For those who want to grow cannabis, a plethora of options can make it hard to narrow down what to try first. There are three main types of seeds available today: regular, feminized, and autoflowering. While regular seeds can be the most inexpensive, they aren’t the easiest to grow. That distinction is given to autoflowering seeds, and it’s why many growers opt for them whenever they purchase seeds.
Start Producing Flowers Automatically
The biggest benefit of buying autoflowering cannabis seeds is that they start flowering automatically at the right time. This means they’re mostly hands-off, so it doesn’t take a lot of skill or experience to get them to produce cannabis. There’s no need to worry about how they’re growing or wonder whether it’s the right time to encourage them to start flowering, as they know exactly when to make the switch.
No Worrying About Lighting
Cannabis plants switch from growth to production based on the amount of light they receive. For most cannabis plants, the lighting schedule will need to be changed at the right time to encourage the plants to start flowering. However, as long as autoflowering plants have the right lighting for their needs, they’ll go ahead and make the switch automatically, even if they continue to stay on the same lighting schedule.
Takes Less Time to Grow
Cannabis plants can take up to 32 weeks to fully grow and produce buds, but autoflowering plants are much faster. In fact, depending on the strain, they can grow to full size, start flowering, and produce buds in as little as eight to 10 weeks. Those who want to have more harvests throughout the year or want to be able to harvest faster will want to stick with autoflowering seeds to start their plants.
Plants Stay Smaller
Another benefit of autoflowering plants is that the plants stay smaller as they grow. Since they start flowering automatically, there isn’t a long growth period, so they tend to be smaller than plants from other types of seeds. It is still possible to get a large harvest from each plant, but because the plants themselves are compact and smaller, it’s possible to fit more plants in the space or grow in a much smaller space. This is perfect for those who have limited space for growing inside their home or those who want to be able to easily hide the plants they grow outside to prevent theft.
Harvest Several Crops Per Season
When growing indoors, there are multiple growing seasons per year, but with outdoor growth, the amount of time available to grow plants can be limited. Most growers will want to use staggered planting to make sure they have harvests available regularly, but this isn’t needed with autoflowering plants. Since they grow faster and are able to automatically start flowering, it’s possible to get several crops per season without having to stagger the planting to maximize each growing season.
If you’re ready to start growing cannabis at home, using autoflowering seeds can make the entire process easier, which means you don’t have to go through a large learning curve to get a good crop. Take a look at the wide range of strains that come in autoflowering varieties to see what might be a good one to try first.