How to grow autoflower seeds

What are Autoflower seeds?

How to grow Autoflower seeds ? Autoflowers are feminized cannabis seeds, also known as auto seeds or autoflowering seeds. What makes these cannabis seeds different is their unique growth cycle. Traditional photoperiod feminized seed varieties start to flower when light hours are reduced from 18 to 12 hours. Outdoors photoperiod feminized seed varieties are induced to bloom by the days getting shorter.

Autoflower varieties don’t need the day light hours to shorten in order to initiate bloom, it happens automatically. Many indoor growers cultivate their autoflower plants under 20 hours of indoor light.

How to grow autoflower seeds : Life cycle

Most autoflowers have a life cycle of about 10 to 12 weeks for indoor growers. After germination the seedlings will grow and start to flower automatically usually after 4-7 weeks indoors. Most indoor growers of autoflower seeds harvest their plants around 10-12 weeks after germination.

Outdoors the autoflower growth cycle can take a couple of weeks longer due to the cool temperatures, reduced daylight hours and the effects of the weather. Cold nights, for example, can delay the growth of an autoflower. In general autoflowers can take between 10-15 weeks when grown outdoors, depending on the climate you live in.

Growing Autoflowers in short summers

Autoflowering varieties have been especially important for outdoor growers. Normally cannabis is planted outdoors in the Northern Hemisphere around April and harvested around October. This gives a 6-7 month lifecycle when growing feminized photoperiod cannabis seeds. However some countries have summers that are too short to allow outdoor growing over this time period.

Growers in these countries have to resort to either indoor or greenhouse growing and sometimes this was not always convenient/safe for the grower. Autoflower seeds changed that. Even growers in Scandinavia are able to find a suitable sunny 10 week growing window and the result is excellent quality marijuana. In Mediterranean and some temperate climates up to 3 successive crops a year are possible with autoflower cannabis seeds.

Typical questions about Autoflowers

These days lots of growers use autoflower seeds for home cultivation or professional legal cannabis cultivation. You can expect high THC levels, easy and uncomplicated growing and heavy yields. You can grow them under any light cycle indoors or outdoors. Feminized autoflower seeds are a fast way to get a harvest of top quality cannabis whether you are growing indoors, outdoors or in a greenhouse.

How do Autoflowers compare to normal photoperiod outdoor varieties?

Autoflowers can be ideal for a discreet but sunny corner of your garden, greenhouse, patio or an outdoor guerrilla spot. Compared to normal outdoor varieties an autoflower will usually yield less. That’s because photoperiod cannabis varieties can grow for about 6 months. This gives them plenty of time to reach heights of 2-3 meters outdoors, or more. However autoflowers grow for a shorter period, typically 12-15 weeks outdoors. This allows autoflowers to stay much smaller and more manageable. One other convenient feature for growers is that autoflower seeds can be grown multiple times during a spring / summer period. You may be able to get 2 or even 3 successive outdoor autoflower crops per year.

How big can autoflower plants get?

As a result of the short lifecycle of these plants, autoflower seeds often produce smaller, more compact plants. Most autos grow to about 1 meter in height. Some autoflowers, mostly Sativa dominant ones, can exceed this height and grow taller. Varieties like Auto Daiquiri Lime®, Auto Xtreme® and Auto Glueberry OG® are known to grow and reach heights of 1,50m.

How much yield can I get from my autoflower plant?

Although the life cycle and height of autoflowers is short, they can produce excellent yields of top quality cannabis. Of course, just with any cannabis seed, much depends on the experience and skill of the grower. Much also depends on the grow conditions, lighting, nutrition etc.

How much cannabis can you grow from an autoflower seed/plant? Often around 50-100 grams is a typical result. Some customers who have grown them in Southern Europe have reached yields over 200 gram from a single outdoor autoflower. Indoors growers with good conditions yields can exceed 200 grams per plant. The most experienced growers using hydroponic grow techniques such as deep water culture with an optimized environment (including LED grow lights) can achieve 500-1000g of dried buds from a single auto plant.

Make no mistake, if you are growing autoflower seeds in good conditions, you can get XXL THC rich crops. You can also get CBD rich autoflower seeds, with varieties such as CBD Auto Compassion Lime, CBD Auto White Widow and CBD Auto Charlotte’s Angel.

How many hours of light does my autoflower need?

What is the best light schedule for autoflowers? Because autoflowers start to flower automatically, it doesn’t really matter. Many people grow autoflowers with 20 hours of daily light all the way from seed to harvest.

Can I grow autoflowers on 24 hours of light?

Some people grow autoflowers under 24 hours of daily light. So it is possible to grow autoflower plants without any dark period during their entire life cycle. However Dutch Passion feel that having a dark period has many benefits.

For one it saves electricity, and the difference in yield is not that significant. Also, in hot climates it can be very useful to set your dark period during the hottest part of the day, allowing the temperature in your grow room to remain as cool as possible. This reduces the chance of heat and light stress.

Some people even feel that resin production may actually increase during the dark periods. So although it’s possible to grow autoflower seeds under 24 hour light from seed to harvest, we advise using a 20/4 light schedule for your autoflower cannabis plants.

What size pot do I need for my autoflower plant?

“the bigger the pot the larger a plant can get”

The general rule with cannabis plants is “the bigger the pot the larger a plant can get”. For photoperiod plants this is often very much true. But since autoflowers are so small and only grow for a short period, a size of 10L-15L is already sufficient to grow a decent size cannabis plant. Still growing your autoflower seed in a larger pot might just help push it to a larger sized plant.

When growing autos outdoors in a sunny and hot climate we recommend using a slightly bigger pot, somewhere in the 20-50L range. The extra soil and root space gives the plants a larger buffer zone for those sunny tropical days where temperatures can reach 30-40ºC. This maximises the amount of water available to the roots and minimises the chances of the root ball drying out.

Do autoflowers provide the same quality cannabis as normal photoperiod varieties?

In the very early days of autoflower seeds, the first generation autos lacked the yields and high THC content for mainstream appeal. But the work done on second and third generation autoflowering seeds has changed all that.

These days there is hardly any difference in quality between the normal photoperiod cannabis varieties and the best autoflower seeds. Some autoflowers can even reach potency levels above 20%. But do your research carefully. There are still plenty of low quality autoflower seeds available and the difference between the best autoflower seeds and the worst ones is significant. Choose a cannabis seedbank with a proven track record!

Where can I buy autoflower seeds?

Dutch Passion has a fully proven autoflower cannabis seed collection with plenty of cannabis cups and awards. You can order cannabis seeds online from the Dutch Passion website or from one of the official resellers.

Find the perfect variety for you, and simply follow the steps. You can even select express shipping, which ensures that your cannabis seeds will be delivered within 24/48 hours after your payment is received. All orders are shipped discretely.

Autoflower seeds and Dutch Passion

Autoflower seeds have created a surge of interest in the cannabis community since they were first introduced. As with the creation of feminized seeds, Dutch Passion have played a key role in the development of autoflowering seeds. Dutch Passion currently offers one of the best and most extensive collections of autoflower seeds available. And we work hard to promote and develop new ones each year.

Dutch Passion’s auto flowering seeds have rapidly become best sellers. Many growers have found that the unique properties of autoflower seeds were just what they required. Easy, quick and convenient – try growing some soon!