By RQS Editorial Team


Growing cannabis using the perpetual harvest method means a continuous supply of buds. Doing a perpetual harvest just requires a little more space, some extra gear, and some good timing. Once you get into the flow of things, you will realise just how easy having a steady supply of buds can be.

At its simplest, the perpetual harvest is when one set of plants is harvested in a flowering space, then is replaced immediately by plants that have already completed vegetation in a separate space. The vegetation space is then replenished with freshly sprouted seed stock or clones. Once the timing is mastered, it is possible to ensure a harvest every 8–12 weeks depending on species flowering time.

SEPARATE VEG AND FLOWER

Vegetative and flowering cannabis plants are exposed to different types and amounts of light. With the exception of autoflowers, it is impossible to have infant and mature plants in the same area. The solution is having two separate growing spaces, or a single growing space split into two in some fashion. Two rooms, two grow tents, two cupboards, you get the picture—in perpetual use, one for vegetation and one for flowering.

WHY PERPETUAL HARVEST?

The perpetual harvest experience has two distinct advantages. First and foremost is never running out of weed. With many contemporary hybrids, maturing time is only around 8 weeks. This means a fresh batch of replacement nuggets every two months. Being caught out with no weed and resorting to buying it can be a real bummer and burn a hole in your pocket pretty quickly. So with a little extra effort and good timing, rapid turnover can mean 6 harvests per year.

Second is disaster insurance. If something goes bad in the flowering room and a crop is lost for any reason—such as pathogens like bud or root rot, accidental poisoning from a nutrient or pH mistake, etc.—then there are quick replacements available from the veg space and you don’t have to go right back to the start. Losing a few weeks is tolerable, but losing 10 weeks or more of work is heartbreaking.

Perpetual Harvest Advantatges

OF COURSE IT COSTS MORE, BUT...

There are added costs of course—not doubled though, as plants in the vegetative phase require less of everything to grow well. Smaller pots in a smaller space under weaker lights, like T5s for example, require fewer resources to maintain. But they are still extras, and there will be an increase in power, nutrients, and grow medium costs to consider. The added setup cost with all the hardware balances out in the end when the jars are overflowing, all the time.

It goes without saying that perpetual harvests mean additional time requirements from you, the grower. Maintaining twice as many plants will require your extra attention with each stage. A perpetual vegetation chamber will typically demand regular topping and training, or other actions that promote vigorous growth. But who doesn’t enjoy spending time with their plants?

Whoops, too many buds! Perpetual harvesting can often mean lots of buds leftover when a new harvest is dried and ready. This opens up some exploration doorways into the many uses of cannabis. Extra green can mean that edibles, hash, and any number of extractions become a part of your repertoire.

HOW TO PERPETUAL HARVEST

Create two spaces. By nature, a smaller vegetation space is needed, while a larger flowering space allows plants plenty of room to stretch.

Of course, the size of each space is relative to the room available. A small and a large grow tent are awesome if you have a spare room, but a cupboard with a light-sealed smaller space within it serves the purpose just as well. Configure each chamber appropriately for vegetative or flowering growth.

THE FIRST CROP

The first crop will take a standard amount of time for a veg-to-flower grow, but once the first vegetative cycle is complete, you are in full-swing.

  • Create plants for the vegetation chamber either from seed or clones. When they are appropriately sized, place them into the flower chamber.
  • Immediately prepare more plants—clones or freshly germinated seeds—to refill the vegetation space.
  • After 8 weeks of loving care, the flowers will be ready for harvest again, with replacement plants ready to go.

Perpetual Harvest Method

RESET

Depending on the size of your setup, beginning another cycle can be done in an afternoon.

  • Harvest existing plants in the flower space.
  • Remove pots and clean the area.
  • Fill flower space with the plants from the veg space.
  • Refill vegetation space with new stock from seed or clones.
  • Begin again, and so ad infinitum.

Perpetual harvests need two areas operating simultaneously so fresh plants can be cycled through when they are ready. Try these hints for an efficient setup.

  • During the vegetative phase, plants are smaller and take up far less space and resources. As such, a lower area with less-intense lights than the flowering area will do, such as a raised shelf in a cupboard for the flowering plants to sit on, with the veg chamber below.
  • If separating a space into a two-in-one setup, ensure that each is light-tight from the other. Light pollution during the flowering lights-off period can cause poor flower growth, swap plants back to veg, or stimulate hermaphroditism.
  • Consider a number of smaller plants, rather than only a few big ones. This shortens the vegetative phase while still filling up the grow space with a reasonable canopy.

