Auto Flower Fem's- dont understand flowering days stat. Please help understand

Lifer99

Lifer99

Active Member
I recently bought 3 F auto strains:
Bubblegum
Jack Herrer
OG Kush.
What I dont understand is the Flowering average of 8 weeks. Does that mean it takes 8 weeks to start flower on avg assuming all goes as planned, does that mean it will flower for 8 weeks once it reaches the flowering stage, or am I totally incorrect on all of it?

Also, I have 2 plants I did first by about 3 weeks that i will get the exact date of today. I also started 2 plants on 3/26. is there any general rule of when I should start looking to keep an eye on them for harvesting? meaning, if i did 2 on 3/26 and everything went as planned then they should be ready for harvest in the ball park of.....is it 8 weeks to flowering and then another 8 weeks for them to flower or how does this work? Im not real clear on this avg grow length I read when reviewing strains etc. I know if they were not autos this would be dependent on the sun time starting to decrease as we move out of summer into fall. With Autos though I dont really understand as I hear they have a life cycle and will flower at a certain time no matter if the sun cycle has changed or not.

I'm a very green newbie researching and trying to learn. I'm just having a hard time finding clarification on what exactly this all means.

PS this is a super fun hobby. I wish it was not so frowned upon because I really enjoy it in the spare time i have.

Thanks alot
 
Bukvičák

Bukvičák

Well-Known Member
Lifer99 said:
I recently bought 3 F auto strains:
Bubblegum
Jack Herrer
OG Kush.
What I dont understand is the Flowering average of 8 weeks. Does that mean it takes 8 weeks to start flower on avg assuming all goes as planned, does that mean it will flower for 8 weeks once it reaches the flowering stage, or am I totally incorrect on all of it?

Also, I have 2 plants I did first by about 3 weeks that i will get the exact date of today. I also started 2 plants on 3/26. is there any general rule of when I should start looking to keep an eye on them for harvesting? meaning, if i did 2 on 3/26 and everything went as planned then they should be ready for harvest in the ball park of.....is it 8 weeks to flowering and then another 8 weeks for them to flower or how does this work? Im not real clear on this avg grow length I read when reviewing strains etc. I know if they were not autos this would be dependent on the sun time starting to decrease as we move out of summer into fall. With Autos though I dont really understand as I hear they have a life cycle and will flower at a certain time no matter if the sun cycle has changed or not.

I'm a very green newbie researching and trying to learn. I'm just having a hard time finding clarification on what exactly this all means.

PS this is a super fun hobby. I wish it was not so frowned upon because I really enjoy it in the spare time i have.

Thanks alot
Click to expand...
Trichromes will tell you when to harvest...
 
Hawg Wild

Hawg Wild

Well-Known Member
Lifer99 said:
I recently bought 3 F auto strains:
Bubblegum
Jack Herrer
OG Kush.
What I dont understand is the Flowering average of 8 weeks. Does that mean it takes 8 weeks to start flower on avg assuming all goes as planned, does that mean it will flower for 8 weeks once it reaches the flowering stage, or am I totally incorrect on all of it?

Also, I have 2 plants I did first by about 3 weeks that i will get the exact date of today. I also started 2 plants on 3/26. is there any general rule of when I should start looking to keep an eye on them for harvesting? meaning, if i did 2 on 3/26 and everything went as planned then they should be ready for harvest in the ball park of.....is it 8 weeks to flowering and then another 8 weeks for them to flower or how does this work? Im not real clear on this avg grow length I read when reviewing strains etc. I know if they were not autos this would be dependent on the sun time starting to decrease as we move out of summer into fall. With Autos though I dont really understand as I hear they have a life cycle and will flower at a certain time no matter if the sun cycle has changed or not.

I'm a very green newbie researching and trying to learn. I'm just having a hard time finding clarification on what exactly this all means.

PS this is a super fun hobby. I wish it was not so frowned upon because I really enjoy it in the spare time i have.

Thanks alot
Click to expand...
In my experience with autoflowers, it doesn't mean much of anything. Haha. Most start flowering around week 3 or 4 and just go til they're ready. I've had them finish anywhere from 56 days from planting (dwarf Seedsman Minigun) to 17 weeks or so and still not really done (Seedsman NL). The only ones I've had that really were pretty accurate on harvest times were an LSD-25 (ran maybe a week long), that fast Minigun (other pheno ran long but was way bigger), and the Nurple from Binary Selections (seems to have a pretty big harvest window depending on preference though so taking current ones longer even though a lot of people would say they're ready now at almost 9 weeks from sprout).
 
Lifer99

Lifer99

Active Member
Bukvičák said:
Trichromes will tell you when to harvest...
Click to expand...
ive been reading that and i bought a magnifying inpsection glass last night coming today. Im just wondering if 8 weeks is the time it spends flowering or the life cycle of the plant start to finish or how exactly this works and what it means? Thank you
 
Lifer99

Lifer99

Active Member
Hawg Wild said:
In my experience with autoflowers, it doesn't mean much of anything. Haha. Most start flowering around week 3 or 4 and just go til they're ready. I've had them finish anywhere from 56 days from planting (dwarf Seedsman Minigun) to 17 weeks or so and still not really done (Seedsman NL). The only ones I've had that really were pretty accurate on harvest times were an LSD-25 (ran maybe a week long), that fast Minigun (other pheno ran long but was way bigger), and the Nurple from Binary Selections (seems to have a pretty big harvest window depending on preference though so taking current ones longer even though a lot of people would say they're ready now at almost 9 weeks from sprout).
Click to expand...
Thank you very much for you explanation. If i understand clearly the recommended life cycle doesn't mean shit lol and is dif from plant to plant and breeder to breeder so just go by the trichomes?
And non autos will go by the solar cycle from season to season?

