Autoflowering cannabis strains differ from normal Indica / Sativa cannabis strains ( and hybrids ) in that they do not start blooming by changing the light period (photoperiod), but by the age of the plant.

To achieve this, Ruderalis is crossed, which comes from areas with short summers, where the summer days have very many hours of sunshine. What does this mean for Ruderalis ?

- Ruderalis need to bloom very fast to get finished

- Ruderalis get consistent 18 + hours of light

- Ruderalis stay small, because they grow only a short time

- Ruderalis go into flowering after 2- 4 weeks

Seed breeders are now trying to combine the abilities of Rudelaris with the benefits of yielding varieties ( indica / sativa and their hybrids ).

What are the advantages of autoflowering varieties ?

Outdoor: Autoflowering strains get finished in short, little sunny summers

Outdoor: it is possible to spread the risk of default by several passages in one summer

Outdoor: the plants remain generally smaller

Indoor: no need to convert the timer to 12/12 , it remains at 18/6

What disadvantages have autoflowering varieties ?

Indoor: the flower initiation can not be changed even over the photoperiod

Indoor: the yield is still below average at many varieties, because the growing time is short

Indoor: the plant needs always long days (18 + hours of light instead of 12 )

Indoor-growing of autoflowering strains have more cons since it's not really complicated to switch the timer from 18 to 12.

However, outdoor-growing of autoflowering cannabis strains in latitudes with shorter summers has many advantages and is very popular.