Where Does Weed Grow Naturally?

Meta Description
Weed is, well, a weed. If left alone, this plant will take root wherever the sun and soil
allow it to. So, where did cannabis come from? And where can it grow?

Introduction
Humans love domesticating things. Dogs once were wolves roaming the Siberian
wilderness, corn used to only exist in Mexico and Peru, and weed used to be just a wild
weed.

Over the many, many generations of weed cultivation by human hands, the plants we
consume today are very different from the plants that still grow out there in the wild. So
what and where are they? Let’s find out.

What is Wild Weed Like?

Most weed used for consumption comes from unfertilized female plants. Growers discard
all male plants as soon as they can, as they don’t produce flowers and fertilized females
will make fewer cannabinoids as well.

Wild weed is not subject to those controls — males and females grow freely and
fertilization is not curated by humans. At the same time, wild weed is not protected from
the many dangers of the environment.

Needing to adapt on its own, wild weed will look different from its domestic
counterparts.

Wild weed is shorter and bushier than cultivated cannabis plants. The plants also show
smaller buds and flowers full of seeds, as male plants are very effective in fertilizing the
females.

Another important difference is that these wild strains will be 100% indica, sativa, or
ruderalis — a level of purity that’s rare in cultivated weed.

Can You Smoke Wild Weed?

The short answer? Yes.
But wild cannabis has less THC and CBD than cultivated weed, as wild female plants get
fertilized very frequently. Fertilized plants use all their energy to make seeds instead of
cannabinoids.

If you decide to try some, make sure you’re picking a female plant: male wild cannabis
produces fewer cannabinoids, so you won’t be feeling any kind of high!

Despite its often weaker effects, people living in areas where weed grows wild have found
ways of enjoying it. In India, for example, the resin from wild cannabis plants is used to
make charas — a local kind of hashish that can be smoked or ingested orally [1].

What is Ditch Weed?

You might have heard people referring to wild strains of weed as “ditch weed”, and
assumed it to be a synonym for all kinds of wild marijuana. But these terms are not
the same!

Ditch weed, also known as feral weed, is a strain of cannabis found all across North
America, but primarily in the American Midwest.

Feral weed, as its name implies, is not a wild strain of cannabis, but a feral strain. Ditch
weed descends from domesticated plants that turned wild, while wild strains have always
been wild.

Feral weed comes from industrial hemp plants previously cultivated in the American
Midwest for fiber. Hemp and marijuana differ in their chemical structures, as hemp has a
much lower THC level than any weed used for smoking [2].

Rather than smoking, hemp is used for making things such as paper, rope, clothing, animal
feed, and even biofuel [3].

Due to its much lower THC level than most wild strains (0,3% or lower), ditch weed is
even less likely to get you high at all. So unless you want to open up a textile business,
you’ll probably not find any use for this plant at all.

Where does Wild Weed Grow?

Wild weed has a vast habitat range. It is believed to be first cultivated around modern-day
India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Tibet. And indeed, you can find plenty of wild
weed growing in these regions.

Wild cannabis can be found pretty much all across Eurasia, from the more southern reaches
of India to the colder Central Asia and even freezing northern Siberia. Even in the Swiss
Alps and German forests, patches of wild weed can be found growing among other local
plants.
There’s even a parish in Estonia whose flag and coat of arms include a cannabis leaf front
and center! [4]

What’s the Perfect Climate for Growing Weed?

As you might’ve guessed, this wide habitat range means weed can grow just about
anywhere.

From Amsterdam to Calcutta, cannabis is not a picky plant when it comes to climate. The
different subspecies (indica, sativa, and ruderalis) have different preferences, but weed is a
hardy plant.

Still, a climate being “just enough” for weed to grow isn’t the same as a climate that is
“perfect” for weed.

Generally, weed will grow and flower at any temperature from 15 to 30 degrees Celsius.
But to achieve maximum growth, the ideal temperatures should be between 25 and 30
degrees Celsius.

Any climate hotter than 30 degrees may hinder plant growth, and any colder than 15
degrees might prove fatal.

