Hello James,
Make sure you grow on your own property and renew your recommendation annually. Keep your papers on hand and near your grow in the event the police request to see them. Please don't partake in "gorilla growing" which causes problems with the natural wildlife and puts local residents in danger. Be responsible and stay legal.
And to answer your question, growing is similar to that of tomatoes.
You need full sun and temperatures in the range of 70-80 degrees F. Lighting needs to be above 14 hours to keep the plant growing in a vegetative state. Indoors, some gardeners set their lighting to 18 hours on and 6 hours off, while others grow with the lights on for 24 hours continuously.
The plant will continue to thrive for years up until the lights are switched to 12 hours on and 12 hours off which forces the plant to begin flowering -- it's a good idea to switch to 12/12 after about a month, but if you want trees then you should wait longer. Harvesting takes place 8-10 weeks after flowering.
After one to two weeks of flowering, you should notice that some plants will be either male or female. The female will look just like you expect them to, while the males will be thin, tall, and covered in round pollen sacks about the size of a pea. If the males pollinate the females, you end up with seeded MJ. On the streets this might be called stress, regs, or swag. Male plants contain little to no THC and are not worth consuming.
MJ growers review their plants daily to catch the first of male traits and destroy them. The females are often cloned from cuttings to keep a continuous grow going. Careful here as your state probably limits the amount of plants you can grow at once.
Feeding is a bit more complex, but not unlike tomatoes. Generally you feed it more nitrogen during vegetation and more phosphorous during flowering.
