How To Grow Marijuana Outdoors

Finally, it looks like spring has sprung, and thoughts of growing cannabis outdoors come with it.

I’m lucky enough to grow a few plants each year in my garden successfully, so I thought I would share my successful outdoor cannabis garden grow guide with you.

Even if growing marijuana indoors entails a nice pack of advantages, it also significantly increases the initial investment. Many growers are strong advocators of indoor growing because they end up with aesthetically beautiful plants and minimize the risks of wasting their harvests.

However, growing marijuana outdoors also comes with some major pros.

Check the law first. Outdoor growing is only legal for adults in some places, and even legal states let cities and counties restrict it. In California, for example, San Luis Obispo County allows adults over 21 to grow up to six plants, indoors only; outdoor cultivation is not permitted there. In the US, marijuana is still a Schedule I drug under federal law outside the narrow categories that a 2026 final rule moved to Schedule III: FDA-approved drug products and state-licensed medical marijuana. State laws differ.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to grow cannabis outdoors, the advantages of outdoor grow, and everything else you need to know to achieve successful high-yielder crops.

Advantages of Growing Marijuana Outdoors

Rookie growers always feel intimidated by outdoor growing because of the potential risks this may entail. However, don’t ever underestimate the pros of taking your marijuana seeds outdoors.

And what are the pros of growing weed outdoors, you may ask?

Bigger Yields

When you grow weed outdoors, plants can get much bigger than indoors, because the sun and the open space put fewer limits on their size.

A large, healthy outdoor plant can yield far more than a typical indoor plant, though results depend on strain, climate and care.

Low Costs

No matter how powerful the latest LED or HID grow light in the market is. When growing marijuana outdoors, you have free access to the best grow light of all: sunlight, which trumps all others.

You also don't need grow tents or fans to keep the air flowing. You'll still need good soil and some nutrients.

Eco-Friendly

Growing marijuana outdoors saves a lot of electricity and reduces all the waste we could have when growing indoors.

For example, disposable gloves, grow bags or boxes, tapes, and many other elements implied in indoor growing.

Versatility

Even though growers worry about losing crops to pests or harsh weather, many cannabis strains adapt well to different climates. Just think about autoflowers that don’t even need a light cycle change to flower.

It doesn’t matter if your area is cold or hot. You can still research what strains grow better in that specific climate.

Easiness and Mobility

The whole process is a lot simpler than indoor cultivation. If you don’t feel like constantly monitoring temperature, relative humidity, and light periods, then growing marijuana outdoors might be what you’re looking for.

Also, choosing outdoor cultivation doesn't mean you can't move your plants. Instead of planting them directly in the ground, you can use pots and move them around according to their needs.

A Great Hobby

Finally, gardening is a relaxing hobby, and many growers find tending plants in the open more rewarding than working in a closed, artificially lit space.

Setting up an Outdoor Marijuana Grow

Before launching your outdoor grow, you need to consider a few factors.

Understanding Your Local Climate

This a critical first step before setting up your outdoor garden. Even if marijuana has a great ability to adapt to various conditions, harsh weather can negatively impact its growth and development. Too much heat can cause your plants to stop growing, while too much cold can damage and even kill them.

The same goes for heavy rains, excessive dryness, or high winds. All of this can physically damage your plants and produce mold and powdery mildew.

In a nutshell, cannabis plants need a balanced climate to thrive. If you’re in an area that gets too hot, you may want to give your plants less direct exposure to sunlight, move them to a shady spot or get some screens to level the temperature of pots (if you’re using them). Consider the optimal conditions your plants need to survive and find out how you can tip your local weather to your benefit.

You can check this article from Alchimia Web for more on growing at different latitudes.

Choosing the Grow Site

Now, once you know your local climate, you can choose your grow site. I have a dedicated garden for this.

However, you could also use a balcony or roof, if your local rules and your lease allow it. Growing on public land or land you don't own, sometimes called guerrilla growing, is illegal, even in states that allow home cultivation. Many legal states also require plants to be out of public view and secured.

When choosing your grow site, consider these factors:

Sunlight

Your plants need full, direct sunlight for at least 6 hours daily, and more is better. So, if your balcony gets shady before your plants can enjoy these 6 hours of light, maybe it’s not the optimal site.

Wind

Growers that don’t have a lot of outdoor space choose to plant their seeds on the roof, which is a great choice if you’re looking to maximize the sunlight exposure. However, roofs can be really windy. If that’s the case in your area, maybe you should opt for a gardening plot (if you have one). If you don’t, be sure to have windbreakers like a fence or a living wall.

Pests and Predators

Without question, the gardening plot is an all-time favorite. One of the perks of a garden plot is that you can screen your plants with other vegetables, flowers or a fence, which also helps where local rules require plants to be out of public view. Also, you’ll likely have much more space and room for maneuvering than on a balcony or rooftop.

Now, there’s a downside to growing marijuana outdoors in your garden. You need to be on the lookout for small predators and even thieves. Around early spring, there’s little available to eat, and young seedlings will be really tempting for deer, rabbits, slugs and other pests.

The Best Soil for Outdoor Cannabis Grow

Choosing the right soil is the second vital step to guaranteeing a successful crop. Growing marijuana outdoors doesn’t necessarily mean you have to plant your seedlings directly into the soil you have available in your garden.

You could also use pots, which you’d probably do if growing on your balcony or rooftop. Many outdoor growers also prefer to dig a hole and add fresh and amended soil for their plants.

If you choose to go the old-fashioned way and plant your weed directly into the ground, I advise you to have this pre-existing soil tested so you can find out your soil’s pH and composition. That way, you get a clear notion of the fertilizers and amendments you will need.

Soils usually differ in their consistency:

• Clay Soils
• Sand Soils
• Silty Soils
• Loam Soils

They also differ in terms of:

• pH Level
• Water Retention
• Drainage
• Texture
• Nutrients

Each type of soil holds pros and cons. For example, clay soils hold water and nutrients but drain slowly, and Purdue University's hemp guide warns that poorly drained clay often leads to seedling losses. Sandy soils drain fast and dry out quickly, so they need more watering and feeding. Silty soils hold water and nutrients well but can compact.

Let’s see what would be the perfect characteristics of the soil to grow cannabis plants.

Texture

Cannabis prefers light, loosely packed soil. This loose soil texture supports the development of the root system, ensuring the roots have access to more oxygen.

Drainage

Your soil needs to have good drainage for marijuana to grow healthy. If water pools on top of the soil after watering, your plants can get sick and produce mediocre yields. In the worst-case scenario, they could even die.

Water Retention

The optimal soil should have a perfect balance between water retention and good drainage. If your soil fails to retain water, it will dry out quickly, affecting the root’s access to water and other nutrients.

pH Levels

Purdue's guide says hemp, the same species as marijuana, grows best in a loose, well-aerated loam with plenty of organic matter and a pH of 6.0 to 7.5. If the soil gets too acidic or too alkaline, plants can't take up nutrients well and yields suffer.

Nutrients

Obviously, your weed plants will also need nutrients. On the bright side, many bagged potting mixes come with some nutrients added. Plants use these up within a few weeks, so plan to feed them more.

If you choose not to use additional fertilizers, then you must add organic matter such as compost, worm castings, or guano. The microorganisms living in the soil will break down this organic matter into nutrients for your plants to feed on them.

Read Also: Best Indoor Cannabis Soil

Best Soil Amendments for Outdoor Cannabis Grow

If you’re growing with natural soil, chances are this growing medium is not optimized to produce high-quality plants. However, once your soil has been tested to find its weak points, you can choose among various amendments to fill these gaps.

These are some of the most popular soil amendments you can easily find in your local store.

Coco Coir

These coco fibers made out of coconut husks are a perfect amendment to lighten compact soils. It also provides excellent water retention. Some growers even choose to grow their plants using only a pure coco coir substrate packed with nutrients. Mixing some coco coir into heavy soil can improve its structure.

Perlite

Perlite is the all-time favorite among growers. It consists of light, white volcanic rock that improves the drainage and airiness of your soil. Many potting mixes already include it.

Vermiculite

Just like the one above, vermiculite are little, heat-treated mineral rocks you can use to lighten your compact soil. However, their functions are opposed. Perlite will improve drainage, while vermiculite helps with water retention. You can use them together to balance drainage and moisture.

Worm Castings

Worm castings are the perfect way to kill two birds with one stone. Most growers think of worm castings as a nutritional amendment, and they're also rich in organic matter and soil life. However, you can also use worm castings to improve your soil’s texture, drainage, and water retention.

My Personal Walkthrough from Germination Stage

As long as you fulfill the main soil needs of your plants, you are free to choose whatever amendments or nutrients work best for you. Growing cannabis, and in general growing, is not an exact science, and results may vary from one strain to another, from one grower to another.

That said, here is my walkthrough to growing marijuana outdoors.

Soil Preparation

Warm-up

We all know weather can be fickle sometimes, and you may witness late snows when you’re already prepped for spring. So, borrow a tip from an old gardener here and warm up your soil before taking your seedlings outside. That’s the most delicate stage, and I like to be extra sure the soil temperature is warm enough for their little tender roots.

