably due to sunlight, although there is some evidence that certain lights like LEDs can mimic the sun in a way that grows buds with increased fragrance and taste)

One is at the mercy of nature, so a drought, a downpour, a pest infestation, or early or late frost can destroy the entire crop, which means you lose your entire harvest for the year.
Must be near a water source, or water must be brought to the cultivation site.
It may be necessary to ‘travel’ to the cultivation site.

Indoor growing

Possibility to harvest all year round and multiple times
You need to have enough space for indoor cultivation
The initial costs can be quite high depending on the cultivation system
You can control all aspects of the growing environment, which means you can produce a more consistent quality of buds, but this also means…
You need to create a complete growing environment, including light, growing medium, nutrients, air conditions, etc.
You pay for the electricity to run the lights, which can get expensive if you use many lights. A single 600W HPS light consumes about as much electricity as a refrigerator

Shorter growth time
Easier to remain discreet
Ability to control all aspects of the environment to produce consistently high-quality buds
Opportunity to harvest several times a year (permanent harvest)
Some voices say that indoor buds are the highest quality buds. In states with medical marijuana, indoor buds are sold at significantly higher prices than outdoor buds

High initial costs
Maintenance costs (electricity) can become expensive depending on the cultivation system and number of plants
More care effort than with outdoor cultivation
Must ensure good ventilation and keep the cultivation area clean

Experience

City dweller:

As someone who lives in the middle of a large city, my first choice for growing marijuana was indoor, because at that time it was really the only option I had. At first, I felt like a mad scientist, but after a while, my indoor cultivation became simple and routine. Now, after growing indoors several times, I have found that I really enjoy being the absolute master of my plants and consistently harvesting ultra-thick buds every 3-4 months.

Nature person:

There’s something powerful about the combination of sun and good soil, and my outdoor plants are the best smelling weeds. I can no longer imagine growing otherwise, than connected with nature. It does pretty much everything for me.

Pragmatist:

Outdoor cultivation is more like farming and less like a scientific experiment. Although outdoor cultivation may seem complicated and hard to set up at first, it can often save time and money compared to indoor growing. Especially once you get a feel for the location and some different strains, sowing and harvesting the buds can become a simple routine with very little maintenance during growth.

Make a decision

Points to consider:

Light

When growing indoors in a grow box, high-quality grow lights regulate the light supply to your plants. Choose a powerful, high-quality lamp.

An outdoor grow spot needs direct sunlight so that the plants get several hours of direct sunlight and can form large buds. The more sun, the bigger the buds. If you are unsure whether your spot is getting enough sun, use the FYTA Beam to determine the amount of light over a longer period of time.

Difficulty

Indoor cultivation regularly requires more work from you, as there are more variables that you need to control, and more that you must personally provide in order to offer your plants a good growing environment. On the other hand, there are fewer unexpected influences that can affect your plants indoors, especially compared to Mother Nature, so indoor cultivation is often more predictable. Indoor cultivation is often difficult for new growers while they learn the basics, but experienced growers are often able to grow plants in leisurely 20 minutes/week or less, because they know exactly what to do (depending on the grow stage of course).

Outdoors, you may need to spend more time initially to get to know the site by learning by doing. It’s important to make sure that you choose a marijuana strain that is compatible with your local weather and select the right place. For people in cold climates or those in heavily urban environments, outdoor cultivation would mean relatively a lot of effort. For those who have easy access to a great cultivation location, outdoor cultivation can be the perfect option that requires very little work to harvest a lot of buds.

Cost / Price

Indoor cultivation is much more expensive, especially if you are just starting out. With indoor cultivation, you have to pay at least for grow lights and containers for growing your plants. Most serious indoor growers also invest in a grow tent or convert a cupboard/wardrobe/kitchen cabinet into a suitable grow box.

Outdoor cultivation can be as cheap as getting seeds or clones and planting them in the ground. In most cases, it will probably cost a bit more than that, especially for those who want to achieve high yields and dense flowers, because they will also pay for nutrients, soil, fences, and/or other materials.

Quality of the Buds

Indoor cultivation gives you control over all variables, guaranteeing great harvests with resinous, flawless buds and large yields. If you’re only interested in growing marijuana of the highest quality and you can control every aspect, then indoor growing is right for you.

Outdoor cultivation can produce incredible buds, especially for those who have a perfect location with suitable climate, select the perfect strain for their environment, and take good care of their plants. But with outdoor cultivation, Mother Nature is the real master of your plants. Outdoor buds often vary in their quality as there are so many variables outside your control. Sometimes buds look a little rough around the edges and can contain pine needles, thistle thorns, dust, insects etc. Outdoor buds sometimes have to be harvested early due to weather or safety reasons, which reduces the quality and potency of the buds. That’s why even an experienced and knowledgeable outdoor grower can occasionally lose a harvest or grow an inferior product. Even if you do everything right, environmental factors outside your control like animals, too much/too little rain, thieves, insects, cold snaps, etc. can reduce the quality of the outdoor buds.

Yield

Indoor cultivation can yield large amounts under the right conditions, but it is somewhat limited by the size of your grow lights. With indoor cultivation, you can basically start growing at any time, giving you the opportunity to harvest several times a year.

Outdoor cultivation often yields much more per harvest, as you can grow huge plants. The sun is the most powerful grow light, allowing the plants to really stretch upward. Thus, outdoor plants can produce considerable amounts of buds. However, outdoor cultivation almost always has to start in the spring and usually yields only one harvest per year, unless you live somewhere in the tropics.

Maintenance

With indoor cultivation, you have to control almost all environmental factors. This means that you are responsible for temperature, root pH, light, ventilation, etc. With indoor cultivation, you often also have to perform more plant training due to space constraints. All these factors can be overwhelming for a newcomer. However, the maintenance effort for most indoor growers will dramatically decrease once they get the hang of it. Indoor growers are often closer to their plants, so there is often less travel time to and from the plants. With indoor cultivation, you usually have faster growth times because you don’t have to rely on natural light to signal to the plants when they should start flowering. Furthermore, you can opt for faster cultivation methods like hydroponics, which can produce faster harvests than growing in soil.

Outdoor cultivation almost always requires less maintenance, because once you have found a good location to plant, you may only need to visit the spot a few times a month to check on the plants, possibly water or prune/train and harvest. You may need to fight pests or other annoying animals. If you grow on your balcony or terrace, the distance to the plants is eliminated for you.

Use the FYTA Beam as your personal plant assistant – For delicious buds that exceed all expectations!