Lately, there’s been new “F1” cannabis seeds appearing in popular seed banks and from trusted seed breeders. Some popular F1s right now include Cherry Punch F1, Purple Oreoz F1, Tropix F1 and Cookie Apple OG F1 Auto. These marijuana seeds offer fast, healthy, uniform growth with predictable harvests.

Two cannabis plants make a baby, and their seed is their F1.

The first “F1” seed I ever grew was an Aurora Indica by Nirvana, pictured here in 2013.

This is an example of the earlier F1-style hybrids that Nirvana and other breeders pioneered in the 2000s. The Aurora Indica F1 seeds produced incredible amounts of weed even on a tiny plant. These days, breeders have taken F1 breeding to the next level.

Aurora Indica F1 seed grown out, from 2014.

The technique is borrowed from traditional agriculture. At the grocery store, many tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, broccoli, and cabbage are actually grown from “F1” hybrid seeds.

“F1” cannabis seeds claim…

• “Hybrid vigor” – better overall growth
• Clone-like uniformity – know what to expect
• Strong germination – faster start
• Resistant to stress – less to worry about
• Excellent yields – more weed for you

Sounds amazing, but is it true? Yes, F1 seeds actually can offer those benefits… when developed properly. Read below for an explanation of everything.

But for those who just want the benefits, here are seeds to get and what you can expect from them exactly…

My Picks for F1 Cannabis Seeds

These all come from NASC Commercial Cultivars and Seedsman, who both make great F1 cannabis seeds with uniform growth.

Although F1s perform extremely well indoors, you’ll notice they’re often developed for situations where exact harvest times and uniformity matter, specifically outdoor and autoflower strains.

Autoflower Top Picks

• Cookie Apple OG F1 Auto – Beautiful frosty nugs with a sweet smell, smooth high, and easy to grow. Harvest in 75 days.
• Garlic Muffin F1 Auto – Funky smelling buds covered in resin, super easy to grow, resistant to problems. Harvest in 75 days.
• Sour Pebbles F1 Auto – Super potent dense buds with over 30% cannabinoids. Harvest in 80 days.

Cookie Apple OG F1 Auto seeds let you harvest captivating buds in under 3 months.

Outdoor Photoperiod Top Picks

• Cherry Punch F1 – Excellent fruity smell, lovely effects, can withstand heat, ready in October (northern hemisphere) or April (southern hemisphere).
• Chocolate Diesel F1 – Sticky buds with very early outdoor harvest, doesn’t get too tall, good resistance, ready by mid-September (or mid-March)
• Gorilla Gas F1 Fast – Sativa buds with early outdoor harvest, good yields, ready to harvest in September (or March).
• Gorilla Jealousy F1 – Can withstand heat, mold resistant, great for extracts, ready in October (or April).
• Purple Oreoz F1 – Indica with early outdoor harvest. Easy to grow with great bag appeal, ready to harvest in September (or March).

Gorilla Jealousy F1 thrives in hot weather.

But if F1 cannabis seeds are so great, why are they so rare?

Here’s why “F1” seeds are rare online

• Hard to breed – A good F1 seed breeding program that lives up to the benefits takes multiple years.
• Difficult to maintain – F1 seeds come from a pair of clone lines that must be carried on indefinitely.
• Costs more – F1 seeds require extra maintenance to produce on a commercial scale.

Since F1 seeds are difficult to produce, breeders need a good reason to make an F1 line. Most indoor commercial operations grow exclusively using clones, rarely using seeds. This incentivizes most indoor breeding programs to deal in clones. As a result, F1 seeds are more specialized and boutique. They’re only created by breeders who are specifically creating seeds for growers.

Public isn’t 100% aware yet of the benefits. Some OG brands like Nirvana were breeding F1 strains in the 2000s, but recently there’s been a resurgence in new F1 seeds where breeders are taking this process further to agricultural commercial standards. Especially for outdoor growers where uniformity and predictable harvest times are crucial to the best harvest in your particular location.

What Are “F1 Fast” Strains? What does the “Fast” part mean?

When a strain is listed as being “F1 Fast” it mean that the seeds came from the cross of an Autoflower and a Photoperiod plant. That’s not the only way to make a fast strain (you can breed fast photoperiod plants together), but when you see “fast” combined with “f1” in a seed’s listed name, that’s usually what it means.

These strains tend to be best suited to outdoor growers looking for early harvests so buds are ready before cool or rainy winter weather arrives.

Learn more about FAST cannabis strains here.

Gorilla Gas F1 Fast lets you harvest earlier outdoors

What are F1 cannabis seeds?

Here’s the quick and dirty explanation. Put on your genetics hat on for a second.

Two parents have a baby, this is an F1, the first in the filial generation (first cross between those two parents)

Now translate that idea to cannabis plants.

A Blue Dream and a Purple Haze plant make seeds. These seeds are a Blue Dream x Purple Haze F1.

Two plants make a baby, and their seed is their F1

Ok, but doesn’t that mean every seed is technically an F1 of its parents? Yes. At least from a plant scientist point of view.

Technical F1 vs Commercial “F1 Seeds”

Cannabis breeders often discuss F1s in their breeding programs, even when they’re not talking about “F1” labeled seeds.

This is how the term F1 is used in breeding. Imagine you have a star Blue Dream plant and a star Purple Haze plant (in genetic terms these particular plants are each called a cultivar).

You want to cross-breed these plants, and the resulting seeds are the F1 generation. Then when you’re crossing, it’s easy to keep track of all the lines, because you can clearly label F1, F2, etc.

Modern “F1” Cannabis Seeds Are Tough to Make

When cannabis breeders talk about F1 seeds (where “F1” appears in the seed name), they’re talking about the seeds that come from two particular plants, or cultivars.

Key Point to Remember: “F1” in seed names typically refers to seeds resulting from intentional, stabilized hybrid, typically between heavily inbred clone lines. Not just a random F1 cross.

For example, every Purple Oreoz F1 seed comes from a specially bred Purple Punch clone line, and a specially bred Oreoz clone line.

Every Purple Oreoz F1 seed comes from two particular plants.

It’s not a cross of random plants of those strains, but always a cross of two particular cultivars. And the breeder needs to maintain those clone lines to continue making these seeds.

Why It’s Hard Part 1: Need Two Unrelated Genetic Lines for Hybrid Vigor

So one of the biggest benefits of using specially made F1 seeds is you get “hybrid vigor”, resulting in plants that are extra hardy, fast to germinate, grow fast, with big yields. Hybrid vigor is the result of crossing two very genetically distinct, stabilized lines. When you cross-breed two plants that are both extremely inbred but separately stabilized, the result is hybrid vigor, known as heterosis in the scientific world. Here’s the wikipedia article on hybrid vigor.

Hybrid vigor has been used by farmers to improve many crops including corn.

So step 1 is finding unrelated cultivars you want to combine their traits. That’s the easy part.

Why It’s Hard Part 2: Cultivars Must Be Heavily Inbred for Uniform Offspring

One of the claimed benefits of F1 Seeds is that the plants grow almost like clones of each other.

However, that’s not true for all F1 seeds. That’s only true when the two parent plants are heavily inbred.

When two very inbred plants are bred together, each offspring gets the same chromosome from each parent, and all tend to grow the same, even if their parents were very different from each other. Depending on how inbred the parents, the genetics of the offspring can almost grow like twins.

When both parents are heavily inbred, the F1 seeds grow just like each other.

Choosing just the right two parent plants is key to making an F1 seed that comes with all the benefits.

Why It’s Hard Part 3: Need to Identify a Combo Pair for Your F1 Seed Program

So you’re a breeder who’s done the work of creating two heavily inbred lines of cannabis that are not closely related to each other. They both make amazing buds and have great growth rates and germination rates.

Your job isn’t over yet.

Now you need to find two particular cultivars that when you breed them, it all comes together perfectly. Typically that involves some trial and error to find your perfect “combo”.

And once you’ve found them, now you have a new problem… You need to maintain these clone lines indefinitely, or your F1 seed program is in trouble. Taking clones of clones comes with it’s own challenges, especially after a few years…

Why It’s Hard to Make Good F1 Seeds: Summary

• Harder to breed F1 seeds in the first place, involve extensive use of clones, labeling, testing many sets of seeds, etc.
• Harder to maintain the two special cultivars via clones over many years. Can be done, but long-term maintenance of clones is more difficult than seed-based genetic storage.

Despite the Difficulty, Breeders Are Pressing Ahead

Seedsman in particular lately has been breeding and releasing spectacular new F1 seed lines.

Predictability for outdoor growers – Indoors, you have a lot more “wiggle room” and accommodate plants that don’t grow exact as expected. But outdoors, it is a huge advantage to know plants will grow a certain way and be be ready to harvest at the right time for your climate.

Frequently Asked Questions about F1 Seeds

Which cannabis seeds get hybrid vigor?

When you cross-breed two plants that are both extremely inbred but separately stabilized (very different genetics) from each other, the result is hybrid vigor, known as heterosis in the scientific world. Here’s the wikipedia article on hybrid vigor.

You first inbreed two unrelated plants, then breed them together. The resulting offspring have hybrid vigor

Hybrid vigor only applies to that first generation of seeds. These seeds are known as F1 (first generation cross) seeds.

Subsequent generations after the first set of seeds don’t show signs of hybrid vigor unless they also are crossed with different strains. Commercial Corn growers take advantage of this same mechanism by producing hybrid maize made from two different strains of corn; the resulting seeds have better yields than open-pollinated corn.

How F1 Seeds are Different from Triploid Strains

Triploid plants need chemicals and other equipment to make. It’s not a natural process like breeding F1 hybrid seeds with hybrid vigor, which is accomplished through inbreeding

Learn more about triploid cannabis strains.

The post “F1” Cannabis Seeds: Best-kept secret in cannabis genetics? appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Where is the best place to get cannabis seeds? We recommend these cannabis seed source as of late January 2026…

• ILGM (I Love Growing Marijuana) – California, United States
• MSNL (Marijuana Seeds Netherlands) – Amsterdam seed bank now ships from US, Canada & UK
• North Atlantic Seed Co. – Maine, United States
• Seed Supreme – Florida, United States
• Seedsman – Ships from US & Europe
• Other – Did we miss anyone you like? Let us know.

Check out my recent grow journal featuring seeds from Seedsman, NASC & Seed Supreme.

Seeds of different strains grow different buds.

Are you looking for yields (like Blue Dream) or beauty (like Candy Games #38)?

Maybe density & potency are most important. Then go with a strain like Purple Ghost Candy.

Note: Purple Ghost Candy is an oversized stretchy plant that always makes potent, dense buds, but not always purple. See the full strain review.

Or perhaps the key to your heart is a pungent, memorable smell (like Mandarin Cookies V2).

Check out the new cannabis strain library for reviews of strains GrowWeedEasy.com recommends for home growers.

Note: Here’s how to store your seeds so they last for years.

Where to get cannabis seeds? Here’s our note to marijuana growers looking for good seeds going into a turbulent 2026…

Updates on the 2026 Farm Bill

“How will the new Farm bill for 2026 affect home growers? Is there a specific deadline for growers? I have seen many opinions, but have yet to find a straightforward answer to this question.” ~ Bob

Laws and regulations seem to be evolving every day. The reason no one can give you a straight answer is because no one knows for sure what will happen.

If you want my personal opinion, I suspect it will have a small effect in the short term, and a long-term dampening effect.

Seed companies may try to work with lawmakers to find ways to ship seeds in compliance with the law. But unless the law is changed, fewer small breeders will participate. Some people are concerned that only the biggest companies with deep pockets for a legal team might be able to easily sell seeds and take payments.

That’s why home growers need to value cannabis genetics.

In other words, don’t panic. However, do take on a general preparedness mindset.

Learn more about the new U.S. cannabis seed law that goes into effect November 12, 2026.

