The First Autoflowering Seeds Approved by the European Commission

The European Commission has officially approved the first autoflowering seeds, which creators say could be a breakthrough for farmers in colder European climates. The Bulgarian company CBD Seed Europe has achieved success by registering the first autoflowering CBD hemp seed varieties in the European Common Catalogue.

According to the company, these seeds will not only lower the barrier to entry for farmers looking to enter the market, but will also enable those in the colder climates of northern Europe, such as the UK, to grow hemp, potentially significantly reducing the costs associated with growing hemp. Now we will go through the explanation of what autoflowering seeds are.

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What are autoflowering seeds?

Traditional Cannabis Sativa plants are photoperiodic species, which means that their flowering is triggered by changes in the length of day and night. In nature, this means that plants flower at the end of summer, when the days become shorter. For growers, especially in colder climates with less sunlight, one of the main and most costly obstacles is controlling the appropriate exposure of plants.

However, as the name suggests, autoflowering species are capable of transitioning from the vegetative stage to flowering based on age and overall growth, regardless of changes in light cycles. This usually happens between the second and fourth week after germination, and in the case of Auto Power CBD seeds from CBD Seed Europe, the total growing period from seed to harvest is 75 days.

Although these seeds have been available in North America for some time, the more stringent quality control process in the European Union meant that approval of these seeds took longer.

Americo Folcarelli from CBD Seed Europe explained : “ One of the main obstacles to getting any genetic approved in the EU catalog is that it has to be very, very stable. This means that there cannot be many different phenotypes. Generally, autoflowering strains have these types of problems and have about five or six different phenotypes. We’ve managed to reduce it to the point where we technically have three phenotypes, but you can’t tell them apart .”

In Europe, every seed, whether hemp or tomato, must go through a two-year registration process to be included in the Common Catalogue, and producers undergo regular audits to ensure the seeds continue to meet the standard.

Advantages and disadvantages of autoflowering seeds

These varieties offer a number of benefits to farmers. Less dependence on light means crops can be grown even in the colder months. This also means they are more suitable for outdoor growing where there is no precise control over light conditions.

For those growers who grow cannabis indoors, reducing the amount of light needed can significantly reduce expenses.

In addition, the short life cycle allows farmers to grow multiple crops in one season, while the compact size and rapid flowering make the plants suitable for denser planting, enabling approximately twice the number of plants to be grown.

These factors combine to make autoflowering strains a much more attractive proposition for farmers who are just starting to grow cannabis.

Of course, there are also disadvantages compared to traditional varieties. As mentioned earlier, the genetics of autoflowering strains can be less stable, resulting in greater variation between individual plants and a large number of phenotypes.

While the automatic nature of the flowering process has its advantages, it also means there is less control, limiting the ability to manipulate the plant’s size or recover from problems such as pruning or pruning.

Although hemp can be grown much more densely, autoflowering plants tend to produce lower yields and often have lower CBD levels compared to traditional photoperiod strains.

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(Featured image by Kindel Media via Pexels)

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First published in FaktyKonopne. A third-party contributor translated and adapted the article from the original. In case of discrepancy, the original will prevail.

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