¿What are autoflowering seeds?
Autoflowering genetics are those non-photodependant strains (their growth and bloom does not depend on the daylight/darkness hours). This distnctive characteristic makes the growth cycle of these genetics so short ( 8-12 weeks from germination to harvest), and also allows them to be grown all year long.
Also known as Automatic or Auto strains, the autoflowering genetics are an interesting option for both experienced and beginer growers, and also for those who don't have a terrace or garden with intense long suny days.
Origin of autoflowering genetics: Cannabis rudelaris
Autoflowering strains as we know them today result from a developement made from a sub-specie of cannabis indica called rudelaris, that grew naturally in certain latitudes in the north of Europe, America and Asia.
The main characteristic of this cannabis rudelaris is that does not need from certain amount of daylight/darkness to grow/bloom, so they could grow and bloom all year long no matter photoperiods of ligth.
Taking original rudelaris strains, autoflowering strains seedbanks had developed the genetics turning into 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th or even 6th generation. In this developement process of automatic strains what has been done is a crossing rudelaris x photodependant genetics to get to increase the size of the original plant, the yields and also improve the taste and flavor (to make it as close as possible to the photodependant strain used for the crossing). Everything together with the autoflowering gene fixing that makes autoflowering plants so special.
Autoflowering plants for indoor and outdoor growing
As we already explained, autoflowering plants are a great advantage, specially outdoor growing. Grown outside, under sunlight these autoflowering seeds can be grown all year long, specially in climates like mediterranean with warm nights.
If you are thinking about growing autoflowering seeds outdoors you should be aware that the best season for these autoflowering seeds is between May and July (in northern hemisphere). The reason is because during this season is where plants receive most light exposure, so the plants have higher posibilities to get their maximum performance. In addition this brings you the possibility to get a crop before leaving for vacations, or get 2 or even 3 crops per year.
By general law you can grow autoflowering seeds outdoors without any problem (understanding that in winter yields will be lower). The only you should be aware is cold nights at your area. If these happen you should be ready to move them inside during colder hours with lower temps. You can also use small greenhouses to help you mitigate the effect of low night temperatures.
Indoors, autoflowering plants can be grown all year long, being much easy to get a quality crop (speciall if this is your first time growing cannabis indoors). The quickness of its growing cycle, together with their low feeding demands makes them a great choice for your first time growing.
How many hours of light do autoflowering cannabis plants need?
According to our experience, autoflowering plants precise a minimum of 4 hours of light per day to get an acceptable yield result. With this we mean that if your balcony, terrace or garden has a minimum of 4 hours of direct sunlight per day you can attempt to grow autoflowering seeds and get a crop. Obviously the final yields with only 4 hours of direct sunlight won't be as high as in a place with 8 or 10 hours of direct sunlight, but it will be significant.
Indoors the best photoperiod for autoflowering plants is 20 hours of light 4 hours of darkness.
¿Can I grow autoflowering marijuana seeds without direct sunlight?
Yes, it is possible to grow autoflowering genetics without direct sunlight, although the final yield will be affected by the lack of it. It is difficult, or impossible to quantify the expected yields in these cases, so the only option will be to test the place to know if it's worth it or not. Obviously it will be always better to grow your auto seeds ina place with long journeys plenty of sun, but if you don't have the luck of living in an atic or in a place with intense light and long journeys do not discourage and try it, maybe you get surprised by the good results!
Recommended photoperiod for autos growing indoors
If up to this point we have put all our attention in outdoor growing, you must know that you can get great success growing autoflowering plants indoors. It is true that characteristics of these genetics makes them so easy to grow, saving space, time, and money spent in seeds, but also carries some inconvenients you should be aware before starting to grow them.
In first place the photoperiod. We explained that autoflowering strains increase their yields related to the amount of sunlight received. Indoors this means that the longer the daylight hours the higher the yields will be. So, understanding that a plant needs to rest at least few hours per day, the best photoperiod for autoflowering plants is 20/4. This will get the maximum performance from them without stressing them out.
Maybe some of you don't mind using this photoperiod, but it is important for you to understand that the electric consumption of 6 extra hours per day for the whole growing cycle (almost 3 months) is notorious compared with the consumption of photodependant strains grown at 12/12, besides the average temperatures that will be affected to.
Indica, sativa and XXL autoflowering seeds
Cannabis seedbanks have made huge effords to develope autoflowering strains that look, taste and smell similar to their photodependant sisters. In-between available seeds for sale in market, you can find autoflowering strains type indica, autoflowering genetics with characteristics of a sativa or the XXL auto seeds (all those strains that due a longer developement reach higher heights, produce more yields and also taste and smell closer to their feminized sisters.
Remember that those indica dominant genetics usually have a more couch-locking effect, relaxing for mind and body, while sativa dominant strains usually deliver a higher effect more energic and creative.
From the wide offer available, it will be always recommended to choose XL or XXL strains, as their genetics possibilities will be higher than the regular ones.
Autoflowering cannabis genetics with higher yields
If what you look for are automatic strains with best yields possible, our tip is to focus only in those XL or XXL strains. The main difference between these genetics and the regular ones is the vegetative stage difference before starting to flower. The XXL strains grow for longer (4-5 weeks before begining the flowering stage) while the regular ones grow for only 2-3 weeks from germination.
As XXL strain keep growing for longer, plants acquire bigger size and more roots so they are ready to uptake higher mounts of nutrients, turning into higher yields. If you are looking for yields do not doubt: Every one of these XL autoflowering seeds can yield up to 3 or 4 times more than the regular ones.
