Fast-Track Cannabis Growth: Choosing the Quickest Varieties To Accelerate Your Harvest

No one likes waiting around too much to enjoy fresh harvests, and for some growers, the fastest-growing cannabis takes precedence over everything else. The world of cannabis cultivation is evolving, with a growing emphasis on efficiency, speed, and yield. There’s a rising demand for varieties that grow quickly. 

Cannabis cultivation has a history that spans across cultures and centuries. From its medicinal and recreational uses to today's fast-moving markets with regulations in place, the way cannabis is grown has undergone significant changes. In the past, growers focused primarily on enhancing potency and flavor profiles. However as the industry has changed a bit, many users are now looking for varieties that give them quick returns. 

Thanks to advancements in breeding techniques and research, we now have varieties that not only maintain desirable traits but also grow rapidly. To put it simply, speed plays a role for both commercial and home growers. If you are one of them, looking for cannabis varieties that grow the fastest, you’ve come to the right place. 

In this article, we go over some ways to accelerate cannabis growth if you’ve already bought or sowed the seeds, and explore other alternative cannabis plants that grow fast. You have a few choices here, starting with basic photoperiod plants with shorter flowering times, fast-version cannabis strains, and even the easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy autoflowering plants. 

Here’s everything you need to know about which cannabis grows the fastest. So, read on and pick a type of weed that suits your taste, literally and metaphorically, and start growing. It won’t be long before they are ready for harvest. 

Why Should You Grow Cannabis Fast?

We all want to enjoy the fruits of our labor, or buds in this case. For commercial cultivators, fast-growing cannabis varieties can offer lots of profit, provided that the quality of the buds is good. For instance, varieties with shorter cultivation cycles will allow you to grow multiple times in a season, which equates to larger yields. Even home growers like efficiency without compromising quality. The time it takes for a cannabis plant to go from seed to harvest will dictate how they grow the plant. 

Cannabis growers choose to grow cannabis faster for various reasons, including the following. 

1. Faster Harvests 

When you look at growers trying to achieve a faster harvest, you probably assume that they are impatient; however, it goes beyond mere impatience. Instead, it is a strategic and practical approach that addresses the unique challenges they face. This becomes particularly crucial in regions with growing seasons or harsh weather conditions, where it’s difficult to cultivate cannabis or any plant for that matter.

For instance, in regions where it’s extremely cold, traditional photoperiod strains often struggle to complete their life cycle before they face unfavorable weather conditions. This is why many growers opt for autoflowers that thrive in such environments. Since they transition to the flowering stage based on their age rather than waiting for changes in the light cycles, it allows growers to grow and harvest their plants on time. You can also go for strains that are resistant to a certain extent to bad weather. 

Now that’s for home cultivators, but what about commercial growers? It’s even more hard for them as they risk a lot to harvest the plants and manage a business. They constantly face situations where they need to harvest quickly, whether it’s to meet customer demand for a batch or make arrangements for additional storage. They also need to adapt to market trends and consumer preferences to have an edge over their competitors. Fast-growing cannabis strains can help commercial cultivators as they allow them to rotate plants easily and avoid challenges that arise concerning storage.

2. More Harvests Per Season 

One reason why many growers choose fast cannabis strains is so they can squeeze out two or even three harvests every season. By growing the plants faster, they can harvest faster and start a new batch of plants in the same spot — this saves space and money in the long run while enhancing the yield per season. 

3. Save Money 

Indoor growers love exploring ways to save money. You need to find that balance where the buds you grow are well worth the money you spend. As it is, growing plants indoors poses challenges and energy costs associated with it can make up a portion of operational expenses. Thus, you have to choose strains that expedite the growing cycle to optimize energy usage and achieve substantial cost savings. 

So, how do you save money? Well, it’s pretty simple. During cultivation, you provide a lot of light to the plants during the vegetative stage as the plants develop robust stems and foliage during this period. Needless to say, the lighting and electricity consumption go up significantly. To reduce the costs even if it’s just a bit, you can go for strains that tend to grow fast during the vegetative stage, whether it’s due to training or genetics. 

