Autoflowers: best grown indoors or outdoors?

[CatMomma]

Hello!! I am wondering if it is best (meaning “easiest for a newcomer to grow”) to grow autoflowers outside or indoors? Many thanks!!

[9fingerleafs]

if you want to plant it and just give water every few days go outdoors. Just be careful with the cold. Young plants can freeze to death

[Toker1]

As a general statement...Outdoors. Depending on ambient temps though. The Natural predators around ales for less pest problems in general. Plus sun doesn’t cost $$ to shine on your girls.

[Potted]

Outside,as long as it’s warm enough those auto can sum colder temp’s just b carful and keep a weather eye out.

[Weed Pharma]

I’m gonna break from the pack and say inside:

if you have a good environment and use good soil (amended a little),
it’s 2 times a week watering with very light feeding and spend most of the time leaving it alone, lol

See my journal grow #4: KISS grow.

[CatMomma]

Thank you!!

[SinsemillaScientist]

Ive got a buddy that does all his autos in hydro and gets substantial yields indoors. But its really a matter of preference. Pros and cons to each method you just have to see which has or will work best for your needs, good luck CatMomma Catand happy growing sister!

[DrPhoton]

Yes im with Weed Pharma

The true benefits of autoflowers is experienced indoors, as the additional light hours during flowering is obtained from the longer light cycle. Outdoors you are going to see the same or less yields due to the same amount of light provided during flowering with both autos and photos.

[Toker1]

DrPhoton I hear what you are saying about yields. I have never grown an auto before, but this got me thinking. That when growing indoors there is a lot of training involved. Where in outdoor you don’t need to train necessarily to get those larger yields.
Just thinking if I don’t have to train the auto, and yields are based on how fast she can grow... wouldn’t the extra growth factor from less training stress actually provide larger yields in the case of auto flowers?

[Rwise]

I am trying the autos, I will be doing inside grows for the winter and outside in the warmth. My plan is to plant in the garden but not all autos, I do want a landrace or two. I can have 6 "adults" and 6 "juveniles", so each time one is within 30 days from harvest, I will plant another (auto) until August, at that time I will move back inside. Maybe by then I can have a better setup!
But I do have a few plants in the garden, in a box with lights, we also just had 4" of snow, it held 40* F on the coldest night. They have lights for days I cannot open the cube and let them bask in the sunlight, and to keep them at 12/12. Also a heater to keep them warm at night.
Have fun and good luck with your grow!

[CatMomma]

Thank you all so much!! I will try to grow a bubblicious autoflower indoors. I don’t have fancy equipment such as a grow tent, just a small room.

[Weed Pharma]

Excellent strain choice!

[gold01ca]

no tent required to grow an auto, small room just fine, good luck!

[CatMomma]

Wow!! This is so wonderful!!! Eeeeee!!! Thank you!

[DrPhoton]

DrPhoton I hear what you are saying about yields. I have never grown an auto before, but this got me thinking. That when growing indoors there is a lot of training involved. Where in outdoor you don’t need to train necessarily to get those larger yields.Just thinking if I don’t have to train the auto, and yields are based on how fast she can grow... wouldn’t the extra growth factor from less training stress actually provide larger yields in the case of auto flowers?

Training outdoors actually increases yields, a lot. Trees and plants naturally evolve their shape thats best suited for the environment they are in. The main three factors that dictate this are competition, reproduction and light. Its very rare that plants have the space so that competition and reproduction are the lowest priority. So the structure of the plant for light capturing is typically sacrificed in favour of the other two. Of the few trees that prioritize in light capturing (such as those found in savanna), they are broad and flat which increases the surface area of light it recieves. This is why some orchards train their trees into table top configurations, as this maximizes the light that they recieve.

Although the sun travels from horizon to horizon, the maximum light is distributed when the sun is over head, rather than at its largest angles. This is due to atmospheric losses. So tall skinny plants are actually inferrior compared to broad wide plants due to this reason. The wider you make the plants, the more light it will recieve.

So with autoflowers and photos under the same conditions of training and outdoor environment, they would be identicle in yields (excluding genetic limitations). But photos that are trained outdoors will be more advantageous for said reasons. Autoflowers have the ability to recieve more light during flowering as they are not short day plants that require a specific dark cycle to initiate flowering. As such they are more advantageous indoors where the light cycle can be increased compared to outdoors where you are at the will of the sun.

But whats not often recognized is that unless you grow enough autos indoors, you decrease the overall efficiency of the grow as you cannot train them as well or vegetate as long as required to fill the space available. And so in these situations its more efficient to use photos. But with enough autos its identicle.

[CatMomma]

Wow... thank you so much for that impressive scientific explanation!!

[Doubledealing72]

I'm an indoor fan myself for many of the same reasons stated above. I've had autos yield 2 oz, 5 oz, and even 10 oz (well, 9.8 to be technical). I'm actually hoping to break the that personal best of mine with one I have growing right now. Hope you're happy with whatever decision you choose!

[Weed Pharma]

Toker1, training and stressing the plants are big factors with a "time limit" autoflower. (you gotta know when to hold them-know when to fold them, lol)
In skilled hands- you can really train them a lot and get amazing results, but for myself-

I have found topping and transplanting at the 5th node gives consistant results with minimum amount of work for the grower and stress on the plant.
Choose strains with longer flowering times (2'-4' mature plants) for best results and leave the short one's - mature @ 12"-22" alone.

https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum/growing-community/completed-marijuana-grow-journals/167838-kiss-grow-fastbuds-girl-scout-cookies-autoflower

A light will only penetrate a certain distance down the canopy-