How much weed can you get from growing one plant?

As states legalize weed and the plant becomes more accepted, more people are trying out their green thumbs by growing their own weed at home. Most states with legal weed allow one person to grow six plants at their residence and an entire household to grow 12 plants. Some allow less, and some allow more. 

But how much actual weed is that in dried buds that you can smoke? An ounce? A pound? Two pounds? The tricky thing is, all weed plants aren’t the same size, and many factors affect how big a plant will get and how dense its buds become. 

We’ll go through those factors and talk a little bit about the harvest process to estimate how much weed you can get from one plant. Read More

How much bud is from one weed plant?

Many factors affect how big a plant gets, but generally speaking, if you are growing a healthy plant, you can expect these yields from one weed plant:

Outdoor plant: ½ pound of buds, or about 224g

Indoor plant: ¼ pound of buds, or about 112g

Note that these are estimates. When growing outdoors, plants can usually get massive because they aren’t restricted to space; it’s not uncommon to get closer to a pound of a plant or more. 

When growing indoors, you’re often limited by space. A plant can’t get as big in a grow tent as in a big, open basement. You’re also limited by how powerful your grow light is. For example, Leafly editor David Downs harvested 150g from one indoor plant with one 200W Black Dog LED light. The company said that light maxes out around a half-pound of buds, or 224g. Read More

Also, these estimates are for healthy plants. How much weed can you produce with a single plant? If a plant becomes nutrient-deficient, gets bugs or mold, or doesn’t receive enough light, expect a lot less.

How long will one plant’s worth of weed last you?

However big your plant gets, you’ll likely have more flowers than you know what to do with. Many people will save a certain amount of flowers for smoking, and make edibles, concentrates, and other weed products with the rest of their harvest.

Consider how much weed you smoke in a day, week, or month. For reference, a gram is about two medium joints or 3-4 bowls. Do you smoke a gram a day or a week? Two grams a day or a week?

Using the above yield estimate of ¼ lb., or 112 grams, for one medium-to-large-sized indoor plant, if you smoke one gram a day, that one plant would last you 112 days, or just under four months! Two grams a day would last you just under two months, and half a gram a day—or an eighth a week—would last you eight months.

This will help give you a sense of how many plants you should grow. If you’re growing indoors, you can grow one plant at a time, harvest it, and start another, keeping a continuous cycle of growth. 

If growing outdoors, you may only get one harvest a year. Remember, check out how many plants you can legally grow in your state here.

Read more of Leafly’s guide to growing

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Leafly’s guide to growing marijuana

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How to grow marijuana outdoors

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Marijuana seedling and plant care

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How to harvest marijuana plants

Strain/genetics

Certain weed strains grow big or tall or are high-yielders simply because of their genetics. Traditionally, indicas grow short and stout, and sativas grow tall and lanky. That’s not always true across the board, but it is a good rule of thumb. 

For example, Lemon Skunk is famously a tall, lanky strain, so you’re likely to get high yields from it. Blue Dream and Chemdog are also known for their high yields.

Aside from its candy-like flavor, Runtz gets its name because its buds grow small, like the runt of the litter. It might be a low-yielder, but you’ll usually get high-quality buds.