I’m going to pull double if not triple off the indoor.
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You can do some LST on autos. I’ve been cautioned about topping / fimming though, but I did top after the 5th node on these before they showed they were autos, and I had a nice canopy develop anyway.
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5 of my 6 indoor were topped at 5th node.
Little to no training after.
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Wow those look great and 57 days from seed is really good time
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Most of the reasons have been covered, but you also have a lot more genetic diversity to choose from with photoperiod plants. I love trying new strains!
I like to pop a pack of regular plants to hunt for a new mom, but there are plant count limits in my state. After discarding males and slow performers, I can keep my count at the maximum by planting autoflower seeds. Sometimes they’ll catch up to the regular plants and be harvested around the same time.
Both the strongest plant I’ve grown (Bruce Banner) and the best yielder (8oz from NL x Blueberry) were autos. I had a Walter White from Mephisto give me over 5oz in 73 days. It’s nuts watching them grow and fill out that quickly. I always LST and am not opposed to topping, but only do the latter around half the time.
Both have their time and place…
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The ability to take cuts and reveg makes photo choice for me
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“Super” autos. One is ripping along the other two I would call “early” rather than fast. Three beans three phenos.
I think of autos as bottle rockets 
. Set them off and see what you get. A novelty for me but some do take good advantage of them.
Edit: Flash seeds Jamaica Berry, day 60 ish.
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Woahhhhh those are autos …holy smokes
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“Super auto” or “fast” types are photos but with shorter flower period, it’s usually the result of the first crossing of a photo and an auto.
Autos have definitely come a long way in the past 15 years. I’ve never grown them, but I’ve been impressed by the ones I’ve seen posted. The only big drawback to me, is if you find a specific plant you like, you can’t clone it and keep it around. I bet seed banks and breeders are loving the autos, kinda forced you to buy more seeds.
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Sooo true! Never thought of that @Seamonkey84 . tbh, I have very little experience with autos , (other than tending to two different auto gardens while the owners were away) and a few years back I said you would never see them in my garden , now I’ve been contemplating trying a couple just for interests sake. I have one really close friend/crew member who has devoted a few years to autos now and done exceptionally well in fact, very impressively so. He kills it and has so many jars of so many strains at any given time it’s insane! I’m talking 40+ strains at any given time. Puts some dispensaries to shame. And for that reason I’ve been contemplating a run, I’ve seen in a 6 by 6 22 different plants at one time! Almost done it was a sensual overload in that thing with all the beautiful scents in the air. 
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I have a balcony that gets good sun but wicked light pollution (stupid ikea parking lot). Bad enough that Ive had trouble with photos.
Autos fit the bill perfectly.
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I can totally understand autos if your cramped on space. That makes sense, but autos in a dialed in room baffles me.
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Well this is marketed as a super auto and it has yet to see more than 8hrs of darkness yet all are in flower. Functionally I would call them all autos. The short one may be done in another 30 days, pretty fast. The other two I’m thinking early October . I wouldn’t expect to be able to finish a semi tropical sativa here outdoors so that’s a selling point.
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Yeah I had to answer this question recently. I went with photo instead of auto. Auto is cool and all but I want to feel more in control.
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For the most part, I bet they are…But if you can find decent “regular” autos, or decide to reverse a plant, you can make your own auto seeds. Sure, it won’t be a clone, but hopefully its close to its parent(s) plus it gives you the ability to breed a little.
But some sellers are able to offer “the same” autos time and time again. Surely they have their stock / way of breeding true / semi-true…
I am almost done with my first autos that I purposefully bought, Black Cream from seedsman. And I love the color so much, I wanna reverse one, let it self pollinate, as well as pollinate another. Plus I added another auto to my mix, for my own little cross with the Black Cream (Dark Devil auto) so… Black Cream x Dark Devil = Devil’s Cream 
At least thats my idea for now…
And its the dang autos that have me wanting to make seed… LOL. Otherwise, I agree, find a good mom, and clone away…
But the short time of the autos, especially considering generations to stabilize a trait… What I see mine doing in just 2 months… Yeah, you could say my interest is piqued…
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You should grow them both.
I have only grown 1 auto strain… 5 times*, if I recollect. I am going to get some different ones and fill in the holes as Tjake does.
I was pleasantly surprised that my auto flowers exceeded my expectations with their overall quality.
@ReikoX 's *Divyder
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I see a lot of opinions here, all with valid points & reasons. I myself was a complete ‘photo man’ all my life, But like someone else said here, “they both have their place”.
I was hardcore against ever having autos lol but I did a lot of research, and now feel they both can be useful!
I still prefer being able to take clones, and letting the plant veg as long as I want it to for training and size. But the Autos are at the moment a very big part of my growing. I’m using them to ‘catch up’ on production, and will be going back to my photoperiods soon! I’ve got a good bit of old strains going in the veg room, lol patiently vegging and waiting their turn!
Here’s a look at what’s happening for me
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I’ve got a free pack coming and I agree with your philosophy. Autoflowers are not my thing but people like them. People will argue about how to cook a steak but it comes down to preference- I think photo vs auto is similar.
Gonna try out my orange slurpee and see what happens.
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The main thing is to do your homework and research things first, don’t just take someone’s words on here as ‘gospel’ … not to say there aren’t some folks on here that DO ‘know their shit’ … just do some reading up if it’s your first attempt at auto’s, they are a little different in the way you treat them.
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I think we’re still evolving with autos though. Doing my reading I read in some places that topping is a no-no. In other places it says maybe above the 3rd node but not above the 5th node. I topped some above the 5th node when I thought they were photos, then a week later buds started to develop. Frankly, the canopy developed on its own for the most part (a few LST clips, but not much training), and theres a dozen nice sized colas in an even canopy now. When I finally have more than “a few” seeds (ie after my first seedrun of autos), I will definitely play with topping a few, not topping others, and comparing final amounts.
I will say though, treating them as photos would be a mistake. They really do use those extra daylight hours to pack on buds. I thought it might be a good alternative for outside here, so they would be pulled early enough to miss the first frost. But now having grown inside / outside, I have to say putting an auto outside, unless you are in Alaska or the northern latitudes with 18-20 hours of sun a day, you would be short-changing yourself on your final harvest.
Lots more research and experimentation to come!
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