The grow cycle: seedling to harvest

Stage one: seedling

The seedling stage runs from sprout until the plant has a few sets of true leaves — usually the first couple of weeks, give or take. The plant is small, fragile, and mostly root; what you see above the soil is a fraction of what is happening below it. The grower's job here is restraint: gentle light, light and infrequent water, and mostly leaving it alone.

Nearly all beginner mistakes happen here, and nearly all are mistakes of too much — too much water, too much fertilizer, too much handling. A seedling in decent soil needs little besides light, air, and patience. Once it stands sturdy with several leaf sets, it graduates.

Stage two: vegetative

In the vegetative stage the plant does its growing — stems lengthen, leaves multiply, roots fill the container — building the structure that will later hold flowers. Indoors, growers usually give long days of light here, often around eighteen hours, since cannabis stays vegetative while nights are short. Outdoors, spring and early summer do the work.

Watering finds its rhythm here: water thoroughly, then let the medium dry somewhat before watering again — roots seek moisture in the gaps between drinks, so a constant swamp is worse than a wet-damp cycle. Watch the plant's posture: deep green, upright, steadily growing. Give it room, repotting if roots circle the bottom. Indoors, the grower decides how long this lasts; outdoors, the season does.

Stage three: flowering

Flowering is triggered by darkness. Most plants begin to flower when nights grow long enough — late summer outdoors; indoors, the grower shortens the schedule, usually to about twelve hours of light and twelve of dark. Within a week or two, growth shifts: instead of leaves and stems, flowers form at the nodes.

This stage demands the most attention. Flowers are dense and moisture-sensitive, so keep air moving — still, humid air around buds invites mold. Keep the dark period truly dark; interruptions to the night cycle can stress the plant or disrupt flowering. Some varieties, called autoflowering, flower by age rather than light schedule. The stage usually runs a couple of months, varying with variety and conditions.

• Watch for: the first flowers forming at stem nodes.
• Airflow: keep air moving around dense flowers.
• Darkness: keep the night period uninterrupted.

Stage four: harvest

Harvest timing is a matter of looking closely. Growers watch the tiny resin glands on the flowers — trichomes — which shift from clear to cloudy to amber as flowers mature, usually harvesting when most look cloudy, sometimes with amber mixed in. There is no single perfect moment; it is a window, and growers pick their point in it.

Harvest itself is straightforward: cut branches, remove large leaves, handle flowers gently to preserve resin. The plant's work is done — the grower's is not quite, since what comes next shapes the final quality.

After harvest: drying and curing

Fresh flowers are mostly water, and that water must leave slowly — usually hanging branches upside down in a dark, ventilated space for about a week to ten days, though conditions vary. The real test is feel: stems that snap rather than bend. Dry too fast and the outside crisps while the inside stays wet; too slow and mold becomes the risk.

Curing follows drying: sealed jars, opened briefly each day for the first week or two — growers call this burping — to exchange air and equalize remaining moisture. Most growers cure at least a few weeks, some for months. It is the least dramatic stage and one of the most important: patience here pays off. The equipment behind all of this — lights, air, containers — is its own subject.

Cultivation laws vary by place — check your local laws from an official source. Education, not legal advice.