Whether you’re trying to grow vegetables in a garden or indoors, the first thing people want to know is the length of time that things will take to grow. When it comes to cannabis, this is also super common. How long does it take weed to grow? Is there some sort of timeline that can be followed to see when the plants will be done growing? When people are just starting to grow cannabis, they have no clue how long it actually takes, but after reading this guide, you should have a better idea.
How Long Does It Take Weed To Grow?
The answer isn’t always black and white, but if you’re growing weed inside, many cannabis growers say that it usually takes anywhere between 3 and 5 months, but it depends on a number of things. If you’re looking at the time span between the first day you planted the cannabis seed to the day you’re smoking it, cannabis growers just say that it could range anywhere from 2 months to 7 months to stay on the safe side. This is why it’s hard for weed growers to provide you a proper answer. There are so many different variables that can have an impact on the length of time it takes weed to grow.
Some of the things that affect how long it takes weed to grow are:
The type of strain you’re planting
What kind of setup you have
What size you’re planning to grow your weed plants to
If you’re planning on growing massive plants, then that will obviously take longer in comparison to growing just small ones.
Each process of the cannabis growth cycle takes time. Sometimes a seedling might not even make it to the next growth cycle. Every factor needs to be taken into account, including the length of time that it takes your cannabis to cure once it’s harvested.
You’ll also need to take into account the time that it took you to pick up all of the seeds, supplies, and tools to even start growing in the first place.
If you’re trying to carefully plan out how long it will take your cannabis to grow, keep on reading this guide for more information. The three main factors that play a role in the length of time that it takes to harvest cannabis are:
The yield that you’re wanting
The strain you’re growing
How you’re growing them
Cannabis Timeline
It almost seems that every person you ask has a different answer on the length of time it takes for cannabis to grow. Some people will say that it takes around four months to start harvesting your weed. Others say it’ll take anywhere between 3 and 5 months for indoor cannabis growing.
If you’re growing outdoors, that’s another thing altogether because the weather plays such a large part in how effectively the plants will grow. The general rule of thumb is that the majority of strains should be harvest-ready by around fall.
Just like with everything else, the first step to start growing cannabis is gathering all of the supplies you’ll need.
Germination Of Cannabis Seeds
Germination takes anywhere between 1 to 7 days.
Vegetative Stage
The vegetative stage will take anywhere between 1 to 2 months, but that also depends on how large you want the plants to be. In this phase, your plants will start growing leaves and stems. Many indoor cannabis growers like to vegetate the plants between 1 to 2 months. Sometimes you’ll start to see seedlings flower in as little as 3 weeks after the germination process begins, but those tend to turn into plants that are on the smaller side. A lot of growers like to give their plants a longer chance to vegetate so that they’ll result in much larger plants. Doing this will also result in larger yields, but large yields also depend on if you have a good amount of light exposure across all of the cannabis plants. You don’t have to write the small plants off just yet. If you have a ton of small plants, they can result in producing a lot of buds when it comes time to harvest.
Flowering Stage
The flowering stage will begin in around 8 to 10 weeks, but that varies from strain to strain. The flowering stage of the growth cycle is where you’ll start noticing buds. How long does the flowering stage last? The particular strain you’re growing has a huge impact on how long your plants will remain in this stage, but it averages anywhere between 8 to 10 weeks for the majority of strains. There are certain strains that are specifically bred to go through the flowering stage much quicker than others. Auto-flowering strains are a good example of this. With auto-flowering strains, flowering begins at around 3 weeks and can be ready for harvest within 5 weeks. This results in a total of 8 weeks from when the seed was planted until it is ready to harvest. Some strains will remain in the flowering stage for a few months at a time before you can successfully harvest them. As a general rule of thumb, the longer a plant stays in the flowering stage, the larger the yield will be when it comes time to harvest them. If a plant spends a shorter period of time in the flowering stage, then it’ll typically result in a smaller yield.
