There’s a patch of ground behind the lilies in Lauren’s west suburban backyard garden where tomatoes won’t grow. She thinks it has something to do with the soil’s pH, but whatever it is, it’s a fertile spot for a different kind of plant.
She mostly left them alone all summer, just giving them water when they needed it, until late September when they’d grown about 3½-4 bushy feet, their stems ending in narrow clusters of lime-green flowers laced with orange hairs, loaded with cannabinoids and terpenes. These she harvested and trimmed, then hung them in the garage from wire coat hangers until the chlorophyll dried up. After that, she “cured” them in Tupperware for a few weeks until they were ready for consumption.
Well, he might not be happy, but cannabis has been happily growing outdoors, unaided by timed LED light cycles, humidifiers, and synthetic fertilizers, for thousands of years. And while the midwest isn’t the Emerald Triangle, it’s still a good place to grow it. As long as you have a humble patch of secluded sunlight—on a porch, a balcony, or backyard—there might not be a better time than a quarantined Chicago spring to grow your own.
For one thing, it can largely take care of itself. If you’re growing outdoors with a reasonable set of expectations, there’s not a lot to worry about as long as you take some fundamental, low-intensity steps. You may not duplicate that 23 percent THC hybrid redolent of kiwi and Smurf poo that disappeared from the dispensaries on January 2, but you won’t pay as much for it either.
Another option this late in the game is planting clones, or cuttings from older plants. If you can find them, they’re a bit more finicky. They don’t have a strong taproot like seedlings do, and they need a careful transitioning period to get them used to the outdoors, according to Silver. The upside: you know you’re getting a female plant.
Hmm. Still not too clear if the law is OK with outdoor growing. Maybe we should check with a lawyer: “It can be a complicated answer, but the short response is, ‘maybe,’” says Larry Mishkin, a local attorney who specializes in cannabis law in association with the Hoban Law Group based in Denver. “Nowhere is there an express written provision directly prohibiting outdoor cultivation for homegrow. Still, to me, it reads as “no outside grow” without saying “no outside grow.”
