Growing Gains: How Much Weed Can You Get From One Cannabis Plant

As legal cannabis becomes more and more mainstream and the public sentiments on cannabis continue to be overwhelmingly in favor of legal access to both medical and recreational weed, state and federal legislators are getting on board the pro-cannabis train. 

In the past few years alone, we've seen 18 states fully legalize recreational cannabis use, and 36 other states and 4 U.S.territories pass legislation or vote in favor of establishing a state-run program of their own. A few states and U.S. territories have even gone as far as to legalize some form of either medical or recreational homegrowing. 

Here is a list of those states: 

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1. Alaska
2. Arizona
3. California
4. Colorado
5. Hawaii
6. Illinois
7. Maine
8. Massachusetts
9. Michigan
10. Missouri
11. Montana
12. Nevada
13. New Mexico
14. Oklahoma
15. Oregon
16. Rhode Island
17. Vermont
18. Washington
19. Washington, D.C.

While all of these states have different rules and regulations surrounding how many plants they can grow, where they can grow them, and how much dried cannabis flower you can keep at once after you harvest it, every home grower has the same goal; to get as much freshly grown cannabis as your plants can produce. 

This article is going to go into detail on some tips and tricks that you can follow to increase the amount of homegrown cannabis you're producing, how the environment impacts your yields, and how to get the absolute max out of the plants you have. Let's get into it without further ado. 

Location, Location, Location!

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Homegrowing, just like real estate and vacation planning, is all about the location. While modern science is amazing and has narrowed the gap in quality between certain types and growing situations, where and how you grow that cannabis does still matter when it comes to the best quality end product. 

Let's get this out of the way early. Like it or not, whether you grow your plants outdoors or indoors under grow lights and such matters. On average, plants grown under indoor lights produce about 112 grams. That's about 224 half-gram joints for you to enjoy. Outdoor cannabis, however, produces 224 grams, or about 448 half-gram joints. That's double the amount of cannabis for you to use, just based on whether or not that plant is grown in the soil and sun instead of under some grow lights in fertilizer. 

To put that difference in quantity into perspective, if you use a gram per day, the indoor-grown cannabis will last about four months. At the same gram per day rate, the outdoor plants will last seven and a half months. That's a massive difference. 

While that difference is stark, it's simply the reality for many home growers. There are simply some geographic limitations to outdoor growing. Growing outdoors makes sense if you live out on the West Coast in a state like Oregon, Southern California, and Washington state, where conditions are ideal for outdoor cannabis growth. If you live somewhere like Alaska or Massachusetts, however, outdoor growing likely isn't a realistic option.

When it comes to getting the most yield possible, where and how your cannabis is grown is still a significant factor. 

Ways to Maximize Your Yield 

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While it's pretty much impossible to argue that indoor growing can compare to the yield of plants you get from growing outdoors, there are ways to maximize the amount of cannabis you get from your indoor grown plants. 

Let's start with the basic math of a half-decent indoor grow with powerful grow lights, some temperature and humidity controls, and the use of well-fertilized soil and nutrients for plants. Plants that were grown under, for example, a 400-watt grow light can produce about 400 grams of cannabis. Once it's dried and smokeable, that works out to about 14 grams of usable, smokeable weed. So if you're looking for a higher yield, get better grow lights. They might not be able to match the power of the sun, but they can get pretty close. 

Another factor to consider is incorporating a quality hydroponic system. While the science of hydroponics is about as complicated as it sounds, the basics are watering and taking care of your plant's roots in a way that promotes growth and higher yields. It's important to do your research and figure out exactly what you're doing before applying any of these concepts because a mistake when it comes to hydroponics could ruin your whole yield. Do your research before committing to anything, however. 

The final factor to consider when it comes to increasing your yield is growing genetically designed plants to produce more usable buds. Obviously, you can maximize whatever plants you have with the proper research and equipment, but growing plants with superior genetics for massive yields will go a long way. 

Strains like Blue Dream, Big Bud, Girl Scout Cookies Extreme, and a few others are what the cannabis industry calls "extreme yielders." These plants are designed to produce fat, thick, and potent buds that can be dried and ground down to large amounts of cannabis. Once you get the proper grow lights, temperature control, and a few other factors, landing yourself an extreme yielder could be the key to getting the best bang for your buck regarding homegrown yields. 

Did you find these tips for growing helpful? Think you might try to grow indoors or outdoors in the future? Let us know below!