Expert Advice From Cannabis Legend Jorge Cervantes On Growing Your Own Weed

With spring in full swing and 420 Day here, it's the perfect time to get your eggplants, tomatoes and basil in the ground. And while your hands are already dirty, why not throw some marijuana in there as well? It's just as easy to grow as your common veggies and double the fun.

While you're not likely to grow Cannabis Cup winning weed with our guide, the plants you produce will certainly get the job done.

To break things down to into the most simple yet effective growing process, we reached out to cannabis legend Jorge Cervantes, who began his commercial weed growing journey in 1976, in the mountains above Santa Barbara. Since then he's advised countless grows and published a number of books on how to cultivating the green stuff, including Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible.

His main message: don't overcomplicate things.

"They make too big of a thing out of it. It's very natural. It's been going on for millennia now," says Cervantes. "Don't kill [the plants] with kindness."

You're going to only want female plants in your garden. If you see a male plant — identified by the little balls that grow on them — pull it out.

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The short and sweet explainer

If you don't want to read 1,000 more words on how to grow weed, it's easy:

1. Buy a cannabis clone from a local dispensary.
2. Plant it in healthy soil, either in a pot or in the ground, and make sure it's in full sun.
3. Water and fertilize regularly.
4. Harvest and dry when buds are big and frosty, some time around September or October.
5. Consume responsibly.

We've got details on each step below.

A Clone Guy cannabis plant is displayed for sale at the Green Goddess Collective legal cannabis dispensary on February 15, 2023 in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.

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Gather your supplies

You can find most of the supplies you need at a big box store:

• Marijuana clone: Like those baby plants you buy in small plastic containers, these are clippings from a marijuana plant that have roots and are ready to be planted. These'll also be the toughest thing on this list to find as they're only available through dispensaries. Call around to see who's got some available, as often serious growers snap them up quickly.
• Fertilizer: Marijuana is a heavy feeder and eventually your clone will need to be fed to grow big and strong. That means you're going to have to fertilize every few weeks, which isn't as complicated as it sounds. A basic all-purpose organic vegetable/tomato fertilizer will work, says Cervantes. He's also had good luck with well composted chicken manure.
• Pot (optional): You can plant your clone in the ground or in a container. If you choose to put it in a pot, feel free to use whatever pot you have on hand as long as it has good drainage (plenty of holes in the bottom). We stick with pots between 15 to 20 gallons, because the bigger the pot, the bigger the plant. Cloth pots can easily be found in bigger sizes online and they drain well, making them a good option.
• Potting Soil (optional): If you're going to stick your plant in a pot, make sure to fill that pot with a bag that says "potting soil." These mixes include ingredients like peat moss and pearlite to help with proper drainage. Some mixes include nutrients as well, which you're going to have to replenish as the growing season goes on. A favorite of growers seems to be Ocean Forest potting soil from FoxFarm.

What about sprouting marijuana from seed?

Sprouting your own weed from seed is for Marijuana Growing 102, as it often involves expensive equipment like grow lights. We're keeping it simple and cheap here!

If you're planting in a container

• Fill your container so that the soil is only a few inches from the top.
• Make a small hole in the center of the pot, just large enough for the clone.
• Gently remove the clone from the packaging, careful not to damage the roots.
• Place it in the hole, making sure not to bury it too deeply.
• Secure the clone by pressing down on the soil around it.
• Gently water until the soil is saturated.
• Extra credit: Shade your plant for 4-5 days because it may be sensitive to bright sunlight and heat as it gets acclimated to its new world.

If you're planting in the ground

• If you've got nice, beautiful soil that you know is good for gardening, the instructions are just about the same for when you're planting in a pot.
• If you've got not so great soil, Jorge recommends you dig a 1x1x1 foot hole (or larger if possible) and prep the site by mixing the native soil with an equivalent amount of potting mix.
• Refill the hole.
• Follow the above instructions for planting.
• Extra Credit: Add 10 percent chicken manure to the soil mix that you make.

