What's wrong with my Autoflower?

[Dwight Monk]

I was also thinking that seed lines that are autos, depending on how well the breeding and stabilizing is done, could result in unstable seed that sometimes throws phenos that are photos. Breeders use cannabis ruderalis to get the autoflowering gene, so perhaps that gene isn't always expressed unless it's done exactly the right way. Anybody know anything about this?

It isn't a dominant trait, so has to be breed and stabilized or you will get a mix or what I have read anyway as I old school and don't grow Autos personally

 

[Delps8]

A quick glance at your plants makes me think that they aren't getting enough light. The plants have large internodal space, very little foliage, and are tall and "leggy". Those are symptoms of low light.

Cannabis grows at light levels between roughly 64µmols and 800-1000µmols. Plant yield increases in an almost linear manner as light levels increase.

In contrast, the pictures below are from a 40± day old Chemdog (photoperiod) that's been vegged using a veg light and that has received good amounts of light.

 

[Fietchen]

This is Day 4 after i flip to 12/12

No way this is an Automatic!

 

[Fietchen]

A quick glance at your plants makes me think that they aren't getting enough light. The plants have large internodal space, very little foliage, and are tall and "leggy". Those are symptoms of low light.

Cannabis grows at light levels between roughly 64µmols and 800-1000µmols. Plant yield increases in an almost linear manner as light levels increase.

In contrast, the pictures below are from a 40± day old Chemdog (photoperiod) that's been vegged using a veg light and that has received good amounts of light.

I have enough light 4 cobs blowing on them 220w from all angle

 

[VetSmoke85]

Looks like a 'not an auto' auto to me. I've seen a few around the forum. I think flipping to 12/12 was a good shout. I've recently done a couple of autos on 12/12 as they were in with photos and they did just fine.

 

[Delps8]

I have enough light 4 cobs blowing on them 220w from all angle

That explains what I'm seeing.

Input power is not an accurate way to determine how much light plants are getting but at 220 watts, no grow light is capable of providing a grow space that size with light at the light saturation point. The fact that you're using COB's (and I suspect that they're at least a few years old) and the fact that you're using multiple lights results in even less light being generated compared to a single, modern, high-efficiency bar style light.

Cannabis will grow in light levels ranging from 64±µmols to 800-1000µmols. As light levels increase, plant and crop quality and yield increase in an almost linear manner. Below is a table from a research paper that exposed cannabis plants to varying amount of light in flower. As you can see, there's almost a 5% increase in yield for every 50µmols of PPFD.

You're been growing for some years so you've seen that cannabis will provide a good yield under even adverse conditions. These plants have grown well, there's no question of that, but you will improve you yield and quality if you increase the amount of light they're getting.

 

[Jose Tall Grass]

This was day 50 for my WW auto today is day 52 still no flower. Going to give it a week before I flip. Sucks because I have 4 photos that I wanted to flip soon but my flower tent can’t fit them all

 

[Fietchen]

That explains what I'm seeing.

Input power is not an accurate way to determine how much light plants are getting but at 220 watts, no grow light is capable of providing a grow space that size with light at the light saturation point. The fact that you're using COB's (and I suspect that they're at least a few years old) and the fact that you're using multiple lights results in even less light being generated compared to a single, modern, high-efficiency bar style light.

Cannabis will grow in light levels ranging from 64±µmols to 800-1000µmols. As light levels increase, plant and crop quality and yield increase in an almost linear manner. Below is a table from a research paper that exposed cannabis plants to varying amount of light in flower. As you can see, there's almost a 5% increase in yield for every 50µmols of PPFD.

You're been growing for some years so you've seen that cannabis will provide a good yield under even adverse conditions. These plants have grown well, there's no question of that, but you will improve you yield and quality if you increase the amount of light they're getting.

I harvest last Grow 550g from 4x cob leds and a 100w new Samsung led panel

 

[Mountainman80]

This is Day 50 and i miss the Flower's i see the litte Stigmas but normally most all my Autos in the past hast finished the Strech at this Time i have the feeling she didn't flower... Light schedule 18/6

Breeder is Linda Seeds


Auto White Widow Day 50

She looks pretty good hungry am pretty sure she showing pistols

 

[Fietchen]

She looks pretty good hungry am pretty sure she showing pistols

Ec is 2.2 I fear lift the Ec more up?

 

[Phytoplankton]

I was also thinking that seed lines that are autos, depending on how well the breeding and stabilizing is done, could result in unstable seed that sometimes throws phenos that are photos. Breeders use cannabis ruderalis to get the autoflowering gene, so perhaps that gene isn't always expressed unless it's done exactly the right way. Anybody know anything about this?