The same applies to the flowering stage as well. For example, if you purchase a strain that requires 16 weeks from start to finish, you’ll save some money by opting for plants that finish their life cycle in just 10 weeks. However, note that you may lose some yield if you reduce the life cycle significantly. 

4. Better Terpene Profile

Terpenes are compounds that influence the flavors and scents of every cannabis strain. Some theories suggest that stressing the plants can increase terpene production. When cannabis plants experience stress, whether due to climatic factors, nutrient imbalances, or accelerated growth, they tend to generate more terpenes. This behavior is believed to be the plant’s defense mechanism to discourage herbivores and attract predators. 

Perhaps, it’s why many training techniques stress the plants to a certain extent to trigger some favorable responses from the plants. Cannabis strains that grow rapidly experience stress. Some growers believe that this stress contributes to the development of an excellent terpene profile that results in extremely aromatic and tasty buds.

However, as growers, we also know that overdoing things that stress the plants can be harmful and stunt the plants. So, if you’re trying to stress the plant, do it in a controlled manner to avoid stressing it too much. Also, not every cannabis strain responds in the same manner, which means that while one strain can produce a lot of terpenes, other strains may not do the same. 

How Long Does Cannabis Take to Grow?

Before we get into growing the fastest cannabis, let’s consider how long it usually takes to grow cannabis. Depending on the strain, cannabis can either grow fast or slow, but generally, it takes around 8 to 12 weeks. 

Your cannabis plant grows in three stages, starting with the seedling stage. Here, the seed germinates and grows into a sapling, and depending on the germination method, this lasts from 3 to 6 weeks for most cannabis strains. 

Once the seedling has grown, the plant enters the vegetative phase, where it puts on most of its mass and starts growing bigger. If you are growing a photoperiod cannabis plant, the vegetative stage can last for as long as you need, but naturally, this phase lasts from 4 to 8 weeks. 

Next comes the flowering stage, which lasts 7 to 9 weeks until the buds are ready for harvest. 

On the other hand, an autoflowering cannabis strain grows a lot faster and can be ready for harvest in as little as 8 to 14 weeks, regardless of the light cycle or the season. 

As you can see, there are many variations in the timeline; many factors decide how fast your cannabis plant will grow, which can either be 10 weeks or 20. Here are some of the common factors that affect the speed of your cannabis plant:

• Strain genetics
• Growing environment like the temperature, relative humidity, CO2, etc. 
• Training methods used 
• Your plant’s resistance to pests and diseases and its health 
• Nutrients and the type of water you use 
• Growing medium, whether hydroponic or soil 

These factors mix to either help your cannabis plant grow fast or slow, even if your strain has fast genetics. If the conditions are not right, a fast-growing cannabis strain can still take a lot of time to grow. 

How to Make Cannabis Grow Faster?

Which variety of cannabis grows the fastest? There are multiple answers to this, but the answer that you are looking for can be this: make the strain you already have grow faster. If you’ve already started growing and looking for a quick way to harvest, here are some tips that will help you grow any cannabis strain faster.

1. Clone Your Cannabis 

One way to grow cannabis faster is to clone it. Here, you’ll have to take cuttings from a mother plant and grow the cutting until it starts vegetating. It does take a while for the cuttings to develop roots but it is still faster than growing cannabis from the ground up, literally. 

Here’s a brief overview of how to clone your plants:

There are several ways to clone cannabis plants but the easiest way to do it is to use soil or water. To clone the plants in water, you’ll need a healthy mother plant. She should be free from diseases and pests. You’ll need sharp razor blades or scissors to take the cutting in one quick motion. It's best to use cloning gels from a reputable brand as it expedites the process, but you can continue if you don’t have any. 

To take the cutting, use a sharp blade and cut off a small branch or section measuring at least 4-6 inches from your mother plant. There should be at least 4 leaves or two sets of leaves on your cutting to allow the clone to absorb some nutrients. You can remove the excess leaves at the bottom. 

