If you’re lucky enough to be in a place where you can get away with it, growing weed outdoors is awesome. Why? Well, for one thing, nature serves up most of the stuff you need, plus you don’t tend to be held back by the same kinds of physical space restraints. Suffice to say, more is better…end of story.
So for those beginners or even seasoned pros heading outdoors with their growing ambitions, here’s a roundup of the nine most important tips you’ll come across as spoken by the world’s gurus of growing:
1. Simplicity
First up, don’t get carried away with the technical stuff and complications. The reason being that if you’re living in an area where the weather’s amicable enough, all you’ll need to grow the good stuff is the ground, the sun and plenty of water – all of which is pretty much free of charge!
2. Maximum Exposure
Think carefully about the areas of your garden/growing areas that soak up the most sun. Moving the plot a couple of meters might only increase daily sun exposure by 20 minutes, but boy does it add up over time.
3. Soil Quality
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you have to buy ultra-pricey soil of the highest caliber. It might help you out, but it’s generally not necessary for outdoor growing. That being said, make sure you do test the soil you choose to use to make sure it’s viable.
4. Careful Timing
Don’t lose sight of the fact that you’ll need to make sure you time your planting/plant moving in accordance with the seasons. For example, if you grow indoors and plan to move your plants outdoors while the weather’s good, wait until the days are nice and long. When starting from seed, you can get things going any time after early April.
5. Protect What’s Yours
Try and at least make a little bit of effort to protect your crop from animals and other human beings alike. This is valuable stuff and you don’t want it eaten or stolen by anyone else – keep it hidden or step up your security. Check out our cannabis seedbanks here.
6. Go East with Nutrients
When it comes to getting up and running, it’s a good idea to follow the same indoor rule of choosing one brand of nutrients and sticking with it. Be frugal and careful with the dosages you serve up and don’t get carried away with too many products.
7. The Bigger the Hole…
Be aware that the size you dig your holes or that of the beds in which you plant your seeds will have a very, VERY big impact on the size of your plants. The larger the holes you dig, the bigger your plants will grow. So really, there’s no such thing as going too deep and too wide – too small and narrow on the other hand…bad idea!
8. Water Well
If the garden or plot where you’ve situated your plants has good drainage, it’s actually pretty difficult to get it wrong with the watering. Suffice to say the rain will take care of much of the hard work on your behalf, but unlike dealing with plants indoors it’s very difficult to overwater outdoor weed.
9. Harvest Time
Last but not least, as your outdoor weed plants won’t be nearly under the same kind of lab-style control as the plants you might grow indoors, you need to keep a careful watch over them to identify the right time to harvest your buds. In theory, you might be expecting to harvest them in early October, but the weather might throw you a curveball and have things at their prime in mid-September. Suffice to say, this is one deadline you don’t want to risk missing.
