auto flowering outdoors?

[JackandJill]

What happens when you start auto flowering plants outdoors, yet when the time to flower comes its in the dead of summer with 15 hours of sun? Does the auto part of the plant take over for producing buds and he 12/12 lighting not matter? Is it a good or bad idea to plant them right now in Southern California?

 

[sonar]

I personally feel the only real use for autos is outdoors. They seem pointless to me in an indoor situation where you can control the light.

I've done autos outdoors a few times with decent results. I found the best way to do them is to start them indoors under a 24/0 or 20/4 light schedule. After about 3 weeks when they show first signs of sex, moving them outside to their permanent homes. To get the best yield outdoors, autos need as much light a possible during flowering. When you crack the seeds indoors mid April, they are ready to go outside come mid May. This makes the crucial flowering time fall during the month of June and into July when the days are the longest.
I did autos outside a couple years pretty much as a side project to get some fresh bud in July when the rest of the plants are still in veg. I got around 1.5-2oz off the plans grown using the method I just described.
I've alsop done them later in the summer. I believe I cracked the seeds indoors in mid June and they were done in August. They flowered and followed a norma autofloer cycle, but since the days are shorter during that part of the summer the yield was smaller.
I leaned quite a bit about outdoor autos over the few years I experimented with them. I think sometime soon, maybe over the weekend, I am going to write up a brief guide and post it as a sticky.

 

[SenorBrownWater]

I personally feel the only real use for autos is outdoors. They seem pointless to me in an indoor situation where you can control the light.

I've done autos outdoors a few times with decent results. I found the best way to do them is to start them indoors under a 24/0 or 20/4 light schedule. After about 3 weeks when they show first signs of sex, moving them outside to their permanent homes. To get the best yield outdoors, autos need as much light a possible during flowering. When you crack the seeds indoors mid April, they are ready to go outside come mid May. This makes the crucial flowering time fall during the month of June and into July when the days are the longest.
I did autos outside a couple years pretty much as a side project to get some fresh bud in July when the rest of the plants are still in veg. I got around 1.5-2oz off the plans grown using the method I just described.
I've alsop done them later in the summer. I believe I cracked the seeds indoors in mid June and they were done in August. They flowered and followed a norma autofloer cycle, but since the days are shorter during that part of the summer the yield was smaller.
I leaned quite a bit about outdoor autos over the few years I experimented with them. I think sometime soon, maybe over the weekend, I am going to write up a brief guide and post it as a sticky.

Good idea about the sticky.....
Have you noticed the autos to grow weak bud? (low thc levels)

 

[yakngrow]

I agree about the sticky. This is a topic that needs to be discussed more. I plan on doing an early and late bumper crop this year of autos, and your experiences will surely help the process.

 

[RockyMtnMan]

I threw two autos outside last summer.
I did as sonar described.
I grew them indoors for a few weeks, then finished them outside in mid May, when they were a few weeks old.
They surprised the hell out of me.
I got 2.5 oz off of each one.

I have seven auto Anesthesia beans waiting right now for this same practice.
I am going to start them around April 21, and throw them out in the Colorado sun in late May.

I figure using the best light source available (the sun), is great for growing plants, the problem is where I live, by the time the sun reaches 12/12 light cycle, the temps outside are starting to frost at night.
That's why autos are great. They bud best when the sun is cranking.

If a high THC strain like Amnesia for example, has 20+ % THC, and the Ruderalis gene takes away several percentage points, wont you still have some pretty strong smoke?
Like maybe 18% or even higher?
The Somango I grew last year was some amazing strong smoke!
I got it as a freebie and tried it out . I was kind of experimenting and it changed my perspective.
If you have an area you can do it outside, autos can and do produce as much smoke as indoor plants.
I picked Pyramid auto Anesthesia. It should be quite strong, even with the Ruderalis dilution.

 

[wvblazin]

This will be my first season growing auto's.. I chose HeavyWeight Fast and Vast and some Northern Lights x Big Bud. The breeder claims that the yield is huge and THC around 20%-22%. I did a little research before I ordered them and from other peoples grow journals, they consistently produce around 4oz per plant indoors (Couldn't find anyone that has grown that strain outdoors, hopefully outdoors it'll produce the same results. or better!). I guess we'll see here in a few months. I picked up the auto's because I wanted to harvest a few O's before the photo plants were ripe and ready. Good luck with your crop!

 

[sonar]

I threw two autos outside last summer.
I did as sonar described.
I grew them indoors for a few weeks, then finished them outside in mid May, when they were a few weeks old.
They surprised the hell out of me.
I got 2.5 oz off of each one.

I have seven auto Anesthesia beans waiting right now for this same practice.
I am going to start them around April 21, and throw them out in the Colorado sun in late May.

I figure using the best light source available (the sun), is great for growing plants, the problem is where I live, by the time the sun reaches 12/12 light cycle, the temps outside are starting to frost at night.
That's why autos are great. They bud best when the sun is cranking.

If a high THC strain like Amnesia for example, has 20+ % THC, and the Ruderalis gene takes away several percentage points, wont you still have some pretty strong smoke?
Like maybe 18% or even higher?
The Somango I grew last year was some amazing strong smoke!
I got it as a freebie and tried it out . I was kind of experimenting and it changed my perspective.
If you have an area you can do it outside, autos can and do produce as much smoke as indoor plants.
I picked Pyramid auto Anesthesia. It should be quite strong, even with the Ruderalis dilution.

You do not need 12/12 for plants to start flowering outside. Outdoor plants generally start flowering in late July or early August. The shortening days after the summer solstice triggers flowering when plants are grown outdoors.

 

[Carl Spackler]

I do both indoor/outdoor auto grows. Since I am not a noob- grower, I don't lack the most important ingredient to any given grow... patience. I grow autos indoors as they are a good way to evaluate specific strains and several plants can be grown under identical conditions in a compact space. That way, I can decide which strains are suitable for my outdoor grow since risk is a higher factor and there is little point in planting inferior genetics with the potential for discovery or loss. This season, I plan on direct sowing of 4 different auto- strains in to the soil in early June. This should eliminate the potential for transplant shock and hopefully increase yields as the photoperiod will be ideal (longest) during their flowering period.