The Cannabis Plant Life Cycle: From Seed to Jar, Stage by Stage
Last checked: October 27, 2026
That bud in the jar is the very last chapter of a long story. Before it was flower, it was a sprout. Before that, a seed or a cutting. Understanding the cannabis plant life cycle makes a lot of shop talk click: "veg," "flower week," "harvest," "cure." Kensington Green, at 2257 Dundas St W, walks adults 19+ through each stage. This is a vocabulary guide, not a grow manual, and we'll flag what each stage does and doesn't tell you.
The cannabis plant life cycle in one table
| Stage | What's happening | Words you'll hear |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Start | A seed sprouts, or a cutting roots | Germination, "pop," clone, cut |
| 2. Seedling | First small leaves form | Seedling, cotyledons |
| 3. Vegetative | The plant builds stems, branches and leaves | "Veg," canopy |
| 4. Flowering | Buds form and fill out | "Flower," "flip," pistils, trichomes |
| 5. Harvest | The plant is cut | Chop, harvest |
| 6. Dry | Moisture leaves the plant material | Hang dry, rack dry |
| 7. Cure | Dried flower rests under controlled conditions | Cure, burp |
| 8. Package | Flower is trimmed, weighed, sealed and labelled | Packaging date |
Stages 1 to 5 happen to a living plant. Stages 6 to 8 happen to harvested material.
Stage 1: the start
A cannabis plant begins one of two ways. It can germinate from a seed, with a root pushing out first. Or it can start as a cutting taken from another plant and coaxed to grow roots. Seed means new genetics. Cutting means a copy of the plant it came from.
Stage 2: seedling
The first leaves to open on a seedling are simple, rounded ones called cotyledons. They're not the famous serrated leaves. Those come next, as the plant's "true" leaves start to form. This stage is fragile: a seedling is small and easily stressed.
Stage 3: vegetative growth ("veg")
This is the building phase. The plant puts its energy into stems, branches and big fan leaves, the leaves that catch light. Growers shape the plant here so the canopy is even. No buds yet. This is growth, not flowering.
Stage 4: flowering
Here's where the buds come in. For most cannabis, flowering is triggered by shorter days, or indoors by a change in the light schedule (growers call that "the flip"). Some plants, called autoflowers, start flowering based on age instead.
During flowering you'll see:
- Pistils: the hair-like strands on the flower, often white at first and changing colour as the flower matures.
- Trichomes: the tiny resin glands that give buds their frosty look.
- Calyxes stacking up into the buds people recognise.
Stage 5: harvest
The plant is cut down. Growers decide when based on how the flowers have developed. Once cut, the plant stops growing, and the rest of the story is handling.
Stage 6: drying
Fresh-cut plant material is full of water. Drying lets that moisture leave slowly, usually with branches hung or laid on racks. Drying too fast or too slow can affect the finished flower's texture and condition.
One exception: some harvested material skips drying entirely and is frozen right away for extraction. That's what "fresh frozen" refers to.
Stage 7: curing
Curing is what happens after drying: the flower is stored under controlled conditions so remaining moisture evens out through each bud. "Burping" is slang for briefly opening cure containers to let air exchange. This is a production step, not something the label describes.
Stage 8: trim, package, label
Buds are trimmed (either before or after drying), weighed and sealed. The label carries the product class, Total THC, Total CBD, net weight and the packaging date. That date is the closest the label gets to telling you where the flower is in its own timeline.
What the life cycle does and doesn't tell you
Does: explain where words like veg, flower, cure and fresh frozen come from.
Doesn't:
- Give you THC numbers. Only Total THC and Total CBD on a legal label do that.
- Show up on the label, beyond the packaging date.
- Rank anything. A long flowering stage isn't "better" than a short one.
Questions we hear on Dundas West
What does "flower week" mean? How many weeks a plant has been in its flowering stage. It's grower talk, not a label term.
Is curing the same as drying? No. Drying removes most of the moisture. Curing comes after, and evens out what's left.
Can you see the life cycle in a bud? Partly. Pistil colour and trichomes tell you a bud flowered. They don't tell you the dates.
The bottom line
The cannabis plant life cycle runs from seed or cutting, through seedling, veg and flowering, to harvest, drying, curing and packaging. Each stage has its own vocabulary, and knowing it makes the counter conversation easier. For the facts about any product, read the label.
Planning your stop? Our visit page has the details, and our Dundas West visit guide covers the area. Kensington Green is for adults 19 and over. Bring government-issued photo ID.