How long do Autoflowers stretch during flowering?
The growth period of these plants is very limited, from 2 to 3-4 weeks inluding the stretching period (growth after flowering). However, their growth can vary widely depending on how the plants have been grown.
Because of this, it's impossible to say exactly how much an autoflower will grow during the vegetative stage but, as a guideline, you can estimate that a certain plant will grow around 40-60% of its height during the vegetative stage.
The flowering stretch. This usually occurs in the first two weeks of bloom and is when the plant shoots upwards. In some strains, it may almost double its height before it focuses on producing the bud. Since larger plants will often produce more buds, most growers want to encourage this stretch period.
Autoflowering plants will stop focusing on root development. The plants will go through a hormonal growth spurt causing them to stretch. Pre-flowers will appear in abundance very quickly after 4 weeks. Avoid training your plants at this point, especially topping.
Whether they are HPS or LED lights, plants tend to stretch if there's a lot of red and orange light. You can prevent this by supplementing blue light along with the red lights during flowering since it encourages thicker stems and branches.
Weeks 4-6: Buds Fatten Up
At this stage of cannabis flowering, your buds are getting bigger. They'll still have all the white pistils sticking out, but you'll be able to see the buds getting bigger every day.
- Pick the right strain. ...
- Germinate autos in their final pots. ...
- Stick to an 18/6 light schedule. ...
- Avoid high-stress training. ...
- Try sea of green (SOG) ...
- Get the nutrients right. ...
- Avoid overwatering. ...
- Encourage healthy soil.
Despite photos yielding a bit more, autos finish faster so, considering the time they take, it's pretty much the same. Some photoperiod plants produce at least 400 grams per plant while autos yield up to 250-300 grams per plant. As you can see, photoperiod plants produce a bigger yield.
At week 4 of the flowering stage, your cannabis plants will likely have stopped growing altogether and are now spending all their energy on growing buds. There will still be white hairs sticking out from the buds, but the buds themselves will become bigger and fatter with each day.
THE FINAL 2 WEEKS OF FLOWERING. If you grow strains with an average flowering time, the majority of bud development will occur by the 6th week of bloom. In the last two weeks, the buds will mostly be ripening and not really growing much more in size.
How do you keep plants from stretching?
Reducing the application of fertilizer or water can also prevent stretch. Some growers try to hold back plants using lower temperatures in combination with nutrient and/or water stress. Low fertility or mild water stress can prevent stretch if carefully controlled.
Seed to Harvest Time vs Flowering Time | ||
---|---|---|
White Widow Automatic | 10 to 12 weeks | 10 to 12 weeks |
7 to 8 weeks | 7 to 8 weeks | |
Royal AK Automatic | 11 to 12 weeks | 11 to 12 weeks |
6 to 8 weeks | 7 to 8 weeks |
Growing autoflowers outdoors without direct sunlight would produce similar results to an under-powered indoor grow room. Can autoflowers get too much light? Yes, excessive light will stunt your autoflower plant growth.
If you're plant is growing tall and skinny, that means: You didn't top your plants in veg. You did not train your plants to grow wide. You are not using trellis netting properly.
Your autoflower is getting too much light
If this happens, the plant receives more light energy than it can use and the result is a small, stunted plant which has struggled under non-optimised conditions.
Yes you should – but with the correct technique. A proper thinning will remove 20-40% of the mid to upper foliage every 5-7 days. Removing these fan leaves opens up light and produces better air exchange to the lower canopy.
Topping to increase the number of colas
Topping is a form of pruning and involves pruning off the branch tip of the main cola. When you top the main cola, the energy goes to the side branches. The next two lateral branches will become the main branches. Topping will increase the overall yield of your grow.
During vegging and early flowering is the best time to start the process, but you should avoid pruning and trimming during late flowering.
Bigger pots does not mean bigger plants. The recommended pot size for transplanting is between 2 to 4 inches larger in diameter from the pot that the plant was planted in. This gives the roots enough space to spread and absorb more water and nutrients.
