Some of the cornerstones of the cannabis community, like our very own Ed Rosenthal, remember a time when all bud was sun grown. In the late 60’s and early 70’s farmers were pushed into the shade along tree lines of southern exposed hills–exposed to the sun but veiled by timber canopies from increasing overhead fly bys. And then when the heat from the fuzz became too much for even the stealthiest outdoor tacticians, American cultivators were forced indoors. The indoor cultivators of the 80’s and 90’s seemingly pushed genetics to new heights with their controlled environments, but even still, with the double ended bulbs and all of the other modern indoor game changing technologies and advances, there’s just something about sun grown buds that can’t be duplicated.
Generally consumers presume indoor is better than outdoor based on appearance–having more noticeable trichome production and larger price tag at the dispensary. Indoor bud costs significantly more to cultivate, but compared to outdoor gardeners, indoor farmers can ultimately control all of their variables and also set up a perpetual “sea of green” harvest schedule that keeps production rolling throughout the year. Outdoor, sun grown bud doesn’t look as nice typically and you only get one harvest per year, two in some areas and increasing options with light deprivation exploration. Purists argue that sun grown flowers are more potent and expressive of a cultivar’s full potential. Now, increasingly people are reassessing the potential of what the sun offers that has yet to be replicated indoors and farmers are increasingly gravitating back to the sun now that the law is allowing them. Increasing scientific study seems to suggest at the very least that the sun’s UV rays have a hand in shaping the variation and amounts of terpenes prevalent in a finished flower in a way that has yet to be duplicated or even attempted until recently with the introduction of Light Emitting Ceramics LEC’s and supplemental UV-B lights. We encourage you to experiment indoor and outside and compare and contrast for yourself. Be sure to share your findings with us, photos and video on social media or swing by the Eugene, Oregon office for a sesh.