Indica
Definition: Indica is a cannabis type traced to the mountains of Afghanistan, Pakistan and northern India. Indica-leaning plants grow short and bushy with broad, dark leaflets, finish flowering in roughly 7 to 9 weeks, and produce dense, resinous buds. The label describes plant structure more reliably than it predicts effects.
How Indica works
French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck coined the name Cannabis indica in 1785 for plants collected in India. Today growers use it for a body type: compact plants, 3 to 6 feet (0.9 to 1.8 m) tall, with wide leaflets that often overlap. Those traits evolved in the Hindu Kush, where cold autumns reward plants that finish early and pack resin onto tight buds.
How indicas behave in the grow room
- Height: stretch is modest, often 25 to 50 percent after the switch to 12/12, which suits tents with 5 to 7 feet of headroom.
- Flowering: most finish in 7 to 9 weeks, so outdoor growers in northern states can harvest before October rain and frost.
- Bud structure: chunky, dense flowers. Great for yield, but dense colas need humidity under 50 percent late in flower to avoid bud rot.
What the label does not tell you
Decades of crossing mean very few modern plants are pure indica. Many indica-dominant hybrids carry sativa ancestry, and lab work shows the indica or sativa tag is a weak predictor of chemistry. Indicas are often associated with relaxed, body-centered experiences, but the terpene and cannabinoid profile on a strain’s spec sheet is a better guide than the word on the pack.