What are bloom and veg used for cannabis and for how long? — 420 Guide
Cannabis plants, like all living things, go through a series of stages as they grow and mature. If you’re interested in cultivating cannabis, it’s especially important to understand the changes a plant undergoes during its life cycle, as each stage of growth requires different care.
Different stages call for different amounts of nutrients water and grow light schedule. They also help us decide when to prune and train the plants. Determining a plant’s sex and overall health rely on stages of growth as well.
VEGETATIVE GROWTH / 2 to 8 weeks
Vegetative growth is normally associated with a transplant at some point as plants outgrow the starter medium be it a Rockwool block or paper cup filled with soil or coco. Continued development of the root zone and robust branching are the top priorities for the grower. High RH of 50% is ideal and cooler temps 20–24°C can promote more females if growing regular seeds.
The vegetative stage is one of the major phases of cannabis growth. This is the stage where the plants really flesh out, and focus on maximum growth before they flower. During this time of their lives, cannabis plants will require a lot of energy, and need a lot of light and nutrition to produce it.
It is during this stage that the plant really takes on the stereotypical form of a cannabis plant, and will grow rapidly in both height and width, producing a thicker stem with many more branches and fully fingered leaves. This growth will maximize the plant’s ability to produce flowers with its increased surface area for light exposure, and structural integrity — which is, at the end of the day, the reason for growing cannabis.
The sex of the cannabis will also begin to be distinguishable towards the end of this stage, allowing for the male plants to be removed from the grow area before they have the chance to release their pollen — if left with the female plants, you will get a yield of seeds instead of bud! The whole vegetative stage will usually take anywhere between 1 to 5 months to complete.
Furthermore, the end of the vegetative stage provides a vital opportunity to look for males in your crop. As plants leave this stage, the females will start developing two white pistils, where males will grow pollen sacs. If you see these sacs, remove the plant from the vicinity before it pollinates the females and ruins your harvest.
During the vegetative stage, the general rule is to keep the temperature between 68 and 77˚f, and the humidity between 50% and 70%. Once again, nitrogen is the essential nutrient, but you can also increase levels of other key nutrients in the feed. The plants will need 16–24 hours of weeds light schedule.
FLOWERING / 6 to 12 weeks
This stage is perhaps the longest of the marijuana growth lifecycle (4 to 12 weeks). It can be divided into two sub-phases: pre-flowering stage and flowering stage. The pre-flowering stage begins when the days become shorter and plant receives less light. Of course, you can control that indoors.
As the plant develops, the root system grows and the stem becomes thicker and supports more branches which in turn encourages more leaves. With regular watering, an abundant supply of organic nutrients, and plenty of soil space, it will take one plant roughly 6–8 weeks to start flowering.
The flowering stage is the last stage of growth, and it is the most crucial for you as a cultivator. You can transition plants into the flowering stage by reducing their light exposure. A 12–12 cycle (12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness) is ideal.
This is also the time when you will know the sex of your plant. Female plants produce flowers or buds while the male ones produce pollen. Once you can identify the sex of the plants, it is time to isolate the females to avoid production of seeds.
During the pre-flowering stage, the plants need a lot of water. Some growers even use special fertilizers to enhance the formation of buds. Potassium and phosphorus-based nutrients are great for this stage and may speed up the process. Finally, in the flowering stage, you will see grown buds with milky pistils and a pungent smell in grow tent.