Why avoid autoflowers when learning to grow?

C

Cavemanej255

Active Member
What’s up everyone. So I’m in the middle of my second grow. My first grow was an awesome experience. Learned a lot, made mistakes yet still was able to produce some quality smoke. I decided to grow a few runs of autoflowers to get the feel for growing, feeding, ph, soil etc.. why do people say to avoid learning on autoflowers? I feel like learning on these easy to grow plants has prepared me for when I switch to photos next run.
anyone have reasons why they advise avoiding autoflowers for first time growers?
 
Wattzzup

Wattzzup

Well-Known Member
Cavemanej255 said:
What’s up everyone. So I’m in the middle of my second grow. My first grow was an awesome experience. Learned a lot, made mistakes yet still was able to produce some quality smoke. I decided to grow a few runs of autoflowers to get the feel for growing, feeding, ph, soil etc.. why do people say to avoid learning on autoflowers? I feel like learning on these easy to grow plants has prepared me for when I switch to photos next run.
anyone have reasons why they advise avoiding autoflowers for first time growers?
Click to expand...
Worked for me. Grew autos for about a year then photos. I liked it
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Cavemanej255 said:
What’s up everyone. So I’m in the middle of my second grow. My first grow was an awesome experience. Learned a lot, made mistakes yet still was able to produce some quality smoke. I decided to grow a few runs of autoflowers to get the feel for growing, feeding, ph, soil etc.. why do people say to avoid learning on autoflowers? I feel like learning on these easy to grow plants has prepared me for when I switch to photos next run.
anyone have reasons why they advise avoiding autoflowers for first time growers?
Click to expand...
Let’s teach a guy how to defuse a bomb the very first time by handing him one with the timer already running.
 
bf80255

bf80255

Well-Known Member
Cavemanej255 said:
What’s up everyone. So I’m in the middle of my second grow. My first grow was an awesome experience. Learned a lot, made mistakes yet still was able to produce some quality smoke. I decided to grow a few runs of autoflowers to get the feel for growing, feeding, ph, soil etc.. why do people say to avoid learning on autoflowers? I feel like learning on these easy to grow plants has prepared me for when I switch to photos next run.
anyone have reasons why they advise avoiding autoflowers for first time growers?
Click to expand...
cuzz most people suck at growing hahaha
if you fuck up an auto early on it will become stunted and throw off your grow. otherwise they are great for beginners and advanced alike

also i always recommend noobz start growing 1 strain (clone) for like 4-8 grows minimum so you can really get a feel for that particular clones requirements. youd be surprised how different even 2 plants from the same parents can be in regards to there requirements for nutes,temps,root space, ph,etc
so its a bit harder to get dialed in with autos but if your using fairly stabel gear you should be alright.
 
SnoopyDoo

SnoopyDoo

Well-Known Member
Autoflower is a double edged sword. If something goes wrong, you don't have time to fix it. OTOH, the quicker you get from seed/clone to finished product, the less time there is for something to go wrong. A nice in between approach is just grow lots of small plants - flip them when the hit about 8-12" tall, but have enough to cover whatever you light foot print is. So flipping ~12" plants may require ~16 plants in ~1 gal pots to cover a ~4x4' 5x5' space. If something goes wrong in the veg phase, you can fix it and give them time to recover and just flip fewer bigger plants into bloom.

Happy trails.
 
Wizzlebiz

Wizzlebiz

Well-Known Member
Cavemanej255 said:
These are all really good points/examples I never really thought of and make a lot of sense! Was always told stay away from autos but no one ever elaborated much. Def plan on switching to photos but think I’ll always have a few autos going
Click to expand...
Listen. Nothing wrong with that at all. I learned running both at the same time. Just know thing will slow an autos yield down significantly if messed up in veg.

Enjoy doing both. You will see there really is a difference between how to treat autos and photos.
 
Doug Dawson

Doug Dawson

Well-Known Member
In the end just do as you see fit. I started with autos and it worked out perfectly fine. In reality autos can be cool but as people pointed out recovery time is not really there if you make a mistake. Other than changing the light cycle to get a photo to flower, there is not really any difference on the growers end. There are some subtle differences such as slightly lower thc and no ability to do heavy training on them but let's face it, you are not going to get the best weed ever created on your first run. Grow what you like, learn from your mistakes and have fun. That's my best advice.
 
Doug Dawson

Doug Dawson

Well-Known Member
bf80255 said:
cuzz most people suck at growing hahaha
if you fuck up an auto early on it will become stunted and throw off your grow. otherwise they are great for beginners and advanced alike

also i always recommend noobz start growing 1 strain (clone) for like 4-8 grows minimum so you can really get a feel for that particular clones requirements. youd be surprised how different even 2 plants from the same parents can be in regards to there requirements for nutes,temps,root space, ph,etc
so its a bit harder to get dialed in with autos but if your using fairly stabel gear you should be alright.
Click to expand...
To most with a small plant limit or space limitations what you suggest is years worth of growing. While I can appreciate your thoroughness I have to think what you suggest for new growers is a little extreme. In Canada you have a 4 plant limit. Running 8 grows of one strain would take years. If a person does proper research there is enough information out there to easily get them through grow issues.
 
Geordie_John

Geordie_John

Well-Known Member
I'm looking forward to experimenting more with autos. I got bored and popped a seed and just thought I would see how it would do under 12/12 whilst others flower. Its now bigger than all the other plants and its had to be tucked out the way a bit in the corner. I'm not expecting much from it but it's already got pretty decent bud development and it's only 5 weeks from seed tomorrow. Got some sour diesel, white widow, northern lights and lemon haze ready to go but think my next run will be the royal gorilla seeds I was lucky enough to win recently. Stuff sounds nice albeit not a big yielder.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top