Vegetative Stage of Weed: Providing Growth Conditions

Every plant undergoes a series of stages until it reaches the end of its lifecycle. The same applies to Cannabis plants. The vegetative stage of Weed is when the plant growth is focused on growing big and strong.

In this article, we will focus on the vegetative stage of Weed and what it means for the Cannabis plants.

What is the Vegetative Stage of Cannabis?

The vegetative stage of a Cannabis plant occurs between the germination and flowering stages. As with most vegetative plants, the part where the plant grows only leaves and stems is called the vegetative stage.

Before you get to the vegetative stage without a hitch, you have to learn how to sprout Marijuana seeds in a perfect environment.

No buds are formed in the vegetative stage. The plants remain in the veg stage for about 3-16 weeks. By altering the light cycle, indoor growers can control how long they keep their plants in the vegetative stage.

Keeping the Cannabis plants in 18 hours of light prolongs the vegetative stage. After the first true leaves appear, your Cannabis plants are officially in the vegetative stage. This stage prepares the plant for bloom.

Providing the best nutrients and conditions in this stage will set you up for a bountiful and heavy bloom. Keep in mind that, in the vegetative stage, you need to increase the water supply.

What Conditions Should be Provided in the Vegetative Stage?

Growing Cannabis plants is a science. Keep in mind the quality of your buds heavily depends on the mastery of each plant stage and its requirements. For this reason, Cannabis in the vegetative stage has specific requirements.

The vegetative growth phase has the following requirements for healthy plant development:

a) Temperature

The temperature requirements for Marijuana vegetative growth stage are 20 degrees Celsius. Anything higher or lower could potentially ruin your harvest. However, it is more important that the temperature not drop below 20 degrees Celsius. It can safely go up to 25 degrees Celsius.

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Temperature affects the water absorption rate and the growing medium’s pH level. Therefore keeping the temperature at the recommended level will give you healthy vegetative Cannabis plants.

b) Light

Light is important to all plant life. Female Cannabis plants require at least 13 hours of light every day. However, most indoor and outdoor growers will say that an 18/6 light cycle is preferable.

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This means 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness. Light is important for Cannabis plants to enable photosynthesis. The more light Cannabis plants get, the better they grow. As the Cannabis plants grow, they require more light until they reach full bloom.

It is important to consider that when the light cycle is shortened, the vegetative stage can come to an end and start the flowering stage. This is why indoor growers sometimes shorten the length of the light cycle.

c) Humidity

At the beginning of the Cannabis life cycle, the humidity is maintained at a constant 60%-70%. During the vegetative stage, it should be reduced to 50% and maintained until the plants are ready to transition into the next stage.

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Additionally, you can easily reduce issues like bud rot by actively controlling your humidity levels. Keeping the humidity at the required levels creates room for optimal growth.

d) Growing Medium

The growing medium you select will aid Marijuana growth or stunt your plant. The Cannabis plant root system starts to become stronger in the vegetative stage. Therefore, a good growth medium is important.

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For the Cannabis plant, coco coir and peat moss are the most common. You can use what works for you as long as it can:

• Provide physical support to the plant, especially bigger plants.
• Hold available nutrients and water for the plant.
• Allow root respiration.
• Has the right balance between organic and inorganic matter and the right air spaces.

A growth medium that can’t accommodate all of the above might not be a good one. Additionally, it’s important to note that the watering and nutritional schedules of growth mediums vary. This is why some growers prefer to grow autoflowering plants and seeds using hydroponics.

What About The Pre-Flowering Stage?

The pre-flowering stage is a late vegetative phase. It is the stage where your plants are to start flowering. This is where growers will separate the female and male plants unless they want to produce seeds. Remember that even if you get only female seeds, some might be male. However, they will be very few.

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The main purpose of growing any strain of Cannabis plant is the flower buds. If you leave the male and female plants together, they will pollinate the female plant. You won’t get any buds. To know whether or not your plants have gone into the pre-flowering stage, the female plants develop pre-flowers at the end of the nodes.

Additionally, a branch will grow from the main stalk. The male plant tends to develop round pollen sacs. On the other hand, the female cannabis plants will develop an oval-shaped leaf on a floral axis with pistils sticking out.

At this stage, reducing the amount of light you are supplying to your plants is recommended. Doing this should quickly usher in the flowering stages.

What to Consider Before Growing Weed

Of course, going into the vegetative stage marks a milestone in a plant’s life cycle. However, there are some things you should consider before trying your hand at growing Cannabis. Be it outdoors or indoors.

a) Know the Costs

Growing Cannabis requires money. It doesn’t matter whether you are an indoor or outdoor grower. For indoor plants, you have to consider all the equipment you will need to have healthy plants.

Equipment such as grow lights, small ventilators, pH meters, and others cost a lot. However, the returns will pay for the costs after a few bountiful harvests. You also have to contend with having a deeper understanding of male and female Marijuana seeds.

b) Pick Your Grow Space

Again, you can choose whether to grow indoors or outdoors. Nothing is wrong with either method. However, the spot you chose is important. Growing outdoors generally decreases your costs since natural sunlight is free.

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However, growing outdoors also has its cons. You have no control over the elements. This poses a threat since the weather can be unpredictable.

On the other hand, growing indoors lets you completely control the vegetating plants. You will have the ability to alter your plant’s development as you see fit. However, growing indoors is expensive from the seedling stage until the plant reaches maturity.

c) Learn the Basics of Cannabis

Before becoming a grower, it is important to research and learn the basics of starting your own Cannabis for recreational or medicinal use. It would be best if you selected which strain you want to propagate, along with all its possible known uses.

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Learning the basics will also enable you to grow healthy plants. You will be adequately prepared from the seedling phase to the vegetative stage and the flowering process. With time, you will learn to take good care of your Marijuana plants.

d) Understand Cannabis Nutrition

Whether you decide to grow outdoors or indoors, one thing is for certain, you will have to provide nutrition for your plants. Therefore, it is important to learn how and when to apply fertilizer to your plants.

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Every Marijuana plant requires 3 basic nutrients. Phosphorus, Nitrogen, and Potassium. Knowing about these nutrients and how to feed them to your plants is important for a large harvest.

e) Monitor your Performance

When you grow Marijuana, it’s important to keep tabs on all your harvests. By this, we mean taking note of the dates and times you provided nutrition and other factors. This will help you to know where you went wrong in different stages and how to correct it.

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Sometimes you could also feed your plants excess nutrients, which might lead to death or slow growth. Additionally, it will also do you well to note down other external events such as disease or pest infestations. Finally, revisiting your notes will help you get better future harvests.

FAQ

i) How will I know when the vegetative stage is over?

It will enter the “pre-flowering” stage, and the plants will develop sex-specific flowers. It is recommended to separate female and male plants at this point.

ii) How long should I keep my plants in the vegetative stage for the best yield?

Sixty days is adequate for the best yield. Keeping your plants in vegetative growth for 2 months will allow you to maximize your harvest.

iii) When should I remove fan leaves?

As soon as you spot fan leaves growing inwards towards the plant, they must be removed. The same applies to more bud sites that form lower on the plant.

iv) Should I leave my plants to dry out before harvesting them?

The drying process is recommended after harvest. However, before harvest, you should stop the watering process for at least two days to harvest.

The Bottom Line

Everything that happens in the life cycle of your plants is exciting to watch. Keeping your plants happy and healthy is important for a healthy yield. That’s not to say mistakes won’t be made. They will.

However, Cannabis plants are still versatile, and small mistakes can be rectified without damage to the plant. We do hope your growing journey reaps benefits.