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Thread: Can you 'Force' an Autoflowering plant to Flower, and why would you want to?

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    Default Unanswered: Can you 'Force' an Autoflowering plant to Flower, and why would you want to?

    Autoflowers are the Mutt's in my opinion, some are quite small but others I have steered away from, not because I don't want to try them, but I am a home grower and a height restriction in my Tents really puts the Kybosh on growing a Tall Plant, obviously smaller pots would do the trick and a LOT of training would keep them manageable.
    So, I have sort of answered my own question, but I am wondering if there's an easier way and I think there might be, I am under no illusions this wouldn't affect the yield either, I like to let the plants do their own thing though, I don't trim, (Normally!), or train them, not because I think it's better, lets be honest here, I am Lazy.
    Cross-breeding with Ruderalis, is what causes a Plant to autoflower and depending on the plant, as I understand it accounts for about 20% of the plants genetics, although this does vary a lot, but if we assume that 80% of the plant is still a Photoperiod, (Is it, I don't actually know, that's a guess on my part), could the Photoperiod side of the plant be made to flower early by putting it in 12/12?.
    This may cause the Photoperiod side of the plant to trigger flowering early and not wait for the Ruderalis to do this, logically this would create a smaller plant, and enable me to grow plants a bit shorter than normal, this obviously, as I have stated would affect the yield, that is a given.
    It might also be of interest to breeders, IF it's possible, as the end result is a lot smaller 'Managable' plant where yield is not an issue.
    In the meantime, I'll keep on with smaller plants, but I have another issue where it might help, I have a friend who has grown an Autoflower, that is flowering, but, according to him appears to have 'Stuck' in this stage, something I have not encountered, he said that he had tried changing the light to a more powerful one, but I don't think he's tried 12/12, it may just be a Dodgy seed, however he said others from the same batch finished weeks ago, Puzzling.......

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  3. #2

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    Dodgy seeds for "autoflowers" turning out to be photos are common. There's stories all over this forum (including one right now in the Infirmary section) of people getting a photo from an auto.

    As for your other question I can't answer but I'd suggest there is absolutely *ZERO* incentive to do so.

    Topping an auto takes about 15 seconds - I know because I did it for this grow.

    Ultra basic LST on my last grow took me 5 mins to cut the ties and bend/tie the plant. One single 5 min effort with a single bend and after that I didn't touch it. This grow I've done a "pseudo" SCROG and I've spent 4 or 5 hours doing it and tweaking it over a 2 week period but nothing before or since. For that I've had very short plants and, for me, a good yield.

    Never say never but I'd suggest no one is going to give up yield and go for a shorter flowering period for the sake of 5 mins.

    MJ
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    Well, as I said I am lazy, but a Breeder might shorten the growth just to get either pollen or seeds, I don't even know if it works, but I thought I made that very clear.
    Not too sure about it being a photoperiod Seed either, as it was grown and flowered under an 18/6 light cycle, I am reasonably confident a Photoperiod won't do that, that is what I am told, along with a 'few' others that grew normally, the only thing different about this one is it is 'Stuck', it's not putting on weight either, so he wants to resolve this ASAP.
    So I think we can conclude, it IS an Auto, possibly not a very good one though, he is going to try 12/12 and I'll keep growing shorter Auto's, basically because I can.

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    AFAIK (which isn't much!) auto's flower when they're ready and not before. If you could breed autos to flower and mature sooner I'm certain they would have done it by now (there are some that claim to finish in 7-8 weeks for example) or the techniques would be all over the net somewhere.

    That said I doubt any breeder is going to develop a strain they would likely not sell just to get seeds a couple of weeks earlier. It just doesn't make sense for most growers though maybe in a SOG setup it might be valuable.

    But end of the day there's lazy and then there's cutting off your nose to spite your face. I'd suggest if someone can't spare or won't make the effort to spend even 5 minutes over a 8-10 week grow period to tame their plants then this whole growing thing is not going to go too well for them.

    From the very little experience I have, I do know plants can just go wrong. Draw a line and start a new grow. Probably waste more time and effort trying to rectify it that it would to just grow a new healthy plant.