Nebula Haze
GrowWeedEasy.com

Hey growers,

Looking for good cannabis genetics? We got you! We have run our recommended cannabis seed source page on GrowWeedEasy.com since we started the website in 2010.

GrowWeedEasy.com’s trusted seed sources list has helped home growers find seeds since 2010.

If you don’t have cannabis seeds in hand, it can feel like it’s going to be hard to get them. Luckily, these days, you can get viable seeds of good strains sent to you almost anywhere. Today, we want to hear about your experiences ordering seeds online.

Marijuana seeds are so tiny…

But within each seed is a tiny living thing, longing to be released…

Did you know? A cannabis seedling embryo is already fully-formed inside each seed, just waiting to germinate and grow weed for you!

Germination lets the seedling inside escape its shell prison!

Never touch newly germinated seedlings like this, I only did it for the picture!

Leaves are yellow inside the shell, and turn green once the leaves start getting exposed to light.

Less than a day after being planted into a Rapid Rooter, the seedling is green and already growing new leaves!

Learn how to germinate seeds here.

Back in 2010 when we started GWE, we’d only had good experiences with a single seedbank so far (the others had been mediocre-to-bad). So back then, the seed source list had only one option…

Bonus: Check out the October 2010 version of the seeds page on the Wayback Machine! You can even click around to see the original version of the site 🙂

Our seeds page is not meant to be a comprehensive list of seed sources. Sirius and I are just a two-person team and can’t try every seed company. There are many, many outstanding cannabis seed sources not listed on our seeds page.

But what the page is, is the list of the seed banks we actually use ourselves to grow weed at home and document on the website.

Check out our recent autoflowering grow journal! The OG Kush Auto produced smooth, potent buds.

When we stop using a seed company ourselves, for whatever reason, we take it off the seed source page. Usually, they haven’t done anything wrong, just simply no longer carry strains we’re looking to grow with.

We believe it’s crucial to ensure every seed bank on the list is legit, and only stay if we continue to use it for our home grows.

Our seed bank testing is led by you: If we hear about a really great new company that everyone loves, we will test it out ourselves. Our goal isn’t just to grow great weed (though we do a lot of that too!), but also help home growers find exactly what they’re looking for.

GrowWeedEasy.com testing process for seed banks

• Community feedback – If we keep hearing good things about a particular seed source, we know it’s time to give it a try.
• Order seeds anonymously – We never tell them it’s us. I always order the seeds myself as if I were a regular customer. I feel like that’s way more likely to give the “authentic” experience.
• Grow the seeds – Next, we actually grow the seeds from germination to harvest in a home grow environment.
• Document the results – We take pictures and notes about each plant, including where we got the seeds, and share that information on GrowWeedEasy.com and through our newsletter.
• Lab testing – When funding is available, we get the buds lab-tested, especially for side-by-side grow experiments with clones (like testing super soil vs coco or plant training methods like defoliation vs natural)

We also love, love, LOVE when you send us grow pictures, or tell about your experience with seed banks and their strains/seeds.

Our current cannabis seed source recommendations, as of January 2026.

• ILGM (I Love Growing Marijuana) – California, United States
• MSNL (Marijuana Seeds Netherlands) – Amsterdam seed bank with shipping centers in the US, Canada, and UK.
• North Atlantic Seed Co. – Maine, United States
• Seed Supreme – Florida, United States
• Seedsman – Ships from US & Europe
• Other – Did we miss anyone you like?

We encourage you to write us any time with specific cannabis seed bank feedback, including anecdotes, or just your overall thoughts or experiences buying cannabis seeds online where you live.

We’ll be considering everyone’s feedback as we go through 2026. And make sure to sign up to our newsletter to ensure you get insider information and updates about seed sources that we can’t post on the website. You can email GrowWeedEasy.com directly by responding to our weekly newsletter.

Harvest great smelling, dense, potent buds with proven home harvest techniques. By Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside, authors of GrowWeedEasy.com.

Get total guidance next harvest.

Find the Best Marijuana Seeds for You

Every cannabis strain listed here is personally recommended by GrowWeedEasy.com for home growers. Check out our notes and the pictures to see why we chose each strain. Our goal is to make it easier for you to find the perfect cannabis seeds for you. More strains added every week!

The post The Seed Banks WE Use to Grow Weed (2026 Update) appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Every home cannabis grower knows that your strains make the difference between a ‘meh’ harvest and an amazing cannabis harvest that makes your eyes water with pride. At GrowWeedeasy.com, we are constantly growing, so we make sure to keep up with the latest developments when it comes to strains and strain breeders. That’s why I want to highlight a new strain breeder, Happy Valley Genetics, that offers stabilized seed versions of some of my favorite cannabis genetics that were previously only available as unstabilized crosses or clones.

Happy Valley Genetics is a new(ish) cannabis breeder.

Sometimes it’s hard to get information about new breeders, so I put together this page to share my research and experience with this breeder so far.

Happy Valley Genetics offers cannabis seeds that are stabilized and ideal for home growers.

Who is Ethos Genetics, and what do they have to do with Happy Valley Genetics?

Ethos Genetics is a Colorado-based company known for breeding high-quality cannabis seeds which I’ve been growing since around 2015. They offer great genetics, but the one downside (in my opinion) is they tend to release lots of “crosses” but don’t actually stabilize their strains. That means you could get 5 seeds of the same cross, and potentially produce 5 very different plants with different buds. This is amazing from the perspective of “phenotype hunting” and breeding your own strains. You get seeds of amazing genetics with lots of genetic variety to sift through.

However, for a home grower who isn’t planning on breeding seeds, it’s often more convenient to get a stabilized version of a strain when buying seeds. This makes planning a lot easier.

Advantage of using stabilized strains is you know…

• Plant size – Be able to anticipate how big plants get
• Time to harvest – How long they take before they are ready to harvest
• Bud quality – Know how buds look/smell, potency, density, etc.

With a stabilized strain, you can grow 5 seeds and all 5 plants will grow the same as each other, almost as if you were growing clones.

Stabilized strains are usually better for home growers.

That brings me to Happy Valley Genetics. They are located out of Massachusetts and have been collaborating with Ethos Genetics for several years. During this collaboration, Happy Valley Genetics won two High Times Cannabis Cup awards: Best Sativa Flower for Super Lemon Haze and Best Hybrid Flower for White Wedding.

As part of my research on this breeder, I learned that Ethos and Happy Valley Genetics primarily breed with only female plants, stating that the Y chromosome from male plants does not necessarily contribute a lot to female bud development. This unique technique of cutting out male plants lets breeders always choose two “parent” plants that produce excellent buds, and is combined with testing plant genetics to get objective data instead of relying on anecdotal observations.

Happy Valley decided to start stabilizing the best versions of Ethos strains, and entered a formal licensing agreement. Now they offer stabilized strains, based on Ethos genetics, in both feminized photoperiod and feminized auto-flowering form.

Recommended photoperiod strain (so far)

Candy Games #38

Recommended auto-flowering strain (so far)

Pineapple Diesel Auto

See other Happy Valley Genetics.

Let us know your experience with this breeder. If you’ve got pictures, don’t hesitate to submit them and we might feature them on this page!

The post Who is Happy Valley Genetics? (“Powered by Ethos Genetics”) appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Hey cannabis growers! We all know how annoying nutrient problems can be. And obviously, the best thing to do for your cannabis plant to prevent growing problems is give them the conditions they need to thrive. But did you know some strains are naturally more resilient than others? Certain genetics are less likely to experience problems. Yes, some special strains can experience sub-optimal conditions and still thrive.

Some cannabis strains make amazing buds even if you make some mistakes.

But which ones? These strains typically share some features…

• Fast-Flowering Strains – Perhaps it’s because they just don’t get enough time to get sick, but fast-flowering plants are often ready to harvest before you start running into significant problems even in sub-optimal conditions.
• Buds Grow as Nuggets, Not “Colas” – “Cola” is Spanish for tail, some growers use the word cola do describe a long fat bud. Sometimes these types of buds are called “baseball bats” (or in less polite company, “donkey d**ks”). These strains are high-yielding, but also prone to bud rot because they focus energy on producing long, fat colas. And for the purposes of today’s subject, tend to take out literally everything they can from the plant to their own detriment. These strains happily kill themselves to make buds. Which is kind of cool in its own way, but if you’re just looking to get a solid harvest with high bud quality, you’ll find the strains that tend to grow buds as small nuggets tend to thrive and stay healthy while their cola-wielding friends are sucking out every last nutrient as the plant slowly dies around the buds.
• Stable, Established Strains – Strains that are well-bred to be predictable tend to be more resistant to problems than raw crosses or experimental strains. That’s because breeders often refine their best strains for years to ensure that every batch of seeds grows exactly the same – fast and healthy!
• Legendary Strains – Some strains become legendary for a reason. Often, it’s because they just have something special to offer. Strains like Blue Dream, Girl Scout Cookies, Bruce Banner, and others were developed over years by home growers and commercial growers together. They’ve stuck around because they are all around great strains, and that’s also why you see they are some prominent in the history of so many new strains. Although not all versions of these legendary strains are great, I’ve found when you get them from a good breeder, they’re more likely to perform above-average than when you’re growing a strain you’ve never heard the name of. I love a strain name like “Candy Pegasus” as much as the next person, but you need to be more wary of brand new strains.
• Direct-to-Grower Breeders – Strains from breeders that sell directly to customers are often a great choice. I think it’s because they’re also the ones answering questions when growers run into plant problems. The further removed the breeder is from the grower, the less they may be thinking about how plants grow, since breeders are usually growing in ideal conditions. These growers breed only for what the buds are like, and may not “stress test” their plants, unlike breeders who also consider growth patterns. Direct-to-growers breeders pay extra attention to ensure their strains tends to germinate quickly, efficiently use nutrients, grow fast, and never herm. For example, I have found the homegrown strains from Seed Supreme, Seedsman, and MSNL tend to be easy to germinate, fast-growing, and overall resistant to problems.

Looking for some specific recommendations? Let’s explore some hardy cannabis strains that can handle a challenge!

Blue Dream by DNA Genetics

Why It’s Resilient

• Fast-Flowering – Ready to harvest with a 8-10 week flowering stage.
• Stable, Established Strain – This version has been stabilized from the original clone-only strain over several years.
• Legendary Strain – Blue Dream is the gift that keeps on giving. Every year there’s a new, even better Blue Dream. It has that special something that can only be accomplished by growers all over the world working together to develop a strain for years.
• Direct-to-grower – Get is straight from DNA Genetics off their website.

Ideal For: Growers looking for a balanced high (strong yet extremely relaxing) with a forgiving growth cycle.

Get Blue Dream – Buds get tinges of purple with strong enough light

Growing Blue Dream Tips 

Ready to harvest with a 8-10 week flowering stage, this version is exceedingly easy to grow. Plants are just not picky. Responds well to training and can handle relatively higher levels of nutrients. Does well outdoors but really thrives indoors.

Girl Scout Cookies (GSC) by Seed Supreme

Why It’s Resilient

• Fast-Flowering – Ready to harvest with a 8-10 week flowering stage. These buds won’t “go long” on you.
• Stable, Established Strain – This version has been stabilized from the original clone-only strain over several years.
• Legendary Strain – Anyone who’s been watching cannabis cups or visits dispensaries has probably seen this strain many times. There are sooooo many “Cookies” strains that have been developed from this strain as well. It’s legendary for a reason, and this refined version may have even better bud effects and sweet “cookies” smell than the original clone.

Ideal For: Those seeking a strong, euphoric effect, sweet-smelling buds, and a resilient growth profile.

Get Girl Scout Cookies – Famous for a reason!

Growing Girl Scout Cookies Tips

Easy to grow, easy to train. Can handle warmer temperatures than some other strains, which makes it a good choice if you’re struggling to control the heat in your grow room, or live in a very warm climate. Great yields even if you make some mistakes.

