Stages In The Life Cycle Of The Marijuana Plant

The hands-on, sensory pleasure of planting a garden is an experience like no other. Whether you have a green thumb or not, you can grow a marijuana garden at home by understanding the essential life cycle of the plant.

Here we outline each of these important stages in the growth of a marijuana plant and share how you can oversee each one to optimize your crop. Measuring the nutrient feed is the best way to ensure that you are not overloading your plant with any one element or skimping in one area either.

The marijuana growth cycle

Beginning with tiny seeds and culminating in rich harvests, the marijuana growth cycle can last between 10 and 26 weeks, or as much as half the year. Therefore, growing your own cannabis entails a sizable commitment of time and effort, but the rewards may be equally abundant. In three to six months' time, you can raise a crop to serve you with plant-based medicine, recreational enjoyment, or both. The marijuana you grow can transform into smokable, edible, and topical treasures that may offer a combination of physiological and psychological benefits.

The cannabis plant requires differing amounts of nutrients as it grows. There are three primary nutrients for the cannabis cultivator to understand: nitrogen, potassium, and potassium. Nutrient packages often label these big three components as NPK , based on the chemical symbols for each one. In addition to these most vital nutrients, there is another trio of secondary nutrients to be aware of: magnesium, calcium, and sulfur. Finally, marijuana requires an array or micronutrients which tend to appear naturally in soil. Some of these micronutrients, or trace elements, include zinc, manganese, iron, boron, chloride, cobalt, and silicon.

The key is balance when nourishing a weed plant. All-in-one mixes tend to be too broad, while overloading with one single nutrient, even those in the NPK group, could be hazardous to the plant's health.

Germination

Plants use sexual reproduction in order to carry on the species into the next generation. There are male and female cannabis plants which must reproduce. Sometimes, hermaphrodite plants exist, but these are not something you should concern yourself about right now.

Growers want to use female plants because these are the only ones that produce a massive quantity of trichomes. In case you didn't know, trichomes are the white crystals packed full of cannabinoids like CBD and THC. Male plants are virtually useless, but they could end up contaminating your crop if you keep them around.

As a result, you should look out for feminized seeds. Seed banks often sell this type, so they shouldn't be too hard to find. If you use regular seeds, there is a 50/50 chance you will get male or female plants; with feminized seeds, all your plants will be females.

Once you have your feminized seeds, it's time to germinate them. Each and every seed contains a cannabis plant just waiting to emerge, but it will need some tender love and care in order to do so. Seeds need heat and water in order to sprout; otherwise, they will remain dormant.

There are a few ways to germinate a cannabis seed, but most people use the paper towel method. It's super easy and won't take long at all. Here's what to do:

• Soak four paper towels in water and place two of them on a plate. Space out the cannabis seeds on top of the paper towel.
• Place the other two paper towels on another plate. Use this plate to cover the other one, so the cannabis seeds are inside.
• Keep the room temperature somewhere between 70 and 90˚F, and keep checking to make sure the paper towels are still wet.
• Check on your seeds every so often. Eventually, a white taproot will sprout from the seeds. Germination can take anywhere between 24 hours and seven days, so be patient!

When the taproot has emerged, you can transfer the seeds to a growing medium. Depending on the strain, your growing experience, and your budget, you might want to use a different growing medium. Some people prefer a hydroponics setup, but first-time cultivators are likely to prefer soil.When handling the seed, be extremely careful. Avoid touching the taproot as it is fragile and may break. At first, you can transplant the seed into 2-inch pots of soil.

Congratulations! The seed is ready to start growing.

Seedling Stage

In the meantime, the seedling continues to grow breaking apart the seed coat that was protecting it. At the same time, the root systems at the base of the plant begin to develop, while leaves begin to spread out and grow out from the top of the plant.

Soon, new leaves will grow, and the plant will enter it's first true growth cycle. From there, the plant will continue to grow bigger and bigger until the buds are triggered to flower.

After about 3-7 days of initial growth, a healthy seed should have grown into a seedling. This stage begins when a plant starts to develop a stable root system and an initial growth of "true leaves," that is, leaves that exhibit the same form and characteristics as mature cannabis leaves. We are not talking about the cotyledon leaves that pop up right after germination.

Your plant can remain a seedling for a while, anywhere from 3-6 weeks. 

The duration depends primarily on environmental factors and the particular strain that you are cultivating.You'll always want to pay close attention to your plants, but be especially careful to do this in the early stages of growth. Pay attention to the speed at which the foliage develops.

As the plant begins to develop foliage and a stable root system, it will transition into the vegetative stage of growth. This is especially important if you are planning on transplanting. 

