How to Grow Cannabis on Your Porch

The growing cultural and political acceptance of legal marijuana is blossoming at the same time that many people are getting more interested in micro-gardening. The result is that we’ve been getting more and more questions about how to grow cannabis outside on your porch. Luckily, growing weed on your porch can be quite easy when just a few requirements are met. To help facilitate your legal porch grow, we’re going to address some common concerns and lay out some tips that will have you curing big frosty buds in no time.

Where Can I Grow Cannabis On My Porch?

This really depends on where you live. Washington, for example, is the only state with legal marijuana that forbids its residents from growing their own. Only medical patients are allowed to grow their own weed, leaving recreational users to shop for the best dispensary bargains if they want to enjoy marijuana without penalty.

But in other legal states, you’re generally allowed to have a few marijuana plants. To be clear: this varies hugely depending on where you live. Most apartments will not allow you to grow marijuana on the premises, but homeowners should have a simple time of it.

Should I Conceal My Porch Grow?

Even assuming that you live in a legal weed state where you’re allowed to have a few plants, you definitely should not grow them in any public-facing area. So for all intents and purposes, this article addresses backyard porch grows only.

From a legal perspective, you need to keep your plants out of reach of any “visiting youths,” as Colorado law puts it. But it should also be obvious that marijuana is still quite valuable and should only be grown in an enclosed area that’s difficult to get to for any random passerby.

What Containers Should I Use?

If you’re asking how to grow cannabis on your porch, you’ve probably got some idea of the space issues present. To best ensure that each plant gets the nutrients and sunlight it needs, you should use large pots with plenty of drainage to house your plants. Because cannabis plants are so large, you don’t want to go with less than five gallons. If you have a larger outdoor space and larger-growing strains of marijuana, you should invest in 10-gallon pots to ensure they don’t get root-bound.

If you’re concerned about being able to water your crop regularly, we also suggest investing in a timed watering system, which means getting an even larger pot to fit the equipment.

How Should I Deal with Pests?

One of the biggest questions growers face when choosing an outdoor setup is how to deal with the pests that naturally accompany outdoor gardening. Depending on your climate, there are a variety of critters that will be attracted to your cannabis plants, and depending on your preferences, there are a variety of ways to deal with them.

Unless you live in a very rural area, you’ll probably be dealing with insects rather than larger animals like deer. In an urban area, you’ll more likely be dealing with snails and slugs, as well as small insects that will make an irritating dent in your harvest. For these unwelcome guests, the easiest thing to do is hang up a mosquito net around your plant and check it daily for intruders.

How Much Light Do My Plants Need?

One of the main perks of learning how to grow cannabis on your porch is that, for the most part, the light issue is mostly taken care of by the sun. Indoor growing has to simulate the natural light patterns that a cannabis plant would experience growing outdoors. For the plant’s vegetative state, this means giving your plant about 18 to 24 hours of light a day, to simulate the long summer days. In order to get an indoor plant to flower, you must change the light schedule to about 12 hours of dark and 12 hours of light each day.

But if your plant is just growing on your porch, you’ll need at least three hours of direct sunlight every day, and the rest can be indirect light. If your apartment or back porch is situated such that the plant will receive less than three hours of sunlight (or less than six in cooler climates), you may need to provide lights for your plants to grow and flower optimally.

What Nutrients Are Best?

When learning how to grow cannabis outdoors, one of the simplest transitions is with nutrients. Since most nutrient blends on the market are based on your growing medium (mainly soil or hydroponics), it’s fairly simple to find an effective nutrient for your soil setup. If you start with a high-quality potting soil and find a cannabis nutrient blend formulated for soil, you’ll be good to go.

Should I Prune My Plants?

Yes. Cannabis plants can grow up to six feet tall, depending on the strain; so if you plan to grow on your porch, it’s critical to come up with a good cutback strategy. Many strains, like White Rhino, do well when you trim branches to encourage lateral growth rather than growth in height.

We hope these tips gave you a better idea of how easy it is to grow cannabis outdoors on your porch. It’s surprisingly simple, fantastically fulfilling, and requires less time and effort than growing indoors.

Why not give it a try?

Article by: Spencer Grey