The Quality Cannabis Debate: Indoor vs. Outdoor

There are things in life that command a higher price simply because of where they come from. Watches. Cigars. Wine. Cars. Coffee. But are these inflated prices really based on the superiority of their geography, or do they cost more because the company was able to build a brand around quality and consistency? 

With this in mind, it is interesting to hear people discuss price differentiation in cannabis flower based on it being grown inside, in a greenhouse, or outside. People are very accustomed to paying more for indoor flower, less for greenhouse flower, and even less for outdoor flower. 

But why exactly is that?

A HISTORY LESSON 

When this business became illegal in 1937, the entire industry either had to move inside or to deep forested areas. Needless to say, most went inside.

Over generations, people became really good at indoor growing. While the cost to produce went up (think of the infrastructure needed to support indoor growing), the amount of environmental control did too. The industry thrived.

Cannabis started to emerge from the shadows of illegality in 1973, and it has been on a legalization trajectory ever since. With this change in policy came growers desiring to move back outside. The problem was, they were out of practice.

MOVING OUT(SIDE)

Any farmer will tell you that growing inside is a totally different discipline than growing outside. Those who braved the switch and headed outside to grow cannabis found that it was much more difficult than anticipated.

There were numerous setbacks: Plants were yielding low cannabinoid and terpene profiles. Plants were highly susceptible to bugs and diseases. Plants were not passing the state lab tests. Flower material was being remediated and dropping significantly in quality.

With this lower-quality product, sun-grown cannabis sold for less than indoor flower. Similar circumstances happened with early greenhouses as well.

GETTING IT RIGHT 

Even with the early quality struggles, people kept growing cannabis outside. And they continued as the market transitioned through a gray market to a commercial one. Eventually, these outdoor farmers got really good at what they did, and some customers came to prefer outdoor flower over all else. 

The biggest surprise to most people is that outdoor flower is highly competitive with indoor flower when it comes to THC percentages, passing state tests, and (perhaps most importantly) elevated terpene percentages.

When we consider that the effects of marijuana come from the mix of cannabinoids and terpenes, quality then becomes a matter of the plant itself and not where it was grown. 

PERSONAL CHOICES

This industry is still young, and people are exploring their new options.  

We at Grasshopper Farms (a Michigan cannabis grower) believe there is something very special about quality outdoor flower. We believe the sun, rain, and wind play incredible roles with our plants. We also believe the moon and being outside in life contribute to our quality. Outdoor marijuana growing is also less energy dependent and better for the environment.

Whatever you reach for, just know that high-quality cannabis flower can come from indoor, greenhouse, or outdoor locations. The quality of a plant should be an assessment of the plant itself, and not where it was grown.