Honorable Mention: Platinum Cookies is a Cookies cross that has that special something. Check out my full Platinum Cookies strain review.

Purple Ghost Candy by Seedsman

Why It’s Resilient

• Buds Grow as Nuggets – Chunky, dense nugs galore. Often grows with purple tinges all over the buds as long as you provide high levels of light.
• Stable, Established Strain – This strain was a banger from the beginning, but has been refined over the last few years into a gold standard stabilized strain.
• Direct-to-grower – Seedsman runs a full seed bank full of strains from many different breeders, but I’ve consistently found their in-house strains are just all around easy to grow with great germination rates and lower chances of problems.

Ideal For: Growers looking for a potent high and a sturdy plant with big yields. Best for growers with a bigger grow space. This plant needs room to stretch (either tall or wide). Performs great as a single plant as it tends to completely fill up the grow space available.

Get Purple Ghost Candy – One of my favorite strains lately!

Growing Purple Ghost Candy Tips

I’ve found this strains tends to grow big plants with huge yields, yet grows buds as nuggets so you don’t run into the same problems as other high-yield strains. Grows lots of side branches and responds very well to pruning, bending branches, and defoliation.

One of the reasons I chose this strain over the others I’ve grown from Seedsman is the outstanding bud quality. Buds tend to grow dense, beautiful, and POTENT. Make sure to wait until buds are totally mature before harvesting for the best bud quality. Not for the faint of heart or casual smokers!

Dirty Unicorn by Dirty Bird Genetics

Why It’s Resilient

• Fast-Flowering – Typically ready to harvest in about 9 weeks from 12/12.
• Buds Grow as Nuggets – Buds are dense and sparkly, and produce tight nugs.
• Stable, Established Strain – Dirty Bird Genetics took a famous Thug Pug strain (Unicorn Poop – a non-feminized strain that is always sold out) and worked with it for over two years to make an amazingly consistent strain that gives you the wonders of the original genetics but in feminized, stabilized form.
• Direct-to-grower – Get it straight from the breeders.

Ideal For: Those who want a clear-headed, energetic high with top-of-the-line bud appearance and smell.

Get Dirty Unicorn – Unusual name, memorable buds!

Growing Unicorn Poop Tips

Plants tend to grow on the taller side, with extra space between nodes, but that actually makes it really easy to train this plant to grow into whatever shape you want. Vigorous, fast growth. The seeds germinate fast and seedlings tend to start strong.

Bruce Banner by Seed Supreme

Why It’s Resilient

• Buds Grow as Nuggets – Dense, tight nugs galore!
• Stable, Established Strain – Developed over years
• Direct-to-grower – Get it straight from the source.

Ideal For: New growers, low-maintenance gardens, and those prone to minor nutrient mishaps. Offers a powerful, uplifting high.

Get Bruce Banner – Named after the Incredible Hulk for the sheet potency of buds

Growing Bruce Banner Tips

A robust strain that can take extra nutrients and warmer temperatures. Great yields, easy to grow, and overall just a pleasure of a plant.

Choosing the right cannabis strain can make a big difference. Hardy strains are known for their ability to thrive in less-than-perfect conditions, which makes them perfect if you’re looking for a consistent harvest with minimal issues. It can help when you opt for fast-flowering strains, those that grow buds as nuggets, stable and established genetics, legendary strains, and those from direct-to-grower breeders. Remember, the best cannabis strains are the ones that give you what you want, how you want it!

Happy growing!
Nebula Haze

The post Which Strains Get Fewer Nutrient Problems or Deficiencies? appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Summer is coming in the northern hemisphere, and the outdoor cannabis growing season is about to begin. Have you considered growing autoflower cannabis strains outside in 2026? There is still plenty of time to order autoflower seeds and start your outdoor grow.

Some great fast outdoor autoflower strains that are easy to grow and perform well outside:

• Everglades OG Auto (loves hot/humid)
• Pineapple Daddy Auto (epic bud quality)
• Fantasmo Express Auto (sativa effects)
• Alien vs Triangle Auto (colorful)
• More outdoor autoflower strains below!

Auto Bloody Skunk plants grow beautifully purple and skunky outdoor weed.

Autoflower cannabis strains race from germination to harvest in 2-3 months. They’re perfect for a quick outdoor harvest. Autos also offer other major benefits for outdoor marijuana growers compared to typical photoperiod strains.

White Widow XXL Auto thrives outdoors. Ready to harvest ~80 days from germination.

Autoflowering strains give cannabis growers a lot more choices and flexibility. You can achieve multiple harvests in one grow season. You can time your harvest so buds form and ripen during the summer, when light levels are very high, causing buds to get bigger and be more potent than if they’d matured in the fall (like with photoperiod strains). If your climate has a short summers or a lot of rain during fall, autoflower strains allow you to grow your plants when environmental conditions are still ideal.

Night Queen Auto by my friend LuckyAcres. Early summer harvests resulting in big, potent buds.

Autoflower plants love growing in raised beds (grown by our student Raymond)

Skunk #1 Autoflower plants under guard by a fierce protector.

Benefits of Autoflower Strains for Outdoor Cannabis Growers

• Faster harvest – Autoflower cannabis plants are ready to harvest faster than photoperiod strains, especially outdoors. Photoperiod plants are ready to harvest in mid-to-late fall (the exact timing depends on the genetics and your latitude), no matter what time you put them outside. If you put photoperiod plants outside in the spring, they won’t be ready until the fall, which can take 5+ months. On the flip side, most autoflowering strains are ready to harvest just 2-3 months from germination, no matter the time of year.
• Multiple harvests per grow season – Autoflower strains are great for getting the most from your sunny season, no matter where you live. While you can only ever have one photoperiod harvest per outdoor growing season, you can produce two or even three full autoflower cannabis harvests.
• Control harvest time – Gain the ability to ensure buds ripen when the weather is still ideal. No need to worry about short summers or your rainy season starting early and messing up your cannabis harvest. As long as you have a few months of good weather, you can grow autoflower cannabis plants outdoors. As a bonus, when buds ripen in the summer, the extra light and UV rays means buds tend to get bigger and more potent than if they ripened in the fall.
• Great yields – As long as autoflower cannabis plants get a strong start, good soil, and plenty of warm sunny days, they tend to be extremely productive as far as yields and potency when grown outdoors. Many autoflowering cannabis strains are specifically developed to thrive in an outdoor environment.

Before the advent of autoflower strains, one of the main problems for outdoor growers was losing their harvest to bud rot or mold in the fall. Autoflower cannabis strains let you choose the harvest time so that never happens to you.

On top of that, the crucial few weeks of ripening before harvest are when buds pack on the most weight and THC. You get the best results in this stage when maximizing light levels. Autoflowering strains allow you to time your harvest so buds are ready right as the sun’s rays are the strongest. And best of all, the harvests come quick!

Grease Gun Auto by SkunkSquatch

These outdoor-grown Amnesia Haze autoflowers are 9 weeks old. The buds are getting fatter every day, but won’t be fully mature until they reach ~12 weeks old (for this particular strain).

Recommended outdoor autoflower cannabis strains

I chose these autoflowering strains based on these criteria: mold/pest resistant, beginner friendly, high-yielding, and quick-to-harvest:

Ultra-Fast Outdoor Autoflower Strains – 2 Months to Harvest (for last minute planting)

These strains are when you have the least amount of time. They’re as fast as you can get to harvest with cannabis plants!

Black Cream Auto by Sweet Seeds

Ready to harvest in about 70 days. The Black Cream Auto strain tends to stay on the smaller, yet still produces surprisingly big yields as long as it gets a lot of light. The buds tend to grow in chunky purple nuggets with an appetizing sweet, fruity smell. Once dried, the dark purple nugs in particular are a unique sight to behold.

Purple strains like Black Cream Auto are delightful to see in person. Bud colors range from purple-tinted to almost black.

LSD-25 Auto by Fastbuds Seeds

This strain is ready to harvest just about 2 months from germination. It produces beautiful purple buds with psychedelic potency, combined with an easy-going plant that can handle a tough environment. Altogether, this is a great autoflowering choice for growing outdoors.

Review from outdoor grower Bigbeardygrows: “What a beautiful, stunning plant. I’ve never gone such dark purple/inky black buds!! I gave this plant a very rough start in life. Neglected and in a small pot for the start of its life, which stunted it, but the bud colour is out of this world!!! Mouthwatering aromas of red wine, spice and hints of burnt rubber ????????????. Can’t wait to grow this again.”

LSD-25 Auto by Fastbuds is ready to harvest about 2 months from germination, with vibrant purple buds on most plants.

Pineapple Express Auto by Barney’s Farm

This strain tends to grow into compact, bushy plants that produce big yields with huge, long buds. A hardy plant that thrives indoors or outdoors. Buds have hints of pineapple smell, with relaxing effects sometimes described as “soothing” or “comforting”. Typically ready to harvest just 2 months from germination.

Grower Smarty with his glorious Pineapple Express Auto plant at harvest!

Outdoor Autoflower Strains – 2-3 Months to Harvest

Blue Dream Auto by Seed Supreme

This autoflower version of the classic Blue Dream cannabis strain thrives when grown outdoors. It tends to germinate well and start quickly, which is ideal for any auto. Overall, a forgiving strain for beginner outdoor growers even if you make some mistakes. Takes just under 3 months from seed to harvest when grown outdoors for max yields.

Blue Dream Auto is a beginner-friendly strain with professional results.

Dos Si Dos Auto by Barney’s Farm

75 days from seed to harvest, the buds are about 20% THC and smooth, relaxing effects. Dos Si Does Auto produces above-average yields and buds smell of citrus, or even pie. Sparkly big buds. Easy to grow.

Dos Si Dos auto is an extremely popular strain due to yields, bud quality, and fast growth.

If you start this strain properly and get the plant in the ground with amazing soil, the plants can get humongous. Like this Do Si Do autoflower grown outdoors by Leathergal that got 10ft (3m) tall.

Cream Cookies Auto by FastBuds Seeds

This strain is considered to be an Indica-dominant strain (its “body high” is greater than its “head high”) with high resin production. It has a THC level of a little over 20% and buds have a caramel and creamy flavor. It grows well outdoors and is ready about 10 weeks from germination.

Many auto-flowering cannabis plants, including Cream Cookies Auto, tend to stay on the smaller side.

Girl Scout Cookies Auto by Humboldt Seeds

I love this auto-flowering strain for a bunch of reasons. For one, this strain is true-to-its-roots and gives you true Girl Scout Cookies buds with the effects you would find in a photoperiod version of the strain. Buds look gorgeous with high levels of THC, and plants area easy to grow, but the standout trait is extreme yield. Overall has a great entourage effect and possibly higher levels of d-Limonene in the buds. Note: D-Limonene is a lemony terpene that may add to the entourage effect and make buds feel more relaxing and social. Ready to harvest about 70 days from germination.

Planet of the Grapes Auto by Ethos Genetics

Easy to grow, good yields, smells great, STRONG bud effects. Best for experienced tokers. Tends to take a bit longer than most autos (up to 90 days) and gets bigger (up to 2-3 feet tall) but will reward you for your patience with amazing yields of top-quality buds. When growing outdoors, you want to plant this strain a full 3 months before it gets cold or rainy outside where you live.

Planet of the Grapes Auto grows with a natural bushy structure and the buds sometimes have tinges of purple.

Kushberry Moonrocks Auto by MSNL

Easy to grow, hardy enough to grow in hot or arid climates, and great yields make this a gem in the outdoor autoflowering strain world. Ready to harvest about 2.5 months from germination. I absolutely love the photoperiod version of this strain, and the autoflowering strain lives up to the same standard of bud quality. Truly an example of getting photoperiod buds in autoflowering form.

