I'm midway through my first grow right now. Far from an expert. I've been doing a ton of reading online though. Most stuff has made sense so far but I do have one question: why do people recommend starting sativa dominate strains in northern latitudes later rather than earlier? I understand that sativas flower/mature later making them more suitable for southern latitudes. However, how does starting a plant late make it mature faster?
people might start growing sativas later because the later you plant them the shorter they will end up. Sativas tend to grow tall especially outdoors so you might see someone starting their plants later if they are limited to space or want to keep it stealthy.
Thanks for the quick response. Forgive me if I'm misunderstand some of the details, this is all new to me. I did read that some people are concerned with height as sativas typically grow taller. However, I also read that some people believe that a sativa will mature faster when grown later. At least that's how I interpenetrated the article.
Well when you plant them later eventually theirs a point where daylight begins to shorten which will trigger a plant to flower. So i guess technically you can say that a plant that's planted closer to that date in which the days begin to get shorter is going to cause the plant to flower quicker because your closer to those short daylight hours.
I'm confused though because wouldn't a plant that enters the flowering stage still be ready for harvest at the same time?
i think you just misunderstood the article because theirs no way to really make a plant flower quicker unless its indoors. If its outdoors it flowers based off of the light/dark ratio. Do you have a link to the article?
They were claiming that planting later would cause it to be ready for harvest sooner. In other words, the late fall frosts wouldn't be able to damage the plant. I read it in two articles. Let me try to find some links. It's possible I just confused what they were trying to state.
This is one of the articles I was reading. Northern Hemisphere vs. Southern Hemisphere: When to Grow and Harvest "The best time to plant is generally from the end of April to the end of May. But, of course, it depends on the strain, the altitude, frost and rain. For example, to get a big harvest from an indica, it is good to plant early, while taking care that it is not affected by adverse weather. A greenhouse or mini-greenhouse usually works well. Sativas take longer to bud (some end their cycle in December), so you can plant them a little later to be safe. Autoflowering seeds are good to plant in June or July, so they can take advantage of the best conditions, since they don’t depend on hours of light to flower. Harvest time generically shifts between September, October and November. "