Are you growing marijuana out doors and asking these questions?

What is the cannabis, marijuana flowering stage?

In the name of things….”Cannabis” is the overall plant, “Marijuana” consists of leaves, sugar leaves, flowers, seeds, and stems, where all the THC and CBD comes from, that delivers the benefits of the Cannabis plant.

The flowering stage of marijuana is a time when the cannabis plant produces flowers, obviously. The process involves the production of pistils and stamens, which are tiny male and female reproductive cells within plants that produce pollen and egg cells. The flowering stage, is when you can experience root rot, and bud rot which can lead to infestation, fungus, and other potential failures, so daily observation is necessary.

We will discuss, on another page common issues that one can experience that can have a negative impact on your plants and how to stop it, hopefully.

A brief history of the flowering cannabis plant

Marijuana is a flowering plant that has been used for centuries. Cannabis plants are finally being legalized; 1996, in CA, each election 2012, 2016, 2020 more and more states joined in, at the time of this post there are about 38 fully legal and 48 mixed states. It is a good idea to periodically check to see what is going on in your state with regard to the laws that are forever changing, before embarking on your adventure.

Because of this effort, it is making it possible to study the plant without fear of arrest or imprisonment. With legalization, farmers are now able to grow cannabis in ways that are more efficient, sustainable, and profitable, when legally produced. The profit is so high, the states are realizing that the collection of huge tax revenues can help fund much needed social programs for its citizens.

The flowering stage of the marijuana- cannabis plant is when its flowers bloom and if the plant is male, they release pollen for pollination of female plants close by.

However, this is basic, yet when you realize all the other things going on in this valuable plant during this phase, you will know why it was suppressed from the public domain. We will discuss all that on other pages, over time.

Understanding the process makes the growing part easier and more fun. This article will go in-depth into the cannabis flowering stages, so you can harvest higher quality buds with juicy, fragrant dripping trichomes, with that very definitive and to some, inviting aroma.

Watching your cannabis plants flower is both exciting and daunting. Growing anything, especially from seed has a level of risk. When you are spending a lot of money for seeds or seedlings, it can be a bit nerve-wracking at times. When you are personally engaged with your cannabis plants, just like any fruit bearing plant, there is a frequency that is generated between you.

It’s a beautiful thing to give gratitude to your plants in advance for the pain relief, relaxation, or bliss they will give to you. So, it would be advised to be in joy and not fear when you attend to your lovely ladies, because they can sense your energy.

Being a marijuana consumer, growing your own cannabis plants can be one of the most rewarding aspects of being a cultivator. It is vital that you know and understand that when it comes to the flowering stage, there are quite a few important things that you must keep an eye on.

Knowing where your cannabis plants are in their life cycle will dictate when to prune, train, and trellis your plants, as well as, when and what to feed and when to harvest.

During the marijuana flowering stage, learn what is the best temperature, humidity, nutrients and fertilizer. With outdoor growing it can be difficult to control the heat if you live in an area with high temps, so it would be best to use shade cloth to protect your plants from direct, harsh sunlight. If you are in an area with low humidity, you may need to mist your plants often. Low humidity can be just as bad as high humidity.

Feeding the correct fertilizers, or nutrients are based on their stages of development. The proper combinations of minerals increase their blooming or vegetation potential, just don’t over feed them, thinking more is better.

It’s a good idea to make accurate notes of your nutrient application timing, quantity of nutrient you are dispensing, along with the manufacturer’s brand name. For your next grow, experiment, switch brands and keep good records and compare. Join forums and groups and learn from other’s experiences and share yours.

As far as feeding goes, you need to feed your plants if you want to maximize results, just keep in mind that you can burn your cannabis plants if you over feed them.

By adding bloom nutrients, you will be impressed, as new buds appear in new places, like near the main cola, at an increased rate. It is amazing to witness the evolution as buds begin to appear and swell all over the plants every day. Each day they become thicker plumped with stickie resin, now coating all the tiny sugar leaves.

