How to grow weed: Grow Guide for Beginners

Fill a transparent glass three-quarters with lukewarm filtered or pH-neutral water. Place your seeds in the glass in a dark place for 12 to 24 hours. If all goes well, the seeds will show small green/white dots. This is called the taproot.

Next, place the seeds on a plate covered with damp kitchen paper and cover it with another plate so that the moisture does not evaporate.

After 24 hours, check how far your seeds have germinated. Does the root have a length of about 1.5 cm to 2.5 cm (0.6 to 1 inch)? Then proceed to step 2. If this is not the case, let the seeds germinate a little longer. Keep in mind that the germination stage can take a maximum of 9 days.

To truly become a master of germination, you can also read our guide on how to germinate weed seeds. 

To fill the pot, use a light mix of soil and cork. Fill the pot to about 1 cm (0.4 inches) from the edge. Use a pen or pencil to make a hole about 3 cm (1.2 inches) deep and place the seedling in the hole, with the root facing downwards. Use tweezers for this. Once the seedlings are in the ground, seal the hole 'loosely' with soil.

Our guide on planting weed seeds will give you even more tips and tricks on this part of the growing process.

Spray the soil with a plant sprayer to keep the soil moist (not wet!) and place the pot in a place where it gets light. For example, on the window sill. Check the moisture level of the soil regularly to prevent the seedlings from drying out. After a few days, you will see the little plant emerge.

After 7 to 10 days, the next step is transplanting. At this point, the plant should be 5 to 10 cm (2 to 3.9 inches) high. Now you will have to decide whether to grow the weed plant indoors or outdoors.

In the beginning, the plants do not need a lot of care yet, but there are some things to keep in mind. Make sure the soil is moist. You can touch the soil to feel if you need to give a little extra water, or if the plants have enough for now.

Cannabis plants generally prefer temperatures between 20-25 °C (68-77 °F) during the day, when the lights are on. During the night, when the lights are off, slightly cooler temperatures are preferred.

Also, do not yet use any nutrients, as the seeds themselves have enough nutrients in them to sustain them in this period. If you apply too many nutrients, it can cause root burn, which can be fatal for the plant! Finally, in these first two weeks, you should set up your light cycle, which will help your weed plants flourish. At this early stage, the plants need 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness. Use the lamps and time switch to provide this light frequency.

Now you can add plant nutrition. How much and with what frequency is indicated on the packaging of the relevant product, but it is advisable to give a little less than indicated in order to prevent overfeeding. Keep watering the plants, but not too much. You do not have to change the light cycle during this stage.

Cannabis plants during this time in the vegetative stage prefer a slightly warmer temperature, within the 25-29 °C (77-84 °F) range.

Depending on the type of plant, starting in the fifth week the growth period is complete, and the flowering stage begins (when buds start to appear).

To ensure the best bud quality, cannabis plants should be kept slightly cooler during the flowering stage, around 18-25 °C (64-77 °F).

Since cannabis plants only start to flower when there is less light, this means that the light schedule has to be adjusted. During this period, the plants need 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness.

If you have chosen autoflowers then you do not have to take light schedules into account. These varieties can endure 24 hours of light in order to bloom, but it is better to leave them in the dark occasionally in order to 'rest'.

As the flowering stage progresses, maintaining slightly cooler temperatures improves bud color, trichome production, density, and smell. To induce or enhance maximum (purple) coloration, aim for a temperature difference of 8 °C (14 °F) between day and night.

To get an even more in-depth look in growing weed inside the house, you can read our guide on 'How to grow weed indoors'. 

Have the plants grown nice and full buds? Time to harvest!

When you are growing outside, the plants do not need a lot of help to grow. What they do need is protection. Because the small plants are vulnerable to wind and too much rainfall. To protect your plants against these weather conditions, you can use wind- and cover screens.

From the third week onwards, you should give your plants food. In order to grow healthily, they need phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen, also known as NPK fertilizer. Organic fertilizer contains all these nutrients.

The amount and frequency of feeding are indicated on the packaging of the fertilizer, but if you want to be safe, you should give a smaller amount than indicated in order to prevent overfeeding. You also need to keep checking the moisture in the soil during the growing period.

The outdoor plants will now grow visibly. The only thing you can do in this period is to keep the plants out of the wind and protect them from excess rainwater. Check the plants every few days for mold and rot. You do not have to worry about light schedules, because nature takes care of this for you. This is a great advantage over growing indoors.

At the end of the summer, you will have beautiful, healthy plants in your garden or greenhouse. Around mid-fall, the harvesting can begin. Want to gain even more knowledge on growing outdoors? Make sure to read our guide on 'How to grow weed outdoors'.

Do this at a large table in a clean room. Make sure that you have enough light to prevent you from accidentally cutting wrongly.

Before you start cutting, stretch the rope or cord to hang the branches upside down. This way, after cutting and trimming, you can immediately hang up the branches to dry.

If the plants are on the smaller side, cut them off at the main stem. With larger plants, you cut them off at the branches. The ultimate goal is to have loose branches with the top at the end.

After you have cut the branches, you start trimming them with the scissors. You trim away excess small branches/shoots and bracts, freeing the buds. To keep a good view of what you are cutting, hold the branches upside down.

The trimmed branch is placed on the tray to make sure the sugar leaves are collected and trichomes are not lost. You can use these leaves to make cannabis oil or edibles. Finally, hang the branches upside down by one of their shoots. On to the last step of the growing process: drying.

In case you want to learn even more about the harvesting process, we would advise reading our guide on 'How to harvest cannabis?'.

Weed must be dried at a temperature between 15 and 20 °C (59 to 68 °F). Ideally, keep the RH levels at around 55% in your drying room. As the temperature drops a few degrees, the relative humidity can decrease as well. Make sure the RH never drops below 50% in your drying environment.

To measure both, buy a thermometer and a hygrometer. A rotating fan is also a desirable addition to the drying process, allowing the weed to dry very evenly. Place the fan at a good distance from the branches, so it only functions as a means of air circulation.

After this drying process, the buds can be cut from the branches. Use clean scissors for this. The buds are now ready to be smoked, but you might want to wait just a little longer…

As said, your buds are now smokable, but if you want your homegrown weed at its peak quality, then you should choose to harden the buds. This is called curing. Curing can take several weeks to months and depends on the desired quality. Longer curing means better quality. Compare it to the ripening of wine; the older the wine, the better the taste.

To harden the buds, you put them in a mason jar. These are jars that can be hermetically sealed, to make sure the buds are not exposed anymore to outside air. This way the humidity remains the same and the transformation of cannabinoids is promoted. Place the mason jars in the dark drying room. This way the temperature remains the same and (sun)light is avoided. It is now up to you to decide how long you leave the buds in the jars. Patience is key.

For more tips on drying and curing your weed, check out our guide on 'How to dry and cure weed to improve quality?'.