Euro Grow

There is a revolution happening in Spain.

Indeed, all throughout Europe, a debate has ensued that spans the whole longitude of the european. Particularly within the south of Europe, in areas like Spain, Portugal and parts of Italy, cannabis growers share some distinct differences not only from their North American counterparts, but additionally from Dutch and other northern European growers.

Large outdoor, commercial-style grow operations are less prevalent here than one might expect, given the mild Mediterranean climate. With small indoor grow ops on the upward thrust for both medicinal and recreational use, growers in Spain have increasingly turned to seeds rather than clones as their preferred method of propagation. There are several reasons for this. For something, cannabis seeds happen to be legal in Spain; for one more, obtaining and transporting genetics in seed form (versus, say, a rooted plant cutting) is often a miles easier task.

It is commonly said in Spain that seeds better match the way of life of the Spanish grower. With a more laidback atmosphere prevailing in many Spanish cities, the will to rush into a garden is nowhere to be found. Whereas obtaining a clone implies that the grower is now on a collection timetable, using seeds allows growers to start at their leisure. And inside the south of Europe, leisure is usually a gorgeous idea.

Of course, we all know that in Holland, massive commercial set-ups dominate a market that has legal cannabis purveyors on nearly every corner. In their growrooms and fields, Dutch farmers utilize large-scale industrial techniques akin to “sea of green” (SOG), where clones are the one approach to go. an important good thing about this (apart from a shorter grow cycle) is that cloning requires no guesswork in sexing the plants, as clones will always be a female replica of their mother. Still, southern Europe has quietly latched onto a new market in feminized seeds that helps eliminate this problem in addition. And, in turn, the upward push within the acclaim for feminized seeds has boosted a market for breeders not only in Spain, but through the rest of the european.

Once the seed fad was resurrected in southern Europe, a natural byproduct was the upward thrust admired for feminized seeds. Feminized seeds are seeds which were manipulated with the intention that they germinate only female plants. Obviously, for growers who aren’t concerned about breeding, feminized seeds are a completely alluring option. Although these seeds are often costlier, they make understanding the sex of a plant a non-issue, eliminating any chance of missing an early male plant that may pollinate (and thus seed) a complete garden.

The Dutch Passion seed company created the first feminized seeds in Amsterdam circa 1999. Ever since then, there’s been a growing demand for these seeds, forcing the alternative big seed companies to follow suit with a view to keep their clientele happy. Unfortunately, the process wherein breeders must alter the genetic components of plants to procure feminized seeds often requires the usage of chemical additives, which turns some seed companies off. Recently, though, even the few breeders left in Amsterdam who had refused to head this route-preferring to keep their seeds as nearly organic as possible-have given in to popular demand (and the desire to take care of with competitors) by releasing their own lines of feminized seeds.

So how is it done? Well, the technique of creating feminized seeds must be refrained from using a male to pollinate. In some instances, there isn’t even a same-strain male available to make regular seeds, and using one more strain’s male would lead to a hybrid strain (i.e., a mixture of two various kinds of cannabis).

So what breeders must do is stress out a female plant to the point where she turns hermaphrodite. They try this by utilizing a mixture of chemicals and vicious conditioning. One of the most primary compound is silver nitrate (AgNO3) carefully diluted with water. Spraying this solution onto a female plant early within the flowering cycle forces the female to start out producing small male flowers inside the premature buds. The male flowers in turn pollinate the female buds, and the plant begins forming seeds.

However, the seeds from forced females aren’t probably the most ideal candidates for germination, as they have got come from an abused parent. Rather, breeders take the pollen from the male flowers on these plants and use it to pollinate other, healthy female plants which were chosen as strong mothers and that have not come into contact with any chemical solutions.

Once a room of flowering mothers is pollinated, a seed crop can begin to grow. The seeds from these plants will be 99% female when germinated. Some problems were known to arise, though: Feminized seeds will sometimes produce hermaphrodite plants or females with less vigor than usual. Because of this it’s usually a good option to buy the larger packs of feminized seeds.

Another trend in southern Europe that varies significantly from other major grow centers is the marketability of car-flowering strains. These are strains that require no “trigger” for flowering: They only flower automatically whenever the plant senses that the time is ideal. This is for numerous reasons, including plant height, root-ball size or temperature change.

Again, the rationale these strains entice certain growers is because they fit in well with a low-maintenance lifestyle choice. Simply letting plants grow on their lonesome with little worry as to when or how you can switch light cycles is simply yet another attractive option for carefree growers. But like the rest that’s easy, there are drawbacks.

