The Different Stages of Cannabis Growth Cycle Growers Should Know

As more and more states legalize marijuana, you may want to grow it yourself and feel the urge to try it. Where are you going to start? Cannabis plants, like all living things, go through a series of stages as they grow and mature and each stage requires different care. Understanding the different stages of the cannabis growing cycle and the different ways of caring at different stages is important for successful cannabis cultivation.

You can choose to start your cannabis growing journey with seeds. You can also begin with clonal propagation. For the former, you can get seeds from the local seed bank for the strains of marijuana you want to grow. For the latter, you first have to have a strain of cannabis that you like as the parent plant where you can get the clone branches .

If you are an amateur grower, growing cannabis for private use, starting with seeds is a not bad idea. You can try to grow different strains of marijuana and compare their taste and flavour to sort out your favorite strains. This will be a huge planting project because the number of known strains of cannabis is up to more than 700 and the number of strains is increasing with the deepening of breeding research.

Many commercial growers prefer to start growing marijuana by cloning. They routinely make a market survey before planting to identify strains that are more popular with consumers. Once they have identified the strains they want to grow, they may start with seeds for the first generation or buy the first generation of seedlings directly from a nursery company. It depends on whether there is a local seedling company to supply or the growers' habits. 

What are the growth stages of cannabis going through? What should be paid attention to in the process of cannabis cultivation? And what lighting strategies should be adopted in each stage? We will introduce them one by one below.

 Germination: Between 24 Hours and 2 Weeks

a) Seeds, prepare ripe seeds of cannabis strains that want to grow.  The female cannabis and the autoflowering cannabis are what growers want to grow. What traded on the market are also both of them.

b) Clean germinating plates,  plates are usually used as containers for germination. Sometimes it is also placed over another plate as a mulch to create a dark environment for the seeds to germinate.

c) Paper towels, paper towels are used to help lock in moisture for the germination environment of seeds. You need to check them now and then to make sure the germination environment is friendly to seeds.

d) Water, it is better to use distilled water. Water is used to soak the paper towels to keep a moist germinating environment for seeds.

e) Temperature, germinating ambient temperature: between 70-90°F.

f) Wait for the seeds to produce white taproots.

Lighting strategy in this stage: In the early stage, the germination of cannabis seeds doesn’t require photosynthesis. The energy they need comes from nutrient reserves stored in seeds.

Seedling Stage: 2-3 Weeks

Once the white taproots have grown, growers can place them into small nursery plant pots until the seedlings are strong enough to be transplanted. in the seedling stage, the nutrients in the embryo are no longer enough to supply the growth and development of the seed. So early seedlings need to provide energy for their own growth through the photosynthetic of new leaves.

Lighting strategy in this stage:  The light should not be too strong or too weak at this stage. Too strong light will lead to burnt and crinkled leaves. Too weak light will cause insufficient photosynthesis of seedlings, resulting in small and slender seedlings. In this stage, our illumination recommendation is to perform artificial lighting supplementation with a photoperiod of 18/6. A low power LED grow light or a dimmable LED grow light can be considered for this stage. Additionally, the lighting spectrum is also critical. The role of spectrum should focus on the vegetative growth of crops.

 Cannabis clone:7-14 days

Cannabis cloning is a different way to start growing cannabis than seed breeding. In terms of cultivating days, it takes about two weeks less for a clone to grow into a new seedling than for a seed to germinate. If the clones were well cared for in their growing environment, they would probably take much less time to grow to strong seedlings.

Lighting strategy in this stage: For freshly cut clone branches, give them ambient light only (regular life lighting in room). Do not put the under sunlight directly.  When clone branches begin to take root, then you can gradually give them a small amount of artificial light. When the roots number is enough, you can give them full light with a light cycle-18 hours on, 6 hours off. After rooting, it is recommended to use LED grow lights specially for cloning.

3. Vegetative Stage: 3-8 Weeks

When growers transplant healthy seedlings developed from seeds or clone into larger nursery pots, cannabis crops start their vegetative growth stage. Given proper nutrients and light, the plant will continue to grow and develop until they had a stable root system and developed a strong structure necessary for the flowering stage. Adequate vegetative growth can lay a good foundation for the flowering stage. The healthier plants are during this time, the more prepared they will be for flowering and a bountiful harvest.

a) Cannabis plants require a lot of nitrogen to supply their vegetative growth.

b) Fertilizer, water, light and carbon dioxide concentration in the growing environment must be adequate and appropriate.

c) Keep the temperature in the growing room between 68 -78 °F.

d) Keep the humidity in the grow room between 50% and 70%.

e) Be aware of pests and pathogens and do the best to prevent these threats from damaging crops.

Lighting strategy in this stage: The vegetative stage is the growing stage of the cannabis plant. In this stage, cannabis plants need a lot of light each day to photosynthesize and synthesize the substances they need to grow. Therefore, a lighting schedule 18-6 or 24-6 is suitable to encourage rapid vegetative growth of cannabis plants during this stage.

4. Flowering Stage: 6-8 Weeks 

When cultivated cannabis plants enter the flowering stage. The plants themselves will weaken the vegetative growth and concentrate their energy on producing flowers. Flowering stage is the key stage of growth. The flowers can underdevelop if we didn't take good care in this stage. when necessary, growers can take effective measures to ensure the quantity and quality of the cannabis flowering and to increase the cannabinoid content in the buds.

a) Provide adequate nutritional doses

b) Reduce nitrogen supply and increase some other nutrients such as phosphorus and potassium.

c) Watch out potential mold infections.

d) Be aware of the effects of pungent smells. The pungent smell from flowers may attract unwanted attention like insects that may destroy the flower buds.

Lighting strategy in this stage:  In the flowering stage, growers can help the cannabis crops enter the flowering stage by adjusting photoperiod. Ideally, a photoperiod of 12 hours of light and 12 hours of complete darkness can be used to help induce flowering. In this stage, growing cannabis indoors can also use LED grow lights with appropriate spectrum to ensure the quality and quantity of flowering yields and increase the cannabinoids content.

5. Harvest stage 

In the harvest stage, we need to determine the best time to harvest. If you harvest your plant too soon, the THC will be immature, and you will have a smaller yield. On the other hand, if you harvest a cannabis plant too late, the THC will degrade, and your plant can produce seeds, or bud rot and mould. Generally, the grower can judge the harvesting time by the color of the trichome and pistil. About three-fifths of the buds have darkened and appeared amber, you can pick the buds and dry them.

In fact, the buds do not mature at the same time. if there is enough time, you can judge the buds separately to harvest. But if you want to start the next round of planting as soon as possible, you can pick them all when most of the buds are ripe.  then you can sort and dry them.