August 06, 2020
Autoflowers are a class of indoor plants that has only thrived on the commercial market in the last few years. Today, they are taking the market by storm with their ease of growth and great results.
The advantages of an autoflower grow
Many growers who never grew an autoflower before wonder if autoflowers are worth growing. We therefore listed the advantages below so you can decide yourself!
The fact that autoflowers are popular among growers proves the above advantages. Moreover, you can choose from many different types of top quality autoflowers, which have greatly improved in quality in recent years. New generations of autoflowers produce more indoor plants in less time (usually harvest within 12 weeks) and are also of better quality. In short: enough reason to try it yourself.
Below are some tips for you to grow autoflowers indoors, and with these I'm sure you can make the most of your autoflowering grow-op!
Choose The Right Strains
More than anything else, genetics will play the biggest role in determining the final outcome of your grow operation. But what makes the right strain? Well, let’s start with your personal preferences, for example, what type of effect you want from your indoor plants. If you’re smoking to get blazed with the best and the latest, you can’t go wrong with THC monsters like the super dank and potent Royal Cookies Automatic or Royal Gorilla Automatic, our automatic variants of two popular strains!
Then again, if you happen to be a medicinal indoor plants user, or for some other reason choose not to get high, a low-THC, high-CBD strain like the excellent Solomatic CBD can be a good choice.
The other thing you should consider when selecting a strain is its growing characteristics. Some strains may be easier than others to manage, or are known to grow and flower exceptionally fast.
Choose Your Pots and Growing Medium For Indoors
An autoflower grows fast. Often the plant starts flowering within 30 days so you don’t have much time to repot. We therefore advise you to place your germinated seed directly in the final pot or to repot within 1 week from the start to the final pot in which you grow your autoflower.
Use a lightly fertilized, well aerated growing medium. Think of soil mix or coconut. Air pots are very suitable but also dark pots of 15 – 30 litres with drainage.
Light
If you grow indoors with indoor grow tent kit with no sun to rely on you'll need to provide light for your plants. There are many different lighting options to choose from, and knowing which one is best for you can be tricky.
High-Intensity Discharge
These large bulbs produce massive amounts of light at the perfect spectrum for growing indoor plants, and they're more efficient than fluorescents in terms of weight of bud per watt of power used. That doesn't mean growers will see lower electricity bills using HIDs. Producers using smaller spaces can generate more than enough light using T5s or CFLs at lower wattages than even the most miniature HID bulbs.
HID lights generate a lot of heat, and you will have to manage your grow space's temperature when using them. If you don't have a good exhaust system, it's better to stick with a low heat option like LEDs.
High-Pressure Sodium
High-pressure sodium lights serve as counterparts to Metal halide lights. If efficiency is your goal, you can't beat a combo of MH during veg and HPS during flowering. The yellow light produced by HPS enhances bud production.
LED Grow Lights
For the grower looking to cultivate discreetly, or for just their personal use, LEDs are the ideal middle ground between the efficiency of HPS lights and the low power consumption of CFLs. Full Spectrum LED Grow lights produce a more favorable spectrum than fluorescent lights, generate less heat and use less power than HPS lights.
Control The PH Level Of Your Water
Indoor plants can only uptake nutrients when the soil surrounding the root zone has the right pH value. The optimal pH range here is 6.0–7.0. For growing in other media, such as coco, the pH should be lower, ranging from 5.5–6.5. If the pH of your water is not optimal (which is likely the case if you use tap water) and plants can’t uptake nutrients, this leads to sick specimens. The right pH is particularly important when growing autoflowers as they don’t have time to recover. You want to ensure your plants get all the nutrients they need during their short period of growth.
How do you control your water and nutrient solution pH levels? A must-have for any grower are “pH Down” and “pH Up” products, as well as a pH meter. With these on hand, you can be in control of your soil’s pH.
Feeding Your Autoflowering Plants
The latest generation of auto-flowering plants are more prominent than their predecessors and produce a bigger yield. As a result, they need more nutrients than their first-gen counterparts. Even so, on average, an auto-flowering plant still requires fewer nutrients than photoperiod plants. Make sure you water them for the first two weeks as they begin to grow.
There is no need to add nutrients during this period. By week three, you can begin adding nutrients and increase the feeding rate weekly. Remember, the vegetative stage is short, so you need less nitrogen. Light feeding is ideal unless you notice a nutrient deficiency. You’ll need to alter the nutrients once the plant hits the flowering stage.
Harvesting Autoflowering Plants
The best method of harvesting auto-flowering plants is to take the colas and allow time for the lower buds to become denser before harvest. As these plants grow so quickly, they usually don’t have time to develop a canopy. As a result, you need to keep the buds that are lower down on the plant.
CONCLUSION
Autoflowering strains have a lot going for them, and make a great addition to any grower’s repertoire. Although they don’t really allow for advanced techniques or gigantic yields, there is a lot you can do to get the most out of your autoflowers when growing indoors.