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How Long Does It Take To Grow Weed

If I grow, how long does it take before I can smoke my weed?

How long does it take to grow weed?

From Seed to Smoke - How long does it take?

At Budzu we get asked these and similar questions all the time and unfortunately the answer is not set in stone.

The answer to these questions depends on a lot of factors, some you have control over and some you do not.

The range can be from 8 weeks to over 8 months

Unfortunately this is not a very precise answer is it?

This large range is the reason that most growers cannot give you an accurate answer without knowing a bit about what you are trying to achieve and to give an accurate answer they also need to know a bit about your situation.

But to start with, lets give you an answer that will give you a good starting point in your mission to grow.

A cannabis grower can in 12 to 17 weeks sow seeds, veg the plants, flower the plants, harvest and cure the buds aka flowers ready for use.

The important thing is to time the whole process to suit your circumstances and to help you do this I am going to go over the different stages and factors that you can control. This way you can plan out your pot grow so you can achieve the times you want.

You can jump to the section you are interested in:

Getting Ready - time required
Strain Selection -
Times for getting starting materials ( seeds or clones )
Growing weed from seed to harvest
- Seed Germination
- Vegetative stage
- Flowering stage
Times for drying, trimming manicuring and curing

Lets get started

1. Getting ready - time required

Time needed: 1 hour - 6 weeks

Lets break it down:

You need growing equipment

Time: 30 mins to 5 weeks

Setting up and cleaning grow equipment and grow space

Time: 30 mins to 3 weeks

2. Strain Selection

The strain you grow can have the most impact on how long it is before you have weed to smoke, strains can be ready to harvest in as little as 6-7 weeks for an autoflower to as long as 20 weeks for a long flowering landrace sativa.

Flowering Length: Different strains flower for varying lengths of time and this ranges from 6-7 weeks to around 20 weeks with the most common being from 8-10 weeks flowering. Typically Indica dominant strains flower for shorter periods than Sativas. We suggest that you research strains of interest in our strain guide where you can search via length of flowering period.

Below is a list of some popular strains based on flowering time

6-8 week flowering

BOGBUBBLE

KISH

POSH

C99

8-10 week flowering

AK48

Critical Godfather

Giesel

Girl Scout Cookies

Chocolope

10-12 week flowering SSSS SSSDH

Sour Diesel

Kali Mist

12 plus weeks flowering

Haze

Lambsbread

Most strains have a moderate flowering range of 8-10 weeks, if you are interested in a strain just find out what the flowering time is and factor this into your grow.

It is worth remembering that the rule of thumb is the longer you veg the larger your yield should be, however we have found that this is also strain dependent.

3.Obtain Starter materials ( Seeds or clones )

Time: 0 days to 6 weeks

Starting with Seeds If you have seeds then this takes no time but if you want to buy seeds this can take 2-6 weeks with an average of 3 weeks when ordering seeds from a seed bank, it can also take as long as 6 weeks. Depending on where you live you may be able to go to a local seed bank and buy them that day.

Time breakdown:Payment Times: 1 min if paying by CC or cash at a local dispensary 1 min if paying by CC on a breeder or seedbanks website 2 weeks to 4 weeks if sending in cash or a money order to a seed breeder or seedbank.Order fulfilment: 0 hours to 1 week, some breeders only fill orders once a week.Sending order: Some breeders only send seeds once every 1-2 weeks so this is very breeder dependant.Shipping Time: 1 week for local and up to 4 weeks for internationalStarting with Clones

If you want to buy a clone this can take 1 day to 5 weeks, again depending on your location and access.

Buy a clone from a grow op clone breeder or a dispensary that has the clone in stock- if the local dispensary or cannabis breeder has the strain you want in stock then all you need to do is go pick it up.

Buy a clone from non local seller or waiting for clone to be in stock- If you want a particular strain then you might have to travel further or put in an order and wait till the seller has some clones ready - this can take 1 day or upto 5 weeks.

4.Grow weed from seed or clone to harvest

Cannabis seed germination: Best: 1-3 days, Less common: 4-5 days Not Common but still happens: 6-10+ days If you are starting with clones you can skip this waiting time and section.
Vegetative Stage: 2 weeks to 8 + weeks
This stage varies a lot and really depends on what you are growing and other personal factors. You have control over when you switch your grow phase to flowering.
When it comes to vegging your plants there are a few things you should know. Indica plants grow less in height than Sativa plants during flower, this means you will need to veg you Indica based plants longer than Sativa varieties to get a good yield. This is strain dependant and you should research this or find out veg recommendations from the breeder. When selecting a strain there are a couple of options:
1. Select a strain that needs a short veg and increases in flower by at lease 50-100%%. These will be more Sativa dominant strains.
2. Select a strain that needs longer in veg eg 3-4 weeks , strains like this should have a shorter flower period 7-9 weeks typically as they do not increase in height much during flower eg 0 – 49 %
Guide: All this means is that veg and flower times are dependent on each other
Sativa Dominant Strains: Short veg and long flower: 2 weeks plus 9-10 weeks = 11 to 12 weeks
Indica Dominant Strains: Longer veg and shorter flower: 3-4 weeks to 7-8 weeks = 10 to 12 weeks

You should research your individual strains to find out their yields, veg and flower times and factor this into your grow times.
Yield expectations: Everyone wants to maximize yields and to do this you can take a few different approaches
1. SOG – Sea Of Green - Grow lots of little plants, these have little to no veg time 0 – 2 weeks typically but you need to have a separate area for cloning and mother production and you need to run these so that you have clones ready when you need them.
2. Grow Trees – to grow trees you need to veg till the plant is a large height, this can mean vegging for upto 3-4 months
3. SCROG – This requires veg times between 1. and 2.

All these factors effect the veg time you want to use. Marijuana growers generally allow the plant to be in a vegetative state for 2-3 weeks minimum up to a few months from when the plant has 2 -3 sets of leaves, this allows the plant to get big enough so that when you switch your weed plant to flowering it will produce enough buds.

Next lets go over another factor to consider when working out how long it takes to grow your weed.

Harvest

Harvesting a few plants does not take long but harvesting 50 plus plants does, as most people will advise this is a crucial time. We suggest that you get yourself prepared with any items that you need ahead of time. See what is suggested here: ( link to a page where we can list items and sell them )

Post HarvestTotal post harvest time: 2 weeks to 2.5 + months
It is important to remember that you still need to dry, trim, manicure and cure your buds. The typical times are as follows:
Drying: 3-10 days
Trimming and Manicuring: 10 mins to 1 week ( this depends on the size and number of your plants )
Curing: 2 weeks to 2 plus months
A lot of growers cure their buds for 2 weeks to 1 month before smoking. This makes the smoke more flavorful, less harsh and less speedy, some people also say it makes the smoke more suitable for people with medical conditions as it helps with their symptoms more due to a higher CBD content as THC degrades to CBD during the curing process.
So now back to the original question - If I grow, how long does it take before I can smoke my weed?
The answer: 8 weeks to 8 + months with an average of 14 weeks to 18 weeks.
Now is the time to start growing your own plants and really enjoying the entire process from seed to smoke. As they say, it's not just the destination but also the journey.
Other factors: such as lease expiring, family vacation planned or having a property inspection. This is very dependent on your individual circumstance eg if your lease runs out in 4 months and you have to move at this stage it is best to have finished your grow. So you will want a short flowering strain and veges quickly so that you can cure properly before you leave or cure elsewhere if needed.

Published: 2015-07-18

How to Grow Cannabis Guide and Articles