Vegetative stage

The vegetative stage refers to an essential phase of rapid cannabis growth and development between the initial seedling stage and the eventual onset of flowering. This critical vegetative period tends to span anywhere from 2 weeks up to 4 months depending on the plant, strain and growth goals. With consistent optimal care and plentiful resources, the cannabis plant matures and evolves during vegetative growth into a strong, robust specimen capable of higher yields of flower clusters at harvest time. Specialized grow lights mimicking long summer days are provided and plants are kept under at least 18 hours of light exposure in order to keep them in a permanent state of vegetation and prevent initiating flowering buds too soon. Frequent pruning directs the growth pattern toward sturdy branching with abundant healthy green foliage. Once the plants reach the intended size and shape, the daily hours of light exposure gets reduced to just 12 hours to successfully transition them into the budding and flowering stage. While some inexperienced growers may lose patience and induce flowering too early while plants are still small, those who can nurture their cannabis vegetation to its full thriving potential during the prolonged vegetative stage will find themselves rewarded with far greater overall yields in the end.