You’ll have to decide whether you want to grow photoperiod or auto-flowering plants when you’re planning out your Cannabis Seeds growing season, and that’s one of the first things you’ll have to answer. If you treat them properly, you can get some excellent buds from each kind. However, to do so, you must understand the differences between their lighting requirements, yields, appearance, size, and other characteristics.
It’s possible that as you glance about your vacant growing space, you’ll begin to ponder whether you should raise photoperiod or auto-flowering cannabis plants throughout the upcoming growing season.
Even while you may obtain some fantastic marijuana from any plant, understanding the differences between the two is essential to harvesting a successful crop. We’ll go over what photoperiod and auto-flowering strains are and what they have to offer in detail in this post, so read on for more information at i49! While reading this article, you will learn about the fundamental distinctions between the two types and perhaps identify which one is most suited to your needs.
Cannabis Seeds Exposure
When it comes to marijuana, photoperiod plants are the most common source of the weed accessible on the legal (and criminal) markets, and their buds are the most likely source of the high you get from smoking it. What are these plants, on the other hand? Cannabis strains with a photoperiod are those that transition from the vegetative to the blooming stage as their exposure to light diminishes, to be more exact.
For plants growing outside, this means that they will begin to flower in the late summer and will be ready to harvest by September or October, depending on the climate. Indoors, the grower must shorten the light cycle to 12 hours on and 12 hours off to replicate the change of the seasons as accurately as possible.
As a result of this development strategy, the photoperiod plant received its name, with the prefix “photo” denoting light and the suffix “period” denoting a specific period. Because they are the most commonly encountered strains, we have a pretty solid understanding of how photoperiod cannabis develops. Plants in this category can look fairly different, but they all share a few characteristics that distinguish them from one another.
Appearance
The first thing to note about photoperiod weed plants is that they are frequently taller and wider than their non photoperiodcousins. For the most part, this is because they have a longer vegetative phase than autoflowers, which allows them to reach astonishing heights and masses during their development.
Seed To Harvest
Photographic cultivars will take longer to mature from seed to harvest than auto-flowering strains, making timing critical for outdoor growers that rely on natural light. The timing of your cannabis planting is critical if you reside in a climate that is less than ideal for growing cannabis. Otherwise, your crop could be destroyed by an early frost or another environmental issue.
Novice Growers
Despite the ease with which auto-flowering strains can be grown, photoperiod strains can withstand the most abuse, whether it is done on purpose or as a result of mistakes made by novice growers. Their growth stages can be affected by the quantity of light they receive, so flowering may be postponed if you encounter any deficits or issues during the vegetative stage.
Light-harvesting strains are quite simple to modify, which can be considered an advantage and a disadvantage. If we believe that the alteration is done to increase height and yield, photoperiod strains can grow taller and produce larger yields than auto-flowering counterparts.
As previously said, it is also feasible to retain a photoperiod plant in a vegetative state until you are certain that it has the strength and structure necessary to support efficient bud formation in the future. On the other hand, photoperiod strains can be cloned, resulting in an almost limitless supply of marijuana plants.
Photoperiod Plant
If you’ve discovered a photoperiod plant with high resilience and abundant bud output, having the option to replicate those characteristics can all but assure success over and over again. However, if you let a weakened marijuana plant flower, there is a considerable likelihood that the harvests will be significantly lower than expected. The potency of the buds will be diminished. As a result, they are resulting in a lower-quality product all around.
What benefits does a photoperiod cannabis strain provide the end-user beyond its growth characteristics? A higher bud level can be created since it is more responsive to light cycles when grown under appropriate conditions. Photoperiod strains will almost always outperform auto-flowering cultivars in terms of bud output and potency, as long as they are properly produced and maintained.
Flavor of Plants
Furthermore, the flavor of these plants is typically more developed than that of other plants. THC present can increase the number of terpenes present in greater quantities. Keep in mind, though, that breeders are developing extremely strong and high-yielding auto-flowering strains these days, so keep that in mind as well.
While auto-flowering strains can be found at dispensaries, coffee shops, and cannabis clubs worldwide, they are most popular among home growers due to their ease of cultivation. Autoflowering strains, in contrast to photoperiod types, are not reliant on the length of time they are exposed to natural light.
They begin to flower on their own when they are a few weeks old, more precisely when they are 2–4 weeks old. Briefly stated, the primary difference between photoperiod and auto-flowering strains is the length of time they take to flower.
Final Say
Finally, both types of plants are tough to grow. Photoperiodweed plants require more control and monitoring of a range of conditions. To maintain your plant in the vegetative stage, you can rectify any mistakes before buy cannabis seeds and the buds start growing.
Autoflowering plants are easy to grow, but you have little control over the process. Thus mistakes will affect your final production. The change from vegetative to flowering takes time, so you can’t take advantage of the stage.
