The cannabis industry has been flourishing in recent years, especially with countries all over the world easing up on restrictions and laws that restricted cannabis use. This has caused a lot of changes in the industry, and while cannabis growers have usually grown cannabis indoors to stay safe from law enforcement, they’re now wondering if growing the plants in an outdoor garden would be a better option.
Of course, there are arguments for both sides. While the definition of what can be called a good crop or good quality marijuana is wildly subjective and up for debate, there are certain practical aspects of managing outdoor and indoor gardens that can influence your final decision about what kind of setup you prefer.
Let’s talk about the yield, operational costs, and other practicalities of growing cannabis indoors and outdoors.
Not Every Garden is the Same
Not every indoor garden is the same and not every outdoor garden is the same. The yield in each depends on what kind of person is operating the area and how much experience they have.
So it goes without saying that two indoor gardens won’t have the same quality yield and neither will two outdoor gardens – and statements like “weed grown indoors is better than weed grown outdoors” do not apply.
As far as consumers go, atomicblaze.com suggests not being too picky about whether the marijuana was grown indoors or outdoors – it doesn’t matter too much from a buyer’s perspective, and the quality of the marijuana usually depends on how experienced and knowledgeable the grower was.
Now, on to the useful stuff.
Energy Requirements
When you’re growing plants indoors, you need to regulate optimum conditions for the growth of your plants. For this, you’ll need all sorts of equipment, from humidifiers to lights to temperature control equipment, pumps, and fans.
All this equipment doesn’t run itself, and the energy costs will be huge. According to a 2012 study, the cannabis industry and particularly cannabis growing used about 1% of all the electricity in America, and of course this number has grown significantly since then.
This might even mean that with legislation being introduced to regulate cannabis and the use of marijuana, the government might be planning to restrict how much energy indoor setups can use to grow.
In contrast, growing your plants outdoors means that you won’t need any kind of equipment. The one drawback in this situation is that there’s no way to regulate the conditions of your outdoor garden, and your plants will pretty much be at the mercy of the weather.
Harvests Per Year
Since you can regulate things like temperature, humidity, the nutrients in the soil and so much more in an indoor garden. This makes you able to get more than one harvest in a year, and more product to sell means more money.
A typical indoor garden can produce up to 3-4 harvests in a single year, but an outdoor garden will only yield a single crop. They might be cheaper to run, but obviously the returns reflect that as well.
Environment Regulation
Like we mentioned before, there will be a lot of equipment in your indoor cannabis farm. This is a necessity because you need to replicate the optimum conditions in which the plants can grow, and make sure that they have all the nutrients and conditions they need to grow.
This means artificial soil, the right wind and temperature conditions, and even the right light and humidity levels. All this regulation requires a deep knowledge of how to grow plants in general and cannabis in particular, and it’s a very big undertaking. Even the equipment for maintaining these conditions is expensive, not to mention the electricity bills we’ve already talked about.
In an outdoor garden though, you don’t have to worry about any environmental factors. Your plants are likely to do very well in the sun, draining nutrients from the soil with the occasional need for some fertilizers and pesticides on your part.
They’ll also have the added protection of insects and predators that naturally feed on the pests that can harm these plants.
Rent
If you’re planning on growing an indoor farm, you’ll need to rent a warehouse with the proper facilities. You can even grow cannabis at home, but you’ll still need a room with electricity and you’ll need more living space than you would if you didn’t have the garden. All things considered, you’ll need to cough out a sizable amount in rent every month for your cannabis endeavors.
It goes without saying that a simple plot of land for an outdoor garden is going to cost you much less than a warehouse or room of the same area will. Factor in the costs you’ll cut on electricity bills every month and the money you’ll save on equipment for the indoor garden, and you might feel like an outdoor garden is the way to go.
Amount of Space Available
Certain types of weed plants can grow up to 15 feet high – and of course this isn’t possible if you’re growing them indoors. This can really affect your yield and the end product, but a lot of people might insist that what indoor marijuana lacks in height and size, it makes up for in terms of potency.
On the other hand, it’s very much possible to grow these large plants in an indoor garden if you rent a warehouse, but you’ll need to rent one big enough – which, again, is a cost you can avoid by simply planting your plants out in the open.
Privacy Concerns
A lot of states in America and countries all over the world are easing up on restrictions around marijuana, and many even allow you to grow plants at home for personal use. That said, attitudes around the growth and sale of these plants are still very unpredictable, and a lot of legislation leaves growers unsure whether it’s safe to grow these plants for commercial purposes or not.
In cases like this, people usually prefer the privacy and protection that an indoor cannabis farm offers, and we really can’t blame them for it.
Even in countries and states where growers have every right to do what they’re doing, people feel better growing their plants in private and away from prying eyes.
Conclusion
We can say that growing marijuana plants outdoors is cheaper and comes with less operational costs than growing marijuana indoors, but at the same time outdoor farms only yield one harvest per year versus the 3-4 harvests per year you can get from an indoor garden.
Whatever option is best for you depends on your own unique situation. If you have the capital and can afford the cost of setting up an indoor farm for a better yield, you’ll have more marijuana to sell. On the other hand, running an outdoor farm might seem less complicated to others, and it’s a great idea if you don’t have a lot of money to spend on the project at first.