Let’s be real. We all want a giant cookie jar filled with meds. And, not everyone can get 1 pound of yield out of a single Plant. This is exactly why you are here.

I’ll walk you through everything that needs doing to get that desired amount of yield.

So, the question is, How can you get a yield of 1 pound plant indoor? 

You can yield 1 pound plant indoors by using LEC grow lights, high yield seeds, grow tents, stress training, topping, and using the right NPK ratio. Some notable seeds are Wonder woman, THC Bomb, etc.

But that’s not all. In this article, you will also get to know the rules of the games for optimum growth. You will learn about the lights, the seeds and nurturing methods to get your results.

Without further ado, let’s begin.

Things To Keep in Mind

If you are new to growing cannabis plants, there are things you need to remember all the time. You have to do tons of reading before you set out. So, make sure to read this thoroughly. 

Can I Yield 1 Pound from 1 Plant?

It is almost impossible to get 1 pound from only 1 plant. By following this guide, you can definitely yield 1 pound from only 2 plants. It’s not a joke!

Here’s an example of 2 plants yielding about 18.6 oz (1.16 pounds) together. 

Source: growweedeasy.com

However, it’s generally recommended to grow four plants. Why?

Because it’s more cost-effective and efficient. People usually end up cloning their plants or increasing the number later on. 

So, if you are into the long game, it is better to make a big initial investment. Later on, you easily expand. The equipment isn’t going anywhere.

Generally, you can grow up to 4 plants in most states in the USA. And most people go for 4 plants from the start.

But if you are new and tight on budget, go for two plants.

Again, the rules of this game are simple. Grow the plant as big as possible and nurture it well. That is our goal!

Now we’re gonna talk about some basics. These are important to know before you dig into the main thing. But if you already know the basics, then skip to (Step by Step Guide: Growing 1 Pound From Indoor Plants)

How Long Does it Take to Grow a Marijuana Plant?

Generally, it takes about 10-32 weeks to grow a marijuana plant from seed. So you have to be very patient throughout the whole stage. 

Now, this time period for growth varies depending on the plant type or gene. Not only that, there are more factors such as lighting, fertilizers and humidity. I’ll talk more about that later. 

But you need to remember that these external factors do impact plant growth. You can always force your plant to grow faster by using these factors. 

However, that may end up in a bad yield. So be careful about that. Cause we want the most out of each plant.

What are Weed Plants’ Growth Stages?

This is the most important part here, the growth stage of cannabis. The ways in which you’ll nurture your plants greatly depend on the growth stage. Each stage requires a different level of fertilizers, lighting, etc. 

Now, you need to understand the difference between each stage. The growth stages of a plant can be divided into four stages. I will be referring to these stages a lot throughout the article. So, make sure you know your plant stages well.

Stage 1-Germination

If you are growing your plant from a seed, you’ll be starting from here.  You have to make sure the seed feels hard and dry and has a dark-brown color. This stage lasts for 3-10 days.

At one point, your seed will grow into a sprout. This will indicate that your sprout is now ready to be placed in soil. 

You have to be careful when transferring the sprout to the soil. Many people accidentally damage the sprout. It results in weak growth and your plant may die. 

Even I made such a similar mistake once or twice. Okay, maybe thrice. 

Thus, I always use the Homend Seed Sprouter Tray. This makes sure I don’t damage the sprout. A small investment that keeps me rest assured.

After planting the sprout, the root will start developing. And you will end up with the small iconic fan leaves. 

This means that your plant has become a seedling. Now, time for stage two.

Stage 2-Seedling

This stage lasts for 2-3 weeks. Here, you will start seeing those green fan leaves. After week one, you will see more and more leaves developing. Usually, you will end up with 5 to 7 blades per leaf. 

One supplement you must get is Clonex rooting gel. This little thing provides vitamins and necessary hormones for the young roots. You must use it during the seedling and vegetative stages. 

Frankly speaking, everyone has been using Clonex and the feedback is positive. Plus, this thing lasts forever. If you are growing two plants, 100ml Clonex will last for almost 4 years. 

If the leaves turn out to be vibrant green, then congratulations. Your plant is really healthy and now, time for stage three.

Stage 3-Vegetative

This stage will last from 3-16 weeks. This is where the real magic begins. Your plant will need more light and water from this point. You will also have to transfer the plant to a large pot. 

You also need to start topping, training or bending your plants. We will talk more about these later. One thing to remember, you have to separate males from females. You don’t want them pollinating. 

Stage 4-Flowering

This is where you start seeing the result of your hard work. This stage lasts for 8-11 weeks. You will start seeing heinous buds building up on your plants. That is the clear indicator that you have hit the flowering stage. 

