How to Grow Cannabis: Raising Cannabis in 7 Simple Steps

Legalization of cannabis is increasingly common in the United States and many other countries worldwide. Great news! While not officially recognized everywhere, it’s generally accepted across much of Europe, if not outright legal.

If you’ve decided to grow your own cannabis, congratulations! You’re joining a rapidly expanding community. Homegrown marijuana has become a global trend.

How to grow cannabis? Growing your own cannabis is not only enjoyable but also cost-effective, providing you with high-quality buds. Marijuana is resilient and can thrive in various climates, whether outdoors, in greenhouses, or indoors throughout the year.

Cultivating Cannabis from Seed

The process of growing cannabis from seed is a journey of skill development, much like gardening. While it’s easy to learn, it takes time to master. Don’t be intimidated—growing your own cannabis isn’t complicated and can be as budget-friendly or lavish as you prefer.

How to grow marijuana? Starting with a solid understanding of the basics is key to a successful marijuana growing experience. By making informed decisions early on, you can maximize your yields. These seven fundamental steps will equip you with the knowledge needed to become an expert cannabis gardener.

Selecting Your Cannabis Seeds

The options can be overwhelming. Sativa, indica, ruderalis, and countless hybrids are all readily available with just a click. Your own preferences and past experiences guide your choice. Reflect on which strains have matched your preferences and provided effective relief for your specific needs. These are likely good starting points.

Next, consider your growing environment. Are you limited to a small space like a cupboard, where compact, fast-growing plants such as autoflowering strains or indicas would be most suitable? Or do you have ample outdoor space, allowing you to cultivate one or more large plants directly in the soil or in sizable pots?

Understanding the Basics of Cannabis

In order for growing marijuana to thrive and produce the potent buds you desire, it relies on several essential elements.

Light

To ensure healthy growth, cannabis plants need more than eighteen hours of light per day during the vegetative stage. This can be managed indoors with timers, while outdoor cultivation requires waiting until the plants can receive at least twelve hours of daylight and eight hours of direct sunlight daily.

Growing Medium

While soil is commonly used, other options like coconut coir, perlite, or hydroponic setups can provide the necessary nutrients. Aeroponics and deep water culture systems don’t require a growing medium, as nutrients are delivered directly to the roots.

Air

Fresh, circulating air is vital for cannabis to develop strength and facilitate gas exchange. Indoor growers must ensure proper ventilation to prevent stagnant air, which can lead to pest infestations and weak growth.

Water

Water is essential for cannabis growth and function. Outdoor crops may rely on natural rainfall, but large plants often need supplemental watering. Indoors, water serves as a medium for nutrient delivery, and maintaining the correct pH level is crucial for healthy growth.

Temperature

While cannabis can tolerate a range of temperatures, extremes can stress the plant. Ideal growth occurs around 27°C, achievable indoors with proper ventilation and temperature control measures.

Nutrients

Cannabis requires nutrients for growth, which can be provided through nutrient-rich soil or hydroponic solutions tailored for marijuana cultivation. Organic supplements like compost tea can enhance soil quality and promote healthy growth.

Humidity

Maintaining optimal humidity levels is important for indoor cultivation to prevent pests and mold. While outdoor growers must adapt to natural variations, indoor environments require careful humidity regulation throughout the plant’s lifecycle.

Meeting these needs, whether indoors or outdoors, is essential for cultivating robust cannabis plants that yield high-quality buds.

Indoor Cannabis Cultivation Lighting

How to plant weed seeds? With cannabis legalization, there’s been a notable surge in the range of indoor cultivation lighting and chambers. Your budget will dictate your options.

Customized Grow Cupboards

For those with ample funds, specialized grow cupboards tailored for cannabis are available. These feature lights, fans, separate chambers for cloning, vegetative growth, and flowering, along with timers and carbon filters, providing a comprehensive solution from experienced growers.

Lights for Any Budget

Alternatively, budget-friendly choices include simple yet effective setups like CFL or small LED panels, costing under three hundred dollars. These setups can yield quality buds even in small spaces. T5 fluorescent lights offer various spectrums for different growth stages and fit well in compact areas.

Traditional Grow Lights

Options like HPS and MH lamps are also accessible. A 1000W HPS with reflectors can effectively light a 1.5 x 1.5-meter area, fostering robust growth. Similarly, a 600W MH lamp is suitable for flowering.

