Pro's and con's info Needed on Autoflower

I was thinking about switching from my normal veg/flower routine and trying these autoflower strains out. Obvious plus sides in my eyes is the half time it takes to harvest a crop but what are the downsides?? I wanted a cheese or lemon strain in the autoflowering range and was leaning towards barnys farm little cheese. Has anyone tried this particular strain?? Would like a heads up

why why why....they take more electric for lower less quality bud.......................

How would they take more electricity on a 12/12 ratio for 8 weeks less?? Electricty isn't a massive problem anyway I was more interested in quality and yeild in comparison with normal veg/flower method. Have you had a bad experience with autoflower then?

ive tried a few..makes no sense.i run 12-12 from seed and have pulled up to 1709 wet from 1 plant..........no way you will get that from an auto.....

Auto flowers don't take half the time as regular photoperiod plants. The auto strains that I've grown have all taken about 10 weeks to finish. When I grow photoperiod plants I vegg them for 3 weeks or so then flower for 9 weeks or so depending on the strain, so you are only saving 2 or 3 weeks, not 8 weeks.

There are a lot of haters against the autos that I don't quite understand. There are some good strains out there that are very potent. I've had good results from Short Stuff's auto assassin and Dinafem's haze auto. I have also grown Dinafem's roadrunner, G-13 lab's northern lights auto and Flash seed's purple mazar. Those three strains were not that great, all three autoflowered as advertised, but lacked potency.

If you have a separate vegg and flower area, just grow a few auto's out in your vegg area and see how you like them. Thats what I do.

Just my .02

A well selected auto will more than likely out produce a 12 week photo period. Yes i said it. A well selected auto will more than likely out produce a 12 week photo period.

In a SOG style grow, Concentrating on minimal floor space and maximum vertical growth. Even inexperienced growers have the ability to produce 1g/W , Of some very potent ganja easily. Most of the production arguments of a photo lover, are coming from someone who either never tried, or made a half ass attempt and passed judgment immediately. See you have to understand. Most of the talkers on here, are just that, talkers. Very inexperienced, with a delusion of botany grandeur.

Case in point lie's herein; Mrboots and myself enjoyed the dinafem haze auto, so, we must have yielded a heavy potent smoke. Yet there are many many threads, bashing this strain. BECAUSE, THEY, were unsuccessful with the grow. This is the fault of the gardener, not the strain.

12/12 from seed sounds like a plan. Do you hit them with hps from day 1 then or run a cfl for a week? I use 600 watts hps's but surly that's too intense for seedlings? @ mrboots, iv always veg'd for 8 weeks solely because I have seperate veg/flower areas and I run them simultaneously. But 3 week veg would be beneficial as I'm always lollipoping as I havnt got under lighting. As the autoflowering goes I think I will give it a miss. Il either veg for a shorter time or run 12/12 from seed as I wanted to remove the veg area to make a bigger flower room

Running 12/12 negates the purpose of autos. Not advised.

TheChodesman said:

Running 12/12 negates the purpose of autos. Not advised.

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Chodesman is right, 12/12 is a major mistake with autos.. i suggest research before you grow.

@sixteenounces you suggest veg with auto then?

IMO autos are best grown outside where the light cycle can't be controlled like it can inside.

My first autoflower under cfls was better smoke than anything i get from around here. Now i do photoperiod on my second grow and i like them a lot more as i can have less plants but more bud in the end with more veg. It also allows me to mess around with training methods. The only Pro's for autos in my books are that anyone can grow them if you get any type of decent genetics. They work great for outdoor growers who have very short summers. Just having to buy seeds for each plant and they can be smaller so you need more to get the same amount as a bit more veg on a photo would, is the biggest downside.

i would suggest 20/4 you can run them 18/6... Plant them straight into taller larger containers. 3gallon rose pots are wonderful. Do not TOP, FIM, OR heavily train them. Do not impair their growth at all. Find good genetics, do a lot of research.

Whatstrain said:

My first autoflower under cfls was better smoke than anything i get from around here. Now i do photoperiod on my second grow and i like them a lot more as i can have less plants but more bud in the end with more veg. It also allows me to mess around with training methods. The only Pro's for autos in my books are that anyone can grow them if you get any type of decent genetics. They work great for outdoor growers who have very short summers. Just having to buy seeds for each plant and they can be smaller so you need more to get the same amount as a bit more veg on a photo would, is the biggest downside.

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Sew seeds. Very simple. Yet growers no longer prefer this method of propagation. Genetic mutilation is preferd.

Autos don't veg. essentially they go from seedling, maybe veg for a week or two. 12/12 is the usual method of initiating flowering in photoperiod plants. Autoflowering strains start flowering based on age, height, etc. Why do you think it's called an "autoflowering strain"?

DrDiezel said:

How would they take more electricity on a 12/12 ratio for 8 weeks less?? Electricty isn't a massive problem anyway I was more interested in quality and yeild in comparison with normal veg/flower method. Have you had a bad experience with autoflower then?

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Because they don't get 12/12 they need 20/4 or even 24/7 light..the more light the bigger the yield...some people still do 18/6 but there is no 12/12...they flower in a time scale...not by the length of light...

I am going to try some...I don't know if I like them or not...but my plan is to grow a couple autoflowers while I let my photos veg...That way I am not rushing the photos and hurting my yield there...I just need more weed in less time...lol.

DrDiezel said:

12/12 from seed sounds like a plan. Do you hit them with hps from day 1 then or run a cfl for a week? I use 600 watts hps's but surly that's too intense for seedlings? @ mrboots, iv always veg'd for 8 weeks solely because I have seperate veg/flower areas and I run them simultaneously. But 3 week veg would be beneficial as I'm always lollipoping as I havnt got under lighting. As the autoflowering goes I think I will give it a miss. Il either veg for a shorter time or run 12/12 from seed as I wanted to remove the veg area to make a bigger flower room

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i run either a 250 hps or 250 cfl for the first week or s two then in a cab with a 400 and 600 dual spec hps............all normal seeds ..no autos.12-12 from seed.thiese are some of my girls.

DrDiezel said:

12/12 from seed sounds like a plan. Do you hit them with hps from day 1 then or run a cfl for a week? I use 600 watts hps's but surly that's too intense for seedlings? @ mrboots, iv always veg'd for 8 weeks solely because I have seperate veg/flower areas and I run them simultaneously. But 3 week veg would be beneficial as I'm always lollipoping as I havnt got under lighting. As the autoflowering goes I think I will give it a miss. Il either veg for a shorter time or run 12/12 from seed as I wanted to remove the veg area to make a bigger flower room

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I only veg for 3 weeks because I grow in 2 small cabinets, an 8 week vegged plant would take up too much of my space. I like having a few different strains to mess around with even though I have limited space. Since you already have a separate vegg area you really should grow out a few autos just for the experience, and make up your own mind on weather you like them or not.

My main piece of advice on auto is to NOT buy feminized seeds. It doesn't make any sense to have to re-buy seeds every time. Just keep your best looking male and polinate a lower branch of your best looking female. I got about 90 seeds the last time I polinated a very small lower branch of one of my auto assassins.

My experience with 12/12hr schedule for an auto 3.5grams dry. If I grew her under 18/6 maybe 7-10g
SOG is the way

del66666 said:

i run either a 250 hps or 250 cfl for the first week or s two then in a cab with a 400 and 600 dual spec hps............all normal seeds ..no autos.12-12 from seed.thiese are some of my girls.

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Nice technique..how long do they stay in Veg under 12/12?