5 Tips How to Protect Your Outdoor Cannabis Grow

While growing your own cannabis is still considered as illegal in most of the European countries and can lead to huge fines, there are some countries in which the laws are not as strict. Those countries that are not as strict on cannabis include the Netherlands, Czech Republic, or Italy.

Why is it like this? For example in the Netherlands, where growing is technically illegal, the police don’t do anything about it unless someone complains. After all, why should they punish someone for growing their own cannabis, if they can legally buy it in a store?

As you can read on this Washington DC dispensary website: “Growing your own weed is a great way to save money on recreational cannabis products and can offer you some peace of mind and quality assurance, knowing exactly how your flower was grown.“

However, planting your own marijuana -- especially outdoors -- comes with a risk of it getting stolen or damaged by either animals or weather conditions. This means that you have to take special measures to ensure that your cannabis is safe and sound. Keep in mind that even though those tips are mainly directed towards European growers, they can be used by growers from all over the world.

So how can you do that? Well, there are a few ways, which include…

Giving an impression of being at home

It is no secret that people who are trying to steal from you will be waiting for a moment when you will not be at home to minimize the chance of being caught. That is why it is important to behave as if you were there at all times. For example, make yourself visible at different times of the day. Read a newspaper in your garden in the morning, or yell to your neighbors from time to time.

If your schedule does not allow you for random appearances during the day, there are a few tricks that can help you with creating the impression. First of all, leave your car in the driveway, and use public transport or a bike to get to work or meet up with your friends. Also, you can leave your lights on at night.

While it might seem weird, you will be surprised at how well it prevents the thieves from figuring out when you’re home and when you’re not.

Buying security cameras

Security cameras are a good investment regardless of the purpose, as they keep your house and belongings safe.

When looking for a security camera, you should look for one that has features such as night vision so that your growth will also be protected during the night, and motion detection and alert so that you know if someone is in the backyard when you are not around.

Also, look for a security camera that will stream the footage also on other devices such as your mobile phone and not only on your computer. That way, you will be able to see what is going on on your property at any time, wherever you are.

This will protect you not only from human thieves but also from animals. When you have an alarm system connected to your security camera, you can turn on the alarm, which will spook the potential stealers.

An additional advantage of security cameras is that if your crop by any chance gets stolen, and you are growing it legally, you can always give the footage from it to the police. It will definitely speed up the process of catching the thieves.

Placing your crop in a greenhouse

Another great way of protecting your outdoor cannabis grow is by placing it in a greenhouse. Not only will it protect it from thieves and animals, but also weather conditions such as strong winds, snow or storms.

Besides, when you are growing your cannabis in a greenhouse, you can install an air filtration system that will neutralize the plants’ smell.

An additional benefit of this method is that by manipulating the prevailing climate inside of it, you can grow your cannabis all year round.

Hiding your cannabis among other plants

The truth is that you never know who wants to steal your plants or report that you are growing them - it might as well be a not-so-well-meaning neighbor, which happens more often than you may think. This is why you should hide your cannabis the best way you can.

One of the most effective ways of doing it is by placing it among other plants, such as tomatoes, flowers or herbs. Not only will they hide your cannabis, but they can also repel cannabis pests like aphids, and instead attract helpful insects like ladybugs.

There are many plants that have a very similar appearance to cannabis. Those include Pride of Madeira, Lupines or Stinging Nettle.

Setting up some traps

When setting up a trap in your garden, you need to remember that installing a trap that can potentially hurt or even kill somebody is illegal and can get you arrested. That is why booby traps are a definite no-no.

You can use, however, alert traps. While they are not bringing much harm to the thief, they can scare them away faster than you think. Plus, they are a great way of catching small animals that might be snooping around your crop looking for some food.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, there is more than one way in which you can protect your outdoor cannabis crop. What is more, many of them can be used simultaneously - for example, you can install security cameras in a greenhouse that conceals your precious plants.

No matter which one you will choose, you can be sure that your cannabis will be perfectly protected, and that’s all that matters.