Cannabis cultivation is the craft of turning a seed or a cutting into the dried, cured flower you see at a dispensary. Licensed growers raise plants indoors, in greenhouses or outdoors, guide them through a leafy growth stage and a flowering stage, then harvest, dry, cure and trim the buds. In Michigan, every product also has to carry a label with its lab test details before it can be sold. Here's how each step works, and what it means for the jar in front of you.
A short history of cannabis cultivation: from hidden grows to licensed facilities
For most of the last century, growing cannabis in the US meant growing it in secret. Congress effectively criminalized the plant with the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, and the Controlled Substances Act of 1970 placed it in Schedule I. Growers who kept at it worked quietly, in backyard plots, spare rooms and basements, with no lab checking what they produced.
State medical programs started to change that. Michigan voters approved medical marijuana in 2008 and adult use in 2018. Today Michigan's Cannabis Regulatory Agency oversees and licenses the businesses that grow, process and sell cannabis, and licensed harvests are lab tested before they reach a store shelf.
Michigan adults 21 and older can also grow cannabis at home for their own use: no more than 12 plants at one residence, hidden from public view and kept behind a lock. This guide is about commercial growing, the kind behind the products on a dispensary menu.
Indoor, greenhouse and outdoor: three ways to grow
Where a crop grows shapes its cost, its consistency and its footprint.
| Setting | How it works | Strengths | Trade-offs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indoor | Sealed rooms with grow lights, climate control and timed schedules | Harvests all year, tight control, consistent batches | The highest energy use and building costs |
| Greenhouse | Sunlight through glass or plastic, often with added lights, shade cloth and fans | Free sunlight with a good measure of control | The seasons still have a say, and lights and climate systems use energy |
| Outdoor | Open fields under natural sun and seasons | The lowest direct energy use | Usually one harvest a year in a northern climate, plus weather, pests and mold |
Greenhouse growers can pull blackout covers over their crops in the evening to shorten the day, which lets them trigger flowering on their own schedule instead of waiting for fall.
The energy gap is large. A 2024 life-cycle study by researchers at McGill University and the University of Michigan estimated that outdoor cannabis can produce about 50 times less carbon than indoor production. Outdoor farms carry costs of their own, though: they can need significant fertilizer, and some of it washes away as runoff.
No setting promises better cannabis. Skilled growers produce good flower in all three, and a lab result tells you more about potency than the growing method does.
Genetics, strain selection and phenotype hunting
Every crop starts with genetics. Growers either plant seeds or take cuttings, called clones, from a healthy mother plant. A clone is a genetic copy of its mother, so a room full of clones grows and tests far more evenly than a room full of seedlings.
The flower sold in stores comes from female plants. Growers keep males out of the room, since flowers that get pollinated spend their energy on seeds.
New strains come from breeding. Breeders cross two parent plants to combine traits such as aroma, yield, flowering time or resistance to mold, then grow out the offspring and select the best over several generations.
Seeds from the same two parents can still grow into noticeably different plants. Each plant's look, aroma and chemistry, known as its phenotype, comes from its genes and its growing conditions. Phenotype hunting means growing out many seeds, comparing the results and keeping the standout as a new mother plant for clones. Our guide to cannabis plant anatomy shows where the flowers form and what each part does.
What a strain name can and can't tell you
Strain names help growers and shoppers talk about plants, but they aren't standardized. The indica and sativa tags you see on menus aren't a reliable guide to a plant's genetics or lineage, either. A 2021 Dalhousie University study in Nature Plants compared the DNA of over 100 cannabis samples and found no genome-wide genetic difference between those sold as sativa and those sold as indica. What the labels did track was a handful of aroma compounds called terpenes. That's one reason the test results on a label tell you more than the name on the jar.
What growers control: light, climate, nutrients, airflow and pests
Once plants are rooted, growers manage a handful of variables every single day.
Light cycles
Many cannabis varieties flower when nights get long, and indoor growers use that trait like a switch. Young plants grow leaves and stems under long days, often 18 hours of light. Cutting the light to 12 hours a day triggers flowering, and the vast majority of indoor growers use that 12-hour schedule. Under it, plants typically need about two to three months to reach harvest maturity, depending on the cultivar. Some varieties, known as autoflowers, carry genetics that let them flower even under long days.
Climate
Growers watch temperature and humidity around the clock. Damp air is a particular worry during flowering, because large, dense buds can hold moisture and develop bud rot. A 2021 review of cannabis diseases recommends lowering humidity, improving air circulation, starting with clean, disease-free plants and keeping grow rooms sanitized.
