Each growing environment is different. Choosing the right environment can be a difficult task. Indoor hemp flower has is own pluses and minuses, just like outdoor hemp and greenhouse hemp flower does.
While some people prioritize choosing a strain, some people pay more attention to how their flower was grown. Let’s take a look at some considerations when choosing between growing environments.
Why Indoor Hemp?
Indoor hemp flower is grown in highly regulated conditions. Indoor rooms are reserved for the various stages of glower growth – separation of plants is necessary to prevent or control pollination and flowering events. Artificial lights and watering systems are utilized to promote plant growth and high-powered ventilation systems are used to keep the air clean.
When hemp flower is grown indoors, the plants themselves sometimes produce more flowers and fewer leaves. This could be due to the highly controlled conditions or due to the phenotypes that the grower has developed over time. Some growers have claimed that it is because the plant doesn’t need to work as hard to obtain nutrients, allowing it to grow fewer nutrient-obtaining leaves and can put those nutrients to good use by growing more buds.
The same considerations come into play when evaluating a flower’s taste and smell. It’s possible that the nutrients no longer needed for leaves is being used to build up more potent terpenes, which contribute to taste and smell.
The potential benefits of indoor hemp flower include a higher CBD content leading to increased potency, more powerful terpenes leading to stronger taste and smell and a higher bud yield. These benefits are seemingly due to a highly controlled environment that aids in the plant’s growth, allowing to spend less time striving for nutrients and more time growing beautiful flowers.
We like indoor hemp flower because:
- It often has a stronger smell and taste
- It often has denser buds
- We know all of the nutrients that went into it
Why Not Indoor Hemp?
There are also a number of arguments against growing hemp indoors.
One of which is the resource utilization and its cost. To maintain such a highly controlled environment, a lot of artificial energy needs to be used, and none of its free. Indoor growing need to be prepared for significantly higher heating, cooling and water bills.
Indoor growing also requires a lot attention. The plants have been removed from their natural environment and placed in an artificial one. The plants don’t receive the same natural “signals” to tell when to move into the next stage of growth. All of the signals need to be artificially engineered. The grower needs to pay close to attention to the timing and amount of lighting, temperature adjustments and water distribution. Even moreso, attention needs to be paid to each plant so the grower sends the right signals at the right times.
We don’t like indoor hemp flower because:
- It takes a lot energy resources it takes to grow it
- Indoor hemp is growing under artificial light, temperature and water conditions
- It puts a lot of pressure on the grower to control growth cycles
Why Outdoor Hemp?
Outdoor hemp flower is the opposite. It receives its nutrients from the environment. Hemp plants adapt easily to outdoor growing conditions, allowing them to soak up sunlight and rainfall while easily progressing through natural growing cycles.
Some growers claim that the outdoor growing environment gives outdoor flower a more earthy aroma and flavor, which a lot of people love.
Since it is growing outdoors, significantly less artificial energy is required for the same yield – making it an energy efficient growing environment. The aren’t fed artificial light, air or water. They have the opportunity to grow in their natural environment under the full-spectrum sun, the nutrient-rich rain, and all of the other elements.
Due to the need to adapt, outdoor hemp plants tend to build resilience. They are more durable strains, which allows more of the plant to be useful for various applications and gives more assuredness that the plants will be productive.
We like outdoor hemp flower because:
- It has an earthy smell and taste
- Outdoor hemp uses natural energy and is easy on the environment
- It is resilient and reliable
Why Not Outdoor Hemp?
Outdoor hemp flower falls short of indoor flower in some areas.
When something grows outdoors, it is subject to the bad just as much as the good. Pests and animals can be a nuisance. The grower needs to pay close attention to nearly every plant to ensure they aren’t being damaged some hungry bug or critter. If they are, the grower needs to use something to deter the offenders.
Outdoor flowers also tend to produce less dense buds. Their buds tend to be a bit more airy, something that is less desirable to some people. This is sometimes due to a lack of potassium from the environment or due to overly hot temperatures.
The outdoor hemp plants are also subject to uncontrollable temperatures, taking even more of the growing environment out of the grower’s hands. If the plants are subjected to too much or not enough heat, their flowering cycles can be disrupted and the buds could be less desirable.
We don’t like outdoor hemp flower because:
- It’s exposed to bugs and critters
- The buds aren’t as dense
- It’s subject to uncontrollable hot and cold weather
Why Greenhouse Hemp Flower?
An increasing number of hemp professionals and consumers favor greenhouse hemp flower. To them, it is the best of both worlds.
The plant grows under natural conditions. The grows under natural sunlight, collected and irrigated rainwater and it has direct access to outside temperatures and conditions. It gets to grow in its natural condition with some help. The grower also has the ability to reduce sunlight or add artificial light, to withhold water or add from a reserve if necessary and to pump hot or cold air into the greenhouse to avoid extreme and stressful temperatures. The grower gets to let nature do its thing and also to protect the plant with nature gets a little off balance.
Due to the access to the natural environment, greenhouses use significantly less artificial energy than indoor grow rooms. Rather than constantly using energy to control light, temperature and water, greenhouse growers only use a little bit of energy from time-to-time to give the environment a nudge when necessary.
Hemp flower grown in greenhouses is largely protected from pest and animals, too. Though bugs will sometimes get into a greenhouse, it happens less often and is easily resolve. Animals are largely kept at bay, as well.
Its flower is also highly desirable. Without being forcefully exposed to extreme natural conditions, greenhouse flower doesn’t take on the stress as outdoor flower, resulting in dense, aromatic, tasty and potent buds like indoor flower has.
We love greenhouse flower because:
- It’s the best of both worlds
- It grows in natural conditions
- The grower can give the environment a nudge when needed
- It is much better for the environment than indoor flower
- It is protected from pests and animals
- It’s flowers are incredible