Define autoflower. New indoor grow.

Can someone please give me a detailed definition of "autoflower." Im starting my first indoor grow in a 6x6x6 tent. I know very little and my head hurts from reading all night. Anyone have suggestions or can break down a more simple process. Or if you can recommend any step by step videos that would be awesome.

It's a sativa, hybrid, or indica that's been bred with hemp. Hemp doesn't need a change in daylight length to bud. It'll flower no matter what month or day length.

Those traits have been introduced into the other two kinds of cannabis. So they don't need a light change to flower. "It's Automatic".

SouthCross said:

It's a sativa, hybrid, or indica that's been bred with hemp. Hemp doesn't need a change in daylight length to bud. It'll flower no matter what month or day length.

Those traits have been introduced into the other two kinds of cannabis. So they don't need a light change to flower. "It's Automatic".

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Thank you. So 24 hour light? How long usually until they flower?

Nuglove said:

Thank you. So 24 hour light? How long usually until they flower?

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There is great variation, but a lot of them flower much faster than photoperiod plants. I have no experience yet, but I just ordered some seeds that claim they are ready to harvest 65 days after sprouting. But those were among the fastest. Some take almost as long as photoperiod plants from what I have gathered.

And Ruderalis is not really hemp. It is far too short to be viable as a hemp product. It generally stays around 2ft or under. If you've ever heard the term "ditchweed" that is what ruderalis is. This is why I have always steered clear of autoflowering plants. But apparently with selective breeding they have been able to keep the best assets of ruderalis while negating the bad. I finally got curious enough that I am going to try it myself for the first time.

And I would never go 24 hour lighting. A little dark is always good for the plants to rest.

Kerovan said:

There is great variation, but a lot of them flower much faster than photoperiod plants. I have no experience yet, but I just ordered some seeds that claim they are ready to harvest 65 days after sprouting. But those were among the fastest. Some take almost as long as photoperiod plants from what I have gathered.

And Ruderalis is not really hemp. It is far too short to be viable as a hemp product. It generally stays around 2ft or under. If you've ever heard the term "ditchweed" that is what ruderalis is. This is why I have always steered clear of autoflowering plants. But apparently with selective breeding they have been able to keep the best assets of ruderalis while negating the bad. I finally got curious enough that I am going to try it myself for the first time.

And I would never go 24 hour lighting. A little dark is always good for the plants to rest.

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What would you suggest? 17-18?

ruderalis is actually a eurasian strain, from the mountains of russia and china, that adapted itself for its environment, where the growing season is very short. it developed a mechanism that makes it start flowering when it reaches sexual maturity, no matter how much light its getting every day.
someone figured out that that is its dominant genetic trait, and it would pass it along, so they started breeding other strains with ruderalis....bingo, autoflowers
i've seen it grow under 24 hours of light a day with no apparent problems, but i think any plant does better with at least a short night of 4 hours

Nuglove said:

What would you suggest? 17-18?

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Yes, That is exactly what I would recommend. Let the plants sleep to rest just like you need to sleep.

Some strains benefit from 24/0 or even 20/4 .....
I run Autoflowers more often than photos ONLY BECAUSE OF PERSONAL CHOICE.

Autos are tempermental sometimes and you have to pay close attention to how you grow them . They do not HAVE TIME to recover from screw ups like a regular strains.
They are sensitive to overfeeding , overwatering and general too much fiddling with.

I run 18/6 light yes STRAIGHT THRU HARVEST , they do not need 12/12.
They will transition to preflower within 30/40 days. They DO NOT need to be Supercrop or any harsh handling ..... Just plant them and let them rip ... I LST them only and rarely do topping ( strain dependant) .... For personal use these are hard to beat.

Feeding :
Basic nute lines work well ( 2 part grow and bloom ) : like GH MAXIGROW / MAXIBLOOM
or DYNAGRO or something similar .... They have a short veg cycle so using multi bottle crap like AN NUTES is a waste. Veg stage is around 5 weeks. If you use a mild soil mix - happy frog or similar will GROW her all WITHOUT added Nutes. I use Lowe's Vegtable garden and have kicked FOX FARM to the curb. I water with tap , no RO , DISTILLED or other water bullshit. If you PH your water or feed mixes to 6.5 , then you are golden.



