# How do I reveg a plant after harvest?

> To reveg a photoperiod cannabis plant after harvest, leave the lower branches with some leaves and small buds, put it back on 18/6 or 24/0, feed lightly and wait. Expect 2–6 weeks of rounded, single-bladed leaves before normal growth returns. Success varies: stripped, very late or autoflower plants usually fail. Clone the new shoots as soon as they look normal.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/answers/how-to-reveg-a-plant.html
- Topic: Cloning and mother plants · Type: How-to
- Evidence: Grower practice · Status: Draft: awaiting expert review
- Full article: [Photoperiod and light leaks: 18/6, 12/12 and the dark period](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/environment/photoperiod-light-leaks.md)
- Also asked as: How do I reveg a cannabis plant? | Revegging after harvest | How do I put a plant back into veg? | How long does reveg take?
- Updated: 2026-10-31 · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay Knowledge Base (genetixbay.com/knowledge)"

## Short answer

Harvest the top, leave the lower branches with leaves and small buds, put the plant back on [18/6](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/18-6.md) or [24/0](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/24-0.md), feed lightly and wait 2–6 weeks for normal leaves to return. [Photoperiod plants](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/photoperiod.md) only; success varies by cultivar and condition. *Grower practice*.

## Why

Photoperiod cannabis flowers when nights are long and stays vegetative when they are short [1]. Remove the long night and the plant's flowering signal goes with it.

Even brief light in the night keeps cannabis vegetative; commercial growers use a night break to hold [mothers](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/mother-plant.md) in veg [2]. Continuous or long days do the same job more firmly.

The plant needs something to regrow from. New shoots come from remaining buds and nodes, and leaves supply the energy. A plant stripped bare has little left to work with.

Reversion is slow and messy. The first leaves are rounded or single-bladed, a typical sign of [re-veg](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/re-veg.md), before normal leaves return.

## The numbers

| Item | Target |
|---|---|
| Light | 18/6 or 24/0 (24/0 endorsed for veg) |
| Intensity | Low end of veg, around 300 [µmol/m²/s](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/ppfd.md) |
| Leave on plant | Lower branches, some leaves, small buds |
| Time to normal leaves | 2–6 weeks |
| Feed | Light veg feed, about half strength |
| Night darkness | Not needed; avoid long nights |

## What to do

1. At harvest, leave a few lower branches with green leaves and some small buds.
2. Move the plant to 18/6 or 24/0 straight away.
3. Water and feed lightly; refresh the medium or pot down if roots are tired.
4. Wait for new shoots with normal, serrated leaves.
5. Take cuttings from that new growth and root them; they are easier to keep than the old plant.

## Common mistakes

- Stripping every leaf at harvest.
- Leaving it in a dim corner on [12/12](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/12-12.md) "to rest".
- Over-feeding a plant with few leaves.
- Trying to reveg an [autoflower](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/autoflower.md).

## Related

- Full article: [Photoperiod and light leaks](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/environment/photoperiod-light-leaks.md)
- [Can I clone a flowering plant?](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/answers/can-i-clone-a-flowering-plant.md) · [Single-finger leaves](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/answers/single-finger-leaves-reveg.md)
- [Selection and pheno hunting](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/selection-pheno-hunting.md)
- Terms: [re-veg](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/re-veg.md) · [24/0](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/24-0.md)

## Follow-up questions

**How long does it take to reveg a plant?** Revegging a harvested photoperiod cannabis plant usually takes 2–6 weeks under 18/6 or 24/0. The first new growth is odd: small, rounded, smooth-edged or single-bladed leaves, often in clusters. Normal serrated, multi-fingered leaves return gradually. Plants harvested very late, stripped of all leaves or kept in a stressed root zone can take longer or never recover.

**Can you reveg an autoflower?** Not reliably. Autoflowers are day-neutral, so long days don't switch them back to vegetative growth the way they do a photoperiod plant. A harvested auto has usually finished its life cycle and declines. If you want to keep an autoflower's genetics, the realistic route is seed: pollinate it or make crosses, rather than trying to reveg it.

**Is it better to reveg or keep a clone?** Keeping a clone is far better than revegging. Take one or two cuttings from every candidate plant before the flip and hold them on long days; once you've harvested and judged the plants, keep the clones of the keepers and bin the rest. Revegging is a rescue for when you forgot, and it is slower, less reliable and harder on the plant.

## Sources

1. Zhang M, Anderson SL, Brym ZT, Pearson BJ, 2021. Photoperiodic flowering response of essential oil, grain, and fiber hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) cultivars. Frontiers in Plant Science 12:694153. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2021.694153
2. Examining the night break method in Cannabis sativa horticulture: vegetative daily light integral affects yield of extractable biomass, 2025. Plants 14(19):3095. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12525983/