26-08-2022 09:00:48 - Updated: 26 August, 2022
How many grams does a marijuana plant give? This is one of the questions that we are asked the most, and in reality it is a question that does not have a simple answer because it depends on dozens of different factors. With this article we are going to try to shed light on this matter, and we are going to see the production of a marijuana plant grown in different environments and cultivation systems, so that you can get an idea of the yield you can achieve.
☕ Factors that determine the production of a cannabis plant
- Genetics: This is the most important factor, a low-yielding variety like Deep Chunk will never give the yield of a Jack Herer, no matter how it is grown. If you want to know which are the most productive marijuana varieties on the market, take a look at this article.
- Light: The quantity and quality of light is key. Indoors, plants produce much more when grown with the full spectrum of light offered by state-of-the-art LED equipment. Outdoors, plants grown in sunny regions yield more than in others with cloudy or rainy weather.
- Nutrition: The feeding of the plants is also very important, both the quantity and the quality, and even the type of fertilizers. Mineral nutrients tend to facilitate greater production than organic ones, but they have to be specific for cannabis and preferably from a good brand.
- Environmental parameters: Here you enter the temperature, humidity, amount of CO2, ventilation, etc. Try to keep the temperature around 24º C. and the humidity around 70% in growth and less than 50% in flowering, something relatively easy to achieve in indoor cultivation, but more difficult outdoors.
- Cultivation system: Marijuana grown in soil with organic fertilizers is more palatable, but when it is grown in coco, hydroponics, or other cultivation systems that improve aeration of the root system, the production of the plants increases.
- Experience or skill of the grower: A good grower will know how to quickly solve a nutritional problem so that the yield is not diminished, or will know how to recognize and treat a plague as soon as possible so that the damage does not go further. But these same problems or others can be suffered by a novice grower and not knowing how to act, something that surely intervenes in the final production of the plants.
- Stress situations: Light, heat or water stress, among others, can lead to a decrease in the yield of cannabis plants. In outdoor crops, we must also add the stress caused by strong winds, heavy rains, hailstorms, etc. Insects, fungi, or viruses can also cause stress to plants.
⭐ How much production does a marijuana plant give indoors?
The production of marijuana indoors is usually somewhat lower than outdoors, mainly because plants can grow much larger outdoors than indoors. But that does not mean that a great yield cannot be achieved indoors, over the last decade lighting systems have appeared that perfectly mimic the spectrum of sunlight and currently it is possible to harvest crops of up to twice weight than 10 years ago.
In indoor cultivation, production is measured per square meter in some places, or per square foot in others, especially in Anglo-Saxon countries, so how much weight per square foot or meter does a marijuana plant give? The standard may be 500 grams/m2, but as I told you before, the performance depends on many different things. It should also be borne in mind that in a square meter of indoor cultivation you can put one plant or put more than 20, depending on the time of vegetative growth and the final size of the plants, but on average it could be said that the production of a plant of indoor marijuana is about 50 grams.
Indoor cultivation of maximum production marijuana
The production of marijuana plants grown in an aeroponic system is usually higher than when they are grown with soil as a substrate, because aeroponics accelerates the absorption of nutrients and greatly increases the oxygenation of the roots. This cultivation technique allows to raise the level of E.C. and it also has the advantage that the plants have a lot of food at their disposal at all times, something that is reflected in larger, tighter, and above all heavier buds.
In indoor cultivation we also have the possibility of increasing the amount of CO2, and we must not forget that carbon is the element that plants consume to a greater extent. In a normal outdoor environment there may be about 300 or 400 PPM of CO2, and in indoor cultivation there may be less if a good air extraction and renewal system is not installed. But marijuana plants can perfectly assimilate up to 1500 PPM, and this can be a great advantage in indoor cultivation because plants can increase their production by more than 20%.