SETTING UP THE FLOWER SPACE

  • The flowering area must be completely light-proof. Again, light pollution can damage your hard work.
  • Heat and humidity control are equally important, especially in smaller spaces, as is vigorous air circulation. Too hot or too cold can affect proper bud formation, while high humidity and poor air circulation can encourage mould. Get the right gear for your situation and a robust oscillating fan.
  • With cannabis, contemporary high-terpene hybrids in particular, the smell can be very strong. If discretion dictates odour control, then make sure extract fans and carbon filters are all working properly.

Vegetation and Flowering Stage

GETTING THE TIMING RIGHT IS STRAIN-RELATED

Timing is key, and this comes with experience, especially experience with your selected strains. When flowers are harvested, you want ideally sized veg plants to put in the flower space right away. Getting appropriately sized plants at the right time means knowing about strain characteristics. Some might grow so quickly that a full 8 weeks isn’t needed for veg, and the veg chamber can be rested for a while. Some may need the full 8 weeks to get to an acceptable size for the 12/12 flip—it’s a pheno wonderland out there.

Strains with a shorter flowering time are ideal for the perpetual harvest method. Many contemporary strains will mature in 8 weeks, and 8 weeks is enough time to get well-vegged plants. An 8-week harvest also means a refill every two months, which is a lovely turnover.

If you do want to grow longer-maturing sativas like the Hazes, for example, then the harvest frequency drops to 4 per year because of the 12-week flowering time. This also means less time is needed for the vegetation period, and money and time are saved while the veg area rests.

Alternatively, you could change the light schedule to 12/12 in the veg chamber when plants are big enough and give them a flowering head start, moving them over to the flower space already pre-flowered. Then, you can simply change the veg space lights back to 18/12 and prepare a new batch of plants.

EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE

Separate spaces aren’t needed for autoflowering strains, as young or mature plants are all exposed to the same light regimen. So squeezing some infant plants in the spaces between older plants, or around the circumference where light is weaker can give them a head start.

The complete life cycle of many auto strains is only 8–10 weeks, so needing a veg space becomes irrelevant. You can grow from seed to flower in the same amount of time as perpetual harvests. Most contemporary autoflowering varieties have a cannabinoid content in line with photoperiod seed cultivars, so there is no need for concern on quality.

In addition to the quick turnover of autoflowers, there is also another way to speed things up if you’re dealing with feminised photoperiod strains. When seeds are only given 12 hours of light right from germination, they go immediately into flower. The complete vegetative phase is bypassed, resulting in more controlled heights. Flowering from seed also means no veg space, but a number of cannabis species don’t like the treatment very much.

THE PERPETUAL HARVEST ISN’T JUST A PRETTY NAME

With two appropriately kitted out growing spaces, or an equally well-appointed cupboard and some extra hours spent in the grow-op, the perpetual harvest can see any grower with more buds than they need every 8 weeks. It is an ideal way to try a number of different strains in a year, and find ones that suit your setup and suit your mind!

Cookies settings

We are requesting your permission to use your data for the reasons stated below:

Functional cookies

Functional cookies help our website to function optimally and allow us to personalise certain features.

Preference cookies

Preference cookies allow us to remember information that influences the way our website looks, including your preferred language based on your region.

Analytical cookies

Analytical cookies give us insights into website traffic and customer behaviour, including how many people visit our site, how long they browse for, and which parts of our site they visit.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small pieces of data from a particular website that get stored on a user’s computer while they’re surfing the internet. Cookies have several different functions. Some of them track browser activity that enables businesses to deliver targeted advertisements. Other cookies serve to remember user login details to different websites to make jumping on social media, or other sites, a more fluid process. Because each cookie has its own unique ID, these pieces of data allow website owners to measure the unique traffic coming into their site.

Why do we use cookies?

Cookies come in handy when you visit our website. They ensure you stay logged in, that you can shop safely, and that the items you add to your cart stay there before you make a purchase. But cookies also help us. The data they provide allow us to improve our website and enable us to present you with targeted advertisements that are compatible with your interests.

What kind of cookies do we use?

Functional cookies

Functional cookies help our website to function optimally and allow us to personalise certain features.

Preference cookies

Preference cookies allow us to remember information that influences the way our website looks, including your preferred language based on your region.

Analytical cookies

Analytical cookies give us insights into website traffic and customer behaviour, including how many people visit our site, how long they browse for, and which parts of our site they visit.

How can I disable or delete cookies?

Not a fan of cookies? No worries. You can disable them (with the exception of necessary cookies) in your browser settings. However, blocking cookies may impact your browsing experience and prevent you from enjoying all of the technical features of our site.

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: