How many cannabis plants may I grow in Germany?

Under the Consumer Cannabis Act, adults resident in Germany may grow up to three flowering plants at a time for personal use. The plants must be protected from access by children and teenagers. Other countries have different rules, so check yours before you start.

How long does it take from germination to harvest?

Autoflowers need around eleven weeks from germination to harvest. Photoperiod strains take roughly seventeen weeks indoors because you control the length of the vegetative phase. Outdoors the season sets the schedule: plant in May, harvest between late September and October. In both cases add two to four weeks for drying and curing.

Autoflower or photoperiod: which is better for beginners?

Autoflowers are usually the better choice for a first grow. They flower regardless of the light cycle, stay compact, forgive small lighting mistakes and finish faster. Photoperiod strains yield more and respond better to training, but they need a genuinely dark night period and more patience.

How much can I expect to harvest per plant?

Realistically, autoflowers in a tent give 50 to 110 grams dried per plant, photoperiod strains in a tent 100 to 200 grams. Outdoors in a garden with good sun and large pots, 200 to 500 grams is achievable. What matters is light, pot size, strain and how consistently you water and feed.

What light do I need for an indoor grow?

For roughly one square metre an LED with 150 to 250 watts of actual power draw is enough. Look at the real wattage, not the comparison claims in the product description. Autoflowers run continuously on 20 hours of light, photoperiod strains on 18 hours in growth and 12 hours in flower.

Can I buy cannabis seeds in Germany?

Yes. Buying, owning and importing cannabis seeds from within the EU is legal for adults in Germany. What is regulated is not the seed itself but what you do with it: growing falls under the Consumer Cannabis Act, which allows a maximum of three flowering plants at your own residence.

Can I grow on a balcony?

Yes, a balcony with at least six hours of direct sun works well. Use pots from 25 litres up, add wind protection and a privacy screen, and expect to water twice a day when it is hot. Autoflowers are especially practical on a balcony because you can start almost any time between May and August.

How do I recognise the right time to harvest?

Take a loupe or pocket microscope and look at the trichomes on the bracts. Clear means too early, milky white means a clear and heady effect, amber means heavier and more physical. The brown pistils on their own are not a reliable indicator.

Interactive grow guide

THE
GROW GUIDE

Five questions, one complete grow plan: method, timeline, shopping list and the seeds that fit your setup. Built for the European scene, without the US marketing hype.

Build my grow plan Read the guide

The grow wizard

YOUR GROW PLAN IN FIVE STEPS

Answer five short questions. You instantly get your growing method, a timeline from germination to cure, a shopping list and seeds that match.

Step 1 of 50%

How much growing experience do you have?

This decides how much room your plan leaves for experiments.

Matching seeds

SEEDS YOU CAN START WITH

A selection from the seed range of our partner shops.

95% match

Devotchka Auto Feminised Seeds

Autoflower
Feminised
Matching genetics

7.50€Details

95% match

Doctor's Choice #1 Auto Feminised Seeds

Autoflower
Feminised
Matching genetics

7.50€Details

92% match

Quick One Auto Feminisiert Samen

Autoflower
Feminised
Fast strain

6.00€Details

88% match

DC Cure 1:1 CBD Auto Feminised Seeds

Autoflower
Feminised
Matching genetics

5.00€Details

85% match

Royal Dwarf Auto Feminisiert Samen

Autoflower
Feminised
Within budget

6.00€Details

85% match

Critical Kush Auto Feminisiert Samen

Autoflower
Feminised
Within budget

6.05€Details

These seeds come from the range of our partner shops. Buy through these links and we earn a cut – your price stays the same.

What to expect

WHAT THIS GUIDE COVERS

Strain & Genetics

Which genetics fit your setup? Indica, Sativa, hybrid, autoflower – explained honestly.

Indoor & Outdoor

Tent, closet, balcony or garden. With the right setup you go from zero to harvest.

Light, Soil, Nutrients

What your plant actually needs – and what it doesn't. No US marketing trap.

Growth & Care

From seedling to flower: watering, pruning, training and spotting issues.

Harvest, Dry, Cure

The part most people underestimate. When to harvest, how to dry, how to cure for better aroma.

Law & Safety

What you're allowed to grow in Europe – personal use, quantities, precautions.

The full process

FROM GENETICS TO CURE

A grow has six stages, and each one decides how good the result will be. The wizard above turns them into a plan with concrete weeks. Here is what actually happens in each stage, whether you grow indoors or outdoors.

