Long Before Indoor Growing, Maine has long been known As The Sungrown Cannabis Crown Of New England
Growers are gearing up for the 2019 outdoor season. Cannabis greenhouses are popping up all over the state. Boxes are being loaded with organic soils and amendments for what we all hope is a prosperous season.
On one hand its great to see what kind of cannabis can be produced from indoor facilities, but on the other its a shame to see the decline in quality perception of organic sungrown cannabis. Outdoor grows have been practiced by humankind since ancient times. Mainer’s have been growing under the sun for decades and have always been known for quality. Its strange to see all of these old school grassroots growers making the transition to indoor cannabis.
There are still many advantages of growing outside in the direct open air and in greenhouses. From a business, health, and environmental standpoint, sun grown cannabis has significantly more benefits than indoor cannabis. It can be argued that organic sungrown cannabis produces a superior terpene profile, but the flowers can’t produce the density of a c02 filled indoor grow. Cannabis thrived in the great outdoors, in tropical countries, in mountainous regions.
Sun-grown cannabis reduces the carbon footprint of the industry overall and we hope that everything evolves to greenhouses over time. The Journal of Energy Policy estimates that indoor cannabis grows takes up 1% of the entire United States power consumption. Indoor grows use an average of 8 times more energy per square foot as traditional commercial buildings in other industries! Growing cannabis indoors requires an intense amount of light to mimic the sun and it seems the lighting industry comes out with a new technology every 6 months. The sun causes the plants to grow faster and more vigorous. Even the most carefully cultivated indoor plants will never be able to compare to healthy cannabis plants that have been grown outdoors, when you look at overall health. Outdoor plants that are well-tended to, and have been given everything that they need to grow optimally, will be able to give you up to 3times more usable product than an indoor plant. You can never get indoor plants to match the size of sungrown, nor can you get the bud structure of sungrown to match that of indoor cannabis.
We do an outdoor and greenhouse grow every season, on varying levels. Maine cannabis consumers demand multiple flower tiers for quality and price point, which is typical in every legal state. Today most of the sungrown cannabis around the country is turned into hash. Because its cost effective to grow outside, and of the quality terpene profiles, hash making is ideal for sungrown. This is in part to outdoor cannabis typically having a longer growth cycle. With such a competitive market in terms of the amount of recreational marijuana flower and concentrate, any advantage growers can have is welcome.