Now, dip your cutting in clean chlorine-free water and then dip it into the rooting hormone or gel. If you don’t have it, simply place the cutting in a glass of clean water. There’s nothing else to do, except wait for the cutting to develop roots. Observe the cutting every 2-3 days. 

To make it easier for the plant, you can also cover it with a dome (cut off the bottom of a plastic bottle and place the top on the cutting) or a plastic cover to increase humidity. Typically, it may take about a week or two for the roots to form, depending on your environment. Remember to change the water every couple of days to prevent algae. Once you see that the roots have grown a few inches, you can transplant your cutting into the soil or any growing medium of your choice. 

You can also use rockwool cubes to clone your plants. As they retain moisture, they are perfect for cloning. Again, once you see the roots develop, you can transplant them into the soil or any medium. Regardless of the method you choose, maintain appropriate levels of humidity and temperature to make sure the clones are warm and grow fast. 

2. Grow Your Plant Indoors

You can also start growing your cannabis plants indoors since this allows you the utmost control over your plant’s growth. You can control the environmental conditions and various other factors that can not only boost your plant’s growth but also prevent your plant from struggling or stress. 

In other words, an indoor plant does not have to deal with external stressors like harsh winds, pests, unpredictable weather, etc., so it can focus all its energy on growing. This leads to faster growth compared to outdoor plants. 

3. Feed the Right Nutrients 

If you’ve already started growing cannabis and want to boost its growth, you need to switch up the nutrient regime and pick nutrients that specifically fasten the growth rate. Cannabis, like most plants, requires different different ratios at various stages of growth. To increase the yield, you should tailor the nutrients according to the life cycle. 

For instance, during the vegetative stage, your plant will require more nitrogen to put on weight. At this point, the plant will produce lots of leaves and stems, so you must provide everything necessary to create a foundation. Once it gets to bloom, it will need more phosphorus and potassium. 

4. Use 20/0 Light Cycle (Not recommended)

Most cannabis growers use an 18/6 light cycle during the vegetative stage, but some growers recommend using more light, especially if you want to quicken your plant’s growth. Remember, cannabis uses light to produce energy, and the more energy it produces, the more it grows. 

You can even go a step further and use a 24/0 light cycle, but do a test run first. Some cannabis strains become susceptible to stress and disease in this light cycle and are generally not recommended unless you absolutely need it. Remember, your plants also need some rest to perform to the best of their abilities. Also, if you plan to do this, keep in mind that extended light cycles can affect the humidity and temperature levels in your grow tent. Adjust them whenever needed to ensure that the plants grow without a hitch. 

It goes without saying that this technique will only make your cannabis plant reach the flowering stage faster, not flower sooner. Meaning, the plants will flower once you switch to the 12/12 cycle. 

5. Switch to Bloom Sooner

Speaking of which, you can always switch your cannabis plant to a 12/12 light cycle sooner to trigger the flowering stage. It’s an effective method if you are short on time but it can reduce the overall yield of your plant since it won’t have enough time to put on all the weight it can. 

6. Use Longer Nights During Bloom

Similarly, once your plant gets to the flowering stage, you can use more than 12 hours of darkness to boost bud development. This triggers a defense mechanism within cannabis, making it think that winter is closer, so it starts maturing the buds faster. The downside is that sometimes the buds can grow smaller or more airy, so weigh the pros and cons before choosing this route. 

Choose Fast Flowering Strains 

If you are lucky enough and have time to prepare, you don’t need to go to such lengths during the growth of your plant. Instead, to grow cannabis faster, you can simply pick strains that grow fast. 

Some of the best fast-flowering strains include the following:

• Grape Ape
• Swiss Cheese
• Afghani
• Cherry AK
• Critical
• White Widow 
• OG Kush
• Jamaican Dream 
• Northern Lights
• Hobbit

These are regular cannabis strains that have a shorter flowering cycle, mostly because of the environment they have evolved in or the genetics they inherit. Of course, there are many many more such strains that you can find. You just need to do a bit of research or follow other growers growing similar strains. And since these are regular seeds, they are much cheaper than other types of seeds that we’ll mention later in the article (read: fast version strains). 