Heat Regulation

Managing the heat generated by these lights is crucial. Without proper ventilation, your grow space may become too warm for healthy cannabis growth. Efficient exhaust systems are essential for maintaining an optimal environment.

Germination and Young Cannabis Plants

Starting your cannabis growing journey begins with the germination of your seeds. Each viable seed contains all the necessary information to grow the specific strain you’ve chosen. With the right conditions, the seed’s life cycle will commence. Seeds require three essential elements for germination: water, optimal temperature, and a suitable environment.

Growing cannabis is an organic process that doesn’t adhere to strict rules but rather requires mastering an art. There are various effective methods for germinating cannabis, and over time, you’ll discover the one that suits you best.

1. Direct Planting: Place seeds directly into your growing medium to avoid transplant shock. Starting in a small pot before moving to larger ones or the garden is often easier.
2. Paper Towel Method: Place seeds on moist paper towels on a plate in a warm, dark location, often covered to retain moisture. Within a few days to a week, seeds will sprout.
3. Jiffies, Plugs, and Rock Wool Starters: These provide an easy-to-maintain method, allowing many seeds to germinate in a small space. Seedlings can be transferred to their final position without damaging roots once established.
4. Water Germination: Soak seeds in enzyme-enriched water until the taproot appears, then transfer to the growing medium. Seedlings typically emerge about a week later.
5. Germination Stations: These offer control over humidity, temperature, and can speed up germination times, providing an ideal environment for seedling development.

Once your plants emerge from the soil and shed their seed husks, revealing their first true leaves, photosynthesis begins. At this stage, your marijuana seedling is on its way to becoming a resinous indoor plant or robust outdoor tree.

Growing Cannabis in the Vegetative Stage

Once green leaves are exposed to light, photosynthesis kicks off, marking the onset of the vegetative phase for your plants.

Indoors, you typically maintain an 18-hour day and 6-hour night light cycle, which doesn’t necessarily need to align with natural daylight hours. This allows flexibility for scheduling according to your preference, potentially saving on electricity costs by running equipment during off-peak times. Plants thrive in organic soil or with nutrients tailored for this phase, while ample airflow helps regulate temperatures and strengthen young plants. Advanced techniques such as carbon dioxide enrichment and low-stress training can further enhance growth and flower potential indoors.

Outdoors, cannabis experiences rapid growth as daylight hours lengthen from spring to summer. With ample root space and good genetics, plants can reach heights of three to four meters during the vegetative phase. Modern cultivation practices involve continuous topping and pruning to maintain an even canopy, facilitating uniform bud development during flowering. Cannabis remains in the vegetative stage as long as daylight exceeds twelve hours, with vegetation duration decreasing farther from the equator.

The duration of the vegetative phase is flexible, depending on your cultivation goals. It can be prolonged for methods like the Sea of Green, focusing on numerous small plants, or shortened for fewer, larger plants using techniques like topping and mainlining to promote substantial flower production.

Thriving Phase of Robust Marijuana Plants

Blooming, flowering, and budding are interchangeable terms describing the same growth phase of marijuana plants. In the coming months, anticipation builds as fragrances develop and distinctive floral patterns emerge, reflecting the chosen strain. This phase initiates once vegetative growth concludes.

Outdoors, the initial flowering stage typically coincides with the transition from summer heat to autumn’s approach. Indoors, you control the onset of flowering by adjusting the light schedule to twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours of darkness.

Cannabis species respond to hormonal changes dictating whether they continue vegetating or transition to blooming. Two primary types are Absolute Photo Determinate (APD) and autoflowering:

• APD plants rely on light-sensitive hormones to delay flowering during vegetative stages. When exposed to extended periods of darkness, typically twelve hours or more, flowering initiates.
• Autoflowering strains transition to flowering based on age rather than light exposure. Flowering can commence as early as two weeks after germination.

The Blooming Process

• Differentiation: At the onset of flowering, noticeable changes in growth patterns occur. Branch growth shifts from upward striving to zig-zag patterns with shorter distances between nodes.
• Blooming: While flowering stages are consistent across species, duration varies. Indica strains mature quickly, ready for consumption weeks before longer-maturing sativas.
• Following differentiation, flowers begin to form, with calyxes emerging at branch nodes, quickly covered in pistils. Desired resins start forming in young trichomes on pistils, calyxes, and leaves.
• Calyx puffballs elongate along spikes, accommodating fresh clusters and unique bud-specific leaves. Unlike sugar leaves, these new leaves are thicker, smaller, and often wrinkled, coated in trichomes. They eventually become partly submerged by swelling flower clusters.
• Over weeks, flower clusters multiply, forming large colas adorned with resin-swollen trichomes. As maturity approaches, calyxes and trichomes swell with abundant desirable resins.

