Autoflower Pro's and Con's?

Are autoflowers a wise investment for a cash crop situation?

  • Total voters
    51
CoupedeCoup

CoupedeCoup

New Member
I have been seriously been considering a crop of autoflower. I have been doing some research on them and keep hearing reviews, of which vary, across the board. I guess I just have a few more questions that may seal the deal for me... so it would be great if anyone could shoot me some advice/ info/ warnings... what ever you know - I want to know, too.
So... here is my setup :

Room : 4.5' wide, 6' deep, 6' tall.

Light : One 400w Metal Halide with a 600w HPS at the same time (I like the results of running them together) and a 27k CFL for good measure.

Medium : Soil mixed with worm castings, perrilite, vermiculite, and peat moss.

I need as much yield as possibly possible, but I also desire way above average quality.

Some questions I have are :

If I buy seed packs that are not feminized, how many females should I expect to get in a stable, warm, humid environment? (is it even possible to guess?)

What light cycle would be the best medium between taking less time and the most quantity possible?

Is it possible to keep different ages in the same light cycles and still have them in the same room from start to finish without altering the light cycle, in order to harvest every couple of weeks?

Do they really stay around 2ft? Do they really produce between 1 and 2 ounces, cured, per plant?

Any information would be greatly appreciated and thank you for letting me take up your time...

Coupe de Coupe
 
I was told he thc levels are low. Ever had bud that looks the biz but dont get you stoned? Im told also that cloning too much does the same but really dont know the truth on that. I have read it makes no difference. Ive a question for you. are regular seeds more hardy than feminised? it appears so to me. I never get any problems with ph damage to leaves, but fems go bad on me every time .Its a struggle to overcome but ive managed it. I only use soil.
 
Danny - Thanks for replying. Although I appreciate your reply/ suggestions, I desire to hear from people that have direct knowledge of autoflower growing. I, too, have heard many things... I am curious to find out how many are true. And I have most certainly purchased a bag at an outrageous price, simply becuase the way it looked - and smoking it was VERY disappointing. I really hate the idea of farming less-potent MJ but would certainly like to hear (read) what others have to say on the potency topic.
To reply to your questions - I have never purchased seeds from anyone - mine have always been passed down... as far as struggling with keeping your fems alive - are you possibly fertalizing them too early? What was happening to them when they started to go to shit... what did they look like?Insert Photos and Images
12216.jpg
 
At first everything was fine. I didnt feed them nutes,just what was in the soil.Spots appeared randomly on the leaves,yellowing on some. My ph was 7,but have got it to 6.8.Im now using 7ml to a litre of ionic bloom to feed,and i have definitely not over ferted.
 
Hi I just finished my third grow of autoflowering plants, I'm not going to touch them again..... You can see some of the ones I grew in my gallery, but here is why.

There always small growth, dont forget usually 8 weeks from seed to finish which means they got about 2-3 weeks grow time once they go auto, growth stops apart from flowers/buds putting on weight.

I have tried two types so far ONYX & MI5 from breeder Stitch.
Did I get a buzz/stone effect?. NO : (

And as far as the word autoflowering FEMINIZED seeds sits with me is
first batch of 5 seeds = 2 males 2 females one did not germinate

second batch 10 seeds = 6 males 3 females one did not germinate.

third batch 10 seeds =4 males 3 females 3 did not germinate..

So for me pretty dismal results.


But dont let my experience put you off, also do some more research here and other forums for more opinions on autoflowering, Good Luck. ;)
 
danny1980 said:
I was told he thc levels are low. Ever had bud that looks the biz but dont get you stoned? Im told also that cloning too much does the same but really dont know the truth on that. I have read it makes no difference. Ive a question for you. are regular seeds more hardy than feminised? it appears so to me. I never get any problems with ph damage to leaves, but fems go bad on me every time .Its a struggle to overcome but ive managed it. I only use soil.
Click to expand...

you cant clone them. there is not enough veg/growth time what you could do like I did was to take a male and pollinate a female and you will get seeds.

