The Great Outdoors 2013

This is the time of year when many growers start to fantasise about how they can grow their best-ever outdoor ‘guerrilla' crop.

This is the time of year when many growers start to fantasise about how they can grow their best-ever outdoor ‘guerrilla’ crop.  Growing indoors is not possible for everyone, so where the climate allows it ‘outdoor’ growing is becoming more and more popular.

At Dutch Passion we get to speak with lots of successful outdoor growers, here is a collection of their best tips which will give you a good chance of outdoor success in 2013.  Just a few mature female cannabis plants can be enough to provide a grower with a year’s supply of recreational or medical stash.  So even if you have never grown outdoors before, with a little bit of planning and a pack of decent seeds you may be able to become self sufficient in your cannabis supply and never need to buy weed again.

Even in the growing number of countries where growing is legal/de-criminalised, the grower often has to find a safe grow location where the cannabis plants will be safe from thieves.  Winter is a great time of year to go walking to look for future plots.  The leaves have fallen from the tree’s and many smaller plants and weeds have died back.  This allows a unique view of the countryside and may allow you to spot a suitable growing location. 

The dedicated outdoor grower often has several grow locations, so even if some plants are lost there are still enough back-up plants.  The best plots are often used for many years and can be developed and improved by the grower.  The earth can be dug over during winter/spring, fertilizers can be added, and the quality of the soil can be steadily improved.  Weeds and undesired plants can be removed.  Sometimes the grower will deliberately add extra plants such as brambles nearby to deter people and animals from getting too close.  The hardest part of outdoor growing is finding and preparing the plot. 

Online mapping programs such as Bing and Google maps are a good way for outdoor growers to look for potential growing locations.  The best places are south facing plots with the minimum amount of shade.  Especially for growers in Northern Europe, where summers are already short, the cannabis plants need a sheltered and sunny spot where they have the best possible chance of success.  Always look for spots that can’t be easily found by other people, farmers or dog-walkers.  Often the determined grower will create his own private plot by crawling into the undergrowth, perhaps in the centre of brambles, and hacking down a suitably sized area.  Then comes the hard job of digging in manure, fertilizers and nutrients.  Always leave enough foliage around the outside of your plot to keep the centre hidden.  Keeping the plot entrance hidden is just as important as keeping the crop hidden.  For this reason many growers create a ‘tunnel’ that must be crawled through.  Often the entrance to this tunnel is next to a tree or riverbank to minimise the chances of accidental discovery.  Although it is helpful to look for suitable spots with online maps there is no substitute for visiting the spot yourself.  The first question to ask yourself is whether it is safe and private enough to grow without anyone noticing it.  Sometimes the ideal grow spot takes many hours to find and is very remote.  At other times the grower will find the perfect grow spot which is nearby yet stealthy. 

If you don’t yet have a pair of walking boots then it is worth investing in some.  Many outdoor growers find that guerrilla growing gives them a good excuse to spend more time outdoors.  Get to know the local public footpaths in the areas that you are considering for growing, you will find these ‘rights of way’ online or on printed maps.  Ideally you do not want to be growing on anyone else’s land.  You do not want to be questioned by farmers who have found you walking on their land with a back-pack of cannabis seedlings or freshly cropped aromatic herbs. 

Some people do grow in urban areas but these are not as easy to find and keep hidden.  If you are really lucky you will be able to grow safely in your own garden, but even those growers that have a back garden often prefer not to grow there.

Even when growing cannabis in the middle of a hidden bramble plot it is important to protect the cannabis plants with wire-mesh or plastic-mesh to stop rabbits or other animals from feeding on your plants.  You can use tent pegs to keep a wire-mesh tube in place around a plant.  You will also need to guard against slugs and may want to use either slug pellets or slug-repelling copper wire around the base of your plants.  If you are able to visit your plants periodically then it may be necessary to re-apply slug pellets around the base of the plants.

Rather than plant seeds outdoors, you will have more success by planting out small seedlings that are a few weeks old.  Often growers will start their plants indoors and will try to ‘harden’ their plants to outdoor conditions by putting them outdoors for a few hours each day.  When the weather is good enough it is time to transport your plants to your grow-location and plant them.  Usually the seedlings are placed in a protective box and put in a ruck-sack.  The grower can approach the spot, ensure it is safe, and enter it with the plants.  The ground should already have been fully prepared before the planting.  Often the visit to plant the seedlings is a fairly quick job, the preparatory work should have already been done.  Some growers protect plants against deers by surrounding the grow area with a perimeter fence of fishing line.  This doesn’t harm deer but it often persuades them to graze elsewhere.  Some outdoor growers use boats, or waders (waterproof trousers) to access very remote locations for growing. 

Many growers will only visit the plants 2 or 3 times before they harvest them.  No-one wants to leave tracks through the countryside which lead directly to your crop.  The most professional of outdoor growers will only visit a couple of times, perhaps to add water and nutrients.  But in very hot countries, such as Spain, more frequent visits may be required simply to provide enough water to the plants.  But the best advice is to avoid the temptation to keep visiting your plants.  In Northern Europe the plants should be able to lay down a deep root system during the wet spring weather.  They won’t need watering unless they get an unusually dry summer or persistent drought.

The most nerve-wracking time for outdoor growers is the final visit to harvest the crop and transport it back home for drying. The smart outdoor grower organises this final visit well.  Often the visit is planned carefully at a time which will give the most privacy.  The plant is trimmed and the buds put into an air-tight container such as sealable plastic kitchen containers.  Any remaining plant waste at the plot is dug into the soil so no evidence remains.  The wire-mesh tubes used to protect the small seedlings should also be removed to keep the site clean for the following year.  Any other items, plastic bags, shovels etc should also be removed to make sure the site looks natural when you have left it. 

One key piece of advice is to use a proven outdoor variety from a seedbank that you trust.  These days there are many seedbanks that only offer cannabis seeds for indoor growing.  Growing varieties that were bred for indoor growing is rarely a recipe for success unless you are growing in a good climate, better to choose a proven outdoor variety. Dutch Passion have a number of outdoor varieties such as Frisian Dew, Durban Poison, Passion #1, Holland’s Hope and others that were bred selectively over many years with offspring chosen for their robustness outdoors.  Choose good outdoor genetics and prepare your plot well and you should have a very good chance of success.  Some outdoor varieties will reach 2-3 metres in height and yield several hundred grams of good quality cannabis from each plant if they can be given plenty of sun and a well prepared plot with good quality soil.   

So if you have never considered growing outdoors before perhaps you will want to give it a go in 2013.  Once you have found a good plot and grown some outdoor weed you will find you have a new hobby which you will enjoy for many years.  Good luck!