judging by the grammar of most of those quotes... don't think the sources are the brightest. but then again, you don't have to be the worlds greatest typist to grow reefer...
Yea, I have read a handful of posts in the past where people just aren't patient enough to wait for the buds.
There are so many factors that go into lighting cycles for indoor grows.
Its a real shame that most people grow on a simplified 18/6 12/12 cycle.
Thats fine for indicas, because in their natural climate thats how the seasons are.
Sativas are different, they are around 11/13 , 13/11 most of the time because of their equatorial origin.
Ruderalis strains grow in northern regions... like siberia for example.
I don't know who coined the term 'autoflowering' but its pretty far from the truth.
In theory, all strains are 'autoflowering'.
Its only a matter of what triggers flowering. Seasons or Age.
The light cycles we use only trick the plant into thinking seasons changed.
I have no experience with this personally, so I will quote dj short on this one (creator of blueberry strain)
Ruderalis: myth and misnomer
As indoor growers attempted to improve their genetic lines via breeding, another interesting phenomenon occurred: Ruderalis. Although there is a wild variety identified as Ruderalis in Russia ("Ruderalis" is supposedly Russian for "by the side of the road") that grows very short and matures very fast, I seriously doubt the rumor that someone actually went to Russia to collect seeds of this variety sometime in the past. Or, if someone actually did go all the way to Russia to find, collect and smuggle "rudy" seeds, I do feel sorry for their waste of time. They could have gotten the same worthless thing from Minnesota, Saskatchewan or Manitoba with much less hassle.
The North American Ruderalis probably originated as follows: After the Indica varieties arrived in the US and became incorporated into the gene pool, many breeders began to cross the earliest maturing individuals with each other in hopes of shortening the maturation cycle.
It would only take a few generations for the ugly Rudy phenotypes to begin expressing themselves. By ugly, I am referring to a strong lack of potency and/or desirability. I know, I was once guilty of the practice myself. It did not take me long to realize that this was a huge mistake in regard to the quality and potency of the future generations' finished product, and all subsequent breeding along this line was ceased.
Many of these manipulated rudies were released on the open market between 1981 and 1986. It was shortly after this period that the grow journals of the era (Sinsemilla Tips and High Times) ran articles about the possibility of a new wonder variety for indoor grows: fast blooming Ruderalis. Rumor had spread to myth and misnomer. Therefore, it may be more appropriate to say that the Ruderalis phenotype was coaxed from Indica genetics, via the indoor breeding environment.
The same applies to many of the Indica dominant varieties available today. Breeders selecting for early, fast flowering or fast growth often miss out on some of the finer and more subtle characteristics available from crossing certain genotypes. My advice to breeders is to wait until the finished product is suitably tested before coming to any conclusions regarding desirable candidates for future breeding consideration.
I had come to many of the same conclusions myself, and after reading this it just fortified them.
http://www.thcfarmer.com/forums/f10/breeding-tips-dj-short-2002-a-69/
Definitely worth a read if you have time, this guy knows his shit, found the article yesterday.