Hey there! You must be knowing that cannabis seeds come in three varieties. Namely, regular, autoflowering, and feminized.
Many growers share that the autoflowering seeds are the best, and I agree. In my opinion, these are the perfect strains for veterans and newbies alike.
Let me share the advantages of autoflowering cannabis strains and some tips to grow them.
Benefits Of Autoflowering Strains
- Autoflowering strains, as their name suggests, do not need to depend on the light to start flowering. The autoflowering plant’s flower with their age.
- You can use one stable light source from seed to harvest without worrying about changing the light and dark periods.
- They grow much quicker than the regular varieties.
- You can grow more plants.
- They have a shorter growth period and start flowering in about two months.
- They are ideal plants for growing indoors as they don’t grow taller than 50-70 cm.
- Stronger, sturdy, resilient plants.
- More resistant to diseases and pests.
How To Grow The Best Cannabis From Autoflowering Strains
Select The Best Strain
Good genetics plays a prominent role in determining the kind of result your buds will provide. How do you choose?
I suggest you go through the wide variety of autoflowering strains in top online seed banks such as i49 and see which ones would fit your needs.
Check the effects each strain has and select one that fits your priorities.
Do Not Transplant The Autoflowering Plants
Plants usually get stressed due to transplanting, and stressed plants grow slower or stop growing.
As these plants have a short life cycle, it is best to keep them in the same container as they do not recover after they are transplanted. It is best to choose an adequately sized container that will allow the root to spread and develop.
Create Healthy Root System
It would help if you used a good root stimulant from the beginning.
However, take care not to overdose on them.
Provide Well Drained, Light Soil
Well-drained, aerated, and light soil works best for the autoflowering strains. They do not need much fertilization if you use a good soil mix.
You can mix three parts of compost with three parts of peat, two parts of moisturized perlite, and two parts of moisturized vermiculite to create an airy soil for your autoflowering baby.
Choose A Good Lighting
Though the autoflowering strain grows steadily and flowers easily without any fluctuations in the dark-light period, you need to opt for good lighting for the plants to grow their best.
LED s are my preferred choice over HPS lamps, and this is because they consume less energy and are rumored to improve the potency and taste of the buds.
Try The Sea Of Green Process
Sea of Green is a process where more small marijuana plants are grown. This best suits autoflowering strains as they are relatively smaller than the other varieties.
For the SOG process, grow the autoflowers in relatively smaller containers and place as many pots as possible in the available space.
You can experiment with placing different strains together and the number of containers to achieve the highest harvest possible.
Water The Plants Correctly
Be careful while watering your auto-flowering plants. Allow the soil to dry out a bit before you water them. You should take care not to drown the plants by overwatering them.
Monitor The pH Level
The right pH of the soil allows the cannabis plants to absorb sufficient nutrition. Keep the pH level in check – it should be between 6.0 and 7.0.
You can use basic pH testing strips to monitor the level and adjust any fluctuation. As these plants grow pretty quickly, it is better to avoid error than remedy it.
Don’t Overfeed
Optimum nutrition ensures that your plant gives the best yield. However, there is an art and science of providing your cannabis plants with nutrients. Most soil mixes contain the required nutrition. Therefore you need not add additional fertilizers. If the fertilizers are too much, your plants can suffer from a nutrient burn.
You must not use any fertilizer for at least the first two weeks in the seedling phase. You would want to provide fertilizers only if your plant starts showing signs of nutrient deficiency, and these can be signs like yellow leaves. You might also add some nutrition during the flowering stage to boost flowering.
However, if you are growing the autoflowering strains in organic soil, you may skip adding nutrients altogether as the organic soil is filled with nutrients already.
Never Prune Or Trim
Pruning, tearing, or trimming is absolutely a no-no for autoflowering plants, and they would not be able to recover from the stress of such acts. If you want to train your autoflowering plants, use low-stress training methods where you don’t need to trim or break. You can use tying and bending methods to ensure that all the plant parts are evenly exposed to the light source.
You must always be gentle with the plants and more so with the autoflowers because they generally don’t recover from stress.
Take Care Of The Basic Parameters
Temperature, relative humidity, and air circulation are the parameters you must keep in check to have a great yield. Good air circulation refreshes the plants, decreases the chance of mold infestation, and lowers temperature and humidity. If you see any leaves withering, you can gently chop them off for healthier air circulation. But take care not to stress the plants due to trimming, or don’t chop off more leaves than necessary. Ensure that the growing area temperature is between 20-25 degrees centigrade.
If these parameters are not in optimum condition, the plants might get stressed, which might stunt their growth.
Properly Flush The Plants
One or two weeks before the harvest, use the method of flushing to remove any excess minerals in the plant. These can be done by watering the plant with pH-balanced water. When the plant does not get additional nutrition in the soil, it starts withdrawing the minerals from the leaves. This ensures that the flowers are healthy; moreover, the aroma and taste of the buds will be better without additional minerals and nutrients in them.
Harvest Properly
You must try not to harvest the buds during the same time. Buds at the top will mature better. Harvest them first. You can wait for a few days for the buds in the lower area to become fully grown.
You can decide on the harvest time by checking the color of the trichomes. They should be good to harvest when the buds have cloudier than clear trichomes and have an amber tinge.
Use Perpetual Cultivation Method
Additionally, you can plan your autoflowering plants in a way that you can harvest them year long. Surprised? You can use the simple method of growing multiple plants in their different stages.
If you time them cleverly, you can regularly reap a great harvest and have the maximum supply. For this, take plants in different growth phases and put them in one growing area.
You can plant one plant every fortnight or a month, and when you harvest one of them, another will be in the flowering stage, and thus you create a seamless supply chain.
Ending Thoughts
In the end, you must dry and cure the buds properly to ensure that you enjoy the maximum from your wonderful harvest. Store the buds properly in airtight jars to retain their freshness for a long time.
Autoflowering strains are the best for the newbies as they can enjoy the cultivation process thoroughly and get used to it faster. Keep the above points in mind, and you will enjoy your homegrown buds in no time.
I hope the above article will be of help to you. Have a great time growing amazing cannabis. Also, don’t forget to check out great-quality seeds from i49.net. All the very best!