Post-Harvest
The post-harvest stage is usually around 1 or 2 weeks. Most cannabis growers and enthusiasts like this stage the most because it’s when the overall fragrance, taste, and appearance of the cannabis really starts to reveal itself. When cannabis bud is harvested, they need to be dried for around 1 week. They’ll then be put into jars so they can go through the curing process. The curing process should take about 2 or more weeks if you want to get the most desirable results. Patience needs to be exercised in the post-harvesting stage because this is the stage in which the cannabis will get better taste, a better aroma, and even better potency. You don’t want to quickly rush your cannabis through this stage because it can increase the quality of your cannabis by up to 50%.
With the right strain of weed, you could potentially be lighting up your cannabis within 3 months of planting the seeds.
Let’s Look At The Breakdown Even Further And In More Depth:
Equipment: 0 – 2 weeks
Gathering up all of the equipment necessary could be done very quickly, or it could take up to 2 weeks. If you’re having to order stuff online and wait for it to come in the mail, then that will obviously slow the process down a bit. After you’ve received all of your supplies and are ready to go, you then have to begin assembling all of the equipment together. The setup should only take a couple of hours to complete.
Finding What Seeds You’re Going To Use: 0 – 4 weeks
The time it takes you to get your seeds ready to go can be quick or slow. If you already have a bunch of seeds ready to go from previous strains of cannabis, then you’re one step ahead of the game. If you’re wanting some unique strain of cannabis that needs to be ordered from overseas, then the shipping time could take up to a few weeks to get to you. Ensure that you trust the company that you’re ordering the seeds from. No one wants to purchase cannabis seeds, get their hopes up, and then have a harvest that is unsatisfactory.
Seedling To Harvest: 3 – 5 months
Seedling Stage
Germinating the cannabis seeds can take anywhere between 1 – 7 days. Depending on what strain of cannabis you have, seedlings can sometimes sprout even after a single day. If they don’t, you should expect them to start sprouting by the 5th day. Some cannabis growers like to start seedlings in tiny containers because they tend to grow faster that way.
Vegetative Stage
The vegetative stage averages around 4 to 8 weeks. If you’re wanting to grow very big plants, then that will take longer. Cannabis growers all seem to have their own personal preference for how long they want their plants to stay in the vegetative stage. Many plants will take up to a month after germination to begin flowering. You’ll need to decide what size of plants you want. If you want big ones, leave them in the vegetative stage for a longer period of time. If you don’t care to have big plants, then you can prompt the plants to begin the flowering stage. What? I can actually force my plants to enter the flowering stage?
If you’re planting a cannabis seed from scratch, there will be around 4 weeks of vegetative growth to follow that before you start seeing any buds grow. On average, cannabis growers will let their plants remain in the vegetative stage for a couple of weeks to a couple of months at a time.
The larger the plant, the larger the yield you’ll harvest from it. Everyone has their own reasons for not wanting to have massive cannabis plants, so they don’t have to let their plants stay in the vegetative stage for a long time if they don’t care to have big plants and a big harvest.
There are cannabis growers that like to get their seedlings into the flowering stage as fast as possible. Doing this will result in smaller plants, but will result in a faster harvest process. One reason why people might want to have an extremely fast harvesting process is if they are growing cannabis in concealed spaces. Some people grow cannabis out of small cases, and with this method, they want their seedlings to enter the flowering phase almost immediately so that the plants won’t get too large. One thing to keep in mind is that the size of the containers and grow lights that you’re using will have an impact on the growth of the seedlings. Tiny containers tend to restrain the roots from expanding and growing bigger in size. Poor lighting also hinders how plump cannabis plants will grow.
A good recommendation is to keep your cannabis plants in the vegetative cycle for around 4 weeks. You’ll want to have a solid 18 hours of light exposure every single day to produce the most desirable outcome. Keep in mind that when you’re forcing cannabis plants to enter the flowering stage, you shouldn’t be expecting a big yield. While small plants do have benefits, reaping a large harvest typically isn’t one of them.
When a cannabis plant is initially entering the flowering stage, it will increase nearly double in size. This is called the “flowering stretch”. You’ll want to ensure that the vegetative stage is finished before your plant will get to the flowering stretch. If you don’t time these things properly, the plant could get too big for the container or area you’re growing it in.
Flowering Stage
The flowering stage averages anywhere between 8 to 10 weeks. The strain and the genetics of your cannabis will play a large part in how long the flowering stage lasts.
