Marijuana production is a multi-stage agricultural process that begins with selecting genetics and ends with dried, cured flower or extracted concentrates ready for sale. Whether grown indoors under artificial lights or outdoors in open fields, every plant moves through the same biological phases: propagation, vegetative growth, flowering, harvest, drying, and curing. Each stage has specific environmental requirements that directly affect the potency, flavor, and yield of the final product.
Starting the Plant: Seeds vs. Clones
There are two ways to start a marijuana plant. The first is germinating a seed, which produces a plant with a taproot and a strong, deep root system. Seed-grown plants tend to be healthier and produce larger harvests, but they take longer to mature and you won’t know the exact characteristics of the plant until it’s fully grown. Each seed carries a unique combination of genetics from its parent plants, so there’s always some variation.
The second method is cloning. A grower cuts a branch several inches long from a healthy “mother” plant and places it in water or a rooting medium until new roots develop. Because the clone is genetically identical to its parent, growers know exactly what the mature plant will look like, how it will smell, and how potent its buds will be. The tradeoff is that clones develop weaker root systems and generally produce smaller harvests than seed-grown plants. Most large commercial operations use clones for consistency, cycling through mother plants that have proven genetics.
Growing Medium: Soil vs. Hydroponics
Marijuana can be grown in traditional soil or in hydroponic systems, where roots sit in water enriched with dissolved nutrients instead of dirt. Hydroponics has become the dominant method in professional indoor facilities for several reasons: plants grow 20% to 50% faster, harvests can happen up to three times per year instead of once or twice, and the systems use up to 90% less water because it recirculates rather than draining away. Some commercial growers report doubling their production after switching from soil to hydroponics.
Soil still has its place, particularly in outdoor and organic operations. It contains a natural ecosystem of beneficial microbes that can improve flavor complexity, and it’s more forgiving of mistakes since soil acts as a nutrient buffer. Many craft producers prefer soil for these reasons, even if it means slower growth.
The Vegetative Stage
Once a plant is rooted and growing, it enters the vegetative stage, where it builds its structure of stems, branches, and leaves. Indoor growers keep lights on for 18 hours and off for 6 hours each day during this phase, mimicking the long days of summer. The plant needs a nutrient mix heavy in nitrogen, with an ideal ratio of roughly 3 parts nitrogen to 1 part phosphorus to 2 parts potassium. Nitrogen fuels leaf and stem growth, which is the plant’s entire job at this point.
This stage can last anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending on how large the grower wants the plant before triggering it to flower. Outdoor plants naturally stay vegetative through the long days of spring and summer. Indoor growers have full control over timing, which is one of the major advantages of growing under artificial light.
Triggering the Flowering Stage
Marijuana is a photoperiod plant, meaning it flowers in response to changes in daylight length. When nights grow long enough, the plant shifts its energy from building structure to producing buds. Indoor growers trigger this by switching to a 12/12 light schedule: 12 hours of light followed by 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness every day.
The darkness must be truly uninterrupted. Even brief light exposure during the dark period can confuse the plant and delay or disrupt flowering. Once the switch is made, the plant’s nutritional needs change dramatically. It now needs far more phosphorus and less nitrogen, shifting to roughly a 1:3:2 ratio of nitrogen to phosphorus to potassium. Phosphorus drives bud development, while potassium supports the plant’s overall metabolic processes during this energy-intensive phase. In the final weeks before harvest, growers reduce nitrogen even further and increase potassium.
The flowering stage lasts 8 to 10 weeks on average, though some fast strains finish in 6 weeks and certain varieties can take 14 weeks or longer.
Knowing When to Harvest
Growers determine the ideal harvest window by examining trichomes, the tiny resin glands that coat the buds and contain the plant’s active compounds. Under magnification, these glands look like small mushrooms and change color as the plant matures. Clear trichomes mean the plant isn’t ready. Milky white trichomes signal peak potency, with the highest levels of THC and CBD. Once trichomes start turning amber, THC is degrading into a less potent compound that produces heavier, more sedating effects.
Most growers aim to harvest when the majority of trichomes are milky white with just a few amber ones scattered in. If more than about 20% of trichomes have turned amber, the resulting product will lean more toward sleepy, body-heavy effects rather than the sharper mental effects most consumers associate with high-potency flower.
Yields Per Plant
How much dried flower a single plant produces depends heavily on growing conditions. Indoor plants grown under a 600-watt light can yield around 5 ounces (150 grams) per plant when only four plants share that light. Pack 16 plants under the same lamp and each one produces closer to 1.3 ounces (37.5 grams), since they’re competing for light energy. Outdoor plants with ideal conditions, full sun, good soil, and a long growing season, can produce up to 17.5 ounces (500 grams) per plant.
Drying and Curing
Freshly harvested marijuana is roughly 75% water and would mold quickly if stored as-is. The drying process removes most of that moisture under controlled conditions. Producers hang trimmed branches or place buds on drying racks in rooms kept between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit with 45% to 55% relative humidity. Drying too fast (in hot, dry conditions) locks in chlorophyll and produces a harsh, grassy taste. Drying too slowly invites mold.
After drying, the buds move to the curing stage. They’re placed in sealed containers, typically glass jars or large bins, and stored in a low-light area at around 70 degrees with 50% humidity. Growers open the containers periodically to release moisture and refresh the air inside. Curing triggers chemical changes that break down residual chlorophyll and other compounds, producing a smoother flavor and a stronger, more complex aroma. This process typically takes one to three weeks depending on the strain, though some producers cure for longer.
Producing Concentrates and Extracts
Not all marijuana ends up as dried flower. A significant portion is processed into concentrates, which isolate the plant’s active compounds into a more potent form. There are two broad categories: solventless and solvent-based extraction.
Solventless methods rely on physical separation. Dry sieving involves beating dried plant material against mesh screens to knock off the trichome heads, producing a powder called kief with a potency of roughly 35% to 50% THC. Water extraction (sometimes called bubble hash) works similarly but uses ice water and agitation to separate trichomes. Rosin extraction applies heat and pressure to squeeze oils directly out of the plant material, though this method has difficulty preserving the aromatic compounds called terpenes because the combination of high pressure and heat degrades them.
Solvent-based extraction is the most common commercial method. It uses substances like CO2 or ethanol to dissolve the active compounds out of the plant material. The solvent is then removed, leaving behind a concentrated oil. These methods scale well for industrial production and can be fine-tuned to target specific compounds.
Lab Testing and Quality Control
In regulated markets, every batch of marijuana must pass laboratory testing before it can be sold. Testing screens for potency (how much THC and CBD the product contains), pesticide residues, heavy metals, microbial contamination, and residual solvents in concentrates.
The standards are strict. Dangerous bacteria like salmonella and E. coli must be completely absent. Heavy metal limits are measured in fractions of parts per million: arsenic and cadmium in dried flower, for example, can’t exceed 0.2 parts per million, while mercury must stay below 0.1 ppm. Pesticide thresholds are similarly tight, with most compounds capped at 0.1 ppm or less. Batches that fail any of these tests are pulled from the supply chain and either remediated or destroyed.
This testing infrastructure is one of the major differences between legal, regulated production and black-market growing. It’s also one of the most expensive components of the production process, adding cost at every stage from cultivation through final packaging.