How long planting cannabis from seeds till harvest?
Planting a crop of pot outdoors is different than growing it indoors when it will mature; the male plant will mature first and will die within approximately 12 weeks after planting the seedling. When it is this age most of the male cannabis plants are ready do be harvested. The male will not have the potency of the female, but is still quite useable after being dried.
The female plant takes longer to be ready for harvest when planted outdoors. This is because the females will still be producing buds and seeds for approximately 3 to 5 weeks longer after the 12 weeks of the males from the time the seedlings have been planted. After which they can be harvested and hung to dry, the same as the male pot plants.
The female is ready to harvest when the white hairs they are known for turn to a red or brown color, this is when they have fully matured and they will be the most potent. They will have stopped producing and can be harvested and hung to dry.
When the female pot plants are mature they can weight as much as twice that of the male plant. This will need to be considered when harvesting the plants and hanging them to dry as the weight difference will need to be compensated for when hanging.
Harvesting the ganja crop
When planting a ganja crop it is done with anticipation of the harvest, there are decisions to be made prior to harvesting. The first decision is whether to allow the males to pollinate the female.
The males will have approximately five green or yellow sepals, these will split open when it is time to fertilize the females. This will allow the females to bare seeds and if the decision is to have a crop without going to seed, then the males must be harvested before they pollinate the females. This is usually done when the males are younger than 12 weeks, at about 12 weeks they will pollinate the females.
The females are harvested about three or four weeks after the males and are a shorter plant with small pistillate flowers.
After the harvest the pot plants will then need to be dried either in a prepared drying room or drying box that will need to have both heat and ventilation. The heat will need to be concentrated like what can be achieved from an electric heater, regular household heat from the furnace will not be a high enough temperature to dry the leaves.
The ventilation is important also as there will be dampness that has to be let out of the drying room or box. If it is not ventilated it can cause mold on the leaves, which will ruin the harvest. Ventilation can be done on the drying box by cutting slits in the top of the box and in the drying room by placing a fan in the room along with the electric heater.
