About how long should it take for an auto to show sex?

Hey RIU community, I'm growing my first auto in a limited grow space and I'm on week 6 now but she still looks like she's is veg. About how long does it normally take an auto to start showing sex?

I've seen autos show sex in week 3-4.

What strain is it, and what seedbank? - to get an idea of how many weeks it should take it.

What light cycle are you using?

Its a freebie called red dwarf auto I got from seedsman last summer.

Budda Seeds Red Dwarf was born from the auto flowering parental strain that led to White Dwarf, hybridized with an exceptional skunk type female, and crossed to maintain the auto-flowering pattern. Budda Seeds Red Dwarf is a compact, female, auto-flowering, resinous plant with its cannabis seeds giving off an intense smell and extreme power. The low branching and compact bud make it ideal for growing indoors and outdoors in reduced spaces. Buddha Seeds have resulted in seeds that grow to adulthood in an incredibly short 6 weeks. Indica-dominant, Red Dwarf will eventually make you sleepy, but not without some relaxed euphoria first

I started her off on a 20/4 but moved her down to 18/6 after 3 weeks.

It says it harvests in 60 days ( 8 weeks ).
http://www.buddhaseedbank.com/seed.php?id=7

No pistils present at all? If it had pistils, I would think it will just take another 2 weeks but since it doesn't I'm thinking you may have gotten the wrong seed and a regular fem instead possibly?

porrista said:

It says it harvests in 60 days ( 8 weeks ).
No pistils present at all? If it had pistils, I would think it will just take another 2 weeks but since it doesn't I'm thinking you may have gotten the wrong seed and a regular fem instead possibly?

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None present so far, and I hope not. I don't have room for it to strech more if it is just a fem seed and I flip her to 12/12

Sorry to hear that, but auto or not, it will continue to stretch until it gets into flowering stage. At this point I would try 12/12 regardless of the type of plant if stress is a problem and because we are not sure if it is an auto.

Here's a pick from a few days ago. I know she's nothing huge but she's getting towards my grow space limits.

very nice size. the pistils would be in the nodes, not in the tips. Did you LST her already?

Yeah, if I didn't she'd be over twice as tall. The main stem is thicker then a quarter right now. I wanted to top her when she was younger but kept seeing a bunch of post saying not to. With the growth she's had it wouldn't of been a problem though I wouldn't think.

Yeah, I have topped a few autos myself and I haven't experienced any problems. I do like topping and LST. I aslo have only grown 3 different auto strains and they all showed sex in 3-4 weeks top. They start flowering around weeks 4-6, the one that has lasted the most is now on week 7 and 1 week into flowering, it started flowering on week 6 ( white widow from RQS), but it did show pistils at week 3.

Options are:

1- Wait at 18/6, do more LST.
2- Go to 12/12 and wait, do more LST.
3- Top her.
4- Kill it and start all over with a new seed.

Autos are unstable.. the autoflower gene is not kicking in. If you knock it to 12/12 it will likely begin to flower and then you can jack your lights back to 18/6. You just need to trigger the flowering.

sunny747 said:

Autos are unstable.. the autoflower gene is not kicking in. If you knock it to 12/12 it will likely begin to flower and then you can jack your lights back to 18/6. You just need to trigger the flowering.

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I also like that idea and agree it could be an unstable strain.

Well I was planning on doing a res change tonight. So I'll change the lights to 12/12 while I'm at it and see what happens.

I did not write this but please read this it will help you A LOT!!!

Another common question I see is when to switch autos from veg to bloom. Many people are under the impression that as soon as they see the first flowers it's time to switch. Perhaps a little explanation of the life cycle of autos will help to clarify this.

Weeks 1 - 3. Once you've started your seeds and they break the surface of the soil, they are in their seedling stage. The first set of leaves to appear will usually single fingered, followed by a second set that may still be single fingered or perhaps 3 fingered. Once that second set appears growth will start to accelerate as the new leaves provide more photosynthesis. This process will continue, more new leaves, faster growth. Depending on the type of soil in use, mild vegetative nutes can be introduced at week 2. By week 3 most plants will start to show their sex. Males will start to produce pollen sacks and females will display pistols.

Weeks 4 - 6. The plants are now entering a pre flowering stage. During this time the plants should exhibit explosive growth, often as much as a new set of nodes and 1" vertical growth a day. This is the time when they will gain most of their vertical height. Many people make the mistake of switching from vegetative to flowering nutrients at this point, assuming that since they see flowers it must be the proper time. This is incorrect. If the switch to flowering nutes is made at this time the vertical growth will stop and the plant will put it's energy into producing buds. If you need to keep your plants small, or want them to finish earlier, they by all means switch nutes at this point. But if you want to get the most out of your plants continue feeding vegetative nutes until you see the vertical growth slow and stop. Depending on the strain that will usually be sometime during week 5 or 6.

Weeks 7 - 9. By now vertical growth has stopped and the switch to flowering nutrients has been made. The buds will start to fill out and put on weight, becoming hard and tight. Pistols will start to change from white to brown, orange, red, etc. By now the plants will also have developed a strong smell. Toward the end of this phase the large primary and smaller secondary fan leaves will begin to turn yellow. This is an indication that the plant is moving toward the end of it's life.

Weeks 10 - 11. At this time flowering nutes should be discontinued and only plain pHed water fed to flush the remaining nutrients from the soil and improve the taste. Yellowing of the fan leaves will continue as the plant draws the stored energy from them. Eventually they will die and fall off. By the time that the smaller leaves that come from out of the buds will also start to turn yellow. Then it's time to harvest.

I know that many of you are thinking that the seed bank said the plants will finish in 8-9 weeks, so why are you saying they take 10-11? The claims made by the seed banks are somewhat deceptive. If you switch to flowering nutes at week 3 or 4 the plants can finish in the times the seed banks say but they will remain small and not reach their full potential yield. Years of growing by myself and others has shown that autos do best if you follow this time line.

Thanks man! I read that once before I started growing and completely forgot about it. Thanks for bringing it back up though. So I've probably got another week left before deciding if its not gonna flower then I'm thinking.

you could try pushing some bloom nutes and it might kick off ....... for some reason i think it has to do with lack of restriction on the rootball they just keep vegging until the bucket fills up ........ starting to see alot of monster plants from dwc

I have grown over 10 Buddha autos and there stable .. hit em with some beasty blooms or a booster like a member above said , The should be in full bloom by day 37

I don't really see how changing the available nutes to a higher ratio of something is gonna tell it to start blooming. The roots have almost completely filled the bucket though and that makes more sense to me.
Here what she looks like.

This is the auto grow schedule: week 1-4 veg stage and weeks 5-8 flower stage, Auto's should show signs of bud development in weeks 2 to 4. Remember autos' don't like nutrients use 1/8-1/4 of amounts directed