Another thing to consider is humidity. The optimal conditions for cannabis growth occur in
drier, CO2-rich environments [5]. When humidity levels are too high, some strains will
remain in their vegetative state without flowering, and a damp environment might attract
parasitic fungi.

In general, cannabis plants will need more humidity during their seed and growing stages,
and less humidity in their flowering stages. This means that wild weed tends to flower in
early autumn when the air is still a bit warm but not too hot or damp.

You should also remember that the ideal climate may vary for the different weed
subspecies. Sativa prefers warmer and more humid areas, indica montane and more
temperate temperatures, and ruderalis drier and slightly chillier climates.

Does Weed Have Predators?

As with anything in nature, weed is part of the food chain.

Many critters will flock to wild cannabis plants to devour them, causing damage to all parts
of the plant. Some of the more common harmful predators are:

● Deer eat the leaves

● Moles and gophers eat the roots
● Ants eat the leaves and bring aphids
● Grasshoppers, snails, and caterpillars eat leaves, flowers, and buds
● Aphids eat the roots and drink the sap from leaves
 ● Leaf miners also drink sap
● Spider mites also drink leaf sap
● Whiteflies, you guessed it, also go for that sweet sweet sap

But weed is not without allies in its fight for survival: and although it has many harmful
predators, it also has many beneficial predators [6]. These are:

● Birds eat all sorts of bugs and help the plant spread its seeds by eating them
● Ladybugs, whose larvae eat aphids
● Wasps eat caterpillars
● Flower flies, whose larvae eat aphids and whiteflies
● Beetles eat ants and worms
● Spiders will eat anything they come across

Do All Strains of Weed Grow In the Wild?

Yes, though they aren’t the same strains you’ll see in a dispensary.

As mentioned before, all wild weed strains are pure representatives of weed subspecies:
Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and the often-overlooked Cannabis ruderalis.

Though local weed landraces will always be a little different from one another, the three
subspecies can be told apart by appearance and preferred climates.

Sativa, the taller, narrower plant of the cannabis family, enjoys growing in warm, humid
climates, even tropical zones. Native to lowland India, Southeast Asia, and China, sativa
needs lots of sunlight and warmth to flower.

Indica, shorter and bushier than sativa, enjoys more temperate and slightly drier
environments. It grows in Central Asia and the mountainous regions of the Himalayas and
the Hindu Kush. It needs less sunlight than sativa to flower and can survive colder weather.

Ruderalis, the stunted little sister of the weed family, is the smallest cannabis plant and is
much more accustomed to colder climates. It’s native to Europe and the lands of
modern-day Russia.

Ruderalis is less popular than indica and sativa due to its much lower THC levels compared
to the other subspecies, meaning it’s no good for getting high.

Despite this, ruderalis has developed a unique trait: due to its environment being often cold
and dark, ruderalis doesn’t flower with light cycles, but with age. This has allowed growers
to breed many auto-flowering strains.

Is Weed an Invasive Species?

Technically yes, but it’s more complicated than that.
An invasive species is an organism not native to a particular area, whose presence in said
area can damage the local environment.

Cannabis can fit this description, as it grows quickly and its seeds can be dormant for up to
10 years before sprouting. They often end up invading agricultural fields, harming crops,
and even damaging farming equipment [7].

All weed growing wild in Africa, the Americas, and Australia can be considered invasive.

Because of all this, investigations have been carried out both in the United States and
Australia to classify just how invasive cannabis can be. Researchers are also trying to find
ways to mitigate feral weed invasions of farmland [8] [9].

But despite the plant’s invasiveness, local responses to wild weed will vary wildly
depending on who you ask. For example, Jamaicans will not see wild King’s Bread weed
the same way Iowans might see a patch of ditch weed.

Legality
As most weed lovers already know, marijuana laws are changing — and they're
changing fast.

In the United States, the illegality of weed is what led to the existence of feral ditch weed.
With the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, the use of industrial hemp in the Midwest for things
such as rope and textiles began to decline. But that didn’t mean the plants went away with
the businesses!

