Vegetative

The vegetative stage is the juvenile-to-adult non-reproductive growth phase in which cannabis produces stems, nodes, fan leaves, and lateral branches but no mature inflorescences. Indoor cultivators maintain vegetative growth with photoperiods of 18/6 or 24/0, exploiting the short-day habit of most cultivars to suppress flowering (Potter 2014; Spitzer-Rimon et al. 2019). Spitzer-Rimon et al. (2019) demonstrated, however, that solitary flowers can emerge in leaf axils under long photoperiods once the plant reaches developmental competence, indicating that vegetative growth is not strictly "non-inductive" but rather a phase in which compound-raceme inflorescence formation is suppressed. Duration ranges from 2 weeks (sea-of-green) to several months (mother stock), and is the stage when nitrogen-rich nutrition, topping, and training are typically performed. Etymology: Latin vegetare ("to enliven, animate"), from vegetus ("vigorous"). Synonyms/slang: "veg," veg stage, juvenile phase, pre-flower phase. → See also: Flowering, Photoperiod, Mother plant, Fan leaf.