@del6666 the one next to the coke bottle is taking the piss mate. Lol. Got to be something to do with the dual spec alongside the hps. Monsters. @mrboots I'm 100% going to try a few auto's alongside some I'm vegging atm just to see what the difference in yeild/quality is. I'm not that limited for space and I'm starting to be under the impression that autoflower strains would be more beneficial to a grower with a minimal grow area.
Pro's and con's info Needed on Autoflower
- Thread starter DrDiezel
- Start date
Jogro
Well-Known Member
Pros of autoflowers:
a. No need for separate flowering/veg areas or to switch light cycles. Can run 20-0 from seed to harvest.
b. 18 or 20 hours of light per flowering day means bud mass is packed on faster than conventional strains under 12-12. More hours of light per day means you won't save electricity, but on a small plant-for-plant basis, yield can be higher than with conventional plants in a given time period.
c. Short "dwarf" plants available; well-suited for stealth "microgrows" indoors or outdoors.
d. Plants will mature outdoors during any part of year, including non-traditional times, like mid-summer. If you want to avoid rippers and busts, or harvest plants all year long outdoors, this is a good way to go.
Cons of autoflowers:
a. Smaller variety of strains available, though this is improving all the time.
b. "Best" autoflower strains are pretty good, but still aren't as good as "best" regular strains (see a above), and in fact may never be due to limitations of autoflowering genetics.
c. Can't maintain mother plant or clone plants to maintain "killer" phenotype. Can't "regenerate" harvested plant. MUST start from seed every time.
d. Since the plants have a pre-determined lifespan before they die, auto plants are limited by genetics in terms of how big they can get. They're also generally not amenable to topping, training, etc. Although yield per square foot can be remarkably high, yield per plant is generally low,
Bottom line is that autos can make a lot of sense, in the right circumstances:
-If you want to grow inside a computer case or some other ultra tiny place.
-If you want to hide a few tiny plants on your deck or in your garden.
-If you want to be able to harvest outside before the fall or run multiple outdoor crops per year.
-If you are trying to maximize yield from really small spaces, then mini sea-of-green type growing with high turnover of relatively high yielding small auto plants is probably the way to do it.
On the other hand:
-If you want/need to grow really big plants (indoors or outdoors), autos are probably not for you.
-If you are limited by plant counts, and/or need to have highest possible per-plant yields, autos may not be for you.
-If you need the absolutely highest quality "elite strain" bud possible, or want the latest greatest award winning strains, autos are probably not for you.
-If you don't want to grow from bought seeds every time, or generate your own, autos are probably not for you.
a. No need for separate flowering/veg areas or to switch light cycles. Can run 20-0 from seed to harvest.
b. 18 or 20 hours of light per flowering day means bud mass is packed on faster than conventional strains under 12-12. More hours of light per day means you won't save electricity, but on a small plant-for-plant basis, yield can be higher than with conventional plants in a given time period.
c. Short "dwarf" plants available; well-suited for stealth "microgrows" indoors or outdoors.
d. Plants will mature outdoors during any part of year, including non-traditional times, like mid-summer. If you want to avoid rippers and busts, or harvest plants all year long outdoors, this is a good way to go.
Cons of autoflowers:
a. Smaller variety of strains available, though this is improving all the time.
b. "Best" autoflower strains are pretty good, but still aren't as good as "best" regular strains (see a above), and in fact may never be due to limitations of autoflowering genetics.
c. Can't maintain mother plant or clone plants to maintain "killer" phenotype. Can't "regenerate" harvested plant. MUST start from seed every time.
d. Since the plants have a pre-determined lifespan before they die, auto plants are limited by genetics in terms of how big they can get. They're also generally not amenable to topping, training, etc. Although yield per square foot can be remarkably high, yield per plant is generally low,
Bottom line is that autos can make a lot of sense, in the right circumstances:
-If you want to grow inside a computer case or some other ultra tiny place.
-If you want to hide a few tiny plants on your deck or in your garden.
-If you want to be able to harvest outside before the fall or run multiple outdoor crops per year.
-If you are trying to maximize yield from really small spaces, then mini sea-of-green type growing with high turnover of relatively high yielding small auto plants is probably the way to do it.
On the other hand:
-If you want/need to grow really big plants (indoors or outdoors), autos are probably not for you.
-If you are limited by plant counts, and/or need to have highest possible per-plant yields, autos may not be for you.
-If you need the absolutely highest quality "elite strain" bud possible, or want the latest greatest award winning strains, autos are probably not for you.
-If you don't want to grow from bought seeds every time, or generate your own, autos are probably not for you.
jogro hit it pretty close. Only thing is you can get nice yields per plant i avg over 2 oz, most finish within 60 days.as far as potency I beleive most growers harvest to soon . I try tons of strains being in a medical state and there are lots of auto's that will be as good or better potency wise than photo strains.also you can get 2 harvests in on autos before most photo's finish.
fearnoevil
Well-Known Member
Excellent info Jogro! <edit> Nevermind I found out already, lol.
Jogro
Well-Known Member
If you want the highest yield possible, that sounds about right.
themanwiththeplan
Well-Known Member
autos will not finish in half the time. they stay in veg 2-3 wks then have to go through flowering (at least 6 1/2 wks+ mattering on the strain).
you dont really gain any advantage versus regular beans imo. they just work well for noobies or those who are growing stealth/seriously limited conditions.
