Why Should Beginners Grow Autos?
- 1. Produces more returns
- 2. They are super fast
- 3. Allows you to return perpetually
- 4. They are super easy to grow
- 5. Highly resistant to pests and diseases
- 6. Perfect size for small grow rooms
- 7. Save a little more money
- 8. In conclusion
From a beginner’s perspective, growing plants for the first time can seem like a monumental challenge. Before putting seeds in the soil, you probably took to the internet for tips and tricks to make the process as easy as possible. During this search, you have become overwhelmed while falling down the rabbit holes of pH, watering schedules, training techniques, soil biology, nutrients, and seeds. But don’t let these findings put you off! Sure, there’s a lot to learn when cultivating your own plants, but there are several steps you can take to make this process as easy and rewarding as possible. For example, auto varieties serve as the perfect stepping stone into the world of plants. They’re easy to grow, fast to flower, can take a good amount of neglect, and maintain a small and easily manageable size. These traits are enough to win many growers over to team auto, but these plants possess several more key advantages. Find out why autos are the best choice for beginner growers below. For years together, growers avoided growing autos. An auto plant was akin to a new kid on the block with no friends.
On top of that, the first auto – Lowryder – had remarkably low strength levels. However, that quickly changed, and now autos are considered the best seeds, even for beginners. So, how did that happen? How did an auto manage to come full circle from being avoided to becoming a grower’s favorite? Well, that’s science for you. Plus, it’s the hard work of many breeders that worked countless hours to improve autos. The autos released today not only have mind-blowing amounts of strength, but the returns are surprisingly as good as photoperiod plants. Despite their short height and compact nature, they produce great returns, proving to be perfect for home-growers to produce their buds pretty quickly. Now, autos are fantabulous, but why should beginners grow them? There are several reasons. And considering that beginners always look for something easy and quick, there’s nothing better than starting with autos. If you’re a beginner, continue reading to understand why autos may just be the one you’re looking for.
Produces more returns
Since photoperiod plants flower after a change in the season, they can be grown only twice or maybe thrice when grown outdoors. Unless you live near the equator where plants can be grown throughout the year, you can’t grow a lot of plants. However, autos come to your rescue even in this area because they don’t need a change in the season to start flowering. This trait makes autos ideal for beginners for several reasons. For example, if you become interested in growing plants later in the season, you still have time to get seeds in the soil. Even if you start during late spring, you’ll secure yourself a return in a matter of weeks down the line.
Of course, you can grow auto seeds indoors all year round. Their compact structures allow cultivators to grow them in the stealthiest of places, from spare cupboards to converted cardboard boxes. Outdoors, the growing season dictates when growers can have living plants in the ground. However, you can leverage a hyb approach that will allow you to obtain an outdoor return much sooner.
Simply start to germinate seeds a couple of weeks before the estimated last frost. When the threat passes, transplants specimens outdoors under cover for a return a matter of weeks later. Before you return your crop, germinate seeds to raise plants that will be ready to return again within the same season.
They don’t depend on shorter days, longer nights or any other specific rule to grow some gorgeous buds we all love. As a result, they can be grown in any season outdoors. As long as the temperatures don’t dip below 15°C or go above 35-40°C, they perform well. Most plants don’t perform in extreme temperatures, so you can’t blame autos since they too are regular plants.
They are super fast
Most people start growing plants only because they want to smoke amazing buds fast. Nobody has the patience to wait for months together to return a few buds. And the fact that it takes longer to dry and cure buds adds to the waiting time. So, it’s neither uncommon nor unreasonable for beginners to look for seeds with rapid flowering times. Autos are derived from Ruderalis – a seed that grew primarily in the northern hemisphere. While photoperiod plants rely on light to begin flowering, autos do that with time. This level of speed attracts different types of growers. Those looking for a stash as quickly as possible obviously value this trait. However, speed also equates to stealth. If you’re living in an area still experiencing prohibition, the ability to set up and take down your growing operation quickly can help you keep your horticultural hobby as lowkey as possible.