The breakdown of the flowering stage is as follows:
Week 1 – 3: Gradually transitions to flowering
Week 3 – 4: Budlets will start to form
Week 4 – 6: Buds will begin to get bigger and thicker
Week 6 – 8: The buds will start to ripen and you’ll notice the pistils will turn darker. There are certain cannabis strains that remain in this stage a little longer than others
Week 8 – 12: The flowering cycle will finish and you’ll be able to harvest
This breakdown is a general guideline for how long cannabis will stage in each of the flowering stages. One strain will vary from the next. You’ll know that your cannabis has entered the flowering stage when you see the buds start to get bigger.
What Are The Flowering Periods For Certain Cannabis Strains?
Every strain will differ at least a little bit in terms of how long they’ll remain in the flowering period.
Strains With Shorter Flowering Periods: 6 – 8 Weeks
Northern Light – This is a strain that’s commonly known for being super simple to grow.
Green Poison CBD – Green Poison CBD is a strain that produces a high yield. It can be used for medical purposes and also has a high amount of CBD in it.
White Widow Fast – This strain originates from the Famous White Widow strain.
Blueberry Cheese – This is a strain that’s simple to grow and flowers very fast. The buds on it are very potent and cannabis users love the effects it produces.
Frisian Dew – Frisian Dew is a great strain to grow outside. You’ll notice that the buds on it will even turn a pink or purple color.
Shiskaberry – Shiskaberry produces a euphoric high that you’ll instantly feel in your head. It’s a perfect strain to consume after a hard day at work and it’ll put you in a creative mood right away.
Auto-flowering Ultimate – This is a super potent auto-flowering strain. It only takes around 10 weeks to harvest. It’s an easy plant to grow and it produces a decent yield.
If you want a strain of cannabis that doesn’t strain that doesn’t have a long flowering cycle, you should stick with auto-flowering strains. These strains should be harvestable within 3 months of planting the seed.
Strains With Medium Flowering Periods: 8 – 12 Weeks
Critical Purple Kush – Critical Purple Kush produces a bud that contains a great smell. You’ll also get a great yield when it comes time to harvest. Even just smelling it is a good indicator of how potent this strain is.
Supreme CBD Durban – This is a strain that many people use for medicinal purposes because it has a THC to CBD ratio of 1:1.
Pineapple Chunk – Pineapple chunk smells exactly like that. It’s a potent strain of cannabis that produces very high-quality buds. It’s fairly easy to grow no matter what type of setup you have. You won’t get massive yields with it, but you’ll love its effects. It’s also won a number of awards, and that’s always nice to know.
Liberty Haze – Liberty Haze has also won awards. It’s a potent strain that doesn’t spend too long of a time in the flowering cycle.
Gelat.OG – Gelat.OG is a mix of Gelato and OG Kush. These two strains are very common throughout the west coast of the United States. It doesn’t take too long to harvest, smells great, is super potent, and yields are high.
Wedding Gelato – This is another strain that has Gelato genetics, but this time they are from Gelato 33, which is known to be a famous strain.
Gorilla Zkittlez – Gorilla Zkittlez is a strain that many people love on the west coast. The buds are coated in crystally trichomes and growers will enjoy the large yield that it results in.
Peyote Critical – Growing this strain won’t result in super high yields, but the high it provides it very strong. It has kind of a purple hue to it.
Power Africa – Power Africa is a very straightforward strain to grow. It typically requires more nutrients throughout the flowering stage in comparison to some of the other strains, but other than that, it’s pretty easy to take care of. You’ll be rewarded with large yields, spicy aromas, and a good high.
The strains on this list that can be grown in soil are:
Power Africa
Peyote Critica
Critical Purple Kush
Strains With Long Flowering Periods: 12 – 14 weeks
A lot of the haze and Sativa strains will remain in the flowering period for a little longer.
Arjan’s Ultra Haze #1 – This strain is a mix of a few very famous strains located throughout Southeast Asia. It’s hard to find this strain in the United States and Europe. If you’re able to get your hands on this stuff, you’ll want to try it out. It creates a psychedelic high that might even be a little too strong for those that are new to cannabis or aren’t sure what to expect.
