Why autos?

[GardenLady]

mcubed 467 have to ask. What is the light system you use?? I have never heard of autocob. And where do you buy they from. Thanks.

[SoOrbudgal]

I've grown several autos now outdoors, going indoors come winter. They are OK as far a potency, my photos in my opinion have more potency. I've not grown them indoors maybe with more controlled environment i'd change my mind. Sure you can grow them mostly from seed to harvest in less than 90days which is nice to have bud quicker. But I need more quantity and medical effects than what I've done found with autos. So far I've mixed my grows doing both photos and autos outdoors. I've harvested twice this summer of autos, less than 2oz per plant probley my area and environment not the best. But my photos grow huge and strong. Trichs on the autos look great but not potency in my grows. I'm going to continue trying different strains and breeders because I like growing and training so much. The test for me will be the indoors autos this winter. My 1% LOL

[Doubledealing72]

I have lots to say about this lol.

First off, no offense at all about the question! Perfectly understandable for someone who has never grown them to question why people would.

Apparently (before I started growing) autos used to suck lol. I heard many stories about 8 inch tall plants and yields being very low. However, autos have come a long way in terms of selection and yield.

In fact, the most I ever got off one auto was 24 oz! (I believe this was just hitting the seed lottery though. I don't think it was my less than 2 years of growing experience that got me there lol). The journal is in my signature if you would like to check it out (Mainline vs double mainline is the title). This auto did take 131 days from seed, so nothing to boast about on their speediness.

The quickest harvest I had was a sweet Trainwreck auto from sweet seeds that took 60 days from seed to harvest. This one got me about 2 oz.

My average yield is probably around 6 oz per plant now. They say to be kind to autos, but I've used high stress training since my 3rd grow, and I've never had much of an issue with them. I even saw a few people successfully clone their autos, but I have not tried to do so.

Although the light bill can be more expensive, it can be great having your lights on one schedule. I just had a plant about 30 days in show she was a Hermie so I had to pull her. That left me with 2 plants in a 3x3 tent, so I started 2 more. My older girls are day 40ish right now, and my younger ones are at day 8. So for someone like myself who doesn't have enough space to have multiple tents, it's a great benefit to be able to have staggered stages in one tent.

And about the cost of electricity, I use autocobs which are very efficient. 4 lights at 55w a piece makes my entire setup about $30 a month to run, and that's with lights on 24/7.


With all of this being said, it should be known that I have actually never grown a photo period. I always want to try, but when I finally get the chance I just decide to keep doing the autos. It's not that I'm hating on photoperiod plants, it's that I love autos so much I just want to keep growing them lol.

Well, there you have it. This is why I grow autos

This is my mega plant that got me 1.5lbs of bud. It was gorilla glue auto by fast buds. I had another seed from the same package that I grew and ended up pulling because of how weird it was growing. I also needed the tent space for this beast.

[Rwise]

She is 64 days from sprout in this pic,, with autos one can stagger the planting time, thus staggering the harvest and have fresh bud every month. Without every having a timer,,, this girl is outside in sunshine. I grow photos too, the spring garden will get 6 autos and then 6 photos.

[HappyDaze]

I've only ever grown photos, and the only selling feature from my limited and biased perspective, is the short grow time.

With photos, I usually end up at around a hundred days starting with seeds and 80+ days with clones. My understanding is that most indica dom autos, can finish in 70 days or less. I like growing multiple plants from clones because it's easy to manage a mono-crop ... no fussy feeders, no plants overgrowing the lamp, everyone on the same schedule, etc.

Oh ya...and paying $15 for a single use seed, grates on my cheapskate bone. This hobby can get a little crazy cost wise.

[homegrown]

Hey Joker, i can give you one reason which i found out by accident/inexperience haha. First grow ever,(3.5x6x6 ice hut w/2 600 viperspectra, 1 4" fan/filter) started 3 AK fem early May, having no idea what i was getting into i thought i would try a little variety so i ordered some auto blueberry WW and amnesia. They sprouted about two weeks later. Then i added two auto purple haze two weeks after that.!! WTF!! got me a farm. All thru the grow i LST'd all of them daily. So as of today, i have bluberry and amnesia coming off this week or next, amnesia probably the week after that, the two purlple haze a week after that...then i can concentrate on the big ladies. It just so happened that i had enough space to fit everybody in comfortably..they really wern't much added work but i'll probably knock out 6-7 more ounces of some different flavors. Dont get me wrong, the fems are gonna produce BIG compared to the autos. but if you have a little extra space in your tent.why not?..just keep them tied down and they take up hardly any room. I'll do a couple of them every grow for sure. homegrown

[YYCannabis]

As a new grower, most everything I researched always pointed back to autos as “beginner friendly.” Reading about the strains, they tend to be tolerant of beginner mistakes in temp and humidity etc.
For me, the biggest reason is that you can mix different strains in a smaller grow space and not have to worry about conflicting light cycles. (Just a general theme from reading many posts on many forums)
I have a 4x4 tent and plan to grow 4 plants in 2 different strains that will be paired. I read somewhere here that someone recommended something like 35 days apart from one pair germinating to the start of germinating the next pair.

Now I just need to figure out which strains grow best side-by-side.

[Farmall]

I know very little about autos however my baptism by fire from a pair of SURPRISE autoS gave me a whole new viewpoint. At about 5 weeks they were very advanced and starting to display pistils everywhere but the photperiod ones were still in veg. ONCE REALIZING THEY WERE AUTO, they hung out with the 18/6 lights without even a groan, they started developing big buds and 5 weeks later, they are drying in in the bottles. A very easy gro...somewhat stress free. After two weeks drying it seems like there is 330g from one plant and 345g from the other. I’m pleased...took the decision process out of my hand and they took over their own nature plan

[Joker]

I know this topic has been discussed to death, but I'm really curious about why those of you that grow autos choose them. I should say I'm strictly referring to indoor growing, I can see where autos would be advantageous outside for stealth grows. My set up is a dwc in a 3x3x6 tent with a 400w mh/hps. Two plants per grow.
From the first leaves opening I veg for 30 days. Flip the lights, then normally 8 weeks later, sometimes less I harvest 4 to 6 oz dry bud per plant.
I personally just cant see the advantage of autos that take roughly the same total time with smaller harvest and more electricity since you dont cut the lights back for flowering.
Since so many folks love autos i just want to understand why. Please dont take the post wrong. I dont want to start a heated debate, just want to see what I may not be seeing 👍