You don’t have to have a green thumb to dabble in growing your own weed. There are a variety of reasons to cultivate your own medicine, whether you want to save money or learn about agriculture. No need to have a greenhouse, or a grow room basement: a well-lit room or a couple 1000-watt lamps are sufficient for novice cultivators growing one or a few small plants. Here’s some inspiration to get you started.
Cost
Growing your own cannabis can save a ton of money. The average plant can yield about an ounce of bud, and over time, the better you get at growing, the more you’ll save at the dispensary. You can get started growing weed on any budget, whether you try a small plant by the windowsill, or a few plants in the closet under 1000-watt lamps. Over an eight to ten week grow cycle, you can grow a couple ounces, which all add up considering how much you’d otherwise spend at the dispensary.
Take Control and Learn About Your Plant
Sativas and indicas look different. It’s hard to tell when you’re just buying bud or vape pens at the dispensary, but if you grow your own weed, you’ll learn about the nuances that give each strain its own flavor and personality. Moreover, growing gives you control over your supply and how it’s grown. You can grow a few plants over different intervals to ensure that you always have fresh bud and that you know exactly where it’s coming from. You’ll be supporting local, homegrown boutique cannabis, without worrying about whether you’re also supporting the politics of trim camp or large corporate cultivation facilities.
Avoid Pesticides
If you grow your own weed, you know for sure that it’s organic — so long as you don’t spray it with any toxic pesticides. Few consumers are aware of what chemicals cloak their cannabis buds, or what kinds of pesticides have been concentrated along with the THC in their vape pens. If you grow your own, you can be certain that it’s clean and free of mold and chemicals.
Growing Cannabis is a Gateway to Growing Other Crops
People often become interested in growing other things like herbs and vegetables after an initial interest in growing their own weed. If you grow your weed in a garden, place it next to other plants like mint, which are known to deter insects. Growing cannabis can open the door to a more holistic, grounded lifestyle over all, which allows you to connect to the earth, the seasons, and natural processes that govern how life grows and thrives.
Grow Weed… Because You Can
A number of states allow for home grow. Take this opportunity to better learn about the plant, get to know what makes it thrive, and how it feels to have a hand (literally) in making your own medicine. Growing your own cannabis can be empowering, and a good entry point into becoming more connected to and aware of all kinds of things you put on or in your body — food, topicals, medicine, and recreational drugs.