The majority of cannabis strains are included in the medium flowering period in terms of the length of time that it takes for them to flower.
Many growers like to squeeze more time out of the flowering stages so that they get bigger yields. This is the stage where the plants really ripen up to their best potential. The harvesting period usually lasts around 2-3 weeks, but that can differ between strains.
You can still harvest the cannabis if you want, but being patient and waiting another 2 weeks will provide around a 30% increase in yield in comparison to harvesting right away.
Post Harvest – 2.5 weeks to around 1.5 months
Drying Your Cannabis: 4 – 10 days
If you have high-quality cannabis buds, it might only take around 4 days to dry them properly, but you’ll really want to give them about 7 days or longer to go through this stage. Giving your cannabis a chance to dry off will reduce the chance of mold occurring.
Curing Your Cannabis: 2 weeks – 1 month
The curing process is another phase in the cycle that you need to exercise some patience in. If you cure your cannabis properly, it’ll be better for medicinal purposes such as relieving depression, anxiety and even lowering the pain you might have in your body.
Curing your cannabis also helps eliminate the “grassy” smell that it might have. It’ll make it taste better and basically help get rid of the sometimes negative attributes that can occur once cannabis is harvested.
You typically want to let your cannabis cure for a minimum of 2 weeks. Sometimes people like to cure their harvest for over a month at a time to maximize the benefits.
Overview On Cannabis Growing At A Glance
Going back through the cycle:
You have your seeds
You’ve purchased all of the equipment
You’ve planted the seeds
You’ve harvested the plants
You’ve trimmed the plants
You’ve dried and cured the bud
Time It Takes From Growing The Seeds To Smoking The Weed:
2 months to over 5 months
The Average Time It Takes From Growing The Seeds To Smoking The Weed
3 to 5 months
Now that you’re more familiar with how long it takes to grow your cannabis seeds, why not give it a try?
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How Long Does It Take Weed To Grow In The House?
Whether you’re trying to grow vegetables in a garden or indoors, the first thing people want to know is the length of time that things will take to grow. When it comes to cannabis, this is also super common. How long does it take weed to grow? Is there some sort of timeline that can be followed to see when the plants will be done growing? When people are just starting to grow cannabis, they have no clue how long it actually takes, but after reading this guide, you should have a better idea.
How Long Does It Take Weed To Grow?
The answer isn’t always black and white, but if you’re growing weed inside, many cannabis growers say that it usually takes anywhere between 3 and 5 months, but it depends on a number of things. If you’re looking at the time span between the first day you planted the cannabis seed to the day you’re smoking it, cannabis growers just say that it could range anywhere from 2 months to 7 months to stay on the safe side. This is why it’s hard for weed growers to provide you a proper answer. There are so many different variables that can have an impact on the length of time it takes weed to grow.
Some of the things that affect how long it takes weed to grow are:
If you’re planning on growing massive plants, then that will obviously take longer in comparison to growing just small ones.
Each process of the cannabis growth cycle takes time. Sometimes a seedling might not even make it to the next growth cycle. Every factor needs to be taken into account, including the length of time that it takes your cannabis to cure once it’s harvested.
You’ll also need to take into account the time that it took you to pick up all of the seeds, supplies, and tools to even start growing in the first place.
If you’re trying to carefully plan out how long it will take your cannabis to grow, keep on reading this guide for more information. The three main factors that play a role in the length of time that it takes to harvest cannabis are:
Cannabis Timeline
It almost seems that every person you ask has a different answer on the length of time it takes for cannabis to grow. Some people will say that it takes around four months to start harvesting your weed. Others say it’ll take anywhere between 3 and 5 months for indoor cannabis growing.
If you’re growing outdoors, that’s another thing altogether because the weather plays such a large part in how effectively the plants will grow. The general rule of thumb is that the majority of strains should be harvest-ready by around fall.
Just like with everything else, the first step to start growing cannabis is gathering all of the supplies you’ll need.
Germination Of Cannabis Seeds
Germination takes anywhere between 1 to 7 days.