As your cannabis plant’s buds get fatter and fuller, the smell becomes more and more delightful. Just keep in mind that moth and butterfly caterpillars and certain flies love the aroma too and they can destroy your crop.

It’s sad to want to destroy a butterfly larva, however they can cause significant damage to your plants. You don’t see the caterpillar suckers, because they attack at night and when you see a strange rot appear, it can be too late. These creatures live inside the stems and branches during the day. The best time to catch them is in the early dawn, as they are full, from eating all night and are slowly moving back into hiding. When you find them remove them or destroy them and look for their eggs. Then get a solution called Monterey B.T. it really works well to eradicate them.

Another sign that you have caterpillars is black dots on the leaves in the morning, which is their poop. If it happens to be windy in your area, the poop may blow off and an indicator will not be visible. Then your bud turns brown, because it’s dead because the caterpillar sucked the life out of it as it and the rotting flower now has a fungus that can infect your whole plant.

It would be great if we could designate one plant to nature’s pollinators and the rest for us, however, it does not work that way. It is possible to prepare a home for the caterpillar in a place where it will not cause harm to your cannabis plants. Feed it and attend to it and then it can live a life one day as a beautiful butterfly. We kill off way too many pollinators each year with harmful pesticides and insecticides.

This definition explains the meaning of Flowering Stage and why it matters.

The cannabis plant’s flowering stage is how you can maximize your harvests, save money as you increase success from your efforts.

Plants usually flower in mid- late summer, then when days get shorter after an initial flowering period the buds get plump, swelling with lusciousness scents dripping of sticky trichomes around mid-September to early October, then it’s time to harvest.

However, cannabis plants can also be grown indoors and the flowering stage is completely dependent on each grower. You also can have more than one crop a year, because the indoor grower has control over the conditions, without needing to depend on the climate.

The duration of each marijuana flower stage varies widely depending on different factors like growing method, strain genetics and a bunch of other things and if you are growing indoors or outdoors, as well.

# Marijuana Flowering Stage:

The marijuana flowering stage is the final one before harvest and while every stage is important, this might be considered by some to be the most important part of your cannabis plant’s life. It takes place after an initial vegetative growth period, if all goes well during that phase.

After the flowers begin in the early stage, your cannabis plants need adequate nutrients not only for the rapid growth of inflorescences, but also for expansive bud accumulation for nutrients to give your plant the very best opportunities to bud with potency.

Until recently, the commercial production of Cannabis sativa was restricted to varieties that yielded high-quality fiber while producing low levels of the psychoactive cannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Fortunately, In the last few years, several jurisdictions have legalized the production of medical and/or recreational cannabis with higher levels of THC, and other jurisdictions seem poised to follow suit.

Consequently, due to increasing demand for industrial scale production of high yield cannabis with higher consistent cannabinoid profiles is expected to increase to meet demand, as more people will grow their own in their homes or in backyard grow huts.

In line with previous research, it was found that variety, plant density, light intensity and fertilization or nutrients will influence cannabis yield and cannabinoid content; what also was identified was the container size, light type, water mineral content and duration of the flowering period were predictors of yield and THC accumulation.

It’s proposed that the vast amount of genomic data currently available for cannabis can be used to better understand the effect of genotype on yield.

Light diversification is likely to emerge in cannabis growing systems, as each is examined. The potential role of plant-growth, regulation of cannabinoid biosynthesis and biocontrol is still in experimental phases.

Cannabis use spreads as people grow their own

Cannabis use spreads because the cost is a lot less when you can cultivate on your own property, under the free sun. Depending on your yield, you could save several thousand dollars annually. Some that are clearly unaware of the science behind pollination think that the marijuana plant’s pollen will pollinate and cross over to other plants. What can happen is that if a male plant happens to have its seeds and pollen escape into a densely populated area of marijuana growers, it can result in marijuana being grown outdoors by people, just by birds or the wind. Or if someone nearby is cultivating female plants they can get pollinated and produce unwanted seeds.

What is the cannabis flowering stage?

This is when the cannabis plant goes into the marijuana flowering stage and when the plant’s flowers start to form that will produce THC and CBD, to keep it simple.

