Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds

What Are Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds?

Autoflowering seeds are basically cannabis seeds that transition to their flowering stage without relying on a designated photoperiod. With these seeds, there’s no need for legal growers to worry about keeping up with complicated light schedules for them to initiate and maintain their flowering phase.

They will automatically transition from their vegetative phase to their flowering phase after around two to four weeks of growth. As a result, these cannabis seeds are said to be easier to grow and are commonly thought of as best suited for those new to growing marijuana.

Breeders have developed autoflowers to start flowering as soon as they mature. This explains why most autoflowering cannabis plants are usually ready for harvesting in as early as 10 weeks.

The Origin of Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds

A closer look into the history of autoflowering cannabis seeds will show that they originate from the cannabis ruderalis family. This explains the autoflowers’ ability to complete their cycle in such a short time. Ruderalis is basically a subspecies of cannabis, much like sativa and indica. However, ruderalis has a completely different background.

According to various scientific studies, cannabis ruderalis is believed to be native to the short growing seasons in cold environments found in Russia, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Central Europe. In order to survive these harsh climatic conditions, they must flower automatically without relying on light.

Legal cannabis growers and breeders worldwide took advantage of the unique difference between cannabis ruderalis and the other two types of strains to develop a commercially viable strain that they say is easy to grow and requires less maintenance.

The autoflowering cannabis seeds available today are ruderalis strains mixed with cannabis sativa or indica over several generations. It’s also worth noting that the autoflowers’ genes are naturally recessive. This means that it takes a significant amount of time to create autoflower varieties of cannabis indica or sativa strains.

The final result of these efforts is often a psychoactive or high-CBD cannabis strain that can transition into the blooming phase without a change in the light cycle.

The Pros and Cons of Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds

Autoflowering cannabis seeds have completely transformed the cannabis industry. But just like any other cannabis seeds, they are better suited for some legal growers than others. This explains why the introduction of these seeds has been met with both criticism and acclaim from cannabis enthusiasts.

Here are the pros and cons of autoflowering cannabis seeds.

Pros

Light Independent

One of the best things about autoflowering cannabis seeds is that they don’t rely on photoperiod to bloom. Since they have a fixed and shorter lifespan compared to other cannabis strains, they usually start flowering after about three to four weeks of growth, regardless of the lighting situation.

Legal growers don’t need to invest in an expensive light-proof box to grow autoflowers. There’s also no need for them to cover the greenhouse with black drapes or even set a light timer to protect the plants from sunlight. In fact, autoflowering seeds are often grown on a balcony or inside a room.

Fast Growing

Compared to other cannabis strain types like sativa and indica, autoflowering cannabis plants bloom faster. On average, autoflowers are reportedly ready for harvesting in about 9 to 10 weeks. Some of them are even ready in as little as eight weeks.

For this reason, autoflowering cannabis seeds are said to be ideal for legal growers looking to make a turnover in the shortest time possible. With such a quick growing cycle, autoflowers can easily be harvested about four to six times in one year.

This method, experts say, makes more economic sense compared to growing photoperiod cannabis plants that can take as long as four or five months to harvest.

Easier to Grow Indoors

Even though marijuana is legal in many countries not all legal growers feel free to grow cannabis on their balconies or lawns. Additionally, some indoor growers have limited space, which may not be enough to accommodate tall and large plants. Therefore, the size of cannabis plants may become inconvenient for some legal growers.

Autoflowering cannabis plants are shorter and bushier than other cannabis strains out there. These plants will grow to maturity without the need for pruning or even trellising. To put this into perspective, autoflowers usually don’t grow taller than 80-120 cm. Due to their compact size, these plants do not take up much indoor space. They can reportedly easily be grown on a balcony or even inside a closet without drawing unwanted attention.

Super Resilient

Due to their genetic history, autoflowering cannabis plants can easily withstand harsh climatic conditions compared to the photoperiod strains. These plants are also more resilient against pests, diseases, and mold.

Therefore, legal growers living in areas with less-than-ideal climatic conditions can plant autoflower cannabis seeds and still enjoy a great yield.

Require Fewer Nutrients

Due to their compact size, autoflowering cannabis seeds require fewer nutrients to grow and flower. And since these plants don’t need round-the-clock lighting, legal growers can save a lot of money on electricity bills as well.

Cons

Lower Yield

Traditional cannabis strains usually grow in their vegetative phase for as long as the grower wants. If the objective is for cannabis plants to grow tall and potentially produce a higher yield, this is achieved by a delay in the photoperiod leading to the bloom. However, the same method is not possible with autoflowering cannabis seeds.

Even though autoflowers are designed to withstand harsh climatic conditions and bloom faster, they’re not known to produce a high yield. Autoflowering plants never grow very big, which means that they produce a lower yield at the end of their lifecycle.

However, there are a few high-yielding autoflowering cannabis strains that may produce a better yield than the average autoflower.

Less Potent

Experts say that harvesting potent marijuana can be done best when plants grow in the sun for as long as possible. Since autoflowers are smaller and mature in less time than traditional cannabis strains, they tend to have lower THC levels.

Hard to Control

It’s easy for legal growers to choose the height of resulting cannabis plants and the time they should transition to their flowering phase. This is because legal growers can control the lighting schedule and how much nutrients the plants get every day. Unfortunately, this is not possible with autoflowering cannabis seeds.

Most of the time, autoflowering seeds result in cannabis plants that follow their own schedule, regardless of how much legal growers manipulate the indoor conditions. As a result, it’s reportedly difficult to predict how tall the plants will grow or when they’ll bloom.

Unfit for Cloning

One of the biggest drawbacks of legally growing autoflowering cannabis seeds is the inability to clone the resulting plants. Since all autoflowering cannabis plants do not rely on a photoperiod, any clones taken from these plants will basically be the same age and size as the mother plant.

Less Damage Recovery Time

Legal growers who like to train their cannabis plants are unable to do so when growing autoflowering plants. Due to the speed at which autoflowering plants grow, they never have enough time to recover from damages caused by pruning or topping.

This limitation can be particularly demotivating, especially among legal growers who want to use various techniques to maximize their yield. After all, experts state that any mistake while attempting these techniques will significantly damage or reduce the final yield.

How do the Experts Treat Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds?

Here are some things that legal growers do to get the biggest yields with autoflowering cannabis seeds:

● They use high-quality and well-draining soil.

● They keep the temperature at around 21° Celsius/70° Fahrenheit.

● They keep the humidity at around 50-60% during vegetation and 40% during flowering.

● They provide the plants with 18-24 hours’ worth of light.

● They always water the plants when the soil feels dry to the touch.

● They avoid overwatering the plants, as it can lead to root rot.

The Bottom Line

Autoflowering cannabis seeds are said to be easy to grow and maintain. They typically grow without the need to change light cycles, so autoflowers are often grown indoors or alongside photoperiods. And because of their compact size, they are also often kept in the same pot throughout their lifecycle.

They are reportedly suitable for newbie legal growers or those who don’t want a high-maintenance growing experience.