Kushberry Moonrocks Auto cannabis bud quality is in a league of its own.

Mint Jelly Auto by Humboldt Seed Company

This strain is an autoflowering version of the popular Mint Cake strain, but it may have turned out even better than the original. It has a THC level of up to 27% and a peppermint and cake flavor. It grows well outdoors, and is ready to harvest about 75 days after germination.

Mint Jelly Auto produces up to 27% THC – one of the most potent outdoor autoflowering strains!

Grease Gun Auto by Atlas Seed

This strain produces the best bud quality, resin production, and potency if you allow buds to continue to mature until a full 12 weeks from germination, though it can be harvested earlier in a pinch. Here’s an outdoor Green Gun Auto grown by SkunkSquatch: “Plant is grown in a 7 gallon grow bag about 22 inches tall.”

Grease Gun Auto by Atlas Seed does well in outdoor conditions and grows sparkly buds dripping in resin.

Auto Duck by Dutch Passion

“Duck” strains (also called “Ducksfoot” strains) look different from other cannabis plants. Unlike typical cannabis leaves, the leaves of these strains are the shape of a duck’s foot. This is due to a natural mutation that an enterprising cannabis grower noticed and bred into a strain. As a result, these plants don’t look as much like cannabis plants to most eyes even after buds start growing. That makes these strains a coveted choice for outdoor growers looking for a little extra stealth.

This strain takes a full 3 months outdoors from seed to harvest, but rewards you with excellent buds. This particular version of Duck has been crossed with a high quality White Widow, giving you White Widow buds from a duck leaf cannabis plant.

Auto Duck by Dutch Passion is a cannabis strain that grows unique duck’s foot-shaped leaves. Stealthy!

Check out those leaves up close.

A Ducksfoot strain has less of an overall “cannabis” aesthetic.

Now that I’ve shared some examples of great autoflowering cannabis strains for outdoors, let’s talk about some tips to get the best results with your outdoor grow.

When is the Best Time to Germinate Autoflowering Cannabis Strains Outdoors?

This is based on the idea you want to get one perfectly-timed outdoor harvest. Of course, you can keep planting autoflowering cannabis seeds all summer and harvest them when each plant is ready.

• Germinate outdoor autoflowering seeds in late spring – Plant autoflowering cannabis strains in late spring for the best results with autoflowering strains outdoors. That is June in the northern hemisphere, and November in the southern hemisphere.
• Aim to harvest plants in late summer – This maximizes the amount of light your plants are getting during the crucial last few weeks of growing, which increases yields and THC vs if the buds finish fattening in the fall. Harvesting plants in late summer also helps ensure your buds won’t get exposed to rain or snow, since most parts of the world are more likely to get precipitation in the fall. Before the advent of autoflowering strains, one of the main problems for outdoor growers is losing their harvest to bud rot or mold in the fall. Autoflowering strains allow you to time your harvest so buds are ready at the perfect time.
• Consider your local weather and the strain flowering time – I gave general suggestions, but each strain has a slightly different flowering time, and different parts of the world may have different months that are the warmest and sunniest. If that’s the case, for example, if your local climate is only warm from August-September, you would want to start seeds indoors in July and put them outside after it’s already warm.  I gave several recommended autoflowering strains above, and each one has details from the breeder about the expected “time to harvest” from germination. So make sure to calculate backward so that plants go out during the warmest months and are ready to harvest before it gets cold. Luckily, most places in the world have at least 2 months of decent weather, so just about anyone can grow an autoflowering strain, especially if you pick an extra-fast one.

You can plant autoflowering seeds at any time during the year as long as you have at least 2-3 months of warm sunny weather. The goal is to try to get them to be ready to harvest while it’s still sunny and warm.

Tips for starting outdoor autoflowering seeds.

• Start autoflowering seedlings indoors so they get a nice start, especially if it’s still chilly outside at times. Plants will be small at first so most people will be able to find a place for them (for example in a closet with a small grow light). The first 3-4 weeks of growth are crucial to helping the seedling gain size, which will maximize your yields outdoors by giving your plant more and longer branches to grow buds on.
• Plant seeds directly in the soil – I recommend starting seeds by planting them directly in the soil to avoid having to move them much. Here’s a tutorial on how to plant seeds directly in soil. A small LED like the HLG 100 is a great way to start seedlings and get them growing fast.. Just hang it over the babies and give them 18 hours of light a day.
• Plant them in a 5-gallon fabric pot so you won’t have to transplant them. If they’re in a smaller pot their size will be limited. However, when starting seeds in a bigger pot, you need to be extra careful not to overwater them until they start growing fast. Here are tips on how to water cannabis seedlings in a big pot. Basically, just only give 1-2 cups of water every other day at first, and then slowly build your way up to more water as plants get bigger. Any pot will do, but I prefer fabric pots because plants tend to grow faster, get bigger, and are less likely to experience overwatering since the soil can dry out from the sides.
• Don’t put autoflowering plants outside until it’s consistently warm, and bring them inside for the night if it gets cold. Frost may kill them, and even cool weather can slow them down.

Start outdoor autoflowering seedlings indoors for the best results. Seeds tend to take longer to sprout and grow slower if grown outside from germination.

Plant your cannabis seeds and keep them warm during germination. Keeping seeds warm while sprouting is really important. In my tests, even I was pretty shocked at how important heat is to germination. I’ve found 80-85°F (27-30°C)  is an ideal temperature for germination. Even germinating them at a still decently warm 70°F (21°F) will lower germination rates and seeds germinate days slower. So take a little time to

Cannabis seeds germinate much faster and get better germination rates if they’re kept warm around 80-85°F (27-30°C). Seedlings also grow faster when it’s warm.

Tips for growing auto-flowering cannabis plants outdoors

Unfortunately, I have very limited experience growing autoflowering plants outdoors. I live in a condo in a high rise so I’ve only grown them on my balcony, which is somewhat similar to outdoor growing, but I don’t have to worry much about bugs or animals since I’m high off the ground. Growing on a balcony is basically the same as growing indoors except I just have to pay attention if it’s going to get hot, windy, or cold, and bring my plant in.

However, I have some talented outdoor friends who have made some helpful guides.

Growing Help

• How to grow cannabis plants outdoors – Straightforward outdoor growing guide (by my outdoor growing friend LuckyAcres).
• Stealth ideas for growing cannabis outside – Even if cannabis is legal in your state, it’s always a good idea to conceal your grow to prevent people looking in your yard. Another issue is if someone knows when cannabis is ready to harvest, they may wait until harvest time, and steal your plants.

Dealing with Outdoor Problems

• Dealing with heat and humidity outdoors – Many outdoor growers deal with heat and humidity that may stress their plants. Read this guide for tips and tricks to help!
• How to Prevent Bugs (Outdoor Cannabis Pest Guide) – A holistic and natural way to prevent bugs (by my outdoor growing friend Jenny).
• A list of safe insecticides – Here is a list of natural and safe insecticides that are harmless to humans and plants, but deadly to bugs.

Growing outdoors is similar to growing indoors, except for weather and outdoor pests. Master these two issues to help ensure the best harvest possible!

PSA for Outdoor Growers: Watch out for caterpillars!

Caterpillars (including inch worms and loopers) are one of the most common outdoor plant pests. Luckily, caterpillars are also one of the easiest pests to prevent if you follow these instructions.

• Use all-natural BT spray to kill caterpillars – It’s safer and more effective than most other caterpillar treatments. BT spray is gentle on plants when used as directed, is harmless to humans, but will prevent caterpillars from being able to eat (so they leave your plant alone).
• Spray the moment you see the signs of caterpillars eating your leaves. Pictures below.
• Spray your plants at the first sign of buds (white hairs appear at the joints) – This prevents caterpillars from attacking buds during the flowering phase (they love to eat the inside of buds, the monsters!). Spraying at the beginning of flowering also reduces the chance you’ll have to spray your plants after buds have already formed.

Note: BT spray does not kill caterpillars instantly so don’t be alarmed if they’re still alive after being sprayed. What it does is prevent caterpillars from eating. As a result they immediately stop munching on your leaves and will starve to death and die after a few days.

Spray plants with all-natural BT spray to prevent caterpillars.

Spray plants if you see caterpillars, and also just before buds start flowering even if you haven’t seen any caterpillars yet. Ideally, you don’t want to spray anything on the plants after buds have started forming, and treating your plant early helps prevent caterpillars before they come for your plants.

Try to spray plants right when they start flowering to reduce the chance of caterpillars eating the inside of your buds later.

A quick summary of the bonuses auto-flowering strains give outdoor cannabis growers going into the 2026 season:

Multiple harvests possible – Outdoor growers who normally harvest photoperiod plants in the fall can still germinate some auto-flowering seeds and get an early harvest. This allows a grower to get multiple harvests in one summer.

Take advantage of short summers – With a photoperiod plant, buds are often not ready before winter in climates that have a short summer. That means that many people just didn’t have the option of growing outdoors. Autoflowering strains let you ensure buds are ready before winter. Some strains are ready in as little as 6-8 weeks, which means as long as you have 6+ weeks of warm weather, you can be an outdoor grower.

Are you ready to start growing outdoor auto-flowering marijuana plants? Let us know what you think of this tutorial, share your favorite outdoor autoflowering strains, and don’t hesitate to send us pictures of your outdoor auto-flowering plants if you’d like to see them featured on GrowWeedEasy.com!

The post Best Outdoor Autoflowering Cannabis Strains (2026) appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

The dry weight of your cannabis buds (“yields”) used to be one of the most important numbers growers paid attention to. But yields are most important for people trying to sell. For most home growers, what you want is enough weed and excellent bud quality, not necessarily the max amount of buds you can grow.

Why? Because most home growers would rather have 8 ounces of incredible weed than 16 ounces of subpar weed.

Home growers usually don’t need to sacrifice quality to get the yields they want

You’ll notice that the newer trendier cannabis strains in the United States for home growers typically have middling to low yields, especially compared to European strains from the early 2010s, which were heavily yield-focused.

In these newer strains, buds stay small and hard like nuggets, as opposed to creating huge enormous “colas” of buds.

Older and European strains tend to produce bigger, looser buds with medium-to-high bud potency.

Newer and American strains tend to produce smaller, tighter bud nuggets with very high (20-25% or more) levels of THC.

Plants of these newer strains may produce just 2-3 ounces per plant, whereas “high yield” strains may produce 5 ounces or more per plant in the same conditions.

This Ultimate cannabis plant produced double the yield as all the other strains in the tent, but buds ended up being the least favorite. So after all the other buds had been smoked, we still had tons of Ultimate buds left.

The secret to not caring about yields is to get the basics right: start with a good setup, keep a suitable environment, and train plants to grow multiple buds per plant. This ensures that even if you grow with the lowest-yielding strains, you will still produce more than enough weed for most people. For many cannabis growers, a few ounces of weed per month is more than enough, especially when combined with the fact that many growers also use their “trim” to make edibles. I don’t know about you, but I tend to go through my weed slower when I also have tons of tinctures, canna caps, oils, hash, kief, weed gummies, and other goodies around the house.

Low-yielding strains still produce plenty of weed if you use a good grow setup and provide the right environment in the flowering stage. I’d rather get 3 ounces of these buds per plant than 6 ounces per plant of mediocre weed.

The plants in this picture were all “low-yielding” strains from various boutique breeders including from Square One Genetics and Ethos Genetics. You can see plants produced tight nuggets instead of huge “colas”. Despite that, together these plants still produced over 9 oz of premium bud under a 300W HLG 300 R-Spec light because they had a great grow setup and I used simple plant training techniques to force plants to grow multiple buds.

Although I would have increased the yields by growing with “high-yielding” strains, these “low-yielding” strains produced some of my favorite buds I’ve ever grown. The higher bud quality is more than worth smaller yields, in my opinion. Especially since 9 oz is plenty for me.