Most of the plants strain flowers within 8-9 weeks. It may take longer for some other plants, especially the sativas. 

Step by Step Guide : Growing 1 Pound From Indoor Plants

Now for the moment of truth. I am going to tell you the step-by-step process to get the best yield possible. 

So, what are our goals here to get more than a 1 pound yield?

Goal 1: We want to grow bigger plants. We don’t want to overgrow. Just the perfect size to get the maximum yield. 

Goal 2: We want more bud masses of the same size. Not the typical few massive buds which are prone to molds. 

Step 1 : Selecting The Right Seeds

There are different variants of cannabis seeds out there. But we want the best one right? From my experience, the following seeds will give you the best output. 

1. Wonder Woman – Best yields so far. 
2. Chempie
3. Cookies Gelato
4. Power Africa
5. THC Bomb

One thing I didn’t mention earlier is about the soil. If you want to make your own soil mix, feel free. 

However, I’m too lazy to do that. I have been using FoxFarm Coco Loco Potting Mix for the last few years. It’s amazing. 

This soil mix complements the fertilizers I use perfectly. I like to provide my plants with a top-notch environment. And loads of love. 

And love ain’t cheap fam. 

Step 2 : Selecting & Setting up Grow Tent

Firstly, you need to consider how long you want to do this. If you are in the long game, then you need durable grow tents. If you want to do a one-time gig, then go for something lightweight.

But there’s no denying the fact that selecting the right tent is a MUST to get a higher yield. You can get the best grow lights and seeds here. 

Without getting a good grow tent, you have to deal with humidity and moisture control on your own. A good grow tent will increase your chances of getting a higher yield. 

When selecting the grow tents, keep these points in mind :

• Ventilation (good number of air pockets)
• Insulation ( to prevent water leaks)
• Wide entranceways and viewing windows

You may wonder, What size grow tent for 1 cannabis plant ?

I recommend a 24″x24″x48″ grow tent for one plant. In other words, a 2×2 foot tent. If you are planning to grow 2 plants, then a 2×4 foot tent is ideal. Lastly, for 4 cannabis plants, you need to go for the 4×4 foot tent.

Now, we want to maximize our yields. To make that happen, we will grow 2 or 4 plants. I don’t want you to go through the hassle. 

So, I’m listing here my recommended favorites for different types.

Step 3: Controlling Humidity & Temperature

Excess humidity and uncontrolled temperature can end up creating molds over buds. That’s the last thing you want to end up with. 

To make sure that the growing space doesn’t become too humid, you can simply use a dehumidifier. It’s perfect for controlling humidity if you have a compact growing space.

The growing tents from above come with very good ventilation. But our room does not.

So, here’s what happens.

The heat from the growing lights ends up being trapped inside your room. It eventually increases the room temperature. As a result, you may end up with increased humidity. 

You can simply make your own ventilation system. Putting a small exhaust fan in your growing tent should do. Get a digital thermometer and take notes of the humidity and temperature everyday.

During the day, the Ideal temps are between 70-80 °F (21-27 °C) with lights on. It’s 5-10 degrees cooler at night (lights off). 

Here is the humidity that you can follow. 

Now, keeping the temperature ideal during winter can be tough. So, it’s better if you take up a heater along with an air controller. However, if you’re using grow tents or grow boxes or grow bags, it’s better to step down from the heater game. 

Many growers do use heaters but I prefer to keep those space heaters out of my grow tent. Let it heat up the entire room if necessary but I don’t want any fire hazards. So, whenever I go for micro-growing experiments, I use electric blankets. 

So, here are your heating options- 

• I’ve used this electric blanket for a tension free micro growing.  
• You can use this vortex heater if you’re using grow tents. I’ve gone through groups and forums. This one’s got some fans out there. 
• You can try out this ceramic heater (thermostat included). But I’d recommend you keep it out of the tent. 
• Here’s a seedling heat mat made by vivosun if you’re being skeptical with my ideas. 

Along with these try out some insulation too. It can save up a good chunk of your electricity bills. 

Pro Tip

If you have a hard time keeping these in check, that means your ventilation isn’t good enough. It’s a good indicator you need to get better fans. 

Here’s my recommendation. These fans are quiet. 

Bonus! Your room won’t smell like weed.

• AC Infinity CLOUDLINE T4 – can handle up to 2’x2’x5′ grow tent and 200W of light
• AC Infinity CLOUDLINE T6 – can handle up to 2’x4’x6′ grow tent and 400W of light

Step 4 : Selecting Grow Lights

You are planning to grow plants indoors. And basic biology tells us that plants need light. But an important thing to consider here is the right number of plants under different wattages of LED.