Vegetative Stage
The vegetative stage will take anywhere between 1 to 2 months, but that also depends on how large you want the plants to be. In this phase, your plants will start growing leaves and stems. Many indoor cannabis growers like to vegetate the plants between 1 to 2 months. Sometimes you’ll start to see seedlings flower in as little as 3 weeks after the germination process begins, but those tend to turn into plants that are on the smaller side. A lot of growers like to give their plants a longer chance to vegetate so that they’ll result in much larger plants. Doing this will also result in larger yields, but large yields also depend on if you have a good amount of light exposure across all of the cannabis plants. You don’t have to write the small plants off just yet. If you have a ton of small plants, they can result in producing a lot of buds when it comes time to harvest.
Flowering Stage
The flowering stage will begin in around 8 to 10 weeks, but that varies from strain to strain. The flowering stage of the growth cycle is where you’ll start noticing buds. How long does the flowering stage last? The particular strain you’re growing has a huge impact on how long your plants will remain in this stage, but it averages anywhere between 8 to 10 weeks for the majority of strains. There are certain strains that are specifically bred to go through the flowering stage much quicker than others. Auto-flowering strains are a good example of this. With auto-flowering strains, flowering begins at around 3 weeks and can be ready for harvest within 5 weeks. This results in a total of 8 weeks from when the seed was planted until it is ready to harvest. Some strains will remain in the flowering stage for a few months at a time before you can successfully harvest them. As a general rule of thumb, the longer a plant stays in the flowering stage, the larger the yield will be when it comes time to harvest them. If a plant spends a shorter period of time in the flowering stage, then it’ll typically result in a smaller yield.
Post-Harvest
The post-harvest stage is usually around 1 or 2 weeks. Most cannabis growers and enthusiasts like this stage the most because it’s when the overall fragrance, taste, and appearance of the cannabis really starts to reveal itself. When cannabis bud is harvested, they need to be dried for around 1 week. They’ll then be put into jars so they can go through the curing process. The curing process should take about 2 or more weeks if you want to get the most desirable results. Patience needs to be exercised in the post-harvesting stage because this is the stage in which the cannabis will get better taste, a better aroma, and even better potency. You don’t want to quickly rush your cannabis through this stage because it can increase the quality of your cannabis by up to 50%.
With the right strain of weed, you could potentially be lighting up your cannabis within 3 months of planting the seeds.
Let’s Look At The Breakdown Even Further And In More Depth:
Equipment: 0 – 2 weeks
Gathering up all of the equipment necessary could be done very quickly, or it could take up to 2 weeks. If you’re having to order stuff online and wait for it to come in the mail, then that will obviously slow the process down a bit. After you’ve received all of your supplies and are ready to go, you then have to begin assembling all of the equipment together. The setup should only take a couple of hours to complete.
Finding What Seeds You’re Going To Use: 0 – 4 weeks
The time it takes you to get your seeds ready to go can be quick or slow. If you already have a bunch of seeds ready to go from previous strains of cannabis, then you’re one step ahead of the game. If you’re wanting some unique strain of cannabis that needs to be ordered from overseas, then the shipping time could take up to a few weeks to get to you. Ensure that you trust the company that you’re ordering the seeds from. No one wants to purchase cannabis seeds, get their hopes up, and then have a harvest that is unsatisfactory.
Seedling To Harvest: 3 – 5 months
Seedling Stage
Germinating the cannabis seeds can take anywhere between 1 – 7 days. Depending on what strain of cannabis you have, seedlings can sometimes sprout even after a single day. If they don’t, you should expect them to start sprouting by the 5th day. Some cannabis growers like to start seedlings in tiny containers because they tend to grow faster that way.
Vegetative Stage
The vegetative stage averages around 4 to 8 weeks. If you’re wanting to grow very big plants, then that will take longer. Cannabis growers all seem to have their own personal preference for how long they want their plants to stay in the vegetative stage. Many plants will take up to a month after germination to begin flowering. You’ll need to decide what size of plants you want. If you want big ones, leave them in the vegetative stage for a longer period of time. If you don’t care to have big plants, then you can prompt the plants to begin the flowering stage. What? I can actually force my plants to enter the flowering stage?
If you’re planting a cannabis seed from scratch, there will be around 4 weeks of vegetative growth to follow that before you start seeing any buds grow. On average, cannabis growers will let their plants remain in the vegetative stage for a couple of weeks to a couple of months at a time.
