Autoflowering Cannabis Strains: Benefits And Drawbacks

They Grow Into Shorter, Compact Plants: Ideal For Discreet Growing

This quality suits the growers who want to grow their marijuana discreetly.
The autoflowering cannabis plants mostly get 60 to 100 cm high. They can reach a maximum of up to 120 cm.
They can be as short as 30 cm plants.
Due to this, the autoflowering strains can be grown in closets, balconies, tents, or similar small, compact growing places.
It would be easier for you to conceal these plants from the public eye if you want to.
You won’t need to filter the air as these strains are milder than the photoperiod plants.

They Can Be Grown Along With Photoperiod Plants

Many growers want to grow both autoflowering and photoperiod strains together; it is possible.
Photoperiod strains generally need an 18/6 lighting schedule during their vegetative phase, and this lighting schedule works best for the auto strains for their flowering.
You can also plant both auto and photoperiod strains together to achieve maximum harvest during a single growing season. This is amazing because you will get only one harvest from the photoperiods in one growing season.

These Varieties Are Best Suited For Medicinal Usage

Autoflower strains produce weed high in cannabidiol or CBD as opposed to the photoperiod cannabis strains.
This non-psychoactive compound would give one a pleasant effect but not a high.
CBD is useful for multiple medical usages.
Some weed lovers prefer a balanced THC and CBD level, while some enjoy more THC than CBD.
If cultivating medical marijuana is permissible in your state, autoflowering strains can be easily grown.

Drawbacks Of Growing Autoflowering Cannabis

They Produce A Lower Yield

Though these varieties grow pretty fast and are compact, they yield less.
The autoflowering plants have lower bud sites than the larger photoperiod plants.
Autoflowering plants also produce fewer flowers due to the short flowering phase.
The photoperiod plants yield a lot despite taking so much time to grow and flower.
However, expert breeders of modern times have made a solution for this.
They have created autoflowering strains that yield higher.
They took seeds from the autoflowering plants that had the highest yields to create seeds for the next generation.
With a considerable amount of time, the genetics of the plants become stable, and the autoflowering plant has a larger yield.
You can employ the sea of green method (SOG) to combat the lower yield or plant in a gap of two weeks so that you can reap a harvest every fortnight.

They Are Low In Potency

Autoflowering plants have a lesser amount of THC than photoperiods. They are bred from the ruderalis variety, which is not potent in THC.
The breeders have also addressed this problem by selectively breeding the seeds. With this process, they have increased the potency and have also enhanced the flavors and aroma.
If you have harvested weed that is not as potent as you like it to be, you can smoke more for a great high. Many foods like mangoes also enhance the marijuana high after smoking it.

They Do Not Have Much Time For Recovery

You won’t have any scope to experiment with your autoflowering cannabis babies.
Methods like trimming or transplantation are strictly not recommended for these plants.
The auto varieties have a short growth cycle; as they grow pretty fast, they cannot afford to recover from such processes.
Photoperiod growers do have the opportunity to experiment with their plants. They can train, prune, and defoliate their cannabis plants. They can also make slight errors, and the photoperiod trees are forgiving. In case of greater damages, the grower can prolong the vegetative stage where the plant can recover from the shock.
Even if you perform any training or managing method on your autoflowering plants, you need to do that with the utmost care, precision, and accuracy.

You Won’t Have Much Control.

The cannabis grower has very little part to play when growing autoflowering cannabis. This is different from the photoperiod plants.
You simply have to water the plants and provide occasional nutrients if needed after sowing the seeds.
Minimum interference in the growth process works best with most auto strains.
You can use training methods like LST, but that should be pretty less and delicately done.
Unlike photoperiods, you won’t be able to prolong the vegetative period to trigger a huge harvest.

Final Thoughts

Therefore if you are a new grower who wants to learn the marijuana cultivation process, you can go for autoflowering strains and learn along the way. Autoflowering plants are hardy and resilient, and you need to bother about much less things while growing them.

The newer autoflowering strains are more potent and produce a greater yield than the earlier ones. These qualities will keep improving. I suggest you experiment with multiple varieties and enjoy the process. You can also take a look at the best-quality seeds from i49.

Have a great growing season. Cheers!