Is growing cannabis in cold weather possible? Today, we’ll address a common concern among cannabis growers in warm and cold climates.
People in the world’s coldest regions ask if they can share in the excitement of cannabis cultivation. They wonder if the climate in their areas is conducive to growing cannabis in cold weather.
Cannabis was discovered for the first time in Asia’s Hindu Kush highlands. The Indica variety originated in this region and is believed to flourish best in cold climates.
Cannabis can be grown in the winter. Growing cannabis in cold weather is necessary and feasible, but it may also provide some advantages that tropical climates do not.
Yes, cultivating cannabis in cold climates has many difficulties, but it is still doable. You can implement it to a large extent if you plan well and thoroughly.
This post will cover the fundamentals and recommendations for producing cannabis in cold climates, both indoors and outdoors.
Basics on growing cannabis in cold weather indoors
Suppose the weather circumstances aren’t ideal for outdoor gardening. In that case, indoor cultivation is the superior option because cannabis producers can regulate the cases their plants are exposed to from within the growing environment when they grow indoors.
Furthermore, indoor growing allows cannabis growers to dodge the severity of mother nature, which can be unpredictable.
If the temperature is generally chilly, there are several concerns and measures to put in place for indoor cultivation.
If you have your grow room on a concrete floor, the floor will quickly drain heat from your plants’ root space. This means that the temperature in your grow chamber will decrease dramatically due to the cold outside.
The growth of your plants will slow down when the temperature is low. Your weed will be of low quality even when it grows and eventually enters the flowering stage because freezing temperatures in the grow environment limit nutrient intake by the plants. You won’t get a lot of edible buds or blossoms either.
Pay attention to the grow room of choice if you want to grow cannabis in cold weather indoors. There shouldn’t be too many external walls in the room.
Too many outside walls allow temperatures to drop lower than needed when plants are not exposed to light, or the lights are turned off. As a result, many indoor cannabis growers in cold climates prefer to grow auto-flowering seeds during the winter months.
To reach the blooming stage, these auto-flowering seeds don’t need to be exposed to light for particular hours.
The grow light maintains the grow chamber warm or at a comfortable temperature after 20 hours of daylight. However, it is essential to note that the best grow lights do not produce heat.
The older HPS lights are the ones that produce a lot of heat. However, these are less effective when producing the light required for cannabis cultivation. So, go for the least of two evils.
After carefully following the above instructions and learning the other fundamentals of indoor cultivation, the rest should be simple. So, with prudence and innovation, the indoor growth of cannabis in cold weather is achievable.
1.Choose the best lighting for your grow room.
If you’re growing cannabis in a chilly climate, you’ll want to be cautious while selecting and installing grow room lighting.
Growers commonly use LED lights since they are more durable. Aging HPS lights, on the other hand, are the greatest solution for growers of cannabis in colder weather.
When growing cannabis in cold weather, these have an advantage because they produce a lot of heat, which is what you want to keep the plants warm and happy.
Excessive heat is considered a concern and a hazard to cannabis plants in normal circumstances. In frigid climates with freezing grow rooms and equally cold external walls.
However, an HPS lamp is preferred because it lights your grow space while keeping your plants warm. However, exercise caution to avoid overheating and heat stress. When the HPS lights are turned off, keep the grow area at ambient temperature.
2. Look out for cold-resistant strains of cannabis.
Growing tropical strains of cannabis in cold weather is a recipe for catastrophe, and you’ll almost certainly lose money.
Instead, conduct your study and choose cannabis strains that have been deliberately cultivated over many years to tolerate cold and freezing temperatures.
It is preferable to use Indica strains over tropical Sativas. This is because indica strains originate from frigid climates. Indicas also have short blooming cycles, perfect for summers with short days and winters with long nights.
Growing cannabis in cold weather outdoors and getting decent results is practically complicated unless you live in a country near the equator with relatively moderate winters.
However, if the winter comes close to the desired time of your harvest, you could opt for auto-flowering strains.
One hundred days after germination, these seeds are generally ready to harvest. This implies you can grow them indoors or outdoors throughout the short summers.
3. Maintain a consistent and favorable temperature
In chilly places, temperature swings from a high during the day to a low at night are dramatic. These alterations can have a significant impact on the growth of cannabis plants.
As a result, gardeners should look for strategies to reduce temperature fluctuations and maintain a consistent temperature. Cannabis plants slow down their development when temperatures drop below 15 degrees Celsius.