What are the characteristics of the flowering stage…

The characteristics are when plant starts to produce tiny sacks where the leaves and branches intersect. These sacks, if female will produce whitish yellow hairs that will develop into marijuana flowers, which then could be pollinated by its male counterpart. While in many cases the grower does not want to let their cannabis plant become pollinated, or the bud will have a bunch of unwanted seeds.

However, pollination is important because it will either produce seeds for the next year or continue with flowering, depending on whether the female is fertilized by a male. If they are close by each other the pollination process is inevitable. So, decide before you begin what you will do if you discover a male plant in with your ladies.

Frequently Asked Questions : The Marijuana Flowering Stage

How much light should cannabis plants receive in bloom?

• 10 hours of light is best when your cannabis plant’s marijuana flowers are in bloom. You cannot always control the light outdoors. Just know if you live in an area where you get lots of cloudy or overcast days this can also negatively impact your results.

How to get huge outdoor cannabis plants?

• Give your plants a good amount of space.
• Separate the stems so the buds are receiving a good amount of light and not hidden by the bigger leaves.
• Feed them the right nutrients for the right stages. You don’t need to buy big bottles of these solutions for a back yard cultivation when you only have about 6-12 plants.

How to tell when cannabis plant is flowering?

• The marijuana leaves will change color, which means they are getting ready to flower. You’ll notice purple, light yellow or white hairs growing out of the buds. The plant should be about 18-20 inches tall, and the leaves should be pointed upwards.

When cannabis plants are flowering, should I be removing the smaller leaves starting from the bottom of the plants?

• Yes, you’ll want to remove the bottom leaves as they die. It is always a good idea to remove decaying leaves, to give your plant more energy and avoid any potential for infestation. Randomly removing leaves will help direct more of their energy into producing larger buds, it also helps give your plant room for new growth and allows more sun to reach your flowers. Just do not remove too many fan leaves at a time.

What leads to obtaining high yields?

• Excessive heat and light are important to consider when it comes to maximizing production. If they have too much of either, your plants will stop flowering. You may want to have a shade cloth in place to protect your plants from over exposure or high heat. Removing big fan leaves, mid flowering, adding bloom nutrients and molasses.

Light:

• It’s important to understand that your plants will flower when they get enough light. When it starts flowering, the time is right to give them at least eight hours of uninterrupted darkness per day.
• You need to make sure you do not give the plants too much light either. When they are getting enough, their leaves will turn a dark green color and stop growing taller. If they get too much, their leaves will turn yellow and start to dry out and your cannabis plant will stop growing taller.

Heat:

• Some people believe that cannabis plants need a lot of heat to grow well. However, this is not the case. If you give them more than they need, it will dry out their leaves and cause the marijuana flowering process to stop. If you are experiencing high heat outdoors, to reduce the chance of heat stress, use shade cloth and a water mister to keep them cool and slightly moist.

Water:

• If your plants do not get enough water, they will die. If you over water them, they will drown and not grow and could get a fungus and die. The best thing to do is get a water meter and test daily, in the desert test at night too. On some days they may need a little drink before going to sleep, not too much though.

How much water do cannabis plants need during the marijuana flowering in the later stage?

Your plants will not need as much water during the latter part of the flowering stage. Drought resistant seeds need very little water.

Why is it important to understand marijuana flowering stages and timing in cannabis plant cultivation?

Each stage requires a different type of nutrient. In pre to early stage this is the time when you will be able to determine the sex of your plants and catch the males if there happens to be any and remove them before it’s too late and they pollinate the rest of your plants. In the late flowering stage is when infestation form caterpillars and other insects can attack. Your buds and leaves will let you know when there is any change.

