When a person goes to buy cannabis seeds, they find they have the option of purchasing autoflowering varieties. Breeders create these seeds by crossing an Indica or Sativa strain with a Ruderalis strain. Ruderalis strains originated in Russa and come with low THC levels. However, they grow quickly and don’t need light to enter the flowering stage. Why is this important?
Cannabis Cultivation and the Light Cycle
When a person is buying cheap autoflower seeds, they find the plants don’t rely on sunlight to let them know when it is time to enter the flowering stage. The plants automatically move into this phase of development when they reach a certain age. The plant then begins to form flowers or buds. Regular and feminized cannabis seeds must have a certain amount of light each day and a specific period of darkness. This isn’t the case with autoflowering plants.
Why Choose Autoflowering Seeds?
People often overlook autoflowering seeds because they come with a higher price tag. However, these seeds offer numerous benefits growers should not overlook. People love that they take less time from planting to harvest, which allows for more flowering cycles in a 12-month period. The plants are small and compact, so others won’t know the person is growing marijuana, and these seeds tend to be resistant to extreme temperatures, nutrient burn, and more.
Tip for Growing Autoflowering Seeds
Growers need to top the cannabis plants after three nodes. In addition, they need to monitor the temperature in the grow room to ensure the plants can enter the flowering phase of development. Growers don’t need to feed these plants as much as their Indica and Sativa siblings. In addition, they need to reduce the amount of nitrogen provided to these plants.
Train the plants at the right time. The window for training cannabis plants is greatly reduced when autoflowering seeds are purchased. The training period lasts about two weeks, and experienced growers say the colas should be harvested first. Leave the bottom buds in place to allow them to gather more density before the harvest.
Harvesting Autoflowering Seeds
When determining whether it is time to harvest the cannabis crop grown from autoflowering seeds, look at the pistils. These are the white hairs present where the bud forms. As a plant grows, the pistils turn brown or amber. When 50 to 70 percent of the hairs are brown or amber, it’s time to harvest. White pistils offer more psychoactive effects, while brown hairs provide the couch-lock effect many people are after.
In addition, pay attention to the trichomes. This is the best way to determine when it is time to harvest the cannabis. This part of the plant goes through multiple stages as the plant grows closer to being ready to harvest. By paying attention to the trichomes, a grower can know exactly when to harvest the cannabis to get the effects they desire. A magnifying glass will be needed to examine the trichomes.
Clear trichomes have no THC, so the buds won’t provide the desired psychoactive effects. Brown or amber trichomes mean the THC is present and the buds will offer the couch-lock effects some are after. Many people prefer to harvest their crop when the heads of the trichomes are white or cloudy. This ensures the buds will relax them without knocking them out.
Growers should learn all they can about different types of cannabis seeds to see if autoflowering varieties are right for their needs. Many growers love that they don’t need to worry about the light cycle when they choose these seeds. Other people, however, want to experiment with their crops and find it harder to do so when the plants automatically enter the flowering phase. Each person must make this decision on their own.