The quick-growing nature of auto plants doesn’t just come in handy for recreational growers awaiting a quick stash. Such a rapid turnover also means that those who use plants for medical purposes are able to top up their supplies before they run out of herb. Adding to this, auto genetics has developed tremendously in recent years. Medical users have a wide range of phytochemical profiles to choose from. Those who benefit the most from strength can access seeds with potencies that rival that of many photoperiod seeds. Those who prefer high levels of Extract with almost no strength at all can access buds that won’t get them high.
Then there are the flavor—the aromatic fraction within buds that determine the smell, taste, and subjective effects of each seed. Auto varieties offer a wide range of flavorene profiles that either lends themselves toward relaxing or energizing effects. As soon as the plant reaches a specific height or grows a few nodes and branches, the plant automatically starts flowering, which is why they are aptly named autos. Photoperiod plants require at least 4 months to complete their vegetative and flowering periods successfully, but autos can be returned in just 2 months. It can’t get any faster than that, right?
Allows you to return perpetually
Most of us love growing as many plants as possible even with small grow rooms. It’s just human nature to get the maximum from everything around us. The sample applies to plants plants and growers try to stuff their grow rooms with an enormously high number of plants. But, how do you do that? How do you set up a system that allows you to sow seeds and tend to seedlings even before the previous plants are returned? This process is called perpetual returning where you start growing another batch of plants along with the previous ones. The rapid growing cycle boasted by autos allows determined beginner growers to push their skills a bit. If you want more of a challenge, and a bigger return, try out successional sowing. By germinating new seeds every 1–2 weeks, you’ll ensure a wave of fresh returns roughly two months in the future, one after the other. Sure, you could grow them all at the same time, but successional returns mean you’ll have enough space in your dryer and stash jars when it’s time to start cutting and trimming.
But, with photoperiod plants, there’s just one problem. It’s a little difficult to grow two batches of plants at the same time because they depend on specific light cycles to start flowering. For instance, if you grow 5 plants in one batch, you’ll be forced to wait until they are returned. This is because they will be under the 12/12 light/dark cycle with 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness. If you plan to introduce new seedlings in the grow room, they will need an 18/6 light/dark cycle to grow in the vegetative stage.
To overcome this problem, many growers keep separate vegetative and flowering rooms. Of course, you can grow 10 plants at the same time, but growers with smaller grow rooms can’t afford to do so. Since seedlings don’t require too much space, it becomes easier to grow them in the same room with a previous batch of plants, but it can’t be done with photoperiod plants.
Therefore, beginners should look at autos that don’t have such demands. Taking the same example of 5 plants in a grow room, you can introduce a number of seedlings in the grow room even if the previous plants aren’t returned yet.
So, if the previous plants are in their 8th week of flowering, you can sow new seeds and grow them all in the same room. By returning perpetually, you’re not only saving time, but your returns will increase as well. Although autos cannot return as much as photoperiods, like say, a Sat that grows too huge, for example, their size allows you to plant more plants in the same space. Most photoperiod plants return about 600-700 grams per square meter while autos produce 300-400 grams on average. If you compare the two, photoperiod plants obviously give you more returns, but if you dig deeper, you’ll realize that autos fetch more buds since they allow you to return them perpetually.
They are super easy to grow
There’s nothing more alluring to beginners than growing plants that are easy to grow. Seriously, who wants to grow plants that are complex in nature? Nobody. Sure, experienced growers love new challenges, but beginners always look for something less intimidating. Autos are seriously easy to grow. Forget the Lowryder and its descendants that made an appearance early in 2000. They were difficult to grow because growers couldn’t understand the science behind autos.
But now, 18 years later, things have changed a lot and there’s nothing easier than growing autos that don’t demand much from you. Autos don’t need loads of light, but they will amaze you if you provide 18/6 cycle with 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness. You don’t even need to change the cycle to 12/12 in order to induce flowering because they are automatic. Simply sow the seeds, turn on the lights, and they will grow to the best of their potential without you having to constantly spoon feed them.
