In this day and age, cannabis is becoming more and more legalized around the world. With all things that are too good to be true, there are limitations in order to keep things from getting out of control. Aside from all of this legality, you might be wondering if homegrown autoflowering cannabis plants are better than commercial autoflowering. In this article, I will not only go over how to grow autoflowering cannabis seeds but also introduce the pros and cons so that you can see the difference for yourself.
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How to Grow Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds at Home
Due to the low maintenance quality of these plants, they make it easy for even home growers to produce a nice crop. In fact, home growing is the most ideal way to grow marijuana seeds because of the plant’s self-sufficiency. Plus, it works well for people with small budgets. However, a grower will end up with autoflowering cannabis plants of lower THC levels than the commercial stuff.
Materials
So when starting any garden, a farmer will need good soil but not just any soil. One that is appropriate for the plant in mind. For autoflowering cannabis plants, Royal Queen Seeds recommends “light and airy soil” because it has fewer nutrients which are perfect for the autoflowers. According to Weed World Magazine, the soil pH has to be around 6.2 to 6.5. Any more or any less could hurt the plant.
These materials can be used for both indoor and outdoor gardens just as long as they are monitored properly. What makes growing autoflowering cannabis plants at home better than commercial is that you have complete control over your garden. You know what type of soil you are using, how much pesticide you want to use, and which nutrients are best. This makes your harvest cleaner when the time comes to reap what you have sown.
Size
When it comes to size, this may be the biggest downfall but also a farmer’s greatest asset. Yeah, a home farmer has limited space, but luckily, autoflowering cannabis plants do not need so much room. This makes it possible to grow these plants on the balcony or even in the closet.
Due to the small usable area, a farmer is only capable of having one crop at a time. This doesn’t have to be such a bad thing though. Since autoflowering cannabis plants grow fast and can be harvested multiple times, a farmer can have different crops each harvest. The only downfall is that the farmer will have to wait about three months before he or she can plant a different strain.
Knowledge
This may come as a no brainer, but it is not a secret that home growers don’t have the same knowledge as commercial cannabis production plants do. This means that home growers don’t have the same access to the tools they need, the quick techniques, or the same nutrients for the autoflowering cannabis plants. It takes years and years of practice just to get half of the level as commercial production plants.
For example, home growers don’t have live access to when their garden is low on nutrients or if the soil pH has risen or fallen. They are unable to monitor everything on a microscopic level which means they have to basically do trial and error to see what works and what doesn’t. But in the end, at least home growers will have the satisfaction of working hard for what they earned.
How to Grow Autoflowering Cannabis Seeds Commercially
Since you have heard just about everything about home growing, it’s time for the commercial side. If just looking at the name itself, commercial production plants, one will immediately think that these farmers have a bigger budget in which they do. This allows them to buy autoflowering cannabis plants with higher levels of THC which is very desirable in the recreational use market. However, although autoflowering cannabis plants commercially may be good for business, it might not be ideal for the plant.
Materials
Same as growing from home, a light and airy soil would be best for almost all autoflowering cannabis plants. When it comes to commercial, though, making soil from scratch may be time consuming. Most of the time the soil is bought in bulk since that is cheaper for the commercial plant. This might not be so good for the plants though.
Autoflowering cannabis plants do not need a lot of nutrients, so when buying soil in bulk, it is important to see the nutrients list to see if it matches what your autoflowering cannabis needs. On top of that, the soil pH also has to correspond to the autoflowers or else what is the point in buying that particular soil. All of these varying factors can lead to detrimental results.
A commercial production plant runs high risks for contamination because of all of the different pesticides, soil, and nutrients that may be in one area. Not only just in the garden area, but also in the production area itself. There are possibly so many different hands touching the plants before it gets into a buyer’s hands that no one knows what the autoflowering cannabis buds could possibly be hoarding.
Size
It is no doubt that commercial production plants for autoflowering cannabis are significantly larger than home gardens. This is only because they need to produce more product to make more money. All of this space allows commercial growers to have multiple different crops at one time. The variety of crops let the commercial growers control what is in demand and what isn’t since their crops are mass produced.
However, no one really knows what happens inside a commercial production plant. Even though they do have bigger space and larger crops, this could also lead to bigger disasters if something goes wrong. Not only will one autoflowering cannabis plant crop be ruined, but also all of the neighboring plants. Due to little information out there about commercial production plant mishaps, no one can confirm whether or not commercial production plants have trouble.
Knowledge
Here we are. The one point everyone probably already knows. Because commercial production plants have the money to spend, they have access to a vast knowledge about autoflowering cannabis plants. They don’t need to have years of knowledge to produce a successfully bountiful harvest. They just need to hire someone who does and let them perform.
Commercial production plants have all sorts of access to software and machines that allow for real-time data collection and analysis. This lets commercial growers see if the plants need more water, nutrients, or pH control. All of this technology comes at a disadvantage, though, if and when something goes wrong with the machines. Incorrect readings and calculations can again lead to detrimental effects on the crops.
Conclusion
In the end, it’s a preference matter. Home growing and commercial growing both have ups and downs. It’s up to the buyer if he or she wants one or the other. If you don’t like commercial grown autoflowering cannabis plants, then at least now you know how to grow autoflowering cannabis plants at home.
