what are the stages and how long can it take week by week to grow a plant


kind of i mean is from seed to harvest how many weeks for each stage of growth

The amount of time your garden should be exposed to lighting depends on what 'cycle' your garden is in:

The 'Vegetative Cycle' of your garden starts with the sprout of the seedlings and can be continued indefinitely. In the veg cycle your garden will require a minimum of 16-18 hours of light and 6-8 hours of darkness daily. Since a given amount of light can only do so much, equal production can be realized in a smaller space with less plants, where the light is concentrated and the plants can grow more efficiently. Using more light helps additional co2 uptake.

Since a plant can be kept in the 'Veg cycle' indefinately, many growers cultivate 'Mother' plants. This plant is used for clone starts and never produces buds, only new growth.


The 'Flower Cycle' or 'Bud cycle' is typically equal amounts of light and dark, 12 hours on, 12 hours off or 12/12. This produces a change in the plants metabolism simulating Fall, shorter days....less light.

This is the cycle that the plants will show their sex. Usually, you'll be able to determine the sex within the first 2 weeks of 12/12. By the 3rd week most plants have developed healthy bud sites or pollen sacks.
The plants will continue on the 12/12 cycle until harvest.

When someone 'Re-vegges' a plant that has been in the flower cycle, they're switching the light cycle back to 18/6 to stimulate new vegetative growth.

Introduction:
Growers face the decision to start a grow from either seeds or rooted clones. The decision is not obvious, as both growing options have their respective advantages and disadvantages. Growers may have to weigh growing space, crop risk and turn around time.

Clones

Advantages:
>Clones are much faster to veg up and flower than starting from seed, resulting in a quick harvest and a much shorter turnaround time.

>Clones can be quickly grown into moms and re-cloned, for an instant vegetative and flowering crop

>Clones are genetically identical, but some differences will still be evident in the phenotype. In general, clones will exhibit even growth and growing characteristics.

>Rooted clones can be flowered immediately if space or time is a problem.

>Clones can quickly provide the grower with a strain’s characteristics (smell, vigor, branching pattern, sativa/indica dominance, rooting quality, etc).

Disadvantages:
>Clones can be difficult to find, as opposed to available seed banks. Clones from unknown sources are of suspect quality and genetics.

>Growers run a high risk of inheriting problems from the last grower: Root rot, spider mites, powdery mildew, etc. If these problems are not identified and treated, they can quickly spread to an entire crop.

>Unhealthy clones may die or remain in shock for an extended period

>Shipped clones may be in shock and take weeks of TLC to recover. There are many stories of medical clones shipped without any protection and arrived flat!

>Clones are more light-sensitive than seeds. Clones take time to become established, and are easily burned by excessive light (and nutrients)

>As clones are almost always female, breeding options are limited. Hermies are possible with unstable clone crosses.

Seeds:

Advantages

>Seeds obtained from reputable seed banks are of known lineage and genetics. You should have a reasonable idea of what the strain will do in terms of yield, quality and flowering time.

>Breeding and crossing options are possible with male seeds. (Feminized seeds produce a higher % of female seeds, but 100% female is never guaranteed).

>Hybrid vigor. Females grown from seed are often higher yielding than clones. Strains can lose their vigor over time; growers may want to 'rejuvinate' their grow with the same successful strain

>Your seeds should produce healthy plants, free of disease and pests.

Disadvantages:

>Cost. Seeds can be expensive, not only per seed pack, but in the time they take to produce a flowered crop.

>Problems with ripoffs, shipping/customs seizing seed bank deliveries, switched seeds.

>Unstable hybrid strains (See faqs on strain breeding )

>Not all seeds will be viable (germinate) and only 50% of the unfeminized seeds will be female (feminized seeds may produce up to 90% females). Only female seeds will produce female mothers, from which productive clones can be taken and flowered.

>It may take many seed packs to discover an excellent mother.

>Seeds take a long time (and there is more labor, money and time involved) before a harvest can occur.

The seeds need to be:
-germinated
-grown into mothers
-clones taken from each mother, labeled, then sexed to tell which mother is female or male
-the best mothers are selected (males may be optionally discarded).

-mothers are mass cloned
-clones are vegetatively grown and then flowered