Mistakes to avoid during marijuana flowering stages

Mistakes to avoid are common sense like…

• Not watering your plant enough or over-watering it. If you water your plant too much, you will have a weaker crop with less potency and a higher chance of creating an environment for fungus to grow. If you water it too little, not only your plant will be stunted, but the buds will also be smaller, and it will have a higher chance of dying and decay which also can attract infestation.
• Not being attentive to your plants to notice changes that would indicate a problem like fungus or infestation. This type of neglect could allow for a whole season to be lost, if you do not spot a negative situation soon enough.
• Don’t begin germinating your cannabis plant too late in the season, in locations that temps drop in early fall, will place your flowering plant at risk if you are growing outdoors and your buds could die from an early frost.
• Don’t make the mistake of not adding quality nutrients at the right stages.
• Not stopping the nutrients 2 weeks before the end of marijuana flowering phase.
• Not flushing 2 weeks before harvest.

Flowering cannabis for seed production

The cannabis plant has several stages of life. One of these is to allow the flowering stage of your female plants to get pollinated. This occurs after a female has been successfully impregnated by a male and will grow seeds for the next generation of marijuana plants. The plant reaches the end of its life cycle, meaning that it is close to dying due to old age, the seeds can then be harvested, and the plant did its job.

Marijuana life has three main stages

There are three stages in the cannabis plant’s life, the vegetative phase, flowering stage, harvesting stage. The first, vegetative phase lasts from planting to pre- flowering. The next phase is the flowering. Which begins when all its female flowers begin to bloom until then have fully bloomed. The last stage is when they begin to ripen and the third stage is when they can be harvested.

Basic tips on flowering cannabis plants for seeds

There are many reasons to flower marijuana plants for seed production. These include the need to sustain life of the species, increasing quality and potency of flowers, maintaining genetic diversity by producing offspring from different cannabis strains, or even just enjoying the process of having your marijuana flowers produce seeds. When you have an abundance of cannabis seeds you can grow forever and share them with your friends. You can even eat the seeds that are full of nutrients.

How to store marijuana flowers, once harvested?

When marijuana flowers or buds are dried and cured, they will often develop a protective layer of crystal resin which makes them less likely to be damaged or destroyed. However, storing the buds in airtight containers with a moisture-proof lining is the best way to preserve their quality. They must go through the drying phase or curing phase correctly, or they can get moldy if the process is not done correctly.

What is the age of the marijuana flowering stage of the cannabis plant?

Marijuana flowering stage can take 7 to 12 weeks if it is not an autoflower strain. A cannabis plant that is an autoflower strain can take 5-7 weeks to reach full maturity and be ready for harvesting.

What is the week-by-week marijuana flowering stages of the cannabis plant?

• Germination: The seed starts to sprout and grow into a tiny cannabis plant.
• Seedling: this is when the first 4-8 rows of leave appear. You will harden the plant for outdoor weather when it is about 8-10 inches tall.
• Vegetative: The cannabis plant starts to grow leaves and stems. This is when the plant will usually start to use light as a source of energy, as it becomes larger than it was in the seedling stage.
• Pre-Flowering: Cannabis plants start to produce buds during this phase. this is also when you will determine the sex of the plants.
• Flowering: which when the buds form that are loaded with potent THC and CBD molecules that get converted into cannabinoids when they are heated or smoked.
• Harvesting: this is when the marijuana flower’s hairs just begin to turn from milky white to amber or or gold. The harvesting time of marijuana flowers is different for each grower as to how ripe the flowers are when they harvest.
• Pollination: When male and female cannabis flowers pollinate, pollen is released and spreads to other nearby buds on the same plant or other plants.
• Seeding: When the male plant releases its seeds, which are about the size of a grain of rice and then  when the plant is mature, you harvest the seeds.

What is the difference between germination and flowering?

The cannabis plant goes through the germination stage when it is a seed and produces its tap root.

Marijuana flowering stage is when the plant starts to grow buds and flowers.

What is the last stage of a cannabis plant before harvesting?

The last stage of a flowering in the cannabis plant when you will proceed with “flushing” when you stop feeding the plant nutrients and just use plain filtered water. Some will use ice water to shock the plant to produce more trichomes.

What is a cannabis plant’s lifespan during flowering phase?

A cannabis plant’s lifespan during flowering phase is approximately two to three months, from mid to late July to late September or early October.

