Successful gardening of any kind requires knowing what environment plants thrive in. Some plants require high heat, moist soil, and full sun, while those conditions would kill other plants in a matter of days. And, some plants cannot flower if they aren’t exposed to cool temperatures during certain times of the year. Many factors go into successfully growing plants. Today, we’ll look at one of these factors: what you need to know about choosing the best seeds for your climate from from Madera tree and garden care experts.
Length of Growing Season
Growing seasons are periods in which plants grow successfully. How long a growing season lasts depends on the area’s climate: warmer climates have longer growing seasons, while cooler ones have shorter. For both small business growers and home gardeners, this means researching an area’s growing season and comparing it to the plants or crops you want to grow. Let’s look at cannabis seeds as an example. The advice listed right now at i49 suggests that for northern climates where growers have to worry about frost and cool nighttime temperatures, indica, and indica-dominant hybrid seeds are best. This is because these plants don’t grow as tall as other types of cannabis seeds and therefore start developing earlier in the season. Some types can reach maturity in areas with as little as three month growing seasons.
Plant Hardiness Zones
It’s also important to know about plant hardiness zones. According to the US Department of Agriculture, a plant’s hardiness zone is an area that has a certain range of climate conditions as they relate to plant growth and survival. They even have a plant hardiness zone map, which shows the thirteen hardiness zones across the US. These zones are determined by annual minimum winter temperature, making it possible for gardeners and growers to determine which plants will thrive in the zone they live in. Zone 4b, for example, stretches across the northern area of the U.S. and has average minimum winter temperatures of -25 F to -20 F. Going back to our example from above, a grower living in northern climates wanting to grow cannabis seeds would want to look for strains that do well in cooler hardiness zones with shorter growing seasons.
Rainfall and Sunlight
Choosing the right seeds for the environment also means looking at how much rainfall and sunlight the area gets. In climates with frequent cloud cover, for example, plants that produce large leaves thrive. This is because a plant’s leaves absorb the sun required to make chlorophyll, a plant’s food source. Thus bigger leaves mean plants in less sunny environments can better take advantage of the sunlight. Rainfall is also a concern. Growers need to know how much water a seed will require, and if the native rainfall isn’t enough, supplement with watering. The Beet suggests that plants thrive when watered twice a day, with at least one of these times being in the early morning. If the plants in question require more than twice daily watering, set up a watering schedule and follow it.
Successfully growing a garden or crop requires knowing the climate the plants will grow in and making sure it suits those plants. These tips can help growers of all types choose seeds that will thrive in their area.
