The flowering phase of a cannabis plant is when the so-long-awaited buds appear and fully develop. With photoperiod plants, the stage kicks off when the light cycle is switched and the number of hours of darkness is raised. If you're growing outdoors, it generally coincides with the end of summer-beginning of autumn. Indoors, it is the grower who can decide when to switch from 18/6 to 12/12, for example. The blooming stage of photoperiod plants consists of various phases and lasts some 8 weeks, according to the strain. Indica-dominant plants tend to grow more quickly while Sativa genetics need more time.

This doesn't work for autoflowering marijuana plants because, as their name suggest, they flower automatically, regardless of the light cycle they're exposed to.