Autoflowering cannabis plants is a recent development in the cannabis industry. Google even knows about it. The number of searches for autoflowering cannabis has more than doubled in the past year. People are becoming more interested in it and getting more curious. All this excitement is justified. This isn’t just a new trend in marijuana; it could change the game.
Autoflowering Cannabis-Plants with the best attributes
- They are smaller.
- They are therefore easier to conceal, harder to spot and safer with more grow locations options.
- They are fast growing, have high yields for their size, and are more resistant to insects and pests than other marijuana varieties.
- In 10 weeks, you can harvest!
- They will follow their genetic growth schedule regardless of the environment. They will bloom after a set time and not when the light changes.
This opens up many new opportunities for growers. This article will keep you up to date on the latest developments in marijuana.
What are Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds
There are many autoflowering strains of marijuana, and not all strains are the same. Autoflower marijuana plants are often regarded as less quality than traditional marijuana.
Others see it as a blessing that makes growing much easier. It doesn’t matter which category you fall under, it might be worthwhile to find out more about the various options available.
What is an autoflowering marijuana plant? It’s important to first learn more about marijuana. Marijuana has a photoperiod meaning that the time of sunlight exposure can affect its life cycle, specifically the flowering phase.
This logic allows growers to easily manipulate the growth of indoor plants. You can encourage young cuttings to flower by providing them with 12 hours of uninterrupted dark every night for a few weeks.
Older plants that are grown outside will not enter the flowering stage until the same light changes affect them through natural seasonal variations. These are not possible until the middle of the summer.
Autoflower marijuana strains flower when the plants reach a certain age. They are not growing as a result of changes in light exposure. They will reach the flowering stage after a set number of weeks regardless of weather or sunlight patterns. This has allowed for new opportunities in the world of marijuana growing.
Autoflower marijuana strains are created by crossbreeding ruderalis and a standard marijuana plant. Ruderalis plants were not grown for their high THC content, due to the fact that they were not used often by smokers.
The dominant traits of the first autoflower cannabis strain had to have high THC levels, both from the standard marijuana strain and the ruderalis strain.
It was difficult and often unsuccessful. Because of the low yields and low levels of THC, autoflower strains were not trusted by growers until very recently. They were eventually deemed a fraud.
However, things have changed. Autoflower strains are as reliable today as any other strain. Just make sure you only purchase them from a trusted source. The strain’s THC content will be the same as what is stated online.
These traits have stabilized and there are more high-quality autoflowering strains than ever before. This is the dawn of the age for autoflower.
Autoflowering Strains of Cannabis
Autoflower marijuana strains generally live for a shorter time than other varieties. Autoflowers are popular because they can be harvested quickly and have a shorter life span than other types of marijuana. Autoflowers usually take around 10 weeks to be ready for harvest.
It is important to understand that an autoflower harvest will not be the same as other types of marijuana. There are certain limitations to autoflower harvest because the plant doesn’t have as much time to grow and it will be smaller. The harvest will also be smaller. You can only get a higher yield if you plant a lot of plants.
Autoflowering marijuana strains of high quality require at least ten to twelve weeks to fully grow and flower to ensure the best harvest. It all depends on what strain you choose to grow. Also, make sure to review the information for the strain and any tips or comments from others who have grown it successfully.
Growing Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds
It is essential to ensure that your marijuana plants are strong and healthy before you start their growing season. This is particularly important due to the short lifespan of autoflowering marijuana plants.
Support your plants from the very beginning. This is when they will grow as best as possible. You could end up with a marijuana harvest that is far less than normal. Autos have a smaller margin for error.
It is recommended that autoflower marijuana growers start indoors with artificial lighting. Indoor gardening reduces the risk of error and helps to control every aspect of your plant’s first year.
Strong start will ensure that the plant has everything it needs to succeed, now and in the future.
Germinating Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds
Properly germinating autoflowering cannbis seeds is essential for their health. You can either germinate your marijuana plants in soil or in a container with no growing medium. Our seeds germinate in water.
The paper towel method is preferred by most autoflower marijuana growers that I know. This involves placing the seed in a moist paper towel or length of toiletpaper and then storing it in a container that retains moisture and humidity.
The seeds should then begin to sprout in a matter of days. Once they have sprouted, you should transplant them to their final medium. Don’t transplant them again. Autoflower plants are fragile and more susceptible to transplant shock.
Autoflowering Clones?
Cloning is not recommended for autoflowering marijuana plants. While you can take a cutting with success, it is important to keep in mind that autoflowering occurs after a certain age. The cutting’s age will be merged with the parent plants’ age.
They will all flower simultaneously. If you grow a cutting from an autoflower plant, it will flower much smaller than its parent when it reaches the flowering phase. Cuttings, when you consider all of this, are not worth the effort, since these plants are already small.