    MJ

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    So far I have only had height issues with 1 autoflower and that was one that I bred from 2 sativa dominant auto's,I've done both and still switch between both(depending on my mood),auto's can for the most part be treated the same as photo's.
    I wouldn't go 12/12 unless it didn't begin to flower,I've only had to do that once back around 2010/2011(maybe I'm lucky).Dropping to 12/12 would pretty much 1/2 your possible yield.
    My current grow has 2 mid sized auto's and 2 small auto's,for a change I didn't top them(I haven't done a grow without topping in years).

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    Mmmmmmm, What do I know, well, I am polite and only been growing since 1975.
    Ahh, those were the days, I was privileged to have a mate then that grew a Garage full of plants, he had a small Suitcase full of buds, and we all descended upon him to sample his wares, one comment from a very stoned stoner, has always stayed with me was, 'Hey, go easy on that Tobacco, we haven't got much!', I nearly Choked with laughter.
    That aside though, I still have my nose, my face would look weird without it, I do still wonder if there is a better way, sometimes there is, do you actually know any Breeders, have you actually visited a Commercial grow, or just looked on Youtube for info, over the years I have been friendly, with a few commercial and semi-commercial growers, one is still current and grows in California. While Quad biking in the Sahara Desert, I stumbled on a Massive Grow there, I spent several hours chatting with the owner, the Apple Tea was nice as well.
    Perhaps my comment that I am lazy, was a bit incorrect and I stand corrected on that, also it isn't my grow that has gone tit's up, it's a friend and he asked for help, that's all.
    I have Lollipopped, Fim'ed, LST'ed, SOG and goodness knows what else, do I personally think they help, yes I do, but these days I don't to a great extent, sure I pull the odd Fan leaf off, but I let the plants do their own thing, as nature intended, sure this affects yield, but I have three Tents, Four Lights and goodness knows what else, I grow for my personal use only and am never in short supply of product. I also brew Wine and vent a minuscule amount of C02 from this into the Tents, does it help, probably not, but the carbon filters stop the house smelling like a brewery, and is a good topic of conversation with like-minded friends.
    So, I do like to put comments out there, sometimes I even get constructive replies and answers, I don't spend a lot of time on my plants, except for watering, seeing they are healthy etc, but it is my choice, that's the way I grow these days, I have had a lot of practice at it. I suppose if I ever ran low on product, I would do what it takes to increase my yields.
    I did get Drunk/Stoned on Cannabis Beer in Amsterdam once but am now looking to combine two of my hobbies and use all the wasted parts of the plants I don't smoke to make Cannabis Wine after finding a decent-sounding recipe on the internet, I wonder how many growers will take time to do that, quite a lot I hope.
    As for weird Goofy plant's, I chopped one down but left the stem in the pot and it started growing again, the weird thing was it was totally unlike the rest of the plant had looked, a check on the internet caused a lot of head-scratching, as it looked like Ruderalis, go figure on that?