In indoor growth, controlling the temperature of your grow area is simple. Installing air conditioning and fans, as well as sufficient ventilation, should suffice.
Your grow room or area should be foolproof to avoid the outside temperature interfering with your setup temperature.
Electrically heated indoor growers can install mats to provide additional heating and warmth. A thermometer is used to keep track of the temperature. Controlling temperature levels is more difficult for outdoor producers in cold climates.
When it comes to outdoor growth, twenty-three degrees Celsius is the perfect temperature for cannabis. Heat stress will occur at temperatures above thirty degrees, while temperatures below twelve degrees will inhibit the growth of your plants.
It’s good for outdoor producers in chilly places to look up the last day of spring frost in their area. It is best to sow your cannabis seeds outside after the last frost.
Other outdoor growers prefer to germinate the plants indoors, where they may be kept warm and safe until the final frost has passed. Before being permanently planted in the outdoor grow area, the plants are gradually acclimatized to the cold climate for a few hours during the day.
It’s not easy to grow cannabis in cold weather outdoor. Outdoor producers are encouraged to use fast flowering strains or kinds to ease the already tricky journey and avoid worrying about the cold season.
According to the recommendations above, the best results combine indoor and outdoor cultivation. A polytunnel or greenhouse is another technique to get the most out of cultivating cannabis in chilly climates.
A greenhouse or polytunnel shields seedlings that are still fragile from the elements in frigid climates. Greenhouses and polytunnels safeguard your buds from the late-season weather after flowering. If stable temperature levels are maintained, plants will benefit from improved health, growth, yield, and potency. Cannabis may be grown in cold climates with a suitable greenhouse, supplemental lighting, and heat. Lighting and heat increase productivity, resulting in higher yields. . You can learn more about growing cannabis in a greenhouse.
Keep in mind that frost kills blooms and causes mold and rotting. Even a severe frost can kill the entire plant. If you reside in a cold climate and want to start cultivating cannabis, seek autoflower seeds or seeds that enter the flowering stage early. You can also go for outdoor feminized seeds with an early flowering photoperiod.
4. Control humidity levels at all time
Any grower must keep track of the humidity levels in their growing environment. It is considerably more critical to locate those cultivating cannabis in cold weather.
For outdoor producers, humidity management is impossible. You have no control over your plants’ conditions when growing outside because you rely on nature. A good out-grower must be aware of seasonal changes and incorporate them into his strategy.
Indoor growing, on the other hand, is very much conceivable. High humidity levels in your plants cause mold and bud rot.
Dew frequently collects on outdoor blossoms of cannabis in cold temperatures, causing botrytis, mold, and bud rot. Bud rot is one of the reasons why many outdoor producers in chilly climates seek appropriate grow locations with sufficient morning sun. The light causes the dew to evaporate, which reduces the risk of rot and mold.
Using a hygrometer, keep track of the humidity levels in your growing space.
5. Proper nutrient management
One of the most crucial features of cannabis cultivation is this. Growers sometimes over-supply or under-supply their cannabis with nutrients.
Growers should aim to keep their plants in a nutrient sweet spot, avoiding overfeeding or underfeeding. However, because this skill improves with practice, expect to fail until you have the necessary understanding.
It’s worth noting that the air tends to be quite dry in locations with a cool or frigid environment; thus, cannabis plants have higher water and nutrient intake through the roots to compensate. This means that nutrient-rich soil causes nutrient burn in plants, which may be recognized by looking at the tips of the leaves.
The plant will struggle to absorb nutrients, notably required phosphorus, when temperatures are below freezing, 10 degrees, and below. When this happens, the plant enters a state known as a nutrient lockup.
Nutrient lockout occurs when the critical nutrients that cannabis plants require to thrive are present, but the plant cannot absorb them due to various causes.
Chilly temperatures influence them. If the situation worsens and the roots of the plants are closely monitored, the root system.
To get the best results, outdoor growers of cannabis in cold weather should utilize specially bred seeds designed for the outdoors.
But first and foremost, you must pay attention to the health of your cannabis tap root system. The roots of cannabis plants cultivated in pots or containers can get very cold, especially in late weather extremes.
Plants grown in soil cannot be transported. Still, the ground can provide far more warmth to the root system than those cultivated in a container or hydroponics. For outdoor growers in these chilly climates, choose a place with all-day sunlight. This warms the soil, stored for use at night when temperatures drop dramatically.