Pacific Punch buds I grew (limited time strain by Square One Genetics)

On average, a cannabis grow takes 4 months. That means if you want 1 ounce a month, you’re producing more than enough weed as long as you produce 4+ ounces per harvest. With a typical 300W grow light, it’s difficult to produce less than that much weed with even low-yielding strains.

Why grow high-quality strains even if they produce smallish yields?

• Effects – You get the bud effects you actually want, plus you’ll never find yourself smoking subpar weed
• Weed goes further – When weed is high-quality, you don’t need to smoke as much for the same effect
• Less chance of mold – Buds that produce really huge yields with big fat colas tend to have overall a looser bud structure and are much more likely to suffer from bud rot. Strains with small tight “nugs” are much less likely to get bud rot.
• No “bottom shelf” weed – You never find yourself with weed that no one wants to smoke (and a year later realize it’s still sitting there in the back of the cupboard)

I’ve found that, on average, the higher yielding the strain, the lower the bud quality. That is not set in stone, it is simply that when breeding a strain, you can only pay attention to so many things. If you focus purely on breeding strains for bud quality, often the yields tend to get lower over time because the highest-quality bud typically comes from smallish nuggets. When a breeder focuses purely on increasing yields, often the bud quality, smell, or potency suffers.

High-yielding strains are more likely to suffer from loose bud structure and have a tendency to get bud rot. This strain produced enormous yields, but I lost several of the biggest buds to bud rot after the humidity unexpectedly rose to 80% RH in San Diego where I live. Even my industrial dehumidifier wasn’t able to bring the humidity in the grow room down to a safe 50%.

However, with strains that produce small hard nuggets, you’re unlikely to get bud rot even when the humidity rises. There’s no good place for mold to grow in a tight bud like this.

So what strains should you grow with?

I recommend strains by any of these breeders if you’re looking for high bud quality above all else:

• Ethos Genetics – I’ve had excellent results with Ethos strains. My favorites are their Mandarin Cookies and Zweet Inzanity strains. As a bonus, these two strains get good yields, too!
• Happy Valley Genetics – Top-tier, stabilized strains based on award-winning genetics. Here’s their main website for more information.
• Seedsman (House Strains) – This well-known seedbank breeds some in-house strains that are absolutely bonkers, like Purple Ghost Candy (read our full review).

The post Why Cannabis Yields Aren’t Important (Anymore) appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

A lot of indoor cannabis growers struggle with yields. It’s fantastic to grow your weed, but you must grow enough that you never run out. Otherwise, growing may feel like a waste of time and effort.

Luckily, cannabis yields don’t have to be a mystery. There are specific factors that cause yields to be big or small, and nearly all of them are under your control. The following article contains a comprehensive list of what you can do (both before and after buds start forming) to increase yields.

Learn how to achieve bigger yields in less time with less effort

Table of Contents

Before Buds Start Forming

1. Choose High-Yielding Genetics – Strain choice has a significant effect on yields, so it helps to choose a strain that naturally makes big buds. Learn what to look for, and get a list of recommended strains that produce fat, envy-worthy buds.
2. Grow Correct Number of Plants – Match the number of plants to your space and grow light. Often you’ll get bigger yields/faster harvests with many smaller plants as opposed to a few big ones.
3. Use The Right Plant Containers – Choose the right container type and size for your setup, so plants grow as fast and big as possible.
4. Use Coco or Hydro – Soil-grown plants typically grow slower than plants grown in coco or hydroponics. If you want to maximize the number of harvests each year, you should aim for fast-growing plants.
5. Manipulate How Plants Grow – Plant training in the vegetative stage is an effective and free way to increase yields dramatically.
6. Choose Good Nutrients and Supplements – Get cannabis-specific nutrients, and remember that sometimes less is more.
7. Grow Plants to Most Efficient Size – Too-big plants can cause considerable problems, but plants that are too small don’t have the structure to support big buds. Maximize yields by growing plants to the right size for your space.

After Buds Start Forming

1. Increase Light Intensity – Light is food to your plant, and giving more light will increase yields (to a point).
2. Use Suitable Flowering Lights – For the best yields, you should be using LEDs (best choice for most growers), LEC/CMH, or HPS grow lights while buds are forming. Avoid “blurple” LEDs or fluorescent grow lights.
3. Give Best Light Spectrum While Buds Form – Giving plants more red and far-red light in the flowering stage seems to increase yields compared to using the same grow light in a bluer spectrum. Learn which bulbs/lights work best below.
4. Follow a Recommended Defoliation Schedule  – Remove specific leaves at specific points of bud development to “hack” the plant’s natural processes and cause buds to grow bigger and denser than they otherwise would.
5. Don’t Ignore Problems! Plants get much more picky about nutrient ratios and nutrient strength in the flowering stage, especially as harvest approaches. Make sure you quickly diagnose and fix any nutrient deficiencies, bug infestations, or other visible problems. An unhealthy plant doesn’t have as much energy to put into bud formation.
6. Create an Optimum Bud-Building Environment – Hot or humid air with poor air circulation in the flowering stage causes buds to grow more airy and loose (among other problems). Reflective walls can help you get the most from your lights, and some growers supplement their environment with CO2 to increase yields.
7. Harvest Plants at the Right Time – Especially don’t harvest early.

And Most Importantly…

1. Always Be Growing – If you don’t pause between harvests, your bud coffers will soon be overflowing. Along the same lines, never stop learning!

Grow a lot of buds so you never run out

Bonus: Many of these techniques also increase THC levels, bud density, and overall bud quality.

There are a few ways to think about increasing cannabis yields indoors. Some growers want to maximize the yields for their grow space, and don’t care what it takes to increase yields overall. Other growers are looking at returns from more of an economic perspective, wanting to get the best yields for the electricity/cost, but maybe aren’t as concerned with how much space it takes. Lastly, there are many growers just looking to grow huge impressive buds and don’t care about maximizing anything else. This article is going to talk about all three. No matter what you’re looking for, we’ve got you covered.

Without further delay, it’s time to learn how to increase your yields!

You know a bud is going to get huge if it’s already fat before the white hairs start darkening and curling in!

BONUS: Now that you have tons of weed, what should you do with it?

Edibles

• Decarboxylation: How to Decarb Your Weed (crucial step for just about every edible recipe)
• Best Weed Butter Recipe
  • How to Make Great Brownies with Weed Butter
• Canna Caps
• How to Make Cannabis Tinctures
• How to Make Hash Oil (aka Cannabis Extract Oil or RSO)
• Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) – Alternate

Extracts (No Solvents Used in Any Recipe)

• Solventless Extraction Showdown – Bubble Hash vs. Dry-Ice Hash!
• Dry Ice Hash (Made with Dry Ice)
• How to Make Bubble Hash (Made with Ice Water)
• How To Make Your Own Homemade Rosin (dabs)

The post 15 Ways to Increase Cannabis Yields Indoors appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

GrowWeedEasy.com teaches you the secrets of cannabis home grow.

• Start Here: How to grow weed
• Get Seeds: Safe seed sources
• Sick Plants? See the plant doctor
• When to Harvest? Harvest guide

Get cannabis seeds at Seed Supreme or see our full list of our favorite cannabis seed banks.

Growing weed is easy when you know what to do, but most “how to grow marijuana” tutorials leave you feeling like you need a degree in horticulture.

GrowWeedEasy.com only contains useful cannabis grow tips, tactics, and lessons from actual home growers with years of growing experience.

Even a total beginner can consistently produce top-shelf weed by following our step-by-step home grow tutorials. 100% written by humans who care.

Who Made GrowWeedEasy.com?

Grow Weed Easy.com was started in 2010 by home growers Nebula Haze and Sirius Fourside. Together, we built a free online “encyclopedia of cannabis home grow” with 650+ expert home cannabis cultivation tutorials about every aspect of growing weed.

GrowWeedEasy.com is now the biggest and most comprehensive source of free home grow information in the world.  We show you how easy it is to grow your own marijuana at home.

The GrowWeedEasy.com Ethos

Our Goal: You grow as much top-shelf weed as possible, with as little time and effort needed to grow your desired yields and cannabis bud quality.

Whether you’re a total beginner who wants to start growing cannabis indoors for the first time, or an experienced grower who wants to upgrade your skills to Pro level, this website was built for you.

Looking for a complete harvest system?

If you want dense, beautiful, great-smelling weed, our new digital book gives you our complete harvest system. Follow the straightforward instructions and massively upgrade your next harvest. A few small changes can make a huge difference to your results.

Get our fool-proof harvest system.

FOR SERIOUS GROWERS ONLY

🌟 $200 Off Special Offer: Enroll today in Home Grow Masterclass!

If you’re reading this right now, you want to grow great cannabis at home.

Cannabis plants isn’t a regular house plant, but learning how to grow isn’t as complicated growers make it seem. We’ve spent the last 16 years breaking down the home grow process so anyone can learn it.

The key to consistent harvest results is simple: follow a proven system developed for home growers.

You could waste an entire grow learning through trial and error…

Or take the shortcut and harvest a sea of fat, dense, beautiful buds that smell great. At home!

Follow our 5-week course and get walked through each part step-by-step. Build by experienced home growers and honed with hundreds of students since 2019, we ensure you achieve great results on your very next harvest.

Learn How To Grow Top-Shelf Weed at Home!

Start Your First Class TODAY!

You may be asking yourself these common growing questions:

“How do I grow marijuana indoors?”

Read this guide on how to grow marijuana indoors. Or check out this article to learn what materials you need to get started growing your own marijuana!

Luckily, it’s really easy to get a cannabis seed to sprout!

“How much money will it cost to get started?”

If you’re considering growing weed, it costs as little as $300 to get started growing or a bit more for a semi-automatic, high-yielding bubbleponics grow system. See examples of yields to expect, electricity use & startup costs for different setups. Read this article to see even more growing styles with different price ranges.

“Where can I get marijuana seeds?”

Check out our How to Buy Marijuana Seeds Online Guide (with delivery to every state of the USA) to safely get your hands on good genetics. Starting with good seeds lets you choose the looks, smell, and effects of your buds!

Learn where it’s safe to buy cannabis seeds online (2026 update).

What do good cannabis seeds look like?

Learn about the best marijuana beginner strains and how to research and find the right strain.

Cannabis buds are generally green, but can also be pink or purple with certain strains.

“How much will electricity cost each month?”

If you’re just growing a few marijuana plants for personal use, it will cost you $20-$100+/month for electricity, depending on what grow lights (electricity) and nutrients you use. On average, I’d say a hobby-size grower might pay about $50/month to grow, but it depends greatly on your setup and local electricity costs! How much will electricity cost each month?

“How can I increase my marijuana yields?”

We have quite a few techniques to choose from or combine! See some of our most popular pages:

• Super Cropping – A simple technique to bigger yields
• Simplest Guide to Growing Short & Bushy Marijuana Plants
• LST (Low Stress Training) – Training your plants can easily double your harvest!
• Or check out our page on the controversial defoliation technique

Even More Ways to Increase Cannabis Yields

1. Increase Light Intensity (plus choose right light for desired yields & possibly add CO2)
2. Manipulate How Plants Grow (a free way to yield more bud indoors)
3. Provide Right Nutrients (low Nitrogen in the flowering stage, and remember sometimes less is more!)
4. Control Growing Environment (let the growing environment work for you)
5. Harvest Plants Properly (most importantly, don’t harvest early!)
6. Lastly, it’s important to remember that the strain has a major effect on yields!

Two small cannabis plants can yield several ounces of premium weed!

“How can I grow weed privately?”

Read guide on growing weed indoors without anyone knowing. But remember the most important factors to stealth growing: “No tell, no smell, no sell.” Never tell anyone, not even your best friend, that you’re growing. Be on top of preventing smells, and never ever sell cannabis. Breaking one of those 3 principles is how 99% of growers get found out!