The major downside with autos is most grow best under 20/4 lighting which means you're actually gonna blow more $$$ on electricity than you would regular beans (which veg under 18/6 and flower under 12/12).
I grew a few autos. theres nothing really different about them other than they flower on their own and you dont change the light schedule (its 20/4 all the way through).
you'd be better served to grow a regular plant and go 18/6 for the first 2 wks then go to 12/12. some say go 12/12 from seed but the plant will not flower until its mature enough (usually 2-2 1/2 wks if you go 12/12 form seed) so to cut down on stretching id suggest go 18/6 or even 24/0 for the 1st two wks to keep the nodes as close as possible.
autos don't grow faster than regs...they just flower in any light schedule automatically (thats why they call them autos)
Besides you have more options working with regular beans as there are far more regular strains than autos. plus another downside is clones. you can't clone autos...well you can but since the clone is just as old as the mother it came from it'll still flower after 2-2 1/2 wks. only way to preserve auto strains is by making seeds. idk if this is an issue for you but still something to consider
you dont really gain any advantage versus regular beans imo. they just work well for noobies or those who are growing stealth/seriously limited conditions.
The major downside with autos is most grow best under 20/4 lighting which means you're actually gonna blow more $$$ on electricity than you would regular beans (which veg under 18/6 and flower under 12/12).
I grew a few autos. theres nothing really different about them other than they flower on their own and you dont change the light schedule (its 20/4 all the way through).
you'd be better served to grow a regular plant and go 18/6 for the first 2 wks then go to 12/12. some say go 12/12 from seed but the plant will not flower until its mature enough (usually 2-2 1/2 wks if you go 12/12 form seed) so to cut down on stretching id suggest go 18/6 or even 24/0 for the 1st two wks to keep the nodes as close as possible.
autos don't grow faster than regs...they just flower in any light schedule automatically (thats why they call them autos)
Besides you have more options working with regular beans as there are far more regular strains than autos. plus another downside is clones. you can't clone autos...well you can but since the clone is just as old as the mother it came from it'll still flower after 2-2 1/2 wks. only way to preserve auto strains is by making seeds. idk if this is an issue for you but still something to consider
themanwiththeplan
Well-Known Member
i want to be clear though. autos are still good bud in the end. if this is just a small stealth/micro grow then theres nothing wrong with autos.
if u want to sell bud i wouldn't grow autos.
i grew a dinafem auto and it was pretty nice overall. on a 18/6 or 20/4 (i cant remember which i used) schedule i got 1oz from 1 plant in a 1 gal pot under a few 23w cfls (3-4 i believe)
if u want to sell bud i wouldn't grow autos.
i grew a dinafem auto and it was pretty nice overall. on a 18/6 or 20/4 (i cant remember which i used) schedule i got 1oz from 1 plant in a 1 gal pot under a few 23w cfls (3-4 i believe)
TheChodesman
Active Member
If you do a run of autos in a small tent in a SOG you can get harvests about every month. I have 8 flowering plants and 8 plants that are a month younger than them. I'm going to try to cram even more in there next time. If you can pull that off that can be 4 to 8 ounces, maybe 3-6 conservatively a month. Extra points for germinating seedlings under separate CFL's ahead of time to save time. I'm going to hone my system and crank out buds lol. That's pretty productive IMO.
damn thats good advise....never thought about polinating to get more seeds! thanks man
Jogro
Well-Known Member
You're right that you don't gain much of a TIME advantage in terms of autos from seed vs photoperiod plants from seed. Most of the difference there is going to depend on which strains you're comparing.
If you want the fastest possible buds, the best way to go is to start from clones, which you can literally put right into flowering as soon as they are rooted. Of course you have to generate the clones, but you can do that in parallel with an ongoing grow, so except for the first time you do it, it doesn't cost you extra time.
The advantage of autos vs clones is that during your 7 weeks of flowering, since the auto plants can get up to an extra 12 hours of light per day, they can put on more weight per week. Plus of course, you don't have to generate or maintain clones. If you're only doing an occasional grow and/or prefer to start from seeds each time, that's an advantage.
I've already listed what I think are the biggest advantages of autos: Indoors, if you want to maximize yield out of a small space, they're great for that. Outdoors, they're stealthy, plus you can harvest any time of year. These things don't apply to everyone, but they do apply to a lot of 'personal use' growers, and if so they're really big advantages. If, for example, you live in an apt or highrise, and wanted to put a plant on your deck, an auto would be ideal.
One other auto advantage I didn't mention is that because they are small, and can flower under 20-4 or even 24-0 lighting, if you are running separate veg and flower areas for conventional plants, you can still throw an auto or two in any unused parts of your veg area to get some extra buds.
fuuze72
Member
lol what he is saying is that the point of an auto is to mainly cut out the photoperiod. With autos you an run the lights 24 hours a day if you want but i wouldn't advise it. ach individual strain has its own photoperiod, I'm running 5 auto's , 1 royal dwarf , 1 little cheese and 3 dieselryder which are all doing great on - 20 ON / 4 OFF - light cycle . either research the strain your planning to grow or try 18 / 6 or 20 /4 .
TheChodesman
Active Member
If you have nothing constructive to add then kindly stop talking.
del66666
Well-Known Member
well now that just makes me want to talk even more.....