Cannabis plants’ roots can’t grow as quickly as they should when exposed to and exposed to the cold for an extended period; the growth rate will be significantly slowed. Indoor growers on cold concrete floors will also experience the same issues with grow pots, containers, or hydroponics.
6. Time your grow period with caution and accuracy
Growers of cannabis in cold weather must evaluate the timing of their crops regarding expected temperature levels.
Some farmers avoid growing in the summer because of the challenges connected with the season, such as heat stress. As a result, if you want to avoid the cold winter season’s problems, choose to develop before or after the season has passed.
You can also choose to plant during the winter if you are concerned about dealing with the high summer temperatures, which is especially important for outdoor planters.
Instead of risking an outdoor photoperiod, you could choose to plant auto-flowering seeds over the summer to avoid the concerns connected with the winter.
7. Do your research and learn to watch out for your plants’ warning signs.
Even if the standards above and fundamentals are followed, cold temperatures are harsh, and plants may be unable to adapt entirely or partially. As a result, it’s critical to pay attention to the indicators that your plant is failing and requesting assistance.
The following are signs that your cannabis plants struggle with the cold weather.
- The plants’ leaves start to curl inwards or outwards.
- The leaves start to turn yellow earlier and faster than usual.
- Growth gradually slows down or ceases altogether.
- Leaves may brown and drop off, and the stalks which connect leaves to the stem may also turn brown.
Knowing that your plant is in danger and suffering from a cold should provide you with the opportunity to study the signals and avoid repeating the same mistake.
8. Swap your light and dark cycles
If you’re growing cannabis indoors, you should consider keeping the lights on after the sun goes down and the temps drop dramatically to give your plants a better chance of survival. When you do this, the lights will be switched off until the daylight, when the temperatures are generally warmer. This, in turn, aids in the maintenance of a more stable temperature and the avoidance of extreme temperature swings. This will boost the health of your plants and the quality of your buds.
9. Try force-flowering your cannabis plants.
If you want to grow feminized photoperiod seeds in an outdoor setting using a greenhouse, you might discover that greenhouse blackout shutters can help.
What is a blackout blind?
When a grower uses a blackout blind, he can manage the light cycle that his plants are exposed to. It forces plants to flower in 12/12 light conditions, even when the sun shines brightly.
The use of a blackout blind allows a grower to begin 12/12 bloom or growth conditions in the early days of summer. It’s an excellent method to escape the coldest weather later in the season.
Another advantage of force flowering is that you can choose or select other higher-yielding and better cannabis strains that would not be fully mature in cold temperatures if allowed to blossom naturally.
The best strains to grow cannabis in cold weather
Frisian Dew
This is one of the most popular outdoor cannabis cultivars, with thousands of repeat producers. It thrives in Denmark and the United Kingdom and is ready to harvest in October.
Read more about this strain here.
Auto Mazar (Afghani Kush)
This cannabis strain is exceptionally hardy. It takes about 100 days in the open air from sowing to harvest. When fully grown, this strain can reach 75 to 100cm. It is, however, recommended that this variety be germinated indoors first before being planted outside. This protects your plants from extreme cold, pests, and diseases when most vulnerable.
Read more about this strain here.
Hollands Hope
This is a high-yielding indica with high THC content and is mold resistant. It is a dependable photoperiod strain frequently grown outdoors in the Netherlands. It has also been shown to be cold resistant for decades.
Read more about this strain here.
Auto Duck
This is a strain that thrives in the great outdoors. It’s an auto-flowering seed that thrives in colder locations with shorter summers. From planting to harvest, it takes about 100 days. Another unusual feature of this strain is that it grows with a stabilized deformity. This implies it has a natural camouflage, and you can walk right past it without realizing its cannabis. It’s ideal for cold-climate stealth gardeners.
Read more about this strain here.
Durban Poison
This is a photoperiod seed with a high THC concentration and a good reputation among cold-weather outdoor producers. This strain’s plants can reach a height of roughly 2 meters and are ready to harvest in the early autumn. It is cold-resistant, durable, and robust, with firm buds and high yield potential.
Read more about this strain here.
Specializing in specifically built High Altitude Cannabis strains is another successful method employed by cannabis growers in cold climates. These were bred at high altitudes to withstand the frigid conditions. As a result, they are well acclimated to cold weather and can withstand cool night temperatures.