Amateur cannabis grower Alex Robinson was so successful that the six-foot high plants he grew would have yielded 2.2 kilograms of the drug.
Burnley Crown Court was told Robinson had a sophisticated set up in an upstairs room at his rented home in Bath Street, Nelson.
He told the court he smoked between 20 and 30 spliffs a day for the pain in his back, knees and ankles, and that he decided to grow his own cannabis, never believing he would be so successful.
He said he had been addicted to cannabis for many years but wanted to come off the drug and, that once he had harvested his one crop he had intended to sell the equipment.
He was given a community order with 12 months’ probation supervision and ordered to pay £350 costs.
Mr Recorder Philip Parry confiscated the cannabis and equipment.