The Best Strains for Beginner Growers & Smokers

Growing weed doesn’t have to be complicated, and smoking it need not be overwhelming. If you’re a beginner grower looking for an easy road into the world of cultivation, or a veteran seeking less demanding plants, then you need to get acquainted with the varieties below. Moreover, if you're new to smoking and want a gentle experience to get you started, these varieties also apply to you!Representing some of the easiest strains to grow, they offer room for error while producing great yields in a short space of time. Check out the grow diaries for each strain and decide which cultivars deserve a spot in your grow room or garden!

Balanced THC:CBD Strains: Ideal for Beginner Smokers

Section addition: Below, we’ll take a closer look at Fast Eddy Auto CBD, one of our favorite balanced THC:CBD strains.

1. Fast Eddy Auto CBD

Fast Eddy Auto CBD easily ranks as some of the best weed for beginners. Her gentle psychoactive effect and rapid growing time tick all of the right boxes. To start things off, soak your seed in a glass of water for 12 hours. Then, sow directly into an 11l pot containing high-quality potting soil mixed with organic nutrients. Your sprout will emerge within a couple of days, and will develop its first few sets of true leaves and reach a height of 5–10cm by the end of the second week of veg. Your plant will start to pack on serious vegetative growth during the third week; apply LST at this point to keep your plant compact yet productive. You’ll start to notice pre-flowers emerge during week four as your Fast Eddy Auto CBD plant transitions into bloom.

Expect your plant to stand at around 20–40cm at the start of bloom, depending on the training techniques used. You’ll start to notice a subtle smell permeate the air of your growing space as the weeks go by. Apply light defoliation during week 8 from germination to boost aeration in the canopy. Trigger a flush during week 10 and expect to harvest during week 12.

Fast Eddy Auto CBD serves up tall and thin colas that contain a THC and CBD content of 9% each. Within moments of hitting a joint packed with these buds, you’ll experience a clear-headed and relaxing effect. Enjoy sizeable yields only 10–12 weeks after sprouts emerge from the soil.

Fast Eddy Automatic CBD

Fast Eddy Automatic CBD

	Cheese x Juanita la Lagrimosa x Ruderalis
	14 to 16 oz/m²
	2 to 3 feet
	7 - 8 weeks
	THC: 9%

	Sativa 50% Indica 40% Ruderalis 10%
	3 to 4 oz/plant
	3 to 4 feet
	10 - 12 weeks after sprouting
	Calming, Clear

Buy Fast Eddy Automatic CBD

Autoflowering Strains: Perfect for Beginner Growers

Intro amendment: If you’re a beginner grower looking for a strain that is easy to grow but still capable of delivering a great harvest, check out Easy Bud below.

2. Easy Bud

When it comes to cannabis cultivation, things don’t get much more simple than Easy Bud. The progeny of White Indica and a high-performing ruderalis strain, this hybrid pairs rapid growth with a compact structure. Sow your seed into an 11l pot filled with high-quality potting mix and water thoroughly. Once the sprout emerges, your plant will reach a height of 5cm by the end of the first week. Throughout veg, Easy Bud will develop a dense but compact canopy and won’t exceed 30cm when subject to LST. Expect untrained plants to top out at 50cm.

During bloom, this strain will stretch to 60cm indoors and up to 110cm outdoors, depending on pot size. Across her brief flowering time of 5–7 weeks, plants develop plenty of small and resinous colas. Defoliate frequently to maintain good airflow and light exposure into the canopy. Trigger a flush during the final two weeks to improve the flavor of your yield, and prepare to harvest up to 325g/m² from indoor plants and up to 80g/plant from those grown outside.

Easy Bud serves up a THC content of 12% that, alongside an array of stoning terpenes, exerts a gentle and relaxing psychoactive experience. She makes a good smoke when you’re looking to feel grounded yet inspired. Flavors of herbs and citrus complete the experience.

Easy Bud

Easy Bud

	White Indica x Ruderalis
	10 to 11 oz/m²
	2 feet
	5 - 7 weeks
	THC: 12%

	Sativa 15% Indica 55% Ruderalis 30%
	1 to 3 oz/plant
	2 to 4 feet
	9 - 10 weeks after sprouting
	Physically Relaxing

Buy Easy Bud

F1 Hybrids: Giving Beginners Access to Massive Yields

True F1 hybrids aren’t just new to the world of autoflowering genetics, but to the cannabis industry as a whole. Many of these varieties are autoflowers. Created through a vigorous breeding process that ultimately crosses pure inbred parent lines, these varieties boast hybrid vigour—a trait that results in increased potency, yield, disease resistance, and uniformity.

Because of their innate resilience and vigour, F1 hybrid autos are hands-down the best weed strains for beginners (though, technically, they are not “strains”). They resist pests and diseases with ease while producing rewarding harvests with little input. Check out Apollo F1 below, one of the best options for novice cultivators.