Highly resistant to pests and diseases
Apart from programming autos to flower automatically, breeders regularly work on them to make them resistant to a variety of diseases and mold. Whether it is mildew, fungus gnats or even pests commonly known to attack plants plants, they are extremely resistant to a variety of problems. For beginners, autos are a perfect choice since it’s pretty difficult for beginners to overcome problems.No matter if you grow indoors within a growing tent, outdoors in pots or directly in the ground, pests and diseases pose a serious challenge. Thankfully, they don’t always turn up. However, several variables can increase the odds of herbivorous insects and pathogens gaining a foothold.
Environmental variables such as excess moisture and high levels of rainfall ramp up the chances of fungal diseases invading flowers and other tissues. Some areas are also prone to particular kinds of pests. Growers have come up with many different ways to reduce the impact of these issues, from dehumidifiers indoors, to insect netting and companion plants that attract beneficial predatory insects outdoors. These tactics aside, simply selecting auto genetics can really help you out if you often find yourself having to endure diseases and pests—they’re simply more resistant and hardcore than many of their photoperiod counflavorarts.
Perfect size for small grow rooms
Another advantage of growing autos is that they are small in size. Even the biggest auto like Z grows only up to 3.5 feet, making it very easy to manage for growers with compact grow rooms. It’s not legal to grow plants in most countries yet, so it makes sense to invest in seeds that don’t grow too tall.
The size of autos allows you to save on nutrients since they don’t take up as much as photoperiod plants. Also, it becomes tough to manage plants that grow too big indoors. From managing the vertical height to the horizontal space, it takes a lot of planning to grow huge plants. Since autos are pretty small, it doesn’t take too much to grow autos. For growers that need big autos, a variety of training techniques can be employed. Once the plant produces at least 4-5 nodes, it can be topped. Alternatively, a technique known as “FIM” can be used to increase the number of colas per plant.
Save a little more money
Autos grow perfectly in an 18/6 cycle. One doesn’t have to change the schedule in order to make them flower, but you can do so in order to save some money. By reducing the number of hours per day, you’re not only saving on electricity bills but even other equipment including the air conditioner, fans and lights will perform for longer periods of time.
In fact, some growers grow autos in a 12/12 cycle right from the beginning to save as much money as possible. While this may reduce the returns to a certain extent, you do save a lot of money. With photoperiod plants, it’s not even possible to grow the plants by providing 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness because the plants need at least 18 hours of light during the vegetative stage. With autos, you have a choice, so make a wise one. Most people only worry about the plants, but it’s important to pay attention to the other devices supporting the growth of the plants as well. After all, everything is dependent on them, so take care of them! And with so many advantages offered by autos, it’s apparent as to why beginners should choose them.
In Conclusion
Growing autos can be of great advantage depending on your setup and your preferred style of growing. Auto seeds not only allow you to have a perpetual return in a single grow tent but allows you to do it super fast, with some seeds taking as little as 8 weeks from seed to return. It’s the perfect way to never run out of plants!
| Top 10 Advantages of Growing Autos | |
|---|---|
| Return Faster | No need to worry about light cycles |
| More returns per season | Autos aren’t affected by light pollution |
| Perpetual return in one tent | Better resistance to pests and bad weather |
| Overall easier to grow | Perfect for smaller grow spaces |
Growing plants is a great way to be connected with nature and it’s even better because you’ll have great flowers to consue at the end so make sure to give autos a try. Just remember that genetics play a huge role when growing plants so make sure to buy your seeds from trusted seed banks like Fast Buds. We offer not only quality genetics but a stealth fast shipping; Thousands of customers throughout the world vouch for us, you can’t go wrong with Fast Buds’ autos.
If you’ve grown autos before feel free to share your experience by leaving a comment in the comment section below!
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