Here are a few factors that affect the decision:

1. Where cultivation needs to take place.
   1. Cannabis is mostly a local market, since there is no export in the US. If you’re based in an area with limited amount of land (IE Los Angeles), indoor may be a necessary option for you.
2. The kind of products you are producing.
   1. If you’re growing to make oil, it doesn’t make sense to grow indoors or in a greenhouse. Quality standards for oils aren’t strict. You can grow outdoors as long as there’s a suitable environment.
   2. If you’re growing for flower, then you’ll probably want indoors or a greenhouse because you get much more control.
3. The environment you’re growing in.
   1. If you have an ideal growing climate, then greenhouses are usually your best option. You get the control of an indoor grow, with the reduced costs associated with an outdoor grow thanks to the sun.
   2. If you have a challenging environment, due to heat, cold, short seasons, etc. an indoor grow may be the better option.

Editor’s Note: Check out our article about purchasing the right greenhouse for cannabis!

Greenhouses are great!

It also depends on the quality of cannabis you’re looking to produce. If you want to make top-shelf flower for smoking, a greenhouse is preferable. If you’re planning on growing cannabis that is geared for extraction, then a predominantly outdoor grow would make sense. I would only limit my size based on the regulations of the county and state.

Now that said, technology is supposed to solve problems in a cost-effective way, but sometimes it doesn’t take an advanced solution to solve a complex problem. Don’t waste money on expensive solutions to problems when you could invest a few hundred dollars in a simpler, low-tech solution.

As a grower though, you should always have a good selection of two or three strains per “strain category.” Strain categories include:

1. Smell and taste
   1. Fruity
   2. Earthy
   3. “Skunky”
2. Cannabinoid levels
   1. High THC
   2. High CBD
   3. Specific Ratios of THC:CBD
      1. 1:1
      2. 1:2
      3. 1:3
      4. 2:1
      5. 3:1

You shouldn’t have too many different strains, as you can spread yourself too thin and your grow will become too difficult to manage.

For some reason, one season is less productive.

While I was growing in Israel, I started to become familiar with DryGair systems. I found them attractive because they developed their systems with three components of climate control:

1. Dehumidification
2. High airflow capacity
3. Heating solutions, depending on the model

Unlike Israel, northern Oregon’s rainy season is long; heating and supplemental lighting are crucial. DryGair has been awesome because we don’t have to invest in 3 separate systems. Instead, we can invest in one system and make it a focal point in our production. It’s extremely affordable and efficient.

DryGair has large units available that work on 3-phase electrical service that act upon approximately 10,000 square feet. They are modifiable for additional heating and cooling units. I also recommended to DryGair that they develop a small unit that could work on one-phase electrical service (120V), since the majority of their units require 3-phase electrical service. Many remote growers in the US do not have 3-phase service, and single-phase units will be a major boon to the industry.

The dehumidifiers also interface with our master controllers. Each system can work in one of two modes: the system can regulate itself based on preset thresholds or it can be controlled by a master controller. Each unit has its own standalone controller and sensors. In our case, we connected the dehumidification systems to our main climate control systems.

But when I moved to Oregon, russet mites and broad mites have proven to be very challenging. They are very difficult to spot when their numbers are small. If you’ve spotted their effects on the plant, it’s already a really bad infestation. You can treat the infestations with pesticides, but you sacrifice quality and money by doing so.

Don’t mind me, just lowering your crop value.

Thus I prefer to maintain a preventative protocol using a variety of products as a weekly spray. My go-to active ingredients include, but are not limited to:

1. Various essential oils
2. Neem oil

These natural, organic pesticides are quite helpful for prevention without sacrificing quality. However, it’s not just what you use, but how you use it. You need to properly apply your prevention protocols in order to achieve uniform coverage. Don’t waste your time or money on improper application and dosage.

The applicators you choose to use depend on the grow environment. Generally speaking, in an indoor environment you’ll probably use atomizers or backpack sprayers, as both of which are very efficient and small. In a greenhouse, you can apply efficiently prevention measures through the water lines or backpack sprayers. If you’re outdoors, you can use commercial farm equipment to spray properly. If you want to use an automatic robot to spray, you need to have your grow space designed in advance with tracks and other requirements.

The bottom line is that cannabis is a challenging crop for fungal management because it’s a flowering crop that needs to be kept in the flowering state for a long period of time. No other crop has that concern. Flowers are very sensitive plant tissue, and keeping the plant in a continually flowering state leaves it very vulnerable to pests and fungus.

Flowers are technically plant genitals, so it only makes sense that they’re sensitive.

Therefore, the best strategy is prevention via environmental control. This means you need to keep the crop dry. You don’t want free water anywhere on the crop. This means that both your structure will need to be designed to divert condensation away from the plants, and your environmental controls will need to prevent your plants from reaching the dewpoint and forming dew on the leaves.

Generally, the way to avoid the wet surfaces issue is through dehumidification. I personally recommend DryGair’s products as very effective solutions for the price. I discovered DryGair about 4-5 years ago when I was struggling with Botrytis in Israel, and they have helped me move away from fungicides towards environmental control.