The average yield for autoflowering plants ranges between 1.8 to 8 ounces of product. The amount of marijuana yield per plant is ultimately determined by the type of seed you choose, environmental conditions, where the plants grow, and other factors such as nutrients, air, light, and space.
What Autoflower yields the most?
- NORTHERN LIGHT AUTOMATIC. Northern Light is a legendary cannabis strain that derives from Afghan indica genetics. ...
- WHITE WIDOW AUTOMATIC. ...
- ROYAL CHEESE AUTOMATIC. ...
- HULKBERRY AUTOMATIC. ...
- ROYAL AK AUTOMATIC.
- Northern Lights Autoflower Strain.
- Afghan Autoflower Strain.
- Bruce Banner Autoflower Strain.
- Gorilla Glue Autoflower.
- Girl Scout Cookies Extreme Autoflower.
- Sour Diesel Autoflower.
- Zkittlez Autoflower Strain.
Photoperiod strains outperform autoflowering varieties when it comes to size and productivity. They are slightly trickier to grow than autos, but the extra work is always worth it. Learn about the traits of photoperiod strains below; and check out our top 10 feminized photoperiods if they tickle your fancy!
And since autoflowering plants have short vegetative phases and often grow shorter than photoperiod strains, you'll typically want to give your autos at least 18 hours of light. This allows for robust growth, without overspending on energy.
Flowering week 3 and 4. After two weeks with 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness, the plant stops growing and every bud starts to develop its first flowers. Almost no leaves are being made anymore and the roots also don't grow as quickly. All pistils are white and increase very rapidly.
More growth and stretching of the plants in Week 3
You will notice continued growth and stretching. You can see in the video how bushy everything has become. This rapid, almost non-stop growth is all a sign of the post-vegetative stretch that these plants go through after switching to the 12/12 light cycle.
Plant stage | Water every # of days |
---|---|
Germination | 4-7 |
Seedling | 3-7 |
Vegetative | 2-4 |
Flowering | 2-3 |
During the pre-flowering and early flowering stage, the plants don't require additional watering. However, once the plants enter the peak flowering stage, the buds start sucking the soil dry. The buds are filled with water; it's logical that more watering is required.
Week 6-8: Buds Ripen, Pistils Darken
It's normal for some of the bottom leaves to begin to turn yellow as the plant continues to put its energy in the leaves and buds getting the most direct light, though the plant should still be mostly green from top to bottom even in week 6-8.
The biggest changes that you will witness in the seventh week of flowering is the amount of trichome production on the buds. Your buds in Week 7 will be noticeably frostier, as the plants begin to finish out. These plants are beginning to look smokable!
How do you minimize stretching during flowering?
Indeed, research has shown that most of the stretching takes place during the first few hours of the morning, so simply by reducing temperatures for a couple of hours at daybreak to 5ºC below those at night for the first 3 weeks of flowering, we can almost eliminate the stretch completely.
In my experience with several different hybrid strains, a good rule of thumb is to generally expect that cannabis plants will double their height after entering flowering. If the plant is growing long and lanky, with thin leaves like a sativa, expect the plant to grow more.
If your plant is stretching toward your nearest window or light source, it is likely experiencing phototropism, which is a plant's tendency to stretch toward light in order to receive as much sun as possible.
Unlike photoperiodic strains that can take anywhere from 8-14 weeks or more, autoflowering strains take as little as 7 weeks up to 11 weeks from seed to harvest.
Historically, autoflower varieties have taken from 12-14 weeks from germination to reach their height of ripeness.
The bigger the pots then taller the final plant should finish once harvest time comes around. Optimal pot size for large plants in a limited space. There is no need to grow an autoflowering seed in a huge pot size (bigger than 15L) because much of the medium will not be fully utilized as if using a 10L pot for example.
HOW LONG DO AUTOFLOWERS TAKE FROM SEED TO HARVEST? Autoflowering strains typically move from seed to harvest in 8–10 weeks. However, some varieties can take up to 12 weeks to fully mature.