So once you know the right number of plants, let’s see which grow lights are the best. Get one of these and you are good to go.

Now let’s have a look at these grow lights in detail.

Why Use the 315 W CMH/LEC?

I’ll be honest with you. A LEC rig can get you the best output. But you need a whole different setup for LEC grow light. Starting from growing tents to exhaust fans, everything must be in place. It also comes with a hefty maintenance cost and high electricity bills.

I got an average output of 13.5 ounces using Eye Hortilux Ceramic. It’s perfect for a growth space of 3’x3’. The room temperature did increase a lot though. It needs good ventilation to cope up. But hey, the yield of 13.5 ounces is worth it.

Why Use the 300 W LED Grow Light

This one is a community favorite. It’s durable, flexible and the lights are adjustable. Once you start using this, you won’t ever get anything else. 

It’s perfect for a 2’x4’ or 3’x3’ grow space. The room temperature only rises a few degrees. The buds are also potent here. I got a yield of 11.2 oz out of 3 plants using HLG 300L Rspec and guides.

If you are a bit tight on budget, MAXSISUN PB4000 Grow Light will do as well. I am a personal fan of LED grow lights. It’s cheaper, has more options to work with and doesn’t heat up much.

Why Use the 100 W LED Grow Light

100 W LED grow lights are perfect for a grow space of 2’x2’. Using these grow lights, the room won’t heat up much. It’ll be at a moderate temperature. 

However, the fixture might get a bit hot but that’s nothing to be worried about. The average yield that you might get from these are 1.5-3.5 ounces

Here the buds might be a bit airy but potent.

If you are starting small, then this is your go-to grow lights. These are affordable, don’t affect electricity bills much and will get the job done. 

Pro Tip

• Avoid Fluorescent Grow Lights – We want to maximize our yields. Fluorescent lights like T5s produce very good and bulky buds. But in terms of yield, it will be less. So, always go for LEDs, HPS or LEC grow lights. These are cheaper and work better.
• Grow Light Distance From Plants – If your lights are too close to the plants, the plants will burn. If the lights are too far, then your yields will reduce. So, always check the packet label or instruction manual to know the ideal distance.

As a general rule, 12-18 inches from the plants to LEDs are okay. 

• Light Coverage – It’s crucial that you take notes on how much your lights can cover. Always make sure that the lights are reaching the edges of the plant. 

If your plant edges are not being covered by light, adjust the angle of lights accordingly. 

Step 5 : Catering Plants During Vegitative State

Earlier I said, the vegetative stage is when you start properly nurturing your plant. The goal in this stage is to grow your plant as big as possible. 

We can’t do much to get more yields during the flowering stage. That is why you need to do all this prep work before that final stage. 

Meaning, you need to start topping and shaping your plant from this point. Why?

We want our lights, nutrients and humidity equally distributed over the whole plant. We also want our plants to have more thick branches. More branches with more leaves will result in more yields. Simple as that. 

Topping

We want our plants to look more like bush. Cannabis has a special hormone called auxins. It makes them grow straight up, making them look like Christmas trees. 

So, we want to start leveling the top. That way we can distribute the auxins throughout the branches. 

Topping means cutting off the top part of the plant. To be precise, you will be chopping off the main crown shoot. When your plant has about 4-5 sets of fan leaves, that’s an indicator for topping. 

Source: 2fast4buds.com

Once you cut down the tops, let your plant grow a bit more. Then you can go ahead and top it again. This will create more branches.

Don’t go overboard by the way.  Some people end up cutting down the branches too much during the veg stage. A good rule of thumb would be topping it 2-3 times maximum.

Thus, your plant will start distributing all the nutrients and energy equally. Plus, the grow lights can illuminate efficiently over the whole plant surface. 

Stress Training

Stress training is just a way to bend or hold down the branches. We want the grow lights to hit every part of the plants. This will ensure more buds to the lower or darker sides of the plants. 

To train my plants, I usually spread the branches out from the center. So that the smaller branches get more lights. This is called low stress training. In this method, you don’t have to use strings or ropes to spread the branches. 

Now there are people out there who do high stress training. It’s also called kinking or super cropping. In that case, you will do whatever you can to spread the branches. Some use strings to pull down the branches. The plant tissues get damaged but it can self-repair those tissues. As a result, you will get stronger, thicker branches.

You can also put a grow tent net on top to get a similar result. Grow tent net is a good and safer substitute for strings. 

Here is an example of a grow tent net in action. 

Source: 420Magazine.com

Whether it is LST or HST, the main thing is spreading out the branches. 

Here is a perfect example of that. 

