Auto Seeds

[Lew]

Hi Everyone, With AUTO Flowering Seeds, what is the lighting requirements for these as I am a bit confused here. The Auto's are I guess some sort of genetically modified to grow on their own schedule so whether or not you give light or not they are still internally scheduled to flower at a certain time. Is this correct? So if it is, how many hours of light be it indoors or outdoors do they really require then? Thank you all for your assistance and take care

[Xena]

It varies depending on the grower, 18/6 20/4 24/0. I personally use 18/6, I’ve seen some swear by 20/4 and others say all light all the time. You just don’t have to worry about cutting the light cycle down to get them to flower, they have an internal clock that tells them when to start as opposed to the breed that relies on less light to tell them when to flower.

[ChadWestport]

I'd fully agree with all that Xena mentioned above.

I have heard of some people switching to a 12/12 schedule after the plant begins to flower on its own, but I think the majority of people leave the lights on the same schedule they started with. I like the 18/6 option, because you will use less power over the life of the grow.

[MeEasy]

I have a friend that is doing a 6/2 schedule and he's actually hitting the seed bank's times from seed to harvest on his autos. He's going to veg some photos on the same schedule to see what happens since his autos grew so fast

[Rwise]

I have grown Autos outside under sunshine, they do better with longer hours of light than what I get here in OK. (light could be added) They also dont really like the OK heat and humidity in the summer, and do better with cooler dryer conditions. No mater your light schedule, they will start to flower (most often) between 3 and 5 weeks old.
Have your soil/media right before you plant the seed as with Autos you have 0 time to make corrections during the grow.

MeEasy I think the 6/2 would be ok with the Autos, but my thought is Photos need 4 hours dark to sleep. I have heard of folks running mothers @ 8/4s

[MeEasy]

Thanks Rwise I just bought some auto seeds for the first time ever I finally convinced myself to try em out. So any and all info is much appreciated. I've been reading everything on GWE because I know I can trust their stuff. I'm probably going to play with them at first by leaving a couple to grow naturally except I'll pull on the branches a little and trying to top a couple without causing them any shock. That's what I like about photos if you mess up you can extend veg and that's been my hesitation on autos

I'm going to be watching him do the 6/2 with the photos and if something special happens I'll let you know. I'm with you on the photos I don't think they're going to like the switch to 12/12 after veg at 6/2 seems to me it's going to cause them unnecessary stress. That's the going thing about photos as long as they don't herm they'll be alright.

My mom lives over there in OK up by Miami and I've been there a bunch of times so I understand why plants don't like it lol

[dilvish]

Autos are just that, auto. they do not require a 12 light 12 dark period like photoperiod strains. Photoperiod usually start like any other plant with 18/6 or more light then need the light schedule changed to 12/12 when you want to start to flower them. They flower when they have at least 12 hours of darkness and that triggers the plant to flower.

Autos don't need to be switched to 12/12...they can but they don't need it. Autos work best under 18/6 as a minimum but some strains, like Northern Lights auto prefer more like 20/4.

The lenght of time you put on them depends on how much power you want to use as most do fine under 18/6

[PLreef]

I'm a fan of 18/6 with my autos from start to finish.

[Lew]

Hi again all and thanks for all your comments. I think I forgot to add an important part of my query here. The Autos I have ae being grown outdoors where I have no choice in how many hours of day or darkness there is because it is what it is. It gets light here at 06000hrs and is dark at 1800hrs as the season is changing now so will be less light for us at least. So when autos are grown outdoors is this OK as well? Thanks again

[SoOrbudgal]

Hi Lew i grow autos outdoors. They will be good until they loose those longer sunlight hours. Hopefully your grow is within 30-45days to harvest. Overnight temps are important also you don't want dew to stay inside the buds. Shake the branches alittle to get rid of the dew in early a.m. Watch for WPM

[ChadWestport]

Hi again all and thanks for all your comments. I think I forgot to add an important part of my query here. The Autos I have ae being grown outdoors where I have no choice in how many hours of day or darkness there is because it is what it is. It gets light here at 06000hrs and is dark at 1800hrs as the season is changing now so will be less light for us at least. So when autos are grown outdoors is this OK as well? Thanks again

Yes, this is actually one of the advantages of auto flowers. You can grow them outdoors and no matter what the light cycle is, they will flower when they are ready. So you will just let nature take its course.