There are many situations where people rush to harvest their grow. Some growers have simply ran out of bud for personal and medicinal usage and must pull down a crop ASAP. Others simply want to spend the minimum required time tending to plants and paying large electricity bills.
Whatever the reason, are in high demand and breeders continue to push for even quicker results to satisfy this demanding market.
The good news is that compared to 10 years ago, there is a fantastic choice of speedy strains that produce the highest grade of cannabis on the market.
Here are the best three fast flowering cannabis strains for those looking for a quick turnaround
Fast Grapefruit
were first bred in 2021 and quickly became the most popular choice in this corner of the market. There are absolutely zero downfalls when growing Fast Grapefruit, it has everything going for it.
The sweetest aromas of skunky grapefruit reek out of the buds during late flower and a yield of 500 grams per square meter is achievable for even new growers.
This strain flowers in just 6 to 7 weeks making it one of the quickest flowering strains in the world.
Fast Kush
came from a crossover of Afghan Kush and a special phenotype of Black Domina. The result were a strain that had vigorous vegetative growth and a lightning fast flowering phase. It is quite similair to the Fast Grapefruit above in the way that it ticks all the boxes and doesn’t make the grower compromise on anything.
The buds give off strong citrus notes which succumb the nostrils, tempting everyone in the vicinity to try these delicous buds.
The yield from Fast Kush can reach 500 grams per square meter which is far more than other strains that flower as quickly as this one.
Flowering time of Fast Kush is 6 to 7 weeks.
Auto 7 Week Wonder
is a very nice strain that came out in 2023. Anyone who deals with autoflowering genetics will already know how these species have massively come along since there first arrival. Auto 7 Week Wonder is yet another leap forward for autoflowering plants that incorporates the original speed of autos with the new higher quality of the slower types.
This Indica dominant strain gives scents of earthy pine with some mild peppery spice undertones.
As the name suggests, the plant has a full life cycle of 7 weeks from seed to harvest. THC levels are in the medium range with a slightly higher than average CBD level.
Whilst there are other options on the market, many of them produce lower-quality marijuana when compared to the three strains listed above. With today’s superior cannabis genetics, there is no longer any need to compromise on quality.
What can growers do to speed up the flowering phase of a cannabis plant
Genetics indeed plays the most important factor in how long a cannabis plant takes to flower and ripen. But, there are also some impressive tricks that a grower can use to make cannabis plants flower quicker without compromising on the final quality of the bud.
Hydroponic Growing Methods
It is proven that hydroponic growing methods shave off about 2 weeks from the plants life cycle when compared to growing in soil. Both vegetative growth and flowering happens much quicker in all hydroponic methods. The only drawback is that it takes some experience to keep the hydro methods functioning correctly and maintaining Ph and EC levels in the correct range.
Boost additives & molasses
A fantastic trick to speed up flowering times is by adding a sugar molasses syrup to soil based plants at a rate of 3 tablespoons per gallon of water. Blackstrap molasses should only be used with soil it will not work with hydroponic systems.
For hydro you need a boost additive such as Canna Boost. It is quite expensive but is proven to work and speed up the flowering phase by atleast 1 week. It also helps improve the aromas of the bud.
48 Hour darkness period
An old trick to help ripen bud and increase amber tricomes is to leave the plants in 48 hours of darkness at the end of flowering before harvest. This is said to trick the plants into finishing the flowering phase.
Conclusion
As long as you stick to the three strains listed above you will be harvesting high quality bud very quickly! Incorporating a few of the tricks shown in this article you can make the plants flowering even faster.