ok so Ive decided I want to grow my own meds . ive barely scratched the surface of my research... Soil, nutrients, humidty, ph, lighting ... just a few of the hundreds of things I now realize I didnt know about growing. ( I have decided Im growing organic. VERY exciting! ) ANYWAY Is there any difference in autoflowering plants vs reg plants? I know they grow shorter yielding less... but are they more susceptible to mold or bugs or anything? are they worth the $$? would be nice to have results quicker!
There are autoflowers and photoperiod plants. Three species of cannabis are involved. Indica, sativa, and ruderalis. Indica and sativa plants are the traditionally grown species, and are photo period plants. Ruderalis is basicly ditch weed, it doesn't produce large buds and has almost no thc but is autoflowering. Autoflower seeds come from crossbreeding indica and/or sativa, with ruderalis in order to obtain the autoflowering trait while attempting to still maintain the potency and yield of photo plants. The more traditional photoperiod strains will only begin to flower once they receive around 12 hours of darkness per 24 hour period. This allows indoor growers to veg to the desired size, and initiate flowering when they decide. Outdoor plants begin to flower once daylight hours are short enough to induce flowering. Autoflower plants begin flowering based on age rather than light cycle. This allows indoor growers to run longer light cycles, as they will flower even with 20 or 24 hour light cycles that would cause photoperiod plants to remain in veg. However, because they only grow a set period of time, they wont take advantage of a full outdoor grow season in most areas. Some strains of autos will finish quickly, in around 60 days from seed. Photo period plants will finish according to desired veg time, and a flowering period based on strain that most often runs 8 to 11 weeks. Photo plants can yield more, because you can veg as long as you want. With autos you are only getting so much considering the short veg period. There are decent yielding autos out there, but some run closer to 80 or 90 days finishing, which negates some of the benefit. Ruderalis genetics may also effect yield negatively to some extent. Quality is comparable. When auto first originated there were reportedly some pretty low thc strains. This is because the autoflowering trait comes from the ruderalis species, which in its natural state contains almost no thc. However, there are now great auto strains out there that have thc and CBD levels compared to the photoperiod strains