Indoor Vs Outdoor Marijuana Grow in Az

This is something that everyone needs to turn over in their heads as everyone’s situation is different.

Personally I do BOTH to hedge my bets and to have a variety. Indoors I grow the “auto flowering” hybrids that grow to dwarf size and produce a quick harvest of bud in smaller quantity. A single plant may yield 3-4oz of bud in a 3 month growth cycle. 4 plants and you have 3/4 to a full pound and a single Mars Hydro TC1000 LED light panel can deliver the light needed. You might get 3-4 pounds in a year !

The drawback to indoor grow is of course your living situation. You’ll need at least 3sq ft of floorspace. The grow area has to be able to be closed off from pets, small children, nosey neighbors and curious visitors. Even LED lights produce some heat but power consumption is low. Running one LED panel 3×3 runs me about $6 a month in power costs. When the plants start to flower expect your interior to take on “that smell”. Luckily its just my wife & I at the home. No visitors etc.

Outdoor grows are great here in Az and give decent yields with some TLC. Here you have to consider how your yard is laid out and where the most sensible place is for your greenhouse. Outdoor grows are ideal for “photoperiod” varieties. These are plants that grow in a normal cycle of spring to fall and they produce a lot of “shade leaf” and then buds as the days start to naturally get shorter.  Shade leaf is great to use for edibles, tinctures & vape juice/oil.

The drawbacks to outdoor grow is weather extremes. Frosts & searing heat have to be dealt with as well as mitigating losses from desert critters like pack rats, prairie dogs, rabbits and of course the occasional fence hopping opportunistic thief or bored teenager neighbor…