The vegetative phase can last anywhere between 3–16 weeks (or longer), depending on the genetics of a cultivar and the goals of the grower. Explosive growth occurs during this time.
Vegetative Stage: As the third stage of cannabis growth, the vegetative phase usually takes two to eight weeks, but it can last as long as 16 weeks. In the vegetative stage, weed plants grow at a fast rate with additional nutrients and carbon dioxide.
Cannabis vegetative stage (3-15 weeks) Vegetative growth is the indoor cannabis growing stage where roots, branches and leaves grow but no buds are formed. Indoor growers often use 18-24 hours of daily light whether they are using autoflower seeds or photoperiod feminised cannabis seeds.
Seedling (2-3 weeks) Vegetative (3-16 weeks) Flowering (8-11 weeks)
The longer you keep your plants in the vegetative stage, the bigger your plant will be, resulting in bigger yields from plants that were vegetated longer.
Tips to Make Your Plants Grow Faster…
Give Your Plants More Light – If you're growing indoors, then as long as you give your plants more than 14 hours of light each day, they'll stay in the vegetative stage. But you can actually give them 24 hours of light each day and it's like “forcing” more growth.
A good potting mix that is well-fortified with organic materials and perhaps even some mineral fertilizer will require less feeding than a medium that is more inert such as rockwool. For a standard potting mix, fertilizing once or twice a week should be sufficient.
In the vegetative stage, LED grow lights should be between 12-24 inches away from the top of the canopy. During this stage, more light is needed for photosynthesis, so the light source should be located closer to the plants. As the plants progress through the flowering stage, their demand for intense light decreases.
You can remove fan leaves during flowering in much the same way you do during veg. Prune away large leaves that are overshadowing bud sites, as well as dead or dying fan leaves. One thing to keep in mind is that you should prune in intervals, giving at least a couple weeks between each session.
Nitrogen is the most important nutrient to have abundantly available to your plants during the vegetative stage, as this nutrient is the staple component for vigorous root, stalk, stem, and leaf growth.
The vegetative stage can last for weeks or even months. It ends when plants begin the transition to budding, whether because they have reached their mature size or because the conditions have triggered the start of reproduction.
Instead of having to wait out a full vegetative cycle plus a full flowering cycle, these growers can skip the vegetative phase all together and harvest their buds much sooner.
After germination your cannabis seedlings will produce an initial pair of rounded cotyledon leaves. In the following weeks the plants will start to mature and produce traditionally shaped leaves ('fan leaves'), this is known as the cannabis vegetative stage.
The vegetative phase is a period of the growing cycle that takes place after germination and before flowering. After your cannabis seeds germinate, they'll emerge from the soil as seedlings. These youngsters feature a short stem and two rounded cotyledons. Eventually, the first “true” leaves will form.
In optimal conditions, plants should be kept in their vegetative stage for approximately 60 days. This time period should give the plant the opportunity to maximise yield and acclimatise to growing conditions.
When a plant has enough leaves for photosynthesis and roots for anchoring, storage, and uptake of minerals then grazing and mowing management can be considered. The late vegetative stage is a valuable phase for harvesting forage.
Ideally, we recommend defoliating your plants once during veg and once during flower. If you're an inexperienced grower, only defoliate once during veg. If you are more experienced, you may want to try defoliating multiple times (given your grow schedule allows enough time for plants to recover after each defoliation).
Fan leaves contain low levels of THC, which makes them useful for herbal teas and extracts, but not for smoking. More significantly, the fan leaf helps the plant develop the best buds possible. Much like most of the plant world, cannabis fan leaves are a key component of the photosynthesis process.
Yes you should – but with the correct technique. A proper thinning will remove 20-40% of the mid to upper foliage every 5-7 days. Removing these fan leaves opens up light and produces better air exchange to the lower canopy.
Vegetative
Lasting between 3 to 16 weeks, the vegetative stage requires full-spectrum light for 18 hours and 6 hours of darkness. Some argue for 24-hour light cycles during this stage, but that choice may lead to nutritional deficiencies and stunted growth in the final flowering stage.
Blue light is essential for both the vegetative and flowering stages of plant growth, but mainly for establishing vegetative and structural growth.
To be effective, grow lights really need to be on for at least 8-10 hours a day. This can vary up to 16 hours, depending on the conditions. That's why LED grow lights are so popular – when they have to be left on all day, it's best to use an energy efficient type! Always position a grow light above the plant.
You should use 5 ml/gallon of Cal-Mag Plus during the vegetative and early bloom stages. During the halfway point of the flowering stage, you might want to reduce the application to 3 ml/gallon, to avoid adding excess nitrogen to the nutrient solution based upon your plant specific needs.
For soil growers, plants can be fed once every second or third watering. If plants are fed with every watering then nutrient buildup and lockup becomes a problem causing stunted growth, “crows foot” (curling downwards of the leaves), leaf burn, deficiency symptoms, burnt and damaged root system and decreased yields.
Yes pot size will affect cannabis yield. A bigger pot will result in bigger yields. Cannabis grows long roots that need ample room to reach their ideal outcome. Growing cannabis in a container that is too small will lead to root bound and stunt the plants growth.