forceflowering versus autoflowers...pro's with experience !!

just to be clear, my grow space is very small which is ideal for autoflowers, but im guessing that a photo plant vegged for 3 weeks and put on a 12/12 will end up with the same kind of height and structure as an autoflower

There's a lot of debate about photo vs. auto with some people being diehard fans of either. Autos will always be small, but you're right about going 12/12 from seed for a photo as well. I like autos because electricity isn't much of a concern, I can plant it and not have to worry about how much the plant is going to stretch if I turn it to 12/12 and I don't have to worry about the slightest light leaks causing my plant to hermie.

Photos have a lot more choices in genetics, but that's just because autoflowers haven't been around nearly as long. As far as quality there's plenty of strains that are just as potent as their photoperiod counterparts, being an auto doesn't mean it's lower in thc, it's strain dependent.

thats right, and im particularly wanting to get some pure white rhino, some ak-48 (i attemted it before but got spider mites from going outdoors to indoors) and other photo only strains like sour kush and purple wreck etc etc etc on a 12/12 from 2-3 weeks veg and see what happens. As long as they dont stretch too much i guess they should be fine. i cant wait !!

Personally, I like both. I think autos have their place, great for new growers or when cultivated by pros can produce awesome results (see http://www.dutch-passion.nl/en/news-...he-grow-diary/)

I think they both have their benefits, the major benefit of autos is their quick turn around, I've grown 'Fast bud' and it was finished from seed in 8 weeks 4 days.

Also if your worried about plant height just do a little LST and you can easily reduce the height of the plant

I am sure an Auto will always be less potent seeing as 1 of its parents had no/very little thc.

Shouldn't be one of it's parents? It takes at least 3 generations to get a 100% auto. The pure auto should only be it's grandparent if you will. How much of a thc difference do you think F3 autos have vs. their photo counterparts? I'm guessing not much. 1%-3% maybe?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUuom5dYjLA

Watch this video on this auto, pretty sweet

with more hours of light, it would seem autos would be the better choice since they could photosynthesize up to 2x more in a life time(although 24/0 isnt the best with all of em), but many autos arent well bred and turn out to be about a 1 tall by the end. theres many autos out there that are starting to get bigger and better, OGRE from secret garden(thanks to corso for showing me this one) as well as onyx or blue himalaya diesel from short stuff are a few outlying autos you could say, they do grow bigger and yield better, some would say the buds are just as potent as well. mdanzig also offers some well bred autoflowering plants, however many would just want photoperiods so they could have the option of vegging for longer to get a larger yield, so there is pros and cons to the autoflower gene, i think a few years from now more breeders will see the advantage of autos but for now, many are just buying auto seeds for sog grows, but are forced to go back to the breeder for more seeds, unless they themselves breed them. i would honestly go with a semi auto, they will flower under 14 hours of light due to their short season parents but they also offer the advantage of clone-ability. short season strains like iranian short season(supposedly a selected pheno that was bred from guerrilla gold) offer these advantages. so if your doing autos, plan on ordering seeds unless you put aside a male for some breeding.