I grew a plant outside, then moved it inside. That got me aphids. Fewer bugs when growing inside. Growing inside allows the ability to trigger flowering whenever you want. Or grow autos for 12-14 week harvests.
If i lived in southern cali, i would grow outdoors. I dont. Simple as that. Most climates just aint suited for weed.
You have complete control over the environment year round. Temps, humidity, air circulation, light cycles. No worry of bugs and less chance of powder mildew. No one is gonna know you are growing if you dont want them to. For me it's mostly the ability to control every aspect of it. There is nothing left to chance and I'm not at the mercy of mother nature.
Complete control of the environment. Plus I dislike insects that would be sniffing around my plants if outdoors.
If you live where the weather is good and legal and you have a sunny fenced in back patio, get yourself some 20 gallon grow bags, have a blast, harvest all October and laugh about it all winter.
If you lived in So Cal the risk of getting your harvest stolen rises above the reward imo. I know it's like that in central california
Depends on how much effort you put into the grow. If you put minimal effort in, its not that big of a loss. Always have indoor for a backup.
If you can grow outdoors . My advice would be grow 25 % of them outside and the rest indoors. You can continue to harvest all year round. Also plant that seed 4 or 5 months or so before you plan on planting it outdoors . Veg inside This will give you a monster plant and a 6 pound plant or bigger The big boys in cali veg for 6 months then put them outside .