Before

Source: 420magazine.com

During

Source: 420magazine.com

After

Source: 420magazine.com

Final Result

Source: 420magazine.com

Can you see the difference? The branches and leaves are more spread out. This is what gives the brush life structure that we are going for. 

Cannabis plants are a bit springy in nature. So no matter how much you push them, they will always spring back. That’s why some people use kinking. 

Bending

So far, we have topped the plants. It will allow the plant to grow more branches so that you can top it again. Grow a few more nodes and top it again to get more branches. 

Then we spread out the plant evenly as possible. This way the lights can hit every part of the plant body.

Now, time to bend the plant or tie it down. You need to slowly bend the branches over 4-5”. Don’t put too much pressure on the center stalk. Work your way with the bending slowly. After that, you can tie that branch to your pot so that it stays still. This is what bending is.

Again, we want our plants to look like bushes. We do this to keep it short, to even out the branches. This will also allow the side branches and the main stalks to get enough lights. 

From this point, you need to keep on bending till it’s a solid 3ft in diameter. Then let the branches grow up and top the tall ones. Keep this up for one more week and your plant then will be ready for flowering.

Pro Tip

Don’t top or stress your plant one week prior to flowering. Plants have their own growing phase. It hits the flowering stage under certain conditions. By stressing you are kinda delaying the flowering stage. Why?

Because the plant will be in “repair mode”. Every time we bend or top, the plant goes into this mode. That’s the simplest analogy I can give. 

Long story short, we are simply doing our best to prepare our plants for the flowering stage.

Step 6 : Providing the Right Nutrients

By nutrients, we mean providing the right amount of fertilizers for cannabis. It’s really important for the plants to receive a good amount of nutrients in the vegetative and flowering stages.

There are 3 main things that we need to provide for our plants. These are Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K). We use the NPK ratio to measure the dosage. 

During Vegetative Stage, 

cannabis plants need a large level of nitrogen. Nitrogen helps with growth. With constant topping and bending, the plant needs more nitrogen for the extra load. 

To get more yields, you need to be careful with how much fertilizer we add. This chart will be a good reminder of the correct NPK ratio.

In short, you must ramp up the nitrogen amount between week 2-13. Especially when you are topping and bending. 

I know it’s hard to find these particular ratios of NPK fertilizer. For week 1, I used the Dyna Gro 8 oz. It’s not precisely 2:1:2 but I had enough growth needed at that point with this one.

And in week 14, I used Jessie Mae to give my plants a nice finishing to NPK needs.

During flowering stages 

you need to stop feeding nitrogen to your plants. At this point, you must start increasing the phosphorus and potassium levels. 

Now you are wondering, what is the best type of weed fertilizer?

It is better to use organic fertilizer. You can make some compost tea and spray it on the leaves. Or you can add that tea to the soil. Either way, it’s fine. 

However, you can also go for synthetic. I primarily use a mix between tiger bloom and big bloom. It is important for you to understand the components’ differences between tiger bloom and big bloom to get better results. 

Lastly, don’t forget to water your plants and keep the pH in check. After going through all the hard work, not watering is the last thing you need! 

Summary

We sure have covered a lot of things. It is easy to lose track because of all this information. So, I’ll sum things up for you with this checklist. 

1. Make a solid, well-detailed plan  
2. Select the right seeds
3. Select Number of Plants 
4. Select The right Grow Tents 
5. Select the right grow lights for the number of plants you have selected
6. Cater the plants during vegetative state
   1. Topping the plants properly
   2. Stress Training 
   3. Bending 
7. Providing the right nutrients 

FAQs

Can you get a pound per plant indoors?

Yes. If you keep all the factors in check, ideally you may get more than 13 oz from the “Wonder Woman” variant. It depends on a lot of factors. They are lights, room temperature, plant quality, fertilizers and grooming.

Can you grow just one plant?

Yes. You can just grow one plant. By using a good grow tent and grow lights, you can grow one plant. 

Does Topping increase yield?

Yes. Topping does increase yield. Because it allows the plants to create more branches. This lets the plant grow more buds later on in the flowering stage. Thus, you will get a higher yield.

How long should I veg for best yield?

It is recommended that you veg from 2 weeks to 12 weeks. But there are people who use the SOG method and skip the veg stage. But that’s an extreme example. Using a normal growing method, it is better to keep the veg stage around 2 months. That will give you a higher yield. 

Final Thoughts

There you go. I have shared my neat and dirty secrets with you. 

Now, you can start working on your own plantation. Hopefully, by following this guide, you will yield more than 1 pound plant indoors. 

If you have any further queries, leave a comment below. 

Till then, happy gardening.