Do you already consider these 10 tips when growing weed outdoors? Anyone can grow weed outdoors. Our climate is well suited for it, and outdoor growing requires only a small financial investment. Whether you’re an experienced grower or just starting, these tips will always get you off to a good start.
Table of Contents
1. The right cannabis strain
Your first step in outdoor growing is choosing the best cannabis strain. Photosensitive strains are light-dependent and often need a longer time before they start flowering (five to six months), but they do have high yields.
Autoflowering plants bloom faster, so you can harvest before it gets cold. These plants also stay a bit smaller, which might be more convenient in a garden.
In our cooler climate, choosing an Indica strain is the best. They bloom faster and can withstand colder weather better than Sativa strains.
2. Sowing: timing and location
One of the tips for growing weed outdoors is to start sowing at the end of April or beginning of May. Then there’s no more chance of frost, and you can sow your seeds directly into the ground or in a pot.
Choose a spot where the plants can fully enjoy the sun but are protected from strong winds. The advantage of pots is that you can move your precious plants if the weather becomes too hot or windy.
3. Consider soil quality
Soil quality plays a significant role in growing cannabis. Here you can pay attention to the pH of the soil. The pH of the soil indicates how acidic the soil is, and this value influences how well your plants can absorb nutrients.
The ideal pH value for weed plants is between 6.0 and 6.8. You can measure this value with tests you can buy in a garden center or with a pH meter. Drainage is also important as it determines to what extent the soil quickly dries out or becomes waterlogged.
The soil can be a mix of, for example, clay and sand. It is important to ensure an optimal texture with the right combination of soil types.
4. Water and nutrients
Plants need water and nutrients to thrive properly. But their need for water and food changes, depending on what growth stage they are in. Seedlings and young plants need less water than mature plants. The weather, of course, also plays a significant role. If the sun is shining brightly and it’s not raining much, you will need to give more water.
Your plants can also benefit from nutrition. Think about minerals like nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus. These support good growth and are building blocks for your weed plants. Note that here too, the need for nutrients changes depending on the growth phase.
5. Protect your plants from cold and heat
Cannabis is a robust plant, but your weed can still get damaged by extreme weather. Too much heat can curl leaves and deform buds. If it’s too cold, your plants can absorb nutrients less well.
So, it’s a good idea to protect your weed. If it’s very hot, use a shade cloth against the bright sunlight. You can also provide some extra cooling by spraying plants with water.
During cold weather, protect your plants by temporarily placing them in a greenhouse or indoors. Another option is to provide more insulation. This can be done with a layer of mulch on the ground or by using heat mats.
6. Prevent diseases and pests
One of the other useful tips for growing weed outdoors is to prevent pests and diseases. You do this mainly by regularly checking your weed plants for the first signs of disease. Pay attention to common molds and insects, such as powdery mildew, spider mites, and aphids.
The best way to protect your plants is to fight these with environmentally friendly methods. In many cases, you can use the natural enemies of insects. There are also natural-based pesticides, such as neem oil, garlic, and diatomaceous earth.
7. Apply training techniques
Training techniques are also important for promoting the growth and flowering of your weed plants. If you don’t pay attention to this, your plants might invest more energy in forming a dense canopy of leaves than in the buds.
With training techniques, you can steer the growth so that light, air, and nutrients are used as efficiently as possible. For instance, you can use fimming, topping, Low Stress Training, and Screen of Green. Some of these techniques are easy to apply; others require more practice.
8. Make use of the benefits of pruning
Our eighth tip for growing weed outdoors is to prune regularly. Not only can this help to prevent your plants from getting too big, pruning is also the perfect way to stimulate your plant to put energy into the buds. So, pruning can lead to a bigger harvest.
When pruning, you make a deliberate choice to remove leaves at certain spots. As a beginner, for example, you only remove already wilted and yellow leaves. If you have more experience, you can also remove fan leaves. This ensures that the plant invests more energy in the buds and that more light and air can reach other parts of the plant.
9. The best time to harvest
The timing of harvest is very important if you want to enjoy a good harvest. If you do it too early, the buds do not yet contain enough active substances. If you do it too late, THC is converted into CBN, a substance that won’t cause a high.
You can determine the right moment by closely looking at the buds, especially the trichomes. The pistils can also be a good indicator.
10. Be flexible and enjoy the journey
It’s vital to remember that this is all about you. Your involvement and the effort you put into growing cannabis are driven by your own passion for this plant. This is a personal journey, wherein you have the opportunity to learn, grow, and experience the fruits of your labor.
Fortunately, growing your plant in pots provides a wonderful solution. When you plant a cannabis plant in a pot, you gain a degree of control and flexibility. You can easily move the pot to different locations depending on the conditions and needs of the plant, without inconveniencing others.