These strains tend to grow shorter than longer-flowering strains and while they produce excellent yields, the same does not match that of plants that grow bigger or flower for longer. 

So, you should practice various gardening techniques to boost their yields, including training methods, CO2 supplementation, using high-intensity lights with the right color spectrum, minimizing light loss, and using organic supplements like molasses, friendly bacteria, etc. 

Choose Fast Version Cannabis Strains

If you want even faster results, i.e., cannabis strains that grow faster than regular strains, look toward fast version cannabis. These strains have become quite popular and many popular seed banks offer this variety. 

Fast-version strains are essentially a cross between autoflowering and photoperiod strains and are bred with the same intentions as you — to achieve faster flowering times. Granted, initial iterations of fast version strains weren’t so reliable, but they have come a long way and are incredibly efficient and reliable today — as long as you purchase them from the right seed bank. 

Since they are a cross between autoflowering and photoperiod strains, this hybrid variety of cannabis combines the yield and resin production of the latter with the flowering time of the former — the sweet spot. For example, most fast-version cannabis strains have shorter flowering times by over a week compared to their regular counterpart. 

What’s interesting about these strains is that despite their shorter flowering time, they can still grow big and produce a susceptible yield — it’s almost as good as their photoperiod counterparts, if not the same. This makes them perfect for growers who want to grow the fastest cannabis strains without giving up control, which is the case with autoflowering cannabis strains. More on this later. 

Do note that you will still find a few examples of fast version strains that are not hybrids between photoperiod and autos; some strains naturally have shorter flowering times, so selective breeding is enough to shorten their flowering time further. 

Pros of Fast Version Strains 

Fast-version cannabis strains’ biggest benefit is that you can harvest them a lot sooner. As mentioned earlier, this can come in handy if you have short patience or a short summer. But that’s not all. Fast-version cannabis strains also offer various other benefits. 

One major benefit of fast-version cannabis strains is that they offer quality and high yield without much compromise. So, instead of growing an autoflowering plant, which will grow a lot smaller, you can choose fast-version strains that promise almost the same levels of yield and quality as regular strains. 

Plus, F1 hybrid fast version cannabis strains are also resilient and strong, which makes them stand out from other strain varieties. They are resistant against pests, pathogens, environmental stressors, and more. 

And unlike autoflowering strains, you don’t have to let go of your control while growing fast-version cannabis strains. These plants are still photoperiod, so you can always manipulate them and decide when they flower instead of letting them take the wheel. You can even clone fast version strains, which is not possible with autos.

Lastly, fast-version cannabis strains are not as large as their photoperiod strains, so it’s much easier to manage their size with training or pruning if you are short on space. 

Some Tips on Growing Fast-Version Cannabis Strains 

Fast-version cannabis strains are quite flexible, so you can either grow them indoors or outdoors, and the entire process is very similar to growing photoperiod cannabis plants. But for best results, we recommend growing fast-version plants in the soil unless advised otherwise by the breeder. 

Growing in soil will allow the roots to expand properly, but you still have to control how big they grow. You can grow them as big as you want, but since time is of the essence in this case, you want to switch them to bloom when they are ready — as recommended by the seed bank. 

Perhaps one downside of fast-version cannabis strains is that they aren’t available everywhere just yet. Few seed banks produce them, so finding them can be difficult and relatively pricey. So, always ensure you choose a reputable seed bank and follow their recommendations for the best results. 

Some fast-version cannabis strains will be smaller than their photoperiod counterparts, so if you want to maximize their growth in a short time consider using training methods like super cropping, ScrOG, topping, LST, pruning, etc. 

Other techniques you can use to boost their growth is using a 24/0 light cycle during the vegetative stage — may not work on some strains — supplement CO2 to the plant, or give it a phosphorus boost early on. 

During the flowering stage, you need to pay attention to environmental factors like humidity and temperatures. These strains have a shorter bloom time, so minor mistakes can cause stress that the plant can’t recover from on time. 