Nutrients and water
Plants get water and nutrients on a schedule that changes as they move from leafy growth to flowering. More isn't always better: researchers note that nitrogen-heavy feeding can lower the cannabinoid content of the flowers.
Airflow
Fans keep air moving through the canopy. Steady airflow evens out temperature and humidity around the plants and makes it harder for mold to take hold.
Pests and disease
The same 2021 review leans on prevention: clean cuttings, sanitation and biological controls such as beneficial fungi and bacteria. It also calls keeping microbe levels low on harvested buds the greatest challenge that remains.
Technology: LED lighting, sensors and automation
Many indoor rooms now run on LED fixtures. LEDs turn more of their electricity into usable light, their efficiency keeps climbing, and many fixtures let growers tune the color of the light.
More light can mean more flower, but not stronger flower. In a 2021 University of Guelph study, cannabis grown under LEDs yielded more as light intensity rose, all the way up to the highest level tested. Cannabinoid potency didn't change with the light level.
Sensors track temperature, humidity, carbon dioxide and moisture in the growing medium, and control systems can adjust fans, lights, irrigation and dehumidifiers on their own. Automation doesn't replace a grower's eye, but it helps keep conditions steady day and night.
Harvest, drying, curing and trimming
Harvest
Growers time the harvest by watching the flowers mature. Many check the trichomes, the tiny resin glands where most cannabinoids are made, as they turn from clear to cloudy. They also watch the pistils, the hair-like strands on each bud, change color. Our trichomes guide explains what growers look for.
Drying
Fresh cannabis flowers are mostly water, around 78 to 80% by weight. Drying brings that down slowly. Many growers still hang whole branches upside down or lay buds on screens in a climate-controlled room. Typical conditions are about 18 to 21°C (64 to 70°F) and 50 to 55% relative humidity for roughly five to six days. A 2022 review calls current drying practice more art than science, since there's no standard for when drying is finished.
Curing
Curing comes next. Dried buds rest in closed containers at a set temperature and humidity, and growers open them from time to time to let the air exchange. The 2022 review notes that proper curing reduces the harsh, throat-burning feel of under-cured cannabis and can help limit mold during storage. One study it cites found two weeks at 18°C (64°F) and 60% humidity worked best, but curing is still understudied, so methods vary.
Trimming
Trimming removes the small sugar leaves around each bud. Some growers trim wet, right after harvest; others trim dry, after drying or curing. Machines handle big volumes, though the 2022 review says trimming equipment still needs to get better at sparing the trichomes. Trim still holds some resin, though less than the buds. Our guide to cannabis extraction methods explains how resin is drawn out of plant material.
Testing and compliance in Michigan before sale
In Michigan, growing is only the first licensed step. The state's Cannabis Regulatory Agency issues the licenses and sets the rules for every adult-use and medical marijuana business, from cultivation through retail. Before anything reaches a customer, the package must be sealed and its label must show:
- how much THC and CBD it contains, with a caution that actual numbers may vary by 10%
- which lab tested it, and when
- the harvest date and strain name, when relevant
- who produced it and their license number, along with a package tag and the net weight
- the state's THC symbol and mandatory warnings, such as a reminder that impaired driving is illegal and the Poison Control number
High Society buys from vendors it trusts, choosing products that have already cleared Michigan's testing standards. Read the numbers on a label as a snapshot of one tested batch: the 10% statement is there because results can vary.
What cultivation means at the counter: freshness, harvest dates and labels
All of that work ends up on a small label, and it's worth a close read:
- Harvest date. Flower keeps changing after harvest, so a recent harvest date is one of the simplest freshness checks.
- Test date and lab. These show when and where the batch was tested.
- THC and CBD. Use them to compare products, keeping the 10% statement in mind.
- Strain. Handy for finding a profile you've liked before, though not a promise of the same experience.
- Growing method. Indoor, greenhouse or outdoor isn't a required label item, so ask your budtender if it matters to you.
Your senses help, too. Fresh, well-cured flower smells distinct, looks frosty with trichomes and feels slightly springy rather than damp or powdery.
Once it's home, keep it sealed somewhere cool and dark. Storage research shows why. A classic 1976 study found that light was the greatest single factor in cannabinoid loss. A 2020 study found that terpenes faded quickly in storage, and that room-temperature storage brought the biggest changes in cannabinoids. Our storage guide covers the details, and our label-reading guide walks through every line.
What's on the shelf at High Society differs by store and changes often, so your store's menu is the place to see today's options. You can order ahead and collect inside or at the curb. Valid government ID required. 21+ only, or 18+ with a medical marijuana card. Please consume responsibly.
