What is a sativa plant?
A sativa plant is a type of cannabis plant that is tall, slender and thin-leaved, and usually needs a longer flowering time than an indica. Its effect is normally described as uplifting and more mental.
Sativas originally come from warm areas closer to the equator, such as Southeast Asia, Central America or parts of Africa. There's plenty of light there and long seasons, so the plants had more than enough time to grow tall before flowering.
If the indica is a short, wide bush, the sativa looks more like a small tree: it grows upwards, with long branches, plenty of space between them and narrow-fingered, lighter green leaves.
What a sativa plant is like
- Height: tall, and during the first weeks of flowering it can stretch quite a lot. That sudden growth is called the stretch.
- Leaves: thin, long and light green.
- Buds: longer and somewhat less compact than those of an indica.
- Flowering: usually longer than in indicas. On each product page you'll see the time given by the seed bank.
Are there pure sativas today?
Very few. Almost all the strains on sale are hybrids, meaning mixes of sativa and indica in different proportions. When a product page says "sativa" or "sativa-dominant", it means the plant leans towards that side.
What "sativa" means on a product page
Take it as a practical guide to two things: the type of plant you're going to grow (tall, with longer flowering, needing space) and the type of effect usually associated with it (uplifting, more mental). It isn't a guarantee: every strain and every plant has its own character.
If you have plenty of height, especially outdoors, and a bit of patience, a sativa-dominant strain can be a good choice.
Related terms
Before you grow, check the laws in your country: growing cannabis is not allowed everywhere.
