Short answer
A healthy indoor photoperiod cannabis plant usually yields 1 to 5 ounces (30 to 150 grams) of dried flower. Outdoor plants with a full season often hit 4 to 16 ounces (100 to 450 grams). Autoflowers land lower, typically 0.5 to 3 ounces (15 to 90 grams). Those ranges are wide because light, vegetative time, container size, and genetics matter more than the plant count on a label.
Why yield per plant is a slippery number
Two growers can run the same clone and get a fourfold difference in dried flower per plant. One vegged for four weeks in a 3-gallon pot under 200 watts. The other vegged for eight weeks in a 10-gallon pot under 600 watts. Same genetics, very different result.
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Per-plant yield also depends on how you count. Wet weight, dry weight, trimmed flower, and total biomass including stems and leaves are all different numbers. Most breeder claims refer to dried, trimmed flower from a plant given ideal conditions. Treat them as a ceiling, not a promise.
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Indoor yield per plant: realistic ranges
For photoperiod plants in a tent or room, expect roughly:
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- Small setup, 2 to 4 week veg, 2 to 3 gallon pot: 0.5 to 1.5 ounces per plant.
- Standard setup, 4 to 6 week veg, 5 to 7 gallon pot: 1.5 to 3 ounces per plant.
- Long veg, 8 weeks or more, 10 gallon or larger pot, training: 3 to 6 ounces per plant.
Light is the biggest lever. Modern LEDs at 30 to 40 watts per square foot, with a daily light integral around 30 to 40 mol/m²/day, push plants toward the higher end. Weak light caps yield no matter how long you veg.
Outdoor yield per plant: sun and root space
Outdoor photoperiod plants can get huge. A plant started indoors in spring and moved outside after the last frost, in 30 gallons of soil or more, often yields 4 to 16 ounces. In long-season climates with good sun, some plants exceed a pound. Autoflowers outdoors usually give 1 to 4 ounces because they finish before they can build a large canopy.
Outdoor yield swings more than indoor yield. Rain, wind, pests, and early cold snaps can cut a crop in half. Root space matters too. A plant in a 5-gallon pot outdoors will not match the same genetics in native soil.
Autoflowers and the convenience trade-off
Autoflowers are the clearest example of convenience changing the yield math. They skip the light schedule, finish fast, and fit small spaces. The trade-off is a lower yield per plant, often half or less of what a photoperiod plant gives in the same footprint over a longer cycle.
But per-plant yield is not the whole story. If an autoflower finishes in 10 weeks and a photoperiod plant takes 16, you can run more cycles per year. Convenience, cycle time, and low maintenance can beat a higher single-plant number for a home grower.
What actually moves the number
- Daily light integral. More light, up to a point, means more flower. Research in Frontiers in Plant Science found yield climbing as DLI rose from about 10 to 28 mol/m²/day.
- Vegetative time. Every extra week of veg adds nodes and potential bud sites. This is the simplest yield dial indoors.
- Canopy training. Low-stress training, topping, and SCROG spread light across more bud sites instead of one tall cola.
- Container size. Root volume limits how big the plant can get. Going from 3 to 7 gallons often adds an ounce or more.
- Environment. Temperature, humidity, and vapor pressure deficit affect stomata and growth. Keeping VPD in range for each stage helps.
- Genetics. Some cultivars are bred for bulk, others for resin. A high-yield strain in bad conditions still yields poorly.
Better metrics than yield per plant
Yield per plant tells you little about efficiency. Grams per watt shows how well your light converts electricity into flower. Grams per square foot shows how well you use the floor. Yield per cycle combines both and accounts for how long the plant occupied the space.
A room that produces 1.5 grams per watt with 600 watts is doing better than a room that produces 1 gram per watt with 1,000 watts, even if individual plants look larger. Most commercial operations plan in grams per square foot per cycle, not per plant.
Bottom line
Expect 1 to 5 ounces per indoor photoperiod plant, 4 to 16 ounces outdoors, and 0.5 to 3 ounces from autoflowers. Then look past the single plant. Light, veg time, root space, and cycle length shape the real number. Convenience often wins for home growers, but it comes with a different yield curve.