Are Marijuana Plants Perennials?

 

Most people know that cannabis plants go through their life cycle within a year. They start growing in spring, mature in summer and gain big buds in autumn. This is the traditional life cycle of cannabis varieties. We also have auto-flowering strains that grow very fast. Furthermore, the cloning mechanism that involves keeping cannabis plants under 24 hours of light. However, are marijuana plants perennials?

 

A perennial plant grows for two years or more. Therefore, most growers will enjoy perennials. Perennials reduce the need of buying more seeds or clones. It also allows growers to skip the delicate stage of growing a young tree. Furthermore, perennial growers can save time and resources by avoiding the plant’s sex-determining stage. Essentially, when you grow long-lasting plants, you save a lot of time and effort.

 

This brings us back to the question are marijuana plants perennials? No. Traditionally, cannabis plants are not perennials but annuals. Therefore, cannabis plants can only undergo a single growing cycle and only last one growing season. Since cannabis results from seeds rather than root systems, it makes it an annual crop. Since cannabis is annual, its life cycle will begin life as a seedling in the spring. In the summer it blooms and is ready for harvest in autumn. Since cannabis is naturally an annual plant, trying to grow it as a perennial will diminish the plant's health.

 

Annuals vs Perennial plants

Perennial plants grow after a year due to the forces of nature. However annual plants must die after one season. The abundance of cannabis is because it grows yearly. The typical life cycle of a cannabis plant begins in the spring and ends in the fall. There also exist auto-flowering cannabis strains that grow faster. These types of strains have only four months to reach maturity.

 

Furthermore, cannabis plants also undergo cloning. This process allows the breeders to keep clones of the same cannabis plant for years. Cloning occurs when you expose the cannabis parent plant to light 24 hours a day to avoid sprouting. While you can still use cannabis to clone with great results, it will stop generating buds.

 

Cannabis plants grow best in fertile soil under full sun. Regardless, you can still grow it in any climate. Naturally, a wild cannabis plant lasts only one season, usually five to ten months. Most cannabis strains are photoperiod sensitive. By this, we mean that their bloom varies on the level of darkness they get. Excess uninterrupted darkness means the plants won't bloom.

 

Where to find perennial cannabis plants?

By now we know that marijuana is not a perennial. Cannabis is a dioecious, sexual plant. However, according to some botanist’s cannabis plants can be perennials. This can occur when the climate in which the plant grows changes, forcing the plant to adapt. Some botanists note that you can find perennial cannabis plants in many tropical and subtropical regions. These plants bloom in the fall before moving to a slow growth phase. During spring, the plants return to their vegetative growth stages before continuing into the fall. The climatic zone will determine the plants’ ability to become a perennial. In very cold climatic zones, frost can destroy the plant making it unable to grow.

 

Bottom line: Are marijuana plants perennials

The ability for cannabis to grow a perennial will depend on the climate. Currently, most climatic zones will only lead to annual plants. However tropical or subtropical zones may produce perennials.