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    Hi Scoot, as i stated in other replies, it isn't actually one of my plants, so my friend was in a bit of a quandary and looking for a solution, I just grow Auto's however, my last order had two Golden Goat Feminised Photos as a free gift, a search on that's genetics revealed a weird mix, but it was pollinated by accident, the jury's out on whether it was happy accident though as I haven't germinated them yet?
    I normally don't grow during the summer period though, as I grow indoors and have a problem with High temps, obviously, I grow at totally different times to others, so I miss out on sunlight, but there are always exceptions I guess, like now for instance.
    I gave a small Gorilla Cookie to a mate, him being just a Photo grower, decided to Clone it, he took two clones, one is about 1 metre tall and the other about 200mm, he gave me the larger of the two back, so I just have one plant in a tent, it's not as big as the mother, but there's the thing, I've never tried to clone an Auto, I had assumed it was nigh on impossible, to get a decent plant due to the Autoflowering properties of the plant, is this the exception?, it's fully in flower now, but will need a while to 'Cook' a bit more.
    Every day i learn something new, most of it is useless though, Homer Simpson said the same but added, that he loses a bit of information as there's not enough room to store it all.
    I have an Eidetic Memory of sorts, as there are a lot of arguments over whether this type of memory actually exists, sometimes it's a pleasure, other times it's a curse, weed helps cloud my thoughts and it's great for arthritis, I also play the Guitar, so a WIN, WIN for me, I read an article the other day that people who smoke Weed are 'Nicer', some are I guess?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Techead View Post
    Mmmmmmm, What do I know, well, I am polite and only been growing since 1975.
    Ahh, those were the days, I was privileged to have a mate then that grew a Garage full of plants, he had a small Suitcase full of buds, and we all descended upon him to sample his wares, one comment from a very stoned stoner, has always stayed with me was, 'Hey, go easy on that Tobacco, we haven't got much!', I nearly Choked with laughter.
    That aside though, I still have my nose, my face would look weird without it, I do still wonder if there is a better way, sometimes there is, do you actually know any Breeders, have you actually visited a Commercial grow, or just looked on Youtube for info, over the years I have been friendly, with a few commercial and semi-commercial growers, one is still current and grows in California. While Quad biking in the Sahara Desert, I stumbled on a Massive Grow there, I spent several hours chatting with the owner, the Apple Tea was nice as well.
    Perhaps my comment that I am lazy, was a bit incorrect and I stand corrected on that, also it isn't my grow that has gone tit's up, it's a friend and he asked for help, that's all.
    I have Lollipopped, Fim'ed, LST'ed, SOG and goodness knows what else, do I personally think they help, yes I do, but these days I don't to a great extent, sure I pull the odd Fan leaf off, but I let the plants do their own thing, as nature intended, sure this affects yield, but I have three Tents, Four Lights and goodness knows what else, I grow for my personal use only and am never in short supply of product. I also brew Wine and vent a minuscule amount of C02 from this into the Tents, does it help, probably not, but the carbon filters stop the house smelling like a brewery, and is a good topic of conversation with like-minded friends.
    So, I do like to put comments out there, sometimes I even get constructive replies and answers, I don't spend a lot of time on my plants, except for watering, seeing they are healthy etc, but it is my choice, that's the way I grow these days, I have had a lot of practice at it. I suppose if I ever ran low on product, I would do what it takes to increase my yields.
    I did get Drunk/Stoned on Cannabis Beer in Amsterdam once but am now looking to combine two of my hobbies and use all the wasted parts of the plants I don't smoke to make Cannabis Wine after finding a decent-sounding recipe on the internet, I wonder how many growers will take time to do that, quite a lot I hope.
    As for weird Goofy plant's, I chopped one down but left the stem in the pot and it started growing again, the weird thing was it was totally unlike the rest of the plant had looked, a check on the internet caused a lot of head-scratching, as it looked like Ruderalis, go figure on that?
    I'm going to bow out of this conversation.

    I find your tone and attitude condescending, argumentative and hostile and your responses difficult to read. I was trying to be friendly and respond (something no one else had bothered to do before me incidentally) and you're coming at me as if I've insulted your mother. Your posts are full of contradictions. On the one hand going into incredible detail of how much you know and how experienced you are (I don't doubt it) but then asking for trivial help with a friends autoflower. All this when, despite my freely acknowledged novice status, the advice of "get rid of it and start again" is almost certainly the best and certainly the most obvious advice.

    Maybe my posts caught you on a bad day, maybe you're reading things into my posts that I don't intend or are not there, or maybe it's me misreading your posts. Whatever it is I've tried twice and you've come at me twice and that's enough for me.

    MJ

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    I don't have alot of experience yet, but I have grown two Gorilla Glue autos. The first one I did Lst on, and it was generally more stressed due to it being my first grow, it started flowering about a week earlier than my second Gorilla Glue, which I left to grow natural.
    So maybe stress is the answer?

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    Quote Originally Posted by DoinkBrah View Post
    I don't have alot of experience yet, but I have grown two Gorilla Glue autos. The first one I did Lst on, and it was generally more stressed due to it being my first grow, it started flowering about a week earlier than my second Gorilla Glue, which I left to grow natural.
    So maybe stress is the answer?
    I'd agree here. Try topping and transplanting in the same day. In my tent that sent an auto into flower immediately. The size and yield were retarded for sure!

    B


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