Dear Cheri,

How long does it take marijuana to grow until it is ready to harvest?

Well the answer to that question will depend on whether you are growing indoors or outdoors.  Let’s discuss both scenarios as there are drastic differences.

How long does it take to grow marijuana outdoors?

When you grow cannabis outdoors, Mother Nature determines the schedule. What this means is that the plant vegs during the time of year when the days are getting longer.  Then after the summer solstice when the days start getting shorter, that signals the plant to get on with it and start its flowering stage.

So mother nature determines the length of time a cannabis plant will need to grow to maturity outdoors.  You can start in June and will generally be finished by late September or early October, give or take a few weeks on either end and depending on where you live.

It will also depend, to a lesser degree, on whether you are growing an indica or a sativa strain.  Sativas generally take a little longer.  They handle colder weather better than indicas so some people will grow them well into October.

An indica grows smaller but bushier and will usually be ready to harvest in 7 or 8 weeks of flowering.

How long does it take to grow marijuana indoors?

When you grow cannabis indoors, how long it takes is completely up to you as you control the plant’s light and therefore its lifecycle.

Should you choose, you could veg your plant for months until it grows huge.  Or you could opt to grow smaller plants with just a single cola.  But the bottom line is, the plant will never go into flower mode until you change its light cycle.

For a more practical answer to the question, however, plan on 8 to 12 weeks of flowering time depending on if you are growing indicas or sativas.

Be sure to check out the video above for additional grow tips from Mitch along with his answers to this particular question.