I have a few more autos i was going to hold onto since were going into summer. I was going to plant my non autos when they arrive this week and run the summer course. Then after there done I was going to plant the autos in the fall or someting. I realize the yield will be far less due to less sunlight but i dont really care. They are easy. Im just wondering if anyone has done this before or if they only grow from the late spring (may / june) until the fall when its harvest time? I realize this is totaly off topic but since you seem to be experiecned Im wondering if you have any insight? If not, fuck it I will wing it and see what happens lol.
Thanks for your help!
 
Hawg Wild

Hawg Wild

Well-Known Member
Lifer99 said:
Thank you very much for you explanation. If i understand clearly the recommended life cycle doesn't mean shit lol and is dif from plant to plant and breeder to breeder so just go by the trichomes?
And non autos will go by the solar cycle from season to season?

I have a few more autos i was going to hold onto since were going into summer. I was going to plant my non autos when they arrive this week and run the summer course. Then after there done I was going to plant the autos in the fall or someting. I realize the yield will be far less due to less sunlight but i dont really care. They are easy. Im just wondering if anyone has done this before or if they only grow from the late spring (may / june) until the fall when its harvest time? I realize this is totaly off topic but since you seem to be experiecned Im wondering if you have any insight? If not, fuck it I will wing it and see what happens lol.
Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...
Kind of... I don't really start looking at the trichs much myself until the new white pistils stop forming and start turning in toward the buds. Depending on the genetics, trichs can stay pretty much 100% milky on the calyxes for a couple of weeks without any starting to amber, so trichomes aren't necessarily the end all for me. I like my buds ripe, and if some are done and others aren't I don't have a problem with harvesting the ones that are done and leaving the others to ripen. We do it routinely with everything else. No reason not to do it with weed too. Worst that can happen is you stress hermie it or kill it, neither of which matters at all so late in the game.
 
Hawg Wild

Hawg Wild

Well-Known Member
Late spring/early June planting is fine for outdoors plus seasons are different by latitude. I haven't run outdoor in years, but I once planted first week of July and still pulled a decent crop.
 
Bukvičák

Bukvičák

Well-Known Member
Lifer99 said:
ive been reading that and i bought a magnifying inpsection glass last night coming today. Im just wondering if 8 weeks is the time it spends flowering or the life cycle of the plant start to finish or how exactly this works and what it means? Thank you
Click to expand...
Some autos have “more” ruderalis in their gens, so they will finish earlier, some not. What breeder declares is usually the shortest time when you “can” harvest. When they say 8 weeks, they mean 8 weeks of flowering. Problem is, that you never know, when will the flowering begin. And also, when you want to harvest plant in her strongest potency, usually gain 1-2 more weeks to go. Trichromes is the most accurant way how to determine the highest Thc content in them... you can have 75% pistils brown and curled, and next day you have only 50% because there is a boom of new ones still growing, it means that it is too soon for harvest. But day before it seems to be good time for harvest. You must be really careful of this, because you can easily harvest buds, which still have 2 or more weeks of rippening!
 
Oldreefer

Oldreefer

Well-Known Member
Breeders info on life span of autos is only a guide and will change according to environment and how you tend them, type of lighting etc.
I've had indica leaning autos finish sooner than specified and sativa leaning go much longer..... My best most recent Auto...a dinafem auto white widow xxl finished at 64 days from busting the soil with 30% amber.
So there are no rules with autos except they can handle as much "quality" light hours as you give them.
I harvest some a bit early for my daytime use but mostly let'em ripen more for medical/ nightime use. Gotta remember, chopping a plant does not stop its ripening....
 
Last edited:
Lifer99

Lifer99

Active Member
Bukvičák said:
Some autos have “more” ruderalis in their gens, so they will finish earlier, some not. What breeder declares is usually the shortest time when you “can” harvest. When they say 8 weeks, they mean 8 weeks of flowering. Problem is, that you never know, when will the flowering begin. And also, when you want to harvest plant in her strongest potency, usually gain 1-2 more weeks to go. Trichromes is the most accurant way how to determine the highest Thc content in them... you can have 75% pistils brown and curled, and next day you have only 50% because there is a boom of new ones still growing, it means that it is too soon for harvest. But day before it seems to be good time for harvest. You must be really careful of this, because you can easily harvest buds, which still have 2 or more weeks of rippening!
Click to expand...
That was super helpful. Thank you and thanks alot to everyone else who chimed in. I really appreciate any feedback from anyone who has more experience than I....which is likely everyone on this forum lol.
 
Seedlin

Seedlin

Well-Known Member
Yeah that 8 weeks stuff is finish time and like said earlier it is just a guide
It all depends onyour enviroment you created in your grow room. I have had em finish in 68days and others went 110. All depends on you and the plant.
 
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