Cannabis is one of the most popular and beloved plants in the world, and its growth and cultivation have been getting more popular than ever as more and more nations embrace its use. If you’re one of the millions of people that are curious about how you can grow this plant at home, or if you’re just interested in the cultivation process, keep reading to find out the ins-and-outs of cannabis growth and the most important steps of the process.
1. Germination
Germination is the process of a seed going from an inactive to an active state, using water to activate enzymes that are lying dormant inside the seed to create nutrition from the carbohydrate and fat stores and begin the process of growth. If you’re growing cannabis and using feminized cannabis seeds, you can expect this process to last up to 7 days, and during this time, you’ll have to make sure you’re providing the seed with more than enough water and nutrition for the germination process to succeed. The only way to keep tabs on how it’s doing is to use a transparent container to be able to see its progress and transplant it into a bigger container later on when it’s time.
2. Seedling
Now that you’ve gotten past the germination stage, you’ll be left with a seedling, which is a tiny growth of cannabis that you have to treat with care and handle effectively. For the next 2 to 3 weeks, you’ll have to make sure you’re not overwatering the seedling since it’ll be incredibly sensitive to moisture and will wither out if it’s waterlogged. You’ll also have to make sure there’s enough sunlight for the seedling, but not too much because too much light will result in the water in the soil getting dried out before the plant can absorb it, and that’s why many people use indoor growth lights to help with the whole process.
3. Vegetative stage
After you’ve gotten past the complicated seedling stage, you can breathe a sigh of relief since plants in the vegetative stage aren’t nearly as sensitive and can grow to a healthy size without you needing to check on them again and again throughout the day. This stage lasts a few months, and during this stage, the plant will grow while focusing on multiplying and elongating the stems and growing as many leaves as possible. The fertility of the soil is important during this stage, which is why professionals use the highest-grade nitrogen fertilizer available in stores, and you may need to use indoor growth lights, too, since these plants require 18 to 24 hours of sunlight a day.
4. Flowering stage
The flowering stage will likely be the most important part of the growing process for you, and this will be the time when you’ll be able to see the fruits of your hard work. Your cannabis plants will finally start to produce buds and flowers, and the flowers that it produces are the parts of the plant that produce its famous recreational effect. The flowering stage lasts up to 3 months, and during this time, you’ll have to use the light cycle well, providing 12 hours of sunlight and 12 hours of darkness a day to make growth as efficient as possible.
5. Harvesting
The harvesting period is when you’ll finally be able to get the rewards you’ve been working for so long since you’ll be able to see the tips of the leaves and flowers of your plants changing shape and color, which indicates that they’ve begun to produce THC and CBD which are the chemicals that produce the famous effect found in this plant. The harvesting period lasts 1 to 3 weeks, and the longer you wait and the better you time your harvest, the higher the potency and efficacy of your plants will be.
Conclusion
Growing plants is a long and complicated process, and it’s never easy to make sure the product is as good as you want it to be through all the complicated parts of its growth. Cannabis is no exception since its long growth cycle means there’s a lot of room for error and for things to go wrong, but using the information in this article, you’ll know enough about the plant’s average growth cycle to cultivate it properly in your home and get the best product you possibly can for all your hard work.