3. Apollo F1

Apollo F1 seeds boast a superb germination rate. Sow them directly into their final pots and watch seedlings grow to a height of 3–5cm in a week. From here, the variety will only spend two more weeks in the vegetative phase before transitioning into flowering. Apply organic fertilisers high in nitrogen, and water only when the top 3cm of soil becomes entirely dry. Your plant will develop a thick and luscious canopy with unusually large fan leaves in proportion to its overall size.

Apollo F1’s pre-flowers rapidly start to develop into dense colas. Expect your plant to stretch up to 75cm during flowering; remove any leaves that cast shadows onto developing buds. Your plant will feature many flowers by the third week of bloom, each equipped with bright white pistils and plenty of trichomes. Soon after, the pistils will display an amber hue as they mature and approach harvest. Flush during the final two weeks of the growing cycle and prepare to harvest, trim, dry, and cure a large and rewarding yield.

As the progeny of inbred lines created using Lemon, Black Domina, and Sugar Magnolia genetics, Apollo F1 boasts huge concentrations of THC. Her complex flavor profile, underscored by terpenes such as farnesene and terpinolene, treats users to notes of citrus, herbs, lavender, pine, and vanilla. Expect a creative, euphoric, and motivating high to ensue.

Apollo F1

Apollo F1

	Lemon x Black Domina x Sugar Magnolia
	45 - 50 days
	THC: Very high
	Calming, Creative, Motivating , Physically Relaxing
	75 - 80 days after sprouting

Buy Apollo F1

Feminized Photoperiod Strains: A Great Step Up From Autoflowers

4. Gelato 44

Fast to flower and easy to manage, Gelato 44 offers a perfect option for beginner growers looking to transition into growing photoperiod genetics. If you want to try your hand at this strain, start by soaking seeds in a glass of water for twelve hours before sowing into cell trays. Once the true leaves on your seedlings grow past the circumference of each cell, transplant them into larger containers. Expect your plants to stand at around 10cm by the end of week two. Indoors, you’re in full control of when your plants flower. We suggest running a vegetative phase of 7–8 weeks to allow for the formation of a large and productive canopy. At this point, your plant will stand at around 100–120cm before you reduce the light cycle.

Just a few weeks into bloom, you’ll detect aromas of cookies and mint every time you inspect your plants. Expect indoor specimens to peak at 120cm partway through the flowering phase. Those grown outdoors in bigger containers or raised beds will surge to a maximum of 180cm, depending on conditions. Withhold all nutrients two weeks before harvest and get ready to pull in 400–450g/m² from indoor plants and 550–600g/plant from those grown outdoors.

With a THC content of 22%, Gelato 44 exerts a fast-acting high. Buckle up for a euphoric and creative experience ideal for the daytime. Flavors of citrus, cookies, earth, and mint make this variety particularly moreish.

Gelato 44

Gelato 44

	Sunset Sherbet X Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies
	14 to 16 oz/m²
	3 to 4 feet
	8 - 9 weeks
	THC: 22%

	Sativa 25% Indica 75%
	19 to 21 oz/plant
	5 to 6 feet
	Late September
	Creative, Euphoric, Long Lasting , Physically Relaxing

Buy Gelato 44

5. Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake is one of the easiest feminized cannabis strains to grow. If you’re a beginner seeking good yields and potency alongside delicious flavors, then you’ll want to get these seeds in the soil. This strain does well when sown into a 15l or 19l pot. Your seedling will stand at around 10cm by the end of the second week of the growing cycle, surging to 100–120cm by the end of veg, depending on pot size and light exposure. Defoliate the lower leaves and thin out the canopy before transitioning her into bloom indoors, or before the days start to shorten outdoors.

During bloom, Wedding Cake plants will max out at up to 120cm indoors and 150cm outdoors. Switch over to nutrients higher in potassium and phosphorus to assist flower development. Frequently but lightly defoliate throughout flowering to keep airflow consistent. Outdoors, consider moving pots into greenhouses during late bloom if you’re in a region that experiences frequent rainfall. After a flowering phase of 8–10 weeks, make sure you have enough stash jars ready to store 450–500g/m² from indoor plants and up to 600g/plant from outdoor specimens.

A THC content of 20% means Wedding Cake delivers an uplifting effect without being overpowering. Enjoy bouts of euphoria alongside tastes of cookies, earth, and fruit.

Wedding Cake

Wedding Cake

	Girl Scout Cookies x Cherry Pie
	16 to 19 oz/m²
	2 to 4 feet
	8 - 10 weeks
	THC: 20%

	Sativa 20% Indica 80%
	19 to 21 oz/plant
	4 to 5 feet
	Early October
	Laughter, Physically Relaxing, Uplifting

Buy Wedding Cake