How much could you save by growing your own weed in Canada?

Yep, growing your own weed at home will save you a bunch of your hard-earned cash, no two ways about it. You’ll save more money growing outdoors than in a grow room (thanks to the extra setup costs for indoor grow rooms and tents), but both methods will save you money in the long run.

Legal recreational weed is here, and it ain’t going anywhere. Take a quick walk around downtown, and your options to buy weed are almost endless.

Dispensaries are great, don’t get me wrong. The convenience of going to your local shop and buying a few grams (or more) of some of the best buds in the world, a couple bags of delicious edibles, or an easy and discreet cart is pretty amazing.

But when that convenience comes at an inflated cost, it can really add up over time.

How much does weed cost from a dispensary?

It’s mostly on par with the BM prices people were paying before weed was legalized. The difference is the quality. Most (but definitely not all) weed sold in dispensaries in Montreal is going to be better quality than the stuff you were used to buying on the streets.

Canada is renowned for being a true Mecca for cannoisseurs worldwide, so it’s no surprise that we’re seeing some of the best weed in the world being sold at our local dispensaries. But the quality control is still totally out of your hands when you buy weed from anywhere, and LPs (licensed producers) aren’t always known for their keen attention to detail.

So, how much does weed actually cost from Montreal dispensaries?

Let’s use Société Québécoise du Cannabis (SQDC – the government-regulated retailer for recreational marijuana in Quebec) as an example.

For standard strains, you’ll be looking at around $7 to $10 a gram, or upwards of $14 a gram for the fancy stuff. Edibles usually sit in the $5 to $15 dollar region per packet, while concentrates start at around $30 per gram.

If you prefer to buy in bulk, you’ll save a bit of money. The lower-quality stuff costs around $125 per ounce (28 grams), which equates to around $5 per gram. The top-shelf ounces usually go for about $220 – $250, which is about $8 to $9 per gram.

Most dispensaries also have deals going on, so you can almost always get a bit of extra weed or a discount on your purchase.

But even with these deals and bulk-buying options, you’re still paying a premium price for your weed.

When people talk about someone being a “heavy user” of weed, they are usually referring to someone who consumes more than a gram per day or around an ounce a month. Big-time potheads will also usually go for the higher-priced stuff, as their tolerance levels are through the roof.

So, let’s do a yearly cost breakdown of buying from dispensaries:

• If you are buying it per gram – 1 gram per day at an average of $10 per gram = $3,650 per year
• If you are buying ounces – 28 grams (ounce) per month x $220 per ounce = $2,640 per year

Even if it takes you two months to get through an ounce of bud, that’s still a semi-decent used car worth of cash every single year that you are, quite literally, blowing up in smoke.

So, how much money can you save by growing your weed?

Well, even if you invest in a decent indoor growing setup that will last you years, you should be able to save a sizeable wad of cash in the very first year!

How much does it cost to grow your own cannabis at home?

There are so many variables that come into play with cannabis cultivation. Giving a single answer to this question is impossible without making a few assumptions, so we are going to do just that.

Let’s assume:

• this is your first time growing
• that you are planning to grow four plants (the legal limit in Canada)
• and that you will be using an organic soil mix that won’t need a bunch of extra (and expensive) nutrients and amendments.

Initial setup costs – Indoor and outdoor

These are the things that both indoor and outdoor growers will have on their shopping list before they are ready to get growing:

High-quality seeds

Too often, new growers end up with a few mystery bag seeds and hope for the best. What’s the point of gambling on an unknown strain when you can legally buy whatever strain you like? You are about to invest a lot of time and energy into these plants, so it’s worth spending an extra bit of money on some high-quality, well-documented seeds.

If you are growing four plants, we recommend buying and germinating 8 seeds, an then selecting the four best to grow.

Cost: Around $80 for 8 seeds

Growing medium

Weed will grow in almost anything, but if you want to cut out a lot of the variables and issues that come along with growing weed, we recommend buying organic soil mix. This is especially important since you won’t be using any synthetic fertilizers or pesticides with your plants.

Cost: Around $50 for a two cubic feet bag of organic soil mix

Pots

Airpots or smart pots are your best bet, but they definitely aren’t cheap! Cheaper plastic pots will do if you need to save a couple of dollars, just make sure to add extra drainage holes to the bottom of them. You want 12 to 15 L pots.

Cost: Around $15 per pot (x4 = $60)

So, when you add the cost of these 3 essential initial setup elements together, you are looking at around $190. That’s already a saving of over $2,000 from buying weed at an average of $10 per gram!

And honestly, that’s really all you need if you are growing outdoors!

Sure, you will have to pay for the extra water (and electricity if you need to run some supplemental lighting), but that’s pretty much it.

Indoor growing costs

When it comes to indoor growing, there are a few extra things you’ll need to buy. We heavily suggest that you buy high-quality indoor growing equipment – the cheap stuff is not going to last, and you’ll end up spending more in the long run.

Grow light

A good-quality LED grow light is the way to go, as they are long-lasting and do not produce a lot of heat, making them perfect for indoor growing. Always look for an LED panel that uses Samsung diodes

Cost: Around $500

Grow tent

You can convert any room into a grow room, but for the sake of simplicity, we are going to assume that you will be using a 4×4 grow tent. This gives you enough space to have four plants growing in one tent, and also enough space for your lights and other equipment.

Cost: Around $200

Extraction fan and carbon filter

These are essential for keeping your grow room odor-free and ensuring proper air circulation. Look for a fan with at least 300 cubic feet per minute (CFM) of airflow and a quality carbon filter to help eliminate odors.

Cost: Around $200

Nutrients and supplements

As mentioned earlier, we recommend using organic soil mix that already contains most of the necessary nutrients. But you may still need some additional nutrients as your plants reach various stages of growth.

We recommend using a high-quality organic nutrient line.

Cost: Around $200 for a year’s supply

All up, that’s about $1100 to set up a basic indoor grow room.

Final calculations

Okay, let’s break it all down.

For a basic outdoor grow, you are looking at around $300 all up. Indoors, its going to cost you closer to $1400 for a year’s worth of weed.

But, remember, your first-year setup costs are the most expensive. In subsequent years, you will only need to spend around $200 for a year’s supply of quality seeds and organic nutrients.

That’s a saving of over $2,000 from buying weed at an average of $10 per gram and about half the yearly price if you buy ounces at a time.

And we haven’t even mentioned how rewarding it is to grow your own weed. It’s kinda hard to put into words how satisfying (even therapeutic) it is to nurture a plant from seed to harvest and then enjoy your very own homegrown. Plus, you can experiment with different strains and growing methods until you find what works best for you.

What are you waiting for? Grab some seeds and start growing!