If you want to move your seedling to a new container or environment, now is the time to do it.

People who successfully grow do this during the seedling stage:

• Maintain a temperature of 77 degrees
• Maintain proper humidity
• Limit the number of nutrients

Nutrients can burn the cannabis seedlings; if you must use them, use very little.

Our friends from a Pot for Pot offer simple solutions for your grow as well. Be sure to check it out!

You'll need white light (18 hours per day) as soon as you see those cotyledons, as well a temperature between 68- 77 degrees and humidity of approximately 60%.

Avoid rooms with large south-facing windows, especially on upper floors, because you can run into issues with heat control. Believe it or not, the sun puts out a lot of heat. Buying a marijuana grow tent is a good choice.

CFL lights are perfect for seedlings because they don't produce a lot of heat. You can place the seedlings as close as 2 inches from the lights - giving them plenty of light.

Vegetative Stage

During the vegetation phase, the stem will grow thicker and taller and will begin to develop new nodes. These nodes will produce yet more leaves and even new branches.

Because it's growing and producing leaves and branches, your plant will need plenty of fresh warm water along with:

• Flowing, dry air
• Lots of nitrogen-rich organic nutrients (e.g., liquid fish or seaweed)
• As much soil space as possible

All of this together allows your marijuana plant to grow from an eight-inch baby plant into a two- to three-foot tall tree within the span of three to six weeks.

The plant's growth largely depends on the rate at which its leaves can gather sunlight and transform it into chemical energy (photosynthesis).

This fact explains why the vegetative plant will need long hours of summer sunlight (12 to 15 or more in the wild) or 18 hours of fluorescent light per day.

The temperature should be between 68- 77 degrees, with a humidity of around 50% to 70%, constant white light, (at least eighteen hours a day) and nitrogen-rich fertilizer as needed. The stage lasts approximately 1 to 2 months.

This stage is fairly passive for the grower, but you should pay attention to your light exposure.

The THC tree will halt its upward growth once it starts receiving less natural outdoor daylight or when the indoor grower reduces the plant from 18 to 12 hours of fluorescent light per day.

The larger your space and the more grow lights you have, the more fans and ventilation you'll need to protect your plants. If you're concerned about the level of c02 in your grow room, then you can also choose to set up a carbon filter to monitor levels and filter out extra carbon dioxide.

It's at this point that the plant enters the pre-flowering phase.

Pre-Flowering Stage

It can take anywhere from one to five months for the growing marijuana plant to enter the pre-flowering stage. When it finally does, you'll be able to verify that you did indeed plant all females.

If the plant is a male, you'll see little green banana-like sack structures on the node regions of the plant where the leaves meet the main stem. These sack structures hold pollen and will only appear on male plants.

Male plants must be separated from female plants before the little green sacs burst open and release their pollen.

If you don't find the male plants in time, and the sacs do burst, the pollen can fertilize the cola of the nearby female plants. This pollination ruins the psychoactive potential of the trichomes the female plant may grow.

When you keep your female marijuana plant from being pollinated by a male plant, you produce what is called a sinsemilla. Sinsemilla (Spanish for 'without seed') refers to a female marijuana plant that does not have any seeds because it has not been fertilized by pollen.

Sinsemilla plants produce large amounts of resin as well as fake seedpods, both of which contain high percentages of THC. And really, that's the goal of every grower, isn't it?You can identify sinsemilla plants by the white hairs that emerge from the pear-shaped bracts at their plant nodes.Keep in mind that sometimes, a plant can be hermaphroditic. This means that it has both sets of reproductive organs (glands and leaves).Hermaphroditic cannabis plants can actually pollinate themselves and ruin your THC or CBD harvest.

For this reason, it's important to remain vigilant and to separate and destroy any hermaphroditic plants with female glands and male leaves that carry the potential to pollinate and ruin your psychoactive sinsemilla.

Once the light duration begins to decrease (whether naturally or artificially), the cannabis plant moves into the flowering stage. That's where we'll go next.

Flowering Stage

If you're wondering which is the most crucial among the stages of growth, the flowering stage is the one to watch! Look out for sticky resin on the leaves and clusters of trichomes as well. The more trichomes you see, the more potent your marijuana plant is becoming. Ultimately, potency also depends on how much time a plant spends in the flowering stage, so if it goes beyond the 8-week mark, you might be in for a pleasant surprise at harvest time.

The flowering stage also represents the final stage in the growth cycle but not in the life cycle of your cannabis plants. One key distinction of the flowering stage is a reduction of light on your plants. No longer does a cannabis plant require 24 hours of light; 12 hours will be adequate, along with a corresponding 12 hours of darkness.

