Autos or Photos?

Members Lounge The Garden's Corner
#1

I was listening to a podcast recently on the the topic of auto strains. Apparently the Auto segment of the industry is the fastest growing. One company, Mandalorian claims to have the best autos, they claim to not have stunted growth. They use the lowryder strain as an example of “first generation” autoflower strains.

He also claims that “modern” auto flower strains are hardy. He told a story how he went out of town and left his Auto in total darkness with no water for 16 days. And he got a decent harvest off it.

I’m going an auto and it’s beyond finicky.

So, what would you rather grow, a photo period plant or an auto flower?

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#2

Photo, no question. I’m dropping the rest of my auto beans outside in the elevated garden. If they grow, they grow. I won’t be wasting anymore resources on them.

Fluffy auto on the left. Solid photo on the right. Grown in the same room, same lights

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#3

Photo. Am in control of what it does.

#4

Same strain? By that I mean was it “strain x” and Strain x Auto?

#5

I’m starting to think autoflowers are good for growing outside since you can get 2-3 grows in a summer whereas it takes an entire summer to grow a photoperiod crop. By getting several grows in a summer I’ve built my stash for lean times. The photo periods grown outdoors will have a big payoff assuming nothing bad happens to the plants before they are harvested, but they aren’t going to be ready before mid October regardless of when you start them.

I wouldn’t waste my time growing autoflowers indoors unless I was totally out of pot and needed something quick, photoperiod are a much better use of limited resources.

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#6

That’s a white widow photo and a blueberry auto. Was hoping the fluffy part was just a bad pheno but that’s 3 straight now that have been fluffy.

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#7

@Bobbydigital First off, that’s a great White Widow bud. I’m Vegging 4 ILGM WW right now. I’d love to get buds that dense. What are you using for light?

Secondly, i have 19 Sour Diesel Autoflower seeds I have no idea what I’m going to do with.

#8

All my plants get their own QB 135. They’ve all been under Qb 288 v2 3000k boards but I just swapped them out for Qb 288 r-spec boards a few weeks back so time will tell how they do.

As for the seeds, I’d grow some out and see how you like them. A lot of people here prefer autos. I still have 16 blueberry auto seeds and like I said, they’re going out in the elevated garden and I’m going to let nature do her thing.

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#9

Nice. I have RSpec lights. 260 kits x2. I’m excited for the final product.

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#10

Yep, same setup, lol. Except I have 4 drivers instead of 2. I have a few different grow areas so I need the versatility.

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#11

During the past year I grown 16 autoflowers. 10 WW, 3 AH and 3 blueberry with a average yield of 3 oz / plant. I currently have 4 northern lights photos in the tent. I am finding I get more enjoyment from the photo. I started with autos as a new grower. I tried a little LST, topped some of them too. Just learning and getting a feeling for the plant. So maybe it is being able to apply what I learned from growing autos to the photos that I find rewarding.
I have 3 jack herer autos in starter pots now. I also have 5 strawberry kush soaking and 4 (hopefully) will go in the tent when the NL are finished.

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#12

Autoflowers are definitely very popular these days and many breeders are jumping on the bandwagon.
Both types of plants have their own pros and cons. I really like doing both for perpetual grows. Sometimes I choose one because the particular strain I want is only offered in one type.
There’s a ton of myths and misconceptions about autoflowers (small, fragile, unpredictable to name a few) that continue to get perpetuated. If you really want to learn about them, I suggest checking out the autoflower network.

I think you will find that Mephisto is widely considered the best autoflower breeder in the world. There is a Mandalorian section at the autoflower network if you want to read up on them, but I would also recommend checking out the other breeders like FastBuds and Night Owl.

As far as to which for you to grow? I would suggest trying a few strains of each type and see which you prefer. You may decide to grow both types.

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#13

Photo period hands down. This is just marketing. Auto flowers grow to whatever size they want, flower whenever, and you can’t clone them.
Personally I’ll grow the few seeds I have, but I grew one auto flower, cool, I grew it, but I didn’t enjoy it.

#14

Photos all the way. No question about it. I’m currently growing autos for the first time just to try, but will definitely go back to photos.