How Much Sun For Cannabis?

Sunlight contains the perfect light spectrum for growing cannabis, but it is very tricky to control. If you are planning to grow cannabis outdoors, you should understand the importance of sunlight, but you should also understand how much is too much. When it comes to growing, there are two types of cannabis plants: photoperiod cannabis and autoflowering cannabis. Both grow well outdoors. Photoperiod cannabis requires an uninterrupted period of darkness to bloom, whereas autoflowering weed requires more light and less darkness to bloom. Autoflowers are also suitable for growing outdoors in areas that do not get plenty of light. This is because autoflowers can flower even when the sunlight is weak. Sun is essential for cannabis plants. Whether in the shade or sun cannabis requires light to undergo photosynthesis. This light can be natural, artificial, or reflected.

Importance of sunlight when growing cannabis

Light is essential for cannabis plants to reach their greatest potential. When you grow cannabis outside, sunlight is your light source, and cannabis plants can absorb plenty of it. The cannabis plant’s love of sun is the reason why sunny places such as South Africa is perfect for outdoor growing. 

Here’s why sunlight is important:

Sunlight helps cannabis plants produce stems and leaves through the process of photosynthesis. These stems and leaves then play a crucial role in absorbing more sunlight, which is then used for further growth of the cannabis plant.

Sun-grown cannabis often produces better yields and higher profiles. Although soil and water also play a role in cannabis plant growth, they don’t have as big of an impact on your plant’s growth as sunlight does. More sunlight means higher yields. 

Sunlight determines the growing season for cannabis plants. When enough sunlight is available year-round, like in the sunny Southwest or Southeast, autoflowering cannabis can be planted several times a year.

If you are growing outdoors, sunlight will be your primary light source. Alternatively, if you don’t receive a lot of light, you can use a reflector to increase the amount of sun that your plants receive. Reflected sun cannabis still gets the benefits of being grown outdoors.

The Benefits of outdoor-grown cannabis

When it comes to the sun, cannabis can hardly get enough. The two work together to produce potent buds, and it’s incredibly cheaper than growing indoors. All you need is a little sun, cannabis seeds and a few supplies. Based just on how easy it is, outdoors is simply the best way to grow cannabis.

Here are some other benefits of growing outdoors:

Sun-grown cannabis reduces the cannabis industry’s carbon footprint. Research shows that indoor-grown cannabis consumes as much energy per square foot as a commercial building, which is a lot of energy. Indoor grown cannabis needs to be exposed to light 18 hours per day, and many growers use high-energy artificial lights such as HIDs to replace sunlight. This leads to a large chunk of energy consumption. Outdoor-grown cannabis, on the other hand, uses the energy of the sun.

Sun cannabis produces more while using less energy. When you grow outdoors, your plant will develop larger buds and produce higher yields. You’ll also spend less time adjusting the environment, because other than moving or covering your plants, there isn’t much that you can do to change nature.

Growing outdoors is cheaper. In addition to artificial lights, grow tents, and fans, you’ll also need to maintain steady temperature and humidity levels. This can become costly. However, when you grow outdoors, you do not have to worry about any of these costs. If you live in an ideal environment, you could grow outdoors with just some seeds.

Outdoor-grown plants tend to be more durable. There’s something special about the full-spectrum light that the sun provides, which is probably why cannabis plants love the sun so much. As a result, sun cannabis tends to have higher quality and better taste. These plants are also better at fighting off mold and mildew.

How much sun does cannabis need?

When you grow cannabis, you need to understand how much sunlight your plant will need, but you should also realize that the sun is both a source of light and a source of heat. You want it to be warm enough for your plant, but not too hot. Temperatures between 60 and 80 degrees are ideal.

Under the direct sun, these temperatures can be challenging. In that situation, you will need to focus on cooling your plant down while providing enough light. Do this by providing water to cool the soil and roots and shade to cool the rest of the plant.

 When it comes to how much light your cannabis plant will need, it depends on whether it is photoperiod or autoflowering. Here’s an overview of the two:

 Photoperiod cannabis

When growing photoperiod cannabis strains, you should expose your plants to 18 hours of sunlight and 6 hours of darkness during vegetative growth, and then 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of darkness for flowering. The darkness is crucial for your flowers to bloom. Some cannabis strains can survive with as little as 6 hours of sunlight, but it’s a good idea to give your plants more than that.

Autoflowering cannabis

Autoflowering cannabis strains also require a large amount of sunlight, but for a shorter amount of time. Many are ready to harvest within ten weeks, and they begin flowering in their fourth or fifth week after germination. The difference is the amount of darkness. Unlike photoperiod cannabis, which requires an uninterrupted dark period to bloom, autoflowers do not. For autoflowers, there is really no such thing as too much sunlight! In fact, they could receive 24 hours of light, which sometimes occur in Far-north areas like Alaska, and grow larger, bushier buds with better yields as a result.  Though we recommend around 4 hours of darkness each night for autoflowers.

Are 13 hours of sun too much for cannabis?

If you are talking about autoflowering strains, absolutely not. However, if it is a photoperiod strain, that is okay during the flowering stage only. You should have more sunlight during the vegetative stage and less darkness to help speed up vegetative growth. But, during the flowering stage, a 12/12 cycle is ideal.  If cannabis plants are exposed to the sun during their dark hour, they may revert to the vegetative stage.

 So, how much sun is best?

Once again, this depends on the type of cannabis that you are growing. Photoperiod cannabis starts flowering when it is exposed to a minimum of 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness each day. After they bud, you must continue providing them with long nights until their harvest, or they might go back to the vegetative stage. 

 Outdoor plants start flowering late in the summer when the nights get longer, and the days shorten to less than 12 hours of sunlight. This is why it is vitally important to make sure that they are not exposed to light during the night. Even things as common as streetlights or spotlights can interrupt the flowering stage. If this happens, your plants may revert to the vegetative stage, or even worse, become a hermaphrodite, which could lead to it pollinating your other plants and ruining your grow.

With autoflowering varieties, the outdoors is the perfect solution for providing all of the sun cannabis needs. It will happily soak up as much as you can give it, you just need to make sure your plants have at least 2-3 months of warm, sunny weather. If you can’t promise this, don’t worry, some autoflowering strains thrive in cold weather. However, when autoflowers are exposed to too much sunlight, they have bigger and better yields.

There’s something special about the full-spectrum light that the sun provides, which is probably why cannabis plants love the sun so much.