Growing a cannabis plant with gorgeous, tasty buds isn’t simple, but with the right guidance, it’s possible. Before cannabis cultivation classes at local colleges were the norm, growing legends turned authors like Ed Rosenthal and Jorge Cervantes were our teachers.
With the advent of legalization, cultivators have gained access to new methods, technology, and book publishers, leading to a surge of updated books on how to grow cannabis. These twenty cannabis cultivation books teach home growers and horticultural entrepreneurs everything from beginner basics to breeding stable genetic lines–read through these new editions and classic collectibles below.
General cannabis cultivation guides
Feminist Weed Farmer: Growing Mindfully in Your Own Backyard by Madrone Stewart
After years of mindfully cultivating cannabis in Humboldt, Madrone Stewart is sharing her methods. The book teaches the reader how to efficiently grow six backyard plants while infusing each chapter with lessons learned as a woman growing weed in a male-dominated field. This delightful take gives a necessary feminist perspective to this list of cannabis cultivation books.
Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower’s Bible by Jorge Cervantes
When I got my first job in cannabis retail in 2011, I read Marijuana Horticulture cover to cover to prepare. It was one of the first educational cannabis books available, informing many of today’s legacy-born cannabis tastemakers. Learn the basics about cannabis cultivation and brush up on hiding your plants from the law in this classic grower’s field guide. Growers will also appreciate the author’s most recent work: The Cannabis Encyclopedia featuring additional lessons learned from a lifetime of cannabis cultivation.
Ed Rosenthal’s Canna Library
The Ed Rosenthal anthology includes seven books that could guide novice growers through their first plant life cycle. Rosenthal is a High Times co-founder and an authority on cannabis horticulture. The Canna Library, which is available in full on his website, includes the Big Book of Buds 3, Beyond Buds Next Generation, Ask Ed: Marijuana Success, Marijuana Garden Saver, Marijuana Harvest, Marijuana Grower’s Handbook, Cannabis Grower’s Handbook, and Everything To Know From Seed To Post-Harvest.
Grow Your Own: Understanding, Cultivating, and Enjoying Marijuana by Nichole Graf, Micah Sherman, David Stein, Liz Crain
Learn to set up your grow space, raise your plants, manage bugs and mold without pesticides, and harvest buds in this beginner-friendly manual for cultivating craft cannabis. This book goes beyond harvesting with recipes and tips for processing flower into delightful consumption methods.
How to Grow Cannabis: Learn Fast How to Become a Successful Marijuana Cultivator by Carlos M. Villalobos (Audiobook)
Listen along with this audiobook as How to Grow Cannabis breaks down a bounty of practical information for growing both indoor and outdoor cannabis plants. From soil ratios, general supply lists, and stress training indoor plants to tackling the job of setting up an outdoor Guerilla garden–How to Grow Cannabis covers it all.
The Cannabis Grow Bible, 4th Edition by Greg Green
By the fourth edition, Greg Green’s books have established space as top-recommended cannabis cultivation texts–both The Cannabis Grow Bible and The Cannabis Breeder’s Bible: The Definitive Guide to Marijuana Genetics, Cannabis Botany and Creating Strains for the Seed Market. Green covers the basics of plant care and hydroponics, information on harvest and curing, and a strain index for indoor and outdoor cultivations. The Grow Bible also features images of frosty cannabis plants and extracts throughout.
True Living Organics: The Ultimate Guide to Growing All-Natural Marijuana Indoors by The Rev (Photographer)
Learn to grow indoor and outdoor cannabis in this cultivation text that helped set the standard for organic cannabis cultivation. The Rev teaches readers composting techniques, effective organic soil amendments, and all they need to know about worm farms. True Living Organics also includes a guide to making organic hashish–a must-have for the organic cannabis farmer.
What’s Wrong with My Marijuana Plant?: A Cannabis Grower’s Visual Guide to Easy Diagnosis and Organic Remedies by David Deardorff and Katherine Wadsworth
Use symptoms to identify pests, diseases, and environmental issues with this field guide and diagnostic system built for cannabis plants. Once identified, What’s Wrong with My Marijuana Plant also includes all-natural methods for fixing problems like rusty spots on leaves or fuzzy sativa sprouts.
Beginner-oriented cultivation books
Growing Marijuana for Beginners: The Beginner Guide to Growing Cannabis: Step by Step Instructions and Tips for Cultivating Medical Marijuana Indoors and Outdoors by Alfonso Garcia (Audiobook)
Those without farming or garden experience will find value in this cannabis cultivation audiobook for beginners. Read up on techniques for growing a quality cannabis plant at home but also learn the history of the plant. Garcia discusses the origins of the plant and how it has been used medicinally throughout history alongside indoor and outdoor cultivation methods.
