How Much Marijuana Does a Plant Produce? Cannabis Production Guide

The question most growers ask themselves before starting to grow marijuana is how much marijuana a plant will yield. This is something you need to know before getting started with a Cannabis garden to check that the investment you are making is the right one for your intended use.

But we won’t stop there, as we answer this question so often asked by many marijuana enthusiasts, we will give you a complete guide to Cannabis productivity. As with people, no two marijuana plants are the same. Therefore, the yield of the plant depends not only on the strain but also on the growing conditions of the plant itself.

There is no hard and fast answer to the question of how much marijuana a plant yields, but approximations can be made based on its genotype and phenotype. These approximations will be very useful when planning an efficient grow and knowing what you can expect more or less from your chosen strain of cannabis.

How Much Marijuana Does a Plant Give?

If we are talking about marijuana grown indoors, i.e. in a grow tent with appropriate lights for each stage of the marijuana life cycle, a plant will yield 1 gram of marijuana for every watt of light. This means that, for example, if you are using a HPS 400W bulb and the entire grow tent is used with marijuana, you would get 4oo grams.

Now, as stated above, this is not an absolute rule. There are more factors involved in this equation. The first of these is having the right equipment. This means that with a 600 W spotlight, for example, you need a cabinet of the right size for this power (1.5mx1.5mx2m). If a small cabinet is used for a powerful spotlight, the desired gram/watt will not be obtained.

But the variety of the plant can also modify this formula. Thus, it is not the same to answer the question of how much marijuana a Sativa plant yields as an Indica. Indoors, Indica marijuana produces much more than Sativa. Outdoors it’s a different story, as we’ll see later.

In summary: Most strains found in marijuana catalogues will produce around 1 gram for every gram of light received. Although this can vary depending on the genotype and phenotype of the plant. That is, as long as we have the right equipment and provide the nutrient, space, extraction and ventilation solutions that Cannabis needs.

Knowing How Much Marijuana a Plant Gives in Hydroponics

Cannabis growers generally agree on how much a plant will yield in hydroponics. Thus, it usually yieldsup to 20% more in hydroponics than in soil. That is, as long as the pH of the water is carefully controlled and the photoperiods are strictly adhered to.

We know that growing hydroponically can be more complicated than growing outdoors, as well as requiring more investment. However, for those growers who do hydroponics correctly, you can expect to get up to 1.2 grams per watt. So a 600W HPS bulb could give you up to 720 grams of production.

How many grams does an outdoor plant give?

Answering how much marijuana a plant grows outdoors is more complicated. This is also influenced by the genes and the conditions of the environment where the marijuana is grown. The problem is that outdoors we have little or no control over the elements that give life to Cannabis: light, water, temperature, humidity…

This can be beneficial, if the weather conditions are right, and you can obtain large, leafy marijuana plants that can produce up to 2 kilos in the case of the most productive plants planted in mother soil. On the other hand, if the weather conditions are not right, your harvest may not be so large.

So… How much marijuana does an outdoor plant yield? Well, we can average from 500 grams per plant to 2 kilos per plant if you’re growing in potting soil. But if you grow in pots, you will have a main limitation produced by the dimensions of the pot:

• 50 l pot – Up to 600 g per plant.
• 26 l pot – Up to 300 gr per plant.
• 11 l pot – Up to 150 gr per plant.
• 7 l pot – Up to 60 gr per plant.

How to Calculate Marijuana Yields in Advance

Predicting how much marijuana a plant yields doesn’t have to be a guessing game. Using the right tool, such as this Yield-o-Rama calculator, is very simple and will be a great help in planning your garden.

Simply enter the amount of light, in lumens per square metre, of the lighting system you are using. You’ll also need to indicate the growing medium you’re going to use and your level of experience. The calculator will give you an approximate result of what you will be able to get from each crop, isn’t that great? :)

Light & Fertilisers in Cannabis Production

Lighting is one of the most important determinants of how much marijuana a marijuana plant produces. To get the most out of this factor, you need to grow indoors, as outdoors the plant can suffer directly from inclement weather.