✨ Outdoor marijuana production
We have already seen that outdoors or in outdoor greenhouses, better harvests can be achieved than in indoor cultivation, because normally the plants have a longer vegetative growth time, more quantity of substrate, and above all, more quantity and quality of light. thanks to the sun This makes it easier for plants to grow more, so much so that it is not surprising to see outdoor marijuana plants over 2 meters, something unthinkable in indoor cultivation because more than anything it is not profitable either. A branch of a large outdoor plant can give more production than a whole indoor plant, although it may seem surprising at first.
The main trunk of an outdoor grown Gorilla Glue can be as thick as a leg, and its branches can be larger than the main trunk of the same variety grown indoors. This example can give you an idea of what can increase yield outdoors, but how many grams does a marijuana plant grown outdoors give? This is something very relative, but believe me it can exceed 2 kilos dry.
📖 Production of autoflowering marijuana plants
Everything we have seen above refers to normal flowering genetics, but automatic flowering varieties have a shorter cultivation cycle, so how much does an autoflowering marijuana plant produce? This may surprise you, but in indoor cultivation they perform more or less the same as photoperiod-dependent strains, because they behave in a similar way, something that does not happen in outdoor cultivation.
The production of autoflowering varieties grown outdoors depends on the growing season, since they do not yield the same when they flower in summer with many hours of sun, than when they are grown in autumn or winter. The most productive autoflowering plants outdoors can yield more than 300 grams, a yield similar to that of many indica genetics with normal flowering. In general, it could be said that an automatic marijuana plant can produce between 30 and 150 grams dry, but as I told you before, it depends on many variants.
🚀 Common mistakes we make when trying to improve production in marijuana crops
- Watering: Some people think that by watering more often the plants will produce more, and this usually ends in oxygenation problems of the root system that can slow down development or directly cause the appearance of fungi such as Pythium or Fusarium.
- Fertilizations: It is the most common mistake when it comes to wanting to increase production, because it is easy to think that by giving more food, the plants will create bigger and heavier buds….No, it is not like that, on the contrary, the most It is certain that you will end up causing overfertilization and the harvest will be diminished and with a worse flavor.
- Plants: Another common error in indoor cultivation is putting many plants in a small space, thinking that the more plants there are, the greater the production. In indoor cultivation it does not matter to put a plant/m2 than 50 plants/m2, because the production is measured in gr/m2 and sometimes to put more plants what we do is prevent good ventilation and that the light reaches all the areas of the crop.
🔥 Conclusion
The total production of a marijuana plant will be directly proportional to its general health, but always taking into account other factors such as genetics and cultivation conditions, which can increase or decrease the weight of the harvest. Remember that more does not mean better, and sometimes by trying to improve performance we can spoil the quality of cannabis, so it would not be interesting after all.
🎯 Frequent questions
How to get the highest production of marijuana?
- Monoculture: It is always more interesting to grow clones of the same mother plant than different varieties, because by eating all the plants the same, it is easier to refine their diet.
- Genetics: Look for very productive varieties such as Big Bud strain, Northern Lights, Jack Herer or Moby Dick Auto among others. With these plants it is easier to achieve a large production because they have been genetically selected for it.
- Lighting: Trust me, try full-spectrum LED fixtures like the Lumatek Zeus model and compare it to traditional HPS lights. It is one of the best investments that a cannabis grower can make for self-consumption because production can easily be doubled.
- Fertilizers: Good results can be achieved with any of the well-known brands in the cannabis nutrition sector, but it is important to use the entire range of the brand and follow the instructions in the cultivation tables. It is not a good idea to combine products from different brands or use fertilizers that are not specific for marijuana.
- Parameters: Try to maintain the recommended parameters in terms of temperature and humidity, since the more comfortable the plants are, the more energy they can dedicate to the production of buds.
How much grass can a clone produce?
From less than 1 gram to more than 2 kilos, because that depends on the genetics of the mother plant from which that clone comes, in addition to all the factors that we have seen in this article. Objectively, I can tell you that, as a general rule, cuttings produce approximately 25% less than seeds, because they normally have less vigor, but this is also relative.