As I understand it, the auto gene is a recessive gene, it's an all or nothing gene, no in between, i.e., no sliding scale (partial auto). You can cross a pure auto (aa) with a pure photo (PP) and you'll get photos every time. If you then cross those offspring, you have a 1 in 4 chance of getting an auto, as only an aa will give you an auto. It goes like this: P is dominant, P=photo, a is recessive, a= Auto, so on the first cross the only outcomes can be Pa or aP, either will give you a Photo. On the back cross (aPxPa) the possibilities are aP, Pa, PP, or aa. Only aa will give you an auto, all others will be photos. Once you have aa crossed with aa, all offspring will be autos. Now, that said, there may well be pheno's within aa that take more or less time to go into autoflower, which may account for why some autos flower at 3 weeks and others flower at 5-6 weeks. Then there's always the issue with seed suppliers mixing up the seeds, or getting some stray P pollen on an aa bud so the resulting seeds may be a mix of photo's and autos. Been a while since I took genetics, hope this helps.

 

[Joe Brewster]

I've had Auto's that took a long time to finish (14 weeks), but they've always flowered within 5 weeks at the very most. Usually, even sooner. I'm sure there are rare cases of an Auto taking even longer to start flowering. But really, what are the odds of you getting that 1 in a million seed ?

My super stinky auto takes over 60 days to flower

 

[Buds Buddy]

My super stinky auto takes over 60 days to flower

If it takes 60 days just to start flowering I see no since in it being an Auto at all. Auto's are about the quick harvest time & 60 days later it should be at least 60% done. JMO

 

[Jose Tall Grass]

If it takes 60 days just to start flowering I see no since in it being an Auto at all. Auto's are about the quick harvest time & 60 days later it should be at least 60% done. JMO

Yeah I agree I don’t grow autos to be big monster plants I grow them for the quick turnaround. These new breed autos are all about size. I’m fine with 2oz autos I rather gro multi strains anyway

 

[Mountainman80]

It isn't a dominant trait, so has to be breed and stabilized or you will get a mix or what I have read anyway as I old school and don't grow Autos personally

All my auto flowers iv run were in full flower by day 40 finished by day 60-90

 

[Jose Tall Grass]

All my auto flowers iv run were in full flower by day 40 finished by day 60-90

I’m growing 5 autos right now. Day 52 two are flowering two are not and one is too young. I don’t see how you’re getting 100% auto every time. What seed bank?

 

[Joe Brewster]

If it takes 60 days just to start flowering I see no since in it being an Auto at all. Auto's are about the quick harvest time & 60 days later it should be at least 60% done. JMO

They are perfect for places you can't grow photo plants outside because of the 12/ 12 happening in Sept. & chance of frost is here
So plant in end of April, blooms mid-July, Harvest mid- end of Sept

Autos are about not needing a 12/12 light cycle to bloom, not growing faster dope.
@Krissi Carbone has some long running autos going right now

 

[Buds Buddy]

Autos are about not needing a 12/12 light cycle to bloom, not growing faster dope.

That's debatable. Most people I know grow Auto's for a fast turn around. Doesn't make a lot of sense to grow Auto's Indoors for months & months using more electricity when you could grow a Photo & use less electricity in the same amount of time.... or even less. Growing outside a longer running Auto would probably benefit from the longer Veg time. But I think indoors it would be more costly & therefore not make sense. I actually have a few strains of Auto Seeds. I'll be putting them outdoors end of March. I'm in AZ. so by the end of June it's over 100F so I sure as hell hope they finish in time. It'll be 110 - 120F come July & most likely too hot to grow outdoors. Would probably be better to start them around mid August as I'd have at least 4 - 4.5 months for them to finish before it got too cold.

 

[greenjeans]

I've had mixed success with autos but I'm a novice and hesitate to blame the plant!! I have some Super Stinky and Super Lemon Haze seeds to experiment with......I've really got to stay busy so I don't start dropping seeds!!!!!

 

[cbdhemp808]

That's debatable. Most people I know grow Auto's for a fast turn around. Doesn't make a lot of sense to grow Auto's Indoors for months & months using more electricity when you could grow a Photo & use less electricity in the same amount of time.... or even less. Growing outside a longer running Auto would probably benefit from the longer Veg time. But I think indoors it would be more costly & therefore not make sense. I actually have a few strains of Auto Seeds. I'll be putting them outdoors end of March. I'm in AZ. so by the end of June it's over 100F so I sure as hell hope they finish in time. It'll be 110 - 120F come July & most likely too hot to grow outdoors. Would probably be better to start them around mid August as I'd have at least 4 - 4.5 months for them to finish before it got too cold.

For an outdoor grower in the tropics, autos are attractive because they won't go into flower early, due to the year-round long night duration. Here in Hawaii, photos (most) will go into flower as soon as they are mature enough, because the night duration is always long enough to cause flowering to start. The shortest night length is about 10.7 hours on July 1. For comparison, consider Denver, Colorado... May, June, July, and part of Aug have night lengths under 10 hours.

For outdoor CBD hemp growers in the tropics, autoflowers are also attractive, because it's easier to predict when they will flower, and therefore easier to zero-in on a harvest date, so that the THC level won't go over the legal limit (currently 0.3%).

A big CBD or CBG crop would be the only reason I would grow outdoors in the open, because it's favorable to grow in greenhouses to protect the plants from too much water (rain), and associated problems.

I chose to grown in greenhouses, and to grow photos, because I can clone them. And, it's very beneficial for timing to be able to provide night interruption lighting to control when they flower.