How Long Does it Take for a Marijuana Plant to Fully Grow: Learn What Experts Say

Every cannabis grower would wonder how long their cannabis seeds take to grow. The first that a grower should have is patience since cannabis plants need enough time to prosper. Time will tell if you want to know if your plant is productive. In this article, we will talk about the normal growth period and the different stages you cannabis plant go through.

• Germination

This phase is the process where the seedlings turn into a sapling. If you are using plant cuttings, the germination period is the cloning and rooting period. There are different kinds of germination period depending on what method are you comfortable most.

The germination period depends on what strain you are using but usually, it would take 24-72 hours for the seeds to sprout but for extreme cases, it may take 5-15 days for it to germinate. In this period the moisture and humidity level is observed with a temperature around 21-24ºC.

• Vegetative Phase

This phase is considered as the main period of growth making the most important phase because it is where the part where the plant parts start to develop and stretch up with its designated shape and size. This phase takes more or less time depending on the strain type and some environmental factors. The light hours which is 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness is recommended for this phase.

In general, it would take at least 3 or 4 weeks (21 to 25 days) for an autoflowering strain to finish the vegetative phase and it would usually take around 6 to 8 weeks for a feminized cannabis strain to complete the vegetative phase. By growing indoors, you can still manipulate how long can you stay shift into the flowering phase.

• Flowering Phase

This is the last phase of your cannabis growth. At this time, the body will finish its maturation. You need to shift the light hours into 12-12 that will induce the plant to flower. It is important to know when the flowering phase should end to ensure that the cannabis plant has matured before harvest. 

Autoflowering strain generally finishes around 8 weeks and feminized strains finish within 10-12 weeks in a lot of cases. Harvest early if you want a more potent bud but make sure that the buds are already mature. You can use a magnifying glass to check other parts of the plant such as the pistils if it is ready for harvest.

• Drying and Curing

This is no longer a part of the cannabis plant’s life cycle but this is an important process to further enhance the terpene content of the plant such as the aroma, taste, effect, and potency. The first step to process the newly harvested buds is to dry it. Make sure that it is placed in a cool, dark place.

Drying the harvested buds can take place within 2-4 weeks. An indication that you have successfully dried the cannabis plant is if you can bend the buds with the crispy sound without breaking it. After drying buds, you can now proceed with the curing process through the use of containers where the air can freely flow. This process can last up to 6 weeks and enjoy buds that are chlorophyll and strong smelling-buds free.

Tips to Speed Up the Cannabis Grow

• Choose A Quick-Finishing Strain of Marijuana

There are different types of cannabis that differ in a lot of ways, one of which is its growth’s timeline. If you want to harvest in the earliest time as possible, choose autoflowering strains that will give you yield in as early a 5-7 weeks. For Indica Hybrid strains, they usually have a short flowering period that can only take 7-9 weeks.

• Give Plants 24 Hours of Light per Day During the Vegetative Stage

Studies show that cannabis plants exposed to 24 hour light exposure tend to grow faster during the vegetative stage and it allows you to proceed to the flowering phase earlier. Instead of exposing the plant in 18/6 light schedule the whole time, try days by which you expose it to 24 hour light schedule. If the plant shows signs of weakness back down to 18/6 so that the plant could recover faster.

•  Initiate The Flowering Stage Sooner

Induce the cannabis plant to flower earlier by changing the light schedule so that the seedlings will have a signal to make buds right away. Start a cannabis strain to flower by giving it 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness. However, if you choose to use this method, expect that some parts of the plant have not yet matured such as stems because it doesn’t have enough time to grow.

• Do the Sea of Green (SoG) technique

Even though you want to proceed to the flowering phase faster, it is still always important to check how the worth of your buds will be going to end up. Doing the Sea of Green” (SoG) technique will allow you to focus more on the bud formation even though your plant is still small.

• Grow Indoors 

The light exposure contributes a lot if you want to flower earlier but for outdoor growing the only thing it needs to flower early is to stay in the right conditions where it is directly exposed to sunlight, there is no harm to pest or plant disease and it is planted in good soil. If these conditions are met, except that the whole growth process of the cannabis plant will finish earlier than the expected time.

•  Make Sure You’re Feeding Plants The Right Type of Nutrients During Each Stage of Growth

It is important to ensure that the right amount of nutrients is given to each growth phase accurately. Give the cannabis plant more Nitrogen during the vegetative phase and more Phosphorus & Potassium during the flowering phase. Make sure not to give your plant Nitrogen during the flowering phase because it may slow down bud production.

Final Words

There are different factors that affect the growing time of your cannabis strain. These factors are the type of strain used, growing whether indoors or outdoors, light exposure and different environmental factors. Whether you are growing fast flowering strain or a regular strain, you need to ensure that the cannabis plant gets what it needs in each growth phase to give you an incredible yield.