How to fertilize autoflowering Cannabis Strains
After your autoflowering marijuana plants reach two weeks old, you can start feeding them some nutrients. You can gradually increase the amount of vegetative fertilizer you give them until they reach six to seven weeks old.
- Weeks 1-3 = Vegetative Stage (Seedlings are just beginning)
- Weeks 4-6 = Preflowering Stage (has shown its gender and has experienced rapid growth).
- Week 7-10+ = Flowering Stage (fattening up, power production)
You should not switch to flowering nutrients until your vertical growth has stopped. Don’t rush to switch to flowering nutrients, even if flowering started a week before. Instead, let the end of vertical growth guide you.
Illumination of Autoflowering Cannabis Plants
You can choose from two lighting options, similar to regular cannabis plants:
- You can also expose your plants to 24-hours of light per day.
- Another option is to give them rest each night and allow them to have 18 hours of daylight and six hours of darkness. It all depends on what you like and the strain you grow.
For the first few weeks, you can use 120-watt LED lamps and then keep it on for 21 hours every day. The light should be placed between 70-80 cm from the plants. After you have repotted your older plants, you will be able to convert to larger LED lighting and a schedule that provides 18 hours of light and 6 hours darkness.
Pruning Autoflowering Cannabis Plants
While pruning (or topping) can be positive and useful with autoflower marijuana plants but there are some modifications that must be made when pruning regular marijuana plants. To avoid any obstructions to your plants’ vegetative growth, pruning should be done early in the plant’s life.
Many growers believe that trimming autoflower marijuana plants is bad practice and should be avoided. According to them, pruning will reduce the harvest of autoflower marijuana plants.
You can take the risk if you want to grow your autoflower strain. It has been shown to be more resilient than others. It will take more time for the plant to recover from pruning.
Expectations for the harvest in terms of weight
What can you expect from your autoflower grow season if everything goes smoothly? Remember that ideal environmental conditions include a temperature of 73 degrees F, 55% humidity and 400 watts/m2 light. There should also be plenty of oxygen and a solid nutritional regimen.
Simply put, the time your autos have been growing will determine how big your harvest. Simply put, longer growth equals a bigger harvest.
For example, some strains can grow for up to 3 months and average 40 grams per plant. If grown outside, super autoflower strains that are longer-growing might yield between 150 and 500g per plant.
It is difficult to choose when to harvest your autoflower marijuana plants. To determine if 50% of your plants are amber, you will need to inspect their trichomes.
The harvesting point is indicated by the amber color. To ensure that the plants don’t get any extra nutrients, stop watering them for at least one to two days before harvesting.
Storing and Curing Autoflowering Cannabis Strains
Curing autoflower marijuana buds will make them the tasty product every grower wants. Your efforts won’t be rewarded with great tasting results if they are not properly cured. You should keep the bud in an airtight container while it is being cured. This allows moisture to spread evenly and moves from the center of the bud back to where it was originally stored.
For a few days, you should open the container multiple times per day. You should stop opening the container more than once per day until the buds have fully cured. This can take several weeks or even months.
After curing is complete, the buds shouldn’t have any moisture left. However, a small amount of moisture can still be used for smoking. The smoke is actually more unpleasant if it contains too many dry buds.
Keep the marijuana in a sealed container such as a bag or glass jar. It can be smoked within a few months to one year. It is unlikely that the product will taste as good after a year. It should be kept in a cool, dark place. It can be kept fresher by freezing it.
Outdoor Cultivation of Autoflower Cannabis Plants
There are some downsides to growing autoflower cannabis plants. However, there are also some compelling benefits. Many people argue that they are best grown as outside plants.
Many grow them indoors for a while, then transplant them outdoors for the remainig vegetative growth and flowering. To maximize their vegetative stage they are grown indoors for about 4-6 Weeks. They are then moved outside, provided that the temperature does not drop below 50 degrees F.
This is why it is so good because you can harvest multiple plants within a single season. A large plant can yield a huge harvest, but it takes between 8 and 9 months to reach that point. This leaves you open to unexpected challenges that could ruin your harvest before it even gets there.
Autos allow you to grow multiple crops in the same time. This allows you to grow smaller amounts of buds incrementally and avoid long waiting times for them to mature. You are assured of your work and given multiple “chances” to harvest the same crop in the same time frame.
Autoflower Cannabis Plants will always grow shorter than regular Cannabis Plants. They will be less easily seen than larger marijuana plants, which can attract unwanted attention.
Even though you grow them in your garden, their small size can make it difficult to notice them throughout their entire life cycle. To give you an idea, autos that are grown efficiently have one meter of space each. This allows them to reach their full size and harvest potential.