“What if my plants get sick?”

The most common issue a grower runs into is a pH imbalance. Barring that, your marijuana plants likely either have a nutrient deficiency, heat or light stress, or are being attacked by some sort of marijuana mold, pest or bug. Whether you call it weed, cannabis, sinsemilla, skunk, pot, marijuana, or something else, the plant known as Cannabis Sativa is a hardy weed in the wild and can actually be easy to grow indoors at home when you know what to do.

Growing Medical Marijuana

“Medical marijuana” has become a household name. The body of evidence for medical marijuana in the treatment of cancer and other illnesses is growing every day. And for those who need medical marijuana, growing weed indoors is the perfect way to ensure a safe, regular supply of buds, for cheap.

In fact, when you grow weed indoors for personal use, you often end up with way too much. If you catch the growing bug like I did, and if you start enjoying the process of tending your cannabis garden just for the sake of gardening, you’re going to have to find a way to press, cook, freeze, and concentrate all your extra buds. 🙂

As you probably know, both medical marijuana and recreational cannabis have been decriminalized or legalized in many places around the world and weed is becoming legal in more places every day! Yet there still aren’t many simple indoor “how to grow weed” guides for beginners (even for those who legally grow, such as medical marijuana users and those who live in places where marijuana is legalized for personal use).

If so, I know how you feel. It can be hard to weed out all the bad information on the internet and find well-researched, free tips or instructions on how to grow your own cannabis. That’s why Grow Weed Easy.com aims to be a simple online resource that explains from start to finish what you need to do when growing cannabis so you can learn how to grow cannabis with great yields and potent buds, even if you only have a small grow space like a closet or even a computer case.

We’ve grown cannabis out of closets and have gotten ounces of buds and you can too. Grow Weed Easy.com covers many popular cannabis cultivation topics, including:

• A comparison between different cannabis grow lights including experience-based information about LED grow lights
• A page that teaches you the basics of how to grow weed
• Detailed how-to weed growing tutorials
• How to start growing weed tomorrow  (simplest cannabis growing guide!)
• Grow 4 oz with a 100W LED <– An Easy Way to Start Growing!
• Our famous grow guide that teaches you how to grow weed using bubbleponics (hydro).

Start Growing Weed Today!

Grow Weed Easy is run by a panel of experienced cannabis growers, including the founders Nebula Haze and Sirius Fourside, who originally teamed together to bring you GrowWeedEasy.com. Due to the demand for more marijuana growing information, we’ve also started an inbox magazine all about how to grow weed, with additional tutorials, tips, and tactics sent to you each week. Simply sign up to start getting free expert growing articles delivered to you! All the information available at GrowWeedEasy.com is completely free and we regularly update the site and make new additions.

Looking for a growing book?

If you are interested in doing a bit of reading or would like to know more about the science behind marijuana hydroponics or horticulture, I strongly recommend viewing our page of Marijuana Grow Book Reviews. Read reviews of marijuana grow books. We would love to hear about your experiences with growing cannabis. Whether you are a pro grower already or are just starting your first plant, we have learned so much from our readers both beginners and masters! If you have any suggestions, comments, concerns, or just want to ask some questions about your marijuana grow, please contact us!

Happy Growing!
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside

Get our fool-proof harvest system.

Home Grow Masterclass – FOR SERIOUS GROWERS ONLY

The post Grow Weed Easy – Learn How to Grow Cannabis Tutorials appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

Many beginner cannabis growers struggle because they pick the wrong marijuana strain. After 16 years of teaching home growers, I recommend beginner-friendly cannabis strains like Blue Dream, Mandarin Cookies, or Purple Ghost Candy for reliable germination, healthier growth, better bud quality and bigger yields. Learn where to safely buy cannabis seeds online.

Blue Dream naturally grows long and fat buds, even for beginners.

Recommended beginner strain #1: Blue Dream

This is my #1 beginner cannabis strain. This particular version of Blue Dream (the Seed Supreme version) took over 5 years of dedicated breeding, and has developed into a masterpiece that checks all the boxes.

The good:

• Easy to grow – Reliable seed germination, and the resulting seedlings grow fast. Not picky about nutrients. Plants respond well to topping and bending. Can handle stronger light and higher temps than other strains.
• Crazy yields – Even if left alone without any training, plants naturally make lots of branchy bud sites with enormous buds.
• Lovely smell – Classic sweet “Blue Dream” odor (no funk or skunk). Could be a good “stealth” strain because it has an overall lighter smell.
• Special potency – Smooth and lovely smoke that won’t put you to sleep, but you feel it. Get long-lasting and relaxing effects without being weighed down. Blue Dream is a legend for a reason.

Blue Dream – Fast, easy to grow, gets big. Huge yields. Indoors and Outdoors.

Watch out for:

• Plants grow big & FAST – Plants grow faster than most other strains, so it can quickly overtake other plants in the grow space. Outdoor plants can overgrow a greenhouse or get taller than the fence. It can help to keep the plant in a 7-gallon pot (or smaller) to limit height.
• Flowering Stretch – Plants grow 2-3x in size after you initiate 12/12, so make sure to initiate when plant is half the final height, and bend over any tall branches for the first 3-4 weeks after 12/12. You will be rewarded with a sea of colas.
• Big bud problems – Buds get bigger and bigger for a surprisingly long time. After a while they can become susceptible to bud rot. Indoors, add a gentle oscillating fan blowing on buds if they get wider than two fingers.
• May Need to Harvest Earlier – Watch out for bananas after 10 weeks or so. They may pop up via the “rhodelization” mechanism, which for this strain, is a sign the plant is done and buds are ready to harvest. Even if buds have lots of white hairs left, you may be surprised to find buds are solid underneath.

Some of those Blue Dream buds after drying (See the Blue Dream grow journal)

Recommended beginner strain #2: Purple Ghost Candy 

I love this strain, which was developed by Seedsman over several years.

I have grown it multiple times, and every plant produced big, sparkly, dense buds. Plants and leaves usually turn purple, but buds only sometimes turn purple.

Very tall, forgiving plants, but they get HUGE quickly, so give them room just like the Blue Dream. In fact, this strain pairs really well with the Blue Dream because they can keep up with each other. Branchy  plants with lots of bud sites.

Note: Purple Ghost Candy produces VERY potent buds. Not for the first-time smoker. Lovely sweet smell, though much stronger than the Blue Dream.

 Purple Ghost Candy is forgiving to mistakes (See our full home grow review)

Purple Ghost Candy buds are STRONG. Don’t plan to do something else that day.

Recommended beginner strain #3: Mandarin Cookies

Another personal favorite strain. It is one of the most popular Ethos Genetics strains since it first came out. Pungent sweet diesel smell, with strong hints of citrus and cookies. Buds are literally encrusted with sticky trichomes. Even the leaves close to buds are good enough to smoke. Extremely potent yet anti-anxiety, “chill” and happy effect. Perfect for relaxing after a hard day, enhancing creative pursuits, or just making a funny show funnier. Plants are easy to grow and produce great bud quality even if you make some mistakes.

Those Mandarin Cookies buds after being dried and cured. HAPPY RELAXATION EFFECT.

When I first started growing cannabis, I was so excited to finally pick my own strains, but I was also very confused about marijuana strains.

Hopefully, learning about 3 different beginner-friendly strains has started to give you an idea of what makes each marijuana strain different.

These 5 different strains made wildly different buds. See the grow journal.

But you probably still have so many questions… What’s the difference between strains? Which strains are most potent, and what about yields? What other strains are great for beginner growers? Let me break it down.

Does strain actually matter? YES!

Cannabis strain effects:

• Seed germination rates
• How plants grow
• How buds develop
• Smell, potency, taste
• And more!

Years of non-stop experimentation and breeding for positive traits has resulted in a superabundance of available strains. The sheer number of choices can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, it’s pretty fun to shop for cannabis strains when you start with a little bit of information. Choosing the best strain for you is rewarding.

Based on personal experience, I’ve put together a list of popular cannabis strains with exceptional genetics which makes them…well, just plain better to grow.

I’ll explain why I picked each strain so you can use the knowledge to further your own research and help you pick the ultimate strain for your next cannabis harvest!

Click for a strain that is…

• Quick – Fastest Time to Harvest
• Easy – Most Forgiving and Easy to Grow
• Big Yields – Produce As Much Bud as Possible
• Special Potency – Specific Effects, Legendary Strains, Cup Winners, etc.

Plus some bonus info about…

• Strains that Thrive in Small Spaces
• Medical Marijuana Strains
• Further Strain Research

​Want to grow more than one strain at the same time?
Learn about growing multiple strains together!

This is Amnesia by Greenhouse Seeds (manifold technique used to maximize bud size)

Super Skunk can be a great strain for medical marijuana patients, but is it the best cannabis strain for all growers? Unfortunately, there is no “best” of anything, including cannabis strains. The good news is there’s tons of amazing strain choices no matter what you’re looking for. This article will help you find the best strain for you. Here are a few quick favorites, then on to the main article!

Dos Si Dos 33 by Barney’s Farm (grown by Max)

Platinum Cookies by Seed Supreme

Quick – Fastest Time to Harvest

For when the most important thing is getting to your next cannabis harvest as fast as possible!

When it comes to trying to get to harvest as quickly as possible, your best choice is often to grow an auto-flowering strain of cannabis. With an auto-flowering strain, you’ll have the option to harvest your plant 2-3 months from seed germination, and it’s typical to harvest 1-3 ounces off each plant. Under powerful grow lights with a big pot and with some room to grow, auto-flowering plants can produce 5-6 ounces per plant or even more.

Auto-flowering strains tend to stay small and grow fast, while still producing excellent yields and bud quality

Although there are quick-flowering or “fast” photoperiod strains, they are rarely ready to harvest in less than 3 months from seed. That means you can usually get an even quicker harvest with auto-flowering seeds.

Auto-flowering seeds grow plants with some unique qualities:

• Ready to harvest 2-3 months from seed – quickest time to harvest of any strain of cannabis (though there are some auto-flowering strains that have been bred to take longer and get bigger, most are ready to harvest in 3 months or less)
• Autos don’t need special light periods – “Regular” (photoperiod) plants need 12 hours of darkness each day in order to make buds, while autos will make buds and be ready to harvest no matter what light schedule they receive. This can be helpful if you can’t avoid light leaks, or if you want to keep your lights on all the time (for example if you need your lights on to keep plants warm)
• Relaxing effects from higher CBD – Many auto-flowering strains (though not all) have 1% CBD levels or higher from their Ruderalis ancestry. This can make buds more relaxing with more of an anti-anxiety effect, also reducing some of the inner “racing” mental effects some people get from cannabis. This means that auto-flowering strains can be a good choice for medical marijuana patients, or those who’d like to get extra relaxed from their buds. However, these days there are also some very high THC, low CBD auto-flowering strains which provide more of a psychedelic “in your head” experience, especially those that have been hybridized with Sativa and Haze strains.
• Need your full attention first few weeks – Auto-flowering strains are generally pretty easy to grow, but you’re on a strict time schedule. During the first several weeks, it’s incredibly important you pay close attention to your plants and react quickly to any problems. If an auto-flowering plant runs into major problems during the first part of its life, you may end up with tiny plants and tiny yields because an auto-flowering plant stops growing bigger after about 6 weeks. However, when nurtured through the first few weeks, these strains can produce surprisingly high yields in a crazy short amount of time.
• Crucial to pick a good auto-flowering breeder – the ancestor of all auto-flowering strains was a type of wild hemp with low levels of THC. As a result, the original auto-flowering strains were generally poor yielding and far less potent than photoperiod plants. Luckily, we now have dedicated breeders who put a lot of focus on breeding auto-flowering strains (Mephisto Genetics, Sweet Seeds, Nirvana, Seed Supreme & Dutch Passion are some famous auto-flowering breeders that cater to home growers, though many new breeders are appearing on the scene). As a result, modern auto strains have been carefully bred for many generations to be just as potent as their photoperiod counterparts. When you choose a good autoflowering strain, you’ll be very happy with your bud quality. Yet because there are poor genes out there, it’s important to avoid unscrupulous breeders and choose a trustworthy breeder to ensure you grow excellent genetics.

