Consider Adding these Plants to your Outdoor Cannabis Garden

companion plants for outdoor cannabis grows

I’m currently on the final stretches of my balcony weed garden. I have four beauties in different pots to see what happens when you utilize different spaces to grow similar strains. What strain am I growing? Not sure, it’s a bunch of seeds I had laying around that seemed like it needed a “dirt nap”.

The difference between these plants and my other grows was that I was going to treat these cannabis plants just like any other plant in my garden. And so, I simply planted them in different sized pots, scattered them about my garden and watered them every now and then.

A male did pop up, but that was 1 male out of 4 females so I didn’t mind. Either way, start planting new seeds every month – a month and a half, even in winter. Sure, the crops are less and I may have to use some artificial lighting – but I like to grow weed and smoke it…so I do it all year long. That’s the beauty of cannabis – you can!

Back to the story – this time around, I simply placed my seeds in some pots, put it next to some other vegetables I was growing and went about my business. Because I sprouted in late fall, these plants are already flowering yet probably will only give me 2-3 ounces at most. Nonetheless, that’s some amazing 2-3 ounces so I don’t complain.

Anyhow – as my vegetable garden grew – I noticed that my weed plants were flourishing. I saw fewer pests on them and more beneficial predatory bugs. I also utilized some other vegetable grow patterns for other interesting applications which I’ll relay right now.

Distractor Plants

I once grew outdoors a bunch of weed plants. They were isolated from every other plant with the idea that I wanted to control pests in that area. Long story short, one day a pest made its way into the grow and it took me weeks to get rid of it. I had to sacrifice a plant or two that simply couldn’t recover in time for harvest.

SIDE NOTE: if you’re harvesting and have pests – consider live trimming and removing as many by hand, then freezing them. It works!

This time around I had a few other plants growing in the same space. One was a Sunflower, the other a Mexican Turnip, some chilies, and a few other plant.

While this didn’t remove the pests, it did spread it more evenly over all the plants. I had an aphid infestation starting on one plant that was close to the weed plants. Fortunately they went to this ‘unnamed’ plant and not the buds…this allowed me to use some insecticide where I wouldn’t have been able to on the weed.

I realized, that having a few distractor plants – or plants that attract the same pests as cannabis, can act as a smokescreen. An additional layer of protection.

By changing your grow to a “multi-crop” operation, you reduce the risk of a monocrop infestation.

Camo plants

Some people grow in areas where they cannot grow openly. My plants are on my balcony and sooner or later they will peer their lush heads over the wall. I quickly noticed that my Mexican Turnips followed the same nature as a “Creeper Vine”.

Essentially, they begin to weave into anything. And so, I decided to place some wiring around the walls and feed the vine into it. Now, almost half of the wall is covered with big green leaf. I also sprouted some old sweet potatoes I had laying about and wouldn’t you know – they also follow the path of the creeper vine. Except, dark purples. Just gorgeous!

Anyhow, I now have both of these plants working in tandem to create a natural leaf barrier. While it doesn’t necessarily “hide” the cannabis, the green tapestry allows for the plant to blend into the background.

For people walking outside, they’ll see a green wall of leaf – and the cannabis would be hiding right behind it.

You can also do this with peas or any other type of plant that follows the path of the “Creeper vine”.

Odorous Plants

Another thing that’s good to have in your weed garden are aromatic plants. You want to get flowers, herbs like mint, and whatever other plant that produces a strong floral aroma.

If you have enough of these growing around your plants, there may be trace odors of cannabis in the air, but for the most part, the floral arrangements will make up the largest portion of the “smell profile”.

Also, visually place these plants in areas that people can easily spot. You want passerby’s to immediately conclude “Flower” when they smell something different and not “That smells like weed!” That’s how you get busted.

Get some nice smelling plants and scatter them about your grow, even if you’re doing it indoor. Not only does it help cover the smell, it just looks cool to see purples and blues and reds amongst the green cannabis foliage.

Attractor Plants

Finally, you’ll want to plant a few plants that attract beneficial predators. Herbs like cilantro, dill, fennel will help attract lady bugs. Marigold, Yarrow and Cosmos all attract both lady bugs and praying mantises.

These predatory bugs are your silent assassins and they will help you keep your pests controlled.

Conclusion

If you’re streamlining cannabis production, then monocrop all you want – but if you have the ability to grow some cannabis outdoor, plant a garden around it. Turns out that when you create an ecosystem – stuff flourishes. Who knew!