By Luke Sumpter


Weed season. You need to get acquainted with those two words if you hope to achieve good results growing cannabis outdoors. You can’t expect to just throw seeds into the soil at any time of year and reap good results. Use this article as a basis for getting to know your local environment, so you can achieve bumper crops year after year.

What Is "Weed Season"?

Weed season refers to a window of time in which growers can successfully cultivate cannabis plants outdoors. Indoor growers all over the world can happily sow, grow, and harvest crop after crop, regardless of the time of year. In contrast, those that prefer sun-grown buds need to plan, and act in synergy with the cycles of nature. Abiding by the weed season isn’t dissimilar to other forms of horticulture. Gardeners that grow annual vegetables are also limited to sowing seeds and transplanting seedlings as the spring swings around, ultimately harvesting the last substantial crops of the season when the first autumnal frosts arrive.

  • Northern Hemisphere

The weed season calendar fluctuates depending on the region. In the Northern Hemisphere, the vernal equinox occurs in late March, marking the beginning of spring and longer days ahead. While it remains too cold to move cannabis seedlings outdoors at this point, many growers opt to kickstart the season indoors using grow lights. Depending on the last frost date of each region, growers typically transplant outdoors from April to late May. The weed season lasts 6–8 months in total and comes to an end with the first frosts in late September or October.

  • Southern Hemisphere

Things are a little different in the Southern Hemisphere, where the seasons are practically the polar opposite. Here, the weed season commences around September (early spring) and runs through to February (late summer) and March (early autumn).

What Is Weed Season?
  • Tropical Regions

But global weed seasons aren’t binary. Individuals growing weed near the equator can do so year round. Here, the daytime period lasts for around 12 hours, regardless of the season. The warm and humid climates at this latitude enable gardeners to cultivate all sorts of plants with little effort.

However, cannabis can pose a unique challenge. Photoperiod cannabis strains are thought to have originated in East Asia. In this region, the plant had to adhere to seasonal cues in order to vegetate, flower, and reproduce before the onset of deadly frosts. Therefore, it developed the habit of initiating flowering as seasonal daylight hours dwindle. Indoors, a light cycle of 12 hours on and 12 hours off—a pattern that mimics the light available around the autumn equinox—forces weed plants to flower.

Because daylight hours are permanently within this range in the tropics, photoperiod plants flower within a matter of weeks following germination. However, mutations have arisen in equatorial cannabis varieties that cause them to begin flowering according to different cues, making them different from both photoperiod and autoflowering cultivars.

  • The Role of Elevation

Finally, elevation always plays a big role in the weed growing season, regardless of latitude. Growing seasons are shorter at higher elevations, as the frosts dissipate later and arrive earlier in the season. Autoflowering and fast-flowering plants are therefore better suited to such areas.


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Is Cannabis Annual, Biennial, or Perennial?

If you’re an avid grower, you’ve likely come across the terms annual, biennial, and perennial. These are very important distinctions when it comes to growing a particular crop, and gardeners take wildly different approaches depending on the category. Let’s explore these labels in a bit more depth:

  • Annual: Cannabis autumns into this category. As the name suggests, annual plants live out their entire life cycle—from germination to flowering and seed production—over a single growing season. The survival of new seeds over the winter ensures the survival of genetic lines. Other popular annual crops include tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash.
  • Biennial: These plants require two seasons to grow and set seed. Several varieties of onion, leek, cabbage, and carrot vegetate during the first season, overwinter, and then set seed the following spring.
  • Perennial: These plants persist over many growing seasons. Typically, the upper portions of perennial plants die back every winter, before plants rebound come spring. Many perennial species keep their leaves year-round. Examples of perennial plants include forms of kale, grapes, berry bushes, and fruit trees.

Although genetics holds significant sway over the seasonal growing characteristics of plants, the environment also influences their life cycle. For example, biennial plants grown in warmer regions with a long growing season can live out their entire life cycle in a single season, making them annuals based on environmental factors.

Is Cannabis Annual, Biennial, or Perennial?

Understanding Photoperiod

Photoperiod refers to the recurring cycle of light and dark periods that plants are exposed to. As mentioned above, many cannabis strains are sensitive to light exposure, and will progress from vegetation into flowering as available light dwindles.

As such, growers of photoperiod strains need to get well-acquainted with their home climate. Cultivators must sow seeds early enough to allow their plants to reach the desired size before the hours of light decrease in late summer. Starting seeds indoors gives plants the best chance of survival, especially if they have an overall shorter growing season. Even after flowering commences, sativa strains typically take much longer to mature, and therefore need a longer growing season than their indica counterparts.

For those living in extreme latitudes, most photoperiod strains can’t outpace the changing of the seasons. Luckily, a specific type of cannabis evolved to deal with this exact dilemma. Autoflower strains stem from a subspecies of cannabis known as ruderalis. This type evolved in northern latitudes and mutated to adapt to these conditions.

