How long do marijuana plants take to grow?

How long do marijuana plants take to grow? Despite the impatience, it is extremely important for our plants to take their time for proper development and performance. Time is then what really makes the difference between a large, productive plant and a useless, ugly bush. Thus, in this article, we’ll try to solve some of the most current questions that growers have in regards to the different growing stages in cannabis plants.

Germination

The germination phase is the period of time in which cannabis seeds become seedlings. In case you are using cuttings, the germination process will be identified with their cloning and rooting time. Seedlings often take from 24 to 72 hours to be sprouted, however, some can sometimes take more time (from 5 to 15 days), depending on the water, humidity, and oxygen levels, as well as the temperature which should range from 70-75 ºF (21-24 ºC).

How to germinate seeds

There are different germination techniques, but the most used and recommended one is the paper tower method in which you place your seeds in moistened paper tower pieces, placing them in a storing container. On the other hand, some growers even use germination stimulators that work with the seeds initial metabolism and reduce the germination time to about a day in most cases. However, this will also depend not only on the chosen strain, but on the quality of the seed, the way it has been stored, etc.

Growth period

The growth period, often known as the “vegetative phase”, is the main (and probably the most important) stage in which our plants will have a growth spurt. After transplanting our seedling into a pot or jiffy peat pellet, the growing phase will begin.

We’ll start by moving to a 18/6 (light hours/dark hours) photoperiod for the vegetative growth. The duration of this stage depends on different factors such as the type of seed, the strain and even the growing method you are using. This means that autoflowering seeds generally take 3-4 weeks indoors, while feminized strains take a minimum of 6-8 weeks. Likewise, growing indoors is much faster than growing outdoors.

Lastly, once we see that our plants have a good size and start producing the first inflorescences, then we’ll have to set a new photoperiod to move onto the following flowering stage.

Flowering stage

This is the last cycle of the development of the plant and once our plants meet the necessary characteristics to support the weight of the precious buds, is when we’ll generally move the photoperiod depending on our plants’ needs.

Although autoflowering strains automatically switch to the flowering period and take about 8 weeks; seasonal feminized seeds, which take about 10-12 weeks, will need a 12/12 photoperiod, so we can induce plants to light stress. Likewise, you can follow the seedbanks’ recommended time schedules as a guide. However, it is important to remark that this stage entirely depends on the development of the buds. Indeed, these flowers will be ready once they are virtually all covered with pistils and trichomes, which will turn amber, honey colored.

Once our buds have been harvested, the only thing left is to carry out the curing-drying process to get smoother, more potent, and aromatic cannabis suitable for consumption.

Now we know how long marijuana plants take to grow, it is important to recall that depending on the care and the variety our plants will take more or less time to grow and achieve the highest quality.

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