Breeding Autoflowers Cannabis Strains
As metioned, autoflowering canabis plants have also some negative aspects. One is that it can be expensive to buy the seeds. As this type of seeds becomes more popular, it is possible that prices will drop.
You can still breed your own seeds until then to get the best bang. However, this comes at a significant cost.
Because autos have a short life span, you will need more seeds to grow and harvest cannabis plants.
Many people want to try this new trend but don’t want to spend a lot of money. Breeding is the best option. This is an easy process that yields a smaller harvest than normal cannabis plants.
The Pros and Cons of Growing Autoflower Cannabis
Let’s take a look at the benefits and drawbacks of growing autoflower cannabis plants instead of regular cannabis plants.
Pros
- Autoflowering marijuana plants can yield a greater variety of marijuana. Because of the shorter growing season, this is possible. This is because you can grow three different strains in one season and have as many varieties for smoking.
- This is particularly important for those who grow marijuana for their own personal use and want a variety of highs. These highs can vary depending on the day or mood. Autos are a great way to keep the pot smoking experience fresh and exciting.
- It is also less complicated, at least in some aspects. You won’t need to have a complex setup with only one grow room and one blooming room. This means that even if you have enough space, you don’t need to set up a complicated setup with multiple rooms. Instead, you can use the space to schedule your growing so you can harvest every few days.
- Also, you won’t need to be as careful about your lighting setup and grow room lightproof sealing. Because light leakages do not have any effect on the autoflowering phase of your cannabis plants,
- Multi-crop systems are another advantage. They can be used in conjunction with each other and overlap well. These systems allow you to harvest a new crop every few week and can also be set up outdoors. They are easy to grow and don’t take up much space in your garden.
- Normal cannabis plants can experience a disruption in their growth and flowering, which could lead to a loss of harvests. These issues will not occur with autoflower cannabis plants.
- Autoflower cannabis plants may also be more resilient than other varieties of cannabis because they contain genetics from the ruderalis strain. This is because ruderalis plants can withstand cold and other obstacles more effectively than photoperiod ones.
- They can also be grown indoors and outdoors in areas with height restrictions. If your friends grow marijuana, you can also enjoy smoking it while they wait for their harvest.
Cons
- Autoflower cannabis plants are less efficient in terms of light consumption per gram of harvested buds than regular photoperiod plant. This is because autoflower marijuana plants require the same amount light, but smaller plants produce smaller yields.
- Autoflower marijuana plants are also unpredictable in terms of speed and size. Individual plants from a particular strain may have different sizes and growth patterns.
- Hydroponics is one example of this. It may be necessary to harvest multiple crops until all plants are harvested. They also flower and mature at different times.
- Autoflower marijuana users may complain about the lack of strong aromas compared to regular photoperiod cannabis plants. This will depend on your personal preferences.
Female and Male Plants
The chances of a normal photoperiod cannabis plant being either male/female is 50/50. This is a sad statistic for average marijuana grower, who only wants to grow unfertilized (sensimilla), plants.
You can expect almost every seed to be female if you obtain feminized seeds.
These ratios are the same for autoflower marijuana seeds. Hermaphrodites are possible in both cases and should be monitored, even if you’re expecting all female plants.
Cannabis Autoflower Super Strains
You’ve probably already found the term “SUPER autoflower” for many varieties of seeds if you did any research on this new trend in autoflowering. What are super seeds and what makes them different?
Super strains are bigger than normal autoflower cannabis plants, but they still have the same beneficial trait of automatically flowering. These super strains are more resistant to mold and pests than regular autoflowering marijuana plants.
They were designed with the aim of producing larger, more yielding vehicles.
Autoflowering Marijuanja Seeds
The most difficult part of growing autoflower marijuana plants is choosing which autoflower seeds you should buy. This decision is especially crucial if you’re a novice grower, or a veteran who has never tried autoflower marijuana strains.
There are many seed varieties to choose from. It is easy to become overwhelmed. It is important to remember:
- What kind of growing conditions will the seeds be planted?
- How much THC and CBD would you like to see in this strain?
- How do you like your marijuana?
These are the main points that will help you choose the right strain.
Feminized seeds are recommended if you have the funds. This will greatly increase your yield.
You can take the risk if you don’t have enough money or you prefer to invest that money in other aspects of growing cannabis. However, you should be aware of signs of male plants. If you want to grow more autoflowering cannabis seeds, you will need at least one male plant. Don’t worry about the feminized ones.
Indica autoflower marijuana strains are best for smaller grow spaces. They will still be small, even compared to other autos. A Sativa autoflower cannabis strain is better for indoor grow spaces or outdoor setups with sufficient space. They will reach a larger size and produce a higher yield. They will need sufficient space to grow large.
