Marijuana Growth Stages

Marijuana growth stages are a crucial part of understanding the plant. The different stages allow us to take a closer look at how this plant grows and changes. In order to grow cannabis indoors, you will need to know when the plants are in the vegetative stage or when they are in the flowering stage. Knowing what these stages are can also help you understand what your plants need to thrive.

While marijuana plants go through different growth stages, they all require certain levels of light, water, nutrients, and carbon dioxide (CO2). It is important that growers provide these needs in order to get the best yields out of their plants. This article will teach you about each stage in the life cycle of a marijuana plant, which ones yield high-quality bud, and how to care for them.

The Difference Between a Bud and Bloom

The vegetative stage is the only stage in which a plant will grow leaves and branches. This is also when the plant begins to produce chlorophyll. The vegetative stage is typically when the plant will grow the most vertically.

The flowering stage is when the plant will stop growing vertically and begin to produce buds. It's important for growers to know what this stage looks like in order to harvest well-quality bud. There are two types of buds: blooms and buds.

Understanding the Vegetative Stage

The vegetative stage is when plants grow without flowering. In this stage, the plants will need a lot of light and water to function properly. In this stage, plants are usually on a 12-hour light cycle. When they enter into the vegetative stage, they will start to produce more chlorophyll and be able to use CO2 from the air to process more nutrients from the soil.

Understanding the Flowering Stage

The flowering stage is the point where we can see the plant’s sexual organs and recognize that it is ready to reproduce. When you switch your light cycle from 18 hours of light and 6 hours of dark to 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark, your plant will show its sex organs. For growers, the flowering stage is considered “the most important time for a cannabis plant, as it produces the flowers which contain the active ingredients (THC and CBD) that we’re looking for” (420 Magazine).

When to Harvest Your Plant

The goal of harvesting your cannabis is to get high-quality bud, or the flowers that are covered in sticky resin. The buds are the most valuable part of the plant because they produce THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids that have medical benefits. However, you may not harvest your plants until they are fully mature.

To know when your plants are ready for harvest, you need to be aware of their life cycle. Cannabis plants go through four different stages:

Vegetative Stage: This stage typically takes two months before the plant starts flowering.

Flowering Stage: The flowering stage only lasts around six weeks and is when female plants start producing buds.

Late Flowering Stage: This stage is a transition period between early and late blooming. During this time, plants start flowering quickly while still retaining some green leaves on them.

Harvest Time: This is a short period of time after the late bloomers start flowering rapidly where plants will produce full flowers or buds with little or no green leaves left on them.

In order to find out when it's best to harvest your cannabis plants, you'll need to pay attention to what growth stage they're in at all times during their life cycle. You can do this by looking at how many days have passed since you last switched the lights from an 18-hour day to a 12-hour day (vegetative phase). If you've had a lot of days pass without a change in light cycle, then it

Topping or LST

When marijuana plants are left to grow without any intervention, they will eventually reach a point where they stop growing upwards. This is called the “Flowering Stretch,” and it happens due to limited space in the plant’s canopy. Marijuana plants that are left unchecked will grow tall and spindly. To prevent this, you can do one of two things: topping or LST (low stress training).

Topping involves trimming off the top of the plant at its peak height before it begins to flower. One downside to topping is that it causes an increase in the spread of male cannabis plants, which produces lower quality buds for smoking.

LST involves bending branches down and tying them down so they grow along the ground instead of towards the sky. This works because when you bend a branch down, it will stretch less than if you leave it up high enough for flowering. By training your plant with LST methods during vegetative growth, you are able to keep your plant shorter but also limit how much light your buds get. When cannabis plants are grown indoors under lights, too much light exposure can be harmful to the development of high-quality bud. The stem should be kept short so that buds remain closer to their source of light and have less chance of being overgrown by other parts of the plant.

Training Your Marijuana Plant for Better Yields

One of the things that can be beneficial during marijuana plant growth stages is a process called training. Training a cannabis plant will help it grow in a certain direction so you can get better yields from your marijuana plants. If you want to train your cannabis, start early and do it often. Some growers will train their cannabis by tying down the branches with string or wire every time they need to change the direction of growth. This will provide more sun exposure and better airflow for the bud.

The flowering stage is arguably the most important one as this is where high-quality buds are formed and grown. The best way to ensure that your plant reaches this stage is by giving them plenty of light and CO2 (carbon dioxide). You should also make sure that your plant has enough nutrients and water at all times during the growth stages. To give your marijuana plant what they need, find out what stage they are currently in and set up your environment accordingly.

Conclusion

The right conditions can give your marijuana plant the best opportunity to grow, thrive and produce the best yields.

Check out the infographic below for a visual guide so you can understand the difference between a bud and a bloom, when to harvest your plant, how to train your marijuana plant for better yields, and more.