Lots of Cultivation

What would a person convicted of a large quanity of marijuna plants for cultivation with no priors, in CA, expect as a sentence?

Depends who catches you, the state police or the feds. Under CA law, the sentencing range is 16 months to 3 years, but you would probably get probation, unless maybe you had huge quantities. If the feds catch you with more than 100 plants, the judge has no choice but to sentence you to a minimum mandatory prison sentence of 5 years, 10 years for more than 1,000 plants.