It almost sounds like a philosophical question, but indeed, what are autoflowering seeds? When mentioning the term autoflowering, we are talking about autoflowering cannabis. As the name suggests, this type of cannabis plant turns to the flowering stage based on the age of the plant itself. This is unlike the more typical photoperiod plants, which base their movement into the flowering phase on the hours of light it receives during a day.
In this article we will dive into the origin of autoflowering seeds, their characteristics, and we will highlight a few typical autoflowering strains that are great to add to your garden, when starting out with his variety of cannabis seeds.
The origin of autoflowering plants
Due to the nature of the cannabis industry, it is hard to find one solid theory that explains the true origin of autoflowering seeds. What we can say for certain, however, is that part of the puzzle of the original autoflowering genetics is Cannabis Ruderalis. This type of cannabis is found in the very harsh climates of Russia, central Europe and central Asia, making this species rather hardy, yet low in THC levels. Ruderalis was officially identified in the mountainous regions of South Siberia in 1924, by Russian botanist Janischewski. These ruderalis plants often grow along the mountain ridges and therefore cannot depend on a steady amount of light hours. This is why they evolved to grow based on the plant’s age. You can try and grow sour diesel seeds, shishkaberry strain and your favorite bruce banner seeds.
It is to be believed that the Lowryder strain is one of the first autoflowering strains, containing genetics from a Mexican sativa called ´Mexican Rudy´ and a Russian Cannabis ruderalis plant. Another story appoints the origins of autoflower seeds to Finola, the first oilseed hemp variety, developed in Finland in 1995.
Whatever the one true story might be, it is clear that the large content of Ruderalis in early autoflowering cannabis strains, slowly but surely subsided. This can be attributed to the fact that more and more breeders started to uncover the traits that would make autoflower cannabis seeds such an interesting alternative to growing photoperiod plants.
Characteristics of Autoflowering cannabis seeds
Most cannabis destined for recreational and medicinal use is often high in THC levels. As said before, early autoflowering seeds would produce weed that would be low in that field, due to its Cannabis Ruderalis heritage. However, through rigorous crossbreeding with well known hybrids, we have ended up with Autoflowering seeds that spawn easy to grow cannabis plants, that can easily compete with many photoperiod plants when it comes to its powerful effects and big yields.
And autoflower plants have many advantages over growing photoperiod cannabis. One of its main features is the fact that this variety, on average, has a seed to harvest time frame of only 13 weeks. This consists of a vegetative growth of about 2 to 3 weeks after germination, and an average flowering stage of 8 weeks. Not only does this mean that you will be able to reap your shiny new buds quick, you will also be able to oversee multiple harvests in one growing season, when growing cannabis outdoors.
Not everyone is blessed with a Californian type of climate and when you grow outdoors, this can be an issue with many regular photoperiod plants. When you cultivate Autoflowering seeds this is not as much of an issue, due to its shorter life cycle, and its ruderalis genetics, making it hardy and less vulnerable in cold climates. Most of the autoflowering plants grow with a rather compact size, meaning that you can easily hide them if you so desire. Finally, if you grow autoflowers indoors, you can leave the lights on 24/7, as there is no need for a dark period in the light schedule.
