Growing Cannabis Outdoors in Australia

Spring has sprung, ladies and gentlemen. Which means that we Australians are entering the prime cannabis growing season – between September and April.

Ahhh. What better time to develop a green thumb in our legendary Aussie climate? Nothing better than growing some dank cannabis outdoors in Australia!

Here’s a guide on how to grow the good stuff in the great outdoors – without getting caught. If you’re after a guide for growing cannabis indoors in Australia… we wrote that up, too!

This guide adopts the expert advice of Peter Godfrey; the man who created the ‘Grower’s Lot‘ book – along with a video series on how to grow cannabis outdoors. We suggest you check this series out for yourself, because it’s amazing:

Finding a Site

This guy is a fourth generational landholder, but most people aren’t (obviously). So, if you don’t happen to have a couple hundred acres to yourself…

Get out into a state forest near you, and scout some potential grow sites. An ideal site will have north facing slopes, providing the plants with maximum sunlight throughout the day. They should also be in a place with easy access to water, allowing for efficient irrigation. Privacy is key, but the plants should also be easily transportable from their site location.

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Preparing your plot

Now that you have found a location to grow cannabis outdoors, it’s time to prepare it for your seedlings. To maximise your harvest, you will need:

10m2 of fertiliser – compost, manure, sulphate

Lime (makes soil less acidic)

Water pump

Water source (like a creek, dam, or water tank)

Flood irrigation pipes

First, spread the fertiliser and lime across the ground, evenly distributing it across the site. For the first month, it’s important to support your growing plants with consistent flood irrigation. For this, you’ll probably need to set up a system of pipes, connecting to a water source – and if you need pressure, a water pump may even be necessary. If you are on a north-facing slope, the water can run down from the top and cover the entire site evenly.

Your plants cannot grow to their maximum potential without being nurtured. They require lots of water and sunlight in their crucial developmental stages to maximise their harvest. This step is perhaps the most important if you want to produce the outcome of big, green heads.

Sprouting Seeds

Quality seedlings are also really important, when you’re growing cannabis outdoors. Different seeds will be suitable under different contexts.

Indicas are generally smaller in size, and much less risky than Sativas as a result. If you appreciate the high of a Sativa, but aren’t so much keen on prison, then Indica/Sativa hybrid strains can work really well.

Cannabis seeds do not take much to germinate. All you need to do is place your seeds onto a surface of moist cotton wool. The seeds should then be kept in a dark spot for around 3-7 days, by which time they are ready to be transferred into seedling pots filled with a nitrogen-rich liquid fertiliser. Bury the seeds a quarter of an inch beneath the surface, placing them in full sunlight. Water them twice a day; once in the morning, and once in the afternoon.

Over three weeks or so, your plants will have grown enough to be placed into the ground at your selected site. After maturing over a couple of months, you should be able to clearly distinguish the males from the females. At least half of the plants should be males – and eliminating them is key to the success of your crop. The male plants are initially helpful in the process of sexual reproduction, but their presence means that psychoactive females have to compete with them for valuable space. So, kill all men.

Harvesting and Curing Your Crop

Within 4 months, the plants should be ready for harvest.

At this point, you can cut down the harvest and leave it spaced out in a shady area to dry. You don’t want to keep the plants in direct sunlight at this point.

Cut off the heads from the plant, allowing them to dry on a tarp for the next few days. It’s preferable to place them in a shed or undercover during the nighttime.

A week after harvesting, you’ll be ready to cure your weed. When done correctly, curing significantly increases the quality and potency of your harvest. To cure, you need to place your bud into an airtight container. If your harvest is large, you can place your weed in a giant drum.

Leave the bud to finish its curing process, allowing it to ‘breathe’ occasionally. This should take anywhere between 4 weeks to 2 months.

Voila! You’ve just harvested your own cannabis crop. Well done!

Sources Cited

Peter Godfrey’s Website –

https://www.greengrasspub.com.au/?page=growers