Also the buds look great full of THC but just did not do anything for me.
I got more stoned with some legalbuds.com stuff..
 
I've found a major problem with marijuana forums is uneducated people attempting to answer questions with pure bullshit like the folks above. Autoflowers are great fun. They are the only plants I grow now. I'm doing a grow now with some plants that yield 22% THC. If that won't get it I don't know what you could ask for. If you are going to grow an Indica it will be a short plant, Sativa will grow taller. Keep in mind container size dictates the size of the plant. Today I buy only feminized seeds. You will waste grow time if you are using a mixed bag and a male jumps up. My advice would be try growing them at least once. Get your pH right, use quality nutrients, use Cal Mag or Epsom Salts. And read your ass off.
 
Juan46 .... Nice to see your first every post was DISRESPECTFUL. That's not the kind of vibe most people on this site tend to pass along. Do onto others and all that ........
 
I've grown a few autos and my opinion is that autos are a horrible choice for commercial growing. They're more than perfect for somebody with a small cabinet or tent looking to grow very few plants in a perpetual harvest kind of grow. I can really write pages on this but here's a mini summary:
-They're small. Container doesn't always dictate size of plant. I have 8 inch plants carrying no more than 7 grams of dry bud in 4 gallon containers. Auto genetics are still unstable and strains will exhibit very different phenos it's that simple.
-They're very sensitive to nutes.
-They cannot be manipulated beyond minor LST'ing.
-Most of them are not as potent as their regular photoperiod parent.
-Most autos take over 10 weeks to finish. I'd rather go 3 extra weeks and have my crop consist of 1 month vegged regulars. Even 12/12 from the beginning on a regular photoperiod will probably yield more than an auto ran at 20/4.

This is just my opinion on autos in a commercial grow. I really love them for personal growers, but I honestly think an auto commercial grow is a horrible idea lol :grinjoint:. No disrespect brotha, just my 2 cents on the topic. I'm just talking about my very limited and little experience with autos. Hope this helps somehow. If you have any specific questions I'll try to answer them.
 
Just noticed your questions.
Yes you can keep different ages in the same tent/room because they take the same light period.
If you're looking for quantity (which you obviously are), then I personally don't think autos are your best bet. Think about keeping a few mothers and doing a SOG in a separate flowering tent. That's your best yield/sq.ft
 
I grow Autos for my space limitations, and my lack of patience.
A positive for me is the fact that since they take about 8 to 10 weeks to harvest, I can plant a couple every 4 or 5 weeks for a non-stop harvest every month or so... which is more than enough for my personal stash.
My little-ladies each return-the-love with anywhere from 1 to 2.5 oz. each, dried.
As far as their potency... with trying out different strains I have harvested buds that look, taste , smell and "smash" me as well as their photoperiod bloodlines.
Today breeders have some auto-strains that contain T.H.C. levels as high as 22% but I can agree with those who have had less-than-desireable experiences with auto strains as some have alot to be desired in the "stone" department. I have found that by sticking with the more "indica-dominant" strains, I get the best results regarding potency.
With all this being said, the REAL truth is that I have yet to find an auto that I can put on MY personal "top-shelf-list"
Aloha No
 
your space is big enough to go sea of green with the autos.
your lite and soil are fine.
your buying autos best to buy feminized keep one for changeing to male[you can look that up] so you can grow your own seed.
with the low riders they have a high ratio of females in great conditions. about 70%.
light cycle is 12/12 is good and cheep. but 16on 8 off gets expensive try a 13/11 it works good for autos.
you can go start to finish with out changing the cycle. all autos[rudys] are a bit diferent some go from seed to finish in 45 days others up to 60 days or slightly longer. most are about 2 to 3 feet. and give 1 to 2 oz sometimes more. they are average good quality or better. some get up to 4 feet and put out buds all over at difernt ripes. some just ripe one time and the whole plant.
i like the low ryders they are more stable and bud at 18inches and max around 2 feet give or take an inch. any autos whp been crossed with low ryder rudys, brazil rudys, or iranian rudys all give really good results. siberians are really diferent and much bigger plants with less yeild. any rudy crossed into med strain indicas are a good bet. all give a better plant.

you can grow dif stages. i do like corn kinda. i plant new ones every 2 weeks when doing rudys . so they are spred out all summer long.

autos have an inherant purple to them but alot of cross breding has taken the purp out but dont be surprised if some show purple. and some wild rudys are way stonier in the late veg state then in the late flower state.
but the seed banks dont have any of that.
nirvana has a really good batch of auto flower strains. i would try them.
 
CoupedeCoup said:
I have been seriously been considering a crop of autoflower. I have been doing some research on them and keep hearing reviews, of which vary, across the board. I guess I just have a few more questions that may seal the deal for me... so it would be great if anyone could shoot me some advice/ info/ warnings... what ever you know - I want to know, too.
So... here is my setup :

Room : 4.5' wide, 6' deep, 6' tall.

Light : One 400w Metal Halide with a 600w HPS at the same time (I like the results of running them together) and a 27k CFL for good measure.

Medium : Soil mixed with worm castings, perrilite, vermiculite, and peat moss.

I need as much yield as possibly possible, but I also desire way above average quality.

Some questions I have are :

If I buy seed packs that are not feminized, how many females should I expect to get in a stable, warm, humid environment? (is it even possible to guess?)

What light cycle would be the best medium between taking less time and the most quantity possible?

Is it possible to keep different ages in the same light cycles and still have them in the same room from start to finish without altering the light cycle, in order to harvest every couple of weeks?

Do they really stay around 2ft? Do they really produce between 1 and 2 ounces, cured, per plant?

Any information would be greatly appreciated and thank you for letting me take up your time...

Coupe de Coupe
Click to expand...

Coupe de Coupe
First off, welcome to 420 magazine, probably the best canna forum in the galaxy :rofl:

Secondly, im going to ignore evrything thats been posted in response to this post and just give my own understanding....with the exception of one post.


Juan46
Re: Autoflower Pro's and Con's?
I've found a major problem with marijuana forums is uneducated people attempting to answer questions with pure bullshit like the folks above. Autoflowers are great fun. They are the only plants I grow now. I'm doing a grow now with some plants that yield 22% THC. If that won't get it I don't know what you could ask for. If you are going to grow an Indica it will be a short plant, Sativa will grow taller. Keep in mind container size dictates the size of the plant. Today I buy only feminized seeds. You will waste grow time if you are using a mixed bag and a male jumps up. My advice would be try growing them at least once. Get your pH right, use quality nutrients, use Cal Mag or Epsom Salts. And read your ass off.​
Click to expand...

this post is a classic example of good advice given badly, which is as damaging to everyones karma as bad advice given eloquently. on THIS site, one of our resident pro's will eventually find their way into a help question such as this, but it can often take some time.
Myself for example am subscribed to over 200 threads and i try my best to answer any new questions im able (within my own current learning).
said experts will debunk any bad advice given in a logical and polite way. i strongly advise looking at someones join date and reputation bar to gain a rough extimate of their probable accuracy. the exception being that some really nice, friendly and funny people often get huge reputation for just being so cool and cheering the rest of us up :rofl:

right...back to auto's
Now i live in the UK....so it would not be sensible for me to talk about cash crops.

that being said, i have had several grows recently and have been slowly moving towards auto's. my current grow is 20 autos followed a few weeks later by another 20, then another 2 weeks later to establish a cycle..

as soon as the first generation is mature i will be choosing my favorite phenos and breeding in the stability that can sometimes be lacking in autos due to rushed breeding programs.

one fundamental point that needs to be made clear is that there are different types of auto.
the most common (and there for the one most people talk about) are the short fast autos. my last one of these was Fast bud 2 by sweet seeds. beautiful short plants that was unmistakably diesel heritage and needed almost no trimming.
However there is also what i call type 2 autos (often crudely called super autos), these things can take quite a bit longer to grow, but can be 7' tall and deliver buds as long as a mans arm.

this is the auto i am currently growing.
! KC Brains KC45 Autoflowering Seeds - Updated:19th Dec 2012

i tend to find that autos will grow under any light type and any light cycle and dont hermie as easily as a regular plant.

as a general rule of thumb, cloning is a no no. but with an expert cloner using type 2 auto's it is indeed possible to gain some serious plant numbers from auto mothers. but there are some rules....cut once, stressing auto's is a really bad thing as they are on the clock and any shock will directly reduce yields. the clones will flower at the same time as the mother....if it takes you several weeks to make roots...well dont bother. some guys here can have a plant practically exploding with root tips in just a couple of days....THEY can clone autos.

it is also not great to play with them. LST works, but emphasis on LOW STRESS, you gotta be real gentle. best way is NOT to bend the plants, but to pick your limbs as they are growing and lock them down so that they will be forced to grow sideways as the plant grows taller, in essence its the same as scrog, but on a limb by limb basis.

now my personal ambitions combine autos with hydroganics...if i complete this pioneering work correctly, the end result will be a grow room you can seed at the start, come back to feed at the start of flowering, then come back again when its time to harvest...no light change, no nutes, no manual watering of the soil...no work involved =D

good luck my friend, auto's are a brave new world and it will be shaped by those who dare :Namaste:
 
also...just to finish a point i missed...i reccomend regular and not fem.

If you want a stable strain that evolves to your growing style, you need to breed and select.

once you have designed the perfect plant (they all grow looking, tasting and developing in similar ways) you can hermie a couple of females with colloidal siver and make thousand and thousand of fem seeds =D
and just run a side grow for your hard earned breeding stocks
 
I have been growing one strain of autoflower now for about 2 years... Short_Stuff #1. I have also been selectively breeding it for about as long. There are a lot of misconceptions about autoflowering strains. And if you aren't used to growing them, mistakes are often made. But that's not the point of this thread to talk about all that. Is it a good cash crop?

YES IT IS!! And here's why. I can fit 15-20 of my plants under one T5 8 bulb 424watt unit. Now that I am used to growing this strain, I can squeeze out about 30-35 grams per plant. This strain doesn't require much more than 2 liters pot sizes so even more of a bonus since I can fit many more plants in for the reason alone!! I often times start me seeds so that I am able to harvest 4 plants a week. Each plant only takes 8 weeks from seed. You can do the math on that one. And the quality? I have had 20 year stoners refuse a 4th hit because "They had enough".. And they always come back for more. In fact, some people want this and only this!

Pictured here is my table with T5.. Notice that only a third of the T5's growing space is being used. Notice the number of plants in that small area. (I decided to do some DWC with other autos to see if I wanted to bring in their genetics.) And below that, a trichome shot for those among us who question the potency. Also please note the yellowing leaves on the bottoms. These are a week away from harvest. Just as the photo-plants do, they turn yellow near harvest.

CAM00194_zps645b8128.jpg


111_zps03544d58.png
 
Ambitious Intentions said:
I was told he thc levels are low. Ever had bud that looks the biz but dont get you stoned? Im told also that cloning too much does the same but really dont know the truth on that. I have read it makes no difference. Ive a question for you. are regular seeds more hardy than feminised? it appears so to me. I never get any problems with ph damage to leaves, but fems go bad on me every time .Its a struggle to overcome but ive managed it. I only use soil.
Click to expand...

"Looks the Biz" and doesn't get you stoned.. Example of harvesting too early..
 
Check out " Seeds of Life Nordika " at Herbies or Google it. Great Auto with the latest advancements in breeding. 18% THC and a robust 70 day auto. Try it, You'll Like It. I like all breeds and blends but this new Nordika will change the way everyone thinks of Autos.
 
I agree. There is a huge amount of information out there but there is also a huge amount of misinformation.
I've seen someone say do this and someone else will say the oppsite. So my quote is "TRY IT AND SEE".
I ended up here because becaus one of the plants I started 5 weeks ago is flowering with a 18/6 light cycle. I already see one advantage that you can have plants in the veg. stage and flowering at the same time.
 

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