Tu sum up, is what's important is the yields forget about autoflowering strains that are ready to harvest in 6-7 weeks and look for your suitable strain between the ones that take 10-12 weeks from germination... It's worth the extra wait!
All the true about quickest autoflowering seeds
This is a tricky point so we would like to explicitly explain it, as at SantYerbasi we've been witness of a "marketing battle" between autoflowering seeds seedbanks, to show who has the quickest autoflowering strain from seed to harvest.
Further more than a marketing claim of telling that an auto genetics is ready to harvest in 6 weeks, 7 weeks or 8 weeks, the reality is that the fastest automatic strains will be ready to harvest before, but the final yields will be notoriously lower compared with what you can get from an autoflowering plant that is ready to harvest in 10-12 weeks form germination.
When we say notoriously we refer to the possibility that in only 2-3 extra weeks the yields can be multiplied by 3 or even 4, so as a grower you decide what's best for you.
Related to this aspect we also like to report a bad practice by many seedbanks, that publish strain characteristics telling the strain is ready in X weeks, and then it finally ends up in 3-4 more. The worst of this situation is that as a grower you can not trust anyone when planing to harvest. Always add some extra weeks to what seedbanks tell you just to be sure it will be ready.
Advantages and disadvantages of auto strains
No doubt the main advantage of autoflowering strains is they can be grown all year long (specially in warm climates like mediterranean).
This special characteristic will let you get up to 3 crops per year without any problem (always understanding that heavier yields will be got in the season between May and July in northern hemisphere), but also getting decent crops in Autum and Winter.
Another advantage of auto plants is due its size and quick developement, they ussuallyr equire less effords (and nutrients) than photodependant strains. This does not mean that they do not need to be fed, but what's sure is they will cost you much less in nutrients.
It is also important how discreet these plants are (rarely grow taller than 1,5 meters) that can be grown in any terrace, balcony and don't be seen by neighbours (something really difficult with photodependant plants that can grow over 3 meters height.
As everything in life Auto seeds have its negative point too. These genetics are highly susceptible to stress so it is so easy to stress them out by many factors like low temperatures, a transplant, overfeeding, lack of irrigation or nutrients... In any of these hard conditions plants will dramatically decrease their final yields.
Growing autos in-ground, pots or greenhouses
As you already know, autoflowering strains have a certain growing period, so it is key to enhace them to grow as bug as possible in this period to get good final yields. This can be done with good root boosters, but also with something as easy as using suitable pots.
There 3 key aspects when choosing the size of the pot and substrate to use with autos:
- Genetics XL or compact-sized.
- Season of the year (average temperatures play a key rol).
- Amount of light per day plants receive.
The first point is a clear reference to the size expectations. If seeds are XL or XXL they will need bigger pots compared with regular autos. Our tip if you will grow XL strains is to use 20L pots. Less than that could limit and plants won't take advantage of bigger than that.
The second case is important becase depending on average temepratures (maximum and minimum) plants will develope quicker or slower, so will make better or worse use of available growing medium.
Refering to amount of light hours (a very important data for outdoor growing), obviously is not the same if you'll grow in an atic or a shinny terrace, than growing in a balcony or a place with low to non direct sunlight.
When choosing between growing in pots or in-ground it will depend the type of developement you want to stimulate. When grown in-ground plants usually grow more horizontally, so they promote more side-branching instead of a vertical growth. On the other hand if you grow plants in pots you will probably get taller plants with lower side-branching.
If want yo pretend is to get maximum control over what your plants eat, the best choice will be grow them in pots, what at the same time will force you to feed your plants to be sure they are getting the needed nutrients.
Growing in a greenhouse can be one of the best options if you have the space to do it. Growing in greenhouses can set notorious differences in yields, specially during the colder season outdoors, as plants won't suffer from those low temps as much. On the other hand growing in greenhouse during the hottest season can highly increase the risk of suffering pest attacks and heat stress, so it will be always better to grow them outside.
Final reviews of autoflowering seeds and its price
Arrived to this point we will explain our more sincere opinion about autoflowering plants.
Our experience tells us to difference between 2 type of autoflowering plants: compact-sized strains and XL or XXL autoflowering strains. Being grown many of them, our advise is to always choose XL or XXL strains, The difference in quality, taste, aroma and yields is so much, so not choosing one of these genetics is a total waste of money.
If you pay attention to the characteristics of each strain, no matter how experienced you are, it's a fact that you will get better yields form a strain that can yield up 3 o 4 times more, than from one that yields less. That's why it's important to double check the strain characteristics an not only focus in price (1€ difference can set enormous differences in the size of the crop).
About growing them outdoors: The fact is these strains are a great option for almost every consumer (unless you are a hevy toker that needs large crops to sustend yourself).
If talking about indoor growing, although many growers consider them as an option, out advise is to grow photodependant strains in a 12/12 photoperiod from seed to harvest because you'll get better results. The reasons are many but some of the more important for this choice are lower electricity consumption and lower risk of pests. Maybe they can be a good choice for a first time growing indoors, but if you hace previous experience it makes no sense.
About its price, as you can see there is a huge difference from some strains to others, with prices ranging from 3,5€ up to 14 € per seed. Don't think the price per seed goes by hand with quality, as there are many cheap seeds with excellent qualities, and some expensive strains that you would not recommend to anyone. At SantYerbasi we usually recommend average prices that go from 6 to 9 euros per seed. These prices together with existing discounts or promotions (like 3+1 or 5+2) make serious differences in price and give you plenty of oportunities to grow what you like.
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