what are the pros and cons of auto plants

nomofatum

Well-Known Member
Auto's are all over the place. They are all at different stages of breeding, some with as high as 30% or more ruderalis. We only really want the auto trait from ruderalis, so the lower the percentage remaining the more likely to be better quality and quantity. Bud from ruderalis is garbage, we want the bud from indica/sativa and the trait from ruderalis.

The majority of autos can pull 3/4oz to 3oz on a typical grow. There are exceptions that can get much bigger.

They have a fixed life span, so if you screw up there is no recovery. Cloning is of little use, each piece knows how old it is and how much longer it should wait to flower, so the clones will autoflower only a week or so after the Mom (the clock stops while the clone roots.)
 

nomofatum

Well-Known Member
My opinion, good for mid-season harvest outdoors, good for short season locations outdoors, good for first grow while you wait for Mom(s) to get big enough. In almost any other situation the non-auto wins.
 

Dubbz415

Well-Known Member
looks like im just going to get some fem seeds from the cannabis club out here in san francisco ca.
Ppl grow autos for ease of growth. I personally think they cheat themselves out of yield.
I want to control every aspect of my plants growth, not some breeder.
Ive grown em, I don't like em and I think they're a novelty item at best.
My opinion,good for noobs,and joker tokers who like the image of getting high...
seems like it wouldn't be worth me smoking or my time
 

mmmmbrownies

Active Member
technically, you can clone an auto, the only problem is the clone would start to flower pretty much as soon as it started to root, and you'd get doggy doody for yield..
well yeah technically you can i'd agree and i'll correct my statement and say it's not feasible.... still a con though :)
 

NanoGadget

Well-Known Member
I think autos have gotten a bad reputation, and there are certainly drawbacks (typically less potent, certainly less yield) but I've seen some impressive auto grows and smoked auto that was pretty damn fire. Take a tour through the autoflower section of these forums and check out some auto grow journals before you dismiss them as an option. The biggest key is go with solid, tested genetics.
 

ltecato

Well-Known Member
My experience is limited. I got a free Northern Lights auto seed with a shipment I ordered from Single Seed Center. I planted it and got a modest yield from the plant but I liked the bud when I smoked it. It was a lot less hassle than my regular plants as far as time spent taking care of it.

I can't recall which company produced that seed but I know it was not exactly cheap, at least $10 each. Other companies are selling auto NL seeds for $4 or less, but I don't know if the cheaper ones perform as well.

I'm thinking of trying Dr. Feelgood, which is an autoflower and gets decent ratings, plus it's supposed to be high in CBDs, which might be good for my arthritis. It almost sounds too good to be true, however, so I'm holding off until I get more info from someone who has actually grown it.
 

ISK

Well-Known Member
tried autos for my indoor sunshine grow...they turned out good because they start budding so much sooner thus having the hot months to mature and harvesting by September

just started 3 auto's for my winter grow....going auto so I don't need to worry about light leaks or a schedule
 

Heavy Consumer

Well-Known Member
As an absolute noob, I see some benefits in autos for myself, both in terms of getting to know my eventual setup and learning to deal with the challenges/fuck-ups therein, and also, to try and take some ladies through to harvest while slowly vegging out some larger ones for a couple of months+ that will hopefully end up yielding something more substantial - I think all the waiting for photos to grow would cause me to tinker with them too much initially, so the autos could save the photos from a noob mistake or two, while getting some errors out of the way without costing quite as much wasted time and energy or end product. I don't expect to get good yields in the first few grows as there's so much to learn, but I see some niches for auto grows along the way in my case. I'm sure there are valid reasons for others to grow them too with the shorter life-cycles, typically smaller plants, their ability to flower under any light schedule etc.
 
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