In most cases, fast-version strains mature at least a week earlier than their photoperiod counterparts, so be prepared. Keep an eye on the buds — once 90% of the trichomes have darkened, you should harvest them. You can even harvest them a bit early, when 70% of the hairs have darkened, depending on your preferences. 

Best Fast Version Cannabis Strains

If you want fast-version cannabis strains, it is advisable to only purchase them from a reputable seed bank and ensure they have been stabilized. Look at third-party lab reports for this. This is a more expensive option but it’s better than picking strains that are not stabilized. 

Some of the best seed banks that sell fast-version cannabis strains include Sweet Seeds, Fast Buds, Humboldt Seeds, Royal Queen Seeds, 00Seeds, and High-Speed Seeds. And here are some strain recommendations, too:

• Cream Caramel Fast Version
• Ice Cream Cake Fast Version
• OG Kush Fast Version
• Royal Cheese Fast Version
• Critical Fast Version
• Northern Lights Fast Version
• AK-47 Fast Version

Choose Autoflowering Cannabis Strains

If you don’t want to bother with training methods, spend money on fast-version seeds, and only want to grow a small cannabis plant for personal consumption as fast as possible, your best bet is choosing an autoflowering cannabis strain. 

Autoflowering plants are exactly what they sound like — they start their flowering stage automatically without relying on the light schedule, unlike photoperiod cannabis plants. And they start flowering in as little as 2 to 4 weeks. Autoflowering plants are often the fastest and easiest cannabis to grow. 

Some cannabis plants are ready to harvest within 8 weeks of sprouting, but this does take a toll on their overall size. Autos are compact plants, making them excellent for indoor grows or hobby growers looking for an easy fix. But if you are looking for a massive yield, autoflowering plants aren’t suitable for you. 

One of the biggest benefits of growing autoflowering plants is that you don’t have to break your head over lighting. They don’t demand a lot, so even a basic grow light setup is enough for most autoflowering plants. And they don’t even get bothered by light pollution. 

You can even find feminized autoflowering cannabis seeds, so you don’t have to worry about males growing in your garden. And since they are compact, they don’t attract a lot of attention. Plus, their short life cycle allows you to harvest multiple batches of plants per season. 

When autoflowering cannabis plants were introduced in the early 2000s, they didn’t win many hearts because they weren’t as potent or aromatic as their photoperiod plants. They’ve come a long way since then and modern autoflowering strains offer excellent potency and aroma profiles that are on par with photoperiod cannabis plants. 

Do note that you can’t clone autoflowering plants. And we don’t recommend training them either; because of the shorter life cycle, they don’t have enough time to cope and recover from the training, so it’s best avoided. 

Today, you can find autoflowering alternatives to many photoperiod cannabis plants, but if you are looking for the fastest-growing cannabis plant, here are some recommendations:

• Royal Cheese Auto
• Blue Cheese Auto
• Fast Eddy Auto
• Sweet Skunk Automatic
• Green Gelato Auto
• Fat Banana Auto
• Purplematic Auto
• Haze Berry Auto
• Gorilla Auto
• Northern Lights Auto

Summary: Fast-Track Cannabis Growth: Choosing the Quickest Varieties To Accelerate Your Harvest

To summarize everything, you have many choices when it comes to the fastest-growing cannabis strains. The first is choosing regular cannabis strains with a shorter flowering cycle — these are photoperiod plants that don’t compromise quality or yield and are ideal for serious growers looking for fast cannabis plants. 

For those who are looking for similar levels of control and quality of yield in an even faster package, you can choose fast version cannabis strains. These strains are often a cross between autos and photoperiod cannabis but they don’t compromise on yield or quality. 

If you don’t care much about the yield and are only growing cannabis for personal consumption, what’s better than autoflowering cannabis plants? These strains work on an internal genetic clock and do not rely on the light cycle to switch to flowering, but the downside is that they are more compact and do not produce a lot of yields. 

In any case, always pick your seeds from reputable seed banks and follow the breeder’s recommendations for the best results. 

Lastly, if you have already started growing cannabis and realized you need to quicken the pace of your plants, use the tips mentioned above to shorten the flowering time of your cannabis plant.