I plant seed straight to final pot size ( 3-5 gallon ) - some will argue this point but it works fine. No growing in party cups .... This plant will start to take off around the 2-3 week so why would want to disturb it to pot up ???

Mist seedlings , no need to drown pot with water ..... Yet. I mean there are tons of suggestions but once you see they are plug and play , you can keep a harvest rotation every two weeks like I do ...... Hella easy.

That makes sense thanks fellas. Can you recommend a place to order autoflower seeds? I also posted that I was looking for a strain that is proven in san diego county for outdoor. Know where I could find this?

Here is another little piece of my 2¢ .... Enjoy

AUTOFLOWER GROW CHART

TIME FRAME :

This time frame should give you an idea of what to expect and when. If your plant is considerably behind what I've put here, then go back and read again. Strains have improved greatly than say 15 years ago ... You will find many high performance breeders
like Mephisto , Rare Dankness , Reserva Privada G13 and tons of other ...ShortRyders , Dwarfy strains will finish pretty fast but really don't yield very much ... With those you can harvest at around 60-65 days.

DAY 1 - First real leaves emerge
DAY 6-7 - Plant has 3 nodes with smaller branches beginning to emerge
DAY 10-12 - 5 nodes
Day 17-21 - 8 to 10 nodes, plant sex is shown. Very fast growth by this stage.
Day 25-30 - Plant begins flowering and starts to stretch. Bud sites popping up.
Day 35-45 - Growth slows, gets a bit boring, buds slowly develop more
and more each day.
Day 50+ - Buds begin to fatten, heavy trichome production and smell.
This is the exciting part.......
Day 65-75 - Harvest ( time will vary ) ......it usually finishes within 90 days.
SuperAutos will run longer ......

Breeder times are ESTIMATES ONLY , reality is most Autoflowers produce better based on the trich maturity ... NOT ON THE DAYS GROWING.
I say " it's done when it's done "

Nuglove said:

That makes sense thanks fellas. Can you recommend a place to order autoflower seeds? I also posted that I was looking for a strain that is proven in san diego county for outdoor. Know where I could find this?

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The Attitude Seed Bank https://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/

I've been ordering from them and Nirvana for close to a decade now. Love them both, but The Attitude has a larger selection since they are just a store and not a breeder like Nirvana.

Budzbuddha said:

Here is another little piece of my 2¢ .... Enjoy

AUTOFLOWER GROW CHART

TIME FRAME :

This time frame should give you an idea of what to expect and when. If your plant is considerably behind what I've put here, then go back and read again. Strains have improved greatly than say 15 years ago ... You will find many high performance breeders
like Mephisto , Rare Dankness , Reserva Privada G13 and tons of other ...ShortRyders , Dwarfy strains will finish pretty fast but really don't yield very much ... With those you can harvest at around 60-65 days.

DAY 1 - First real leaves emerge
DAY 6-7 - Plant has 3 nodes with smaller branches beginning to emerge
DAY 10-12 - 5 nodes
Day 17-21 - 8 to 10 nodes, plant sex is shown. Very fast growth by this stage.
Day 25-30 - Plant begins flowering and starts to stretch. Bud sites popping up.
Day 35-45 - Growth slows, gets a bit boring, buds slowly develop more
and more each day.
Day 50+ - Buds begin to fatten, heavy trichome production and smell.
This is the exciting part.......
Day 65-75 - Harvest ( time will vary ) ......it usually finishes within 90 days.
SuperAutos will run longer ......

Breeder times are ESTIMATES ONLY , reality is most Autoflowers produce better based on the trich maturity ... NOT ON THE DAYS GROWING.
I say " it's done when it's done "

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that chart is pretty spot on.Sick of reading so much bullshit on these forums and someone finaly posted something that is accurate.