How Much Weed Can You Grow from One Plant?

One of the unique aspects of growing cannabis is the major differences that exist between strains. The three common strain classifications are indica, sativa, and hybrid, and all strains fall somewhere within this spectrum.

Why is this important for understanding how much weed one plant can yield? Because not only does indica or sativa dominance have an impact on plant yield, but so does the strain type, how a plant was grown, and whether it was cultivated indoors or outdoors.

As much as we’d love to be able to give you a simple answer as to how much cannabis flower a single marijuana plant might yield, weed is a natural substance, and nothing in nature is simple. So you’ll have to bear with us as we explain in more detail.

How Long Does It Take for Marijuana to Grow?

There are 7 primary stages in the growth cycle of cannabis. These include:

1. Germination stage: 24 hours – 2 weeks
2. Seedling stage: Around 2 – 3 weeks
3. Vegetative stage: Around 3 – 8 weeks
4. Flowering stage: Around 6 – 8 weeks
5. Harvest stage: The time at which to harvest varies greatly, and generally, observing pistils and trichomes is the key to understanding when to harvest. Growing experts will say to harvest when 70-90% of the pistils have turned brown or the trichomes have turned milky white.
6. The pruning stage: Either wet or dry pruning is conducted, dry often being the preferred method of the two.
7. Preparing for the next growing season stage: The time when the process is restarted all over again.

These 7 stages are a foundational framework for the journey of a cannabis plant from seed to bud. However, in reality, when you choose to harvest your plants will depend on the strain type, where it’s grown, and finally how many of the pistils you want browned.

On average, it takes around 6-10 weeks for a cannabis plant to reach the flowering stage. From there, however, quite a bit more patience is needed, as it could take anywhere from 10-32 weeks until your flower is ready to smoke.

Factors That May Affect Your Yields

A lot of factors can determine whether or not a cannabis crop might produce high yields. These usually range from genetics to growing conditions to overall cannabis crop health.

Genetics

Different weed strains have different genetics. This not only influences the overall flavor and aroma profile of the final bud but also the growing tendencies of a specific crop, from its yield size to its resistance to pests and diseases.

Indica-dominant strains tend to produce smaller yields than sativa-dominant strains. This is because sativa dominant genes usually produce taller growing plants with large, outstretched branches. Indica-dominant plants, on the other hand, tend to be smaller and stouter.

On average, indica plants will produce around 1 lb. of cannabis flower per plant, while sativa plants will produce around 2 lb. of cannabis flower per plant. Autoflowering strains are known for notoriously low grow yields, but the fact that they can be harvested faster is why they are preferred by some growers.

Indoor vs. Outdoor Growing

Cannabis growth duration is usually longer with outdoor plants than with indoor plants, and whether a crop is cultivated inside or outside also impacts its yield size.

This is because cannabis plants that can be grown outdoors are typically larger in size since tall stretching sativas fare very well outdoors in appropriate climates. The space underneath the plants also means that outdoor marijuana crops have far more room to stretch out their roots, leading to sturdier and stronger growth. A healthy root system is essential for the absorption of nutrients, oxygen, water, and more.

Indoor-grown plants, on the other hand, are more restricted in their growth height and the formation of their root structures. Since appropriate conditions must be mimicked and reproduced inside, this inorganic environment can impact yield size.

Nutrients

Soil quality is essential for determining how well a plant will yield. If your crops aren’t getting the correct balance of nutrients, especially micronutrients like zinc, magnesium, calcium, and sulfur, then understandably, they will not be as prolific.

For this reason, be sure that your cannabis plants are properly taken care of when it comes to nutrients, and just as important as not underfertilizing is not overfertilizing, which can be equally as damaging.

Temperature and Humidity

Cannabis climate plays a huge role in plant yield size. Not only does the temperature itself have to be ideal, never dipping outside of the recommended 50-82.4 ºF (10-28 ºC), but humidity levels also matter. They must sit between 40-60% for the best yields until the final harvest weeks when humidity levels must be decreased. Any lower growing humidity and you risk your plants drying out, and any higher and the risk of mold and powdery mildew skyrockets.

For an outdoor growing setting, these factors aren’t really possible to control, and ideally, you must live in a climate that meets these conditions. But indoors, all of these conditions can be regulated, which means you may potentially have more consistency when it comes to the environment.

Ventilation

The final component that matters a lot when it comes to flower yield is ventilation. Proper ventilation is essential for cannabis plants to obtain enough carbon dioxide to develop into healthy, strong, mature crops. Ventilation also encourages a constant flow of oxygen, which promotes ideal growth and harvest conditions.

How Much Weed Can You Get from One Plant?

At the end of the day, when it comes down to cannabis yield, you’ll need to carefully decide which plant qualities and specific growing conditions work for you and your own needs.

For some people, it isn’t possible to grow outside, so they have to navigate both the pros and cons of indoor growing. For others, a sleepy indica strain would be far more preferable over an energizing sativa strain, and so they would have to accept the lower potential flower yield as a compromise for the more mellow effects.

Whenever you decide to choose which strain to grow, where, and how, it’s vital to weigh the upsides and downsides.

Growing Outdoors

Cannabis plants grown outdoors tend to be taller in height, as the wider stretched varieties are frequently selected since outside space is far less limited. For this reason, very tall sativas are regularly grown in outdoor settings, and they also typically yield a lot more marijuana flower. The average outdoor yield clocks in around 16-48 oz. per plant.

Growing Indoors

The average indoor weed plant height is shorter than the height of an outdoor plant. Generally, shorter plant types are selected for inside cultivation to work within the confines of a grow room. On average, most people can expect around 4-6 ounces of cannabis flower per plant.

Summary: How Much Weed Does One Plant Yield?

Understanding how much weed comes from one plant is far from simple and straightforward, but it opens up deeper conversations and considerations to think about when embarking on a grow. It’s important regardless to make conscious decisions when cultivating cannabis if your end goal is a healthy, tasty, and higher-yielding result.