Outdoor cannabis growing

Guerrilla cannabis growers are beset with challenges on all sides. If it's not the worry of somebody discovering their secret grow plot, then it's the danger of losing the crop to any of the various pests and pathogens that every cannabis grower must deal with, but often with the added complication of difficult access and infrequent visits to care for the plants. As well as this, guerilla cannabis plants are vulnerable to the actions of various wild animal pests which can ruin a crop very quickly, either by eating it, digging it up or trampling all over the plants. In this article, we will look at some techniques to keep your cannabis plants safe from these beasts.

In our previous blog articles, we've already dealt with the principal diseases and pests that attack cannabis plants, as well as outlining the basics of setting up a guerrilla cannabis grow. In this new post, we will help you to protect your precious plants from the various wild and domesticated animals that seem intent on undoing the grower's hard work. These animal pests are varied and can include (but are not restricted to) small mice and rats which will eat germinating seeds and chew the plants' stalks, moles and voles which tunnel around the roots and damage them, rabbits and hares which eat the tender leaves and stems, foxes, dogs and cats which will dig around the plants and use them as a toilet, wild boar which dig up, trample and eat plants, and finally, goats and deer, which, if hungry, can quickly devastate your crop.

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The method of cultivation known as dry farming is one that is widely used in conventional agriculture (especially with cereals) and that has many advantages over traditional growing techniques when applied to cannabis. In fact, many people will have heard of rainfed crops, a centuries-old cultivation technique. Therefore, dry farming by definition is a crop that does not need to be watered by the farmer but instead grows with the water that nature provides, either through rainfall or from underground sources.

In the case of cannabis crops that are being cultivated in California by this method, more specifically in Humboldt County, they rely on the second option, since they are located near rivers, allowing the plants to absorb the water that accumulates below the ground. It may seem impossible to imagine that majestic cannabis plants can develop and deliver quality crops without the grower watering them, but it is a method that really works.

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As many of you know, cannabis legalization in numerous countries has led to an increasing interest in home growing from many users who, in other circumstances, would have been forced to resort to the black market. Thanks to this, marijuana cultivation has gained numerous followers in recent years, as currently many people grow a few plants in their balconies, patios or gardens, in order to stock up on marijuana.

However, the effort made during half a year (or longer in some cases) can be ruined if you don’t take into account a series of parameters when harvesting your cannabis plants. Today we are showing you a few tricks to bear in mind to ensure you'll get high-quality buds. Nobody likes to see how the flowers they have been taking care of for months get covered in fungi due to an error!

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Allelopathy is a naturally occurring phenomenon by which certain biochemical compounds produced by an organism have a direct impact on the growth or development of other organisms. The action of these compounds can be either positive, promoting the development of other organisms (positive allelopathy) or negative, causing a series of harmful effects on some (or all) of the organisms that are nearby (negative allelopathy). The biochemical substances equipped with these properties are known as allelochemicals.

As many of you know, these properties have been studied in botany and agriculture for decades for different purposes. Thanks to this feature, certain plants can be used to inhibit the growth of other plant species and the reproduction of insects that could result in a plague, significantly reducing the use of insecticides. This is probably the most common and widespread use among farmers all over the world. Nevertheless, there are other lesser-known but very interesting interactions, like the fact that certain plants promote the production of terpenes in nearby plants... something that could be very appealing for the cannabis grower!

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Spring is getting closer, and with it, the ideal conditions for cannabis cultivation, which is why many growers are already starting to plan their outdoor grow for the season ahead, while others are planning a last indoor crop before the dreaded summer heat arrives. It's no secret that auto-flowering cannabis seeds (also known as automatics) represent a considerable part of the varieties that can currently be found in the market, with sales increasing year upon year, thanks in large part to the excellent work done by breeders and seed banks.

Whether you grow outdoors or indoors, in this article we're going to show you a series of tips and tricks towards successful autoflower cultivation, highlighting the typical mistakes that are usually made when growing this type of genetics and proposing alternatives that will make your grow much more efficient, with greater yields and higher quality of the final product.

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Although cannabis performs well in many latitudes, a rigorous selection of the genetics that we're going to grow is sometimes necessary in some places in order to harvest our plants successfully, especially outdoors. In this article we will focus on two classic, adverse climate conditions: cold and humid areas - like Northern Europe - and hot and dry climates, where the different cannabis seeds won’t develop in the same way.

Cannabis strains for humid and cold climate

While high humidity promotes a lush and healthy growth, things are different during the flowering stage, when flowers can be infected by mildew and other pathogenic agents due to the effect of cold temperatures and rains. However, it isn’t impossible to grow in these regions, and many growers from places like the Netherlands, UK, Germany, Canada or even Alaska successfully harvest their outdoor cannabis crops every year, mainly thanks to an accurate selection of the genetics grown - always looking for the most resistant strains - and of course the use of greenhouses, greenhouse heaters, etc.

Before presenting you a brief list of this type of genetics, especially suited for outdoor growing in these areas for being particularly resistant to moulds, we are going to explain a few desirable traits that might ensure the best possible results.

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Growing cannabis outdoors, guerrilla style

Guerrilla cultivation is often the only available option for many growers to keep themselves supplied with cannabis throughout the year, especially for those who have no garden for outdoor growing and don't have the possibility of cultivating indoors. The idea is simple, it's a question of finding a suitable piece of land to grow on, in a forest, woods, or scrubland where plants can be left to fend for themselves until harvest time. Naturally, the plants need not be completely abandoned, they can receive some care and maintenance depending on how accessible the grow spot is, and how much the grower wishes to risk being caught red-handed while attending to them.

