Feminized Seeds vs Regular seeds vs Autoflowering Seeds-Are You Ready to Choose Your Seed?

Autoflowering, Feminized, and Photoperiod seeds are some of the many different types of seeds that you’ll see at an online seed bank. As a result, It can be quite confusing for newbie cannabis growers who are buying their first cannabis seeds. Choosing the correct cannabis seed is crucial though, (this is especially true for beginning growers) as the proper marijuana seed strain can mean the difference between success and failure. That’s why before buying your first seeds you need to read this article on, newbie-friendly, autoflowering, and feminized cannabis seeds.

What You’ll Learn

This article is geared toward newbie marijuana growers, and will examine the following types of marijuana seeds:

• Autoflower Cannabis Seeds
• Feminized Cannabis Seeds
• Photoperiod Cannabis Seeds (AKA-Regular Seeds)
• Feminized Autoflowering Seed

And, with that above knowledge, I will tell you what is the best marijuana seed choice for beginning indoor cannabis growers.

What a Newbie, Indoor Gardener Should Look For When Buying Marijuana Seeds?

Marijuana strains each have their own characteristics that, for example, influence how tall a marijuana plant will grow, how much THC and CBD it’ll have, and the yield per plant. Therefore, some cannabis strains thrive with outdoor growing, while other strains work well in an indoor grow room, grow tent with grow lights. The following though are the criteria that newbie growers should look for when purchasing seeds.

• Ease Of Growing– Before buying a cannabis seed you need to first find out how hard a particular marijuana strain seed is to grow. For example, with regular cannabis seeds you’ll need to put your plants on a strict light schedule and also make sure that you, in a timely manner, prune the male cannabis plant’s pollen sac.
• Max Plant Height-Depending upon your grow area is set up you’ll be most likely have limited space. So, you need to pick a plant that will optimally fit in either your grow room or grow tent, and whether your grow light will work for that particular strain.
• Hardiness-Certain, weed strains can withstand poor growing conditions and circumstances that other plants. For example, some strains are better able to deal with pests, watering problems, etc. Beginners should be sure to start out with a hardy plant that can withstand the inevitable mistakes that you’ll face as a newbie grower.        

Autoflowering Vs Feminized Vs Photoperiod (AKA Regular Cannabis Seeds)

Autoflower seeds, feminized seeds, photoperiod seeds, and feminized auto seeds are the four types of seed types that you’ll encounter at your online seed bank. Each of these types has its own pros and cons. Of the four, autoflower, feminized, and autoflowering cannabis seeds are the best for newbies. Starting with autoflowers I will now explain the reason that the auto, feminized, and auto/feminized seeds are the best for the beginning grower.

Autoflower Marijuana Seeds

The Lowryder Autoflower cannabis seed, in 2002, was the first autoflower seed on the market. The first autoflowering seeds were known for being beginner-friendly, compact, short grow time, and other advantages. However, autoflowers also have some serious drawbacks that’ll address below.

What Are Autoflowers?

Regular marijuana seeds and feminized photoperiod seeds will only flower upon a changing of the lighting schedule. On the other hand, autoflower cannabis seeds automatically begin to flower after around two to four weeks.

How Were Autoflower Seeds Created In the First Place?

The first autoflowering cannabis seed was made by crossing a Sativa or Indica marijuana plant with a cannabis Ruderalis marijuana plant. The Ruderalis plant is important here because they occur naturally in areas that have short summers accompanied by a high amount of daylight hours. The ability of the Ruderalis plant to thrive in these unique daylight conditions is passed on to the autoflowering seed. Therefore, combining these three types of seed results in you not having to change an autoflowers plant’s lighting schedule. Hence, they are easier to grow, and as a bonus, they also grow quicker.

Cannabis Ruderalis plants are only used for breeding purposes. So, the normal grower will likely never see or even deal with ruderals plants or seeds.

How Are Autoflowering Seeds Different From Regular Seeds?

Autoflowering seeds are different from regular cannabis seeds in many ways. Some of the more notable is that, as I explained earlier, autoflowers do not require you to change the grow light schedule. Additionally, autoflowers will harvest quicker than photoperiod seeds. However, there are sacrifices that come with these conveniences, which will be detailed below.

Down Points of Autoflowers

The main drawback of autoflowers is the yield. Autoflowers are more compact than photoperiod marijuana plants, which makes them easier to fit in an average grow tent. This compact nature means that they also have a significantly lower yield than regular cannabis seeds. As an example, the LSD autoflower strain, on average yields from four to six ounces per square meter. On the other hand, its feminized photoperiod counterpart yields 14 to 17 oz or more per yield. Another drawback is that autoflower cannabis plants also cannot be cloned, which means that you’ll be forced to purchase new seeds each year.

THC Levels

With improvement in cloning, this difference has become less pronounced. But, generally, autoflower seeds are less potent than regular cannabis seeds.

What Are Feminized Cannabis Seeds?

Like autoflower seeds, feminized marijuana seeds are quite new as they were only introduced on the market in the 1990s. Simply put, though, a feminized seed only grows female plants.

Why Should You Consider Planting A Female Seed Over Autoflowering Strains and Regular Seeds?

To answer this question you first need to know that female plants are the only marijuana plants that have smokeable buds. Photoperiod cannabis seeds or regular seeds both grow male and female plants. Male plants have insignificant amounts of THC and CBD, and instead of buds, the male plant has a pollen sac that if it is not removed in a timely manner will release pollen. The escaped pollen can a female plant’s buds unsmokeable. As for the feminized seeds over the autoflower seed female weed seed would be preferred because of feminized strains’ superior yield over the auto flower.

What Are Autoflowering Feminized Cannabis Seeds?

Autoflowering feminized marijuana seeds are seeds that only grow an autoflowering female cannabis plant. They are essentially the best of both worlds as with this seed you’ll not have to worry about the lighting schedule or having to trim off a male plant’s pollen sac.

The drawback of feminized autoflowering cannabis seeds are the same problems that happen with a regular autoflowering cannabis seed, which are lower yields, on average less THC, and in the long run, depending upon how much you grow, they might even cost more. Nowadays, many online seed banks, like I Love Growing Marijuana, only have feminized autoflowering strains.

Final Thoughts

As with most anything in life, you’ll first need to learn to crawl before you can walk. Growing weed isn’t an exception to this rule. So, beginning growers need to keep it as simple as possible. To keep it simple your first grow should only use feminized autoflowering seeds. And you can progress onto solely feminized plants after you have a few successful harvests.

FAQ

Autoflower FAQ

General Questions

Do autoflower plants produce autoflower seeds? A common misconception is that autoflowers will not bear seeds.  This is technically false.  An autoflower marijuana plant produces thousands of seeds.  However, those seeds will be substandard as they will be less potent, and also there isn’t a guarantee that they’ll be feminized. 

The reason for the DIY autoflower seeds being less potent is that an autoflower plant focuses its energy on seed-bearing. As a result, less energy is put on THC, terpenes, terpenoids, etc.   Additionally, there isn’t a guarantee that your autoflower seeds will be feminized. 

What is the best temp and humidity for autoflowers?

The best temperature for autoflowers is the same as regular or photoperiod seeds, which is between 70° and 85° F.   The exact temperature though depends upon the particular strain that you are growing. 

The recommended humidity for an autoflower depends upon the growth stage of the plant.   As an example, an autoflower plant requires more humidity during the seedling growth stage. (65 to 70%)   Upon reaching the vegetative growth stage your plants will need less humidity.  It is recommended that the humidity is reduced by 5% every week while the autoflower plant is in the vegetative stage.