To Auto or Not

To auto or not to auto, that’s the question that many people have been asking lately. It’s nearing the end of the growing period and everyone wants to make the most out of their time, maybe you want to harvest quicker or make less mistakes, or maybe you live somewhere with bad weather. Either way, there are usually two main reasons for growing autos: you want a discreet grow that your neighbors can’t see or there’s light contamination where you live that won’t allow your plants to grow correctly.

Many people ask us if you should or can plant auto or normal plants late into the season and the answer is almost always the same; we’re not in the season for planting seeds right now, and planting a normal or auto plant will generally have an autoflowering effect either way… why, you ask?

This is because, as we all know, cannabis flowering is light dependent, so when your plants are growing if the light period changes then they will begin flowering before you can control their growth, acting just like an auto plant. This is due to the light during this time of year.

So, when your plants reach sexual maturity and begin to flower, non-auto versions might actually give you more of a yield than an auto due to the amount of sunlight hours it will get, and the fact that autos need more sun than people tend to think.

If you decide to plant an autoflowering seeds then you’ll need to give it the best care possible; no transplants, so you’ll need to plant it straight into its own but which should be 7 or 11L depending on if it’s a two or three month strain. You can help your plants out with some extra lamps for when the sun goes down to get the most out of it.

Either way, if you’re planting an auto plant or not, you’ll need to use a nice airy substrate with a high perlite and coconut fiber presence. You should use phytohormones and root stimulators which will help out a lot; phytohormones are used to accelerate growth but they can make buds grow out thin during the flowering period which is handy for those that grow in humid areas. For those that grow in dryer places then at the second week of flowering you’ll need to stop using the hormones and keep up with your normal fertilizers and stimulants.

For non-auto plants you can use lights at night to slow down the beginning of the flowering until you’re satisfied with the size of the plants. It’s important to give the plants this light right after the sunlight goes away; if there’s a gap in lighting they might get too stressed out and become hermaphrodites. This is a major advantage for seasonal plants, as you can continue to grow them as long as the temperatures allow.