Marijuana plants grow under artificial light at the Green Pearl Organics dispensary on the first day of legal recreational marijuana sales in California, January 1, 2018 at the Green Pearl Organics marijuana dispensary in Desert Hot Springs, California.

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Keeping the plant alive

Got the opposite of a green thumb? Take a breath. The clone doesn't know you've murdered 53 houseplants before you picked it up from the store.

Again, don't over complicate things.

• Water: You want to water the soil, not the plant. Stick your finger into the soil and if the top few inches feel dry, it's time to water. That could be every two to three days if it's hot, or longer if it's been a bit cooler. Whether your soil dries out fast is also dependent on what it's made of. So, heavy clay soil will hold on to water longer than loamy potting mix in a cloth pot. Go by feel! Just remember that the plant will need more water as it gets bigger.
• Fertilize: Feed your marijuana plant as you would tomatoes. A good rule of thumb is to feed every three to four weeks, though in the interest of keeping things simple, just follow the instructions on the back of whatever fertilizer you purchase.
• Mulch: When it starts to get hot, add a two to four inch layer of mulch, which can be straw, wood chips, or anything organic. The goal is to cover the dirt, which'll help keep the soil cool and moist, especially into the hot months. You may have to add mulch a few times throughout the year as it breaks down.
• Extra credit: In the first week of August switch from your all purpose organic vegetable fertilizer to one that's meant to boost flower production. They're lower in nitrogen, and higher in potassium and phosphorus.

A mature marijuana plant is seen in a remote area of California in 2002.

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You should notice your plant go from growing mostly branches and leaves to flowers/buds (the things you smoke!), some time during the mid to late summer. From there, we're waiting for the buds to grow until they're ready to harvest.

Harvesting

This may feel like the most overwhelming part of the process because a lot of what happens next comes down to feel. And while you may not get dispensary-grade marijuana, what you've grown will certainly get you high.

You'll know your marijuana is ready to harvest when at least half of the little hairs on your plant's buds go from lightly colored to rust-brown.

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You're going to harvest your plant sometime in the early fall.

You'll know it's ready to harvest when the hairs and the little crystals begin to turn brown. Something you can see with a jeweler's loop or magnifying glass.

When that happens:

• Cut the plant at the base or trim off entire branches if the plant is too big.
• Hang it upside down in a place with good airflow, out of the sun. Ideally in a climate controlled room with fans going.

Marijuana dries in a special room at the Green Pearl Organics dispensary on the first day of legal recreational marijuana sales in California, Jan. 1, 2018 at the Green Pearl Organics marijuana dispensary in Desert Hot Springs.

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It'll smell initially but less so as time goes on. You're waiting for the buds to dry out to the point where they're shapable and smokeable.

There are a couple of tricks you can you to tell if your bud is dry enough:

• The plant matter weighs about 1/4 as much as it did when you first harvested it.
• The branches snap when you bend them.
• The flowers burn when you put a flame to them.

Once everything's dry enough, you can use small scissors to trim the excess leaves, and remove and shape the buds.

• Extra credit: Place the buds in mason jars with hygrometers and humidity control packets to ensure your bud stays around 60-65 percent humidity.

A budtender displays cannabis at the Higher Path medical marijuana dispensary in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, California, Dec. 27, 2017.

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The legality of it all

Marijuana was legalized in California back in 2016 when voters passed Proposition 64, but there are some basic rules:

• You must be over 21 to grow and consume cannabis, unless you've got a medical exemption.
• You can grow as many as six plants for personal consumption, which should be more than enough considering you can expect between a few ounces and a couple of pounds of buds per plant.
• You can carry and gift up to 28.5 grams of flower.
• You need a license to sell it.

As for driving under the influence, besides being dangerous and irresponsible, all of the laws that apply to alcohol (and other substances) apply to marijuana.

Cannabis is still classified as a schedule one drug by the federal government, so you shouldn't go to the airport with it, cross a border with it or get arrested on any sort of federal land with it.

Good luck

You can do it! Enjoy responsibly.

A woman poses with a mock marijuana joint in Jerusalem on April 20, 2017 to celebrate 420 and to express her defiance of current Israeli laws.

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