Indoor Vs. Outdoor Weed: Is One Better Than The Other?

Pop quiz, hotshot: indoor weed vs. outdoor weed? Answer quickly. Is one better than the other? Put another way, would you rather smoke bud grown indoors or outdoors?

Not sure which to choose? That’s OK. The all-things-cannabis experts at Honest Marijuana are here to help.

In this article, we discuss the various aspects of indoor vs. outdoor weed so you can decide for yourself which variety is best for your next smoke sesh.


Does Indoor Vs. Outdoor Weed Apply To You?
Two people smoking discussing indoor vs outdoor weed
In a word, yes, the debate over indoor vs. outdoor weed applies to you in one way or another. How so?

Most cannaenthusiasts fall into one of two categories:

Growers
Consumers
Granted, you can be both a grower and a consumer, but the majority of people we talk to either grow their own pot most of the time or buy it at their local dispensary.

If you choose to go the DIY route and grow your own product, you’re faced with one of two options: inside or outside. The environment you choose will affect all the other choices you make as you nurse your marijuana to maturity.

If you choose to go the consumer route and purchase your cannabis at a dispensary, you may, at some point, be faced with the option of deciding between weed grown indoors and weed grown outdoors.

What does that choice mean for you, the end user?

We’ll answer that question based on two different variables: location (for the DIY growers amongst us) and final product (for the consumers amongst us).

We’ll start by learning about the three — yes, three — different types of grow locations.

Three Types Of Grow Locations
Indoor grow operation
1) Indoor
Most do-it-yourselfers, and some commercial growers, cultivate their weed crops indoors. They may grow one plant in a closet or spare room or 100 plants in their basement or a dedicated facility. They may use a single grow light or opt, instead, for a high-tech hydroponics setup.

The bottom line is there’s no single, correct type of indoor grow — it can, and will, take many forms.

But, when it comes to the indoor vs. outdoor weed debate, indoor grows generally enjoy three benefits:

More stable conditions
Less exposure to pests and disease
More control over the life cycle of the plant
Add to those benefits the fact that indoor operations allow you to grow weed all year long, and it’s easy to see why this is a popular choice.

2) Outdoor
As a DIYer, or even a commercial grower, you could choose to raise your pot plants outdoors.

In places where the climate is conducive to cannabis, many choose this route because the plants themselves will benefit from the natural light and the day/night cycle that is essential for the flowering stage of development.

In addition, many growers think that cultivating plants outdoors will make the final product organic. Unfortunately, that’s not always true.

Growing weed outside increases the potential that the plants will be exposed to pesticides, environmental pollutants, heavy metals, and other toxins that can contaminate the buds.

Even if you, the grower, don’t intentionally apply them yourself, toxins can still find their way into the soil, roots, and leaves of your plants, thus rendering moot the whole concept of organic marijuana.

3) Greenhouse
A third option that adds to the indoor vs. outdoor weed debate is the greenhouse.

Most everyday DIY ganja growers don’t have access to this type of hybrid environment, but some commercial growers may find a greenhouse to be a nice compromise between the control of an indoor grow and the natural elements of an outdoor grow.

With a greenhouse, plants benefit from the sun and the day/night cycle that comes from being closer to the outside, while growers will enjoy the temperature-, humidity-, and pest control that comes from being closer to the inside.

If you can swing the expense, greenhouse grows make a nice halfway point between indoor vs. outdoor weed.

Indoor Vs. Outdoor Weed Comparison
colorful weed
When people ask which is better, the information we discuss next is what they really want to know. Are characteristics such as flavor, potency, and high better in indoor weed or outdoor weed?
master kush shatter

Read on to find out.

1) Color
Color is one of the defining characteristics that separates weed grown indoors from weed grown outdoors.

