How Do I Grow Outdoor in Northern Countries?

Smokin Moose

Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex Moderator
Here are a few tips to help people growing in northern countries (Canada & Alaska for example). The biggest problem (in northern climes) is frost;
frost during the spring can damage growing shoots on young plants and seedlings in the spring, and fall/winter frosts can cause problems during harvest. In summary, frost shortens the period of time we have to grow.

Here is how you can grow in a short season location, and still get huge yields:

1. Start your plants indoors

Fluorescent lights will do a great job and are very cheap. If you start the plants in late March, you can easily have mature plants (at about 1 or 2 feet tall) for the beginning of June. If you top them , you\'ll have small bushes to plant. Plant during June, there is no more risk of late frost and the vegetation will already have started to grow, making your plants more stealth and less tempting for deer (or other animals)

2. Choose a growing location carefully

This is a crucial decision; you need a location with a lot of sun. It is best to prep the site by May for out-planting in June.

My tip would be to choose a place where your plants will NOT receive direct light in the morning. This way your plants will defrost slowly in the morning as the air is warming up, and will tolerate a couple of nights where temperatures go below 0C. This is important, because of lot of strains will need these extra days or weeks to be 100% ready for harvest.

If you can\'t find a spot like this, you can try to find a place near a river or a lake, because water will help mioderate night time temperatures.

If none of this is possible, try to water a lot your plants during the evening before a frost is forecast this should protect your roots from freezing

Valley bottoms have an earlier frost

If it is possible, you can plant very close to your house; the heat of the house will prevent early frost.

A friend told me that he planted his clones in buckets and buried them in the soil to give temperature protection to the roots. Plants in pots must be buried, or your soil /root zone will become hot during the day and more cold in the night — this could unduly stress the plant.

Of course, you could use protective fences from the north wind, reflective surfaces or dark objects (warm up in the day and slowly release their heat in the night) but this are things that will decrease the stealth of your grow.

3. The choice of strain is very important

Forget about long flowering sativas - choose great strains with 9 or less weeks of flowering. Here are a few I know :

Northern Lights, M39 (Shiva Skunk), Freisland, C99, Early Pearl, Early Girl ( or any "early" ) Chemo, lowrider.

Look in Strain Guide for short period flowering strains. I also suggest to try some of the Canadian seed banks - they have outdoor strains adapted to early frost.

If you can , try 2 or 3 strains, you will have more chance to find the perfect one for your region.

In summary:

Start clones during beginning of spring, choose a short or medium flowering time strain ( try different strains, you will find the best for your region) . Find a good spot who will prevent early frost and at the end of September or begining of October you should be able to enjoy the results of all your work!

Outdoor links:

When are average first and last frosts in the U.S. and Canada?

How do I prepare my outdoor plot?

GrowFAQ : Fertilizing & feeding : Outdoors

Beginners Outdoor Guide by Leaf
 
well I'm in Amsterdam...it's legal to grow 5 plants so i have 3 on my balcony... mold is the only issue...i get lots of ventilation and sun from 1pm till sunset...can i still harvest a slightly damaged branch with just a little mold?? this is my first grow.. how much ruins the plant? i have removed the branch that has some spots and put it in clean water and it's still blooming...is it something that can be smoked?
 
choose great strains with 9 or less weeks of flowering. Here are a few I know :

Northern Lights, M39 (Shiva Skunk), Freisland, C99, Early Pearl, Early Girl ( or any "early" ) Chemo, lowrider.

From my Northeast US experience I would like to add to your list:

Wonder Woman, Master Kush, Kaya Gold and Cheese have done well for me. Wonder Woman finished on time with a good yield, dense nuggets and no bud rot. I still have Guerrilla Gusto plants outside but they're not finished yet. However, the plants look great and no sign of bud rot despite some miserable weather lately. I'll have to wait and see before I decide whether to repeat with it next year. Also did well with a White Siberian and a White Widow both feminized from Dinafem seeds. Still out are some sativas that preflowered just four weeks ago in early September. Way too late. They were freebie seeds. Here's hoping for a warm and dry October for some chance of them finishing up! Keeping my expectations low at this point. :Namaste:
 
in northern countries like canada the use of auto flowering strains can produce a much superior product with the exceptions of a select few photoperiod strains grown in certain parts of BC where they are acclimitized to. autoflowers are tanks in my area of canada the summers are short and unpredictable. with autoflowers the plants dont need to wait till august to start flowering. so not only can you have multiple harvest at different times but can also thrive well into october at temperatures of 10 degrees Celsius although ive seen them survive with minimal damage during snowfall and at temperatures bairly above 0 (this wont last long though). using strains that have been bred outdoors near your area or involve ruderalis genetics from your area. I like using strains from fast buds they are a spainish company but use alot of canadian ruderalis . in general there are two types of autoflowering strains there are ones that are ment for larger yields and can get close to the size of a regular indica and dwarf strains typically the ryders wich are lowryder crosses. some strains only contain 12 percent ruderalis so im not sure if they are all guranteed to autoflower but in theory with selective breeding you can have an autoflowering strain that has less then one percent ruderalis genetics it would likely grow alot longer at take 3 months or more to finish. no companies have really done much in creating very large long flowering autoflowers this could be useful for outdoor growing because youd be able to have plants start flowering in july or even june if started indoors. UV is highest in july so this would be great time to have plants finish flowering
 
I can add that BC blueberry, hashberry, mandala 1, purple 1, White widow, white rhino, and Afghan will finish in the North east. Average frost of Sept 10th. in my location. That first light frost just helps with putting on some weight if you can get some good sunny days after, and usually frost come on clear nights.
 
hi I have a question I've been growing these random seed and it's about 2&a half months and they're all about 3 feet three of them were showing that they are female and two of them are not well at least not yet they are still in vegetation I think also there has been some kind of purple on the veins in on the Branches will a sprays such as epson salt help out or should I just leave it alone but those are the only concerns that I have other than that been growing really well
 
I grow outside and I live in the state of California been wondering and with a 6.0 pH I used happy frog soil to finish the veg but I was wondering when should I start adding bloom to my plants
 
I was thinking about putting my plants in the ground (after they get a acceptable height), in garbage bags. I saw this on brown dirt warriors channel and wasn't to sure if that would be better or just keeping them in 10 gallon pots. And any suggestions for the type of seeds for a place with humid, colder summers?
 
anyone growing outdoors in canada i can chat with? I mean northern quebec. Its my first time, its looking good but i got some questions and im running out of time.
 
I have a friend who grows outdoors in Quebec. I can ask him and relay what he says.
 
Okay im in Michigan I have 2 super silver haze plants and a o.g flamethrower
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You might want to finish them indoor, I doubt they'll be ready before autumn in your climate.
 
Hi gang!!!

I was curious about the fellow named Brown Dirt Warrior and his guerilla growing methods. (now he is indoor) What I could not figure out was what was he growing? Looked too tall to be auto flower but ......just curious to see if anyone knew.
 
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