New grower questions

[KrisB]

Questions from a new grower. Re: the following seed descriptions.

FEMINIZED seeds flower and grow weed when they receive less than 12 hours of light per day. Harvest outdoors in fall, or indoors after 15-20 weeks.
AUTOFLOWERING seeds grow small, easy-growing plants that you can harvest in 10 weeks.

I also read within the seed literature that all Autoflowering seeds are feminized.
If this is so, why then does the feminized seed (as described above) take 15 to 20 weeks to get to harvest but the Autoflowing seeds need only 10 weeks? I am thinking of ordering White Widow seeds or another autoflowering, but I want to be sure I get only female plants that will be ready in 10 weeks. Also, I would like plants that do not have a strong odor as I will be growing indoors. Thanks for any response. ..Chris

[dhll999]

I have only done autos indoors using lights on 24hr - 20/4 and 18/6 with good results the seed to the harvest timeline the supplier states are for a perfect grow and usually it will take 2-3 weeks longer - with autos you do not need to switch your lights to 12/12 you can run your lights 24hr on from seed to harvest if you can handle the electric bill and I do not think all autoflowers are feminized I could be wrong and not all are a easy growing. White widow auto is a good first indoor grow but I think it will smell up the place when it starts to flower

[Canuck147]

Welcome to this forum KrisB - don't know of any cannabis plant that doesn't have an odor.
You can get regular seeds that are autoflower. Autoflowers automatically begin to flower after 3 - 5 weeks.
Only female plants flower - above takes 15 - 20 weeks cuz you have to vegetate them until they become a desired size before e switching to flower. You can vegetate a female plant for up to 3 years if one wants to - for cloning purposes.
Good luck growing.
Autoflowers are fun.

[dhll999]

To hide the smell cook a lot of bacon before company arrives unless your vegetarian then maybe fish....LoL

[Catfish22]

You could also smoke some weed. They'll never smell the grow.

[SoOrbudgal]

KrisB research and read about them.

[OldManGrower]

Welcome KrisB. I will try to help but most of your questions are answered on the GWE Website.

FEMINIZED seeds flower and grow weed when they receive less than 12 hours of light per day. Harvest outdoors in fall, or indoors after 15-20 weeks. More or less correct. Harvest times are often actually up to the grower in terms of how long you want the plant to Veg.
AUTOFLOWERING seeds grow small, easy-growing plants that you can harvest in 10 weeks. Not all auto flowers are small but are usually smaller than their photo period cousins. They are not all easy grows, in fact some are really sensitive to nutes and PH. Yields are usually smaller due to plant size constraints.

I also read within the seed literature that all Autoflowering seeds are feminized. I believe this is true, but, I could be wrong.
If this is so, why then does the feminized seed (as described above) take 15 to 20 weeks to get to harvest but the Autoflowing seeds need only 10 weeks? The reason for autoflowers is their short veg and flowering times vs. the feminized variety. You trade off yield for short time to harvest.

I am thinking of ordering White Widow seeds or another autoflowering, but I want to be sure I get only female plants that will be ready in 10 weeks. Also, I would like plants that do not have a strong odor as I will be growing indoors. Thanks for any response. ..Chris White Widow is a good choice for you in terms of size and ease of growth. It is a very forgiving plant. Although I have grown it, I do not remember how strong the odor but low odor is a very relative term in this hobby. Nobody can guarantee you a harvest in ten weeks. Northern Lights is another strain you should consider.

[KrisB]

Thanks for your response. You have helped clear a some of my concerns. I've gone ahead & ordered White Widow seeds. Looking forward to the experience. Good luck to you & your plants...Chris

[Tersky]

I would like to point out that auto's are not good for new growers. Your description "AUTOFLOWERING seeds grow small, easy-growing plants that you can harvest in 10 weeks." is misleading cause that only applies to seasoned veteran growers. If you are new to growing for the love of GOD do photos. You can mess up all you want in veg and still correct issues before switching to flower which will help you learn to read the plant and maximize yields. Autos on the other hand are on the clock from the time they sprout. If you dont know what you are doing, mistakes will happen and thats ok, but with autos you wont have the time to correct those mistakes and will likely have a poor harvest or airy bud. I always recommend doing photo's for your first few grows so you can learn how the plant grows and learn to identify and correct ph and deficiency issues. I fell for the "ready in 8-10 weeks" trap when i first started growing but learned quickly that i was not experienced enough at the time to grow autos. To me i wasted money on those seeds cause i needed a plant that would give me time to make mistakes and learn. Just my 2 cents.

Oh and to answer your question about why photos take longer the answer is technically they dont. It is the length of the veg cycle that is typically different. Autos automatically flower after 3-4 weeks where as photos can be flipped at any time. Sure you could flip it at 3-4 weeks as well but (and i can only speak to my experience) i tend to do LST and HST to widen the plant so as to create a more even canopy and fill out more of the tent space so i end up flipping at 6-8 weeks depending on growth. The difference is going to be yield. A plant that has had more time to grow roots and trained appropriately will produce more than a plant that has had less time in veg and no training for indoor grow lights.

[jamesphoto]

Okay, I'm growing some White Widow outside right now. 2 of those, 2 White Lighting & 2 Candy Cane. All autos. All but the Candy Cane had been topped once and LSTing done. You will enjoy growing the White Widow. This plant has the BIGGEST buds I've ever grow. Donkey D... buds!!! Can't wait till I get to chop her down and weight her.

To those who grow auto flower plants and DON'T top & LST I have to say your missing out. The candy cane plant I intentionally did not do those things to and I am going to suffer when it comes to harvest time. As we all know the auto plants don't yield all that much when compared to the photos so I am a bit disappointed. I just wanted to see what others are saying if that was true. I find that it's not true and I will continue to top my plants and light stress train them as well.

Happy growing. Welcome to the hobby, you're gonna have some fun!

[Catfish22]

I have 3 autos going now, all 3 are topped.

[Puglover1]

I've heard that Northern Lights don't give off a lot of smell.