Okay, it seems obvious, flowering, grow flowers (I assume), but I just want to check. And what is auto-flowering? And what is the difference between seeds that AREN'T auto-flowering. And what are the advantages to auto-flowering.
surprised no ones answered this. so flowers are the buds, what we smoke. auto flowering strains flower automatically without having to switch light cycle. while normal bud is photoperiod which does depend on the light cycle. idk what you mean by seeds, if you want to know the science behind developing autos I have no idea. advantages - no switching light cycle, think they're usually short disadvantages - think they can hermie easily, cant take clones.
Autos don't necessarily turn hermie to any greater degree. The disadvantages to autos have to do with the auto trait itself and what comes with it. There are three main types of MJ -- most folks have heard of sativa and indica, but there is a third called ruderalis. A few things about how these evolved will help you understand the problem with autos. Cannabis is an annual plant, meaning it lives only within one year -- grows from seed each Spring, eventually goes to flowering (sexual maturity) in order to reproduce, create seeds and die by late Fall or so. Then, in the Spring, the cycle starts again. Sativa and indica evolved to adapt to equatorial regions and south-central Asia, respectively. In these places the sun is strong and the growing season is long, so these strains gain an advantage to stay in vegetative growth as long as possible, to get as big as possible and thus have more flowers late in season and thus have a greater chance of passing genes on (the big goal behind everything here). These strains learned how to take cues from the sun to know when it's time to switch from vegging to flowering, triggered by the shortening days as Summer turns to Fall and also for some strains the spectrum shift as the sun moves from overhead to a lower angle, causing the light to pass through more of the atmosphere, shifting the color of that light. Oh, and one more thing that will be important: since sativa and indica are in regions where the sun is strong and the days are long, they developed a type of sunscreen, little glandular secretions that contain a substance we seek out -- THC. Ruderalis, on the other hand, evolved in central-northern Asia, where its colder and days are shorter. Ruderalis doesn't have the luxury of a long period of vegetative growth, it needs to get to flowering pretty much right away, in order to have mature seeds ready to pass on before the Fall frost. So, ruderalis flowers automatically, a genetic trait it developed (or perhaps the other way around, maybe it lost the trait to wait for the sun's signals). And, since ruderalis evolved where the sun isn't very strong it doesn't need that sunscreen, it has little to no THC, another genetic trail. An auto strain is one in which ruderalis has been bred in with other sativa and/or indica strains to create a hybrid that will flower automatically, so that you don't have to change your light cycle. Unfortunately the trait of little to no THC also is bred in, so these auto strains are less potent. And since they go to flower quickly they don't have time to get big, so your yield per plant is low. Those are the disadvantages of autos. So why would you get them? What advantage do they offer that makes it worth those trade-offs? It saves you the terrible inconvenience of changing your light timer setting, once, during the course of the grow. That's it. Autos could be appropriate for someone growing outdoors at a similar latitude as ruderalis evolved, for example in Canada, North Dakota, Scandinavian countries, etc, to ensure that it goes into flower soon enough to be mature before the short growing season is over. But otherwise, you want to be in control of when your plants go into flower. Even if you want them to go to flower right away, you still are better off with a non-auto and just give them 12/12 light all the way through, so as not to breed in the low-potency trait.
Simple answer......auto flowers start to flower right from seed.....so they only grow a little bit compared to photoperiod seeds.....then they just burst into flowering. I have an autoflower grow going on right now....im at day 35 and all of my plants are in full swing. buds growing on every plant. You can check it out here http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-g...or-first-grow-600w-3x-multi-strain-autos.html