Choose your genetics

The strain decides how long your grow takes, how big the plant gets and how the result feels. Autoflowers start flowering on their own after roughly four weeks and finish in about eleven, photoperiod strains only flower once the light drops to twelve hours – indoors you switch it yourself, outdoors late summer does it – but they deliver more. Feminised seeds save you from sorting out male plants and are the right call for a first grow. Indica leaning strains stay compact and fit small spaces, sativa leaning ones need height and patience.

Build the setup

Indoors you need light, fresh air and the ability to make it properly dark. An LED with 150 to 250 watts of real draw covers roughly one square metre, plus an exhaust fan, a carbon filter for the smell and a timer. Outdoors the sun replaces the lamp, but you need a spot with at least six hours of direct sun, wind protection and privacy. Fabric pots from eleven litres up forgive overwatering far better than sealed plastic pots.

Germinate and raise

Put the seeds between two damp sheets of kitchen paper, keep them dark and warm at 22 to 25 degrees, and the root shows after two to five days. Then the seedling goes about a centimetre deep into moist soil, root tip facing down. Sow autoflowers straight into their final pot, because every transplant costs them time they do not have. For the first two weeks the rule is: plenty of light, little water, no nutrients.

Guide the flowering phase

Indoors you flip photoperiod strains into flower at twelve hours of light, outdoors the shortening days do it. Autoflowers manage on their own. In the first two weeks the plant often stretches to double its height, so plan the headroom in advance. Switch to bloom nutrients, bring humidity slowly down to around 45 percent and keep air moving through the canopy so dense buds do not develop mould. For the last ten to fourteen days water with plain water only.

Harvest, dry and cure

The right moment is written in the trichomes: milky means a clear, heady effect, amber means physical and calm. Cut the branches and hang them upside down in a dark room at around 18 degrees and 60 percent humidity for seven to fourteen days. Once the thin stems snap when bent, the buds go into airtight jars. Two to four weeks of curing, with daily burping in the first week, makes the biggest difference to the aroma.

BECAUSE GROWING
BECOMES EUROPEAN

Home growing is becoming legal across Europe step by step. But most guides come from the US – different strains, different climates, different laws, different vocabulary.

We're building a cultivation guide made for the European reality. Practical and honest. Be there when it goes live.

Frequently asked

WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE YOUR FIRST GROW

: Under the Consumer Cannabis Act, adults resident in Germany may grow up to three flowering plants at a time for personal use. The plants must be protected from access by children and teenagers. Other countries have different rules, so check yours before you start.
: Autoflowers need around eleven weeks from germination to harvest. Photoperiod strains take roughly seventeen weeks indoors because you control the length of the vegetative phase. Outdoors the season sets the schedule: plant in May, harvest between late September and October. In both cases add two to four weeks for drying and curing.
: Autoflowers are usually the better choice for a first grow. They flower regardless of the light cycle, stay compact, forgive small lighting mistakes and finish faster. Photoperiod strains yield more and respond better to training, but they need a genuinely dark night period and more patience.
: Realistically, autoflowers in a tent give 50 to 110 grams dried per plant, photoperiod strains in a tent 100 to 200 grams. Outdoors in a garden with good sun and large pots, 200 to 500 grams is achievable. What matters is light, pot size, strain and how consistently you water and feed.
: For roughly one square metre an LED with 150 to 250 watts of actual power draw is enough. Look at the real wattage, not the comparison claims in the product description. Autoflowers run continuously on 20 hours of light, photoperiod strains on 18 hours in growth and 12 hours in flower.
: Yes. Buying, owning and importing cannabis seeds from within the EU is legal for adults in Germany. What is regulated is not the seed itself but what you do with it: growing falls under the Consumer Cannabis Act, which allows a maximum of three flowering plants at your own residence.
: Yes, a balcony with at least six hours of direct sun works well. Use pots from 25 litres up, add wind protection and a privacy screen, and expect to water twice a day when it is hot. Autoflowers are especially practical on a balcony because you can start almost any time between May and August.
: Take a loupe or pocket microscope and look at the trichomes on the bracts. Clear means too early, milky white means a clear and heady effect, amber means heavier and more physical. The brown pistils on their own are not a reliable indicator.

Stay in the loop

THE GUIDE IS COMING TO THE APP

We are building the grow guide into the Highcovery app, with reminders for every phase and a grow diary. Sign up and be there when it goes live.

THEGROW GUIDE