When the industries disappeared, the hemp remained and soon began to naturally reseed
and multiply, becoming the ditch weed that now spans miles and miles of the Midwest.

The DEA’s Domestic Cannabis Eradication branch tried to wipe out ditch weed, claiming
to have eliminated 118 million feral cannabis plants by 1991 [10]. This didn’t do much to
lower ditch weed populations, as they grow too quickly to control.

Due to feral weed’s low levels of THC, their eradication is now considered a very low
priority even in states where weed remains illegal.

As of 2018, weed plants with less than 0,3% THC became legal in many American states.
Restrictions remain in states like Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska, where large amounts of
ditch weed grow freely.

Illegal growers in those areas have been known to plant their own crops in ditches to
disguise them as feral weed to then pick them later. Law enforcement has tried to deal with
this tactic — but, honestly, wild weed is just impossible to control.
To avoid any trouble and stay on the right side of the law, it’s recommended not to pick
wild weed in areas where you’re unsure of its legality. In those cases, it’s better to stick to
products from your local dispensaries or trusted growers.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does cannabis come from?

Cannabis originated in Central Asia, possibly around the Himalayas or the Hindu Kush
mountains. It then expanded all across Eurasia, from China and India to the Middle East,
Europe, and Siberia.

What’s the perfect environment for weed to grow?

Weed is a hardy plant that can grow in a wide range of temperatures. But the perfect
environment for its growth is warm, between 25 and 30°C, with high humidity as it grows
and lower humidity when it flowers.

What’s the difference between wild weed and regular weed?

Wild weed is not curated by human growers who cull male plants and often hybridize
different strains. Wild weed will have smaller flowers full of seeds and lower cannabinoid
levels, and all plants will likely be 100% sativa, indica, or ruderalis strains. They are also
often smaller than cultivated plants as an adaption to harsher environments.

References
1. Mikuriya, T. H., Grierson G. A., & Campbell J. M. (1894) Physical, Mental, and
Moral Effects of Marijuana: The Indian Hemp Drugs Commission Report. Schaffer
Library of Drug Policy. https://www.druglibrary.net/schaffer/Library/effects.htm
2. Congressional Research Service (2019) Defining Hemp: A Fact Sheet [Fact sheet]
https://sgp.fas.org/crs/misc/R44742.pdf
3. Keller, N. M.(2013) The Legalization of Industrial Hemp and What It Could Mean
for Indiana’s Biofuel Industry. Indiana International and Comparative Law Review.
https://mckinneylaw.iu.edu/iiclr/pdf/vol23p555.pdf
4. Coleman, A. (March 6, 2018) Estonian district votes to get cannabis leaf flag
BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-43300521
5. Chandra, S., Lata, H., Khan, I. & Elsohly, M. A. (2008) Photosynthetic response
of Cannabis sativa L. to variations in photosynthetic photon flux densities,
temperature and CO2 conditions. Physiology and Molecular Biology of Plants.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236189497_Photosynthetic_response_of_
Cannabis_sativa_L_to_variations_in_photosynthetic_photon_flux_densities_temperat
ure_and_CO2_conditions
6. University of California Agriculture & Natural Resources (2018) Pests in Gardens
and Landscapes: Quick Tips - Beneficial Predators. From
https://ipm.ucanr.edu/QT/beneficialpredatorscard.html
7. Levy, P. (February 1, 2010) Nuisance grows like a weed in metro
StarTribune
https://www.startribune.com/nuisance-grows-like-a-weed-in-metro/83213597/?refre
sh=true
8. Canavam, S. et. al. (2022) Cannabis de-domestication and invasion risk. Biological
Conservation.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320722002622
9. Victorian Resources Online (2001) Invasiveness Assessment - Marijuana (Cannabis
sativa) in Victoria.
https://vro.agriculture.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/vrosite.nsf/pages/invasive_marijuana
10. Bureau of Justice Statistics (1992) Drugs, Crime and the Justice System. US
Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs.
https://books.google.com.ar/books?id=QPpJvy3QAgMC&pg=PA150&redir_esc=
y#v=onepage&q&f=false