A Quick Guide About Autoflower Marijuana
We know the photoperiod cannabis strains, which are different from autoflower ruderalis strains, and flower quickly in the winter seasons. To grow photoperiod strains, it needs proper light so that the buds can thrive with all the essential terpene and flavor profile. But more importantly, it’s of utmost importance to choose high-quality autoflower seeds from reliable seed banks.
Auto-flowering strains start getting buds around three months of the plantation, which we call a flowering stage. Auto-flowering strains flower automatically after germination. The size of auto-flowering strains is short, and the buds are thick.
As auto-flowering strains have a short life, they can grow effortlessly in long winters in Russia. However, there’s a catch to this variety that most ruderalis strains contain a low level of THC content. In some cases, wild auto-flowering strains produce very short buds, making it uninteresting for marijuana breeders to put effort into growing this variety on a large scale.
History Surrounding Autoflower Marijuana Strains
Autoflowering strains are also known as “Lowryders.” It is believed that the Lowryder is the first real autoflowering cannabis strain. You will find Lowryders in many reputed seed banks worldwide.
Auto-flowering strains are similar to wild hemp strains that we know as “Ruderalis” strains. It is believed to first appeared in the Russian continent during the mid-1940s.
The advancement in cannabis breeding came to light when some experts noticed that the auto-flowering varieties could be crossbred with other cannabis types like Sativa and Indica to produce a whole new strain. Such mixed (hybrid) strains hold properties of both auto-flowering and regular strains.
After a certain period, many breeders start to produce cannabis plants by cross-breeding photoperiod and auto-flowering seeds to get maximum benefits.
THC and CBD in Autoflowers
As original autoflowering strains or ruderalis strains hold a very low level of THC, innovative breeding techniques enable breeders to develop high-THC strains with fast flowering. If you differentiate the quality and quantity of buds between earlier ruderalis strains and current ruderalis strains, you will see that the current growing and cloning techniques help us achieve denser buds with good yields.
Today, we can grow high-CBD or high-THC autoflowering strains with as much care and attention as we grow photoperiod strains, thanks to the improved clone we got from expert breeders.
Genetics of Autoflowering Strains
The first Ruderalis varieties were not reliable in terms of quality and quantity. As reproducers improved clones and genetics, we progressively get desired effects, flowering period, growth cycle, buds quality, and yield. Recreational and medical marijuana users use cannabis for different needs and purposes. Hence, it is essential to growing them startlingly as we do with photoperiod strains. It’s one of the main reasons to look for the best quality autoflowering seeds from reliable seed banks.
Most autoflowering plants grow short and thick in an outdoor environment, but some plants grow taller when you maintain the indoor setup correctly. However, the primary thing is to choose the right strain that can get you the highest yield with superior quality. Some well-known strains in the market attract many users to buy and plant the auto seeds in their backyards. White Widow Auto, OG Kush Auto, Galeto Auto, and Zkittlez are famous in the category.
Growing Autoflowering Cannabis
As we know that regular plants can flourish under specific light conditions, they are called photoperiod strains. However, autoflowering plants do not require light to start flowering.
Photoperiod strains generally start flowering when the winter is approaching and days get shorter. On the other hand, autoflower plants can be grown in outdoor environments in any condition with proper sunlight. Thus, autoflowers are easy to grow outdoors, even for beginners.
Autoflower strains require direct sunlight for five consecutive days a week. The equation is simple, the more light it gets, the more yield you will be stashing.
Light Schedule for Growing Autoflower Plants
If you plan to grow autoflower plants indoors, you need to consider some light equations to get it right. It is generally noted that indoor growers get more yields when they keep the light schedule of 18 hours of light and 6 hours of dark. They even got better autoflower yields when they set up 20 hours of the light cycle each day.
Some breeders also experimented with constant 24 hours of light to get better results. However, most growers believe that it should be kept in at least 2 to 3 hours of darkness.
Taking everything into account, if you plan to grow autoflower marijuana outside, plant the seeds where it benefits most from the direct sunlight every day. Furthermore, you don’t need to maintain the light schedule manually when growing outside. The plant will thrive automatically (thus the name autoflowers) regardless of routine maintenance, as far as it gets more and more sunlight.
Height of Autoflower Plants
Unlike photoperiod plants, autoflower plants grow short and quick. Consequently, it provides low yields with fast flowering. Autoflower strains can grow quickly and thus have a short future. The autoflowers attain between 1 to 4 feet of height.
Most plants stay under 4 feet. If you choose to grow an autoflowering strain, ask the budtender to know the plant’s exact quality and yield. Make sure you give enough light in indoor growing. If you are planning to grow it outside, make sure it gets maximum sunlight.
Autoflower Medical Marijuana Strains
Medical marijuana generally requires more CBD content to receive the proper healing effects. While THC is known to produce psychoactive effects in the human brain, CBD can offer a wide range of medical benefits, including pain relief, muscle cramps, anti-anxiety, seizures, and many more. The good news is that autoflowering cannabis holds more CBD levels compared to regular photoperiod cannabis.
Most photoperiod strains hold high levels of THC and low levels of CBD. Very few strains have a high CBD-THC ratio. It makes the autoflowering strains favorable among medical marijuana users that are looking for high-CBD weed strains.
Many breeders have created excellent strains by crossbreeding high-CBD autoflower strains and high-quality photoperiod strains. These new autoflower strains like Galeto Autoflower, Zkittles, and Auto Mazar are popular among medical cannabis users.