What are some tips to help growers with this last stage?

Potential growers should really watch the marijuana flowering stage closely. This is because it can be very difficult to identify when a plant has fully entered the ripening stage, and if you miss it then you risk ruining all your efforts.

If the plant was traumatized, seeds could begin to appear, this effect could set your plant up for late pollination. This will destroy all the effort you put into the female plants. You may need to cull it or your whole crop could be jeopardized.

At what point do you harvest marijuana?

Mid marijuana flowering stage is the time to start thinking about harvesting. It doesn’t matter if you are growing indoors or outdoors, this is when you should be thinking about the process you will use to harvest your crop.

This is the time when you need to pay attention close to your plants. You will start seeing pistils changing color, which is the main sign that it is ready for harvest.

You do not want to go longer than a few week with this part because the more cannabis plant ripens, the less THC will be present in it when you harvest it.

If you want to get the most THC out of your cannabis, you will need to harvest it when the calyxes are no more than 50% dark amber.

How long does it take to grow marijuana?

The time it takes to grow marijuana depends on a variety of factors. The type of cannabis strain you have, the light spectrum, and most importantly your growing technique all determine how long it will take for your cannabis plants to start producing buds. Fro seed to harvest, expect to begin in late may early June until late September early October.

When does a marijuana plant to start producing buds?

The mid flowering stage is when the marijuana plant will start growing buds. The time it takes for a cannabis plant to mature depends on its variety, but generally it takes between 5-7 weeks to flower from germination stage .

How long does it take for a marijuana plant to start flowering?

As soon as the cannabis plant starts to flower it will start growing buds, this could be about week 5-6. The marijuana plant will continue to grow new leaves and branches but these are not the parts you want for smoking or other consumption. The buds are the next stage of the cannabis plant and the part you want to harvest and smoke.

How do I know when my marijuana plants are ready to start flowering?

There are a few ways to tell if your marijuana plant is ready for the flowering stage. One way is to look at the pistil hairs on your cannabis plants. The pistils start out white and will eventually turn a reddish color and curl. When the pistils are curled it is time to start flowering your marijuana plant.

The other way to tell when your cannabis plants need to start flowering is to look at the inter-nodal length. The inter-nodal length is the distance between each set of leaves on your cannabis plant. When this measurement reaches 8-10 inches it’s time to start flowering your marijuana plant.

When growing cannabis outdoors, it is not recommended to start flowering your plants until the nights are at least 10 degrees cooler than the days. This will help prevent pollination and seed production.

When your cannabis plants are ready to start flowering, you can use a few tricks to speed up the process. Some growers recommend prune by cutting off any new growth that appears at the top of your plant as in trimming or fimming after 5 sets of leaves have appeared. This will trick the plant into thinking it is fall and time to start flowering. you will also increase the number of colas you will grow.

When you start flowering your cannabis plants, there will be a change in appearance as well as in the smell. The leaves of your cannabis plants will start to look different and the smell from the flowering buds will be stronger.

The first step in getting your marijuana plant to flower is making sure it has been in the vegetative stage for at least a month. The reason you want your marijuana plant to be in the vegetative stage before it starts flowering is because it takes anywhere from 2-3 weeks for your marijuana plant to start flowering. If you try to flower your cannabis plants before it is ready the yield from your cannabis plants will be less.

The first thing that you want to do when you notice that your marijuana plant is starting to flower is to start increasing the amount of light it gets.

This is the time to start using a fertilizer or nutrients that has more nitrogen in it and stop using any plant food with a high phosphorus content. You will also want to make sure you are keeping the temperature at around 75 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and no less than 65 degrees Fahrenheit at night.

The plant should continue to get more and more buds on it until you have a nice large bud at the top of your plant.

In Conclusion:

Cultivating Cannabis plants is very rewarding in many ways, and yes it can be challenging too, especially if you get fungus or infestation. When you understand the various stages and are aware of what to look for along with providing the best care, growing marijuana in your own back yard grow hut, becomes an enjoyable experience.