Your outdoor marijuana growing season does best if it starts with you germinating plants indoors or in a greenhouse and giving them time to develop a few sets of leaves before you gradually acclimate them to full outdoor sun.

After you read the article, please enjoy the outdoor marijuana growing videos embedded here (even though dumb YouTube has them censored as “age-restricted”, you can easily click and view).

  • It’s best to start your seeds or clones indoors by end of March or early April so they have at least a couple of weeks growth by mid-April. Place them outdoors after ALL chance of frost or snow has passed.
  • Your starter outdoor marijuana plants need at least seven hours of direct sunlight per day, and at least 14-15 hours of total light per day (including dawn and twilight), if they are to have a decent grow phase that sets them up for a productive bloom phase.
  • If the natural day length is not at least 14-15 hours per day for the first weeks of your plants’ life, they may end up stunted.
  • How well your plants do outdoors depends a lot on the strain(s) you’re growing, your location, and how much sun your plants get.
  • Many places don’t have enough natural day length in the weeks before summer solstice, so you should supplement light.
  • Some growers start their plants indoors and keep them there under 18 hours of light, only placing them outdoors after the summer solstice when natural day length begins to decline.
  • Just like with indoor growing, when natural day length is 12 hours or less, flowering starts.
  • Use this online sunrise, sunset, and daylength calculator to see how much light your outdoor site will get and time your outdoor season and strain choices accordingly.
  • If your location never gets more than 13 to 14 hours of light, ask legit cannabis seed/strain companies if they have any equatorials or other strain types that will do well when placed into a 14 hour initial light cycle.
  • In general, Sativa strains do better than Indica strains outdoors, especially as regards resistance to bud rot.
  • Analyze your climate, temperature, humidity, rainfall patterns. Ask strain/seed producers which strains will do well in your area.
  • If you can control some or all of the water your marijuana plants will use, consider having a sample of the water tested. Many of us live where surface water and ground water are toxic, and even rainwater isn’t so safe. It’s always best to know what’s in your water. If you live where natural rainfall patterns provide all the irrigation you need, consider yourself blessed!
  • Read this article about growing marijuana during warm months.
  • If your outdoor environment is plagued by spider mites, thrips, aphids, gray mold, or other attackers, choose strains known to be resistant.
  • Only use organic controls to battle pests and diseases.
  • When you first start putting your seedlings and/or clones outside, give them partial shade early on to gradually get them used to full sunlight.
  • The larger the root zone size, the bigger your plants and yield. Install beneficial microbes such as TPS Billions in the root zone to increase root size and function. Using compost in your root zone also supercharges your outdooor marijuana plants.
  • Top early. Shape and support your outdoor marijuana plants with trimming, trellising and staking.
  • Beware of civilian and law enforcement aerial drones, which are an increasing security threat to backyard growers and guerrilla (remote location) growers.
  • Take a look at all sight lines into your grow area to determine if anyone will be able to see your plants at their tallest height. Even if you live where marijuana growing outdoors is legal, you don’t want anyone to know you’re doing it.
  • Feed and spray plants with silicon, such as the excellent TPS product called Silica Gold, to protect them from harsh environment, pathogens, and pests.
  • Consider feminized photoperiod or autoflower strains, which makes outdoor growing easier because they are no males to worry about.
  • Autoflowering strains have added benefits of bloom phase triggering based on how old they are rather than day length, and some autoflower strains are faster finishing than photoperiod strains.
  • There are a handful of autoflowering strains well worth growing. Marijuana seeds companies reviewed on our website have quality autoflowering strains. Contact them to find autoflowering strains that will do best for your specific location and grow situation. These companies include Humboldt Seed Company, New420Guy, & Serious Seeds.
  • If you’re growing in a hot, dusty, polluted place, be sure to rinse your leaves with clean water on a regular basis.
  • Don’t use rainwater that rolls off a shingle roof as irrigation water–it contains pollutants that harm your plants.
  • If you have nosy, narky neighbors, grow low-odor strains rather than strains that put out lots of cannabis scent. In general, be ridiculously aware of security issues including from the sky, neighbors, delivery drivers, trespassers, and other threats. Paranoia isn’t always irrational….sometimes it’s absolutely justified, even in legalized marijuana states–don’t trust your neighbors!
  • Take a look at the brilliant outdoor marijuana growing videos in this article and see how to grow outdoors a lot better than I could ever explain it to you using words alone.
  • Time is of the essence. Outdoor cannabis growing is basically free, with no electricity or equipment costs. But you have to get your plants started and outside in spring (in most locales) if you want to take advantage of the massive yields and monster plants outdoor marijuana growing can provide.