The Great Debate : Indoor Vs Outdoor Nugs

•  Is Indoor Cannabis Always Better Than Outdoor?
• So what do I prefer, Indoor or Sun Grown Hemp Buds?
• Industrial Hemp Versus Craft Hemp
• Indoor Cannabis: The Pros and Cons
• Outdoor Cannabis: The Pros and Cons
  • Conclusion

There is a lot of debate surrounding indoor vs outdoor weed and hemp flower. Some people swear by the quality and effects of indoor-grown cannabis, while others prefer the taste and terpene profiles of outdoor-grown strains. So, which is better, indoor or outdoor nugs? Let's take a look at the pros and cons of both options!

Ahhh...The great indoor vs outdoor nugs debate. We get this one all the time. There are ignorant cannabis smokers out there who swear that indoor flower is ALWAYS better than outdoor bud and that's that. End of story. Not so fast youthfully ignorant stoner. I'll be the first to admit, I was once one of these logically flawed individuals. I figured hey, indoor buds are usually better looking with all those crystals, so hence, it's better. One problem. Nature is outside, where hemp and cannabis plants are meant to grow. Humans can try to mimic nature all they want, but to no avail. The sun is infinitely stronger than any grow light on the market and that is the key.

While it is true that indoor growers have better control over the grow environment, it does not mean the end product always comes out better than sun grown flower. There are many reasons for this. Indoor growers can still have pest issues, may have shitty grow lights or genetics, or maybe just messed up their grow. So what if it was grown indoors if you have a crop of "Boo Boo"? (slang for less than premium hemp buds, meaning you messed up your grow!)

While it is true that indoor hemp buds tend to look less weathered, seeing as it was not subject to the elements, some of those missing elements can be a detriment. Let me explain. While rain and wind and birds shitting on your plants can cause them to look less than "preemo", not growing outdoors, with all that co2, sun and microbial activity in the soil can produce a less than flavorful bud.

OG cannabis smokers have all experienced indoor flower that looks like it was peeled off a High Times magazine cover, but tasted like ass and had minimal effects. How can this be? Well, terpenes play a huge role in the effect and aesthetic pleasure of smoking bud and indoor grows can lack terpenes, unless they use living soil.

If the bud you are smoking is hydroponic, forget about terpenes, they're going to be non existent, even if it's organic hydroponics, which is damn near impossible. It's also difficult to flush hydroponic hemp buds, so forget abut the coveted "white ash". Bottom line, you're going to be smoking synthetic nutrients along with your pretty ass cannabis bud. Good luck with that. Who cares about bag appeal if you can't even feel the effects or enjoy the experience of smoking the flower?

Now for those awesome growers that grow indoors and feed their plants compost teas and inoculate the soil with live microbes, then indoor bud can have serious terps! That's exactly how I grew my cannabis indoors for years before starting an outdoor hemp flower farm. You see I speak from experience as an indoor grower for over 20 years who tried every single method under the sun. I grew standard hydroponics, organic hydro, organic living hydroponics (almost impossible), standard soil with synthetic nutrients, standard organic in soil and finally living organic soil. There is no debate about what produces the best cannabis bud, true living organics!

What's crazy is not all outdoor flower is actually organic or uses living soil. Using synthetic fertilizers or non composted organics will fry the microbial life and render the soil dead, not alive. Many people mistakenly believe that if it's outdoor, it's always living soil organic, not true! The truth is whether indoor, outdoor, or greenhouse, organic buds produce the best hemp flower.

I'm not here to shit on indoor growers, as I am still one myself. I grow my personal stash in a tent and we do our pheno hunting in the off season with indoor hemp plants. What I am here to say is all these closed minded Reddit hemp nerds who think indoor equals better quality are going to get a lesson from an OG today.

It's less about indoor or outdoor or the often forgotten greenhouse bud, (which in my opinion is actually the best way to grow cannabis) and more about the skill of the grower, the use of living organics and the genetics.

I will admit that indoor flower does tend to produce more cannabinoids, i.e. more THC or CBD, but cannabinoids are only half of the battle. You need terpenes to fully activate the THC or CBD or CBG and create the entourage effect. Think back to times you may have had outdoor bud that was only 12% and you got stoned AF. Then think of the time you got some seemingly top shelf indoor cannabis and it lacked flavor and the effect was "meh". It's because it was missing the terpenes!

If you want full spectrum effects from your hemp or cannabis buds, you can't forget the terpenes! How good would a steak be if it had no flavor? Sure you would get the protein, but you would not even enjoy the experience. Terpenes play a role in the overall aesthetic enjoyment of your smokable flower and also contribute to the actual effect and cannabinoid activation. Sun grown cannabis is scientifically shown to produce more terpenes, so take from that what you will.

Too many people nowadays rely on reading blogs, yes, like this one and they think they are an expert on a given topic. The real learning in life comes through experience in my opinion. It's time to get offline and out of the virtual reality where so many live and get down to actually trying things first hand. For OG smokers out there, we realize that whether indoor, outdoor or greenhouse, there are so many variables, that you cannot single out one grow method and claim it as king. You're free to have your preference, but absolute statements are dangerous and rarely true.