Getting the Best Buds: Harvesting, Drying, and Curing

In the final weeks, plants are flushed with clean water to eliminate any remaining nutrients and salts, ensuring a pure flavor without aftertastes.

Determining Cannabis Maturity

When covered in trichomes and with pistils changing color to deep orange, mauve, brown, or scarlet, it’s time for harvest. Resin sacks transition from clear to milky and then to amber, indicating readiness. Flower clusters become swollen, signifying maturity.

For higher THC content, harvest when trichomes are 20-30% amber; for a broader cannabinoid profile, wait until they’re 60-80% amber, noting the subtle changes within a day.

Harvesting Methods

There’s no one right way to harvest. Some prefer wet trimming, removing leaves while the plant stands, then further processing. Others may trim large sugar leaves before hanging the whole plant to dry or laying buds on a rack. The key is handling with care to minimize trichome disturbance.

Drying and Curing Cannabis

To dry your cannabis effectively, place the buds in a dark, cool environment with low humidity. The process should be gradual, lasting at least two weeks. Regularly monitor the buds to prevent over-drying or the formation of mold. When sufficiently dry, thin branches will snap easily, while thicker branches will remain slightly flexible.

During the drying process, chlorophyll breaks down, giving way to various colors depending on the strain, such as fawn, tan, pale green, or even deep blue and purple hues.

When storing cured buds, loosely pack them into a well-sealed glass jar. Initially, “burp” the jar daily for the first two weeks to release excess humidity that could lead to mold growth. Once the buds feel dry to the touch, reduce burping to once a week to maintain optimal conditions.

As for the curing duration, it can vary based on preference. Proper curing enhances the psychoactive properties of the cannabis, with ideal conditions requiring at least six weeks. Longer curing periods result in a smoother product. Store the jars in a dark, cool place to prevent THC degradation caused by exposure to light.

If unsure about the dryness of the buds, periodically sample them during the drying process to establish a reference point. Due to the waxy nature of cannabis resins, fully dry buds may not feel completely dry, but with experience, you’ll develop the necessary sensitivity.

Growing and enjoying your own cannabis can be a rewarding experience with some attention and patience, even in limited spaces.

Selecting a Cannabis Strain: Simplifying the Process

Now that you’ve discovered how simple it can be to cultivate cannabis, the pivotal step lies in choosing the right strain. With hundreds of options on the market, selecting a strain can feel daunting. To assist you, we’ve curated several top 10 lists showcasing the finest strains for various preferences.

For beginners and seasoned growers alike, our compilation of the top 10 autoflowering cannabis strains offers selections like Royal Gorilla Automatic, Royal Cookies Automatic, and Northern Light Automatic. These strains are prized for their rapid growth cycle, manageable sizes, and discreet nature.

If maximizing yields is your goal, explore our top 10 feminized cannabis strains, featuring premium options such as Power Flower, Amnesia Haze, and White Widow. These strains require a shift in the growth cycle to induce flowering but often yield higher cannabinoid levels and larger harvests compared to autoflowering varieties.

Beyond just potency, the diverse array of aromatic terpenes found in each strain offers a unique sensory experience. Delve into our list of the top 10 tastiest cannabis strains, showcasing tantalizing cultivars like Fruit Spirit, Fat Banana, and Haze Berry, perfect for flavorful extracts and edibles.

Kush genetics, originating from the Hindu Kush mountains, are highly revered for their potent, relaxing effects. Explore our top 10 Kush cannabis strains, including hybrids like Candy Kush, Bubble Kush, and Pineapple Kush, known for their soothing highs and robust genetics.

Top 6 Cannabis Strains for Simple Cultivation

Green Crack Punch

While many sativa strains demand precise care and expertise, Green Crack Punch stands out for its energetic high and delightful flavor. Despite its sativa lineage, this Purple Punch X Green Crack hybrid is forgiving of mistakes, whether it’s over or under-watering, imprecise nutrient mixing, slight pH imbalances, or minor light leaks. Within just 55–60 days of flowering, Green Crack Punch yields dense, resin-soaked buds, boasting vibrant colors and producing up to 500g/m².