Cannabis: A beginner’s guide to growing marijuana by Danny Danko
Former High Times editor Danny Danko shares the ins and outs of cannabis cultivation in this instructional manual for growing potent cannabis flower. From sexing plants to pest management, Danko gives a beginner-friendly view of cannabis plant care in this self-proclaimed “pot bible.”
How to Grow Marijuana: From Seed to Harvest – Complete Step by Step Guide for Beginners by Tom Whistler (Audiobook)
Listen along as How to Grow Marijuana covers the life cycle of the plant, from germination suitable for indoor and outdoor cultivation. The book also covers common issues and pests that may arise while growing and takes the reader through harvest. Lastly, learn about the possible medical benefits of cannabis in a step-by-step guide to growing weed.
The Marijuana Grower’s Handbook: Practical Advice from an Expert by Tommy McCarthy
Cultivate, harvest, and prepare hemp plants with step-by-step instructions in The Marijuana Grower’s Handbook. After reading this handbook, a beginner grower will know how to choose seeds, nurture plants, and avoid common mistakes. This book lets you take the guesswork out of the process and enjoy growing cannabis plants.
Growing Cannabis Indoors: Grow Your Own Marijuana Indoors With This Simple and Easy Guide by Chris Jones
This beginner-friendly guide to growing weed is ideal for someone starting from scratch. Growing Cannabis Indoors details how to select seeds, what supplies to consider when setting up a cultivation room, and threats to plants to consider before setting up a space. The guide walks readers through growing, pruning, and harvesting plants. This is an ideal cannabis grow book for home growers that don’t know where to start.
Collectible cannabis cultivation books
Growing Extraordinary Marijuana by Adam Gottlieb, cover and illustrations by Larry Todd
Growing Extraordinary Marijuana was published in 1975 and would make a great coffee table book for the cannabis enthusiast. The intro of the classic gave us the often repeated line: “Marijuana is a weed. There is nothing more to making it grow than putting the seed in the right place at the right time.”
Cultivator’s Handbook of Marijuana by Drake
Another classic on the list, the Cultivator’s Handbook, was published in 1970 and details indoor and outdoor cultivation methods from that time. The book is filled with illustrations and horticultural knowledge alongside valuable information on the role of light in cultivation and even delves into the cultivation of psychoactive tobacco. Collectors and connoisseurs will appreciate the age of this text, but it’s also valuable for growing advice.
Books on breeding cannabis plants
Cannabis Breeding: Basic to Advanced Marijuana Propagation by James Loud
Create unique, stable genetic lines of cannabis with the help of Loud’s Cannabis Breeding. Explore the origins of the plant, its genetic history, and how the culture around the plant has evolved. The text also serves as an accessible touchpoint on the theory, practice, and advancements in cannabis breeding technology, from pheno-hunting to tissue culture. Learn how to stabilize a genetic line with this must-have cannabis breeding book.
Marijuana Botany: An Advanced Study: The Propagation and Breeding of Distinctive Cannabis by Robert Connell Clarke
This science-based text provides methods for preserving and modifying classic cannabis genetics. Clarke shares practical horticultural applications for breeding and propagating tailored to anyone interested in cannabis–from a beginner to a botanist.
Science and tech-based cannabis cultivation books
The CCI Book
Those looking for indoor grow guidance will appreciate The CCI Book, which gives readers step-by-step lessons on growing cannabis in a data-driven, automated environment. The book is a field guide for home and commercial growers with tips on maximizing yields using lighting like LEDs and HPS or mediums like rockwool and coco.
Marijuana Horticulture Fundamentals: A Comprehensive Guide to Cannabis Cultivation and Hashish Production by K of Trichome Technologies
Trichome Technologies’ founder K, aka Kenneth Morrow, wrote this book documenting his cannabis cultivation methods. The cultivation expert shares tips and tricks earned from decades of cannabis cultivation and adds information on making sparkling hash. Optimize an established setup or start from scratch using Marijuana Horticulture as your guide.
Guidelines for cannabis cultivation on a industrial scale and self-cultivation by Pharmacology University Narrated by Sandra Loaiza (Audiobook)
Look at cannabis cultivation as a business with Guidelines for cannabis cultivation covering growing techniques alongside business strategy and planning methods. Listen to this audiobook for large-scale growing ideas taken from large-scale plantation growing methods that aim to maximize yields.
These twenty cannabis cultivation books contain all the information beginners, enthusiasts, and experts would need to grow weed. Once you harvest and process your flower check out our library of 20 Cannabis cookbooks to inspire you in the kitchen.