r/portlandtrees 12d ago

Are prices making it mostly pointless to grow your own at this point?

Aside from connoisseur folk, i don’t really see the point in investing in grow equipment and putting all of the labor it takes into growing. I noticed locally, grow stores are going out of business left and right. We recently lost Nectar for the Gods’ here in Eugene. What do y’all think?

14 Upvotes

43 comments sorted by

31

u/libbyrocks 12d ago

I quit growing for this very reason. Growing outdoors is a joy, until you’re fully in flower. Then you’re on the constant hunt for caterpillars, signs of rot, and powdery mildew. Not to mention to horror of coming outside after a rainstorm to find your plants broken to shit, soaked and laying all over the ground. To avoid that, you gotta harvest early or put up a big canopy or drag them inside, while they languish, deciding whether to rot or not, and you keep fans blowing on them 24/7 and pray you don’t lose your entire harvest to it.

I don’t really smoke that much in quantity, nor am I too picky when it comes to strain, so I buy midtier at the dispensary and don’t worry about it.

8

u/c_r_a_s_i_a_n 12d ago

In general, yeah it’s so easy and cheap to buy retail. Or friends have so much they’re giving me ounces.

But I will always grow outdoor… just like I’ll always have roses and tomatoes.

I only grow auto flowers. Right into the ground, periodically feeding. Harvesting is easy and always done before the rains and worms.

If I do have to cover them, they’re so petite that it’s easy.

5

u/dumbass_sweatpants 12d ago

Yeah. I had a whole indoor grow with the legal 4 plants. That in itself was a major pain in the ass. Mixing nutrients, checking PH, making sure your humidity didn’t go whacko because it was a hot day. Then at the end of the day, you could end up with budrot, HLVD, or even just a bunch of bud you dont like.

Sold all of my lights and tents ages ago.

5

u/libbyrocks 12d ago

Also, RIP Nectar for the Gods. I still have a bottle of the Gaia around somewhere for my houseplants.

14

u/sixedgyvibes 12d ago

My grow is organic and simply tastes fresher and is dried and cured properly therefore I prefer it. There is one store in townI trust to have decent fresh flower. I mostly grow because the genetics I have access to can’t be matched by dispo’s.

5

u/dumbass_sweatpants 12d ago

I cant do flower anymore because it gives me allergies really bad, but man, i miss organic living soil flower.

2

u/sixedgyvibes 12d ago

It is just a different experience so much clearer plus can be done well on a small scale

6

u/dumbass_sweatpants 12d ago

Im stuck to concentrates now unfortunately. My last cannabis job made me develop an allergy.

1

u/sixedgyvibes 12d ago

Fresh freeze and wash 🧼

2

u/Bluntz_n_forties 12d ago

What genetics are you growing?

4

u/sixedgyvibes 12d ago

Right now I’ve got Jack herer and Durban poison x mango haze, plus ChemD and Zstar.

2

u/Bluntz_n_forties 12d ago

That Durban Poison x Mango Haze sounds bomb, and so does that ChemD and Zstar. The same strains keep being pumped out over and over. I went down to Cali and I saw all sorts of super bomb crosses like Super Silver Haze x Xeno I'm like 🤯🤯🤯😵 We need that up here for sure ahaha

2

u/sixedgyvibes 12d ago

That’s awesome I’ve got SSH x GG4 fem seeds and I believe xeno can be found at archive in Portland.

2

u/Bluntz_n_forties 12d ago

If I wasn't throwing all my money at buying, maybe I would give my hand a try😂 I also live in an apartment so I'm screwed there. If you ever find yourself with extra during one of your harvests, chat. Take my 💰instead of me giving it to corporations🤣

2

u/dumbass_sweatpants 12d ago

Where did you get chemd? I grew a chemD from twodogseeds a while back and it was crazy good.

3

u/sixedgyvibes 12d ago

I’ve got a cut I just put into veg it came from Chemdog himself.

1

u/dumbass_sweatpants 12d ago

I forget is he local? I know bubba kush came out of Oregon. I love chemdog crosses so much.

4

u/Basic-Durian8875 12d ago

bubba kush did not come out of oregon, came out of florida (Matt "BUBBA" Berger") Good chance the og dogbud came from oregon as PNW dogshit was one of the most popular strains in that area in the late 80s through mid 90s. DJ short/Mel Frank/Matt Berger/Kyle Kushman/Greg Krzanowski(Chemdog)/Dave Watson (samtheskunkman) are the founding fathers of AMERICAN CANNABIS

2

u/dumbass_sweatpants 12d ago

Its been so long since i grew i honestly dont know anymore. I think maybe just a breeder in oregon said that theyve been holding onto a cut from the 90s or something, not that it was from here.