Novice smokers should approach Green Crack Punch’s potency with caution. With a THC content of 20%, its effects are intense, beginning with Green Crack’s invigorating energy and focus and gradually transitioning into a soothing, pain-relieving physical relaxation, thanks to the influence of Purple Punch’s indica genetics. The smoke offers a smooth, velvety texture, complemented by notes of tangy citrus, ripe blueberry, and sweet grape.

Easy Bud

Autoflowering hybrids like Easy Bud are favored for their speedy and uncomplicated growth. This strain epitomizes efficiency with its rapid flowering, compact stature, and forgiving characteristics. If you’re seeking cannabis seeds that practically guarantee a successful harvest, even for novice growers, Easy Bud is the ideal choice.

Perfect for growers with limited space, Easy Bud typically reaches heights under 60cm indoors while developing dense, resinous buds. Its lineage, stemming from white indica genetics, yields lush green buds coated in a frosty layer of resin atop healthy, dark foliage.

With a THC content of around 12%, Easy Bud offers a gentle yet functional high, making it suitable for both novice and experienced users alike. Its effects provide a relaxing buzz without inducing couch-lock, even for those with low tolerance. Additionally, its mellow nature makes it a safe choice for users prone to anxiety or paranoia.

Critical

Combining simplicity with excellence, Critical is a medium-sized cash crop and a Cannabis Cup champion. While it’s beginner-friendly, this strain boasts potent yields that appeal to seasoned growers alike. Whether you’re new to cultivation or prefer an efficient approach, this Afghani X Skunk hybrid, with its 7-week flowering time, may quickly become your favorite.

Indoors, Critical remains manageable, rarely exceeding 140cm in height. Employing low or high-stress training techniques can further control its height, with the plants bouncing back quickly. During its rapid flowering phase, Critical showcases predominantly green hues with hints of autumnal colors, culminating in yields of up to 600g/m², even for beginners.

With a genetic makeup of 60% indica and 40% sativa, Critical induces a balanced mind-body relaxation, free from excess energy or anxiety. Despite its 18% THC level, it offers a tranquil experience, making it suitable for users prone to paranoia. Its flavor profile is classic, characterized by sweet and earthy notes.

White Widow

White Widow, epitomizing crystalline perfection, stands as the matriarch of the renowned “White” lineage. While numerous hybrids have emerged, the original blend of Brazilian Sativa and Indian Indica remains unmatched in both quality and ease of cultivation. With a legacy of accolades and a mesmerizing allure, White Widow captivates growers with her snow-draped buds and euphoric effects, making her an indispensable choice for cannabis enthusiasts.

Originating from the Netherlands, White Widow’s adaptability to colder climates ensures successful outdoor growth, although optimal yields are achieved indoors with ample light. Remarkably undemanding, this hybrid thrives without specific care requirements, flourishing in standard soil or mediums. With a brief flowering period of just nine weeks, growers can anticipate a bountiful harvest.

Despite its 50% Sativa genetics, White Widow delivers a cerebral experience reminiscent of pure Haze, inducing a stimulating high characterized by a tingling sensation and profound euphoria. Its refreshing flavor profile, highlighted by pine and citrus undertones, further enhances the overall smoking experience.

Royal Jack Auto

Royal Jack Auto, a torchbearer of the esteemed Jack Herer legacy, offers novice cultivators access to classic Jack Herer buds with its compact stature and rapid flowering cycle. Remaining faithful to its predecessor, this strain yields medical-grade head highs and exudes Jack’s signature spicy aroma. Combining it with White Widow creates a formidable Dutch duo, ideal for beginners.

As a fully autoflowering variety, Royal Jack Auto transitions into the flowering stage within two weeks of germination, culminating in mature flowers ready for harvest within 10 weeks. Sporting a moderate THC content of 16%, it caters to medical and recreational users alike, delivering an initial surge of creativity followed by a soothing body buzz. Its flavor closely mirrors Jack Herer’s herbal essence.

Special Queen 1

Special Queen 1, an affordable yet premium Skunk hybrid, offers novice growers an economical option to cultivate aromatic flowers without sacrificing quality. With a swift flowering period of 7 to 8 weeks, this strain produces abundant Sativa-dominant blooms with a robust scent, thriving in various environments and cultivation methods. Its impressive THC potency of 18% ensures a long-lasting, mood-enhancing high characterized by euphoria and relaxation. Flaunting a sweet, fruity flavor tinged with spicy notes, Special Queen 1 provides a satisfying sensory experience.