Here are 5 recommended auto-flowering strains for beginners (and connoisseurs!)

• Quickest Time to Harvest – Green Crack Auto by Fast Buds – The breeder Fast Buds is known for producing stabilized autoflowering strains with extremely fast harvests. One thing I like about Fast Buds is you always get exactly what they tell you to expect in the strain details. Their Green Crack Auto strain is the result of generations of careful breeding. The resulting buds have a creative, energetic effect that also comes with a body “buzz” and is ready to harvest as soon as 2 months from seed germination. However, giving the plant an extra week or two before harvesting can dramatically increase your yields and bud potency. This strain produces dense chunky buds that look beautiful and have a lovely fruity skunky scent.

Green Crack Auto buds are covered in trichomes (grown by Crazyhorse)

• Most Forgiving Auto-Flowering Strains – Happy Valley Genetics produces extremely forgiving auto-flowering strains, especially Shortcut Auto and Easy Button Auto. These are the definition of easy-to-grow autoflowering strains. Shortcut stays short and small, while Easy Button grows to a medium size. But if you’re looking for a really fruity yet forgiving autoflowering strain, the crowd favorite is Pineapple Daddy Auto. All three strains are ready to harvest in under 70 days from germination, yet produce surprisingly big yields with bud potency above 20% THC.

Pineapple Daddy Auto makes green buds with a sweet fruity smell (by Dan)

• Ultra-Potent Auto-Flowering Strain – MSNL produces some extremely high-THC auto-flowering strains, including their famous Kushberry Moonrocks Auto, which tests around 25% THC. However, MSNL’s most potent autoflowering strain is Permanent Marker Auto, with buds that shockingly test above 30% THC. I haven’t grown Permanent Marker Auto yet myself, but our readers have RAVED about it so I feel confident recommending it here. Ready to harvest at 70 days from germination, though an extra week or two maximizes yields and potency.

This Permanent Marker plant by MSNL was grown by Marky Mark in Australia!

• Medical Strain (Very Relaxing) – Black Jack Auto. This strain had some of the most chill effects of all the auto-flowering strains I’ve grown so far. I grew two Black Jack Autos at the same time. One was 7.5/10 in relaxation, but the other left me feeling on Cloud 9. Both had an immediate nose-tingling head effect, and then longer lasting pleasant mental and body effects. Great for relaxation, but didn’t weigh me down. The smell was pungent and skunky yet had sweet notes. This strain seemed to do better with somewhat lower levels of light, so it would be perfect to tuck one of these plants in the back or to the side of your main grow.

An example of a Black Jack Auto I grew, just before harvest at 75 days old.

The buds grew fat with relaxing and interesting effects

Easy – Forgiving and Easy to Grow

In order to get the best results with growing cannabis, you need to pay regular attention to your plants. However, that’s a lot easier said than done. Maybe you don’t have a lot of time, and you just want to do the “bare minimum” and still get to harvest. Although I highly encourage you to take great care of your plants, if this sounds like you, you may get the best results by choosing a hardy cannabis strain that’s been specifically bred to be easy to grow and can roll with the punches.

Although they’re generally hardy, in some ways, auto-flowering strains can be tough for a beginner because they don’t leave a lot of time for mistakes. If you mess up in the first 3-6 weeks, you can sometimes end up with a tiny plant and small yields at harvest and unfortunately there’s really nothing you can do about it at that point.

On the flip side, a photoperiod plant gives you as much time as you need to dial in your grow and make mistakes because it won’t start making buds until you “tell” it to. That gives you time to conduct experiments and/or really see what a plant can do.

They don’t say it grows like a weed for nothing! With a photoperiod cannabis plant, you can bring it to the brink of death and back, then continue on with your grow without much consequence.

For that reason, I highly recommend sticking with photoperiod (“standard”) strains if you’re specifically looking for a strain that’s particularly easy to grow and can bounce back from problems.

• Low Odor – Northern Light is a hardy, potent strain that tends to have less of a smell than other strains, which can be helpful for stealth reasons. This strain is a classic that has won many awards for its effects. Northern Light plants tend to stay short, bounce back easily from problems, and are relatively quick to harvest. It’s one of the first strains I ever grew, and lived through a lot (heat, overwatering, dropping a light on it….). Despite all that mistreatment, the plant produced amazing results and yields.

Northern Light buds aren’t as smelly as many other strains of cannabis, and plants tend to be very forgiving and easy to grow.

• Quick-to-Harvest – Sour Lime Haze plants are a breeze to grow. Buds are ready to harvest 8 weeks after you initiate the flowering stage. That means with a 4 week vegetative stage you could have buds in hand under than 3 months from germination. Although a short-flowering photoperiod strain like Sour Lime Haze is not quite as fast as the fastest auto-flowering strain, it’s close and more forgiving if you mess up at the beginning!

Sour Lime Haze responds very well to stressful conditions.

• Good for LEDs and Can Handle Tight Spaces – Pineapple Chunk plants respond well to LEDs by producing extra potent, extra sticky buds. This strain is also very hardy & resistant to many common plant problems (over watering, underwatering, stress…). It’s important to get a strain that can resist mold and diseases if you’re growing in the high humidity of a small grow space, which may not have enough air circulation for proper growth. This strain is overall just easy to grow and high yielding, and because of its effects, I always choose it if I see it available at a dispensary!

Pineapple Chunk is easy to train and produces well in tight spaces, like in this tiny 3′ (1 meter) tall grow tent.

Closeup of a Pineapple Chunk bud not long before harvest. Sparkly!

High Yields 

Sometimes the most important thing is producing as much bud as possible!

• Legendary Effects – Blue Dream by Seed Supreme – Incredible strain that makes huge, dense buds with a legendary dreamy effect and yields that can’t be beat.

Each Blue Dream plant can yield multiple ounces of weed. Some plants may turn purple.

• Insane Potency – Purple Ghost Candy – This strain produces buds with 27%+ THC and higher with low levels of CBD, for a truly vivid, “in-your-head” Sativa-style trip. Plants can grow tall and lanky, producing very well both indoors and outdoors. Plants respond well to training and are easy to grow. You just need to be careful because these plants can get really big overnight and crowd out your grow space!

A ​Purple Ghost Candy bud from Sirius’ last harvest, grown indoors.

This Purple Ghost Candy plant took over the tent and made incredible yields of epic quality buds.

• Perfect for Social – Green Crack – Massive yields and the buds produce a “friendly” and relaxing effect that is ideal for social settings. A popular strain for a gathering with friends.

Green Crack (aka Cush) is a huge yielder, with buds that make people feel happy and at ease.

Special Potency, Famous Strains, & Cup Winners

Some of the most potent strains available today have won quite a few awards! Cup winners have an air of credibility around them that makes them really attractive and some strains are just straight-up legendary now.

I wanted to share two types of strains with you – Cannabis Cup Winners & Top Dispensary Strains!

3 Cannabis Cup Winners

Sometimes you want to grow something that has won dozens of awards around the world! These strains have become famous for a reason!

• Easy-to-Grow Legend – Dos Si Dos 33 by Barney’s Farm – A strain with legendary bud quality. Plants stay short and can handle a few mistakes, yet still produce big, beautiful buds.

Dos Si Dos 33 by Barney’s Farm (grown by Max)

• Pungent – Sour Diesel – This plant is very stretchy which means it needs to be topped and trained to reward you with the highest yields. It has a Sativa background and you should expect it to double in size or more after the switch to the flowering stage unless you make sure to take time to continue bending and securing stems down so all the branches stay short. It comes from a warm climate and can handle very high temperatures and tends to grow slower in cooler temps. When well taken care of, it produces huge, long and thick colas. Its trichomes do not turn amber when the plant is mature, so this strain should be harvested when all the trichomes are milky white, as this is when the buds will have the highest levels of THC.

Sour Diesel makes long, spear-like buds.

• Weirdly good – Jack Herer by Seedsman – Sometimes called the “champagne of strains”, Jack Herer is a world famous strain with buds that blend some of the best tropical Sativa genes for an “up” effect, combined with strong Indica genes to give it a heavy body effect. The best of both worlds. It has amazing resin production that extends from the buds to the leaves, producing valuable trim. It has only average yields and can be a little tough to grow, so it’s meant more for the connoisseur who just wants the best as opposed to growers who care about getting the highest yields possible.

Jack Herer offers unique and smooth mind/body effects.

Bonus: Coffee Shop Weed – White Widow is the gift that keeps on giving. A true “legendary” strain, it continues to win Cannabis Cups and show up in coffee shops and dispensaries around the world, in part because of its ability to make you feel uplifted and happy. It’s known as White Widow because its buds become so covered in trichomes/glitter that buds can actually look white.

​

3 Top Dispensary Strains

I live in Southern California (San Diego) and when I go to dispensaries there are certain strains that show up over and over again. On the top shelf, consistently selling out. Because of that, I know from personal experience that these strains are proven to produce incredible buds no matter who grows them.I wanted to share my own personal “insider” list with you. Most of these strains are on the pricey side, though I believe they’re worth the cost.

• Platinum Cookies – Years ago, a strain called “Girl Scout Cookies” appeared on the California market and exploded with popularity. The clone-only strain went on to receive several cannabis cup awards, and one of those cuts was developed into Platinum Cookies. Now it regularly appears on the top shelf of dispensaries, only to quickly sell out. Platinum Cookies seeds grow into huge yielding plants that take a few extra weeks for buds to mature. Your reward is outstandingly high potency (our last harvest of Platinum Cookies buds tested at 26% THC).

These two Platinum Cookies produced huge amounts of weed under a SF-2000 LED grow light

• Gorilla Zkittlez – Gorilla Zkittlez is remarkable for several reasons. It gives the best of Gorilla Glue #4 and Zkittlez. It’s popular is this strain produces buds with particularly powerful effects that are often described as “couchlock,” “stoney” and ultra-relaxing. When I see this strain on the menu, I get it every time!

Gorilla Zkittlez buds produce outstanding effects

• Jelly Donutz – A unique taste/smell is part of what make this particular strain so memorable alongside its spectacular effects, which have been described as “enormous”, “mind-blowing” and “energetic”. As a result, this strain and has won many awards including cannabis cups. It’s one of those strains where if I see it on a menu I know it will always be good, no matter who grew it.

More Popular Dispensary Strains in 2025 in San Diego, Ca (where I live)

• Cereal strains like Fruity Pebbles
• Candy strains like Candy Games #38
• Cherry strains like Cherry Gar-See-Ya R1
• Permanent Marker (weirdly popular right now)
• Wedding strains like Wedding Cake and White Wedding

Strains for Growing with LEDs

When it comes to growing cannabis with LED grow lights, photoperiod or auto-flowering strains are both suitable for growing with LEDs. You can make LEDs work with any strain. Just make sure to take good care of your plants and watch upper leaves for signs of light stress.

Train plants to grow flat with many buds sites to get the best yields from LED grow lights

Good for Short Spaces, Mini Tents, and Grow Boxes

In a grow box it’s important to grow a cannabis strain that…

• Naturally stays small/short – helpful when you don’t have a lot of extra space. Indica-hybrid strains are recommended because they tend to stay on the smaller side.
• Resistant to heat – some strains are more resistant to high heat and lack of good air circulation. Ideal for a small space.
• Resistant to mold – mold can happen from high humidity in a small grow space. Especially if it doesn’t provide enough fresh air and circulation for proper growth. “Cheese” strains and strains with Hawaiian ancestry tend to be more mold-resistant in general, but it’s also a strain-by-strain thing.
• Can stand high levels of light – this helps because plants are normally kept very close to grow lights in a short space. Many Sativa and Haze strains tend to be more light loving, while Indica strains are more likely to suffer from light burn. However, Indica strains tend to grow short, which is helpful, so if possible you want to find a hybrid that has both traits.