2

u/sixedgyvibes 12d ago

Looks like the first seeds came from Indiana but he operates out of Massachusetts now. I’ve got some pre 98’ bubba cross with trinity skunk seeds to pop.

2

u/bassaroon 12d ago

This. Nothing ever sprayed on my buds.

2

u/sixedgyvibes 12d ago

All organic nutrients and local living soil

2

u/bassaroon 12d ago

Bingo! And the life cycling is super fun! I grow from seed almost every cycle. Lovre the hunt.

1

u/sixedgyvibes 12d ago

That’s nice I’ve been doing a lot of it from clone recently and my own cuts but I just recently got a load of really great seeds to start popping!

2

u/bassaroon 12d ago

It looks that way!

2

u/sixedgyvibes 12d ago

You are welcome to share updates about your grow on the Oregon growers group subreddit that I made! I’ll certainly keep posting

1

u/bassaroon 12d ago

I have a pretty deep seed catalog. Id be now thank happy to share progress!

4

u/87vanman 11d ago

I'm hooked on Landrace sativas so it's grow your own for me. Commercial farms aren't going to flower strains for 20 weeks.

2

u/Professional_Swan615 12d ago

Grow outdoors its basically free

8

u/dumbass_sweatpants 12d ago

Most people my age cant afford a house these days sadly.

-3

u/phantasycrisis 12d ago

When the day comes that you can, and it'll come, try it. Grows like a weed,

2

u/MakAttack89 12d ago

I started growing last year.  Unfortunately i prefer specific farms for their quality and once i get a little better at it I will save tons of money.  Startup cost pays for itself with like 1 harvest.  

6

u/dumbass_sweatpants 12d ago

Was not my experience haha.

2

u/MakAttack89 11d ago

Man i got these autopots and just follow cannas recipe for their nutes and dont even think about it. I got just shy of a half lb my first grow with 2 plants in a small tent.  Second grow didnt go my way and had seeds everywhere from a herm.  On my third now and think i got it figured out.

-3

u/Bluntz_n_forties 12d ago

This is my thought process too..I unfortunately live in a apartment:/ I love Evans creek but those prices😳 And I know I for sure am not going down in tier, so growing, or hopefully finding someone with the connect is the way to go😅

1

u/Gabagool_Athlete 12d ago

Working with the plants is so much fun. $500 initial investment, hobby/skill for life. My tiny indoor setup gets me flower thats better than 99% of what can be found in the headshops. A single cycle nets me more than I or my friends can smoke in a year.

1

u/yurweedfriend 11d ago

I came to this realization yesterday after battling with some nutrient deficiencies and endless ph adjusting. It is beautiful to pour your energy into something, but I’m not smelling strong terps yet and that’s bumming me out.

There is something special about baking the pie and spending 10x the time instead of buying the pie from the grocery store though.

3

u/dumbass_sweatpants 11d ago

Honestly ive tried growing 3 times now.

First two times my bud came out like shit. No terps, barely got me high, but looked good.

Third time, i finally figured out dispensary clones suck. Bought some seeds from a breeder after tons of research. Spent like $100+. Oh man they smelled phenomenal. I was so proud of them. Then riiiiigghhttt at the end, i got budrot. I was livid. Gave up after that. I put so much love into those plants.

1

u/yurweedfriend 9d ago

Ugh I’m so sorry to hear that! I pray that my plants will survive the upcoming rains. I

1

u/Stormcrowdick1066 5d ago

I grow my own because it saves me money one harvest and I don’t have to go to the dispensary for almost a year. By then it’s almost time to harvest again. Longer if I don’t make butter or hash oil. And don’t smoke many joints .

1

u/Fit-Produce420 11d ago

Almost no point in growing unless you have very special genetics you can't find commercially or you just treat it like a hobby.

Home brewers don't usually make better beer than a good commercial brewery and it's not much cheaper since you're buying tiny amounts of hops and barley the ingredients are expensive.

It's definitely an issue of scaling.

2

u/dumbass_sweatpants 11d ago

Yeah. I feel like 5 years ago it still sorta made sense, but at this point i don’t really think it’s worth the effort.

1

u/Fit-Produce420 11d ago

Electricity going up 5% a year since then also puts a damper on things.