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The outdoor growing season is upon us, so I assume you outdoor growers are ready. For beginners, here are a few key questions that may or may not have occurred to you.

1. What’s the first thing I need to know if I want to grow cannabis outdoors?

The answer is another question–do you have a place to grow that receives over 12 hours of direct sunlight per day? You’d be amazed at the number of people who don’t get enough light. They think they do, but they have not actually gone outside and seen for themselves. They assume that because it’s summer, and it’s sunny outside, that there’s enough sunlight.

Of course, if you read my blogs, you know how much of a battle I have with the sun, and how difficult it can be for me to carve out over 12 hours of sun for vegetative growing. Where you live and what lives next to you, has everything to do with whether you can grow outdoors or not. Mind you, if you’re getting less than 12 hours, you can still grow other things very well. You can grow vegetables, flowers and fruits. 

But cannabis will flower early if it’s not getting over 12 hours of sun.

Your solution–Auto flowers. If you don’t have 12 hours, you can still grow cannabis. Auto flowers aren’t as potent, nor are their genetics as stable, but you can grow auto flowers with less than ideal light. You can also grow auto flowers at the height of summer, so you avoid seasons of humidity and chances for mold. Auto Flowers allow for a much earlier harvest. And the auto flower seed market has exploded. You can pretty much find whatever you want, though I would not, as yet, completely trust CBD auto flowers.

You should still find out if you have 12 hours of sun to grow in, because if you do, or you can find a way to manage, like I do, you should grow for the full season. The process will hook you. I’m of the strong belief that while ingesting cannabis is not addictive, growing it is. As soon as one grow is over, I’m looking forward to the next. I’m often planning my next grow while the current grow is going on. 

Making things grow is the perfect antidote to the negativity permeating our world. Turning off the news and helping babies grow puts my heart and mind in the right place.

2. Is my water good enough to grow cannabis?

There’s only one way to know if your water is good enough–get a pH meter and test it. If it’s somewhere close to 7.0, on either side, it’s fine. If it’s 6.6-6.7, it’s perfect. If it’s relatively close (within .09 or so on either side, you can use pH UP or pH DOWN to adjust the pH and make it safe.

I remember in school, we had an assignment to find out our water pH. It was interesting to hear the variances in scores from one county to the next. There are places with very good water, just as there are places with terrible water. I remember most students having scores relatively close to 7.0, one way or the other, but a couple of people had terrible scores, like one guy’s water pH was 4.6, which would make it highly acidic, and would disallow for a plant to uptake much in the way of nutrients. So when that student sadly asked, “4.6, what can I do?” The answer came in almost unison from the class, “Move.” Btw, if the pH reading had been very high, or alkaline, that water is damaging to your own intestinal system. Neither too acidic or too alkaline are good.

Solution: For any grower, it’s important to know your water pH. It’s also important to understand that things like calcium or magnesium baths change the pH of the water. Once you add the calcium or magnesium to the water, you will need to raise the pH back up close to 7.0 again.

At some point, getting a pH gauge will be necessary.

Rolling some compost tea to the beds.

3. How is your soil?

Is your dirt fluffy? Is it sticky? Is it sandy? What kinds of things have you grown before?

There are lots of things you can do with soil to make it better, but this is a long game issue. If your soil has problems, work on those problems before you try to grow. After we had soil added to our beds, we had three years of issues. It took three years of compost teas every week and root vegetables growing every year, to start breaking up that soil. But the real key was when I started planting fish. The oil from that fish broke up the sticky soil and filled my growing mediums with everything they needed to grow. Fish is highly recommended, whether your soil is sticky or not. Conditioning your soil for optimal growing takes time. Make sure you plant fish at least six months before growing cannabis, to help avoid nitrogen burn on your young plants. Fish needs to rot and dissolve into the soil. But even in mediocre soil, cannabis will grow, so no excuses, just get out there and grow.

Solution–See above, and just grow.

4. Do you have  someplace adequate to dry your plants?

This is a key question. If you grow outdoors, you’ve just spent six months working very hard, producing the most powerful and cleanest possible plant. That’s six months of working every day, and being mindful of every detail. The last thing you want is to work that hard for that long, and then blow it by drying and curing something poorly. Certainly, improvisational setups can work. They are not ideal, but with small crops, one can improvise. 

Solution: You need enough room to hang them without crowding, to circulate air through and around them. Ideally, the humidity is around 50% and the temperature is warm, not hot.

5. Do you have concerns with neighbors?

Of course, with legalization, this is becoming more of a backyard issue. Some neighbors won’t mind. Some will hate everything about it. I am certain that some of you face neighbor situations that I cannot imagine. As angry as this country is these days, sadly, I’m sure it has taken root in cannabis interactions as well. I’ve run into some of that myself in publishing these blogs.

I’m fortunate that cannabis is legal where I live, and has been legal for some time. Enough time has passed where if someone had a problem they’ve probably moved on.  A lot of people grow in my part of the world. I know that it’s not that way for everyone else.

Some strategies: 

1. Find out if your neighbor has a strain they prefer and grow it for them. 
2. If your neighbors have a sleep issue, grow a sleep plant and change their lives by sharing. 
3. If you are growing for a sick person, make sure your neighbors understand this.
4. If your neighbor hates the sight of cannabis, train it to grow below line of sight.
5. If your neighbor hates the smell of growing cannabis, assure them that it’s temporary, no more than a couple of months. It’s not year round. 
6. Make friends with the neighbors on either side of the problem neighbor. If those folks don’t have a problem, the problem neighbor will be less likely to become a problem. 
7. If it’s legal where you live, and you’re not selling, discuss this with your neighbor. They don’t actually have a legal leg to stand on, but you’re just trying to do the right thing and make it work.
8. Try to limit the amount of smoke that heads toward your neighbor. If they don’t smell it, it’s probably not a problem. 
9. After Covid (which is a respiratory illness) hit, we went to a largely smokeless house. We take pills and tinctures. If you don’t smoke it, the neighbor won’t smell it. 
10. Once you have harvested, try to limit the amount of time your house resembles a mini-mart for friends visiting specifically to enjoy your weed. Be mindful about the volume of stoned traffic.
11. Find out if your problem neighbor has a partner that likes weed. If they do, you’re liable to not have a problem for long.

Are there any ideas you have? I’m just spitballing here, folks. If anyone reading this has suggestions regarding neighbors, please feel free to include them in the comments. As a community, and as legalization spreads, we need to discuss this issue.

I do have one ironic and seemingly unbelievable point–if it’s legal where you live, law enforcement should be on your side. Let that percolate a minute.

I have discussed what I do with law enforcement. I want them to know what I do and why, so they understand my intentions. I’m not a seller, ever. I’m a home grower and I share. Over time, I’ve shared some pretty solid growing advice with deputies who may or may not have had one or two growing in their yards. 

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