Cannabis is a much less delicate plant than tobacco. It grows just fine outdoors, even without human maintenance. The only reason it’s often grown indoors is to hide it.
Yup, many of the grows in the north part of my county are outdoors, or under minimally protective hoop houses at most.
Isn’t all the handling of the actual plant matter subcontracted these days anyway? I had assumed that the Big Tobacco firms were all about the marketing, sales, distribution and finance activities, with poorly paid subs doing the grunt work.
It grows fine outdoors, sure, it will survive, but it will also turn hermaphroditic with stress and self fertilize. Consumers who find an occasional seed in their weed are going to be pissed. Outdoor grows in humid environments are going to have mold issues, and aphids are going to be a concern.
As for plant delicacy, I’ve seen how tobacco plants are tossed aroung the drying shed. You’d be losing trichomes like mad if you handled cannabis like that.
The cannabis I legally smoke in Pennsylvania is mostly from Cresco Labs. They are fairly secretive about their business, but as I understand it, they are growing, drying, curing, processing, and marketing.
They are trying to spread things out, and have rebranded dispensaries they own, renaming them Sunnyside.