Just lay down a piece of heavy plastic for a week or so and let the late winter/early spring sun warm through the soil. Also, take the time to weed out anything that is likely to compete with your seedling for the nutrients, water, and light available. You don’t want weeds crowding your plants during their first weeks outside.

Soil Amendment

Vegetable growers worldwide know the importance of double digging, which is no different for marijuana plants. You must prepare your soil before letting your fragile seedlings make their way into mature plants.

Big plants need a lot of loose soil for their roots. I’ve heard people prepare spaces about 2×2 ft, but I prefer to go bigger whenever I can.

I use this extracted soil like a cake mix and add plenty of well-rotted manure to improve the soil texture and give it some base nutrients. I also add some good compost and check the pH after mixing.

Germinating the Seeds

Indoor Germination

Even if you’re growing marijuana outdoors, I recommend starting your cannabis seeds inside. I like to germinate my seeds on damp tissue paper, covered with another layer of tissue (or a paper coffee filter), wrapped in clingfilm and left in a warm dark place to sprout.

Why do I do this? Well, I’ve been through a lot of trial and error experimentation. Don’t ask me why, but if I put an individual seed in its own little pot, and line up the pots watching and waiting for little leaves, not all of the little gals make it that far.

Planting the Seeds

With this method, most fresh seeds sprout within a few days.

Check them on the second day and if all have sprouted their first root, carefully lift off the tissue paper (use tweezers gently) and plant them into a 3″ pot.

Prep the pot first by filling it with a mix of special marijuana compost and perlite to give good drainage.

Water the pot thoroughly with pH-adjusted water (around 6.0 to 6.5), then let it drain completely. When the soil is damp, not wet, it’s time to plant those precious sprouted seeds.

Using a finger or a pencil, make a shallow hole in the middle of the pot. Using tweezers, gently lift the seed out from the paper and place root-first into the hole. Brush soil over the hole and tamp down firmly but gently to get rid of any air pockets in the soil.

Sprouting

The pots need to go into a seedling environment. This is best done by placing them in a propagator, but it’s not absolutely essential. What is important, though, is they get the right environment. Young plants like it humid and warm, and remember not to keep your light source too far away, or they’ll stretch.

A significant advantage to starting your outdoor plants indoors is that you are less vulnerable to the vagaries of late bad weather. No matter that we had snow here in March. My babies were pushing their way through the compost layer in their seedling bay’s humid, warm environment.

Planting the Seedlings Outside

Acclimatization

While I’m waiting for the soil temps to rise and making sure that the spring has set in, I also acclimatize my seedlings to life in the great outdoors. “Hardening off” is simply a process of exposing the young plants to more and more of their outdoor life while not shocking them too much.

So at first, I remove the propagator lid for a few hours. Then, after several days they are hardened enough to risk a few hours of morning sunshine on my balcony. And so on until I’m pretty confident they are ready to take whatever mother nature can throw at them.

Planting the Seedlings

Planting is easy.

Once I have nicely prepped my soil, I make a hole twice the size of the pot. I add a handful of cannabis compost to the bottom of the hole, then spread my fingers around the seedling’s stem, tip the pot slowly upside down (letting my fingers support the seedling at its base), and tap the bottom of the pot, and all should slowly ease out.

Next, I plant the seedling, fill any gaps around with more compost, firm in gently with the palm of my hand, and then water in. I like to use a good 2 cups full of water this first time. It will make sure there are no air pockets trapped in the soil.

Gardens in many parts of the world will benefit from a small temporary greenhouse placed over the plant during the transition from spring to summer. Even a cut-off water bottle placed over a young plant, or a plastic-wrapped frame, traps warmth in spring. Open it on hot days so the plant doesn't overheat.

On the other hand, summer can get really hot in some places and bring too much sunshine to your plants, so you may need to think of putting up temporary shading.

Wrapping Up

“I missed the beginning of spring season! Is it too late now to start an outdoor grow?”

Not necessarily. Autoflowers flower by age rather than day length, so you can start them later, as long as they'll finish before cold weather and frost.

But you can also start a standard photoperiod cannabis seed off in April/May. Just keep in mind that the longer you leave sowing your seeds, the shorter growth period the plant will have. Days start getting shorter after the summer solstice, and Purdue notes that flowering in photoperiod hemp is usually triggered about four to five weeks later, sometimes sooner.

I hope you can pick valuable tips from my own methodology and get your outdoor crops going.

Happy growing!

Sources

• Personal Use and Cultivation, County of San Luis Obispo
• Schedules of Controlled Substances: Rescheduling of Food and Drug Administration-Approved Products Containing Marijuana, Federal Register (U.S. Department of Justice)
• Hemp Project: General Information, Purdue University