Marijuana growers all over the world have been more and more interested in growing autoflowering marijuana recently. That is because autoflowering marijuana seeds flower and produce buds on their own in as short as 2 to 4 weeks. This is a very clever advantage especially if you are planting marijuana for profit purposes. Let’s go ahead and find out everything there is on autoflowering marijuana plants and why you should be growing them too.
There are two general kinds of marijuana seeds when it comes to flowering periods and flowering time. There are the photoperiod kinds and autoflowering kinds. Photoperiod kinds follow the regular vegetative and flowering periods for the normal marijuana plants. Autoflowering kinds, on the other hand, grow fast, have higher yields and are more pest and mold resistant. They can also flower under different kinds of light cycles, no problem.
Indoor vs Outdoor Autoflower Growing
Like any other kind of marijuana plant, autoflowering marijauan can be grown either indoors or outdoors. If you opt to grow indoors, autoflowering plants can be grown in a space as little as a cabinet because these marijuana plants are usually small. You don’t need to change the kind of light cycle you are employing depending on the growing stage because autoflowering strains grow in any light cycle. If you have the regular kind or photoperiod plants, you can grow autoflowering strains together with them. And when you grow autoflowering plants indoors, you can harvest in as early as two months.
When you grow autoflowering marijuana outdoors, you can harvest several times in just one season so that means double or even triple the yield. When you grow them outdoors, you don’t have to worry too much about molds, pests and insects because autoflowering strains are more resistant to them than regular marijuana strains. Plus, if you plant them outdoors, you don’t have to worry that other people notice them either because they stay small and do not grow too big or two high. And when you have autoflowering marijuana, you can plant them during any time of the year without worrying about the harvest because they grow in any season as long as the temperatures do not go lower than 10 degrees Celsius.
Choosing your Autoflowering Seeds
If you don’t know it yet, autoflowering strains of marijuana are almost always grown from seeds. Why? That’s because cloning them doesn’t work most of the time. These autoflowering strains grow fast and produce yields fast so you won’t have enough time to clone them. That is why choosing the right autoflowering seeds is important.
There are so many kinds of autoflowering strains to choose from and the sheer number of them will definitely overwhelm you. But the only things you have to consider are the kind and size of growing space you have, the smell and taste that you want from your harvest and the THC and CBD levels in the strain you are going to plant.
If your grow room is small and is indoors then you would do good by choosing the Indica autoflowering strain because they do not grow big. But if you want to grow outdoors or if your indoor growing room can handle taller plants then you can choose the Sativa autoflowering variety.
Growing Autoflowering Marijuana
Autoflowering marijuana strains, like regular strains, can be grown in almost any kind of growing medium. They do well in soil, as well as with various hydroponic techniques.
Watering your autoflowering marijuana plants is as important as that with regular strains. During the germination and seedling stages, you need to only use a little bit of water for the first few days. For the vegetative and flowering stages, you need to supply lots of water as plants during these stages use up water fast. And as for when you should water your plants, make sure to check whether the top portion of the soil or the growing medium is already dry then you will know that it is the right time to water them again. Make sure not to overwater and underwater your autoflowering marijuana as these practices have dire consequences on your plants.
As for the nutrients, autoflowering strains need the same kind and as much nutrients as photoperiod strains. The basic nutrients they need are Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (K). other nutrients they need in trace amounts include some micronutrients as well.
As with any other marijuana strain, pH is really important with autoflowering strains too. Make sure to maintain the pH at around 6.2 to 6.5 so they absorb nutrients properly.