The larger the plant, the larger the yield you’ll harvest from it. Everyone has their own reasons for not wanting to have massive cannabis plants, so they don’t have to let their plants stay in the vegetative stage for a long time if they don’t care to have big plants and a big harvest.
There are cannabis growers that like to get their seedlings into the flowering stage as fast as possible. Doing this will result in smaller plants, but will result in a faster harvest process. One reason why people might want to have an extremely fast harvesting process is if they are growing cannabis in concealed spaces. Some people grow cannabis out of small cases, and with this method, they want their seedlings to enter the flowering phase almost immediately so that the plants won’t get too large. One thing to keep in mind is that the size of the containers and grow lights that you’re using will have an impact on the growth of the seedlings. Tiny containers tend to restrain the roots from expanding and growing bigger in size. Poor lighting also hinders how plump cannabis plants will grow.
A good recommendation is to keep your cannabis plants in the vegetative cycle for around 4 weeks. You’ll want to have a solid 18 hours of light exposure every single day to produce the most desirable outcome. Keep in mind that when you’re forcing cannabis plants to enter the flowering stage, you shouldn’t be expecting a big yield. While small plants do have benefits, reaping a large harvest typically isn’t one of them.
When a cannabis plant is initially entering the flowering stage, it will increase nearly double in size. This is called the “flowering stretch”. You’ll want to ensure that the vegetative stage is finished before your plant will get to the flowering stretch. If you don’t time these things properly, the plant could get too big for the container or area you’re growing it in.
Flowering Stage
The flowering stage averages anywhere between 8 to 10 weeks. The strain and the genetics of your cannabis will play a large part in how long the flowering stage lasts.
The breakdown of the flowering stage is as follows:
This breakdown is a general guideline for how long cannabis will stage in each of the flowering stages. One strain will vary from the next. You’ll know that your cannabis has entered the flowering stage when you see the buds start to get bigger.
What Are The Flowering Periods For Certain Cannabis Strains?
Every strain will differ at least a little bit in terms of how long they’ll remain in the flowering period.
Strains With Shorter Flowering Periods: 6 – 8 Weeks
If you want a strain of cannabis that doesn’t strain that doesn’t have a long flowering cycle, you should stick with auto-flowering strains. These strains should be harvestable within 3 months of planting the seed.
Strains With Medium Flowering Periods: 8 – 12 Weeks
The strains on this list that can be grown in soil are:
Strains With Long Flowering Periods: 12 – 14 weeks
The majority of cannabis strains are included in the medium flowering period in terms of the length of time that it takes for them to flower.
Many growers like to squeeze more time out of the flowering stages so that they get bigger yields. This is the stage where the plants really ripen up to their best potential. The harvesting period usually lasts around 2-3 weeks, but that can differ between strains.
You can still harvest the cannabis if you want, but being patient and waiting another 2 weeks will provide around a 30% increase in yield in comparison to harvesting right away.
Post Harvest – 2.5 weeks to around 1.5 months
Drying Your Cannabis: 4 – 10 days
If you have high-quality cannabis buds, it might only take around 4 days to dry them properly, but you’ll really want to give them about 7 days or longer to go through this stage. Giving your cannabis a chance to dry off will reduce the chance of mold occurring.
Curing Your Cannabis: 2 weeks – 1 month
The curing process is another phase in the cycle that you need to exercise some patience in. If you cure your cannabis properly, it’ll be better for medicinal purposes such as relieving depression, anxiety and even lowering the pain you might have in your body.
Curing your cannabis also helps eliminate the “grassy” smell that it might have. It’ll make it taste better and basically help get rid of the sometimes negative attributes that can occur once cannabis is harvested.
You typically want to let your cannabis cure for a minimum of 2 weeks. Sometimes people like to cure their harvest for over a month at a time to maximize the benefits.
Overview On Cannabis Growing At A Glance
Going back through the cycle:
Time It Takes From Growing The Seeds To Smoking The Weed:
2 months to over 5 months
The Average Time It Takes From Growing The Seeds To Smoking The Weed
3 to 5 months
Now that you’re more familiar with how long it takes to grow your cannabis seeds, why not give it a try?