Are Autoflowering Cannabis Strains Best For New Growers?
This is a question I've been asked a lot over the years and also something I've seen cause issues many times for new growers. What is an auto-flowering cannabis strain? On paper, it's a type of cannabis plant that will be ready in a set amount of time, doesn't need a change in the light cycle, normally a short and compact plant although this has changed over the years. Sounds like a perfect solution for any new grower eh? Worse is that seedbanks and breeders will often market these auto strains as the perfect beginner plant...In my opinion no and ill explain why below.
"It's a type of cannabis plant that will be ready in a set amount of time":
Rarely the case, I'm yet to see an auto-flowering strain ready in anything like what a breeder claims. This doesn't mean they are outright lying to you. This means these plants are grown by a breeder in optimal conditions by a grower who has bred them, they know the strain inside out or at least the parentage that has gone into them.
"Doesn't need a change in the light cycle":
This is correct but should this be a huge factor in how you pick a strain, sounds easier but in reality, we are talking about a timer for a few pounds to change your lighting into a flowering cycle for a photoperiod cannabis strain.
"normally a short and compact plant":
As mentioned above this has changed, I'm not here to have a go at auto-flowering cannabis strains, some of the newer plants are absolute beasts, more than capable of out producing some photoperiod strains. But saying all autos are short compact easy to manage strains is wrong and misleading, especially for a new grower.
I've now covered my issues with the way auto-flowering cannabis strains are marketed or sold to new growers. I'll now cover why I think auto-flowering strains are not best for new growers.
Ticking time bomb:
An auto-flower is literally a ticking time bomb, once you germinate that seed it will go into flower at a certain time and will be ready for harvest in a certain time. This is a selling point for breeders and seedbanks but it's also got a very big downside. As this article is aimed at new growers they may not understand the need to have your cannabis plant ready to go into flower, healthy, the correct structure, no issue. Any of the things I've just mentioned may stall a plant during a crucial time like the transition to flower. And with an auto another selling point is you don't need to induce flower with lighting changes, this is another downfall in my opinion. Being able to choose when you get a pant to go into a flower means you can make sure your plant is ready to do so.
Genetic variation:
This is from my experience with auto-flowers, not me saying it's set in stone, but I have personally found much more genetic variation in auto strains than I ever do in photoperiod strains. What I mean by this is that 8 seeds from the same strain will often show different variations, this is true for both photoperiod plants and auto strains but in my opinion, this is more prevalent in auto strains. What this means for the grower is you will have for example 8 seeds/plants of the same strain that are different. This may display in size, structure, amount of feed needed, and many other ways. This can make a grow all the harder, especially for new growers.
Time from seed to harvest:
This is something that really gets my back up. You will see many claims of an auto-flowering strain ready in 7 weeks, 8. This is rarely the case. Some breeders have got this right but the reality is most are just not going to be ready anywhere near that. In my experience, 10-12 weeks is far more normal, sometimes much longer. The reality is a photoperiod will be ready in not much longer time than 10-12 weeks. I'll get onto my thoughts on photoperiod soon.
Learning:
This is a huge downfall with auto-flowering cannabis strains. Don't get me wrong, there is a true art to auto growing, doing well consistently with them is a fine art. The issue with newer growers being pushed towards autos is that you did have time to learn certain things. Training for example, yes you can train auto strains but nothing like you can with a photoperiod strain. Also issues like deficiencies, toxicities, physical damage, yes you can learn with autos but as mentioned above you are on a time frame, by the time an issue presents itself it's already stalling the plant and taking valuable time away from the plant progressing on its limited timeline.
Summary
Are autos best for new growers... In my opinion no, for all the reasons above. I believe you can learn much more, have more time to correct issues and learn from them and for a few extra weeks yield better with photoperiod plants. Autos have a place and I'm not saying there are for only experienced growers. I'm saying a certain level of skill is needed to spot issues before they take hold, to know when to train and how much without stalling an auto strain. You can safely learn all of this from a photoperiod strain with a much bigger safety net should things go wrong.
This is in no way a dig at auto flower strains, in recent years they have come a very long way and you can grow truly stunning strains that will yield as well as any photoperiod strains. We have some expert auto growers on the forum, to name a few @BB, @Paul_led, @Point 5@flip and many more. But for new growers, I think you can learn so much more about growing photoperiod strains to start with.
, totally agree
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