Once you know how much marijuana a plant yields, you will want to maximise its production. You do this by increasing the plant’s exposure to light. You can also use controlled stress techniques such as defoliation, Super Cropping, Monster Cropping, the LST and the best of all, SCROG, which we’ll explain below.

Fertilizers are also very important in determining the yield of your marijuana. So make sure your plants receive both the micronutrients and macronutrients they need to thrive. During vegetative growth, plants need nitrogen, for example, while during flowering you will need to boost your potassium and phosphorus supply.

It sounds simple, but one of the ways to increase marijuana yields is by simply providing the right amount of nutrients at the right time in the life cycle.

Increasing Yield with a SCROG

After you know how much marijuana a plant yields, you’ll want to increase that number. The Screen of Green technique (SCROG) is a great way to increase yields. The idea is to cover the plants with a screen 40cm above them. When a branch grows about 10cm from the screen, tie it to the screen and continue to do this with the rest of the branches.

Next, we’ll give you three reasons to use a SCROG to increase the yield of your marijuana crop:

Without Light-Wasting

In standard growing, any light that goes to the ground or to a non-plant part will be totally wasted. However, with SCROG by creating a top layer of leaves, we are encouraging the plant to absorb more light. In terms of how much

Same Height-on-all-Plants

When all plants are the same height, each plant will receive the same amount of light. This promotes a homogeneous harvest, where all plants will bear roughly the same amount of fruit. If you know how much marijuana one SCROG plant will yield, you will know approximately how much the rest of her sisters will yield.

Without Low Density Buds

The best thing about SCROG is that you get rid of those little buds that appear at the base of the Cannabis plant. This way, the plant focuses its energies on producing the top, denser, more THC-rich buds. This way, energy is not wasted on creating smaller buds with less size and less cannabinoids.

Wet-weed and Dry-weed

When we talk about how much marijuana a Cannabis plant yields, we need to know whether we are weighing the crop wet or dry. In this way, wet marijuana weighs much more, because it has more water in it and that shows on the scales. Dry marijuana takes between 10 and 14 days to cure, which can result in a small weight loss.

But how much marijuana does a dried plant yield? This depends on the strain, but it is estimated that around 40-45% of the plant’s weight is lost during drying. For example, a Sativa plant tends to lose less weight during drying, as its buds are less compact per se.

But to this you have to add for an approximate 12.5% less, which is made up of the leaves, branches and plant debris you remove from the marijuana during trimming. In short, from the wet, freshly cut crop you get, you will need to calculate approximately 35% less to know how much marijuana a Cannabis plant or crop yields.

Innovations in Cannabis Cultivation

Cannabis cultivation is undergoing a technological revolution, with innovations that improve efficiency and quality. Some of these include:

• LED Lighting Technology: Advances in LED lighting allow for more efficient control of the light spectrum and energy consumption, optimising growing conditions for different strains of cannabis.
• Automated Growing Systems: Automation in cannabis cultivation controls irrigation, nutrient delivery and environmental conditions, improving the consistency and quality of the harvest.
• Genetic engineering: Genetic modification and CRISPR technology are developing new strains of cannabis with specific characteristics, such as higher THC or CBD levels, disease resistance or faster growth rates.
• Aeroponics and hydroponics: Soilless cultivation methods such as aeroponics and hydroponics offer efficient use of space and resources, and potentially higher yields.
• Data Analytics and AI in Farming: The use of big data and artificial intelligence to analyse and predict optimal growing conditions, pest management and harvesting times improves efficiency and yields.

These innovations not only improve efficiency and yield, but also contribute to sustainability and environmental responsibility in cannabis cultivation.

That’s it for our article on how much marijuana a plant produces. We hope it has helped you to learn more about how plant productivity works. If you liked this article, follow us on social networks and subscribe to our mailing list, also, I recommend that you read the most productive marijuana post, it is the definitive compilation of the cannabis strains with the highest production capacity.

Brais Nieto

Founder of Experiencia Natural, creative and entrepreneur, designer, master in grower and marketing. For a normalization of all plants and substances, giving priority to patients and users.