Marijuana Life Cycle
It was hard to figure out where to post this. Marijuana Life Cycle
Marijuana is an ANNUAL. That means it lives one year and dies. It is born in the spring and dies in the winter. It depends on it's hundreds of seeds to create the next generation. Of course man has learned how to alter all of that with Hydroponics and by controlling the LIGHT cycle.
I want to give a brief explanation of the Life Cycle or Growing Cycle here, from memory and experience. This is 'in general" and whether it is Indica or Sativa makes a difference. Different STRAINS are different too in life cycles, but I 'll address what is common and 'in general".
Warmth, darkness and moisture bring a seed to life. Much more detailed info can be found about this "germination". In general, the seed absorbs life out of water and an embronic root appears, pulled downward by gravity. (I may have mispelled that word, but it is derived from the word embryo.) As the root grows downward, to create stability, the seed's cells swell and grow upward, seeking the LIGHT. This germination process takes about 4 to 8 days. It lives on itself, as an embryo, seeking nutrients from the root and LIGHT from the new growth. As it gathers LIGHT, the magic of photosynthesis begins and two baby leaves sprout upward. Ta Da ! What we call a seedling or a sprout.
As more leaves grow, they take in nutrients and LIGHT and they make more leaves. The leaves get larger and larger and darker than the first baby leaves too. In soil, outdoors, in a natural grow, this is a 4 week process. In HYDRO it takes only 7 to ten days. In general if you get a new born delicate plant OUT of the SEEDLING or SPROUT stage, it's difficult to kill. You're going to get a plant!
Next, after the SEEDLING or SPROUT Stage, begins the VEGGING or Vegetative stage. In outdoor natural soil growth, this Vegetative Stage is when the plant reaches it's maximum height, size or growth. It normally takes 13 weeks to 17 weeks to reach it's maximum size and height, in an outdoor natural grow. In HYDRO, it is controlled and much shorter. In an Outdoor Soil Grow, the plant recognizes when the days are getting shorter and the plant is getting less LIGHT, and then it starts it FLOWERING or BUDDING Stage. Again, indoors in HYDRO, the grower controls the length of this cycle by controlling the LIGHTS.
The Grower can utilize and force a short VEGGING Cycle and harvest buds early, or a longer VEGGING Cycle and harvest a larger yield of more buds. In HYDRO you can see a 2 to 4 inch growth daily! And again, there is a lot of difference in Indica and Sativa.
Normally, a plant sprouted outdoors in April will start the Flowering Process the same time a plant was planted in June. Both will be determined by the length of the daylight and darkness. In America, the longest day is June 21st, so that June 22nd of each year, the plants all over America somehow miraculously knows that the days are getting shorter and Autumn and Winter are coming. The plant knows it will not get bigger so it decides to reproduce by making seeds that mature in the flowers. When this magic day comes, or when the indoor grower switches from 24/7 LIGHT to 12/12 LIGHT, in about 14 days, signs of a flower appear! These flowers grow and mature in an average of 8 weeks. If they were fertilized by male pollen, they make seed. If NO male was around, Ta Da! Sensi - Bud! HOW SWEET IT IS !
I realize this is not a scientific explanation, but I'm a layman!
__________________ Roseman When you grow with Mother Nature, you Grow with God. May Peace and Joy Be Your Companions. [FONT=Arial]Ask me about DWC, CFLS, and Indoor Growing. |