Here’s how the two compare:

Cannabis grown outdoors will be a darker green
Cannabis grown indoors will be a lighter, brighter, more vivid green
Cannabis grown outside will turn a deep, striking purple
Cannabis grown indoors will stay a lighter shade of purple
Cannabis grown outdoors will contain more brown than orange
Cannabis grown indoors will contain more orange than brown
As a general rule, cannabis grown outside will have darker, more muted tones than cannabis grown inside.

2) Flavor
Flavor is one of those characteristics that is largely dependent on the strain itself rather than the growing medium and environment.

That said, weed grown indoors will usually have more intense flavors than weed grown outdoors.

So, for identical strains of Fruity Pebbles, Cherry OG, and Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies — one grown indoors, one grown outdoors — the plants grown indoors will have more fruit flavor, more cherry flavor, and more chocolate/mint flavor respectively than the plants grown outdoors.

3) Size
Size is one of the first visual differences between indoor vs. outdoor weed.

In general, buds grown outside will be bigger than those grown inside. Even the plant itself — and, most notably, the stems — will be bigger, thicker, and more robust when grown outside.

4) Potency
For most cannaenthusiasts, the question of potency is the number one concern when assessing indoor vs. outdoor weed.

Because indoor grows allow more control over the environment, plants cultivated inside will have a higher potency than those cultivated outside.

That said, tests have shown that weed grown outdoors generally has a higher proportion of cannabinoids (including lesser-known varieties such as CBG, CBN, and THC-O, just to name a few).

Wouldn’t that mean they’d be more potent? Yes, but that answer comes with a caveat. The studied cannabis grown in the great outdoors was only more potent than cannabis grown indoors when the grower achieved perfect conditions.

How often does that happen? Not very. Nature is just too unpredictable.

If potency is an issue for you, ganja grown indoors provides a more consistent final product and experience.

Indoor Vs. Outdoor Weed: Is One Better Than The Other?
weed nugget used in indoor vs. outdoor weed
In the debate between indoor vs. outdoor weed, everyone wonders if one is better than the other. The answer is, no, one is not better than the other — both options offer a unique experience.

That’s why we always recommend that you try both indoor and outdoor weed and decide for yourself which one is right for you.

And, when it comes right down to it, there’s actually a characteristic that affects the cannabis experience more so thc balance edibles than where the plants were grown. That characteristic is quality.

Choose Quality Weed Over Where It Was Grown
Golden berry weed from Honest Marijuana
For the future of the cannabis industry, the debate over indoor vs. outdoor weed is an essential one to have. But for you, the end user, the question of quality is the most important thing to consider.
cbd rainbow belts
That’s why we always recommend that you choose quality weed over where it was grown.

If you want the best possible experience from your next smoke sesh, look for the best strains. That’s why we recommend filling your bowl, joint, or Backwoods blunt with high-quality, sustainably-sourced, organically-grown cannabis buds like those from Honest Marijuana.

Remember, it’s not about where the ganja was grown, nor, really about the quantity of smoke you inhale — your high won’t get better the more you toke — it’s about the quality of the bud you smoke.
amnesia haze

When you’re shopping for cannabis, opt for beasters, or, better yet, headies — the two highest qualities of weed — if you can afford it.

Your stash will last longer (because you don’t have to use as much), you’ll get more mileage from a small amount, and the experience will be out of this world.

If you can’t find or afford the first two, mids will do just fine. That said, always, always, always shy away from regs (the literal bottom of the barrel) unless you have no other choice.

And, whenever possible, insist on purchasing organic marijuana and organic marijuana products (like those grown and produced by Honest Marijuana).

At our Rocky-Mountain-based grow facility, we employ world-class organic growing methodologies that provide cannabis connoisseurs with the purest and best marijuana experience on the planet.

We grow our plants the way Mother Nature intended: in organic soil without chemicals or pesticides. We even hand-trim our plants so that they’re organic from the ground up.

So, if you’re looking for the best cannabis experience bar none, don’t settle for anything less than a high-quality organic marijuana strain from Honest Marijuana.

For more information on all things cannabis and to check out our 100% all-natural marijuana products, visit lacanabis.com today.

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