New to autos ... Why are they flowering so soon?!?!

Hey. First time posting on this forum … We’re newer to autos but have had a few successful grows so far. We just planted a few zkittles and they are already trying to flower … What should we do at this point? Is there something we should have done differently? How do we avoid this in this future? We planted it maybe 3 weeks ago?
Thanks for the help!

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Damn, and here I thought my autos were small. I mean, damn…

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Are you doing anything to stress them? What’s your lighting schedule?

What size pot is it in?

I don’t think they are stressed. It’s on a 18/6 light but I thought the lighting schedule didn’t really.matter with autos?

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It’s a baby pot right now. We’ve started the other autos the same way and the others are doing well.

All 9 auto’s I have grown/growing start flowering by the 4th week.

You could try planting straight to a larger pot. Have no fear though she will get bigger. They kinda do flower and veg at the same time for the next 4 weeks or so.

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Hey @tacosandkisses , welcome to the forum.
Unlike photo period, autos do start to flower when they want to. Often it can start as early as 3 weeks.
So when growing an auto its best to put the seed (or new sprout) right into its final pot and not in a small container like that. The plant has adapted to the tiny root zone and will probably not grow much more even if you transplant now which is what you should do.
I learned this lesson after stunting half a dozen or so.

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18/6 is fine. I would definitely transplant soon. I’m in week 4 of my autos and they are flowering but they stretched alot more than those. I started mine from seed in 3 gallon pots.

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Exactly what I now do.

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Better answer than I could give I just started myself lol. I assumed the pot size was a factor tgo

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Welcome !!! I have been reading along autos are crazy!!! I have grown a few :+1::grin:. I personally have never had one bud before week5 and most 6 full weeks?? And from 20":roll_eyes:up to 5 foot fimed twice?? You never know . these are start week 7 and all different some hardly showing and still stretching. The scroged one is over week behind and taller than all She has been topped twice??? DONT give up on her my lil 20" plant had one and a half oz dry​:+1:



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I appreciate all of the suggestions … Just to give a point of reference, this is our 3rd round and we’ve had success with others following the same process but we’ve not had any start flowering this early. One other seed planted at the same time started to flower a bit also. Here is a pic of other older ladies …
I guess I’m trying to figure out if there is a way to avoid this going forward or how this happened … Thanks everyone!

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No don’t think you can stop it. Can keep environment in check rest is genetic.I always have at least one runt in the litter .this time got lucky!

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Looks really good!

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@tacosandkisses thank you !!! 3 gelato 3 wedding cake,1 A.haze she is the tall one.

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I have a GSCE auto I put in the dirt close to three weeks ago. She is literally only 2" tall max.


This is one of her sisters planted just over 5 days ago and is right at 6".


Thats what I’m growing on right now is that gsce mine took a little time then it took off pretty good

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Since autos are unpredictable as to when the flower the only way to get the best results every time is to use a method that works for every (mostly) scenario.
Thats why many of us plant the seed directly into its final home right from the start. That way if it flowers at 3 weeks or 6 weeks you are covered.
I cannot confirm this, but I have from experience theorized that the autos genetics react to growing conditions within the first week or two. At some point early on the plants knows, (i know it has no brain but bear with me) from environmental factors such as rooting area, temps, water, How big it can become. So too long in a small container and no matter the size of the next one its already locked into becoming a 12" tall plant. Or whatever.
The ruderalis gene brings a fast flowering plant that will make flowers and seeds in almost any condition. Probably would grow in a sidewalk crack if given the chance.
So the bottom line is autos need the best of circumstances right from day 1.
From there who knows what happens. Some are great, some not so much.
I think I have had too much coffee…Lol

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