I don't mean to be condescending, but I get ignorant comments all the time about how our outdoor flower is overpriced and indoor is always better, blah, blah, blah. I too had to learn I was misinformed and come to the realization that little if nothing in life is absolute. So while I wait for the cannabis and hemp flower community to mature, I'll try to educate you with facts to the best of my ability.

Who am I? Oh, I'm just a guy who has been growing since 1999, has an aversion to anything less than top shelf buds and lives this everyday of his life. I'm the owner and lead grower here at Dreamland Organics and I know what I'm talking about. Period. I learned from experience, not subreddit feeds.

Neither really, I actually think properly done greenhouse bud is the best. You get the best of both worlds from indoor and outdoor grows. You get all the sun and co2 of an outdoor grow, with the protection from the elements of an indoor grow. That's why we are in the process of building 2 greenhouses, one full season and one year round with supplemental led lighting.

Outdoor and indoor cannabis grows can both produce absolute fire buds, but I'm tired of people ragging on outdoor. What they are really talking about is the difference between craft cannabis and industrial. Let me elaborate...

People associate outdoor with low quality because outdoor grows tend to be on a lot larger scale. With all those plants on acres and acres of land, the care to each plant diminishes. Industrial hemp grows consist of 3 steps, buy clones or seeds, plant said seeds or clones and harvest. No plant thinning, no individual plant compost tea feeding, no pest checking, just plant, water and harvest. So of course that bud is hit or miss and likely to miss if anything goes wrong in the slightest. And something usually does go wrong. There may be unchecked pest issues, a hermaphrodite plant which seeds up the whole field, mold issues and more.

But a properly done, smaller scale craft hemp or cannabis grow is likely to produce a more flavorful, more effective bud, albeit with slightly less bag appeal. That is not always the case, as some of our buds look like indoor buds. Read our reviews and some people say things like "Dreamland Organics has the best indoor hemp flower in the game". I guess they did not read our website or follow us on Instagram, they just went straight to "add to cart". Sssh, what they don't know won't hurt them in this case, if they think it's indoor bud so be it, as long as they are satisfied.

In all seriousness we are quite transparent here and we urge you to read what we post on our site, social medias and dig as deep as you need to to find out who we are and what we stand for.

At heart I'm just a weed snob and cannabis lover who started growing to insure I always had a consistent supply of organic, top shelf cannabis flower on hand for my personal use. I translated those skills I learned in to a business and hope to share my talents and passions with the world. Who the hell am I? I am "Dreamland Dae" and I approve this message..uh, I mean blog. Lol.

So to sum up the great indoor versus outdoor cannabis debate, let's do a quick recap. It's not so much about indoor or out, but the grower, the level of care and the environment and genetics. An indoor grow room can have old lights, bad soil and a lazy grower. Do you think the crop is going to be fire? And likewise an outdoor grow can have bad weather conditions, pollination from another hemp farm or insect issues.

It all comes down to a set of variables and when favorable conditions align, good premium hemp or cannabis buds ensue. So stop making ultimate statements using words like "always", "never" and the like and judge each grow on a case by case basis. That is the only fair way to judge a top shelf hemp bud. The proof is in the puff, not whether it was grown outdoors or indoors. How cannabis smokers became so closed minded is beyond me, as this plant is supposed to expand your mind!

- Pros: typically higher in THC content, more stable environment for plants to grow in, easier to control pests.

- Cons: More expensive growing costs (lighting/water), less terpenes resulting in less flavor.

- Pros: typically lower in THC or CBD content, more terpenes resulting in better flavor, lower growing costs.

- Cons: less stable environment for plants to grow in, higher risk of pests, can be harder to control climate conditions.

So, what's the verdict? In general, indoor cannabis is going to be higher in THC content and have a more stable environment for growth. However, it will also be more expensive to produce. Outdoor cannabis tends to have a lower THC/CBD content, but is richer in terpenes and flavors. It is also usually cheaper to produce than indoor cannabis. We say usually as our cost to grow on a nature reserve at 1000 foot elevation, away from any overspray is not cheap. But I digress.

Ultimately, it comes down to personal preference – some people prefer the effects of indoor strains while others prefer the flavor and effects of outdoor strains. There is no clear cut winner in the indoor vs outdoor nugs debate, but we say if you choose organic bud, you can't lose!

Regulations on hemp flower and cannabis vary from state to state and country to country, so make sure you're abiding by your local laws before making any purchases! Happy smoking :)

Want to try some organic sun grown hemp buds that you may confuse for indoor cannabis?

Try our hemp flower sampler pack and trick your friends in to believing they are smoking some indoor Cookies bud, only to tell them it's outdoor CBD flower from Dreamland Organics. Be sure to record their reaction and send it to us. LOL. Good times.