A consistent temperature range of 68 to 77 degrees Fahrenheit is recommended as your marijuana flowers, along with moderate humidity of 50 percent.

Fans should also be placed around the grow room to assist with humidity control. Humidifiers and other equipment that automatically monitor the temperature, humidity levels, and other conditions in your grow room are available for purchase inline duct fan if you decide that you would like to make that investment.

Nitrogen is no longer the most important nutrient; now feed your cannabis plant potassium and phosphorous instead.

The end of the flowering stage marks an eagerly anticipated milestone in the growth process as you prepare to harvest your crop.

Harvesting Stage

You'll know your cannabis plant is ripe for harvest when the hues of the pistils on the cola buds transform from milky white to reddish orange.

You'll also want to use a microscope to check the color of the heads of the trichomes oozing out from the ripe cola buds.

You'll know that your buds are ready for harvest when the trichome heads turn from clear to milky and opaque to amber.

The presence of more amber trichome heads will likely indicate a higher CBD to THC cannabinoid profile ratio in its trichome resin.

If you want to harvest your marijuana plant for its full THC or CBD effects, you DON'T want the trichomes to fall off. If that happens, that means that you let the plant grow too long.

The majority of the cannabinoids are now gone, you won't enjoy the psychoactive or medicinal effects, and you'll have to start growing a new batch of marijuana.Instead, many growers suggest harvesting the crop when half the trichomes on the plant are opaque. In theory, this produces the highest level of THC with the lowest level of CBD (which counteracts the euphoric effects of the former).

The little hairs that grow from inside the calyxes or the pistils are another clue that helps you determine when to harvest your cannabis for the specific kind of chemical properties you want it to contain.

The color of the pistils changes from bright white to rusty orange or brown at the end of the plant's flowering phase.On one end of the spectrum, if you notice a higher ratio of white to red pistols, that means your pot will produce more of a euphoric THC high.

On the other end of the spectrum, if you notice a higher ratio of red to white pistols, that means your pot will produce more of a sober, calm CBD stoned feeling.

Squarely in between those two extremes, cannabis crops harvested in the middle of the flowering cycle, when roughly half the trichome heads are opaque and the pistils aren't yet brown, should produce a more balanced THC-to-CBD blend of cannabinoids.

When you've determined that it is indeed time to harvest your bud, you'll need a good pair of scissors or a sharp pruning tool to cut the trunk from the roots so it can be dried.

Make the cut as close to the base of the plant as possible. Then proceed to cut the tree into smaller branches. Doing so will make it easier to dry the plant.

Once you've cut your plant into small sections, string up the pieces and hang them upside down from lines of twine in a dark, cool room with a humidity level of 40 to 50 percent.

The plant matter should remain hanging in this way and in these conditions for four to six days.

While you're cutting your pot plant into sections for drying, trim the leaves and stems and set them aside.

This material can be trimmed away, saved, and eventually processed to make cannabutter and cannabis concentrate after your buds have dried.

Once your buds are done drying, place them in a wide-mouthed glass mason jar with a screw-top lid. Fill the jars to just below the top but don't pack the buds in.

Doing so will decrease airflow and cause problems later on.

Store the mason jars in a closet or cabinet where the temperature stays between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Your jars should remain here for one to three weeks in order to cure the buds and finish the harvesting process.

That said, once a day you need to crack open the jars. This allows fresh air to get in and any gases produced by the curing process to get out.

Summing Up

Complete marijuana grow tent kits come with nutrients and air ventilation systems led grow kits, grow lights and extras. The complete grow kits make growing simple- just plug in, set up, and grow.

Soak your pot seeds in water or a paper towel to sprout the taproot that will fasten into your soil and germinate into seedlings.

Keep checking the plant's nodes during the vegetative phase to ensure that you don't have any unwanted male plants among your crop.

If you do find male plants, be sure to separate them from the female plants. The cannabis plant will continue to vegetate until it begins to receive less light from natural or artificial sources. This will trigger its flowering phase.

Pay attention to the colors of the thin hairs or pistols and the color of the heads of the trichomes in order to determine the right moment to cut and harvest your plant.

Hang the wet weed buds up in a cool, dark, dry space with low humidity for approximately a week.

Before you can enjoy your glorious new buds, you'll need to cure them in glass mason jars for 1 to 3 weeks while ensuring to open them once per day.

If you're interested in growing a future set of buds, you can continue the marijuana growth cycle by allowing a male plant to pollinate a female into growing seeds with which you can experiment with, or you can cut a branch from your favorite plant and place it in rooting solution to clone it season after season!