10 Top Tips for Starting Your Cannabis Plants Outdoors

It is that time of year again—another chance to start an outdoor cannabis grow. To help you kick-start your outdoor project in the best possible way, I provide 10 top tips to give you an advantage when starting your seedlings in 2025!

Table of Contents

Top Tip #1 – Finding the Best Location

Top Tip #2 – Choosing the Right Strain

Top Tip #3 – Perpetual Harvests Using Auto flowering Genetics

Top Tip #4 – Using Pots and Planting in the Ground

Top Tip #5 – Good Aeration and Drainage Are Key

Top Tip #6 – Companion Plants to Repel Insects

Top Tip #7 – Starting Your Seedlings Off Indoors

Top Tip #8 – Give Your Plants Plenty of Space to Grow

Top Tip #9 – Root Pruning Using Fabric Pots

Top Tip #10 – Inoculate The Growing Media

Top Tip #1 – Finding the Best Location

It is extremely important that you allocate a sunny location early on for your plants so that they can enjoy as much sunshine as possible. When it comes to deciding the best place to set your outdoor plants, follow where the sun sets each day. Allocate your cannabis seedlings in a west-facing location, and be prepared to move your pots around over the upcoming months to give them as much direct sunlight as you can.

Top Tip #2 – Choosing the Right Strain

Depending on where you live, it may be a significant factor when deciding the best and most practical strain for your climate. If you live somewhere that does not get a lot of sunshine and experience a short summer, choosing genetics with a fast flowering time of 7-8 weeks maximum to allow them to mature and ripen in time for harvest is best. Avoid lengthy flowering varieties unless you experience long summers and a generous winter.

Top Tip #3 – Perpetual Harvests Using Auto flowering Genetics

If you do not have the patience to grow a cannabis plant for 5-6 months over the summer, then you can always choose to grow auto flowering genetics. Autos are tough and resilient plants that can allow you to produce a back-to-back harvest throughout the year. For those who prefer a short vegetative period, autos will be a wise choice, as they will cease vegetative growth and focus their energy on producing buds after week 4, as advised by M.S.N.L.

Top Tip #4 – Using Pots and Planting in the Ground

Planting directly into the ground is a great way to produce monster-sized plants with enormous space for the roots to grow. However, in some cases, the earth may not be optimal for planting in the ground, so you may be better off using a large pot between 8 and 13 gallons. Working with a large pot can give you more freedom when moving your plants around in the event of the sun being shaded by surrounding houses or buildings during sunset.

Top Tip #5 – Good Aeration and Drainage Are Key

When selecting the growing medium you want to grow in, the amount of available nutrients is one crucial factor to consider; however, aeration, drainage, and the amount of water the medium can hold are essential to growing a healthy root system, resulting in robust, healthy, and vibrant plants capable of a large yield. Adding perlite and vermiculite can significantly improve the quality of your growing medium when making a custom organic mix.

Top Tip #6 – Companion Plants to Repel Insects

A great way to provide camouflage when growing outdoor cannabis plants and combat pests is to use companion plants. Adding these plants to your garden will allow you to be more discreet and also is inexpensive to buy. Sensi Seeds recommends using Marigold, Digitalis purpurea, Cilantro, Peppermint, Garlic, Dill, Basil, Costmary, Chrysanthemum, Sunflower, and Yarrow if you want to create the ultimate protection for your seedlings and outdoor growing space.

Top Tip #7 – Starting Your Seedlings Off Indoors

For growers who experience cold and wet weather during spring, a great way to ensure your germinated seeds get the best start in life is to start them inside under a grow light. Starting your seedlings indoors will keep them warm and happy, away from insects or birds, and allow them to form a strong root base. Once they have grown past the third internode and the daylight hours increase over time, you can leave the seedlings outside for the summer.

Top Tip #8 – Give Your Plants Plenty of Space to Grow

When you decide to grow a large number of cannabis plants outside, make sure that you give them plenty of space to grow into. This is especially important to avoid overcrowding if you are planting directly into the ground or a large flowering bed. It is a good idea to provide 1-1.5 meters between each during the seedling stage, as it won’t take long before they grow with a bushy structure and easily outgrow the space they are allocated.

Top Tip #9 – Root Pruning Using Fabric Pots

Plastic pots may be cheap and easy to source from a local garden centre. However, cannabis plants can tend to become root-bound in plastic pots and also become too hot during the peak summer months. Instead, try using a large-sized fabric pot as it allows far greater aeration and encourages roots to become pruned, resulting in a prolific root zone capable of using much more nutrients and water. Fabric pots may be more expensive. However, they are well worth the investment and produce superior cannabis plants.

Top Tip #10 – Inoculate The Growing Media

One of the best ways to produce fantastic cannabis plants is to innoculate the growing medium and root zone with beneficial microorganisms. Inoculating the plants with a compost tea teaming with mycorrhizae fungi, beneficial bacteria and microbes, and probiotic bacteria such as EM1 will not only increase the potential root mass. Still, it will also protect your crop against pathogens and root disease. According to Auto-Seeds, a bad smell in the soil is a warning sign of harmful bacterial activity, often indicating an acidic and unfavorable environment for cannabis growth, so invest in beneficial microorganisms for the healthiest roots and plant growth.

Feature photo: An outdoor cannabis grow that will start flowering soon. Photo credit: Bill Sutherland