Auto-flowering strains come from a species of cannabis that almost all of us have never even heard about. While we’re all aware of sativas and indicas, there’s a third, lesser-known type called ruderalis, a hardy, hempy variety it is usually found only within the wild. When farmers cultivate ruderalis, it’s usually for its strong fiber, which might be used industrially to make rope, paper, clothes and other products. Marijuana growers generally keep away from ruderalis resulting from its very low THC content, and the undeniable fact that its auto-flowering properties prevent them from with the ability to grow plants to a desired height. This leads to smaller yields of less potent buds.

Breeders, however, have used ruderalis in their projects because these genetics can produce the shorter, squatter hybrids greater for indoor growing. And since ruderalis is a hardy wild variety, it’s more proof against molds, diseases and pests. In brief, once breeders were ready to add potency to these strains via hybridization, some growers found them to be an acceptable and tasty enough option for ganja growing.

• Genetics might be easily stored and transported due to small size of seeds.

• Seeds properly stored in a fab, dry, dark place can remain viable for several years, allowing growers to set their own timetable for propagation.

• Feminized seeds can take the guesswork out of sexing a garden.

• Germinating seeds and/or looking forward to seedlings to achieve vigor can increase the time of a grow cycle.

• Seeds may produce unwanted males inside the garden and require careful attention when sexing plants inside the early flowering stage.

• Some seeds may never germinate, and dear feminized seeds may produce hermaphroditic plants.

• Guaranteed females plants, as clones are the exact genetic replica of their mother.

• No fear of mutant phenotypes or unstable genetics; growers know exactly what they’re getting and should have uniform plants throughout their garden.

• The likelihood for a shorter grow cycle exists: Cuttings generally root in 10 days and may be sent into flowering within every week of that if the grower desires.

• Once a cutting is taken, the grower is on a group timetable – better have your room ready!

• After multiple generations of cloning, certain strains may start to lose vigor.

• Any genetic flaw (i.e., susceptibility to pests or diseases) can be passed on from generation to generation.

Southern Europe is home to a protracted list of distinguished growers, including HIGH TIMES’ personal cultivation guru, Jorge Cervantes, who lives in Spain. Many of the network of expert growers in Spain, you’ll find an intensive base of information, passion and camaraderie between people. Among the best Spanish growers spread out their grow ops to provide us a small glimpse of what’s happening along the Mediterranean, on the threshold of the european.

These growrooms all showed a definite affinity for classic strains from all over. Among many of the rarities we found were Critical Mass, Oaxacan Gold and an old-school Yumboldt. The Spanish growers, although simple in their approach, are ready to use their green thumbs to supply new and intensely different varieties from what maybe seen in North America. One Spanish seed company, Barcelona Seeds, took the flavor of the original California Yumboldt and crossed it with the omnipotent G-13 to create an enterprising new strain named Plutonyum. a bit of further south, within the areas surrounding Valencia and Malaga, growers were producing small outdoor crops of Edelweiss, a well-liked local brand. All throughout Spain, there are patches of farmers who have kept such strains alive for years-another advantage to the art of cloning.

But don’t think that Spanish gardeners are greedy growers who hoard their prized genetics. On the contrary, it’s just the alternative, with many making efforts to spread their knowledge and genetics beyond the borders of Europe. Many helping hands had been extended to farmers located even farther south than Spain, to cultivators in Africa. Countries in northern Africa together with Morocco and Tunisia had been the beneficiaries of a genetic dissemination of varieties. Because these countries are heavily serious about the hash trade, it is smart that the simpler genetics they’ve, the simpler hash they’ll have the capacity to make.

A lot of Spanish growers would like to boast that the marijuana fields being grown to make fine Moroccan hash are populated with their own strains. Many breeders – including Elite Seeds from Spain, Next Generation Seeds from Canada and Green House Seeds from Amsterdam – have brought their genetics to African countries for this very reason. But after you’re handling massive outdoor crops, you would like seeds that number within the tens of thousands. It truly is one situation where using clones could be a miles more tedious process. And, obviously, with the appearance of feminized seeds, the desire for taking cuttings by the thousands really makes even less sense.

In the top, however, your entire growers agree on something: It doesn’t matter a lot how a crop is started; what matters most is how it finishes. In Europe, the general product defines a grower – and in that regard, once you find something that works well for you, don’t mess with success!

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED INSIDE THE AUGUST 2009 ISSUE OF HIGH TIMES MAGAZINE:
High Times-Aug-09