Preparing Your Seeds For Spring - Growing In Northern Europe

How And When To Germinate Your Seeds

This is the start of your new project and if you are growing regular, feminized, auto flowering or normal seeds, you will need to start them off the right way. New growers should take extra care when germinating their seeds and the two ways to do this are placing them in a glass of room temperature water and left in the dark, or alternately placed in between sheets of moist tissue paper. The wet paper method is very easy and you will be creating a bed for the seeds to lay on until they begin to split and a white tap root shows itself. The easiest way to do this method is to use two dinner plates and to use a saucer that the wet tissue sits in, however, ensure the tissue is not water logged as the seeds will have difficulty germinating. The second method keeps the seeds constantly wet and in the dark also, which allows the seeds to germinate at the bottom of a glass of water. The seedlings at this stage require no nutrients so plain tap water or bottled water is fine. What is good about this method is that any bad seeds will remain floating on the top of the water surface and will not sink to the bottom after a 24 hour period. [caption id="attachment_4918" align="alignnone" width="500"] Auto-flowering varieties are best suited for the colder Northern European summers.[/caption] Living in Northern Europe means you are experiencing 12 hours of sunlight which is expanding to 15 over the next 3 months. Living in Northern Europe can be challenging and to have long warm days are not so consistent. In countries such as the U.K, Holland, France and Germany, the weather will not be as rewarding as living in Southern Europe, however, with the right strain and the right growing techniques, a good harvest is easily achievable. Your current daytime temps are around 10-15 degrees with cold night time temps and the 12 hours of increasing sunshine may be partially blocked by the cloudy sky.

What Medium Should I Start With And What Pot Size?

Starting the seedlings off in a nutrient rich, organic friendly and microbe charged medium is essential to give them the best possible start in life. It is a good idea to allow plants to grow to a certain size, then to later on transplant into a medium that is designed for the growing and flowering phase. Starting the seedlings off in a 5-litre pot is ideal as this will allow the plants to establish themselves well, also gives you the opportunity to move the plant around depending on where the sun is. My favorite outdoor mix consists of perlite, diatomaceous earth, bat guano, worm humus and coco. Using this combination provides the roots with an abundance of base nutrients, as well as micro and macro nutrients and keeps the microbe count excelling.

What Do I Feed Them?

During the seedling and early growth stage, the plants will require Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium to fully function, however the key nutrient is Nitrogen and Phosphorus. The roots will want Phosphorus to build new structures and also develop branching as the plant grows. Nitrogen is needed to allow greening of the leaves and to promote thick lush growth. Potassium is also needed but in small amounts to work in partnership with calcium. When you are feeding the small plants, create a nutrient solution that is more mild than strong. You want the roots to search for nutrients and push out between feedings. It is also important to allow the grow medium to dry out before top feeding, or bottom feeding depending on which works best for you.

Location And Strains

Selecting the strain to grow in Northern Europe can be limited, or a strain with a shorter flowering time should be considered. Growing out long flowering Sativa strains is almost pointless in certain parts of Europe, so a sturdy Indica is usually the preferred outdoor choice. As the weather is not as hot and dry as other parts of Europe, growers must always be vigilant of the plant's genetics being mould prone later on in flowering. Holland has produced some very good outdoor strains that were designed to suit the wet cloudy climate they have. The UK and Holland are very close so the strains that work well in these countries are usually Skunk and Indica dominant varieties. Considering a poly-tunnel or greenhouse is always a good idea and allows extra heat and warmth as well as keeping neighbors happy and being out of sight. Some strains that I would personally recommend growing out are Northern Lights, Afghan Skunk, Super Skunk, Shiva and Afghan Kush, or any Kush for that matter. The strains all possess the characteristics of medium height and strong side branching with an 8 week flowering time frame. Good Luck getting those babies growing! Peace Out Text: Stoney Tark