The thought of growing your own weed may feel like a massive undertaking. But if you break it down into stages, it’s just a plant. This guide gives you the big picture, from a fat brown seed to a thriving plant.

How to Grow Weed Seeds

There are no real “secrets” to learning how to grow weed seeds. It’s mostly about patience and not messing with the plant too much.

You have to get it started, protect it while it’s small, then give it enough light and food to get big. Let’s break down what that actually looks like, stage by stage.

Key Takeaways

• It’s a Life Cycle. Growing a cannabis plant from seed involves clear stages: germination, seedling, vegetative, and flowering. Each stage has different needs.

• Good Genetics First. The potential of your entire plant is locked inside the seed. Starting with quality feminized seeds from a good seed bank saves a lot of headaches later.

• The Veg Stage is for Size. The vegetative stage is where your plant builds its structure. Think of it as the plant’s childhood and teenage years before it starts producing buds.

• Light Controls Everything. Light is the most important signal for a photoperiod cannabis plant. The amount of light it gets tells it whether to keep growing bigger or to start flowering.

Why We Sell Seeds as Souvenirs

You might wonder why seeds are sold as ‘souvenirs’ at Sacred Seeds. It’s because Australian law forbids growing cannabis in most states.

The ACT is the main exception. To operate responsibly, we provide seeds for collection purposes only. So please, treat this guide as purely educational entertainment and respect your local laws.

Now, let’s explain the details of growing weed seeds:

Phase 1: Picking Your Seeds and Waking Them Up

You can’t build a strong house on a weak foundation. The same goes for plants. Your first job is to get your hands on the best seeds you can.  This is where a reliable source matters. At Sacred Seeds, we do a lot of testing, and only stock tested, viable cannabis seeds, so you’re not starting with a disadvantage. 

Once you have your seeds, you need to wake them up. This is the germination process. The most popular germination method is the paper towel method, where you place seeds between wet paper towels in a warm, dark place. In a few days, a little white tap root should pop out. You could also plant the seed directly into a small pot of soil. Both ways work, but the paper towel is the industry standard for good reason.

Phase 2: The First Few Weeks

After your sprouted seed goes into a growing medium like potting soil, it enters the seedling stage. For the first few weeks, your cannabis plant is just a baby. It will have a couple of little round leaves, then its first set of iconic jagged leaves will appear.

Your job here is to be gentle. Young seedlings need a stable environment. Info from Reddit’s grower communities suggests keeping humidity high (around 70%) and warm temperatures between 21-25°C.

Your cannabis seedlings also need light, but not too much. Intense light scorches them. A simple fluorescent light or a special LED grow light placed at a good distance away is perfect for growing indoors. Don’t overwater it. That’s the most common rookie mistake, and it’ll kill the young plants.

Phase 3: The Growth Spurt, aka Vegetative Stage

Once your seedling has a few sets of leaves and a solid root system, it moves into the vegetative stage. This is where the real cannabis growth happens. Your plant will start to grow rapidly, putting on size and building a strong main stalk and branches. It’s not thinking about making buds yet. Its only job is to get big and strong.

During vegetative growth, your cannabis plant is hungry for two things: light and nutrients. According to GrowWeedEasy, most cannabis plants in this stage need 12-18 hours of light per day. They also need nitrogen-rich food to fuel all that green growth.

Keep the air circulation good and watch it take off.

Phase 4: Getting Ready for Flowers

For photoperiod plants, the switch from the vegetative stage to the flowering stage isn’t automatic. You have to trigger it by changing the light schedule to 12 hours of light and 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness.

Just before you do this, your plant might start showing its sex. You’ll see tiny pre-flowers at the nodes where the branches meet the stalk.

A female plant will show wispy white hairs. Male plants will grow tiny balls that look like a small bunch of grapes.

If you’re using regular seeds, you must remove the males before they open and release pollen. A pollinated female cannabis plant puts its energy into making new seeds instead of big, potent buds.

That explains why so many growers just use feminized seeds. A 2024 report in Frontiers in Plant Science confirms that using them guarantees almost every plant will be a bud-producing female. It completely removes the need to watch for and remove males.

FAQs

How long does the entire process take from seed to harvest?

It depends on strain. Quick autoflowering strains may be done in as little as 8-10 weeks. Photoperiod plants usually need a few months, with 4-8 weeks of vegetative growth and another 8-12 weeks for the flowering stage.

What are the first signs of a problem with my plant?

The leaves are the best indicator. Yellowing, spotting, or curling leaves usually point to a problem with watering, nutrients, or pests.

Can I just grow a weed seed on my windowsill?

It’s tough. A windowsill rarely provides how much light a cannabis plant needs to thrive, especially during the flowering stage. Your plant will likely end up tall, weak, and with very small buds.

How big will my cannabis plant get?

This depends entirely on the strain’s genetics and the growing conditions. Some strains stay short and bushy, while others might grow into huge, tree-like plants if given enough space and a long vegetative stage.

Do I need to prune my plant?

Pruning isn’t strictly necessary for the plant to survive, but it’s a common technique to improve air circulation and light exposure to the lower branches. It could lead to more and bigger buds.

My seedling fell over and looks weak. What’s wrong?

This is often a condition called “damping off,” caused by a fungus in soil that is too wet. It may also happen if the seedling stretches too much for light and its stem is too weak to support it.

What kind of water should I use?

Do not use regular town water. We prefer rain water or pure filtered or distilled water. Monitoring the pH of your water is an advanced step that helps the plant absorb nutrients efficiently.

How do I know when it’s time to water my plant?

Don’t just water on a schedule. The best way is to check the growing medium. Stick your finger about an inch into the soil. If it feels dry, it’s time to water. If it’s still damp, wait another day.