Although the success of the crop will depend largely on luck, with the plants being more or less left to their own devices for most of their life, a series of steps can be taken that, while not guaranteeing a successful harvest, can certainly help the plants to remain healthy throughout the season. In this way, guerrilla growers can harvest cannabis crops of a quality rivalling that of the most pampered outdoor gardens, where it's far easier to provide the plants with all they need.In the following article we will outline the most important elements to consider for achieving a successful guerrilla harvest in the safest and easiest way possible.

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Equipment, genetics and fertilisers employed

The following article details a grow report of autoflowering cannabis strains cultivated outdoors, mostly using Smart Pots. The purpose of this report is to examine their performance when used to grow  autoflowering varieties and note their suitability to the particular demands of this type of cultivation. Smart Pots encourage a vigorous root development that in consequence tends to lead to bigger plants and more abundant harvests.

We grew two plants of each of 2 different varieties in order to be able to perform a comparative test. The idea was to cultivate one plant of each variety in Smart Pots of 18 litres, which would be the "main subjects," and then two more, one of each variety, in a smart pot of 12 litres and a circular rigid white plastic pot of 11 litres. So, we will be able to make a comparison between the different automatic seeds we have grown and how they perform in the different containers.

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While it may be old news for organic gardeners, with writers like Elaine Ingham championing soil food web gardening since the late nineties and the more recent success of Jeff Lowenfels' highly influential book 'Teaming With Microbes', this approach has recently been catching on with organic cannabis growers who are being won over by the vigorous vegetative growth, increased plant health and more importantly, many claim increased yield and terpene production in their flowers!

The term 'Soil Food Web' was coined by Elaine Ingham and refers to the relationships between the many and diverse species of organisms found living in soil. A balanced, well functioning soil food web is vital for healthy plants - most gardeners are familiar with the physical and chemical aspects of soil science - taking care to provide the plants with the correct soil type/texture and with adequate nutrition, but are often unaware of the equally important role played by soil biology in a healthy, vibrant garden - it's all too easy to focus on the activity and growth above ground to the exclusion of everything else, but in doing so we risk ignoring the vital interactions taking place out of sight below the ground in unbelievable numbers.

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Growing marijuana in soil is, by far, the most common type of crop throughout the world. In this post, we are interested in how to optimize our soil in a simple and fast way.

Which type of soil should we use for growing marijuana plants?

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A single outdoor crop per year?

Normally, when growing outdoors we only take advantage of the best period of the year, late Spring and Summer. However, in many areas is it possible to perform several outdoor crops per year, especially during Spring and Autumm. To do this, we only need a small greenhouse to stabilize the temperature of the plants. For this type of crops we can use either autoflowering seeds or cuttings from motherplants; the only disadvantage of using cuttings is that, once we place them outdoors from our indoor growing tent, they practically don't grow and start flowering immediately regardless their size.

For this reason, we should grow our cuttings indoors a few weeks before placing them in our outdoor greenhouse. In this way, we can control the final height of our plants keeping in mind that, while our plants will start flowering as soon as we place them outdoors, they will have the typical stretch during the pre-flowering stage just like in any other type of cultivation. Protecting our plants from the cold, frost, wind and other bad weather conditions with a greenhouse is also a good idea, since our plants will have a more abundant flowering.

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How to grow marijuana for personal use on your balcony

Growing marijuana outdoors - and specifically on balconies - is one of the most popular systems because it takes less effort, means and care than growing cannabis indoors. Also, this way you can get a good yield with minimal investment.

The most important thing to take into account to get best results is the availability of a terrace with high solar exposure, i.e. a minimum of six hours of direct sunlight every day. In addition to this essential requirement, the other stuff you will need is:

• Quality seeds, preferably indica or indica/sativa strains, as they are usually bushier and have more compact structure. Using feminized cannabis seeds or selected cuttings is also useful, for this allows us to optimize the available space and ensure that you take full advantage of the soil, pots and any other farming gear used.
• 0.25 litre, 11 litre, 25 litre or 45 litre pots (the largest pot size is only suitable for growers who have large terraces, the rest will have to use the first three ones).
• Quality soil, containing vermicompost, mulch, perlite and black peat or coco coir (coconut fibres). The type of soil should be similar to Biobizz Light Mix or Bioaigua Soft Mix.
• Vermicompost (worm humus).
• Bat guano, powder and liquid bat guano.
• Nutrihemp (seaweed extract).
• Neem oil, pyrethrum or any other organic insecticide such as Ain thc.
• Propolis (a fungicide and a stimulator of plant defences).
• Bacillus Thuringiensis.
• Fertilizer for cannabis growth and flowering (preferably organic).
• A small sprayer (2 litres).
• A pH tester and pH down acid reducer.

Cultivation of cannabis on terraces step by step

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Is it possible to start an outdoor marijuana crop indoors?

Weather conditions in spring can sometimes be whimsical. Indeed, it seems a good idea to start growing marijuana plants indoors before making them flower outdoors. It is possible, but one must take into account some issues in particular, which we will be described in this post.

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Growing marijuana outdoors in the ground

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How to hide marijuana plants

Nowadays, it is getting more and more difficult to grow marijuana outdoors . It's not about pests, diseases or adverse climates... the number one enemy of marijuana growers are thieves.

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Marijuana is a plant that grows outdoors throughout the entire world - except in the Poles - either wild or under the care of a farmer. For a crop to be successful, we must consider when to grow it and the most suitable marijuana strain to use. This post aims to provide information on growing marijuana based on the latitude in which we are.

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