Another growing debate that has gone on for ages is that of the indoor growing vs. the outdoor cultivation. Now, for most people the idea of indoor vs. outdoor cultivation is a moot point because marijuana cultivation is illegal in most places and therefore must be done indoors where it can be concealed and managed most easily.
First and foremost, the advantages of growing outdoors include:
- You have a lot more space to grow in; ergo you can potentially harvest a much larger crop, far surpassing the harvests achieved by most indoor growers.
- Electricity (and potentially water) costs are substantially reduced or eliminated entirely since you don’t need to provide lights, air circulation, or cooling to your grow area.
- The sky is the limit: when you grow your marijuana outdoors, you’ll never have to worry about outgrowing your grow space. As a result, outdoor cultivation is ideal for sativa strains and strong sativa hybrids with a tendency to grow tall.
Outdoor marijuana cultivation is not without its downsides, however. When you choose to grow outdoors, you choose to expose your crop to the risks of Mother Nature, including drought and flood, mold, bug and other critters like deer, rats and mice that can devastate your crop.
In addition to the threats of the natural world, you will have to secure your crop from thieves and other growers, and potentially law enforcement as well. If you choose to grow in a remote location, you also have the extra effort of needing to travel to your grow location. And, the more often you travel to your location, the more likely you are to leave a trail to your grow site.
There are a lot of advantages available to the indoor grower, including:
- Total climate control; and don’t underestimate how awesome this is. When you grow indoors, you can control everything about the environment. You control light, heat, humidity, soil moisture, watering schedule, nutrient balance, CO2 content, pH balance and so very much more. Compared to the level of control you have over an indoor environment, to grow outside can seem like a course fraught with unpredictable chaos.
- Much greater concealment; a properly built indoor grow room can be rendered cool, scentless, and undetectable even by infrared technology. When you consider the illegality of marijuana cultivation in most areas, being able to conceal and contain your grow becomes a very attractive option.
- Greater security: you’ve gotta admit, it’s a lot easier to secure your discreet indoor grow operation than it is to secure an outdoor grow operation of any size. Not only can you secure your grow against thieves and law enforcement, you can also keep bugs and mold at pay much more effectively.
For these and many other reasons, countless swaths of growers opt for indoor cultivation.