Yes, you can grow weed on your windowsill.
But you may not want to.
It’s probably the simplest way to start growing marijuana. But it won’t get you the best results.
You may get a couple of decent buds, but you’ll get nowhere near the yields you could get under better growing circumstances.
You’ll have to decide for yourself whether the ease and simplicity is worth the diminished yield.
This article will help with that.
I’ll give you all the pros and cons and help you figure out if you should be growing on your windowsill or if you’re better off doing it elsewhere.
And if you do decide to grow in your window, I’ll explain exactly what you’ll need and how to do it, in order to get the best possible results.
Growing Marijuana On A Windowsill: Is It A Good Idea?
For most people, it is probably not a good move. Here’s why.
If you are growing on a windowsill, you’re probably going to want to keep your grow as simple as possible. That means you’ll likely be growing bagseed or whatever seeds or clone you can get your hands on.
Most likely, your plant will turn out to be a regular strain and not an autoflower strain.
Why does that matter?
Autoflowers switch from vegging to bloom automatically after a certain number of days. They do not rely on the light cycle to tell them when to switch.
Regular (i.e. non-autoflower) plants, on the other hand, will not switch to flowering until autumn, when the days become shorter.
You’ll either have to grow at that time of year, or you’ll have to reduce the daylight hours artificially to induce flowering. That means removing the plant from the windowsill and putting it somewhere dark.
Unless you are growing at exactly the right time of year, you’ll definitely want to grow an autoflower. And unless you know a grower who can provide you with an autoflower clone, that means you’ll have to buy seeds.
Since seeds are pricey, it doesn’t make sense to spend good money on seeds, then grow them on a windowsill, where your results will be far from ideal.
The truth is: weed is very easy to grow and you really don’t need to do anything special at all to get your plant to grow. With a little bit of care it will even give you a few small buds.
But if you want serious yields, you need to provide ideal, or close to ideal, growing conditions.
This means a larger pot than will fit on a windowsill, more light than you’ll get in a window and the ideal temperature and humidity, which you can’t really control on a windowsill.
If you’re going to spend the money on seeds, I’d go ahead and spend a bit more to and get the bare minimum to ensure those seeds give you yields that make the cost and effort worthwhile.
This article will help you get that set up.
And if you’re not going to spend money on seeds and you don’t have that friend who can hook you up with autoflowers, you’ll likely end up with a regular plant that won’t flower unless it’s the right time of the year.
Am I saying no one should grow on a windowsill?
No. But I am saying it’s probably not a good idea for most people. Either way, let’s look at the main advantages and disadvantages of growing weed on a windowsill.
Pros
The advantages are basically just the simplicity of it. Your grow takes up as little space as possible and requires as little equipment as possible (i.e. no grow lights)
Natural Light
Growing on the windowsill exposes your plant to natural light. Assuming the window gets plenty of light throughout the day, this means you do not need to buy grow lights. This saves you money on the lights and also saves having to find a way to hang them above your plant.
Save Space
If you have a small apartment with no balcony, you may not have space for a cannabis plant. And even if you do have some closet space, that would mean having to buy grow lights, to make up for the lack of natural light. A windowsill is space that is generally unused, so putting a plant there is easy and it won’t get in your way.
Cons
As mentioned above, there are a number of cons, mainly the fact that your plant will not be able to grow to its full potential, and that it will only begin flowering at the right time of the year, if it is growing in natural daylight (unless it is an autoflower). Add to that the issue of security.
Security
If a plant is growing on your windowsill where light from outside can get to it, there is a high chance that eyeballs from outside can get to it as well.
This reason alone would keep me from growing cannabis on my window sill, unless I was living in an area where it is legal, or I had a window that was not visible to other people from outside. The latter is very rare: even if you are in a rural area and no one ever passes by your window, they still could.
Perhaps the police are investigating something unrelated, or the power company has to work outside the window one day. You never know.
If the plant is visible from the outside at all, even if no people ever go there, I would think long and hard about growing in that location.
Limited Space
Space in front of any window is limited. This means you won’t be able to fit a large pot and your plant will never grow very large. Harvests will be limited to a few smaller buds at most.
Lighting
A windowsill location exposes your plant to natural light, but in many cases, this is not enough light to effectively flower a cannabis plant. You may have to supplement the natural light with some grow bulbs to get a harvest of any kind.
To get a good harvest, you will definitely need additional lighting.
In addition, if you use natural light only, your plant will adhere to a natural life cycle. That means it will only switch from the vegetative stage to the flowering stage in autumn, once the days are shorter.
As mentioned before, you can avoid this issue by growing an autoflower plant, which will switch to flowering after a specific time, regardless of lighting.
How To Grow Weed On Your Windowsill
So you’ve decided to go ahead and grow cannabis on the windowsill. Here’s what you will need at an absolute minimum, plus a few things to be aware of.
What You Need
These are the things I would get for my grow, at an absolute minimum. Obviously, you may disagree with me about the necessity of buying seeds. If you do not get seeds, just know that you’ll either have to control the lighting schedule in some way, or only harvest in the autumn.
Autoflower Seeds
As mentioned above, unless you are growing at the right time of year so that your plant will switch to flowering naturally in a timely fashion, you’re going to want to grow an autoflower strain.
The other option is to exercise some control over the lighting, but that will likely mean removing the plant from the windowsill, in which case yours is no longer a windowsill grow.
Deep Pot
Your marijuana plant will grow much smaller on a windowsill, because there is no way to fit the size of pot you would need to give the roots enough space. That said, you can increase the space somewhat by getting a deep pot.
A deep pot (i.e. a tall pot) gives the roots a bit of extra room to grow, without making the pot too large to fit on the windowsill. But it still won’t be anywhere near enough space for the roots of the plant to really grow.
Soil With Nutrients
Your cannabis plant needs food and you can either provide it using nutrient solutions or by growing your plant in a nutrient rich soil. The soil is less work, so I recommend that for a windowsill grow.
Additional Tips For Windowsill Cannabis Growing
That’s all you really need to get started growing weed on a windowsill. You may want to add a few fluorescent light bulbs (cheap regular ones are fine and this post will show you what to look for to make sure they will work) or small LEDs to supplement the natural light, especially during flowering.
The additional bulbs will help boost yields, so they are generally worth the small expense.
Another possible issue to be aware of is water evaporation. Many windowsills sit above radiators, meaning water in the soil will evaporate more quickly. Getting a pot with a water reservoir can help insure that your plant always has access to water.
If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comment section below. I read all comments and answer any that ask a question or provide useful information.
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