When you start growing your own weed, you fall in love even more with growing with each growing season. From germination to the moment when they enter the vegetative stage and begin to grow, until the long-dreamed flowering when the buds appear, gain weight and become resinous. But the most anticipated and most magical moment is certainly the harvest, and a frequent question of who is just starting out is: How long does it take to harvest a pot?
After all, those who want to smoke and taste their flowers as soon as possible, but the time it takes to harvest their crops will depend on how you are growing, whether indoor or outdoor, and other factors such as the genetics of the seeds themselves, some may flower quickly, while others may take up to 4 months.
Therefore, the best thing to do is to appreciate the development of your plants and to understand the factors that will determine how long it will take to harvest them.
The average period from each cannabis stage to harvest
Germination
The germination of your seeds can vary from one to 7 days, but it is very common that using the right methods and healthy seeds, the roots appear within 48 hours. Here's how to select the best press seeds and then start germinating them according to this tutorial on how to germinate cannabis seeds.
Vegetative Stage
This is one of the most important periods of a crop and it will be crucial at harvest time because the vegetative stage is when the plants begin to grow, root, stem, and actually grow. Vegetation occurs in about 2 months, but it is possible to force flowering after an average development of 3 weeks if desired.
But common in a suitable indoor cultivation, with the plants receiving their 18 hours of illumination, the ideal is that they vegetate for 2 months and then enter the next stage of flowering.
Marijuana in Vegetative Stage
Flowering
Flowering is almost as expected as the time of harvest. From this stage it is possible to finally see the emergence of various shoots, and then them growing fat, creating juiciness, increasingly smell, and many crystals and terpenes. In this pre-harvest period you will spend even more time admiring your plants, and you may be even more eager to try them, but it is good to calm your heart so that they get even better.
The flowering period of each genetics varies, some reach their maximum development faster, with just over a month, and other varieties may have their buds fattening for 3 months or even longer, which is not a bad thing if you not in a hurry. The most common in indoor crops is that the time between flowering and harvesting is 2 months as well, thus totaling an average of 4 months or more from germination to harvest.
Marijuana in flowering period.
How to know if it's time to harvest?
You can be sure that this is a very common and frequently asked question as well. Many growers, especially first-time growers, do everything right from germination to flowering, but don't know when it's time to harvest. Some wonder whether they should let the buds get fatter, or whether it is better to harvest, dry, and cure soon to smoke, but ultimately it will also depend on each plant.
The more you grow, the easier it becomes to know when your plants are ready to be harvested, because of the experience you gain from observing them and the refinement of some visual techniques that help at this time.
What to watch for when it's time to harvest
Pistils
Watching the famous "hairs" of plants, which are the Pistils, is the main and easiest way to decide whether or not your crop is ready for harvest. This is because they change color as they develop, so when they are still white it is because they have not reached the levels of THC we so desire. They are unlikely to remain the same from beginning to end of flowering.
Trichomes
This is the most accurate method of identifying if your plants can already be harvested, and you can put it into practice with a simple magnifying glass to look at the trichomes, which are the glands where the cannabis resin resins. Besides being beautiful to see those bright bits full of THC and flavors, they will help you in this process.
Look with the magnifying glass for trichomes that have some kind of balls on them, like mushrooms, but full of psychoactive substance. In addition to contributing to the potency of your crop's end result, they change color and get stickier when they're ready.
Marijuana Pistils
Post Harvest
After the harvest the grower needs a little more patience to finally taste his flowers, because no less important than all the processes we talked about above is drying and curing them to make them even better. The time for this again will vary as the plant develops and its genetics.
Drying
Drying is very important to avoid possible mold on your newly harvested plants. Preferably put the branches upside down in a dark, airy place for a period of about 5 to 10 days, or if you find them still very humid, you can leave it even longer.
Cannabis drying after harvest.
Cure
A lot of people ignore the process of cure for pure anxiety for smoking cannabis that has been harvested, but forget that curing is important for the final taste. Putting your flowers in airtight pots after drying will enhance their aroma, and take away that "dry bush" taste that has remained of the drying process. Patience in healing can greatly help in quality, so we recommend 15 to 30 days of healing.