Instead of relying on photoperiod, ruderalis cannabis blooms based on an internal clock. Plants typically enter the flowering stage several weeks after germination, once they've developed 5–7 nodes. Because autos have a brief life cycle of 8–12 weeks, they are an ideal choice for growers in cooler climates with short weed seasons.

Weed Season Grow Calendar

No matter where you live, each period of the weed season correlates to different stages of the growing cycle. Those with longer growing seasons have more room to play around, especially when it comes to starting earlier, but the calendars still mostly overlap. Below, we’ll take a brief look at which phase of growth matches with which time of year, with a focus on the Northern Hemisphere.

  • Early spring (germination)

The outdoor growing season often starts indoors in the Northern Hemisphere, usually in late March. More controlled temperature and humidity settings allows for more successful germination and seedling survival rates. Most growers keep their seedlings indoors under artificial lights until they gain some mass, and to prevent them from falling victim to lethal late frosts.

Weed Season Grow Calendar
  • Late spring (transplant)

Once the risk of frost has truly passed (usually by early May), growers start to move their young plants outdoors. A period of "hardening" allows plants to acclimate to their new environment smoothly. This essentially involves keeping plants outdoors for increasingly longer intervals each day until there's no risk of them dying or dealing with excessive shock. If you have a greenhouse or polytunnel, you can transplant into that instead, and maintain the speed of growth while protecting plants from adverse weather.

Weed Season Grow Calendar
  • Early summer (vegetation / autos finish)

Many auto varieties will be nearing the end of their life cycle during the months of June and July. Meanwhile, photoperiod growers will be pruning and training their vegetating plants to shape the canopy and increase future bud sites.

Weed Season Grow Calendar
  • Late summer (late veg and early flowering)

Continued feeding, watering, and training is performed throughout this period. Plants will put on significant size, and the gradual decrease in photoperiod in August will create physiological changes within plants that prompt them to begin flowering.

Weed Season Grow Calendar
  • Early autumn (flowering and harvest)

At this point, cultivators switch to flowering nutrients and aim to reduce humidity in greenhouses using adequate ventilation. Outdoor plants, being exposed to UV rays, usually crank out enhanced concentrations of terpenes and cannabinoids to protect themselves. Indica-dominant varieties will reach the end of the flowering stage during early autumn (mid/late September); taller sativa types will need slightly more time to mature. Growers will then flush their plants, harvest, and process their flowers.

Weed Season Grow Calendar

Why Do Cannabis Strains Mature at Different Rates?

Cannabis varieties mature at different speeds for a number of reasons. Genetics plays the biggest role here. Autoflowering plants cross the finish line first due to mutations that force them to flower based on age, whereas photoperiod cultivars grown in areas with long weed seasons take weeks, if not months, longer to reach harvest. Within the photoperiod cannabis category, indica-dominant varieties tend to finish flowering several weeks before sativa-dominant types.

The environment also plays a role when it comes to the rate of maturity. For instance, growing photoperiod strains close to the equator will result in early flowering and quicker harvests, but also reduced yields. Moreover, techniques such as light deprivation can be used to initiate flowering earlier if desired.

Use Our Seedfinder to Find Perfect Plants for Your Environment

There’s a lot to consider when growing weed outdoors, but the environment should be a main focus. How long does your growing season last? How much rain do you get late in the summer? Do you experience late frosts in spring and early frosts in autumn? Luckily, breeders have worked hard over the years to produce cultivars that perform well in specific environments, from cold, rainy climates to the hot and dry.

To make life easier for you, we developed our cannabis seedfinder to help you narrow down your search based on numerous factors, including growing conditions such as flowering time.

Video id: 706484416

How the Weed Season Affects the Entire Cannabis Industry

As you can imagine, the weed season affects more than just home growers, sending ripples out into the industry as a whole, especially in legal countries and states. The demand for organic, sun-grown weed has skyrocketed, and consumers are drawn to the idea of buds with enhanced secondary metabolite production fuelled by the sun's rays. However, the supply waxes and wanes based on nature’s rhythms.

Dispensary shelves become fully stocked with sun-grown weed during the autumn, and the supply generally manages to stay replenished throughout the winter. But availability begins to plummet during late winter and early spring; during this time, indoor-grown cannabis dominates.

Sun-grown bud remains a rarity throughout the spring, until the first bumper crops from auto plants start flooding in again during early summer. Finally, the bulk supply from photoperiod strains arrives in shops following the end of the season.

How to Plan Ahead as an Outdoor Weed Grower

Why should you spend time thinking about the weed season as a grower? Because it will dictate practically your entire grow! Get to know your climate, frost dates, which companion plants thrive in your region, and which strains are most compatible.

Also, recognise that the work doesn’t stop after harvest. There are many things you can do to optimise your growing space, such as adding compost to beds and mulching them for the best start next season. Many growers also sow cover crops over the summer to keep roots in the ground during winter—a strategy that provides food for microbes and keeps your soil alive. Come spring, you can cut down these plants and incorporate them into the soil as green manure. Now that you’re familiar with the weed season as a whole, begin studying your climate, and watch your plants reward your efforts.

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: