Probably one of the most in-demand marijuana strains is autoflowering cannabis or autos. These strains are known for their impressive flowering times and small, compact size. Autoflower marijuana seeds facts are currently one of the most expensive types of seeds in most local and online seedbanks.
Are autoflowers worth growing despite their price? Find out by reading these ten interesting facts about autos. It’s a guarantee that you’ll be able to make a decision right after you read these impressive facts.
- All autoflowering cannabis strains are feminized.
Just when you think that autoflower marijuana seeds facts could not get any better; do you know that most autos are feminized? This may also be one reason why this type of seed is more expensive than other seeds.
And since these strains have feminized features, you don’t need to deal with removing the male plants from your growing area. You won’t have to worry about accidental pollination as well. You’ll be able to grow cannabis with full confidence because no matter what happens, your plants will always be female.
- There’s no way to distinguish an autoflowering seeds from regular and other seeds
Possibly the most interesting fact is that you will never be able to distinguish an auto seed from any other cannabis seed. There are no markings, no special colors and no particular shape that will tell you what you have.
But these are not important when shopping for seeds. The most important thing is to make sure that your seeds are viable and will sprout no matter what. There are some techniques to find out. These techniques to determine the viability of seeds applies also to regular and feminized seeds.
- Any special markings on the auto seeds
Spots, patterns, stripes, and swirls are common in mature strains. These special marks look very striking and usually, it’s not very often that you’ll get seeds like this. If you spot cannabis seeds with unique marks, don’t hesitate to grow this. These seeds won’t take too long to sprout and soon you’ll have seedlings that will grow into mature plants with good yields.
- The color of the seeds
There are no differences in color for cannabis seeds. Usually, seeds come in dark colors from dark brown to black. Any color other than these colors is unacceptable. You should never grow seeds that are green or white because these seeds are immature and thus will never grow into young cannabis plants.
And even if these seeds sprout and grow, the plants from these seeds will not be as strong as plants that have grown from healthy, viable seeds. These will never mature and will never bear buds.
- The smoothness of the seeds
Seeds that are viable are smooth to touch and are free from dents, creases, and pits. Never grow seeds that have been opened or those with holes and pits. These seeds are immature and will have no viable insides to sprout.
Try to press the seed a little. It must not open or compress. If it does open or compress, it just means that the seeds don’t have viable insides and thus will never sprout.
- The weight of these seeds
Believe it or not, cannabis seeds vary when it comes to weight and for this, you don’t need to use a scale to find out. Just place the seeds in a glass of water. Let the seeds remain for a while. Seeds will soon float or sink. Seeds that have sunk are heavy seeds because these come with heavy viable insides. Meanwhile, seeds that float are light and do not contain any viable insides. You should discard floaters and keep the sinkers.
- Autos will grow into compact, bushy strains, resilient from heat and cold
All autoflowering strains are descendants of ruderalis strains and these strains have a small and compact body. The reason why these strains are small is that these originated from the cold regions of Russia and Asia. The plants try to conserve energy and it does this by growing only small leaves and stems.
And because of its compact and bushy design, autos are preferred by growers who want to grow their crops in secret. Autos, especially the smaller types, can be grown even in small cabinets, tents and even space buckets. You can easily sneak in two or four plants inside your home without anyone knowing!
- All autos will grow faster with the fastest at only 5 weeks!
Autos are classic fast growers. Most auto strains will grow fast from seedling to harvest time in just 7 to 9 weeks. And do you know that the fastest flowering auto cannabis strain will be ready to flower in as fast as 5 weeks?
If you are the impatient type and you want to get things done fast, then autos should be your strain. These strains are perfect for growing anytime as well because these won’t require a special 12/12 light/dark schedule, unlike regular cannabis strains. You can grow these indoors or outdoors and still get the same results
- Autoflowering strains will never grow from cuttings or clones
With regular strains, you may use seeds or cuttings from adult plants to grow. But in the case of autoflowering strains, this is impossible.
Cuttings from parent autoflowering plants will never retain the autoflowering traits because these are recessive traits. So even if you grow autos from cuttings, these won’t grow and develop into autoflowering plants. You will only have plants that are stuck in the vegetative stage.
- Autos can be grown twice or maybe even thrice a year!
As long as you give your plants the best growing environment and maintain the ideal climate, you can bet that autoflowering cannabis plants can be grown twice or thrice a year.
Autos that have 7 weeks or less than seven weeks flowering time may be cultivated up to twice a year or maybe more indoors. Start growing your plants as soon as the cold wind is behind you. This will give you a good headstart and grow up to three crops in a year.
- Autos are expensive but at the same time very much in demand
Because of autoflowering cannabis seeds’ fine qualities, you can bet that these are the most expensive in a seedbank. The cheapest seeds are usually regular seeds and followed by more expensive seeds such as feminized seeds and landrace strains
But keep in mind that there are some cannabis sites that take advantage of people who don’t know that all autos are feminized seeds as well. These sites charge more than what they should, even neglecting to tell people that almost all autoflowers are feminized.
- You can find autoflowering versions of your favorite strain
Most popular strains have autoflowering marijuana seeds facts counterparts. If you don’t believe this, ask your budtender. With an auto counterpart, you won’t miss the effects of your favorite strain. You will even get to grow your own favorite strain at home so you won’t need to buy your supply.
Usually, regular strains that are bred to become autoflowers simply retain their names and add autoflowering or auto at the end of their name. There’s a large library of autoflower marijuana seeds facts and strains in the market. Choose the one that will suit your growing capabilities.
- You can grow autos in hydro as well
Traditional growers prefer to grow cannabis in the soil. But lately, hydroponic growing has become more popular and autos will grow in hydro nicely. Hydroponic growing is exactly what the word states: it is growing in water or in a soilless environment. Instead of cultivating plants in soil, plants are suspended in baskets with roots touching a nutrient solution.
With hydro, you will be able to control the number of nutrients that your plant needs, you can grow clean strains and never have to deal with accidental pollination with hydroponics growing.
How about growing in aero? Aeroponics is growing plants in the air. The plants are suspended and not submerged in water or grown deep in the soil. Water and fertilizer/supplements are sprayed to the roots using a spray bottle.
Since the roots are suspended in air, these could dry up quickly so you need to spray this with water/supplements on a regular basis. This is another way to grow autoflowering cannabis but plants need to be properly cared for in order to grow well in an aeroponic setting.
- Most autoflowering cannabis are very easy to grow
Good news to first time growers. You can now grow cannabis like a pro because of easy to grow autoflowering cannabis strains. If you are new to cannabis growing and you hardly know how to feed, water and dress up
Still more reasons to push for soil growing is better or improved smells, improved resistance to disease and so many more.
If you are new to growing cannabis, autoflower marijuana seeds facts can help you understand everything there is to learn about growing. From seedling to harvest time, you’ll be able to learn all you can and become an expert grower someday.
