When you decide to grow cannabis, you will come across a cannabis seed type known as auto-flowering cannabis seeds. You may not be familiar with such a cannabis seed type and may not have grown them before, but this article will give you insights into how to grow them. First, you need to understand what auto-flowering cannabis seeds are. When growing cannabis seeds, you expose the plant to different light cycles during the various stages. During the vegetative stage, you tell the cannabis plants to use 18-24 hours of light daily. But during the flowering stage that leads to harvest, you change the delicate cycle to 12 hours light and 12 hours dark.
However, auto-flowering cannabis seeds for sale will produce cannabis plants that auto-flower when they reach a particular age, regardless of the amount of light. Auto-flowering cannabis seeds emerged from northern Europe and Russia, where the climate is characterized by short summers and springs but too long and cold winters. Naturally, the cannabis strain known as Cannabis Ruderalis adapted to the fewer light requirements in the northern climates. It will automatically flower after a short vegetative period of 2-4 weeks rather than wait for a specifically timed delicate cycle. This unique process comes out when breeders use cannabis genetics from the Cannabis Ruderalis, as its auto-flowering nature characterizes it.
Crossbreeding Cannabis Ruderalis with Cannabis Sativa or Cannabis Indica produces a cannabis plant that doesn’t rely on different light stages to flower but will grow and flower at its own pace. There are three reasons why you need to increase auto-flowering cannabis seeds. Firstly, you don’t have to worry about a light derivation or supplement system for your growing environment.
Although auto-flowering cannabis seeds from Homegrown Cannabis Cogrow fast and flower, whether or not you are ready, you need to prepare to ensure this strain’s successful growth. Secondly, auto-flowering cannabis plants grow more quickly as they complete the maturation process in about three months so that you can harvest all year round. Thirdly, they are small, perfect for closet growers who want to limit their cannabis plants’ height. Here are tips on how to grow auto-flowering cannabis seeds.,
Climate consideration
Growing auto-flowering cannabis seeds means allowing your cannabis plants to flower when they should be in the vegetative stage. Since you don’t require photo-period or specific light cycles, you can start growing your auto-flowering cannabis seeds earlier in the season, such as March, or late in the season, like September. That is if you are growing your cannabis outdoors. Remember that your cannabis plant needs some warmth to grow during such seasons, and there may be a lot of rain that may put the roots at risk of rotting. So, you can grow it in a greenhouse to prevent such elements.
Train your plants
When growing auto-flowering cannabis seeds, you need to train your plants when still in the vegetative phase. Remember that this period could be as short as two weeks with these types of seeds, so the time is limited. What you do you can top your cannabis plant once it has grown three nodes to induce an even canopy. Another low-straining training method is pulling the plant down sideways to cause more upward growth. When the cannabis plants begin to flower, do not stop them. Instead, prune them well for a week after the flowering stage has begun. It would help if you only exposed your auto-flowering cannabis plants to low-straining training to avoid breaking them.
Do not overfeed the plants.
Autoflowering cannabis strain produces small-sized plants, so you do not need to feed them heavily. Plus, their vegetative period is usually short. They don’t need many vegetative growth nutrients, such as nitrogen, so you should provide them lightly. Again, the nutrients will benefit the plant if they are in a form they can quickly utilize due to the short vegetative period.
Balance your watering
Auto-flowering cannabis strains are less forgiving when you make mistakes. You should watch your watering and balance it properly. The best practice is not watering your cannabis plants on a fixed schedule but when they need watering. Allow the plants some time between waterings. You can check for water needs by checking if the soil has dried out or lifting the pot to feel its weight if you grow the plants in a jar. Overwatering makes the roots rot, so underwater is better than overwatering. However, it would help if you balanced your watering.
Harvest gradually
You do not have to wait to harvest the entire plant simultaneously. Remember that auto-flowering cannabis plants do not have the time to create a canopy with flower buds down on the plant. As such, you can harvest your buds gradually. First, you gather the colas or topmost buds, giving the lower buds more time to grow dense before you harvest them next.
Prepare your next batch of cannabis.
If you want to get the most out of auto-flowering cannabis plants, the best thing is to prepare your next crop while still harvesting the current one. Pop seeds before you start gathering your existing cannabis plant so that your farm is always producing buds. Since the plants automatically flower, you can have plants in the initial stages of growth in the same room with those ready for harvest without worrying about the light requirements. It consequently provides you with a never-ending supply with only minimal effort.
With regular and feminized seeds, you need a separate room for growth. However, with auto-flower roots, you only have to squeeze different batches in the same place. Since they take around 8-10 weeks from germination to harvest, you can offset the next planting from 2-4 weeks. That way, when harvesting one batch, the next one is ready to flower and patiently waiting in line.
The final words
Although auto-flowering cannabis seeds do not produce large quantity yields, their ease of growing allows you to enjoy harvests all year round. With only 12 hours of light a day, they can develop bigger buds in a shorter time than other cannabis strains.