Example of good strains for grow boxes

• Peyote Critical – This strain can be a great candidate for a small space. It stays a manageable size, is ready to harvest quickly, and produces mold-resistant buds. It also has a relatively light smell that’s a little sweet and spicy, with less of a “cannabis” smell than many other strains. It produces a “couchlock” stone that’s heavy on body effects.

Peyote Critical is an easy-to-grow plant that stays relatively small.

• Aurora Indica – Another strain that’s well-suited to micro grows in small spaces. Buds produce an initial mind effect that develops into a deeper “body stone.”

This is an Aurora Indica plant I grew. It stayed very short but buds were thick and dense.

Medical Marijuana Strains

When it comes to growing medical marijuana, the goal is usually to grow strains that are either very high in THC (psychoactive effects), high in CBD (relaxing effect), or high in both.

Learn more:

• Medical vs Non-Medical Strains
• How to Increase THC
• How to Increase CBD

Further Strain Research

If you’re still looking for the exact right strain, check out our tutorial with tips on how to research strains so you find the right one! Learn about some resources you might not know about to get more information about each potential strain!

How to Research and Find Strains to Grow

Jump to…

Growing Cannabis with different grow lights

Top-Fed DWC (Bubbleponics) Tutorial

How do I produce top-shelf buds every time?

Where can I get seeds?

The post Best Marijuana Strains for Beginner Growers appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.

In addition to the search bar, this link guide helps you navigate through the Grow Weed Easy website. Learn about growing topics you won’t find anywhere else! This is a shortened list of all our cannabis growing tutorials, as the website has over 500 articles and tutorials!

Full List of EVERYTHING on GWE  ← Over 500 Articles & Growing Tutorials!

Start Here – Beginner Grow Guides

• Complete Beginner’s Guide
• How do I start growing my own weed indoors? (get help choosing your setup)
• How to Grow Weed in 10 Steps
• Simplest Cannabis Grow Guide Ever!
• How Long Does It Take to Grow Weed? (Marijuana Growth Timeline)
• 3 Steps from Beginner to Legendary Grower
• Complete New Grower’s Shopping List

Cannabis Life Stages

• Germination
• Vegetative Stage (Getting Bigger)
• Flowering Stage (Making Buds)
• Harvest

Choosing…

• Best Type of Nutrients
• Choosing the Best Grow Light
• Soil vs Hydro
• How Many Plants Should I Grow?
• What Part of the House Should I Grow In?
• What Setup Should I Get?
• Best Strains for Beginners
• Where to Get Seeds (including the U.S.)

Common New Grower Topics

• How Much Will Electricity Cost?
• Stealth Growing: How NOT to Get Caught Growing Weed
• What Equipment Do I Need?
• Germinate Your Seeds
• 7 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I First Started Growing Weed
• How to Save Money When Growing Weed
• How to Store Weed Properly (so it never loses smell or potency!)
• Ask Questions & Get Answers From Real Growers! (In Our Free Growing Community)
• Cannabis Grower’s Glossary

Problems & Symptoms

• Cannabis Problems Guide
  • How to Help Yellow Seedlings
  • How to Fix Yellow Cannabis Leaves
  • How to Fix Curling and Clawing Cannabis Leaves
  • What Causes Dry or Crispy Leaves?
  • What Causes Brown Spots on Cannabis Leaves?
  • What Causes Bananas (“Nanners”) on Cannabis Buds?
  • Is This Nutrient Burn on My Marijuana Plant?
  • What causes red stems in cannabis plants?
• Diagnose Your Sick Plant
• Bugs & Other Cannabis Pests
• How to Prevent Nutrient Deficiencies
  • Which Nutrient Deficiencies are Caused by pH? (picture guide)
  • How to Stop Flowering Stage Nutrient Deficiencies
• 7 Reasons Why Cannabis Plants Grow Slow
• 5-Step Remedy That Fixes 99% of Grow Problems
• All-Natural Pesticides – Safe Up to Harvest!

Plant Training (Indoor Tricks for Bigger Yields)

• Simplest Plant Training Guide Ever!
• How to Control Height of Indoor Cannabis Plants
• Complete Plant Training Guide
• Breakdown of Techniques​
  • Low Stress Training (LST) Tutorial
  • Topping vs FIMing Tutorial
  • LBH’s Famous ScrOG Tutorial
  • Supercropping: Magic Technique to Control Cannabis Plant Height
  • Sea of Green (SoG) Tutorial
  • 12-12 from Seed – Flowering Plants Early
  • Nebula’s Manifold Tutorial
  • How to Manifold Clones
  • Nebula’s Bud-Based Defoliation Tutorial
  • Alternate Defoliation Tutorial ​
  • What is Re-Vegging / Monstercropping?
• How Can I Train an Auto-Flowering Plant?
• 7 Unfortunate Plant Training Mistakes

Grow Mediums

• What’s the Best Growing Medium?
• Soil vs Coco vs Hydro
• Basic Soil Guide
• Organic Soil Compost Guide (Super Soil) – Just Add Water!
• Coco Coir Guide
  • Coco Coir: The Most Flexible Cannabis Grow Medium
• Hydro/DWC/Bubbleponics Guide
• “True” Organic Growing vs Just Using Organic Nutrients
• Can You Use Miracle-Gro?

Nutrients

• Which Nutrients Are Best For Growing Cannabis?
• Soil Nutrients
• Coco Coir Nutrients
• Hydroponic Nutrients

Grow Lights

• 5 Best LED Grow Lights 2025 (Yields, Speed, & Bud Quality)
• Compare Types of Cannabis Grow Lights
  • Fluorescents (T5s) – Good for Seedlings Only (not powerful enough to produce potent buds or big yields)
  • CFLs (Spiral Bulbs) – Not Recommended (LEDs are much better)
  • LED Grow Lights – Recommended for Most Home Growers
  • MH/HPS Grow Lights – Good Alternative to LEDs, But Run Much Hotter
  • CMH / LEC Grow Lights – Good Alternative to LEDs, But Run Much Hotter
  • Plasma / Magnetic Induction Grow Lights – Not Recommended (poor cannabis growth)
• How Does Light Spectrum Affect Marijuana Plants?
• How Far Away Do I Keep My Grow Lights?
• You Can Actually Give Plants Too Much Light?!
• Grow Light Upgrade Guide: Yields & Potency Explained
• Cannabis Grow Lights: What’s the Best Size?

Best LED Grow Light Articles

• 5 Best LED Grow Lights 2025 (Yields, Speed, & Bud Quality)
• LED Grow Lights: Too Much or Not Enough Light?
• LED Grow Journal: Mars Hydro TSL-2000W vs Spider Farmer SF-2000
• LEC vs LED Grow Lights: Side-by-Side Cannabis Grow Journal
• Nebula’s Auto-Flowering Grow Journal (Topping vs Natural) – cannabis plants are grown under LED grow lights

Environment

• Create the Perfect Growing Environment
  • Temperature Tutorial
  • 5 Secrets to Heat Control
  • Control Humidity for Better Buds
  • How to Use Reflective Walls to Increase Yields Indoors
  • How to Make Plants Grow Faster with CO2
• Where’s the Best Place in the House to Grow Your Plants?
• How to Control Odors
• How to Set Up an Exhaust
• How to Set Up a Grow Tent for Better Yields (and Stealth)

Plant Care Tutorials

• Cloning
  • How to clone weed in a cup of water (easy!)
  • How to make cannabis clones with an aero cloner
• Intro to Plant Training for Bigger Yields Indoors
• How Often to Water Plants
  • The Easiest Way to Water Plants & Remove Runoff
• How (and When) to Transplant Cannabis
• Male vs Female Plants
• When to Harvest?
• Drying & Curing

How to Improve…

• Yields
• Bud Quality
  • 7 Environment Effects on Bud Quality
  • The Secret to Excellent Bud Quality
• THC Levels
• CBD Levels
• Smell/Taste
• Density
• Bud Color (How to Grow Pink or Purple Buds)
• Glitter (Make Buds Sparkle with More Trichomes)
• Bonus: What Determines Yields?

Buying Seeds

• Where to Get Seeds
• How to Find the Right Strain
• What are “Feminized” Seeds?
• Which Breeders to Trust?
• Photoperiod vs Auto-Flowering Cannabis Strains
• Bag Seed vs Hype Seed: Is it worth it to buy cannabis seeds?

Recommended Strains

• Best Autoflowering Cannabis Strains for Yields & Potency
• List of Sugar-Dusted Strains (Heavy Trichome Genetics)
• 10 Cold-Resistant Cannabis Strains
• 14 Heat-Resistant Cannabis Strains
• Which cannabis strains stay short? (Best strains for small spaces)

Auto-Flowering Strains

• Nebula’s Guide to Cannabis Auto-Flowering Strains (Photoperiod vs Auto-Flowering)
• Should I “Top” or Train an Auto-Flowering Plant?
• What’s the best light schedule for auto-flowering strains?
• Nebula’s Auto-Flowering Grow Journal (Topping vs Natural)

Edibles

• Decarboxylation: How to Decarb Your Weed (crucial step for just about every edible recipe)
• Best Weed Butter Recipe
  • How to Make Great Brownies with Weed Butter
• Canna Caps
• How to Make Cannabis Gummies (Weed Gummy Bears)
• How to Make Cannabis Tinctures
• How to Make Hash Oil (aka Cannabis Extract Oil, Rick Simpson Oil, or RSO)

Extracts (No Solvents Used in Any Recipe)

• Solventless Extraction Showdown – Bubble Hash vs. Dry-Ice Hash!
• Dry Ice Hash (Made with Dry Ice)
• How to Make Bubble Hash (Made with Ice Water)
• How To Make Your Own Homemade Rosin (dabs)

And Lots More!

• How Long Does it Take to Grow Weed?
• Vegetative vs Flowering Stage (Long Days vs Long Nights)
• Germination & Seedling Mistakes
• Simple Guide to Plant Training
• What’s the Best Pot / Container?
• Perpetual Harvest
• What Determines Yields?
• 5 Time-Savers for Busy Growers
• Breeding Techniques
• 7 Gift Ideas for Cannabis Growers
• Grow Journals
• How long can I store nutrient water?
• What is High-Frequency Fertigation?
• Where is it legal to grow weed in the USA?
• See EVERYTHING on the Site!

Safety & Preparation

• Fire Protection in the Grow Room
• Electrical Safety Tips & Tricks
• Prepare Yourself for Growing Emergencies
• Stealth Growing Indoors: How to NOT get Caught Growing Weed

Just for Fun

• Weird or What? Cannabis Mutations & More!
• Creatures on Cannabis (Cute Photo Gallery)
• 10 Gift Ideas for Cannabis Growers

Submit Pics

• Submit Trophy Pictures of your Plants!
• How to Take Better Plant Pics
• How to Fix Yellow HPS Pics

Want More?

• Complete List of EVERYTHING on GWE  ← Full List (Over 500 articles & growing!)

Thanks for visiting! We hope our website helps you find the growing tutorials you were looking for. We’ve written hundreds of growing marijuana articles and unfortunately we can’t fit them all on this page, so we encourage you to use the search bar on the right side (or top of the page for mobile users) to search for articles you don’t see here.

Happy growing!
Nebula & Sirius

Use this “Navigation” page to find the pot growing topic you’re interested in, or click here to see every single page on the website!

The post Link Guide to Growing Cannabis Tutorials appeared first on Grow Weed Easy.