Can You Switch from Flowering to Veg?

For whatever reason, you might want to take an existing marijuana plant that is in or near the end of the flowering stage and revert it back to the vegetative stage. I am going to refer to the vegetative stage as “veg” from here on out. There are many good reasons to flip plants back from flower to veg.

It’s not guaranteed, but yes, you can switch a flowering marijuana plant back to veg. The percentage is small, but some marijuana plants just won’t flip back. To flip from flower to veg, you’ll have to trim down the plant and adjust the lighting back to veg timing. The fertilizer should also be switched back to veg fertilizer to encourage root and stalk growth. 

Most marijuana plants can be encouraged to switch back to the veg stage. There are the odd plants however, that just don’t want to cooperate. Fortunately, marijuana grows like a weed and will do almost anything you want it too.

In this article, I’ll explain more fully what you should do to improve your chances of flipping a flowering marijuana plant back into the veg stage. As well, I’ll talk a bit about why you would consider doing this. So, if this topic seems of interest to you, then please keep reading.

Why Would You Re-Veg a Marijuana Plant? (The Benefits of Doing This)

There are numerous reasons to want to do this. I’ve thought of 5 really good ones. Here they are:

• If you re-veg a flowering marijuana plant successfully, you end up with a very large root system. This means that your plant will receive more nutrients. It also means the stalk will be much thicker and stronger and that will affect how big the buds are when the plant goes back into the flowering stage. The larger yields are about as good as any reason to do this.

• If you have a flowering plant and cut some of the buds off, then re-veg it – you don’t need a mother plant, nor will you need to purchase anymore seeds or clones. At first, I thought you might end up with less yield over time if you just did this with just one plant.

• • If you grew whatever is legal where you live, you could have multiple marijuana plants that you are re-vegging. In Canada where I reside, that would be 4 marijuana plants. This means I could have 4 plants to continually take a yield from. I like that idea!

• The more you grow marijuana, the chances are you will come across a strain you favor over all others. Once you fall in love with a plant, you can keep it in your life by continually flipping it back to veg over and over.

• • You can preserve a specific phenotype for at least 4 or so cycles of growing. Some might argue that the potency will diminish over time however, I don’t feel this to be the case. The plants will produce what the plants produce.

• Sometimes I like growing marijuana just for the fun of growing it. I enjoy the whole process. I enjoy the smell of the plants as they grow and I enjoy the end product. If you are like me, then that’s a good enough reason in itself to do this. It’s like experimenting.

Above are some great reasons why you would try to re-veg a flowering plant, now I will tell you how to do it.

Switching from Flowering Back to Veg (Indoor)

It’s very straightforward, switching your flowering marijuana back to the veg stage. Follow these steps and you should see success.

• The first thing to do is to adjust the lighting back to a 18 hours on and 6 hours off schedule. This light setting mimics the daytime light most plants are genetically accustomed to.
  • Some more experienced growers might even recommend having the lights turned on for 20 hours and then off for only 4 hours. In this situation, it would make more sense than in regular growing conditions in my opinion, however it’s not necessary. If you feel that the 20 hours on setting is for you, then by all means, go right ahead.

• The plant(s) will need to be trimmed back. I recommended cutting off any remnants of buds. I also suggest you cut the plant down in height. Remember, you are vegging and you want the plant to grow in veg. It will then grow more when it’s in flower again.
  • I would take it down to the point where you are only leaving two levels of branches. Do not cut any lower than that as you risk not having any new growth. That would be a shame.
  • You can leave the cut sites as is, they will heal quickly.

• Since the plant is already quite large regardless of having trimmed it down, it’s a mature plant. This means you can fertilize using veg fertilizer almost immediately. That said, I would hold off using fertilizer for 2 to 3 days just to allow the pure water the opportunity to flush out all of the flowering fertilizer from the soil.
  • After the two days or so, you can start with full doses of vegetative fertilizer.

• Keep an eye on the growth. If you see what looks like buds growing, cut that branch right down below the location it is growing from.

Aside from these things, there really isn’t anything else to do. After about 3 to 5 weeks, you should see some growth happening and be back in the veg stage. It’s that simple.

Switching from Flowering Back to Veg Outdoors (Can it be Done?)

I think getting an outdoor flowering marijuana plant to revert back to veg would be very difficult, but not impossible. I haven’t done it myself, but if I was going to, here is what I would do.

You can’t control the sun so adjusting the lighting times is out. So now you are left with cutting the plant(s) down and switching over to vegetative fertilizer.

If the plant(s) were not too far into the flowering stage and you have enough summer left, you should be able to pull this off.

If you try this in the fall and it gets quite a bit cooler where you live, then you are wasting a plant and your time as the sun will dictate what your plant does, regardless of what you want it to do.

How Long Does It Take to Re-Veg a Plant?

It’s going to depend on the plant and how long into flower it was in. You should have some good growth by week 6. If you don’t, then it is probably time to abort the mission.

Do Buds Grow Back?

Yes, you can get buds to grow again on a plant that was previously in the flowering stage.

The important thing to know here is that you must trim the plant down when switching back to veg because you want new stalk growth. When this happens, you’re going to be growing new bud sites on your plant.

How Many Times Can You Re-Veg a Plant?

I don’t know the straight answer to this.

What I do know is I wouldn’t have a mother plant for more than 2 years. At that point, I would start a new mother plant.

I would expect that you could re-veg as many times as you can for up to 2 years. At this point, the roots are just too overgrown and the soil is contaminated with too many nutrients. It wouldn’t hurt to start over again with a fresh plant and soil.

What is Accidental Re-Vegging?

Accidental re-vegging happens when a plant is overly stressed and or the lighting gets messed up and you hadn’t noticed. There could also be light leaking into your grow space that is affecting the plants growth pattern.

Sometimes the power goes out and it messes with our timers. There are many reasons why this might happen.

You think you have some buds growing, then all of a sudden, they stop and the rest of the plant starts growing and reverting back in the veg stage.

Just adjust the lighting and carry on. The nice thing about marijuana plants is they adapt very well to change.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I just want to point out the most important steps to having a marijuana plant successfully go from flower to veg.

• The lighting needs to be set to veg timing.
• The plant must be trimmed down to just a couple levels of branches.
• The fertilizer should be flipped back to veg fertilizer.

That’s about it. So simple, right. You can do it. Good luck!

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