Weather is certainly a factor in growing plants successfully. In northern reaches of Spain, in the Basque Country and the Pyronese Mountain temperatures are more severe. Growers in these cooler climates that plant on balconies get plants to flower before bad weather sets in. They just simply cover and protect the plants with a dark box to limit the light to 12 hours.
This simple way makes plants flower before chilling winds dry plants and burn leaves. Some move their plants from the balcony into a dark closet every night and back on to the balcony each morning. Growers must be wise and learned techniques to protect their plants in their on way. They are just learning now how to bypass growing seed each year by growing mother plants and taking clones. They put together the best indoor and outdoor growing with the help of fluorescent and HP sodium lamps. Certainly, the warm temperature and sunny weather on the Mediterranean side of the peninsula is a great help to growing several outdoor crops a year. An early crop, harvested in mid to late April, takes full advantage of the short sunny spring days. Summer and fall harvests are becoming more and more popular among advanced cultivators.
Growers in warm regions take clones and sow seeds indoors between Christmas and the first week in January. These seeds and clones are grown for 6 to 8 weeks before they are set in an outdoor greenhouse for a few hours each day to harden-off (acclimate) a few days. Once acclimated, the little plants are left in the greenhouse under the short winter days. The super short days (10 – 11 hours) hasten flower production on slightly smaller buds. The plants are given a flowering fertilizer mix and watered as needed.
It is necessary to have ventilation since the Sun heats the greenhouse during the day. It is also a good option to use a removable top, open window or extraction fan to provide proper ventilation. Temporary greenhouses are made from scrap materials, while more complicates greenhouses are equipped with curtains to control daylight hours. To be able to achieve the best production, it is also good idea to bring the plants into a warm house at night in during the cooler climates.
