Start with one plant
This is the order we’d do it in if we were starting over: one plant, one container, the nine stages of an outdoor season in a short-summer zone. Everything here links to the full guide when you get there — no need to read ahead.
Seed start
Seeds are germinating under a cheap shop light on a 18/6 schedule, in solo cups with drainage holes drilled in the bottom. Keep the medium moist, not wet, and don't transplant until the first real set of leaves is out.
Read the guide →Pot up
Move seedlings out of solo cups into 1-gallon nursery pots once roots show through the drainage holes. Still indoors, still under lights. This is not the final container.
Read the guide →Harden off
Ten to fourteen days of gradually increasing outdoor exposure — an hour of dappled light the first day, working up to a full day by the end. Bring plants in if the forecast dips near frost.
Read the guide →Transplant
Into 15- to 25-gallon fabric pots or the ground, after your last frost date plus a buffer. Water in heavy the first time, then let the medium dry down before the next watering.
Read the guide →Veg
Vegetative growth ramps up fast outdoors. This is the window for topping, low-stress training, and building the structure that will hold weight in flower. Feed on a normal veg schedule.
Read the guide →Flip
Outdoors, the plant flips itself once daylight drops under roughly 14.5 hours — you don't do anything except recognize it's happening and back off nitrogen-heavy feed.
Read the guide →Flower
Bud development through the bulk of flower. Selective defoliation to open up light and airflow to lower bud sites, and active mold watch as nights get cooler and dew becomes a daily event.
Read the guide →Harvest
Daily trichome checks with a loupe starting when pistils are 60-70% darkened. Watch the forecast as closely as the trichomes — a hard frost or several days of rain can force an early chop.
Read the guide →Cure
Dry slow in the 60°F / 60% humidity range for 10-14 days, then jar and burp daily for the first week, tapering to weekly. Eight weeks minimum before judging the final product.
Read the guide →