Take a walk around any cannabis-related event this summer and you’ll meet pot growers from all over the country. You will know they are on the cultivation scene right away since they won’t be able to stop yapping about how their weed is the best, how it produces higher yields than most and comes packed with more THC than any other strain known to man. But which is better, indoor or outdoor weed?
In a lot of ways, marijuana growers can be more arrogant than musicians, chefs and other creative professions where bringing something to life is all part of a day’s work. But if you really want to have some fun with these people, just engage them in a conversation about which cultivation method is better: indoor or outdoor. Rest assured, they will be closing the gates on you long before these guys and gals sort it out.
Now that marijuana is legal in more parts of the world, cultivation is done mostly indoors. It allows science and technology to step in and take a lot of the guesswork out of the steps needed to ensure healthy plants. But for many years, long before there was ever such a thing as Chong’s Choice or Willie’s Reserve, marijuana was grown exclusively outdoors. In fact, researchers recently discovered that the herb was used 2,500 years ago in the Pamir Mountains in western China. This is the earliest known civilization to consume marijuana to get high. These people didn’t have indoor plumbing, let alone some snazzy inside operation to grow pot. They just let nature do its thing.
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In spite of all the technological advancements over the past few decades, marijuana is still grown outdoors in the United States. It is found more in the southern parts of the nation as a means for producing weed to be sold on the black market. But it is also a concept being embraced in legal states.
Here’s why.
Outdoor grow operations are far less expensive to set up and maintain than building some elaborate indoor cultivation center with lighting, temperature controls and automatic watering mechanisms. Sure, the indoor digs allow the grower more control when it comes to manufacturing this delicate crop, but it could also be argued that it eliminates some of the skill from the process. Above all, outdoor growers must rely on sunlight, the Earth and makeshift irrigation systems to produce results.
Meanwhile, as with nature, outdoor growers must be prepared for the schizophrenic weather conditions that can take its toll on plants. In some cases, there is also the added risk of law enforcement eyes from the sky. Therefore, outdoor plants grown in areas of prohibition may endure a rush harvest, as opposed to the “we’ve got all the time in the world,” mentality that is allowed with indoor operations.
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Many argue that the quality of the marijuana grown indoors is vastly superior to a product left to mature in the elements. There is no denying that giving cannabis plants the special care that comes from being in a controlled environment brings to life some rather potent, tasty buds. But there is still something to be said about marijuana that was organically grown outdoors where it got its start 28 million years ago.
There are even some consumers that prefer outdoor weed to indoors. And a lot of times, the quality of the product doesn’t differ enough so that the average person could tell which setting the weed was actually grown. Pot consumers in Georgia do not care that the marijuana they’re getting might have a smidge less THC than the scientifically produced stuff coming out of Colorado.
Make no mistake about it, all of the pot consumers in this country, regardless of whether their marijuana is grown indoors or outdoors, are getting as stoned as they want to be. Some scientists even say that there comes a certain point when pot potency really has more to do with individual tolerance than THC percentage points. So, there’s that. In the end, marijuana wants to grow. We’ve said this before. If you don’t have the financial wherewithal to go full blown mad science with your cannabis crop, you can produce a favorable result by just partnering with nature.
